magdalena

p.s. check out this new song by brandon flowers {the killers} off his new album "flamingo". it's catchy, maybe light weight, but i like it. sounds great live. oh, the troubadour... good times at the troub...

weekend update

eli's halloween sneak peak: werewolf
as forecasted, snow this weekend
they did it!
dipping their feet on the other side

1790 hermit hut carved out of a rock
mum + dad
SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS: size 40, brand spanking new, worn once, maybe

**i am doing some serious closet purging and came across 2 pairs of boots i bought last year. size 40 {10}, i wear a 9/9.5 and these fit nice with the 40. there is a black pair and a chocolate pair. i think i have worn the black pair once. the chocolate pair has never been worn. yours: $40 a pair. they just need a good home. any takers? first come, first serve.**

OK. very serious things went on this weekend. *we had the dusting of snow that was forecasted. still went on my walk. i roll that way. *we collected food for the church's annual "city-wide food drive". i believe it was last year that we set the world record for the most food collected in a single day on a food drive. go calgary. *i found a great halloween costume for eli. it's a bit early but it was the perfect motivation/inspiration for the rest of our costumes. eli will be a werewolf and the rest of us will be other classic halloween characters. *i got the letter. yes, the letter that was sent from the U.S. consulate in montreal stating i could make an appointment/interview for my green card. we have been anticipating this letter for the last couple of months. it got me all freaked out and uptight about the thought of selling a house, packing, moving, house-hunting, new schools, new ward, setting up utilities, banking, finding health care, taxes, blah, blah, blah.... it is now very real and good and bad and happy and sad and exciting and terrifying. i think my interview date will be in the first week of november. c.j. is leaving on tuesday for a music gig in las vegas on the weekend. he is driving to l.a. to scout out homes in claremont again, so his visit is timely as we need "evidence of domicile" documentation by my interview date. i feel like the logistics of all of this will be nutty. i guess we will see how it plays out. *mum and dad finished their long walk across england. from their pictures it looked like a seriously hardcore trek. i am just so proud of them and their accomplishment. just terrific.

walking

do you see what's going on behind me?? yes, that is yellow on the trees. hello fall.
folks they run into on the trail every day
having the time of their lives
their dogs are barkin'

lots of mini breaks
made it!

soooo, according to dad, the last two days they walked 75 km. 40 one day and 35 the next. now i don't know about you, but i walk daily between 3-7 km {depending on time, route, etc} and i feel like i get a decent workout. if i walked 75 km in 2 days i would have bloody stumps for feet. unreal.

the top picture is me on one of my walks. it has been so cold and rainy and foggy and COLD lately that all the trees are packing it in. they are all changing colors and according to the forecast we may miss any opportunity to enjoy the fallish foliage 'cause it's going to SNOW this weekend. perfect just in time for the food drive/corn bust. yee-haw!

your new favorite song

bogs + blisters

after 10 hours 15 minutes, the longest stretch on the trek, they made it
greg christensens bruised, rashed, blistered feet, oh dear
mum + dad
a stop for hot chocolate and sconces {looks good}
another stop, building built 1706
miles and miles and miles of bogs

apparently very cold and windy at these rock cones, but could see as far as the eye could see

a quick update on our crazy bog hoping trekkers. they are doing great! completed the longest portion of the trail a few days ago. they say its like running a marathon every day. very tired and sore at night. are at the half way point. are loving every minute of it. they are blister free and in good spirits.

keep on truckin'!

ms. chen

this morning we attended a back-to-school breakfast at elis school. it was an opportunity to say hello to his new teacher. i told c.j. eli was as tall as her... do you believe me now? isn't she cute? i love her little yellow boots. yeah for ms. chen!

coast to coast

tradition: dip your feet in the irish sea before you start
difficult passes
amazing scenery
interesting places to stay at night

hills and vales
lunch along a sleepy river
trying to call home {probably not}

we have been watching and waiting for pics from mum and dad as they are walking across england. the coast to coast walk is 220 miles and begins at st. bees and ends at robin hood's bay. they will get to robin hood's bay on dads 60th birthday. what a great treat on his special day. communication has been limited so their pictures have been very exciting to see. they are following trails and guide books. nothing is clearly marked or obvious. what an adventure. apparently they are having the time of their lives, extremely difficult but very rewarding {dad says}. i just love seeing them out there doing it. it totally puts a smile on my face.

slick sly/i can see into the future

it's all coming back to me....

last night i had a dream. i was in a strange downtown apartment, c.j. was there. we were waiting to go somewhere and suddenly sylvester stallone showed up. most of the dream was us talking to him in very close proximity {which i thought was really weird}. what was even weirder was he had the smoothest skin. not a wrinkle, anywhere. he looked young and supple. it seemed like i commented on his radiant face the entire dream, "c.j. look at this face! no lines around his eyes! no laughy/frowny creases!". i was blown away with how fantastic he looked.

and that was it. that was my dream. it just went on and on like that.

o.k. who's in for some botox?

p.s. after showering today i sent ida to grab a diaper. i watched her walk over and stand beside my laptop. in my minds eye i watched her pee on my laptop. a few seconds later she actually did. i gotta stay ahead of my premonitions....

portraitville

ida
noah
brady

during the summer when family was here, c.j. was able to take ida, noah and brady's portrait. mum and dad have similar portraits of all the grandchildren in their house. so they were the next ones to be done. i think they turned out just perfect.

labor/labour day weekend

calgary
sunday morning snow-topped rockies
"tubby dog"
mine's the middle one. i got about 2 bites in and stopped.
sweet potato tongue {one of jeff's homemade tubby dog fries hanging out of his mouth. c.j. is genuinely surprised!}
skipped supper, decided to nap after church
18 months going on 18 {quit growing so fast, sheesh}
future stampede queen, giddy-up!
picked some bounty from mum's garden today

well, how was your weekend? was is un-laborous? did you have fun? was the weather nice?

we had opportunity to go to kelowna, but decided not to go. sooooooo, we stayed around calgary and just enjoyed ourselves. one of the days we did a "sampler" day. we did pit-stops all around the city and only stayed an hour or so. there was a new exhibit at the glenbow, so we used our family pass and toured the fernando botero installation. it was a hit. on monday we spent some time with nena & family on 17th avenue. one of our stops was "tubby dog". as you can see from the pictures the hot dogs were ridiculous. it was novel. later that day we came home and fed the missionaries. one of the elders in our ward is from edmonton. to put that in perspective, it's like being from l.a. and getting called to barstow. the edge of the calgary mission boundaries is 1.5 hours from home. talking to him about it, he seemed to take it quite well and frankly i thought it was pretty cool. i am sure his mom loves it. he said getting mail/packages is great. there is always someone coming or going to drop something off for him. and you know, it just goes to show you, it doesn't matter where you serve. people get so wrapped up in that aspect of a mission.... every mother would want their kid near and safe and sound and serving the lord if they could.

on a TOTALLY different train of thought, chew on this for awhile:

"just because you can, doesn't always mean you should"

today eli began his 18 month orthodontic mission. 4 spacers where put in his mouth to make room for the expander they are putting in on monday. he is going to look very different in a month. he gagged on the impression tray, but in general took it like a champ.

there is always that thought in the back of your mind when your kids have to do something difficult or uncomfortable, whether it's worth it or they need to do it, etc. it's hard to see them be nervous or scared or unsure. life's not always a bowl of cherries i guess. i just reassure and encourage and support and praise {even if they get through something by the skin of their teeth}. at least he is cooperative and will give it a shot.

sometimes that's all that matters.

grade 3 & such

us, sept 2010

hangin' in the meat department grocery shopping
first day of grade 3, egg burrito special
excited for school!
bumped into carson and quinn {cousin connection}. carson going into grade 4 and quinn grade 2.
this little lady is hannah, she has been in eli's class since kindergarten, how lucky they get to be together again this year!
the trek: 14 days walking across England {the red line is their route}
ready to go!
see you in 3 weeks!

school has started and eli is loving it. he told me tonight as he was going to bed he that he missed school and was very excited to start french on tuesday. darn that long weekend.

real easy transition going into grade 3. he has no worries, an excellent teacher, a great class. he is very, very happy.

c.j. just finished updating his website/portfolio. it looks terrific. check it out.

tonight we drove mom and dad to the airport. they are walking across england. literally. from coast to coast. on their last day, dad will turn 60 and they will have finished their trek. very cool, very adventurous. the next week they will toodle around scotland. no real plans, just sight see and relax. sounds like a great time. i can't wait to hear all about it.