Garden Spikes ...

June 10, 2017

Fresh garden greens from the garden ...

Love the garden spike watering system ... 

to start out my plants in the spring ...

 

 

Mayook Picnic

June 9, 2017

Today is our Mayook Community Picnic ...

A wonderful get together with our families and friends ...

Don and Mike were busy grilling up burgers ... hot dogs and smokies ...

at the outdoor grilling hut ...

We enjoyed our picnic and visiting with everyone ...!!! 

 Let the games begin ...!!! After the picnic we were having a Bunco (dice) games night ... This was a new game we played in Houston with Kendall .. We decided to introduce this game to the community ... We had a blast ... a lot of craziness and laughter ...  Lisa was the overall winner ...!!!

We’re planning to host another Bunco night in the future ...!!!

 

Work Day ...

June 6, 2017

Well ... enough of partying ... it was time to get some work done ...

Our neighbour had done some logging on his wood lot ...

He had set some logs aside for us for our firewood ...

Thank goodness for our trusty tractor ...

we were able to lift up the logs ... and set them into the bed of the truck ...

The loaded logs were driven to the edge of our field ...

where we unloaded and stacked them into a pile ...

to dry out for the season ...

 

June 7, 2017

We spent another day getting more wood and stacking it ...

We’re happy to have had this opportunity to add to our woodshed for next year ...

Our beautiful lilacs in full bloom ...

Always take time to smell the roses ... or lilacs ... !!!

 

 

 

Party On ...

June 4, 2017

The gangs all here ... even Mike made it back from Mossleigh ...

Nathan was busy grilling up the burgers and smokies ...

and finally taking time to get his dinner ...

After dinner ... Alana and the kids went inside to tend to the cake ...

James and Ella were busy putting on the candles ... 

placing them far apart ...!!!

James lit all the candles then Alana carried down the stairs ...

as everyone sang “Happy Birthday” 

Nathan had to take a deep breath to blow out all those candles .. hahaha !!!

Nathan loved the “Oilers hockey colours” 

All the kids were by his side ... waiting patiently for a piece of birthday cake ...

Nathan continued to open his gifts ...

Later on ... it was time to sit back and relax ...

sitting around the campfire and toasting marshmallows ...

Craig and James dug up a Time Capsule ...

they buried it in the yard ... 

They were eager to open it up to see what was inside ...

It was funny because they had totally forgotten what they had buried ...

and commented that they had been looking for a couple of the items ...

 

It was a wonderful weekend ...

Mike and I headed home after the party ...

 

Happy Birthday Nathan

June 4, 2017

Today is Nathan’s birthday ... a beautiful day for a party ...

Mike was at his shooting tournament ... 

and I was spending the weekend with kids ...

The kids were excited when they heard the chimes of the Ice Cream truck ...

They quickly ran outside to stop the truck so we could get some ice cream ...

After we finished our ice cream ... it was time for Nathan to open his gifts ...

Nathan was touched by the cards that the children created ...

Nathan then read Alana’s card ... he loved her card ... 

it was soooo beautiful ... it made me emotional ...

He then proceeded to open up Alana’s gift ... the children were waiting to see as well ...

Nathan was surprised to receive this gift ...

An amazing ultra modern new watch ... !!!

Nathan was overwhelmed and needed to take a few minutes to relax ... haha ...

The boys decided they would join him ... 

they sure love getting hugs from dad ...!!!

Okay ... enough relaxing ... 

it was time to get things set up for the party ...

It was a beautiful ... sunny warm day for a party ... The families started to arrive in the afternoon ... All the kids were excited when Alana brought out the balloons ... for the kids to have a water balloon fight ... 

They had a lot of fun ... with lots of screaming ...

and laughing ...!!!

 

Gun Club ...

June 4, 2017

Mike spent the weekend in Mossleigh, AB ...

at a Trap Shooting Tournament ...

with his friends that he shoots with at the local Trap & Skeet Club ...

This was Mike’s first tournament ... 

This was this young mans first time shooting ...  at a Mossleigh Tournament ... He started this sport last year ... One of the rituals at the range is ...  if you shoot 25 straight shots in a row ... The guys grab your hat ... toss it up in the air ... and everyone takes a shot at it ... 

 

The last day in Mossleigh, AB ... the guys hanging out ... Mike said the accomodations at the Inn ... were quite comfortable ... and the homemade meals were delicious at the diner ... It was a great trip and Mike hopes to attend again next year.

 

 

Bachelorette Party Begins ...

June 3, 2017

After the branding dinner ... the ladies were getting ready to celebrate Alana’s friend ... (Paige) ...

Bachelorette party ... 

All the kids were so excited when the Limousine arrived ...

They were allowed to go inside and check it out inside ...

Of course ... the boys had to pop there heads out of the sunroof ...

The ladies were ready to party ... a night out in the city ...

 Oh boy ... could be trouble ...!!!

And ... they’re off ...!!!

The guys all gathered around and enjoyed the evening ...

while watching all the children ...

The kids had a great time ... playing games ... watching movies ...

just having fun ...

It was getting late and I was ready to go back to the house ...

The grandchildren were rounded up ... and we made our way home ...!!!

Tomorrow was going to be another busy day ...!!!

 

 

 

Branding Day ...

June 3, 2017

It was going to be an exciting day for the Knight family ...

A new experience for the kids ...

It was branding day at Alana’s friends ranch ...

There were so many helping hands for this day ...

The kids were taking it all in ... waiting for the action to begin ...

Nathan paired up with one of the guys ... to get down and dirty ...

holding the calves ... while the others treated them ...

The kids were mesmerized watching the activities ...

The kids got tired of watching ... and headed out in the field to play on the hay bales ...

Then while the calves were being separated from the cows ...

the gang had to stay up on the fence for safety ...

As the calves were rounded up ... in the corral ... one got away ...

and Nathan captured the calf and carried it back ...

The horses were resting after rounding up the cows and calves ...

The kids were able to sit on the horses ... they were loving it ...

Alana was with one of her friends ... holding a sweet baby cowgirl ... 

There were 2 calves left ...

Craig wanted to try and wrestle down and hold a calf with his dad ...

He had a lot of guidance from the bystanders ...

Craig did a great job ...!!!

Craig also wanted to experience riding on a calf ... 

Once he was finished with the calf he was holding ... he went to the other one ...

and waited for that crew to be done ...

 

The team held the calf and guided Craig on the technique ...

to make his way onto the calf ...

AND HE WAS UP ...

“Hold on Craig” ... yipeeeeee ...!!!

 

Oh my ... whoa ...!!!!!

the calf has won ... Craig was on the ground ...

Whatba trooper ... he was up and smiling ...

It was a short but good ride ...

Way to go Craig ...!!!!

The boys went back to the tame horses ...

learned how to mount and dismount ...

as well as taking the reins and going for walk around the corral ... 

They loved it ...!!!

The calves were released back to be with the cows ...

They were all rounded up and taken out to the pasture ...   

The rest of us were all heading back to the ranch house ...

to enjoy a fabulous meal ...

of “Fried Prairie Oysters” and roast beef dinner with all the fixings ...

A good days work for all ...!!!

 

It was quite the experience ... 

and it brought me back to the days ...

when we used to have brandings in our area ...

with all the families and friends getting together ...

 

 

Tom’s 40th Birthday ...

June 2, 2017

We arrived at Alana’s brothers 40th birthday party ... 

oh my goodness ... everyone was dressed up in costumes ...

from the 60’s...!!!

Tom was dressed up as Elvis ... and he played the part well ...

Alana was looking pretty cool ...

Not quite sure who Nathan was ... but it was a hoot ... the kids wanted to try on daddy’s wig and beard ...

They were hilarious ...!!!

We had brought flowers for Alana ... congratulating her on graduating from college ...

Elvis was having a great time with the kids ...

Alana’s family posing for pictures ...

Oh oh ... looks like Elvis got into trouble ...

The families were having a blast ... posing for pictures ...

The kids and I stayed for dinner ... and the gift opening ... 

It took a few people to keep Elvis busy in the house ... so that the gift could be brought outside ...

and for Elizabeth (who was dressed up in a shark costume) to climb into the box ...

Colynne and Jessica-Lee managed to keep things well hidden ...

Tom wasn’t sure what was going on ... when he came outside ...

Elvis decided to play a few tunes before the shark jumped up out of the box ...

 

He was bombarded with silly string ... everyone was laughing and clapping ...

He was still unsure of what was happening ... until he was given an envelop with a letter inside ...

While reading the letter ... he all of a sudden stopped ... he was in shock ...

He was given a trip to be up close and personal with “SHARKS” ...

He was so surprised ...

 

It wasn’t long until we were all singing Happy Birthday and the “shark theme” cake was served ...

This party crowd was getting a little rowdy ...

The kids and I decided that it was time to head back to the house ...

and we would have our own party there ... playing games ...

watching movies and munching on popcorn ...!!!