Keep Moving Forward

We have been trying to squeeze in family time and fun things in and amongst all the packing. It's hard. Mostly because all I want to do is the fun stuff and ignore the packing...but we're down to 5 days until our stuff leaves, so I can't really ignore it anymore. I would like to have clothes and dishes when we get to Kingston.

Last week we headed over to Great-Grandma's to get our stuff that we have had in storage at her house since we moved into the trailer. Books. Baby Clothes. China. (the dishes...not the country). Our POD is getting full, and then we reorganize the boxes and it doesn't look too bad again. I keep getting these waves of nervousness as to whether all our stuff is going to fit or not. When we loaded all the bins from Great-Grandma's, it made me nervous again. Tyler's being really smart about packing though, and I think he will make it work.

We took some time while at Grandma's to hang out and just visit. The boys all went for a ride on the rhino and Lucy and I had a tea-party with Great-Grandma. It's easy and especially fun to have tea parties at Great-Grandma's, because she has so many sets. And she usually has treats like donuts, chocolate bars or hershey kisses to add to the party. Lucy also discovered a kaleidoscope, which she thought was really amazing. The kids also jumped on the trampoline for a bit and we got to see some baby birds in a bird-house.

It's hard to do these little things and not have the thought creep in that this will be the last time for a while. I'm trying REALLY hard to not get emotional about this move, so I focus on the to-do list. But every once in a while, something comes up and it hits me and I have to swallow hard and then move on. I hope no one thinks that I don't feel nervous or sad about leaving, because I most certainly do. I just worry that if I focus on that, I won't be able to come back from it and I might not get anything done.

Yesterday we headed out to Mike and Tammy's for the blessing of Baby Callum. It was great to see everyone together. Plus it was great to be out in Airdrie for the afternoon. Tyler left from there to go to Edmonton for two days for a conference and the kids and I headed home.

It was early enough when we got home that we were able to go up to Grandma and Papa's for a bit and visit with Janeen, who is here for the weekend. The kids also played a few short rounds of Chess with Papa. He collects chess sets, so they had to walk around the house first to decide which one to use. They settled on the Book of Mormon set, but said that next time they wanted to use the Farm one.

Now the week is upon us and I'm up to my eyeballs in packing. Cleaning will have to come next week, so I have left the vacuuming for another day...and cleaning the bathroom. And I just try not to think about how grossed out I am.

Oh, and we're nearing the end of the month, which means I am nearing the end of my goal to read the Book of Mormon in the month of June. I have 5 days left and 23 chapters - It's looking like it just might happen. It's been crazy how I've been able to squeeze in time. There were a few days last week where I got off track and I thought about giving up because it seemed impossible to get back on track. But I knew I would be disappointed if I didn't make my goal after making it 20-something days. So I caught up. Sundays are a good catch-up day too. Here's hoping the week goes well so I can power through to the end.

I also started out a work-out program this past week, Bodyrock.tv. It is intense. Intense because I haven't done ANYTHING in a really long time and because it's just intense. I'm not sure that choosing to start the week that I have to be lifting box after box after box was the best idea. My arms are screaming. I feel like a muscle-head body builder who can't even touch their fingertips together because my arms are so tight. I go to take a drink from my water-bottle and I can barely lift my arm to my mouth. But I feel great. Sore, but so proud of myself. Again, hopefully that sticks too.

Soaking in the Summer

Today is day three of cooking from my new cookbook. Last night we had beef dip with the missionaries. The night before we made peanut butter, white chocolate chip chocolate cookies...to give to the missionaries, home teachers and visiting teaching ladies. The previous 2 came over Tuesday night to help us move our piano into the POD. I thought cookies were a good payment. The Home Teachers brought their entire family, so it made for 'fairly' light work. I was behind the camera.


Tonight's feast: RIBS! Did I mention our family LOVES ribs?

Slow cooker + BBQ and they were set. I put the crockpot outside all day so as to not steam up our house. I even BBQ'd the potatoes. Summer cooking is the best. It's primitive. Cavemanish. And so awesome tasting.


The verdict....a HUGE hit. The recipe claims that you will compare all other ribs that you eat to these...and they were right. Tyler even said they were better than Tony Roma's...who is famous for ribs. Lucy is the best reviewer of ribs because she loves them so. Yes, she wears pink and yes, she insists on her nails being painted, and yes she is a DIVA princess, but she is also a CARNIVORE. She was going on and on, and I said, "Thanks Lucy." She replied by saying, "No mom, we should be thanking you!" "I love being a carnivore and eating Pig!" Crazy meat eyes:

So we have determined that when we get to the new house and we're somewhat settled enough to cook a real meal, we will have RIBS to celebrate our move.

We had ice-cream cones and worked outside, packing more stuff into our POD. The kids played on the roof. Yes, we acknowledge the trailor-trashiness of playing on the roof, and no we don't care.


Getting up was easy (for the kid's). Tyler hoisted and scraped up his leg in the process, but they were fine. (Tyler reassures me that it hurts worse than it looks). Jumping down is another story. Daredevil Max was all for it and leapt into Dad's arms with only a moment's hesitation. 3-2-1 JUMP! With Lucy, it was more of a 99-98-97.......scoot to the edge, get your shorts caught on the eavestroph and then be plucked off the side of the house by dad.

Bubble-bath to end the night.

Ah, summer!

Lucy, and the cat she'll never own

Today, we visited my friend Kristy at her pet store in Cochrane. My kid's love it there. They love seeing all the rabbits, puppies, fish, snakes, birds, hamsters, and KITTENS. Ohh Lucy and her kittens. She would own twenty if she could and they would all sleep with her and she would carry them around all day and love them to death.

She is especially fond of orange cats, I think because she thinks their hair looks like hers and she can truly say she must be their mother. It was hard to pry her away today...especially since they ACTUALLY let her hold one.

When she got home, she pulled out her kittens that we gave her for Christmas (I think she has upwards of 10 kitten stuffies...which is never enough when she sees another in the store). She has been taking care of that kitten all day and telling us that it is REAL and she just got it today, and she's keeping it away from Dad because she knows he's allergic.

Crazy cat lady.

Doctor Tyler

I was FINALLY able to get pictures from Tyler's graduation. So here they come!

It was a totally awesome, highly anticipated day. We wore our finest doo-dads and got ready to clap and cheer for good-ol-dad. I asked Max what he was going to say when they called Dad's name, and he said, "I will yell, 'yay dad!'

We had a really good crowd there too, so it wasn't difficult for us to make a LOT of embarrassing noise when it was Tyler's turn.






As he walked across the stage, each person that greeted him asked if he had a lot of family in the audience...it was pretty obvious.


There was so much build up and anticipation (hello...10 years!) that I have to admit I was a bit teary and my "Yays!" were a little choked.

Tyler was fortunate to have his Supervisor, Gordon Fick as part of the procession, so they shared a hug on stage. It's pretty awesome to go to a graduation for a PhD recipient. They get to go first, there's a lot of pomp, and they get to wear super goofy clothes.










Everyone took a turn wearing Tyler's hat for a picture. (Except Lucy, she was too shy).


Then it was off to Tony Roma's for a huge dinner celebration. 30 guests. We pigged out on all-you-can-eat Ribs...which Lucy especially enjoys!