This and That

I haven`t really done anything too exciting lately, but I should probably try to keep my blog up to date!  I am finally back into all my exercising after having to take time off for surgery, and it is SO nice to be back!  It`s amazing how much I miss it now when I don`t go!  Life has felt busy lately, but Lee and I have recommitted to take our kids out on their individual dates!  So I went to the mall with Dakota one night and bought ourselves an outfit and had Cinnabons (she was a sweetheart - so happy to be there with me and so grateful), and I also took Griffin out to Moxies for dinner and dessert one night.  He was very cute too, he just kept saying what a fun date it was and how much he liked to be with just me.  Here`s a picture of him with his `volcano` dessert, although you can`t really see the mist coming off the dry ice in the photo...

I really do believe it`s important to take the kids out on their own - it makes them feel so special, and I really feel like Scarlett keeps me from giving them the attention they deserve most of the time!  So sadly, it`s great to be Scarlett-free now and then!!  She`s a bit of an attention hogger! :)
We also took a trip to Cardston last weekend for a basketball tournament that Lee was in.  I didn`t really want to leave town again, but it turned out to be a really nice visit with my Grandma and Grandpa Cooper.  We always love going to their house, they are just so sweet and make us feel so loved!  My parents came too, so we were able to give their house a bit of a facelift with new curtains and rearranging photos, etc.  And it was nice to visit and talk to them and Debbie and her kids too.  The kids had lots of fun, especially playing with Grandpa - he played tennis with them in the basement, which I think is just so sweet since he`s getting so old and frail but he still wants to bond with them.  Mason sat on the bed with Grandpa for a while too as he told him War stories!  Cute.  My Grandma also bought them all new coloring books, and gave them candy and $5 each!  Talk about spoiling them!!
I watched one of Lee`s games, and it was a very exciting one that went into overtime, and they eventually won.  It was fun to watch.  He lost the other games though, but he sure enjoys playing in these tournaments.
Oh I forgot to mention the ward talent show that we just had as well that I was in charge of planning!  I was worried that it was going to be a complete failure since no one was really that eager to sign up, but it turned out really well in the end!  There were a lot of really funny acts that people did that they got off of Youtube.  Almost every act was humorous instead of serious this year, so their were lots of laughs!  I had Dakota and Mason show off their `bug eating`talents!  Everyone was amazed (or disgusted) but it went over really well!  They ate meal worms, grasshoppers and large superworms that we bought at the Pet Store. I found a really funny website on the benefits of eating bugs so I also said a bunch of the facts while they were preparing, and then at the end, I told them that I found some great recipes that had bugs in them, and that I hoped they enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies that I had set up at the door when they came in!  Everyone was freaking out and wondering if I was serious or kidding, - I actually did put bugs in the cookies, all ground up into flour, but still nasty!  I felt a little bad for some of the older adults that had eaten the cookies, but they seemed to take it pretty well! ha ha.

Easter Time

Since we were away in Edmonton most of the Easter weekend, the Easter Bunny came to our house on Easter Monday. The kids were thrilled with what they got... not a whole lot of candy, but some fun toys!  They had a fun day playing and doing crafts and then we had another Easter dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Nielsons!  Lucky us, double turkey dinners!  She also had an Easter egg hunt for them.  It was nice to play with all the cousins over there - seems like it has been a while!I don't have any pictures of their Easter outfits (courtesy of my Mom of course!).  Since we were in Edmonton, I didn't want to drag them there, so we will wear them and post pictures next Sunday in our ward!

Grandpa Loewen!

We were all excited and surprised (even Lee was in denial right up until he actually showed up) to have a visit from Grandpa Loewen last week!  He doesn't come to visit very often, and we're guilty of not visiting enough as well, so our kids don't know him very well.  But my goodness, they sure had a lot of fun with him and they just love him and wish he lived closer!  He was a good sport, and played around lots with the kids.  It was really nice to have him come.  He came and visited our house on Thursday and spent the night, and then he went off to Edmonton the next morning.  We then joined him in Edmonton on Saturday morning and had a wonderful Easter Dinner at Karin's.  I love visiting her house, she is so kind and laid back, and makes the most delicious buns and apple pie every time we come!  Then that evening, Lee took his Dad to the Canucks vs Oilers hockey game - he had been given front row seats and they both went in their Canucks jerseys, excited to see a game together!  Unfortunately, Canucks were down 4 to 0 in the first 5 minutes, so it wasn't exactly a feel good game, but they still enjoyed it.  They were boo-ed though as they exited in their Canucks attire!
We went to church in Edmonton, then came back home with Grandpa, where he spent another night with us!   We felt very lucky!  It was also Lee's birthday, and so it was fun to celebrate with him. We really need to make more of an effort to drive out to visit, now that Scarlett's getting older.  She's still not really the best traveller though, but it will only get better.  I would really like my kids to have a good relationship with BOTH sets of grandparents!

A Little Trip to Fairmont

This year for Spring Break, we were lucky enough to get to go to Fairmont Hot Springs for a few days!  I used to go there sometimes as a kid, so I had good memories of it, and going back, it did not disappoint!  The weather was a little bit chilly, but warm enough to be able to do what we wanted, and it was nice that there was no snow on the ground.  We did lots of hiking and "exploring" with the kids and they just loved it.  Griffin called himself a "mountain man" and carried a backpack on his back and a little sharp piece of wood that he called his knife!  It was cute.  The scenery was just beautiful too!! Especially when we got to the top.  Lee decided the regular "trails" were boring, so he always led us up these steep hills and through the trees and brush and deer poop so that we could experience a "real" hike!  It was a bit of a struggle sometimes for the kids, but they actually did really well and besides being a little nervous that we wouldn't be able to find our way back, it turned out to be a lot of fun.  We also explored the natural Hot Springs which were pretty cool - they have a spot you can put your feet in while you sit on a bench, and there's another spot you can bathe in, but we didn't have our swimsuits with us!  It was neat to feel such warm water though.  We also spent a lot of our time at the Rec Center, mostly swimming.  The kids had a lot of fun there, playing together and sitting in the hot tubs. Scarlett loves the water.  Another thing we spent a lot of time doing was just playing family games.  We don't usually have a lot of time it seems to play games, so it was awesome to be able to sit down and have some good games of Monopoly with the kids! It quickly turned into Mason's new favorite game, and he continuously asks to play it again!  It was just fun to relax and be on our own, and explore what Fairmont has to offer!  One day we went over to Invermere, which is only 15 or 20 minutes away, and they had a Wall Climbing thing open at the school for just $5 per person.  We let the 3 older kids all do it, and they had a LOT of fun.  It was a good challenge for them, and was neat to see how well they did.  Dakota really is a natural climber!  Griffin didn't do so well though, he gave us pretty quickly... I think he was nervous.  But he did like the rope swing that was also set up!  He did it by himself and with Dakota and Mason.  Pretty cool.  We even went to church on Sunday which was a bit of an adventure in itself!  There are only 5 permanent members in the branch, and so one lady who was on a mission had to pretty much run the show!  She gave a 1/2 hour talk, she's the Relief Society President, and in charge of the non-existent Primary, which she had to improvise on the spot for us and the other visitors!  She put the parents in charge of the Singing Time and Sharing Time and filled up the rest of the time herself!  It was pretty funny. It made me grateful for our big ward with lots of people in all age groups and the fact that we only have to give a talk about once every year or so!!