ALOHA!!

Hi Everyone!

We are back. We loved it. As a matter of fact, I think that I am going to become a Hawaiian, whether it be in this lifetime or another, I guarantee you it will happen. Although I haven't travelled around the world, and quite frankly couldn't take the flight if I did, I can tell you, Hawaii is my favorite. As a matter of fact, I will probably never choose to go to Mexico again. Don't get me wrong, I love tropical places, and if Mexico was all there was to offer, I'd be first in line. But to compare the two, Hawaii wins hands down.

We went to Kauai, and only to Kauai. I would like to see the rest of Hawaii, but probably I won't. It would be interesting to see if the other islands are as striking, but I loved Kauai so much, that if I went back, I would probably spend my time there. It is not super touristy, there aren't any of the big shopping malls, and chain restaurants, and box stores. It is touristy enough that there are plenty of places to stay, and some local markets (oh and don't forget Starbucks).

What I loved most about Kauai was the feel. It has incredible energy. When you are there, you feel so safe. You feel silly for even having an unsafe or suspicious thought. The Hawaiian's are amazing. When you meet them, you want to get to know them better. They live in America, and yet have such a simple life. It is incredible.

To top it all off, it is, as many tropical places are, beautiful. I love the weather, I love the ocean, I love the beach, I love the people, and I love the scenery. I do not love the flight to get there, so, I think I'm going to live there......one day. If not that, then at least go back regularly.

It sounds like the kids did great while we were gone. Drew and Kolt are sick now, but everybody managed to get through the week, and I think that they all bonded. Dad and Drew have reconciled their differences (she spent lot's of time teasing him before). Mom said that it got pretty quiet around the house when they left, and she missed them. So I think that all in all they had a great week.

Dex did not fair so well while I was gone. For those of you who don't know Dex, he is my horse, that I showed for years and years when I was younger. He is 23 now. He colicked quite badly and when I got home, Mom told me I needed to come and see him, as he may not make it. To make a long story short, he was in bad shape - looked like death actually, we took him to a vet in Okotoks where he stayed over night, and he got to come home the next day. He is still not totally back to himself, but his body is functioning properly now - what goes in is coming out. He is too thin, and lacking in energy. So now we will wait to see what happens in the next few days. But at least he is alive and we are sooo grateful to be able to bring him back home.

Today is Hallowe'en, I'll try and post trick or treat pictures tomorrow. I've missed blogging, so I will try and get back to doing it more. Thanks for being patient with me and checking in. I'll leave you with some Hawaii pictures.

Love,
Jodi

Delinquent Blogging

OK, I admit it. I'm a delinquent blogger as of late. Clearly, I can't keep up with my own schedule. So please, bear with me, when Jodi gets her groove back, there will be many more postings. For now, it will be long posts to catch up on all that we have missed.

We had thanksgiving at Brians parents on Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. They were still in the field, so we had Thanksgiving dinner in shifts. The men rotated and took turns spelling each other off in the grain trucks and combines. It was still nice, I love family get togethers, and although it was a little unorthodox, the food still tasted great and we all got to see each other. Drew spent a minute with Brian's grandma Olive on the couch and I was able to snap a picture.


The next night we had turkey dinner with my family at Julie's house. I cooked the turkey. It was beautiful and tasty! That was only my second attempt ever (the first time doesn't count, because it was the first time, and the gravy was burnt). After that, we were all turkied out....or at least until Christmas!

Lately, I have been giving riding lessons to Janine. This is her picture from when she won Miss Rodeo Airdrie Princess last year.

She is running for Miss Rodeo Canada and just wanted some brush up lessons. I have really enjoyed them. She is a great rider. I really enjoy teaching the advanced stuff. To be honest, I really just enjoy teaching riding lessons. When I am away from the horses, I always forget how much I miss having them in my life. When I am around them again, I always appreciate them so much. It's definitely true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Janine will do well in the Miss Rodeo Canada contest. As a matter of fact, I will be awfully surprised if she does not win it. She has such an open heart, and such clear energy about her. She is the type of person you automatically like when you meet. She is also a fantastic rider. She used to show horses so she looks like a real cowgirl who knows her stuff when she gets on a horse. She has rode probably at least 10 different horses during our lessons, and she gets along well with each and every one. It has definitely been a pleasure to teach her, she is a fast learner. Good Luck Janine!

Hockey is going really well. Jake has his first game of the season on Friday night at the Plainmen Arena from 6:00pm-7:30pm. Any of you who would like to come are more than welcome. I haven't gotten many great clips from his practices like I'd promised, but I did snap a couple. This one is of Jake on the ice at a practice


And this is of Kolt (flames jersey). Kolt is doing so great.


I wasn't sure if he would really take to hockey or not. Lord knows he's spent his fair share of time at the rink before now, and he was never really all that into it. Man, I'll tell ya, that kid works his butt off out there! He has surprised me for sure. He loves it to pieces. Coach Jason calls him Phaneuf (because of Dion Phaneuf #3 off of the Flames) and even gave him number 3 for the season. Kolt thought that was the best. He still loves coach Jason, and asks me all the time when are we gonna have Jason over to our house? It's so cute.


Our dog, Meeka, ran away from our house in town this past Saturday.

At first, I just thought she would come home. Then as the weekend progressed, I started to worry more and more. I couldn't figure out why she would run away, and why she didn't come back. On Sunday afternoon, I called the municipal enforcement guy to see if he had picked her up. He hadn't, but said he would call us if he found her. By Monday morning, I still hadn't heard anything. I phoned all of the vets in town, and none of them had heard anything either. I was so devastated. She is such a nice dog, that I figured it was pretty easy for someone to fall in love with her over the weekend. I just hoped that if someone had stole her that they would really love her a lot.

I went to pick Kolt up from Kindergarten, and I got a call on my cell phone. It was the municipal enforcement guy, and he thought he had found my dog. He gave me a number to phone, to get in touch with a lady, who had found a dog over the weekend. I called her and sure enough, her grand daughter had found Meeka, and Meeka had followed her home. I went to pick her up from their house and to my shock and surprise, it was Marlyn's house! Marlyn is the lady who my Grandma (my mom's mom) lived with for the last few years of her life. She is an amazing lady, as she took my Grandma (who had dimmensia) into her home, and looked after her and was so amazing to her and to our family. Now she had also found my dog and kept her over the weekend. What a small world we live in. Marlyn is a true angel.

This Saturday, we leave for Hawaii. I can't wait. I love holidays, beaches, hot weather, the ocean, and sleep. I plan on soaking in all of these things for the week while we are gone. I also plan on coming home a new, and rested person. Hopefully the new me will do more blogging again.

Until then, I think I have caught up on and mentioned everything I wanted to. I am adding some random pictures from the last little while. I'm sure I'll have lot's of pictures from Hawaii. I'm so excited :)

Love,
Jodi

THE RESULTS ARE IN!!!

Hello everyone!

Well, it's been an incredibly busy last couple of weeks. Nothing out of the ordinary going on, just trying to get into a routine again. Once we are finally settled, there will be more posts :) sorry I've been slacking :(

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I haven't been posting much about Jake, and how his hockey has been going. I was being a little superstitious I suppose. But now, I will fill you in.

Jake set himself a goal, at the beginning of the summer, to make it to the A team in his first year of Novice (the next age division up from where he played last year). Then all summer, he worked his butt off. He was fortunate enough to be invited to a hockey camp, where he got a chance to be on the ice, and log some extra hours. He also had a fantastic coach to teach him the new skills he needed. That poor kid has had to do so many circles, trying to master those darn crossovers! The past two weeks have been evaluations. They make all the players go through the drills, evaluate them on their skills, and finally, they evaluate them in a game. We have been waiting with baited breath, to see if he made it.

Last night we got the call. Jake is on the A team!!! I'm so proud of him. What an extraordinary feeling, to watch your child (at age 7 nonetheless), set a goal for himself - that was attainable, but not easily come by. Then to watch him, work so hard (to the point that he was planning what he should eat on hockey days to maximize his energy level, if you can imagine), and achieve his goal. That was really something. I cried (shocker, I know). He has his first practice tomorrow night, I'm going to try to catch a clip of him out there.

As for Kolt, he also has gone through evaluations. He did fantastic. He was easily one of the strongest first year hockey players on the ice (thanks to dad and big brother getting him out to play lot's last year). And luckily, Coach Jason (Jake's coach from last year) picked him to be on his team. I'm sure we'll have a great year, and lot's of fun :) As a matter of fact, I think I'm on the social committee.

Tyke evaluations are sooo cute. All of the kids are falling down all over the place. From a distance it's like watching popcorn in reverse. They pop down instead of up. They slowly get up, and then fall right back down again. You forget how cute they are, until you get to watch them again :)

Well this has turned into quite a long post, and I don't even have any pictures to add to it. BOORRRING! I'm so sorry, I will have clips after practice tomorrow, and add I will add them this week for your viewing pleasure.

Love,
Jodi