the naughty list

We had our ward Christmas party on Friday night that included a special guest appearance by Santa himself. It just so happened that on this same morning the boys discovered that "elfy" had brought a naughty/nice list with him to let them know how they were doing. Elfy is Santa's little helper that comes and watches the boys everyday in December ~ he reports back to Santa during the night and then magically reappears in a different location every morning. He is already gone til next year and i didnt think of trying to snatch a picture of him :o(
The list was as follows and didn't go over well with Bridger.

Wakely ~ Nice
Bridger ~ Naughty
Ryland ~ Naughty

I left to pick my sister LE up from the airport but I had heard later that Bridger got right on Santas lap and said something to the effect of "why did you put me on your naughty list?" Well , Santa informed him that he was not on his naughty list and Bridger said "yes I am ~ look"... and pulled the list out from his pocket!!! The people around him were thinking it was a list of what he wanted for Christmas and I think that Santa was a little caught off guard. He reassured him that he wasn't on it and I think that made Bridger feel much better. I so wish that I could have been there to see it. He is such a funny funny kid!

coincidence?

I don't think so but you can judge for yourself...

This happened a few nights ago and I am still reeling over it. Joe was getting ready to retire for the evening and just decided to go in and give ryland a kiss goodnight (he was fast asleep, of course). Well, to his surprise he felt something hard in his cheek. He was able to move it over and get it out without waking him but can you believe what he found was a MARBLE?! The kid went to sleep with a marble in his mouth!!! Ahhhh! Just the thought of what the outcome could have been...

I honestly felt that Joe was inspired to go in there
as that is not something he does every night.
I am just very thankful that he did.

testimony mtg

I just wanted to share something that happened at church on Sunday. It was the first of the month so it was testimony meeting. A few months ago Bridger found out that he too could go up to the pulpit so we talked a bit about it and I was actually quite impressed with what he told me he would say if he did go up.
So, on Sunday when there was a bit of a lull I whispered to him that he could go up if he wanted to but like I had told him before it had to be all him, we would not be going up with him (which didn't seem to be a problem). I told him that I wanted to talk about it with him first but before I knew it he was already walking up there. Joe gave me a look like 'get up there' and to be honest I think that I just kinda froze... that was until I saw this sweet little boy bow his head and start to pray. I hustled on up and helped him give a brief testimony.
He really is such a brave boy and who can really blame him as people always end their testimony just like a prayer. It was pretty sweet.

love this idea...

handsome boys

Joe snapped a few photos of the boys before going to church... i think he did a great job!

First day of school!

Wakely was put into a 3rd/4th grade combo this year so that should be interesting. I heard they put students that work well independently in this class. Go Wakely!

Bridger started his first day of all day kindergarten the next day. When he got home he went straight to his room and crawled into his bed. I think he was a wee bit tired ~ poor kid.
Within a few hours of Bridger being gone he was already asking me to go pick him up from school! Here he is anxiously waiting for the bus.
Ryland is doing Joy School this year with friends from our ward.
This was taken right before dropping him off...
His class of 6... oh and brody too.

oh canada!!!

I finally made it home to Southern Alberta, Canada (I think it was exactly 3 years since I had been there) and all I have to say is OSHO's!!! I have yet to find a restaurant that even comes close to it!! Just look at this dish... Delicious teriyaki beef with a slightly fried potato broccoli carrot side that is unbelievable as well as a yummy salad with a fun creamy asian dressing. They also have great veggie tempura as well. You would think that after I keep asking them that they would eventually sell me a bottle of the teriyaki sauce but no such luck. Dagnabbit!

Ok, moving on... I also enjoyed visiting with family & friends. Warning - Lots of pics. I had to weed through almost 1000 pics so I think I did pretty good!!

We stopped on our way and let the kids check out the World's Largest Truck.
First stop was to visit Grandpa Ben (my dad) who graciously took the boys and cousins fishing.

Then we headed to a family reunion on my moms side (I haven't seen some of these relatives in over 25 years!) These are my mom's sisters and her only brother. My mom is the 2nd on the left.
I had to take a picture of our tents. The tent on the right is ours and the tent on the left was my moms. She had bought it thinking it was a bit bigger and this was the first time setting it up. Seriously, a dog couldn't have fit in that thing!!Aunt L was in charge of games and prizes and did a fantastic job!
My brother Joey and his wife Louise.
My brother Mike and his wife Jamie (whom I met for the first time) as well as his two cute boys Noah & Logan.
I also met my 22 year old niece Brandi for the first time and it was her first time meeting all my family ~ including her half brother who had just barely found out about her.
This is my oldest brother who has MS and his daughter that was put up for adoption at birth.
My cute nephew Benj.
The whole crowd!! A lot of my cousins weren't able to make it but we still had a pretty good showing.
By the end of the reunion we were tired of camping so we headed into Lethbridge to stay at the Ramada & to have some water slide fun.
Here is my fearless ryland going down the huge water slide by himself for the first time.
As you can see by the next day he was already more relaxed and in his lounge mode!
wakely & bridger having a blast as usual!

Kaden wasn't so sure about the slides the first day but was all over it on the next.

say cheese!!

Aunt L needed to be at the Calgary airport which gave us the perfect opportunity to visit a good friend of mine who lives just outside of the city. We had a wonderful time there and my only wish would be that my kids will turn out half as great as her kids when they get a bit older.
We went to the nearby river and had some fun.
Dionne & I lived together in Edmonton before her marriage & my mission.
After that we headed back South to where I grew up.

A little tidbit of history.

My friend Lana who I went to school with (grades 6 to 12)

This was one of her twin girls who Ryland quickly became good chums with. So dang cute!!!

These shots remind me of home.
My brother Joey has a great farm with many many animals and fun things to do & here is a shot of him giving Ryland a ride on the kid quad. I think he could have driven it by himself but Bridger's reckless driving ruined all chance of getting to try. ;o)

my first 5K & hopefully not my last

My friend Maria & I wanted to see what it was like to run

a 5k and I have to admit it can get a little addicting...so this picture above absolutely killed me when i saw it! who poses right before crossing the finish line?? only my good friend maria ~ gotta love her!!

I haven't been running for very long & so I was quite proud of myself when I found out days later that I had placed 5th in my age category (yes, i know i am old) out of 51 women and got this little ribbon in the mail. (go me!!)

joe & the kids were there at the end to cheer us on and take pictures.

thanks maria for the fun times