Picking Berries after the fall

It's been a very long day. This morning Mom had to return her 24hr heart monitor to the hospital. While there we ran into her sister Margaret who informed us that Grandma was in the emergency room after having a nasty fall getting out of the shower. Oh she looked a mess. Since she is on warfarin (blood thinner) she bled a lot! Even though they had cleaned her up some she was still caked in dried blood all over her head. Poor thing! She ended up with stitches in the back of her skull. But she is going to be ok. That's the important part. So after 4 hours of helping care for Grandma we headed back "up in the hills" to pick Saskatoons (service berries for you Americans) and wild raspberries. Mmmm Mmmmm Good! The trees were loaded! Now while you are looking through the photos below you will notice a couple of guns. Well, let me explain. We've had a lot of grizzly bear trouble this summer and a lot of scat indicating that the bears have been enjoying the berries too. Dad was in charge of the rifle and I was in charge of the 20 guage shotgun. No bears, no worries! But boy did we end up with a lot of berries. Pies here we come!!

Watching the Olympics

We've been so busy staying with Jamie and Connie and they don't have TV reception so our Olympics viewing has been quite limited. Today we drove up to Lethbridge to stay with Kali before heading down to Utah. Hunter had the opportunity to see his first competitions of the Olympic games. He loved it. Dad and I left at about 9pm to help take down the decorations for a wedding. We didn't get back until about midnight. I stopped by Hunters room to check on him and found the TV still going even though he had drifted off to sleep. As I closed the door his little head popped up and he asked, "Do they ever go to bed?" Say what? "Mom. The Olympians. Do they ever get to go to bed?" LOL I guess he didn't understand the time difference between here and China since CBC is broadcasting the games live long into the night here. But how sweet, worring about the athletes.

Heritage Days

We haven't been able to attend Heritage Days for years because it always conflicts with school starting in the States. Not this year. Oh the freedom!!! We started the morning out by helping Jamie and Connie at the Silk Purse to make the meal for the parade dignitaries. The parade started at 11am. It was my (gulp) 20 year high school reunion. I was supposed to join them on a float but was trying to spend my time in town incognito. So much for that plan. My aunt Maureen and cousin Joni yelled out to my former classmates as the float went by, "Deanna's right here"!! They all pelted me with candy as they tried to get me up on the float. NOT HAPPENING. I did attend the picnic afterwards and it was nice to see them. Afterward Mom and Dad showed up and Dad and I went to all the family softball games. I love softball! I wish I could have played but the rosters have to be made up in advance and no one knew I was coming. Not only that but this stupid ankle still isn't even close to healed yet. Oh well. Next year.

All hail broke loose

We made the long drive across the border on Saturday evening and 4 miles later we turned off the highway and headed for "the hills". We got up there before the sun went down and in time for homemade onion rings, fries and good Alberta roast beef. Was it ever tasty. Grandma and Grandpa were up for the weekend too (miraculously). So that meant card games. We played Black Sevens with the kids and Rook for the adults. Surprisingly, some of my younger cousins hadn't learned Rook yet. I think that might be a Quinton sin. LOL! So we taught Josh and Kenzie how to play way into the dark of night by lantern light in the camp kitchen. By that point we were freezing and had to build the fire waaaayyy up. Dad already had his tent up and there was room for myself and Hunter so we threw done some sleeping bags for the night. Morning came early it seemed and the hard cold ground wasn't all that bad. But after breakfast the rain clouds start to pile up in the west. We could hear the thunder far off and hoped it would miss us. No such luck. Dad wanted to show me a spot out in the bush that Carl want to make our immediate family camping spot. We got in the 4x4 and headed out to the bottom land. Just as we pulled out we were deluged with hail. It continued for at least 15 minutes. By the time my uncle had come back in from church an hour later there was still hail out on the gravel road. Made for a bit of sloppy camping. Then again it is Alberta and the weather changes very quickly. The sun peeked through the clouds and dried us out a bit. Made sleeping in the tent that night much more pleasant. Monday morning I was the first one up. There was frost on the ground! It was absolutely freezing! BBBBRRRRR!!!!

We're sweating it out in Logan

Holy cow it's hot here! Unfortunately for Carl, he has NO air-conditioning. How he lives like this all the time is a wonder to me. This morning Hunter, Carl, and I went out to work with the horses. They are so cute and learning fairly quickly. We were able to put Hunter up on Flicka and let him ride bare-back. He loved it! He doesn't get to ride very often so this was a real treat. He is trying to convince me to move almost hourly so that he can be closer to his cousins and the horses. Later in the day we headed up to USU so that I could show Hunter around campus and of course eat some Aggie icecream. I got to have a fresh raspberry shake. There is nothing like the raspberries here. That has to be the best shake I have ever had!

Diondra had a beautiful wedding in the SLC temple yesterday. It was the first time I have been to a sealing in the SLC temple. So wonderful! They make such an adorable couple.