Bye, Bye DeWinton

Bye, Bye DeWinton

it's always a lovely visit when we come up to calgary. ellen and i laughed and crafted. sam played ball with his brothers. we went on walks around the acreage. strater brought pizza and we watched basketball and the bachelorette. haha. we stayed up way too late, catching up, sharing dreams and jokes. 

the time goes by so fast, and now it's our last day. i don't like last days because they are filled with packing work. we rushed around trying to find all the kids' clothes and trying to fit it all in the car. 

we took last minute pictures of flowers, we gave hugs goodbye.

we have a long way to go, back to wisconsin. but, we are so thankful for our many hosts and all the time we had with our families this trip. we are so lucky to have them in our lives. they make life so fun and so worth living.

as we drove away, ammon and ellen stayed outside, waving and jumping up and down. we honked the horn, and they finally went inside until they couldn't see us any longer. i love that. ;)

on our way out of calgary, we stopped at sam's former elementary school in arrowood. he showed us where he got into a fight, where he had to huddle near the entrance when it was cold, and where his old house used to be. he told us how he'd always run away and get into mischief. 

for dinner, we stopped in conrad, montana for dinner. we were feeling adventurous and thought 

we'd stop at a local joint off the beaten path. 

we had burgers and shakes, and fries. yummy food. we felt like we were on diners, drive-ins, and dives. 

we stayed the night in great falls, montana. we got in at a decent time, which was nice for once. ;)

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Currants and Basketball Games

Currants and Basketball Games

our first day in dewinton with grandma and grandpa crowfoot we were lucky to have gorgeous weather. the kids were racing to get outside and play. when they heard that grandma's currant bush was ready for picking, they grabbed their plastic containers and headed straight for the gigantic bushes. most of the berries ended up in our mouths, but we still had a good load at the end of picking. 

ever since starting our own garden in madison, isaiah loves growing things and harvesting.

it's all so exciting!

makayah loved the sweet and tart taste of the berries. it was so fun to eat!

sam really wanted to make it to calgary in time for ammon's game. we got in late last night, but we were so happy to have made the game. ammon is an incredible player, and really fun to watch. isaiah and makayah had a blast watching and cheering for their uncle.

Mimzy's First Visit  (august 22)

today, we drove up to edmonton to pay a visit to grandpa cecil. it was mimzy's first time meeting her great grandpa. she was a little scared at first, but warmed up later on. we chatted with grandpa and made sure to give him some photos of the kids. it was nice to see him again.

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Utah Visit with Groves and Trogers

Utah Visit with Friends

after we left lake powell, we drove up to utah for a week. it was nice not to be rushed for weddings and such. we hung out with amanda, seka, tava, nima, and baby tu. i love spending time with them. they are such good friends. i think the groves are the family i miss most since we've been out in wisconsin. 

the next day, we packed up and began the long drive to canada.

and on our way there, we bumped into aimee and her kids (yep, all the way from switzerland!).  

it was short and sweet. but ahh, so great to see her!

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Lake Powell Last Day

Lake Powell: Day 5

the last day at lake powell consisted of packing up the joint. we've never stayed until the very end, so it was our first time being involved in cleaning the skidoos, the houseboat, packing boxes, parking all the water toys. there is a lot of work that goes into it all. i'm so thankful to deb and lorraine for all the trouble they go to and all the people they host every year. thank you, thank you! we had an awesome trip and the best time with you all! ***

Lake Powell Day 4

Lake Powell: Day 4

today we i zoomed around with sam on the skidoo. i like going with sam because if i ask him not to go fast, he won't. haha. i drove the skidoo the second time and went fairly slow...almost too slow for sam. we took the skidoo out all over and went exploring the lake. there were a couple of coves we found and thought of going swimming, and decided not to after we imagined water monsters in the deep lake. 

it's be so nice to go up to the top deck, grab a book and read in peace and quiet. i've been reading sarah's key. lorraine just finished it, and i have a couple of days to finish it. it shouldn't be too hard since it is such a thrilling book. 

the babies have had little dance parties on the top deck as well. everything is so perfect. the kids are swimming, people are jumping off the roof into the water, or playing monopoly, or visiting and laughing. we also went out for pizza in town. it's been an amazing time. ***

Lake Powell Day 3

Lake Powell: Day 3

today was basically a play-in-the-water day. the kids skidooed with dad, and we splashed around in the water all day long.

makayah was brave enough to slide down the slide with sam right behind. the slide goes too fast for me, and it is too high up, i'm a chicken.

in the evening, deb bbq'd and we all watched movies and relaxed. 

isaiah and his friends/cousins, played an ultimate game of mario and luigi monopoly. they had such a great time, they did not want to end their game. i don't' know how late we stayed up, but it's not like we have anywhere to go tomorrow.

Lake Powell Day 2

Lake Powell: Day 2

we took a boat ride out to the sand dunes today.

we ran through the hot sand and cooled off in the refreshing lake. 

we took a hike around the sandstone rocks.

and sometime in the afternoon, we went into town and took a tour of the damn. i'd never taken the tour before. it was really cool to see the inner-workings of the damn, most especially to take the elevator ride down to the actual bridge of the damn.

we rode the speedboat back to the houseboat and had another relaxing evening.

it's great being with deb and lorainne's family. we haven't seen them in a long time. today was a good day.

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Lake Powell Day 1

In recent years, I’ve noticed myself writing inside my head at the end of the day, too exhausted to find the computer keyboard. Even the task of locating my own blog became just a tad too tedious. As the years went on, “writing” my thoughts down inside my own head as I tried to go to sleep seemed the easier option. Unfortunately, sometimes the side-effects were adverse, causing me to toss and turn, and I might as well have just sat at the computer losing sleep…at least I’d have something tangibly productive to add to my daily list.

In any case, the writing in my head has increased, and my blog posts, sadly have become backed up. I reread my earlier posts, my actual journal entries in REAL journals, and I think, once upon a time I was a pretty great writer. I love reading the stories I’ve written down about Isaiah. The stories concerning makayah are, I dare say, even funnier, though less often published. And at the present, my writing has become a boring list of daily events. Luckily for me, Isaiah and makayah still find the boring daily list of events thrilling – as long as they come complete with a slew of photographs.

It’s a tough thing to do, writing. It used to come so naturally and the words would pour out like melted butter, my hands too slow to write or type, my knuckles blistering and callousing from the sheer amount of thoughts stuck inside my head that wanted OUT. They still do, the words, I mean. But when my adorable baby mims wants to be cuddled before she naps, and I have to rush to find popsicles for BOTH Isaiah and makayah (because there really is no such thing as sharing popsicles when it comes to siblings), then writing somehow gets placed on the backburner – growing cold because, of course I’ve forgotten to turn the stove on in the first place. Speaking of places…

As I write, I am crammed in samiyah’s makeshift bed, my head against the hard houseboat wall typing in the dark because here, it is quiet. Here, I have just a little bit of time before the baby wakes, before Isaiah and makayah find me.

And really, I find that it’s okay that I’m writing against the clock. It’s okay that my blogs have become just a quick “this is what happened today.” Because my kids will still read it, and praise the heavens – my snapshot finger has become much more efficient than my mommy brain. Besides, what’s that old saying? A picture is worth a thousand words. In that case, here is what happened today: 

  

Nana and Umpa's House

Nana's and Umpa's House...

i think the highlight of our visit at nana's and umpa's house was definitely fishing at tsaile and wheatfield"s lakes. 

the kids couldn't wait to gather their supplies and head out with umpa, sam, and uncle chris. 

they actually caught a few and fried them up for us. 

they went out a couple of times, and the second time, they took the boat. isaiah loved it. it's such an adventure. 

we also made playdoh creations with nana. makayah made a really fancy fish, and i just had to take a picture of it. 

we also had dinner at earl's. it was mimzy's first time. 

we had such a wonderful time visiting with my parents. the time went by so fast, and pretty soon we had to go. thank you for having us, we had so much fun! we love you! ***

Ft. Sumner

Ft. Sumner

on our way to albuquerque we made an important stop. i had never been to fort sumner, and it was an hour out of our way. but, i figured, we were here, and i needed to see the place where my ancestors were forced to walk. we had always been taught about the long walk, but it seemed just a story without any place to actually visualize. 

we drove the hour out to fort sumner, while listening to the chronicles of narnia on audio discs. 

fort sumner is a very small place in the middle of nowhere. we drove to the visitors center, picked up an audio tour, and walked around the camp. it was very humbling to hear what the people had gone through to survive this place. 

after the tour, we stopped off at billy the kid's grave site just because it was right off the side of the road. 

we finally made it to my parents' house after a very long day of driving. 

the had mutton stew and frybread waiting for us, and it was such a wonderful treat!

as tradition goes, baby mimzy got to gnaw on the bone. she loved it. true navajo girl. 

it feels good to be here.

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