Catching up on Summer

You know something, I have not caught up on my blog about our Summer. Let's see if I can remember enough to quickly summarize the Summer. 

It was a hot, dry Summer. We did not receive much rain in the Spring and the crops did not grow well. I think all farmers struggled, including the Durum crop that was grown on my parents land. Last year the mustard crop was great so you win some and loose some right? sidenote - I really admire Farmers. It is an unpredictable job and a great way to rely on faith. I kind of wish I was a Farmer but I am glad I was raised as a Farmer's daughter. 

We travelled out to Victoria from July 14 to the 28th. We like traveling in the middle of the week because there is less traffic. As usual, the kids did very well on the way out. We put Elizabeth between Elva and Caeleb in the back so they can feed her things and entertain her. The highlight of the road trip is the Ferry - exploring, playing in the little play areas and eating on the Ferry. 

We had a great time visiting family in Victoria. Kurt and Alby did not want to see us or the rest of the family, but we visited with everyone else. We stayed at the parents house. Chris had a Guys day where his brothers and Dad and him went out to eat, painted mugs and went to a race track. Us girls had a Girls day where we went up to the New Malahat Skywalk and then slid down a 7 story slide, then went tubing 3 hours down a river (absolutely loved it!) and then out for supper at Milestones at the Inner Harbor. I love to visit with my mother in law and 3 sisters in law (my 4th sister in law does not want anything to do with us). Even though 3 of us have some different beliefs then the other two, we love each other and I know that our family relationships can be forever. I love my Watters family very much. Chris and I went on a date night to Sidney where we went out for Thai food and walked around the harbor there and then drove around the waterfront by the Ferry and Airport. Some very huge and expensive houses there! The kids had fun playing with their cousins. They are developing a special bond with them even though they only see them once a year or so. When Caeleb and Elva are a bit older, I want to fly them out to see their cousins (and the others too when they get older). We went mini golfing a couple of times with the kids, we went to the Breakwater and to Beacon Hill park, we went to the beach several times and we played in Aunt Wendy's blow up water park. We had a games night and early one morning, Chris and I hiked bear hill with Uncle Jared and his friend to watch the sunrise. It is only 5 minutes from Chris' parents house and the sunrise on the ocean was so beautiful!

Swimming lessons this year were August 2-6 for our kids and Camellia's kids (except Lizzy and Russell). We ended up camping in Champion Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening. Doug joined us Thursday, and we had 14 people sleeping in our tent that night. A small independent film company was filming a movie in Champion on Saturday and Caeleb and Elva and I decided to be extras for that film. It was actually lots of fun walking across Main street in Champion over and over and over again with each take. And we met some fun people while doing it! I would totally do that again. The kids would too. 

Chris spent most of the summer in his office, working on his parent's company computers,  programming some sort of App to help with their business. He never got it done so I suppose he will continue to work on it next summer. I am not sure what to think about that but I will leave it there. 😕 He was able to make a covering for our septic tank, so that was very nice of him. He is very creative that way and did a very good job!

I went to Calgary with the kids a couple of times in August to help a friend in the ward find a new vehicle after she had car accident. We ate at Wendys drive through many times this summer and enjoyed the $1 frostys. We also went to Camellia and Doug's for a weekend and went to Waterton to skip rocks in the lake with the kids (Chris stayed home to work as per usual). 

We went to my Cousins, the Gainor's, beautiful lake house on Gull lake for a night in August. We had to delay a day because I had taken Selman to Vulcan Emergency Room at 4:00 in the morning the day before. He had been sick for a couple of days and then woke up in the middle on the night with  wheezing and fast breathing. X-rays were normal (he was such a tough little guy and did so well standing still for x-rays), covid test was negative, and a few doses of ventolin and atrovent helped him greatly. Hopefully it was just a one time RSV event and will not lead into an Asthma. He has been fine since. Anyways, we had fun at the Gainor's. Chris and I played a bird game with Kamille. Elva got along really well with Elliette and Dawsyn. They went exploring. Caeleb and Marshall played together as well. We went tubing on their beautiful new boat twice. The weather was a bit dodgy and the first time out on the boat, the waves were really choppy. The second time out, a rain storm hit us suddenly and Kamille did some quick thinking to bring us home safely. It is a big lake and you can get lost on it! The kids, especially Elva and Mary, had a blast tubing! I don't think we will ever have a boat (though I would like a canoe someday to take out on the reservoir 5 minutes from our house) but I am so grateful that the Gainors are willing to let us come and visit! We will have to do it again in future years. 

Other little highlights of the Summer were going to Bar U ranch and Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump early in July. I love going to historical sights! Definitely a passion of mine. I don't think the kids have that passion yet and Chris does not either, but hopefully some day. I love that my Dad loves historical sights. I remember him always reading every historical sign when we went places as a kid. I am like him in that way. 

It was a good summer. It went by way too fast but I think by the end of it, we were all ready to go back to school. I love Spring and July, I don't care for August, but Fall really is my favorite season of the year (just like it was for my old Calgary friend Grandma Nancy who lived at the Colonel Belcher with my Grandma Selman - I miss them both, my Rummicube buddies, and have been thinking of them). 

We are still having a good Fall. The weather has been very nice. It snowed a little last week, a little winter squall, but besides that we have hardly got any snow yet and the temperature has stayed pretty warm. My days are spent playing with the kids, procrastinating doing laundry, painting the inside porch and mudding the attic (I am very slow at getting projects done) and thinking about religion. I need to get over that last one. Talking about religion has strengthened my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and simultaneously weakened my faith in humanity and has left me confused and depressed (I need to get back on my antidepressant I think). I have taken a step with faith out into the dark by learning about other people's beliefs, and guess what. It has brought nothing but darkness. So how could it be true. Why do people interpret the Bible the way THEY do?! It does not lead to happiness. It leads to darkness, feelings opposite of light, love and truth. I feel empty inside. 

Well, it is almost 6:00 am. I have been up since 4:00 am coughing. I have had a bad cold/flu this week and even had a fever on Tuesday and Wednesday. Caeleb and I got covid tested on Thursday and we are negative. We have all been a bit sick and I have got nothing productive done this week except for hanging out with the kids at home - which is good enough! We watched a lot of movies including having a family movie night last night while eating nachos. We watched Jungle Cruise and it was really good. Chris was working in his office and did not join us. Caeleb and Elva have guitar/piano lessons today (Saturday) as they had school yesterday and then I think we will go for a bit of a drive after. Chris, will be working in his office. Until later then.