40th party

Dean is 40! Dean turned 40 on the 15th of July but because we were all camping the big party was on Saturday night. The yard was prepped, the food was cut and layed out to perfection, (way to go Carol) company from all over arrived and trailers were set up in the back yard. It was in the high 20's and only a chance of a thunder storm to blow through. The horseshoe tourney was on, the kids were running crazy all over the yards, and the black clouds started to roll in. Nobody thought twice about it, but then the wind picked up. . . and the chairs stared to blow around and the rain came and then the hail, and then the power was GONE. . . It all ended by 10pm. The black clouds stayed around and the power stayed off. What do we do. . .fire up the generator, plug in the stereo, and the blender for drinks and we were back in business. The black out didn't stop the kids, they thought it was great they played flash light games all night, and the candles all over Keri's house was rather cool, she has some amazing little nooks to hold the tea lights and we were good to go until dawn. We danced all night, Tod and I danced ourselves out the door just after 3. The beeping started at 4:11am and the light was trickling through the door, the power came back on! I got up to see how many lights were on and the house was lit up like a Christmas Tree. I had to wonder around shutting off lights and then back to bed. Sunday morning came quick, we made a big breakfast with all the campers and spent a couple of hours cleaning Keri's house from all the mud tracked in, but all in all it was contained to the main floor. It was a great party, next to come are Tod and Keri. Just wait you 2 it will be just as crazy as Deans.

ol' Macdonalds Camping

We were at Ol' Macdonald's Camp Ground out by Stettler, and had a great time. G Pharis booked the family in last year for the trip and with golfing a lake and one of the sandest beaches in Alberta we had enough sun to get us well on our way to some great tans for the rest of the summer. We left on Sunday and returned on the Friday. G & G Pharis, Gary, Cathy & Kids, some of Tod's relatives and there grandkids, and then of course Dean & Keri and Family, we all ate until we couldn't eat any more, played in the sand, drove the go carts, played card games "The Mormon Game" (ya Amberly the game you taught us, it has now been named, and played numerous times) and Keri and I even woke up early to go for runs through the camp ground. All in all we had a blast and G Pharis booked us all in again for next year. . .

gone for 9 days

We were on the road to Grandma & Grandpa Thomson's house in Raymond, for 9 days. Saturday June 27 we rolled off in the truck with the trailer in tow. It was going to be an exciting week with the cousins and G & G. Sunday was spent figuring out the menu for the week, and so Monday morning we were off to Lethbridge. The dads , boys and Am went to the matinee of "Transformers", while the moms and little girls went to "Imagine That". After we were full of popcorn, candy and slush we swapped the kids with the dads and the 4 moms went on an extreme grocery extravaganza. Who new how much food wed could pack into 2 vehicles for 20 people and 7 days. I must say all my sister in-laws are packing divas such as myself, and no more O.C.D. than myself, I think i am normal. We arrived home Monday night with supper in tow and needing the men to do some Bar B Qing.

Tuesday was a very busy day with Waterton all planned out. we were up and out of the house in record time, with a picnic packed, swimming gear for Red Rock, and extra clothes. We got to Waterton, first stop was hiking Bears Hump, amazing we almost all made it up, Grama puttered out, and Robbie and Jackson turned around 3/4 the ways up. Jackson was super exhausted and cried the whole time. We did the traditional feed the squirrels, take family portraits and down we went to move on to LUNCH. After this hike we were all ready for some grub. Up to "Red Rock Canyon" for a picnic and a hike up the falls to find the natural water slide. Lunch was delicious, a sandwich, few different salads and fruit was like heaven when you were so starving. We all cleaned up in a hurry in anticipation of the trek up the falls to find the slides. I am thinking that we made it 3/4 of the way there when the moms decided to call it. It was getting a bit extreme for the little ones and considering we had from 1 1/2 years to 17 years in age difference it was time to go back and just play in the low pools. The 4 older kids carried on and made it and of course reported that it was extreme fun. The little kids have no idea what they were missing out on and so maybe next time we will make it all the way, but in the mean time the low pools were fabulous. When all was said and done it was down to the Town site to go for the biggest ice cream you can believe. While eating our ice cream along the shore line of the lake were deer, not just adults but a fawn too. We were within 10 feet of them and wow it was amazing. The kids were in shock to see the fawn up close and personal we had to prod them to leave. On our way home we had a very tired full truck, everybody slept except for Tod. more to come later. . .

emergency dentist for ASPEN :(

Well today was spent finding a Dentist for Aspen to go to because ours was full. Last night Aspen was laughing and some how hit her head on the weight lifting bench and chipped her 2 front permanent teeth :( . Tod and I were up by 8am phone for an appointment and finally I got her one for 3:15pm with a total stranger. she got the one tooth fixed because it was exposed but the other one we just left. She will have to get the other one looked at at her regular appointment. It was an hour long appointment, with a new tooth and a half smile with the freezing still in. The dentist we saw was very nice and fortunately for us he new what he was doing I was a bit scared, and Aspen was freaked out. The needle left no damage to her but it left damage to my left hand from her squeezing so tight. Through her tears she made it.