Welcome to Banff

The wonderful thing about not having little ones any more, is that I feel like we are able to just get up and go a lot more easily now.  This weekend we decided to go to Banff and do some hiking.  It was a great weekend for it.  We even saw a bear.

We spent one colder afternoon at the Banff Hot springs.  It was so much fun.  I wish that Tammy and I had rented one of the old fashion bathing suits but we didn't.  Maybe next time.

We did this amazing hike to Johnson Canyon and it was so beautiful  I love this picture with Darien.   We are truly in our happy place in the mountains.

We went with Tammy and Jim and it is always a great time with them.

This is the view by the waterfalls at Johnson Canyon

This is an awesome part of the trail, where you are walking on a boardwalk that has been attached to the side of the mountain and it is above the river.  It was so much fun.

Darien took a picture of his little brother too.

We stopped at Lake Louise which we haven't been too in a very long time.

We had lunch on a hill over looking the lake and it was beautiful.

I am really proud of these next few pictures.  These are some that Darien took while we were hiking and I think they are amazing.

The colors and water look so beautiful.

I love how he took the piture of the moss.

This was our bear we saw.  Thankfully he was on the other side of a fence and river.

The boys called this the floating rock.  It had been thrown on and then the ice melted so it looked like it was just floating there.

This is the Lake Louise Hotel in the background.

A great weekend with our best friends and my very special best friend.

The Hotel that we stayed at had this really cute train that you could ride on.  The little boys and big boys had a great time.

Enjoying Spring Evenings

There is something so wonderful about finally being able to be outside again after a long winter.  As soon as we can we are out there in the fresh air loving it.  Here the boys are enjoying an evening of reading before bed.  Rylan looks a little bit like Harry Potter with his glasses and striped rugby socks.

We even turned on the fire to warm the air a little bit so we could enjoy it just a little bit longer.

Darien and his friend MC taking some dirt bikes for a boot on her acerage.

Then doing some studying on the trampoline

MC sent me these pictures to prove that he was doing what he said he was  LOL

Happy Mothers Day

This is the one day that I truly get to celebrate being a mom.  There are days when I wonder what it would be like to be a working women and how different my life would be.  There are day when I look at these boys and wonder if I am doing enough to teach them, love them and help them to grow into wonderful young men.  But then I look at them and think I wouldn't trade this for the world and I feel so incredibly blessed to have them call me mom.  To go through the ups and downs with them.  To face each challenge with them as a learning experience for myself.  Maybe by the time they are all grown I will have gotten it down pact, but I highly doubt that.  LOL  They are my pride and joy and thank my Heavenly Father for letting me be their mom.  

Duathlon

This was a very exciting weekend.  It was the first event that I have done in a long time and it was a duathlon.  This is when you run, bike, run.  It was great to do it with my friend Lara.  We went out to Drayton Valley for this event and stay the night before.

It was a little harder than I thought it would be.  The run was 4km, 20km bike and then 4 km run again.  The run at the end was so pretty hard.  lol  So glad we did this.

Brotherly Love

I am sure you think our life is all perfect and our children are perfect but don't be fooled.  LOL  We have normal kids that fight and bicker.  I like to think that we are pretty lucky in that it isn't all the time but there are those times when I wonder if we will all survive.  LOL  So I thought I would share with you some of the great memories of being a mother to all boys.  Here we have Keagan, he is usually pretty level and doesn't get too upset about things but there was this time when he and Darien had a whopper of a fight and the end result was Darien with some scratches and Keagan with a pretty swollen nose.

I can laugh at these pictures now but at the time, if I hadn't kept my cool heads would have rolled.  LOL

Looking good Keagan.

Here we have Rylan.  This was not in the same time frame more so just the same kind of story this is why they are posted together.  Rylan and Keagan had a little bit of an argument.  This time Keagan ended up with the scratches and Rylan ended up with a fat lip.

Please now that we don't except this type of behavior and that there was punishment for those involved.  I am so thankful that this isn't an everyday occurrence and that for the most part our boys get along and love one another.

Some lessons are learned the hard way.  :(

Harlem Globetrotters

I was so excited to be able to go with Keagan for his night with the Globetrotters.  We had a great time and great seats.

He was so happy to get a ball and jersey.

Happy Birthday Keagan.  I love you.

Rugby In Edmonton

There is nothing I love more than watching my boys play sports.  But can I just say it isn't so much fun watching them when it is so cold outside.  This is the first year that Darien is playing rugby on his school team and it was great to watch but boy was it cold.  

I thought Darien looked good out there and he had some great tackles.

He has the speed for it but boy it sure is a rough sport.

There is a lot of running and big hits.

Yes that is Darien at the bottom of the pile

You wouldn't know that I was freezing the whole time.  LOL