Family Day! What a GREAT Idea!

One of the things we really love about Alberta is having a holiday in the middle of February - when winter feels like it might go on forever! The third monday of February is a provincial holiday called Family Day. It always coincides with Dad's birthday too which is great! (He's 41 now by the way...but still doesn't look a day over 20! :)

We've now started a family tradition of going skiing at Big Mountain in Whitefish during Family Day Week. (I forgot to mention that our school district made it so that the tuesday and wednesday of this w

eek are PD Days and Thursday and friday are Teachers Convention - so students have the whole week off! We don't get March Break though.)

So, on Sunday, we departed for our third annual ski trip.

The excitement was very high! We had two glorious days of skiing on Monday and Tuesday. It was cold but not too cold and there was a ton of fresh powder. It was fantastic! Everyone (except mom) loves to ski in the trees and get "air" as they hit various bumps. Mom cheers as she follows along beside the tree line. Sara convinced mom to try the trees once but the trees proved victorious when a mini jump

dumped mom head first into a tree well. Thank goodness Matt was there to dig her out!

With a few days left of our break, we anticipate finishing homework, cleaning house, watching American Idol (PVR) and reading! Gotta love Family Day Week...and family!

City Final Champs!

Matt's team won city finals tonight! He played great - the whole team did. They had very keen refs who called EVERYTHING - both ways. So, it's good the game ended when it did because our team was in foul trouble. The final score was 74-47 and we think Matt scored 20 points - including a "nothing but net" 3 pointer. Well done boys! They've had a perfect season - no losses. Southern Alberta Zones are in two weeks in Taber.

Valentine Treats

Valentine's Day provides a good excuse for making treats! Now, we need to give them all away so we don't eat them all. But making them is so much fun!

Mom loves all the "holidays" after Christmas and decorates for each one - maybe to make the winter a little more bearable.

So, tomorrow, the St. Patty's Day green will appear. But, today - we challenge you to tell your family why you love them and make their face turn Valentine's Day red as they grin!

Look Out Bobby Flay!

Saturday morning was very busy - for Sara and Hannah. They both had group violin lessons and then Steve Nash basketball. (No, he is not actually there. That is a FAQ though!) Parker and Matt were supposed to have First Aid training but it got cancelled...or so we thought...another story for another time. So, they had their friend Jett Stef from Stirling stay the night on friday after Fantastic Friday. They of course stayed up sort of late and hence slept in the next morning. So, as the girls and mom and dad headed out the door going separate directions, they were quickly given their Saturday job list, instructions to be good and not burn down the house. Mom, Dad, Sara and Hannah ran out the door.

All lessons ended around two and everyone planned to meet at home. Dad and Mom were somewhat famished as they had both run in the morning and then promptly left to shuttle kids without much breakfast. You would not believe the sight they saw when they entered the house. First of all, it was clean. Shock number one. Next, Matt greeted us in an apron. Shock number 2. It smelled delicious! Shock number 3. The table was set beautifully - including elegantly folded napkins. Shock number 4!

We were instructed to sit at the table and not lift the tinfoil off the pan that they placed in front of us. It was then that we noticed all three boys were wearing aprons - and large grins.

It was at this point that Sara turned to Jett and asked what he had done with her brothers.

After Hannah blessed the food - including an

extra plea that it would not harm our bodies in any way-the tin foil was removed unveiling this:

It was sooo good!

It was a taco casserole made from our ward cook book - with a few substitutions. All substitutions worked well though and we gobbled it down quickly!

So, look out Bobby Flay! The Stewart/Stef team are making a good showing!

Blogging - the next adventure!

Many hours are now spent journalling our adventures. Just learned though that we can do it from the phone as well! Wonder of wonders!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Couleecreek Ct S,Lethbridge,Canada

It's a Girl Thing!

Hannah loves to get her hair done. For the past number of months, she has researched and found many fun hairdos. She has found a favourite site which she searches every day, picks a hairdo, we watch the video and then we try to do it. (Notice the "button" we posted on the sidebar.) Mindy is fantastic and she's now one of Hannah's favourite people.

Occasionally we've taken photos of attempted hairdos. Here's a few of them. The heart shaped one is in honour of Valentine's Day. Thanks Mindy! It's been a lot of fun and trial and error for Hannah and Mom!

Each Day is A New Adventure!

This is day 6 of Sara being sick. She's now sitting beside me awake - though she has spent most of it like this...

She is getting REALLY sick of being sick. We're not really sure what's wrong but she's had a high fever, chills, night sweats, muscle and head aches and pure exhaustion. This morning she and I decided we'd try and get a little bit of her school work done that her teacher sent home for her. Guess what? I'm not smarter than a 5th Grader! We worked on fractions. Actually, it was really fun. We both think being a teacher would be a fun career. But right now, we just want her to get better. I have enjoyed spending so much time together - but it's way more fun when she feels like Sara.

In other news, no mice have been caught but there is more evidence of them! We have 9 of the "good" traps set. Apparently, we need the "industrial, can outsmart any mouse" trap! They have found every chocolate stash I have and have indulged. Perhaps it's a ploy to cure my chocolate addiction. And it may be working because each time I think of chocolate I get a picture in my head of some of the remnants I've found and quickly I lose my desire for chocolate. So, thanks Mr. Mouse! But don't think that changes my plans of catching you! So now each trap also has a little piece of white KitKat as bait. What a waste of good chocolate!

If you do (or don't) like the weather...just wait an hour!

Right after posting that last post about our famous Chinooks, mom headed out to Cardston for a day of basketball. Matt was in a tournament at the High School. Dad stayed home to hold down the fort and get the rest of the crew where they needed to be as he was on call and couldn't leave the city. When mom left, the weather was great! So, donning a hoodie and Chucks, the journey to Cardston began. Note: no boots, toque, gloves or jacket. It was 10 degrees! That's almost balmy!

The tournament was fantastic! Lots of fun to watch and incredible talent on all teams. Even got to watch Lindsey's little sister Mallie play for half a game. For Matt's team, the day went really well! After winning two games straight, they made the final! For the second game, Matt was even the "Player of the Game" which awarded him with a DQ Blizzard! So, we awaited the final. Unfortunately, the tournament got a little behind.... So, the final didn't start until approximately 6:15. They faced WR Myers from Taber and emerged victorious! Very exciting. But, little did we know the excitement was just beginning..

..

The whole team headed to DQ for some well deserved treats. By the time we left Cardston, the weather had drastically changed and the snow was falling. It was Matt, mom and two of his team mates in the Suburban. Everyone had decided to go back to Lethbridge in a convoy. As soon as we turned onto the highway, there was no visibility at all. The first two cars almost immediately went into the ditch. One managed to get out, the other did not but was retreived later that night. No one was hurt. Less than 2 km out of Cardston, the entire team turned around and claimed defeat on this front! Safety won out! Thankfully. Mom put on a very brave face but still has white knuckles 2 days later. So, we had a big sleepover at one of the boys grandparents homes. Matt's team had not had an over-nighter this year and some were quite disappointed. But, in the end, they did! It was a riot! And we were all happy to drive home in daylight on Sunday morning - just in time for mom to teach her Relief Society lesson! :) What a great weekend!

Weather Update...

It sounds like there has been some pretty crazy weather around the country this week. Lots of snow and blizzard conditions! But not here! We have almost blown away - and most of the snow has blown away thanks to the "Snow Eater"! Also known as a famous Southern Alberta chinook. When nana and papa were here, papa was asking what a chinook arch looked like and was a little sad that he hadn't seen one while here. So, we took this picture on Thursday. It's not the best one but that straight line of clouds means to hang on to your hats, small children and anything else that can fly because Mother Nature is going to show her awesome power!

Home Again...

We are now back into the routine at home. It's never the same but constantly busy - and fun. It's good to be home with all it's adventures. There's already been a field trip, work for Dad, a couple of tests, items forgotten and dropped off at school, a few sets of swim lessons, one school council meeting attended, violin practiced, two b-ball practices, groceries bought, an RS lesson in the works, meals prepared and some suitcases unpacked. Laundry...maybe tomorrow! Some days feel like the more you do, the more behind you get! But, it's still good to be home.

We have to admit, we were all about ready to leave again after a harrowing 4 hour blizzard drive home on Saturday night in -84 degrees and then perhaps we didn't get enough of "the mouse" on our trip because we came home to evidence of mice in our home when we walked in the door! Mom just about turned around and walked right back out the door! Mom is not and never will be a "farm girl" she is happy to admit. Mice are about more than she can take! We now have a "trap line" of traps. Mom also had a little chat with Buddy and informed him that he has a new job - that of mouse catcher. We're not sure if he understood or not. We'll keep you posted!