Edmonton is in Canada Eh!

Did you know Canooks like Cheese and Gravy on their fries and call it Poutine? Neither did I, and after the girl said, "Your not from around here are you?" she politely explained what it was. I guess I'm not used to the idea of putting ketchup on my macaroni and cheese (Kraft Dinner for you Canooks), nor am I expecting to be asked if I want ketchup, mayo or poutine for my fries. Don't get me wrong, I love Canada I even have a dark Canadian secret....I'm 1/32 Canadian! Yes, it was a dark day in my life when I found out (last year in fact), but I have come to embrace my heritage and these are the things I love about Canada:

1. Fudgee-O's - Double Stuff please. Why aren't these things in America?
2. Tim Horton's - Now only if it could reach past boarder states and make it Utah, I would a happy, happy man, 50 Kilos heavier but happy.
3. Popcorn Salt - I love all the flavors.
4. Wunderbars - For that matter any Canadian Candy, why can't Hershey understand I DON'T LIKE WAX in my Chocolate!!!
5. Funny coloured Money - I love being able to tell how much money you have by looking in your wallet, now only if the US would clue into this one.
6. Unnecessarily adding the letter u to words like labour or colour and for that matter pronouncing process PROcess or sorry SOOREE or calling the letter Z ZED.
7. Canadian Movie ratings - Each province has its own movie ratings and they usually let me see movies I can't see down here due to the dreaded "R" rating. Thank you Canada for your "14" rating.
8. I used to love Canada for shopping, even with the GST you could get some deals, but with the weak US dollar stuff in Canda is WAY expensive. I mean honestly, who is going to pay $40 CAD ($41 US) for a DVD.
9. NEW FAVOURITE TREAT - Joe Louis or to be more precise a SUPER Joe Louis. Imagine a giant Hostess Ho-Ho but not rolled up and more like a Ding Dong. Thank you Jason, why didn't you tell me sooner about these things?!?!?!

In any case I enjoyed my visit to Canada this last week, but I'm glad to be home. Here are some photos of the West Edmonton Mall since I was stuck in Edmonton all day Friday. I didn't really buy anything as I couldn't afford it on my measly US salary. But just remember this is a MALL that has the following:
- Indoor water park
- Mini golf
- Ice Skating
- Submarines (no longer working)
- Sea Lion Show
- A petting Zoo.
- An Amusement Park with two roller coasters, one with a triple loop.
- A Casino
- Bungee jumping, indoors mind you.
- Ferarri's for sale
- And at least 3 Adult Sex shops, no I did not go in. :)












BTW, the Poutine was yummy but made the fries soggie after a while, so eat fast!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Drew!

He had a great day today! Look how much he's grown....

1 week old

Stylin 1 year old

Who can forget the shopping

cart fall resulting in

a fractured skull to

celebrate his 2nd birthday.

A trip to Hawaii 2 months

before his 3rd birthday for

Neana and Ric's wedding.

He loved the black sand beaches,

seeing sea turtles, and

a catamaran ride where

he snorkled with Dad and

saw whales and dolphins.

Happy 3rd birthday

and the tradition of the

"pizza" cake begins.

Drew hates all sweets

and wanted a 

candle in his pizza.

D slipped and fell

breaking his hand.  Poor

guy.  Another trip to the

ER.  He's still smiling though.

I love this little guy!!

Happy 4th!

An uneventful, but

very happy 5th birthday

to a wonderful boy!

We love you!!!

Happy 7th Birthday!

Alex celebrated his 7th birthday this past week!

  These past 7 years have sure gone by fast!  Alex had a great day.  Thanks to everyone for the calls and gifts.  What a sweetheart he is!  

A few hours old.  Look at all that hair!

A happy 1 year old!

At 2 years old hockey was his passion..

It was virtually impossible

to get him out of his hockey gear!

The cute 3 year old!

Learning to skate at 4.

Alex and E flew by themselves

to Billings to visit Tiger

and Grandma

when he was 5.

The strong 6 year old!

Happy 7th Birthday to a 

brilliant boy!!

Chef E

As we were driving home E said, "What's

for dinner?"  I asked him what he wanted to have.

He replied, "I'll cook!"

Okay, great!

He got home and with the help of his Sous Chef Peyton

whipped up delicious scrambled eggs,

Canadian bacon, and toast.

It was absolutely delicious!

Even D and P who don't usually

eat scrambled eggs ate them!

I love the age E is right now.  He loves to help and 

is a wonderful helper to me!!

Aaron Travels a LOT!

I travel every week, well, almost every week. I do love airplanes and I love to fly. I really enjoy telling my boys about the different airplanes I flew on that week. www.jetphotos.net We go here weekly to look at the planes dad might be flying on. So, I have been trying to take pictures of the planes I have been flying on. See if you guess what type they are.





Let me also say, I do love flying 1st Class. Nothing like the comfort of a fat wide seat and leg room. Steerage is to be avoided at all costs.

Fort Rucker Alabama, home of Army Aviation

So, I am currently in Alabama. It is very nice and warm compared to last week. 79 and sunny is much better than -40 and snowy. Anyway, I'm working at an Army base that trains helicopter pilots. They have an awesome museum here and I stopped by yesterday after work. The museum had just closed but they let me look around a few minutes anyway. Here are some pics! Enjoy.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

We have had so much snow this winter!  Yesterday it took Aaron over an hour to shovel about 12 inches off half of our drive way.  In fact, we were literally snowed in.   (I am so grateful Aaron was home to shovel!)  There was no way we could have made it out of the driveway without getting stuck. Luckily our great neighbors came by with their four wheelers and finished the driveway and moved all the snow the snow plow placed right in front of our driveway.  They cancelled church after Sacrament Meeting because the snow was coming down so fast and they were worried about people getting stuck in the parking lot.  Let's just say it was one of the greatest Sundays of Drew's life!

This picture was taken a couple of  weeks ago 

and at the time I thought this was a lot of snow.  

The snow is now almost half way up the fence!!

With all this beautiful snow comes some very anxious children.  D has had a fever of 102.8 for the past 24 hours and P has been trying to get rid of a cough for the past 2 weeks, so outdoor activities are out.  Break out the......

Moon Sand!

Messy stuff, but worth the afternoon of fun!

Candy Land!

D and P played so well together!

We must have played 5 games!

As soon as E and Al got home

P tricked them into playing a few more 

games with him!

The 100 Club

On Monday, January 7th, the first grade started the 100 Club.  The goal is that each first grader will read 100 books by the end of the school year.  Well, Alex went right to work all on his own.  He read and read and read. Tuesday, January 15th he finished reading 100 books. He was the first person in the entire first grade to finish. This was the 100th book he read.

He was so excited to get his t-shirt on Wednesday. 

However, he read so fast that the t-shirts hadn't arrived. 

Look what he came home in today....

Way to go Alex! 

Drew was especially excited!

Here are a few words by Alex...

A Visit to the Zoo

One of the boys favorite places to visit is T and Rhett's basement.

Who knew they had their own

Cabela's exhibit in their

basement!

We were visiting over the holidays

and this is what they discovered...

They were a little nervous

at first, but it didn't last long.

Let's just say

they can't wait to come back!

My Personal Chefs

Monday afternoon E told me, "Mom, I'm cooking dinner tonight. How do I set the oven?" Did I hear him right? Why yes I did. Right at 4:50, E started cooking. He made honey barbeque chicken wings, pineapple, and strawberry lemonade. Delicious! Tuesday night Alex came up to me and said, "Hey Mom. Remember I'm making dinner tonight." Alex made spinach ravioli, garlic bread, carrots, and strawberry lemonade. He did a great job! As we were driving home this evening Drew said, "Mom remember I'm making chicken nuggets tonight." As we pulled into the driveway, he noticed that his best friend was home. "Mom go ahead and make the chicken nuggets. I'm going to Jaxon's!" Two out of three isn't bad!