Black and White memory

I remember a black and white picture of my mom, my Auntie Marilyn and Auntie Connie in their teens. They were hot and looking for a way to cool off from the hot Manitoba summer. They were innovative and used what they had for a swimming pool, an old 50 gallon oil barrel. If only I had the picture to show, but imagine 3 teenage girls, stuffed into a barrel with only their heads and shoulders sticking out the top. There was probably more girl than water in that barrel but they cooled off. So when I saw Katelyn assume a similar position, that picture came to mind.
She totes this empty pail around the yard and picks up sticks and stones. Put a little water in it and it adds another level of fun. Hence, the no clothes. Water soaked her dress, so it was hanging on the line and we ran around in our diaper. The freedom of a child!

Swimming, Swimming

Yesterday, Jason was headed to Meeteetse so we packed up the kid and went for a ride. Jason was busy having a meeting and I went over to my friend Heidi's and had a pool party with the boys. Her son JD loves Katelyn and plays quite well with her. Heidi got the pool blown up and filled up and we were all set.
Working the "pail purse".

JD was pouring water down Katelyn's back, which made her laugh.
We went from the pool to the trampoline, back to the pool. Heidi and I didn't get to sit down much but it was fun to see the kids play together.

Katelyn loves this little chair. She can climb onto it herself, which makes it all that much more fun. And she is so super cute in it. This girl will smile on command. She loves getting her picture taken. What a ham.
I was just happy she kept her sunglasses and hat on the whole time. She was distracted so she didn't think about taking off her sunglasses. In the afternoon while we were trying to get the kids to sleep, we were warned that there were a few bears roaming the river very close to the CWAM base. A couple minutes later, Jason calls me and says there is a bear roaming the bank. Sure enough, it looked like a young grizzly bear, walking on the property but kept walking back to the river. That was exciting, but also a little nerve wracking knowing that those things can pop out anywhere.

It has been extremely hot lately, so Sunday while we were in Walmart, I found a small pool $6.50! So that went into the cart and we may blow that up this afternoon and repeatedly this week just to try and beat the heat outside. It is fair week here in Powell, which means it's going to be HOT!

Sewing Creation

I had the urge to sew something last week and the thought came into my head that I should make a dress for Katelyn. I haven't sewn a garment since high school, but thought I would give it a go. Went to the fabric store and looked through the patterns and came upon an Very Easy pattern, which I thought was really cute. Looked through the somewhat limited selection of material and settled on this ultra cute, pink paisley cotton. I got to sewing that day for a couple of hours and then next day a couple of hours and then some hand sewing and this is what came out of those hours.

It is a size two and quite big on her. It should be taken in on the sides but after all the work I did, I'd rather just pin it. And it is super long on her, but I think next year it will fit just right. I was so proud of myself for actually figuring out the pattern instructions and getting everything right. It may not be perfect, but I did it to the best of my ability. What more could I ask for? Not bad for $23. Funny how it's more to sew your own than to buy them. I probably wouldn't have paid $23 for a dress like this in the store, just because I'm cheap, but it was fun to make it myself.

Last week! whoa!

Last week was a crazy busy week for us. We "hosted" around 50 people from Tennessee who rolled in to town on the Rolling Thunder tour. Jason has become friends with Scott Macleod who has a ministry called Thunder School in Nashville. Thunder School is a 3 month school that is based on the arts and media and using it for ministry. So these were some of the past graduates of last fall's school. They planned a trip out west last summer, to do ministry at different places and just to be out west. Last year they could only stay a two days but this year they were here for four days. We housed them at the Cowboys with A Mission base in Meeteetse and they called that home base while they were here. They rolled in Tuesday and left Saturday morning.

Jason has wanted to see them do something in the Cody Band shell in the park that is somewhat centrally located and along the main strip. This year we rented it and got a local band to come a play a little bit with all these guys. A lot of these young people play and write music, poetry or are wonderful artists. A few gave their testimonies which were powerful and some did skits. We were hoping for a better turn out of people, but those that needed to hear the message did. Someone even said that their boss could here it on her front porch so her and her neighbors listened from home. We just wanted to praise God and take back this city for Christ! The enemy was not happy though. At 9pm, we were still going. The police came and checked out our permit and looked for a time frame, which there wasn't any. They said that they were getting complaints about the music being too loud, so we had to shut it down by 9:15pm. We respected the authority over us, but we know that God's kingdom was advanced!!!! Some pretty cool things happened.


Katelyn enjoying a snack in the park. It was a hot afternoon.

Gotta check everything out

Praising Jesus during the music. She loves to clap and puts her hands in the air when music is playing. I love it. The freedom of a child.


Some students drawing. "These Fallen Walls" the local band jamming out. The lead singer is a retired bull fighter and a friend of Jason's.
This was Wednesday night.

Thursday morning, we packed up 5 trucks and 2 suburbans and made a long slow trek up to the deserted town of Kirwin. We thought these guys would like it because it is something they will have never seen before. We saw a cow moose on the way in which proved there was wild life out there. The thing with taking a bunch of city kids into the mountains is we had to let them know about ALL the dangers. Bears, wild life, old mine shafts, hypothermia etc. We did forget to tell them NOT to drink the water. Some did but then were warned. So far, no cases of "beaver fever". You just don't want to get it.
They had an awesome time. Our friend Quin brought 106 burgers and cooked them ALL on the open fire and they were ALL gone. Something some of them have probably never had before. It was uplifting for our spirits to see everyone enjoying themselves in something we sometimes take for-granted. There were a bunch of them playing in the river, exploring and even loving the dusty ride in the back of a pick-up. These guys were so much fun. Later that night, after everyone had showered the day's dust off of them, we had an impromptu worship session around the fire. Some prophetic words were given to Jason and others which was so exciting for us. You get around these guys you can't help but get energized again, and I think this part of the trip was a refreshing for many of them as well.

Friday was a fun day for them. Jason took some fishing and even had to play surgeon on one guy who got a hook stuck deep in his finger. He survived the ordeal and has a war story now :) The afternoon they went into town for white water rafting, shopping and the evening was spent at the rodeo watching one of their own get on his 2nd bull in his life. It was crazy. And he didn't get hurt Praise the Lord!

It was hard to see these guys go, but hopefully we will get down there to see them sometime soon. They'll be back!

Kirwin 2010

Saturday we woke up to the phone ringing. Our friends Quin and Tracy wanted to go up to Kirwin. Quin has lived here his whole life and Tracy's dad used to go up to Kirwin all the time, but these two had never been and Jason and I have gone numerous times. They are always taking us places we have never been but this was a first for us to be the tour guides.

Kirwin is an old mining town from the late 1800's early 1900's. It is way back in the mountains and used to be hard to get to, but now they have made better roads to get to it. There are some old buildings and an old mine shaft you can wander through. Nothing is in them but it's just neat to think of people living up there way back when. We went last year with some friends when Katelyn was just a baby in a front carrier. Now she could walk around, not that we let her a whole lot. There is a river that runs through and she is attracted to water and rocks that go splash. We went for a quick "hike" with her bumping along in the stroller, uphill all the way (which killed me, yes I'm way out of shape) to some water falls. We went back and found a spot to have a little fire for some hot dogs. (Tracy making a roasting stick)
The guys went fishing and the girls sat around. Tracy was itching to go through the buildings but we thought we would have to leave early but ended up not, so we waited for the guys to finish fishing. (Quin tying on a new fly)


Jason doing what he does best :)

Katelyn and Tracy throwing rocks in a little creek. K didn't like getting her feet cold and wet when she got too close to the edge and the water ran through her shoes.


I love this photo. The wind whipping her whispy hair and her scrunched up nose. Priceless and she's all mine!

We drove back to Meeteetse for some more fishing and then to the Cowboy Bar for some pizza. We got home late but it was a fun day with great weather and friends. Wouldn't trade it.

Playing Outside

Katelyn loves to play outside and entertains herself quite well if I get busy in the garden. Thankfully our backyard is also fenced, so she can wander to her hearts content and I don't have to worry too much about her.


She heard kids walking by and had to check them out and try and call out to them.


On the move.


She learned to smell the flowers, so I remind her to smell them every once in a while. She does also like to pick them when I'm not looking, hence the petunia in her hair that she actually left there. I think it's so cute.

4th Of July

Our 4th celebrations were very minimal and very quiet. Since the 4th was on Sunday, we went to the parade on the 3rd. Cody has 3 days of parades actually. The 2nd is the kiddie parade, which we've never been to and 3rd and the 4th is for kids of all ages.

Getting ready to leave to go to her first parade
"Come on dad, we're going to be late!"

I was driving like a mad woman to get to Cody on time since we left late. Parking is always a bear to find and then trying to find a place to sit and be able to see is terrible.

Katelyn enjoying all the horses.

Surprisingly, we found a place right on the street and had a great view and we were right on time. It wasn't as crowded as the 4th is. Note to self: Got the parade on the 3rd! You have to understand that people will set up chairs the night before and keep them there for the 4th. Oh yeah, we got some die hard parade watchers around here.


After the parade, we walked to side street with some booths people had set up for selling things in. It ranged from tons of jewelry, antler furniture, photography to a lot of other crap you find at fairs that you can waste your money on, plus the over priced food vendors. Yes, I said crap. We did get to stop and talk to my friend Erin, who had a booth of jewelry and sock monkeys with her sister Megan from my home province of Manitoba. Erin's parents and Megan drove down for the 4th weekend. It was great to catch up with Henry and Janet. They just ooohhhhed and aaaahhhed over Katelyn.

The 4th was spent at church and then we just went home and vegged. We didn't even go to the fireworks because Katelyn had only one nap all day and she was bushed by 8:30pm. The wind was picking up and was cool so it was better that we didn't go. Oh well, maybe next year.