Trip tales part 8

We got to have a night to hang out with the Truebloods. They often eat their supper at their restaurant or hang out there. It was a great place to dine when they were open, and it was also supper fun to be there when they weren't. The kids were extremely concerned about us going into a restaurant with the closed sign up, so I showed them who Joel was, told them he was the owner and that if he said we could be there it was ok. Then Dominique piped up saying "can I have a prickly pear lemonade then?" It was great, dancing space, music, ambiance and laughter, over amazing food, cappuccino and art, playing a game and dreaming of life's directions together.

My only sadness is that we don't get to be there more or that they didn't have the restaurant when we were there. Brian and I both got to be a part of some of their catering gigs though and that was totally fun. I love how Trish and Joel do things beautifully.

Their daughter Bella "taught" my trio how to make cappuccinos and they presented me with this!






Emora eating leg of lamb.



















Chef Joel in his kitchen, creating masterpieces.


The biggest fork I've ever seen.









Healer, friend, supporter, inspirer, Trish in her garden spaces behind the restaurant. December and she pulled up some little carrots for supper! She also has a bunch of lettuce and herbs growing. The only thing we are growing this time of year in Fort Qu'Appelle is icicles! But I am dreaming of our garden in spring. I bought some cheap, cheap end of season seeds. They are nestled away in the cupboard.

Meanwhile it's about -40 here! I walk around in warm slippers, a long sleeve shirt and sweater, sometimes with a scarf around my neck, drinking hot tea or coffee INSIDE the house and I had to fight with my daughter to take ski pants to school (she says she doesn't need them since they are having indoor recess). I fought with both her and her brother to put on a long sleeve shirt over their t-shirts. At the end of the day, I found their discarded shirts in their backpacks. Are they part heater or something?! Amazing!

Trip tales part 7

Enjoy the weather Abilene, we sure did! I left off the last post with us at Fort Imagination in Abilene and I still had more pictures from that relatively warm day.

Here in Canada, it's cold these days, I mean really cold- freeze the snot in your nose as you walk to the car cold, frost on the inside of the van cold, big chunks of ice on my indoor window cold, mop sticking to the ATM frozen door cold, jean stiff burrrrrr cold. So Emora and I made muffins and drank hot apple cider (for me) hot choc. milk (for her) and look at the beauty through the windows- braving the outside only to drop off kids at school and pick them back up. Yesterday we had apple crisp with caramel swirl ice cream for desert and it was so comforting. All I wished for more was a hot fire and good book!

It was Brian's birthday Sunday. He and I got to eat out Friday night and the next day, he went into the city to have a day to himself. Sunday he started a new brew that he is looking forward to trying.


Ivan's ski trip was cancelled today. They are still having school it's -40 (where fareinheit and Celcius meet) so a bit nippy to be skiing, but not cold enough to cancel school. They have been having indoor recess, which my kids love, but I'm sure it's driving the teachers a little batty. Grace to them all today and through the week. They say it might get up to just -1 by the weekend. That would be crazy, but nice.





These dress up pics were taken as the kids were playing at Olivia's house. They are dressing up in her little dog's outfits and lifejacket. We had a fun lunch there and time together.




thanks go to Olivia for sharing pics too!

Trip tales part 6

I hope you're not bored with these, I still have lots to go! That's the thing with digital, you can take tons and tons of pictures. Here was some of our fun with a visit to the Vann's farm. Joey and Angie earned the super duper amazing friends by helping us with the crazy drive North upon our move. Joey drove Brian's truck and Angie and I took turns driving the kid mobile. Whoever wasn't driving was on dvd, snacks and calming kids duty. Emora was pretty young then and I do remember at one point getting in the back because it was the only thing to keep her happy those long hours in a van driving to Canada. Brian was master navigator and uhaul driver, picnic spot picker, potty break enforcer and wind break.
But back in Texas, the kids didn't seem to mind being in confined spaces, they loved being in the dog crates and played that they were doggies for quite a while.
We got to see the goats...and walk around, have fun food and catch up.











This is another very talented friend of ours. Olivia is a pro photographer. She took some pics of us before we left Texas. Angie had made some of them into a poster and gave it to us this visit. It is an amazing treasure that captures that time in our life and made me realize just how little the kids were just 1.5 years ago!

We had a fun morning playing at the park. This was my favorite swing there. It's shaped like an adult chair so that moms can swing in it with baby. I first sat in it the year they built it, when Ivan was born!


Here I am with Elijah, Tighe's youngest who is so very cute! Almost makes me want another one, ALMOST, but not quite.
Tighe is so gorgeous! Love this pic of her ;)

Can you tell Olivia's a photographer? I love how photographers will get to whatever position to make the shot.

Here is what she saw- an amazing bouquet of faces. Thanks again Olivia! You are an amazing woman ;)

Trip tales part 5

I still have a ton of pics to share from our trip, but I am not taking many these days since we got home, so I guess I have plenty of time to post until I have a little file of new ones.

The weather is so crazy this year... barely any snow, really warm days interspersed with really cold days. It's weird! This was our first week to be back and I was surprised to see that I do not hate the school schedule as much as I thought! It was actually kind of nice! ack, there I said it.

Today was fun, it was Hawaian picnic day at school, so we did our best at being Hawaians, ate on the gym floor of Ivan's school with a bunch of cousins, aunty and uncle, school friends and people we know from in the community. They made us pina colada ice drinks (sans rum) and it was a great way to start the weekend- with a school party.
Do you see our old house behind the girls? We were visiting our former neighbors, going in their homes and saying hello. Dominique kept wanting to visit whoever lives in our old house, that we do not know. She kept saying "let's go in that house!" We couldn't of course, but I think we all wanted to walk through and see what it is like now. We did drive through the alley and saw our old yard and the kids were very thrilled to see our art work still on the fence.





These were our neighbors across the street. Very precious people who helped us a lot.




This was in Bontera Blue- a very classy restaurant by our very classy friends. Brian got to play there one night and I had the best steak, the best sweet potatoe fries and the best lemonade EVER!!! I'm serious. The lemonade was made with prickly pear puree (the fruit off cactus plants). It was all exquisite and we are so impressed with our amazing, talented friends. We have lots of talented friends which is so very, very fun ;)






Paula is a terrific friend who went with me to watch Brian and eat. Oh yeah, we walked in on rose petals and listened to some fabulous live music!


New Years eve we spent at Grandma Wynetta's house. Dave and Amy Sue were friends of Brian's from his college days and while they no longer live in Abilene, we and others were able to convince them to come so that we could see them and meet their wonderful trio. The kids loved watching a movie together while the adults got caught up. They live in one of the hottest places on earth and us in one of the coldest, so we should really figure out a way to share homes in the miserablest times of the year! They are in Arizona and said that some days this summer it was even too hot to swim in their pool! They said people would order in big blocks of ice to put in their pools for a pool party! So I'm going to picture hot pool water as I dive into the cold lakes this summer ;) Lap swimming is really way better in cooler water and maybe the kids will acclimatize some this year?? Or maybe I'll get a wet suit ;)

Trip tales part 4

We got to stay at the palace Wynetta. Wynetta is an amazing lady with an amazing house. After Brian and I first met, we wrote each other a couple of snail mail letters and I remember him telling me about Thursday nights at Wynetta's. She would invite anyone who wanted to come over to her home for a meal from their church and a lot of college singles would come weekly. She has touched a lot of lives with her meals, her open home and the refuge she provides physically and spiritually. I'd spent a lot of time with her in her home, but this is the first time I had the privilege of living there. I'd never realized just how spacious her home is and her heart matches the generosity. She gave us a key and free reign as long as we spent one evening with her which we gladly did.


Lots of kids have played on these, most of whom are now adults.




Paula in black and Wynetta in blue.








Dominique lassoing the car. Yep, there's some Texan in her.


and a bit of Canada in all three! The adults were in long sleeves enjoying the sun, but the kids were HOT! and all insisted on taking off their shirts. I remember the first Christmas I was in Abilene, my family all came down to be with Brian and I. It was warm and dad wanted us to get his picture on the front lawn with his shirt off while he sunbathed! It wasn't that warm, but he wanted to show that it was December and hot enough to take his shirt off!

Thankfully it was warm for a bit when we got back so it wasn't too much of a shock to our system. It's cold enough now. about 0 F or minus 20 C. Yesterday the wind chill made it feel like -31C.

Trip tales part 3

We had a fun and loud night with the Baiers (Tighe, Greg, Isaiah, Lily and Elijah) our first night in Abilene after supper. It was like old times, with music, instruments and laughter. So much fun.









We also got to see some old friends. I found out that my former little sister with Big Brother's Big Sister's Shayshay as we knew her lives in Abilene again. She is now all grown up, 20 years old!! We were matched when she was 7! Time flies I tell you. She has 2 gorgeous kids. Her daughter was taking a nap, so I only got to peep in at her. I was glad to be able to see her. A part of my heart will always reside wherever she is.

Another dear person to our lives and our family was and always will be Big Buddy. We loved his hat the day we visited. We got to see some of his drawings and he gave several to the kids. He doesn't have much space or privacy, so that's hard on him, but his memory is great and he seemed in pretty good health for a man in his mid 90s!