friday photo dump 9/28/12

1.brothers 2.4-H Hayride and Bonfire night 3.Hunters Safety Field Day 4.Frog (or Toad?) who lives under our cement pad 5.scribble art 6.lets go shopping Mom! 7.arms full 8.& 9.hayride 10.Morgan and Kyla being silly 11.Saying goodbye to Grandpa 12.Logan 13.making a fort with Lane 14.dead duck! 15.she really loves having her car cart at the grocery store ;)

Saying "Good(why do they call it good?)Bye"

1

I snapped these pictures this morning as the kids and I were dashing out the door for school and Grandpa was getting ready to head over the mountains toward home.  It'll be a long drive for him (500 and some miles) but he assured us he'd stop along the way for rests and walks.  The doctor was very pleased with his condition yesterday and told him he could skip his appointment in another 2-4 weeks.  Sorta sad for us who thought he MIGHT be coming back... but, happy too, that his back surgery has been such a success!   The Nurse told him he would be able to be "buckin' bales" in the next few weeks (if he had any bales to buck! ha!)  We do see some "fall farm work" in his immediate future though...

We are very sad to think of Grandpa not being here anymore. I know the kids are really going to miss him.  Grandpa's room was a very strong magnet for them these last 2 weeks and I think he enjoyed their company, coming and going, throughout the day.  I know Randy and I will miss his calm and peaceful ways as he just "fit in" with this busy, sometimes crazy life we live...

Speaking of crazy... this is the way my son chose to wave goodbye to Grandpa as he drove out of the driveway.  Is this just a built-in reaction for a ten year old boy when emotions are running high?  Or did he just want to make sure Grandpa saw him as he drove away?  Maybe we will never really know...

Goodbyes are never easy.  But we all reminded each other this morning that we'll likely be seeing each other at Thanksgiving and that's coming up...like... really soon! 

Best of Days Grandpa!  Here's to a new back-pain-free future!  Hope you can make it okay without your little helpers :)

"Good"bye!  from us.

P.S.  Speaking of special people... It's my Mom's Birthday today.  Be sure to tell her "Happy Birthday" if you see her today.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

P.S.S.  I forgot to get the pictures off of Randy's phone last night so I don't have a Friday Photo Dump ready for today.  I'll have to wait till I get his because he has some of this weeks "significant" picures on there.  Maybe I can post later tonight or tommorrow. 

friday photo dump 9/21/12

1.changing seasons 2.sliding with Grandpa-NO, Grandpa did NOT go down the slide!!! ;) 3.after nights and nights of freezing! 4.a day home from school because of a cough 5."cackers" 6.peanut-curry something-or-other Fall = Food! 7.in the van headed home from gospel meeting 8.summer days are passing 9.instagrammin' 10.the "family movie" maker is at work 11.first zucchinni bread of the season 12.sunset 13.this is a hit for practicing spelling words! 14.some of this came home with me 15.same tree, two days later

Some of you have asked about Dad, and how he is doing after his back surgery.  We are happy to report that he is doing well and feeling better and better every day!  He isn't allowed to sit to long or go out much, yet.  We are sure enjoying our Dad/Grandpa time!!!  Not every day that one of your favorite people comes to stay with you for a couple weeks.  We are feeling very lucky!

Happy Weekend to All!

Hugsfromus+Grandpa

One of the Best (and Worst) Ten Hours of my Life...

I had a lot of fun making this video so I hope you enjoy it.  I started by putting our entire "Family Reunion at Glacier Week" into one movie but soon realized it was just too much, so I split out this hike and made a movie all it's own.

I won't mention how long it took me to create it. I will, however, justify my time by convincing myself that it's my form of scrapbooking, my hobby, my calm in the midst of the busyness, if you will. You get the picture.  Right? Good!

Moving right along...

A big thanks to Keith and Melinda for planning this time together.  I can't tell you how SPECIAL it was to have almost 10 hours of uninterupted "sister time".  That hasn't happened it, well... forever!  It pretty much brings tears to my eyes when I think about it... 

And moving along again...

About the storm.  Yes!  It was scary.  To be on an open face of a mountain, miles of open space, with the thunder, lightning, hail, rain and wind beating on you.  All the cameras were hidden away during the worst part so we didn't get any pictures of that.  And we couldn't stop much anyway, for fear of hypothermia or getting struck by lightning.  Seriously!  We really were lucky to make it out alive.  And, Grandpa and Grandma, who had all our children, were lucky too, I'd say. 

By the way...

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma, for watching all our seven children for 10 hours!

And...

Thanks to my husband, who was right by my side (or behind me) through the entire storm.

The End

P.S.  Okay, I might be exaggerating a little tiny bit...  But not entirely.  Not much at all!  Really...

friday photo dump 9/14

Another week of "little things"...

1. I have the perfect place for these! 2.so hard to wake up from a Sunday afternoon nap 3.almond-milk vanilla pudding-
out of this world! 4.Granpa's here 5.a little coffee with my cream 6.a visit to Grandma/Grandpa C's & Great-Grandpa/Grandma B's graves
7.we (heart) pink 8.the little one who gets all the attention 9.a perfect evening for some pictures
10.the view from Grandpa's hospital window 11.mocha by Kyla 12.an evening walk with Grandpa
13.no sleepin', just playin' today 14.cheery smile from NoDak 15.sunrise

I am seriosly enjoying these snapshots of each week.  It is so much easier to take pictures of the
"little things" with our phone and pad using instagram, instead of always running and getting the big camera. 

Here is a little parting thought...

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
~Robert Brault

18 Months Old!

This is a video I put together for Melita's grandparents, aunts, cousins, and anyone else who would enjoy seeing it.  We had lots of fun making it. 

A couple things you should know about it... Melita's style is to plow her way along these days, often face first. I got tired of waiting for a perfect time to take her pictures, when she wouldn't have scrapes and bruises on her face. Oh, and she didn't take a nap on the day we decided to take pictures. So, here you have it, her very "true to life" self! You may notice Maya stuffing bunny-grahams in her mouth to keep her happy. :)

Oh, and this will officially be the last time that Kyla will match her sisters. She's not so enthusiastic about it these days but very kindly humored her mother...again. Thanks Kyla! I won't ask you to do it any more. :(

I am so happy to get my camera back!  Got it back before our family reunion at glacier (slideshow coming!) and I was happy to get it while Melita was still 18 months so we could do some pictures to share with you and, well, 18 months just seemed like a good time to do it.  I think I'll still continue my "Friday Photo Dump" for the fun of it. 

Just this,
Alison

friday photo dump 9/7

1.painting the dog house 2.the moment Lita looks forward to all day 3.bunny salad 4.first curls! 5.four-wheeler ride through the farm fields 6.just lovin' these 7.shouldn't you be doing your homework? 8.Vern and Des stop by for Rzr rides! 9.I didn't intent to go here today, but when I got the idea in my mind I couldn't get it out. 10.painting the trim 11.star flare 12.sweetness in the rearview mirror 13.our bobcat girl 14.splish-splashy day 15.comfort food 

Keep encouraged in ALL that's good and right!

Love, Alison

THIS IS FOR YOU MELINDA...

A very, very HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my dear sister!

Thank you for talking me into going on this hike.

The first 6 miles were "a walk in the park".

The next 6 mile, going in the other direction... eeewww!

I couldn't help but think, when I looked at this picture,

we had NO IDEA what we were going to face later that day.

But we made it through...

and I can't wait to go again!

Sometimes life's experiences are

no little walks in the rain.

Sometimes they are more like dark

and angry storms that rage

around us and beat at us.

Its always nice to have someone

at your side.

Someone to go through it with together.

I'm so glad we have each other!

Hope you had a wonderful day,

Love ya, Me ♥♥♥