Camping May Long Weekend

     We have had great weather for the last few weeks, so is it too much to ask for good weather on the long weekend? I guess it is. The May long weekend is known for having crappy weather and this year was no different. BUT, we decided to go camping anyway. We decided to camp at one of our favorite little campgrounds in Fort McCleod called the "Daisy May". The kids love this campground because it has a free outdoor mini-golf, basketball hoop, park, beach volleyball court and an outdoor pool. The Boys love to ride their bikes around the campground. Justin and Jeff decided to camp with us as well. As we were leaving Perm stopped by and we invited him to come as well. So if the weather was going to be bad, at least the company was going to be good.

     We left Friday right after school and got to Fort Mc. in enough time to set up before the rain started to come down. The Kids are funny because they do not even seem to notice the rain or the cold. They still wanted to play outside and had fun riding their bikes in the rain. Tyson is a little hard to handle because he is always on the go and he is into everything. He is good at disappearing if you do not always have your eye on him. I will have him in front of me and I turn around to talk to someone for two seconds and when i turn back around he is gone. So there was a lot of "wheres Tyson?"

     We had a great time just hanging out with each other and joking around. Jimmy was the cook of the camp and everyone was calling him Chef Boyardee. He made a wicked breakfast every morning and was the main cook for the dinners. I am happy that he like to do that, cause I wouldn't want to cook for everyone, but he seems to like it.


     The biggest downfall of the trip was the "Fire Ban". Coming into the weekend the weather had been nice and warm so there was a fire ban in effect. Even after it had rained a couple of days the town would not lift the fire ban. So our nights we finished by gathering around a couple of lanterns. This does not have the same effect while camping.






 





  Jeff and Rae will be celebrating their 20th anniversary soon and so the renewed their vows at the campground.

Brody Finding Friends Everywhere

Just having fun for the camera

Bugging Jeff and Rae

Bugging Justin and Jo

Baseball and Softball Season in Full Swing

     Well baseball season has been on for a few weeks now and the boys are doing good. It sure is a busy week for us when I am coaching Brody on Monday and Wednesdays and coaching Haydn on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then playing softball on Fridays with Kristi. All this plus trying to get in practices for Haydn's baseball team and Kristi trying to work a few nights a week. So we will be really busy traveling here and there until the end of June when baseball ends.

     Brody is playing well and learning the game quickly. It is good to see him get better at catching and hitting each year. Haydn is in Minors and the team has played really good for the first 4 games. We have won 3 games and tied 1. Haydn has really improved this year from last season. He hits the ball well and he is throwing the ball way better when he pitches. He pitched in our game last night and he struck out 3 batters to end the game. He was so proud of himself for getting the outs. I love to see the boys start to really understand the game and get better each year.

 

















    Our softball team has gotten off to a good start. We have won our first 4 games of the season and have out-scored the other teams 82-17. We are the team to beat in our Lethbridge league because we have won the "B" division the last 3 years. I love to play on this team because me and Kristi get to play together and it is something that we both love to do.

     Our nights of softball in Lethbridge always end with a traditional trip to Wendy's. This is where some of the funniest parts of the night come about. We always sit at the round table and BS about the games that night.







Basketball Tourney 

     Haydn played in his first ever basketball tourney last weekend. He was so nervous because he had never played in a real game of 5 on 5 basketball. This tourney was a full court and regular size hoops tournament. He played really good and it was good to see him improve each game and understand what he was doing. The boys didn't win a game, but lost a few close ones. The boys did good considering almost all of Haydn's team was kids from grade 4 and they played against teams that consisted of mostly grade 5 kids. Haydn scored a few points in the last game and he was so excited. I was so proud of him when he scored in the game. I really think that if he works in sports he can be a great little athlete.

New Zealand

     There was man from New Zealand in Raymond a few weeks ago. His name is Sid Going and he was one of the best rugby players in New Zealand. Sid played with the famous "All Blacks" rugby team. He served his mission around Raymond and was good friends with Kristi's Grandma Fromm so he came for a visit. We were able to meet him at a family dinner that they put on in Raymond. It was good to hear the "Kiwi" accent again.

   Jeff and Paula Anderson work at the Junior High with me and they have a son (Lincoln) that was waiting for a mission call. He came up to the junior high to get the mail key to check if his call had came in yet. A few minutes later he returned with his call in hand. We were joking around and I was telling him that I hope that he goes to New Zealand. Linc and his family went into a room to open it with each other and a few minutes later returned to the staff room and asked me to guess where he was going, and before I could even answer they told me he was going to Auckland New Zealand, My same mission!!! I was so excited for him and hugged him like crazy. I probably embarrassed myself a little bit but I was so excited for him to be going to the best mission in the world!!

Maddy & Jessie's Wedding

     April 13, 2013 ----- well Kristi has been worried about this day for quite some time. A couple of months ago Maddy text Kristi and asked her if we would be willing to help out with the wedding. Kristi being the great aunt that she is, said "for sure we would love to help". Maddy then quickly text "we want you and Kent to MC the wedding, see ya April 13". Kristi was a little worried because she does not like getting up and talking in front of people, and especially people she does not know very well. Kristi and I had very different approaches to MC'n this wedding. Kristi was very well prepared because she emailed a lot of the family and received a number of funny stories about Maddy and Jessie that we could tell. She had the entire program written out and planned down to a science. This was good because I am scatter brained when it comes to stuff like this. I just went into the program with a few stories in my head, but if Kristi had not written it out it may not have ran as smoothly. I thought we did a pretty good job keeping the program moving and keeping the mood "Light".

     Maddy's sister Megan and I also sang a song for the program as well. We sang a song called "Endlessly" by Green River Ordinance. I played Guitar and helped sing during the chorus for Megan. She did a great job and everyone complimented us about the song after the program. The wedding was great and the program was awesome. They had a "Candy Bar" at the reception and the kids went CRAZY hahaha. I think Haydn, Brody and Tyson went back and forth between the "Candy Bar" all night. So we knew there was going to be a sugar crash sometime that night.

     They also had a photo booth set up in the back with a whole bunch of different costumes that people could dress up in. The Kids had a great time dressing up in different clothes and acting crazy for the people taking pictures. The night ended with a dance. Maddy and Jessie had their first dance as a married couple, and then Brody kicked the dance off by coming out and dancing the "Gangman Style" dance for the crowd. The crowd loved it and Brody was just feeding off of the crowd and he danced for the entire song in front of the whole crowd.

Math Wiz Haydn

   

    We are so proud of Haydn and the work that he did last year on his PAT tests. He got 100% on his math PAT and received honors in his reading PAT. He is such a smart kid in school and we are so proud of the work that he does. We have never had to really work with him on school work, he just seems to get it and understand it on his own. I really think that if he stays motivated, he really could do very well in school in the future.

Easter Break 2013

     Well the best thing about being a teacher is the time off with my wife and kids.The kids love the time off during Easter break!! They cant wait for the Easter Bunny to deliver all the treats and goodies for them to eat. They also love to paint the eggs with the family and Walk up and down the big hill rolling them down the Lions Park hill. They love to roll the eggs down the hill, then run down the hill pick up the eggs, walk back up the hill and do it all over again. The kids would be so happy when they would roll the egg down the hill and it would stay in tact so they could do it all over again. My goal was to hit the light standards by the football field, so I would have to throw the eggs very hard. The seagulls were in full force when they would see all the broken eggs.

Kalispell Trip 

 We wanted to take the kids somewhere this Easter Break, so we took the kids to Kalispell for a few days to stay in a hotel. I know its not too fancy, but the kids were just happy to get out of the house and staying in a hotel is always exciting for the kids. If anything I think it is more work for the parents to have to control the kids in such a small area. The Boys loved the pool in the hotel and took every chance they could to get in the pool and have fun. Tyson was scared of the pool for some reason and spent all of his time in and out of the hot tub throwing toys in the big pool and having one of us get them for him. I think Tyson was scared of the big pool cause Kristi bought him a new life jacket and when she let go of him in the big pool he got scared and then did not want to get back in. We also bought the kids new shoes and bikes and that was really exciting for them, even though the ride home in the van was a little squished in the back for Haydn. haha

Few Odds and Ends

     There are a few other things that have happened from the last time that I blogged. Baseball is close to starting and I have been busy making sure all the teams and the equipment are ready to go when the season begins at the end of April. Haydn and Brody are excited to get baseball started and I am excited to get softball started.




























I went to a Billy Talent / Sum 41 concert With Reggie Davis, Dan Salmon and Geoff Sommerfeldt.

   

















     I went to a Calgary Flames game with Geoff Sommerfeldt. The Flames were play the Columbus Blue Jackets and lost 6-4. But we were able to meet one if the long time Flame greats Theo Fleury. Fleury was raising awareness for sexual abuse  and was signing autographs and taking pictures.

   

















 
      We took Haydn to his first ever concert!!! I am a huge Beatles fan and Haydn has grown up listening to the Beatles. He loves them, so we took him to "Rain" which is one of the best Beatles tribute bands in the world. It was great and Haydn loved it.

 















     April 7th was our 12th anniversary. 12 years!!!! that is crazy. The first thing Kristi did was try on her wedding dress to see if she could still fit. It still fit 12 years later, well she needed a little help zipping it up in the back, but we got it. haha. We are saving our Anniversary date for May when we go to "Mumford and Sons" together.

   

      We had the Talent Show at the Junior High right before we went on Easter break. We played Johnny B. Good again. It was alot of fun.