Summer Holiday (Part 2)

After dropping off our broken quad in Jaffray Tim and I headed to Montana to spend a few days camping at Dickey Lake and shopping in Kalispell. We camped there last year and loved it.

Tim hanging out at our campsite:

Tim snorkeling:

My baby bump at about 37 weeks:

After spending 3 days there we came back to Jaffray. On Saturday morning us girls and kids drove down to the Farmer's Market, while the guys quadded down (Tim borrowed one of my dad's quads). We had breakfast there and wandered around.

Tim, Dad, and Brendan taking a break:

Tim and Brendan:

And one of the days Tim and I went with Jenn's family to the Bull River Fish Hatchery near Jaffray. The kids always love it there and I wanted to show Tim those giant trout they have. We took a picnic and had a good time.

Tim and I at the fishing pond:

Jenn's family at the fishing pond:

Uncle Tim and Jayda trying to touch one of the turtles:

Just hanging out at the turtle pond:

Everyone feeding the giant fish:

We headed home the next day as I had a doctor appointment and Tim had night shift. Guess that's it for our summer holiday. If you want to see more pictures check out the Camping 2008 (Part 3) Photos on the side of our blog.

We Love Camping - Writing on Stone

We love camping and we really love camping at Writing on Stone. We went twice last year (here and here). Trent, Tara, & Blake as well as Clay & Erica came with us this time. We had lots of fun. The weather was so nice on Saturday that we spent the afternoon swimming in the river. We also spent a bunch of time climbing in the hoodoos. I was pretty terrible at it this year. It's not so easy climbing in those when your balance is shot cuz you're almost 6.5 months pregnant. I had to take a few breaks cuz when I walk my stomach gets tighter and tighter making it hard to manouver. But if I stop for a bit it'll relax. Tim was super adventerous as usual and scaled all the tough hoodoos (makes me nervous). And our dogs were always right behind him. I find it amazing how well dogs can climb (and jump) if they really want to get to their best friend. (Click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.)

Tim & Dexter just checking things out:

I couldn't climb to the top of that hoodoo, so Tim came down to take a pic with me:

Tim calls this my pregnant pose and he catches me doing it every once and a while. It feels so good to stretch out my back and the hand on the tummy is trying to push a little foot out of my ribs:

Tara & Blake in the hoodoos:

Looking down on our campsite from the hoodoos:

This is me making Tim stop for a picture:

Just us and our dogs:

Our campsite:

Tim using the hoodoos as a climbing wall:

Blake & I chilling while the guys cooked steaks:

May Long - Traditions

Some traditions just can't be broken. And one tradition that we have is May Long weekend is spent with Trent & Tara (and now Blake). We take turns planning:

In 2006 Trent & Tara took us to Kalispell area and we had a blast (in the rain).

Last year (2007) we took Trent & Tara to Lewis & Clark Caverns in Montana. Found some rain again and some snow on the way home, but once again we had tons of fun.

But this year it was a little harder to get out for the long weekend. Tim had shift work all weekend long and Trent & Tara had a baptism on Saturday and some exchange students coming on Sunday. We still made the most of it. Tim got off work Friday night at 6pm and he didn't have to be back to work until 6pm Saturday night. So we had 12 hours...and we were going camping. Some people in Trent & Tara's ward have a bunch of land down on the river in Lethbridge...so that's where we went. Trent & Tara also bought a trailer this spring so no more tenting for all of us (camping's getting more pricey though cuz now we can't a share site and have to pay for gas in two vehicles to pull two trailers -- eek). Anywho, even though it was rushed we had a good time. I think Blake loved his first camping trip. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! It was so hot. And me being so prego now, I no longer have any shorts or capris that fit -- the baby and I sweated to death. Tim took me out on Monday to buy some maternity capris. However since that day it has rained non stop here in Southern Alberta. I think we're drowning!! Come on...bring back the sun so we can go camping again!

So our May Long weekend was cut VERY short this year, but I'm glad we were able to make it out. Even if it was for only a sleepover.

A Year in Review (2007)

I totally stole this from another blog. Loved the idea, so I wanted to do it here too. Here's a summary of our 2007.

January

Tim started his last year of school

Bought a new car

February

My cousin miraculously survives being in an avalanche

March

Rachel announced she's pregnant

Tim finished school & is now a Journeyman Electrician

Ashlee went to the ER with a kidney stone

Tim turns 27 years old

April

Tim sold his horse Felize

Camping at Fairmont Hot Springs

Tim bought a new Quad

Ashlee bought a new treadmill

Ashlee got her wisdom teeth out

Bought an old holiday trailer

May

Grampa had to go to an assisted living home

Camping at Writing on Stone

Camping at Lewis & Clarke Caverns

Tim fought his first house fire

Jenn announces she's pregnant

June

Camping at Waterton (Belly River)

Bought a new truck

Camping & Quading at Pole Haven

Britnee graduates highschool

July

We're Pregnant

Camping at Writing on Stone

Camping in Montana

Ashlee turns 25 years old

Trent & Tara announce they're pregnant

August

Attended my cousin Kyle's wedding

Grampa passes away

Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary

Attended my cousin Carlene's wedding

September

We lost our baby

Ashlee goes to the ER with fluid on her hip

October

Spent Thanksgiving in Castlegar with Kimmy & Brendan

November

New nephew Dallin was born

December

We're Pregnant Again

Celebrated Christmas in BC

Phew, 2007 has exhausted me! Here's hoping 2008 is AWESOME!

Thanksgiving Weekend

It's been ages right? I know, I know. To be honest I haven't really had anything to post. I've sorta been in a funk this last month and a half...if ya know what I mean. Just been feeling a little blah. Anywho, enough with all of that.

Totally had a blast on Thanksgiving a few weekends back. There was a lot of travelling involved but still so much fun. Friday after work Tim, me, and Britnee (my sister that's living in Lethbridge now) all headed to Jaffray. Well let me back that story up a bit. Thursday night and Friday morning I got everything ready and packed so as soon as the work day ended we could head to Jaffray and hopefully not arrive at midnight (of course it was snowing that day too). Well no such luck. Tim phoned me at 7:00 in the morning to say he got a flat tire on the truck on his way to work. Crap! Our plan was to take the truck, not the car, to Jaffray cuz we needed to haul the quad and the dogs out there too. So I tried to get everything finished up at work early so that I could go get the flat tire repair. We seem to get flats all the time. I had another one my car not two weeks before this. Anywho after 2.5 hours I finally got the flat repaired and the guy didn't even charge me for it. (Sometimes it so sweet to be a chick!) But then I had to do a few errands before I could head home. Of course none of that went smoothly, but eventually I got it done. So back to where I was previously...finally we headed to Jaffray -- driving in the snow and arriving very late. Not to mention we were squished like sardines in the truck. With the quad in the back of the truck it didn't leave any room for the dogs. So the dogs got our back seat (thank goodness they're good travellers) along with our bags. Tim, Brit, and I squished on the front seat. Lucky me, I got the middle which the back rest that won't even recline a bit. So uncomfortable. And that was our Friday--a 3.5 hour drive.

Saturday morning we got up early so that we could catch the ferry. This time we jumped in with Mom and Dad. Their truck is much more comfortable. It took us around 3 hours to get to the ferry. The ferry was fun. I hadn't been on it in years.

Then we met Kimmy & Brendan (who live over there) at Ainsworth Hot Springs and we all had a swim. Then headed down the coastline of the lake for about 1.5 hours to Castlegar where Kimmy lives. They just bought a place over there cuz Brendan started school at Selkirk College. Their home is so nice. We sure filled it up as everyone in my family was there. It is so beautiful in the West Kootenays.

Sunday we had Thanksgiving dinner. It was so yummy. There are no complaints from me when it comes to turkey dinner and pumpkin pie. Mmmmm. Then we all headed back to Jaffray. We did the two Passes instead of taking the ferry this time and arrived back in Jaffray in 3 hours.

Monday morning Tim was so excited to go for a quad ride that he set the alarm clock (crazy I know). We went on this totally fun ride with my dad and my cousin Todd. We were gone for so long. We couldn't get to the top of the mountain cuz of the snow, so we cruised around on all the different trails at the base of the mountain. After the ride we packed ourselves back into our truck and headed home. Exhausted and dreading work in the morning.

Montana Vacation

Finally I downloaded the pictures from our Montana holiday. I know it took me forever. My excuse is I was sick and I'd rather lay down than sit in front of a computer. Anywho, but late than never.

We headed out late on Saturday to go to Kalispell. We got there, stopped for gas, and the guy at the gas station said we should spend the night at Ashley Lake, 20 miles outside of Kalispell. Sounds good. Well after driving more like 30 miles we see the sign for Ashley Lake. That turned into a gravel road for 20 miles and then we heard it. We had a flat tire! It's pitch black outside and Tim's now trying to change a flat tire. We didn't have a jack (what vehicle doesn't come with a jack?), but we borrowed one from a cabin near by. This part of the story is much longer, but I won't bore you with the details. Anywho, the guy that owned the cabin told us that Ashley Lake doesn't have any public camping..NICE. So we head back out and go to a lake that he told us about. Ya, well the site was full. Finally at 1:30 am we pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot in Kalispell and slept there. Ya, that's how we roll.


We couldn't repair the tire and we couldn't buy a new one. Our tires we're 100% Canadian and could only be bought in Canada. So I phoned my sister and she went and bought us a tire and brought it down to us (more on that later).

We spent the next 3 nights camping on Flathead Lake. So beautiful. Our site was right on the water. We had our own private beach. It was awesome. By this time though I was deathly sick with a head cold and morning sickness. I wasn't having much fun.

Tim swam with the dogs and took them boating. Actually all 4 of us fit in that dingy at once.



Wednesday we went to Big Sky Waterslides. My sister Jenn brought her family and our tire to Columbia Falls. They didn't let pregnant ladies on some of the slides, so Jenn and I had to sit out of some. I didn't really want to do the super steep ones anyways. Tim and my sister Britnee did. I liked the tube rides.




We spent that night at Whitefish Lake (ya not so nice). A stupid train went right by the campsite all the time. So on Thursday, MY BIRTHDAY, we moved on to Dickey Lake. I've camped their tons as a kid. And part of my birthday presents was snorkeling gear for myself and for Tim (I guess it was his bday too) and Dickey Lake is so crystal clear it made for perfect snorkeling.



And then that evening for my birthday my mom and my granny drove to see us (it's about an hour drive from Jaffray). It was great to have dinner and a bday cake with them. (Don't mind how I look in this photo. I was feeling pretty sick this day.)


Saturday we crossed back into Canada and visited Mom and Dad in Jaffray for a bit. Then Tim and I along with Dad went to Thunder in the Valley in the Crowsnest Pass. It was amazing. But I don't have any pictures for ya cuz by this day I was super duper sick and not feeling like much of anything. The fireworks were the best I've ever seen. They said they spent $35,000 on them. There were tons of people there though. We had a great spot to see the fireworks. I'm going again next year.

I'm still alive....I think

We've been home from our vacation in Montana since Sunday. I know...I've been missing in action for a few days. I have a good excuse though. My head has been in the toilet. Ya know, people speak of this "morning sickness" that's supposed just make you queasy and crackers and gingerale fix it -- well that's not what I've got. I've tried the crackers, the dry toast, the gingerale, the gingersnaps, and all that. Ya well those came up too. If it went in...it would come out. So I stopped putting stuff in to see if that would help. Nope. I tried going to work on Monday. Made it most of the day. Not so cool throwing up in a public toilet. Finally gave up and went to the doctor. **Side Note: You see I have more than one sickness going on. I'm trying to get over a head cold, 3 different infections (yes three), and then morning sickness.** So Dr. V told me that it looks like I'm over infection #1, gave me a prescription for infection #2, told me to stop taking the antibiotics for infection #3 cuz it was making infection #2 worst and adding to the nausea. He told me to try gravol for the morning sickness (or all day sickness), but just in case that didn't work he gave me a prescription to stop the vomiting. Well the gravol went it...it came out. No way would it stay down. So after throwing up more than 10 times in a single day (I realize Casey you probably beat that.), Tim took me to Shoppers Drug Mart at 10 pm to fill the prescription. And that stuff is AMAZING! Very expensive, but amazing! I can eat again.

Seven weeks tomorrow!! I've got my first prenatal August 8th. Not that I haven't already seen the doctor 3 times in the last 3 weeks, but at least this is a planned visit. His head nurse and I are on a first name basis--we speak on the phone even when I'm on vacation.

Taking A Break

Yipee! Tim and I have ALL of next week off. We're going camping in Montana. We're gonna do anything, but work. Yes...just me, Tim, our sesame seed sized baby, and the outdoors. Oh it'll be great! No alarm clocks. I loathe alarm clocks. ALSO, on Thursday it'll be my 25th birthday! Next week is gonna be awesome! We don't have an itinerary for the trip. So we'll just go where the wind blows and try to avoid the forest fires.

Now in baby news...I'm feel great still. I'm hoping it lasts, but I know it's still pretty early on. But there's no harm in wishful thinking. I'm tired these days, but so what. I was tired before. Now I just have a good reason. And that's it. I think it's finally sunk in for Tim that he's gonna be a daddy. It was surreal for the first few days. I was just too excited and I'm not a very good secret keeper so we told everyone pretty much right away. I know a lot of people like to wait until after the first three months, but that was just way too long for me to hold the news. I haven't told anyone at work though. I can't muster up the courage to. I think it'll be a shock to them. They'd think I'm way too young to be a mommy, but in the LDS world...I should have a bunch of kids by now. Hey give me a break...I got married later than most LDS girls. Took me a while to find Tim.

When are the cravings supposed to start? Will I be eating ice cream and pickles? Did you have any weird cravings when you were pregnant (or did your wife)? Were there any smells that you just couldn't handle when you were preggers? My sister hated the smell of vanilla scented candles with her first baby and with the second she craved cucumbers. A friend of mine couldn't handle the smell of the freezer when she was pregnant. So tell me...what do I have to look forward to?

Lewis & Clark Caverns

We made it to the Lewis & Clark Caverns in Montana and had such a great time. We left Friday night after work. It took us over an hour to get across the border. The line-up was so long. We didn't have any food that they could take from us, but we did have dog food that they made us give up. Why the heck can't I take dried dog food across the border? Anywho, we stopped driving at 2am and parked at a weigh scale and slept there. Yep, total class. That's how we roll. We got up early Saturday morning and drove the rest of the way to the campsite at the Caverns. Dad, Mom, Kimmy, & Brendan met Tim, Trent, Tara, & I at the campsite. We did the Cavern tour Saturday afternoon. Monday afternoon we went swimming at the Hot Spring in Fairmont, MT. We love the hot springs in Fairmont, BC but it was fun to try these ones out. And of course we threw in some Montana shopping.

Well here are some pictures of the trip:

The group (Tim & Ashlee, Dad & Mom, Kimmy & Brendan, Trent & Tara) at the opening of the caverns. I almost had a heart attack climbing up to it. Right behind Tim is where the campsite is. We could zoom in with our video cameras and see Diesel & Dex (our dogs) hanging out at the site.

Tim & I at the cavern opening.

My sister Kimmy with her husband Brendan inside the caverns.

Tim, Tara, & Trent ducking through a low spot.

Trent & Tara posing for a photo.

Tim & I looking super hot (actually it was very chilly in the caverns).

Me crawling through another low spot. There were a ton of low spots and we bonked our heads a few times. Dad actually drew blood and then had a scab on the top of his head. I bruised my tailbone, but that's a story for another day.

There's Tim!

Me, Mom, & Dad. You can see that some of the formations are broken. I guess back in the day when they did the tour through the caverns by candle light the tour guide would encourage people to take pieces of the formations home. And now, your not even supposed to touch the stuff cuz the oils in your hands will appartently destroy the formations. So don't look too close at our pictures cuz there seems to be some hand touching stuff going on. Some parts of the tour you couldn't help but touch cuz it was such a narrow passage.

And the group (minus Mom the photographer) at the cavern exit.

And here's a photo of our RVs and Diesel & Dex in the back of our truck (with Tim sneaking in the picture).

Our tiny trailer is about the size of Mom & Dad's slide-out on their 5th wheel trailer. But we made it to the caverns. Yep, 14 hours of driving, over an hour at the border, 6 tanks of gas, wind, rain, snow (yep we drove through a crazy snow storm), and no dog food. We had a blast! I'd do it all over again in a second.

Summer Update

Okay, so I think I've finally got this thing figured out -- maybe. Well I'll give you a quick update of our summer.

We'll start with June. June was a write off...completely. My sister Kimmy was married on June 17th to Brendan Yuill from Cardston. It went very well (even though it was super windy the day of). In addition to Kimmy's wedding, Tim and I found a house out in Stirling that we just loved. So of course, we had to put our house up for sale and pack and move (all in June). We listed our house and we sold it for $5500 more than our asking price in three days. Then we needed get banks and lawyer and all that fun moving stuff in order. We packed and moved and were living in Stirling by July 6th. Also Rachel and her family moved to Lethbridge. We love having them near by.

Now July...we got moved to Stirling, but we needed to unpack. We've got most of that done now (yes I know it's September). Our garage looks like a tornado passed through it still. But there was some outside stuff around the house that we needed to get done before it got cold. First we had to build a fence to keep our two dogs from running around Stirling. Tim also took our little balcony out back and made a huge deck for us. We had to (yes, had to) get our hot tub pad ready for our hot tub (I brought it with me from Lethbridge) and Tim hooked that up too. And that was our July. We got the house set up (and had my birthday).

Then onto August. We needed a break so we took a week off of work and headed to Las Vegas (it's a very long drive). We had a great time with family and then we spent two days on the Strip. It was soooo hot there though. When we got back to Canada I thought I was going to freeze to death and it was 27 degrees here. I guess I got used to the 45 degree in the shade in the desert. On our way home from Vegas we stopped in Salt Lake City for a day. We were able to go camping only once this summer. Shauna had a baby boy, Thomas. He's a cutie. However, Tim and I are now really falling behind on the baby count.

Now it's September and Fall is here. The summer seemed to fly by. I forgot to mention that Tim also switch jobs in August as well. He's still doing the same thing, electrical, but now he works for a company here in Lethbridge - Midland Electric. This winter he'll have his ticket and we'll be all done with the apprenticeship. Me...I'm still working for the Government. I really like my job (as far as jobs go anyways). The Mad Cow problem so far this year as well as the Anthrax outbreak in Manitoba this summer has kept us super busy. Keeps things interesting, right?