Clinton RIP

Fun weekend had by all.  Blake had an FSY Pep Rally Stake activity Friday night.  He was asked to give a 30 min talk on his sisters' experience at EFY and how it has made him excited to attend FSY this summer.  He was not thrilled about the 30 min talk time and really tried to make it a long talk.  I think he ended up with 12 mins.  But he did a great job.  It was funny and serious and had good points about how FSY literally stood for Strengthening the Youth.  They had lots of games and activities.  The YM made a picnic basket and the YW bid on it.  Then they had a dance.  It was fun for him but he was very ready for bed that night. 

Also Friday Cora text us in the morning and said they might be stopping by on the way to pick up a table saw. They ended up staying all weekend and it was awesome.  We enjoyed conference together. Which was amazing again.  Man I love General Conference.  All the messages were so good.  During the Women's Session Saturday night, the boys went to pick up the saw and eat at DQ.  I loved being with just Cora and talking with her.  We did a bit of a work out.  She went hard core, I did a little and got tips from her.  Cora felt bad that they always just randomly show up, but I said I love it.  She will be gone soon for a few months and who knows how long till they are back.  I will take all the drop ins I can. And she always brings the best fruit when she comes. So bonus.

Look at these two cute kids and their curly hair.  I love having them come.

Blake loves challenging Cora to an arm wrestling every time she comes. 

Leah turned 20 yesterday. She said it was a great day. Work was great, she had institute last night and watched a movie and had pizza with friends. We are going to celebrate a bit more when we go up for Easter.  She is such a fun person to be around.  Her smile and joy is contagious.  I miss having her around, but she has adulted well and is making great choices. 

Leah got a fish a few weeks ago.  She named him Clinton.  She was so excited about this fish.  Leah would randomly give us updates on his swimming and enjoyment in his fishbowl.  It was actually pretty funny, but we loved how much she was enjoying this fish. Sadly Clinton died last week.  Cora wrote the funnies eulogy ever. 

Fish don't ride bicycles, they don't climb trees.  

But Clinton didn't need legs to be special to me.

There his house sat on the table of blue, and by adding that extra house.

My own became a home. 

His favorite pastime was swimming, not surprising for a fish,

but he was a natural! 

His quick splashes to welcome me home, his slow wonderings watching 

over me in the late of night

So small he was indeed, but so colorful as to make a scene.

His heart was small in size but large in depth.

I could tell him about my life in the air as he swam in the sea.

Our lives so different but connected by fate.

I told him my hopes, my dreams.  He was always there for me.

For two weeks of wonder.

Fish is as fish does.  Water to water.  Flush to flush.

Godspeed old boy.  Rest well Clinton.

Till we meet again.

Well It's Been a Moment :)

 Gosh it's been a while.  I have no pictures this time, just some memories to document. 

Blake's ball team had a fun wrap up party.  They all went out for dinner and then played some scrimmages together. They had a gift for the coaches and just hung out.  They timed it to have wrap up go right into drop in.  Dave and Blake have enjoyed going to drop in together and playing ball.

One of Dave's aunts past away.  We took Blake out of school and went up to her funeral.  We sure love hanging out with Blake.  He really is a spectacular kid.  It was a very nice funeral.  Lots of great stories.  I never really knew her, but after listening to all the stories, I would love to get her biography and read it.  She seemed like a nice lady.  The first talk was given by one of her sons.  He started out by saying he needed to thank someone in the audience.  He went on to say some very nice things about Dave, he talked about how at his Uncle Dave's funeral his son Dave spoke.  And how it was uplifting and made him laugh, great memories but he could feel the peace. How it was a turning point for him in his life.  Later he found Dave and they talked about it more.  He thanked Dave again, Dave said he thought he was giving him way to much credit.  This guy said, no that talk had truly turned his life around and changed him for the better.  It was very humbling and kind of him and it was interesting to learn the impact Dave had had. We got to see most of Dave's side of the family which I haven't seen for years.  It was a nice day. 

We had a really great stake conference a few weeks ago. Our stake presidency was changed.  I think our old presidency did a great job and they will be missed.  Very excited for our new presidency, they are going to be amazing.  We were able to have Elder Hamilton and Elder Griffin come visit for our conference.  They were excellent.  I loved their talks and stories.  Very personable and funny.  Dave had to go early for leadership Saturday night.  I decided to just watch online since gas prices are insane now.  We all went down Sunday and got there very early to get a seat.  After the great messages and conference was over, Blake had Stake Youth Committee Meetings. We planned ahead with dinner in the crock pot, knowing we were going to be right ready to eat when we got home. 

There was one last basketball game.  The All-Star game was hosted in our high school this year.  We went up to support the two from Blake's team that had been chosen and just to get to watch one more game.  I have always loved the All-Star game.  Cora played twice and Leah was picked to play her last year, then everything went down with her team and she wasn't able to.  Still sad about that.  But it is fun to watch those that have played against each other all season, come together and be united.  It is just a fun game.  We got there part way through the girls game.  Dave and Blake needed to feed cows first and got it done in record time. When we walked in it was PACKED. More people then I have every seen at one of our games.  We were standing along the edges.  Blake got asked to run the camera for the boys game.  He wasn't super excited.  We took a few extra chairs into the crows nest and squished in. It was pretty fun. 

Stake dances have opened back up again.  Just turned out that there were two last weekend.  Blake has hated dances, he didn't have a great experience the first and only time he went.  But some friends convinced him to go.  I thought he was going to back out right up until he walked out the door.  Came home super excited.  He had loved it.  Had a blast, meet new people and is ready to go next time. I was glad he had such a good time.

We won't be preg testing cows this time around.  Didn't get it booked in time.  So I guess we are going on a wing and a prayer :) Last week we got together with Jared and Emry and got them all sprayed and into the pasture where we calf.  We had invited the girls and their friends down, but they were not able to make it.  Ended up being a good thing since it only took us just over an hour.  Would have been a long drive for that short amount of time of work.  But we are really hoping they can all come when we move cows.  We can use the extra hands then and it is a fun activity to do.  Growing up we always had friends and family come along.  Dad would plan the cattle drives so when we came back from school etc we could be involved.  It was a big fun family activity that ended with mom's amazing sloppy joes. Good memories. Ones I hope to build with our growing family and that it will be an activity they look forward to being involved in with spouses and kids on day. 

I am really enjoying working at the clinic.  They have started training me to do referrals as well.  I am a little intimated by that, but am starting to get the hang of it.  I work with great people and it is so fun for me to be back in the medical environment.  Dave's work is also going well.  We are sure thankful for the job he has.  And for the kid's.  They all have good job's and people they work with.  Cora and Ammon are having fun and Leah is living her best life. She has had a lot of stomach problems the last 6-7 months.  Finally got a recommended Dr in Edmonton she could see.  After some tests they are pretty sure she had an aggressive ulcer, which explains so much about her lack of sleep and nausea and general health.  Hoping when she starts her Rx that it will help and she can finally be pain free. 

Life continues to be great and we feel overwhelmingly blessed.

Basketball Wrap

Basketball season is finished for the year.  It has been a great one.  We really like Blake's coaches this year and really hope they come back for his final year.  By the end we were able to attend in person with out masks and no limit on numbers.  It was great.  By volunteering to score keep, Dave and I were able to attend every game in person, even when things were shut down.  They has some tough games but overall it was good. 

This kid can jump.  It is amazing to see him grab rebounds, especially when he puts it straight back up. It's a sweet shot. 

He has enjoyed most of the boys on the team and with no bus we had lots of time to drive together.  Blake didn't want to have a bus and have to travel with everyone, so it worked out great. There were some good tournaments and some close games.  Some they got beat bad, but still a good season. 

At their League Finals, Blake dunked the ball in warm-up.  He has been able to touch rim for a year and a bit, but kept trying for the dunk. And he got it.  I was glad Emry got a video of it, I kept missing it.  He was pretty proud and it got him pumped up for his game. 

We are so glad he got to play this year.  He was getting a little tired of the constant going out and ball 3-5 times a week.  He was exhausted from late nights and travel.  Monday he was ok that it might be their last game.  Said he would miss it again for sure in a month or two, but was ready to be done.  It was a fantastic game to go out on.  Neck and neck, it could have gone either way. They played as a team, no one was angry, Blake played so good.  A super great game.  They lost by 3 points.  Later that night Blake said nope he wished they were playing the next night, he missed it already. :) Can't wait till next season.  For now Dave and Blake are going to drop in ball together. 

 

Reading Week

The last few month Blake had been meeting with the Stake YM's and a few YM in the stake to plan a winter camp.  Blake was very excited as he has never been on a YM's camp.  They just haven't done them in our ward.  Reading week was when it was planned for.  Leading up to it they got the activities finalized and numbers in. They stayed in heated cabins, which was good since those three days were bitterly cold.  In the end from our ward only Jared, Calum, Armin and Blake attended.  Blake met up with some of his friends from Claresholm and they had a blast together.  They went ice fishing and snow shoeing.  Blake was in charge of teaching them all to build fires.  He had competition set up to make it fun for them all.  He as a little slow getting to the site as they snow shoed in and when he got there, most of the fires were all built.  He thought that was funny.  They ate very good and had lots of snacks.  He told some fun stories about light going on at night and noises, finding a tree house and walking the train tracks.  He enjoyed the firesides and being with so many other YM from the stake.  It was a great experience and he was very pleased to finally have a camp.

I had switched Thursday for Wednesday at work so I could be home when Blake was. (Well originally it was to go to Justin's reception, but yet another wedding event I have missed :( ) Wednesday night Dave announced he had Thursday night and that he was taking Blake to Fernie to ski.  I thought that funny.  I had a lovely day by myself.  It was pretty sketchy skiing.  Mostly icy runs.  Dave said they had to stay on the easier run because you could literally slide ride off the mountain.  They had fun together anyways.  It has been fun for them to try different hills this year.  Even though they haven't skied much.

Dave is thoroughly enjoying all this time with Blake.

On the weekend we got together with other Puzey's to inoculate the calves. They had not been doing well and we had lost quite a few.  Dave and I had been looking up and researching about pneumonia in cows.  Apparently Jared had has well and had also called the vet.  So we ran them all through again to give them meds.  They seem to be doing better.  It was a warmer day and went well. 

We did not sleep in much on our week off.  Dave and I still had to work.  But we had some fun things and Blake got to go camping. 

Still Here :)

Basketball continues on strong as we get close to the end of the season.  We had our home tournament and ended up in second place.  Which was nice.  We had a two players on crutches and two that were going between basketball and hockey.  Everyone had fun though.  The morning of the first day, the school opened up to all spectators.  It was awesome to see the gym so full again.  Blake played well.  I wish I had clear pictures because he can really jump, it is so cool to watch.  

We were just on our way out the door to Blake's last game Saturday night when Cora called.  There had been an issue with the job in Calgary and she was wondering if they could bring some co-workers and crash at our house for the night.  We were so excited they would come.  Ammon and Cora had planned to quickly stop in for dinner Sunday anyways.  It was Super Bowl Sunday.  We always do the game day food and watch a sports movie.  Ammon called as they were leaving Calgary to see what food they could pick up since our store was closed at this point.  Blake's last game was close and a great one to watch. We cleaned up the gym and got everything put away and then rushed home to straighten our house for guests.  They arrived just before midnight.  My parents also ended up coming Sunday so we had a crew.  We loved Ammon and Cora's co-workers and they were easy and fun to be with.  Dave took them out to feed cows and we watched a movie, they played Mario Kart and other games.  I am glad they came, it was fun. 

Blake had had a bit of a runny nose Sunday afternoon, and it got a bit worse Monday.  That night we decided we should do a Rapid test just so if anyone asked we could say he did.  I was certain it would be negative.  Haha nope.  Blake tested positive for 'the Covid'  He can't say covid, its always the covid.  Makes me laugh.  I picked up his books for school on Wednesday.  Not much help from teachers.  I was pretty surprised that there was nothing set up for all these kids that are required to miss so much school.  He barely had a sniffle and would have totally gone to school.  Now he is behind on tests and notes and he is going to have to bust it to catch up.  Especially with his last two long basketball tournament coming this week.  Dave and I never got it from him.  This is how Blake let Dave know he was positive.

Under the second paper is his positive test.  

I am really enjoying working at the clinic.  It is just a few day and Blake is hardly every home by himself.  They are really good about letting me off a bit early when I need to get Blake to a game.  I love being back working where I started years ago.  Different clinic, same fun. 

Dave's job is also going well.  They have hit some amazing targets and he has gotten some fun perks lately.   They have not got many ski days this year.  But getting in what they can. 

Things are also good for the girls. Cora is getting her house organized and working on projects in Edmonton.  I think it has been great for them to be in their own house for a few months before they go east.  Get to settle in a little.  Leah has been looking into going back to school.  Has some ideas of what she would like to got back for.  She has been getting a lot of stomach aches we have been trying to figure out, but has been having lots of fun with roommates and friends. 

Life is still great and we feel really blessed.

Marmot Basin

Cora and Leah did a lot of skiing at Marmot Basin last year.  They had wanted us to come up and ski with them.  It is a 7+ hour drive and so we weren't really keen, but Dave does love skiing with his family.  And this year since we are trying new places, we decided to go.  We booked hotel rooms in Hinton Friday night.  Cora, Ammon and Leah meet us there after they were finished work. Dave and I picked Blake up from school and left then.  It was a long drive, Blake had some homework, we listened to some Dateline.  Stopped for dinner and arrived only an hour or so ahead of the kids. We had brought games to play, but just ended up chatting until it was time for bed. Next morning we had breakfast and the skiers all hit the road.   They had a grand time.  Dave kept saying how fun it was to have all the kids together.  Ammon just gets right in and skies, not afraid of anything.  Cora took most of the pictures for me, so she didn't get in many.  I am very thankful that she took them. I love that Leah still needs Dave's help to get her boots on.  She can do it by herself when he is not there, but I love that she still needs her dad.  And they are tough, I used to wear them and they are tight, especially trying to bend with her knee braces. 

Love my skiers.

After they left, I did some crosswords and ate my breakfast.  Next I went for a long walk.  There was a place called the Beaver Boardwalk about 2 km away from the hotel.  I walked to it and was very excited to walk the other 2 k around the boardwalk.  Turns out it was not a round walk, it had lots of connecting boardwalks, many different places.  With a few dams in the middle.  There was a lot of construction being done on it, so I had a lot of back tracking.  At one point it went up through the trees and there was a notice for bears.  Well, if you know me, you know I have a deep fear of bears on walks.  I turned right around and hi -tailed it out of there and back to my hotel.

I think it would be really neat all fixed and in the summer.  And with someone so I don't get attacked :) I then read and prepared my seminary lesson. When the crew got back they packed up their car and we all went to Boston Pizza for dinner.  The Edmonton kids then headed home.  We had a good night sleep.  Breakfast and watched church online.  Check out time was same time as church was over.  We got all ready to go so we could walk out as soon as Amen was said. We then started the long journey home.  It was a fun weekend.  Blake and Dave enjoyed skiing a new hill and being all together. Beautiful sunset on the way home. We were all so tired when we arrived back home, but worth it. 

Birthday, Basketball and Anniversary Oh my...

End of January is always full for us.  The morning of our anniversary was beautiful and sunny.  It was a Saturday, so we were all home. Dave and I decided to go for a walk.  Blake was coming with us, but he did the 6 mile loop and ran.  We planned to meet him along the way.  It was such a warm day that we went much farther than we had planned.  

One the way we meet Jared in the tractor and after some discussion it was decided to band the calves in the afternoon.  I also got a lead on a free bed.  We went and picked up the bed, had a quick lunch and then over to do cows.  It was amazing how warm and not windy it was. Also on the way home fromour walk we saw something in the air way off in the distance.  I thought it was the shape of a hot air balloon, but we never seen them this far and we couldn't figure out what it was.  When we got home we got out the telescope and it was a balloon.  Pretty cool.  Haven't seen one for a long time.

At the end of the day we were commenting how we didn't do anything on our list, but is was a still a great day.  Time spent together, beautiful weather, fun times.  It was a great anniversary. 

Blake is doing awesome at basketball.  His team is becoming more positive with each other and it is fun to see the team work that is starting to come together.  

It is funny though.  He either has a really amazing game or just a good game.  He doesn't know what makes the difference, but seems to play better when he is tired and not looking forward to playing.  We are loving watching him play.  Restriction have changed back and forth and number of spectators numbers have gone up and down.  They have let parents be the scorekeepers, so we have so far been able to attend the games.  Dave also has been going to drop in ball with Blake.  They really enjoy playing together. 

For my birthday it just happened that I didn't have to work that day.  Blake was on semester break and home.  We went for a walk together, had lunch, did some chores, played some games and then after Dave got home and dinner we went to Blake's game. Great to watch in person.