Opening Social

It had been raining every day, nearly constantly as a matter of fact, but the youth had said they wanted to go to the lake rain or shine, so here we are. Just for the record, it did rain twice that afternoon. Once just after we arrived, for about 10 minutes, a soft but determined rain that gardeners love. The other shower (as the weatherman would describe it) was just after we finished loading the canoes for the drive back to town, and could be better described as a real frog floater.

The tent was for "just in case." It turned out to be "just right."

Yes, that is our youth in a rain squall, practicing for the upcoming canoe jousting. High temp for the day you ask? A balmy 52 degrees F.

The Deacon is invincible.

The YW off to do battle with the YM. The YW won the day with a great strategy. Face the boys until the attack, then sit down, let the testosterone take over, and the YM will leap out of the canoe on the attack, losing the game in the leap.

A victorious team returns to port after defeating the enemy and swamping their canoe.

The swamped team. Maybe the air guitar hurt their cause. Maybe it helped heal the sting of the loss.

We went in the lake, and so are you. ATTACK!!

VICTORY! (bwa-ha-ha-ha)

After consuming the hot dogs, the fire was stoked to provide some much needed heat for the youth. As they warmed up, they all began to emit steam. A rather strange sight.

At the end of the day, who is left to carry out the canoes? Those Simpson boys. They are good boys, and I am fortunate that I am related to them.

to be continued...

The Cook-off

I just like this picture of the boys in front of the house.

The combatants poised for the epic battle of the crepes - YW versus YM.

(cue the dramatic music)

The weapons - crepes.

Fully dressed for the conflict of confections.

The artist in his element, success imminent.

The heat of the pitched battle. YW liked the YW crepes, YM liked the YM crepes, but in the end...

It was all a matter of personal preference and how one dressed out his or her treat.

(fade to black)

to be continued...

August = EFY + Girls Camp

The boys went to EFY in Calgary again this year. It goes without saying how wonderful that program is, and how it helps our boys (and maybe other kids too) build strong testimonies of gospel truths. Their favorite class was how to face adversity and use the gospel to over come fears, trials, and difficulties. We may have a few of those.

The YM and the YW went to camp on the same week again this year, so we took some of the youth to help shop for food. They made the menus, and the shopping lists, and we just power shopped late one night to get all the goodies.

YW at Camp Wright. Just outside of the town of Athabasca, this a little slice of heaven in the middle of paradise.

For the evening fire side chats and roasts.

One small step for YW...

How to make kindling without first aid.

Learning to build a small inferno...

...to cook delicious things.

One of the Gourmets.

Here is First Aid Girl's Camp style. See the broken bone (stick)? See the bandage to staunch the flow of blood from the wound?

See the happy victim on his way to the ambulance?

A little music to sooth the soul and calm the nerves.

Crafts.

The end of the day, at about 10:30 or so.

The accomodations. This is camping? Any "rougher" and the cleaning staff would be by between 10 and noon to change the sheets and towels...

At the end of the week, the sleep deprivation begins to catch up to the happy campers.

to be continued...

Alberta Summer Games - Peace River, Alberta - July 2010

The stylin' new uniforms.

A Side-Out at one of the games. Joseph and Samuel are the Props (the guys that lift and scrum). The Jumper, Nate, will get the ball from the Scrumhalf, Sean. The opposition will try to stop the juggernaut...

The train is a rollin'... Joseph and Samuel are behind Nate, and fixin' to carry him over the Try Line to score. Lots of grunting and huffing and puffing here too.

After the game, we are all smiles. The Games were lots of fun for the whole family.

The view from our back patio.

Another window box on the patio rail.

This is the view from the back yard, and it is almost the same from the street behind the house. Michelle has a beautiful garden, a regular paradise.

The garden boxes. This is early in the year, before everything was mature. Unfortunately, as soon as things were full grown, the fall settled in hard and early - including snow flurries on September 15th. It looks like winter will be here all too soon, but we will look forward to nest spring and summer.

to be continued...

Guess Who is Coming for Dinner

Jacob came home for a visit this week. He drove from Rexburg to Lethbridge, then rode the bus to Edmonton, then rode with Alan to Fort Mac.

He said nothing had changed until he saw Joseph and Samuel. Jacob is now the runt of the family (excluding me - I have been too short for a long time). He also changed his tune when he saw some of the construction going on around town.

Most of the families at church were also glad to see him. He will be here until Wednesday, when he has to make the trek back home.

Joseph and Samuel just got back from Peace River, where they played in the Alberta Summer Games, representing Zone 7 in Rugby. They had a great time, and the experience was really good. Michelle drove over there (10 hours each way) to see the games, and Alan drove up from Edmonton one day too. More on the trip in an upcoming post.

Anyone up for a little family scrum?

to be continued...

Endless Summer

So, what is it that makes a good summer into a GREAT one? Grilled burgers are a good start. Cooking beef on a charcoal fire is the only way to go, in my opinion. Am I bragging? Yes, I am. But you see, the catch is that I did not cook these beauties. Samuel did. I was stuck in Edmonton, 500 km away, eating a salad from McDonald's.

There is a small burger chain in the southwest USA called What-a-Burger. It is what every burger aspires to be. There are other great burger places around the country too, but they all share a few things in common: good beef, fresh salad, and jalapeno peppers. Good burgers are improved 100 fold (or so) with a good chile (jalapeno or Hatch Green Chiles are the tops in our family)

OK, I guess you can add other things too. See the freshest lettuce in the world? From the garden to the burger in less than 60 seconds, past the taste buds to the thankful stomach in another 60 or so... mmmmmmmmmm...

The boys and friends after the end of the school year.

"Dad, Can we have a fire in the fire pit to make s'mores?"

Yes.

"Thanks, by the way, there are a few friends coming over too."

Notice it is dark outside? in the summer here, that means it is after 11 pm already. I guess I'm just getting old. Did anyone really ever stay up later than sunset anyway?

Our (meaning Michelle's) garden. She has not lost her magic touch, even in a short growing season.

One of my favorite pics of the back deck garden.

Another favorite of the front.

Guess what happened here... (think Dr. Nefario and the new weapon for Gru) BTW, we recommend the movie Despicable Me. Quite funny for parents of any age/stage/time/epoch/etc.

My beautiful wife on the shores of the Athabasca River.

to be continued...