Little Miss Six

Today the baby of the family turned 6 years old.

(The good and bad? Officially old enough to swim in the pool without an adult within arms reach. And officially old enough that we lose our free government money - Child Care Supplement - LOL)

She had a little family party at home, just the 4 of us and got some presents.

There is a great story behind this bike that Hayley got (Carly does it look familiar?? I think you rode it once or twice...)

She asked for a puppy cake and I did my best to appease her. Judging by her expression I think I nailed it ;)



We went swimming at the Sparwood Pool this evening, the birthday girl's choice! She is such a little fish in the water.

Impromptu gift-opening in the parking lot after swimming with our friends. On the tailgate. This cracks me up.

Such a sweet girl and we are lucky to have her. Happy Birthday Halesy Bales!! <3

Come join the Joyriiiiiide.....

Last weekend I got to go to the Roxette concert with a wonderful friend! I just think these pictures are so funny, mostly because you can tell we are such small town MOMS that finally got a night out in the big city!! haha We were a little silly, starting off with some train station self-timer pics...

I whipped up these shirts the morning of the Concert with a homemade stencil and lil bit of Acryllic paint....boo ya! Just lucky we didn't get caught in a rainstorm!

The concert was pretty fun, and I got to re-live my youth. Almost every single song they played reminded me of doing dishes with my sister as young kids with the Look Sharp album cranked :)

We met a Super Fan!!! This girl was named Nini and she was from Germany and had followed Roxette to EVERY SINGLE CONCERT on their tour this year. Like plane tickets, hotels, concert tickets, everything the same as Roxette. Talk about a money-sucking hobby!! Must have been love ;)

First Day of School!

Every year I dread the start of the school year. I am not a fan of schedules, I just love being gypsies and taking my kids on random trips and activities during our days. Despite the inconvenience school brings, my kids were very excited to go back. I had to snap a picture of their backpacks by the door the night before, with their little indoor shoes. So cute :)

(PS Hayley's feet are still redonkulously small...)

Taking the bus! Our dear neighbor remembers to take a Bus Stop picture every year. These are all the neighborhood kids at our stop....we live in a pretty great neighborhood with some great friends!

Hayley, going into Grade 1, gets a real desk this year instead of a table which was exciting for her. Looking at this picture all I can think is...when did she get so old???

I tried to take a picture of Carter at his desk, and he made it very clear that was not happening! I am officially that lame embarrassing Mom now....and I kinda like it! Let's just call it payback for all those embarrassing times I carried a kicking screaming toddler out of the grocery store ;)

Mendenhall Family Reunion

On Labour Day weekend, we had a Reunion with my side of the family at a vacation cabin near Magrath, AB. We started off the weekend with a Pinata for the kiddos:

(yes, that is a plunger the kids are using for a bat. Desperate times call for desperate measures haha)

....love the mad scramble at the end for the candy...

We had our Magrath 2012 Olympic Games, with 5 events and competitors from 4 different countries.

Discuss and Shot Put (with paper plates and water balloons)

Diving (ping pong balls into cups of water)

100m dash

Group shot:

Dad and Mom

Dallin, Hayley, Jared, Carter, Grandpa & Grandma Mendenhall, Joel

Me, Carly, Lisa

Josh and Taylor

We did alot of quadding, considering there was 90 acres of land with this cabin. Some of my family members had never ridden a quad before and it was so much fun watching them learn....especially the little ones!

Our nephew Taylor (who wore that purple helmet most of the day afterwards)

my brother Dallin

sister Lisa

Lisa and Dad

We also did some swimming and floating down St. Mary's River. Dallin organized some fun Geocaching adventures, and Joel made the BEST Scavenger Hunt I have ever participated in!! We had movie nights, lots of good food, extended family visitors and, of course, Bubbles!

The Bull Thing

We went to The Bull Thing in Eureka, Monatana with some friends last month and it was SOOO much fun. We were the newbies, it was our first time going to this event but now we would love to make it a yearly tradition.

We started out the weekend celebrating Hayley's best friend's birthday. We camped all together and had a little BBQ/presents/cake.

I didn't take very many pictures of the Fair, but they had bouncy houses, kids games, a 4H competition, and a petting zoo.


Saturday night was the bull riding. The kids loved it. Let's face it, the adults did too :)


Ya that's all my pictures. I am doing a horrible job at taking pics lately!! :(

(Catching up) Weekend in Montana

Back in August we spent a weekend camping in Kalispell, Montana. It was so hot and the entire trip consisted of swimming and floating on different lakes in the area.

Whitefish Lake:

Carter and Hayley going for a boat ride :)

Foys Lake:

Check out our little swimmers!

Flathead Lake:

We have spent more time in the states this past summer than any other year. I think it's safe to say it's our favorite weekend spot :)