Out and About Geocaching

Well, with the weather being so nice this past month, I've been able to get a lot of geocaching done. I was looking today and I've found 46 caches so far in the month of October. Wow. (though, there's a lot of other geocachers out there that found that many in just one day this month)

Last weekend was the Calgary Cache & Release event (CCAR). It's a 24 hour marathon starting Saturday at noon and ending Sunday at noon. This is the second time we've participated, though we only go out on Saturday, and even then it's sporadic with all our other activities. There was a lot of drama on Facebook leading up to the event. A lot of not nice things were said and some of it was directed at me. I wouldn't have done anything differently... it was other geocachers who had their noses bent out of shape with the release of "non-judged" caches (one of which was mine). Anyways, it wasn't pretty and I felt quite hurt. Some of the people I used to look up to because of their amazing geocaches, are now people I don't care for as individuals. So disappointing. But, despite all the hoopla... Cam and I had a great time during the event and found 17 caches on the Saturday and even met a few new geocachers out on the trail.

I've found some fun caches. I even took some pictures to show you (some from the CCAR event and some others)....This one was pretty cool. It involved magnets on top that caused the cache to drop out the bottom.
An interesting teepee that some kids had built beside a geocache. See, sometimes the kids do have fun when I drag them out.


The Halloween themed cache was one of the best ones I've seen in a long time. It was complete with a lot of screaming sound effects and flashing lights. What really made this cache impressive was how to open it... which I'm not going to tell you here... you'll just have to see for yourself. Want to know which cache this is... just ask.


A FTF (First to find) cache for me. I've only found three before. Most geocachers race to be the first to find a new cache. During a CAR event is the best time to get at least one. This particular cache was nice enough to have a FTF prize... a Tim Horton's gift certificate. Sweet.


Me and Matthew found Thumper on the side of the road in Bearspaw. Matthew liked this cache.


Some caches make me think... "What the heck?" Actually, this one made me giggle at the silliness of it all.


Any guess where this cache might be hiding. I've seen quite a few of these, so it was a real quick find.


See anything in there Emily?? It's not the cache, but maybe it'll tell us where to go.


Night time caching is always an adventure. Searching in the dark is so much harder. Thankfully this last one was an easy find and thankfully it had a good clue as to where the log book was hiding.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Anyone interested in going geocaching with me?? I'm always looking for someone to come with me, especially during the day.

Halloween Sugar cookies

This is what I've been doing lately.
Sugar cookies. Royal icing. A whole lot of fun.
A couple weeks ago, I came across a website, where they made "Jack-o-lanterns in a jar".
So cute. I knew I wanted to make some too.

(Megan, I made the mustache one and thought of you! Too bad I didn't think of it when I made these cookies the first time... )

So next time you're looking for something fun to do.... make some of these. I'll even post my favorite sugar cookie recipe for you tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!

Bedroom Makeover Surprise

It's a lot quieter in the house this week.
Not only is Cam away to another conference, but Abigail is also away to "outdoor school".

So, when Abigail left yesterday morning, I decided I was going to do a makeover of her bedroom and surprise her. She gets home Friday afternoon, so I hope she likes it when she sees what I've done...

Let me say too.... sometimes what I envision in my head, doesn't always come out quite the way I planned. First off, the tree was all free hand and basically done by just painting it on a whim. I say that because I did not project it onto the wall and I didn't exactly sketch it in pencil either. That was my plan, to sketch it out first, until I realized I can't see the pencil markings from a distance and therefore it was pointless cause I couldn't see the overall picture.... make sense? So, I just "winged" it. Some things I'd change if I were to do it again, but I'm not. I'll just call it a learning experience. Besides, I'm hoping no one cares about the "details" like I do... and you'll all just think it's amazing... right? :)

Anyways, here's some before and after pictures.......

Before

After

The walls are now a light purple instead of blue. The tree is dark purple (and so is part of my carpet.... but we won't get into how I dropped an entire bucket of paint late last night and some of it landed on the carpet.... no, we won't go there...)
I found those sheer purple curtains at Ikea last night for only $10. Sweet.

Before

After

Shhhhh... you think Abigail will notice that the blossoms on the fan she bought this summer in San Francisco used to be bright red and I painted over them with purple paint so they'd match her room better?? Gosh, I sure hope she doesn't freak out on me over that when she sees.
And all her paper masks that she likes to make, are now above the door.


Well, I'm hoping to add a few more things. I'm not completely sure what or how. I had bought some picture frames and was planning to hang them above her bed and attach ribbon from the frames to the tree to make it look like they're hanging, but I'm not sure. Maybe. Or maybe I need bigger frames? Or a vinyl word saying from Word to the Wall for the one blank wall? Oh, I'm not sure. Any ideas??? Anyone?

So, now you know why I'm feeling a little sleep deprived today. And why am I blogging, when I could be sleeping??

A Blast to my Past

My Grandma was born in April of 1913 (that's right, she's 98!).
She was born on a homestead just East of Crossfield.
When she was 14 years old, her family moved a few miles South to a new farm that had more pasture land.

Would you believe, that the house and barn that they used back in 1927, are still standing?!
It's a fun place to visit. My family made a family trip out there, with Grandma, to see the old buildings back in August. I didn't get around to blogging about it back then, but I'm going to blog about it today. My sister and I were out there again this past weekend... to take some family photos. It was fun!

Anyways, I wanted to share some pictures of what the house looks like....
At one time, this house would have been so cute. Look, you can even see the cute wallpaper they had.
Looking at the walls is really quite amazing. No drywall back then. Each wall was created with thin slats of wood. And the plaster on the wall was made using horse hair as part of it. You can see the hair sticking out of the broken plaster.
They had a "cellar" under the main floor. Here's the entrance to it. The cellar, yes I went down there, is pretty small. You have to crawl almost to get down there.Heading up the stairs now. Thin and narrow, but in reasonably good shape.
Upstairs, this was Grandma's bedroom. The floor isn't in the greatest shape. In spots we can look through the floor boards and see the room below.
Coming back down the stairs
Living room area. What a mess!
Anyways, that's inside the house.
On a side note - I placed a geocache just down the hill from the house, closer to the barn. I called it "A Blast to my Past", same as what I titled this blog posting.

Here's a little look at some of the family photos we took here this weekend....
After all, old buildings are all the rage for photo backdrops and it's even better when it has a special tie to our family heritage.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving. A time to reflect on all the things we've been blessed with and how thankful we are to have all that we have.
Today I saw this quote. My cousin posted it on FB....

Wow. That sure hit me. I read that and thought.... what did I say in my prayers yesterday?? I'm sure I said my usual... thankful for my family, good kids, good health, safety...
But, how much more could I have said??? So, so much more! Because I'm blessed with so much!

So today, I'm going to issue you a challenge (one that I'll be doing today myself).... today when you say your prayers, make your prayer a prayer of gratitude. Take the time to thank our Heavenly Father for all that he's blessed us with. And... don't ask for a single thing.

Lastly, I just thought I'd mention something I'll be doing today as well. A long time ago, I had started a gratitude journal. A place to write all the things I'm grateful for. I used to write in it almost every day. I used to even get Cam to write in it. And every day, I would think of something new. I would never duplicate what I wrote.
It was great. It made me think. I'd write I was thankful for my eye sight, my sense of smell, for the beautiful world we live in, for rain, for sunshine, for promptings I had to help someone..... you name it.
It's been a long time since I've written in it. I think today I'll be pulling out that gratitude journal. And if you feel inclined.... start your own.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Mini cake

Families Are Forever.

At a very young age, we're taught that families are forever. They we can spend all of eternity together. Isn't that a nice thought??
It's a very exciting thing, when someone can go to the temple for the first time and then have the opportunity to be sealed together for eternity with their spouse (and all their children).

I had a friend phone me up the other day. She asked if I could decorate a mini cake to celebrate such an occasion. The lady she teaches primary with was going to the Cardston temple this weekend and they were going to talk about it in their primary class today.


The cake is small. Layers are 6", 4" and 2" rounds.
Elora (my 9 year old), helped to make all the flowers with me.
I think Elora is going to be a fantastic cake decorator when she's older. Already she's a big help to me. She has a talent for it.


Anyways, have a look at the cake...