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 ...!!!

 

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 ...!!!

 

 

 

Gone Fishing Again ...

May 24, 2017

We had arranged to go fishing with Rod and Nicole earlier in the week ...

this would be their first time out on a boat and fishing ...

We had left our boat at Premier Lake after the long weekend ...

Even though it wasn’t a very nice day ... we had to go pick it up ...

We decided to leave the camper on the truck ... just in case the weather turned on us ...

and we needed a dry ... warm place ...

We had a great time ... it was a real learning experience for them ... they were so happy to catch some fish ... 

They would love to come back sometime and go again ...!!!

We were getting cold ... so it was time to go ...

Rod offered to help Mike load the boat on the trailer ... Mike backed the truck down the ramp ... 

Rod put on the hip waders to avoid getting wet ... the water was cold ...

Mike drove the boat unto the trailer ... it was tricky with the wind and waves ...

I was grateful Rod was there to help out ... !!!

Our original plan was to have a fish fry at the park ... but the weather turned nasty ... so we decided to drive home ...

and cook them up there where it was warm ...!!!

Mike and Nicole decided they needed some martinis to warm up ...

before dinner was ready ...

We ended up cooking the fish in foil on the barbecue ...

I had penne noodles with pasta sauce and corn on the cob ready to be heated ...

a quick salad was made and we were ready to have our dinner ...

Once the dishes were cleared and kitchen cleaned up ...

Nicole and I relaxed with our drinks in the living room ...

while the guys spent their time in the hot tub ... 

 

It was a busy ... thrilling day ... and us ladies were tired ...

We ended up going to bed early ...

Rod and Nicole were leaving early in the morning for home ...

 

We had a wonderful time and totally enjoyed their visit ...

hoping we can get together again ...!!!

 

 

Guests Arrive ...

May 23, 2017

It felt good to be home again ... we had a busy day getting organized ...

as we were expecting our friends Rod & Nicole ...

They were going stop here for a couple days ... on their way thru from Calgary ...

to there home in Kelowna ...

I love seeing the flowers blooming on my cactus plant ...

Since we were going to have company for dinner ... I thought I would go down to the garden ...

to pick some fresh rhubarb to make a rhubarb pie for dessert ...

Rhubarb pie is my favourite ...!!!

Rod and Nicole arrived later in the afternoon ...

We decided to take the quads touring a bit around our property ... 

We also went up to Oma and Opa’s special place on the edge of the mountain ...

We spent some time hiking around and admiring the wild flowers ...

We continued driving around ... giving them a tour on our road ...

It was nearing dinner time ... so we headed back to the house ...

Mike fired up the BBQ to grill some steaks ...

the side dishes were prepared earlier ...

We had a lovely evening ... catching up on all the news ...

 

 

 

Last Day of Fishing ...

May 21, 2017

All of us decided to go out on the lake ... to do some evening fishing on our last night in the park ...

Lindsay and Krista decided to come fish in our boat ...

as Rocco and Denise had a full crew ...

It was perfect so that everyone got a chance out on the lake ...

whether they were fishing or just cruising ...

When the sun was setting behind the mountains ...

We made our way back to the campsite ... 

and once again plunked ourselves down in our cozy lawn chairs ...

sitting around the campfire ...

It would be busy in the morning ... with everyone getting packed up to head back home ...

 

 

May 22, 2017

A few of us did go fishing one last time ... after we packed up our campers ...

It was another successful fishing day ...!!!

These 4 ended up finding there way into our freezer ... for us to enjoy another day ...!!!

 

This was the first May long weekend that we had spent camping ...

I am sure it won’t be the last ...

We’re hoping some of our other family members ...

might be able to join us ...!!!

 

We had so much fun ...!!!