Happiness for Crystal

It's the most wonderful time

of the year!!

And no I'm not talking about

Christmas. For me getting ready for

Halloween is the best time of year!

For my family it isn't the candy that gets

us excited, it's the costumes and

decorations that get us going.

Strange hey... not excited about CANDY!!!

Well the truth of the matter is Dale is the only 

one in the house that is a candy addict.

Before we moved here to the ranch when we

took the kids Trick or Treating they'd come

home with enough treats to satisfy 6 kids. 

But my kids not big candy eaters would have the junk

till the next year!

No joke. We'd get ready for the next Halloween

and come across a bag of last years candy.

So for us it's the fun parts of Halloween that

we love.

I have become addicted to these leaf bags!!

They are so much fun and spooky to boot!

So much so that when we go to town even the

kids hunt for them in stores.

Harder to come by out here than you'd think.

And with the large leafy trees in our yard they

are pretty handy.

I LOVE windsocks!

I'd have them up all the time .

There is lots more for me to put up, but the rest

I need Dales help to set up.

The inflatable ghost, lights, signs, bats!

Tickles me pink!

Have you started to decorate yet?

Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Another thanksgiving has came and went and we

are very thankful that our friends decided

to join us again this year.

Holidays are always more enjoyable

when you share them with family and friends.

And we are very lucky to have friends that are willing to 

drive 10hrs with 3 small children.

Now that's what you call a friend! Someone who'll

brave a loooong drive with their kids!!!

While they were here we ate! And boy didn't we EAT!

We made cookies, many meals and loads of snacks,

and when I say we I use the term loosely.

I mostly just supervised as my dear friend and husband

did all the hard work.

Thanks giving dinner had to have been the BIGGEST 

meal that we have ever shared together, and we've 

dined together many times.

Let's see there was...

Turkey of course,

Potatoes

carrots

turnip

cabbage

greens

yams

parogies

gravey

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but that's what was coming

to mind. Needless to say they're was loads of 

food, and soooo many left overs!

After dinner was cleaned up we were to play another

board game.... it didn't happen and this is why...

Hahahahahahahahaha!!

Sorry, I know I'm gonna catch trouble for posting these but I couldn't 

have stopped myself even if I wanted to!

It was a great visit and a wonderful time, even if it made me 

a little more home sick than I was already 

feeling, but differently worth it!

Hope everyone else had as great a weekend

as we did!

Good times with the family.

So I guess it's time to play catch

up on your blogging!!

I've found it hard this past few months

to keep up to date with my blog.

But now that I have finished work

here on the ranch it should be a bit

easier. (hahaha)

So here are a few of the things that have

happened in the last two months.

( a couple of stud muffins)

We took a mini vacation on the labor day

weekend, ended up at the beach in

Penticton. We had a wonderful time and

plan on going again next year.

(water baby)

Dale was given a hand made canoe to finish.

It should be nice when he's done.

Then he plans to try and build one himself.

(Moon)

Our kitten has finally taken the big step 

outside. Much to the heartbreak of my son.

It was hard to get him to understand that he'd be

a happier cat if he could go outside.

All Darby could think about was the last cat

that went out never came back.

So we cried together for a bit over Zeus and

let Moon go out.

Secretly the damn creature was heading

out the door one way or another!! He was 

driving me NUTS!!

(Arrow)

Our 8m old puppy has gotten fixed.

I know what a brute!! And still only a puppy!

He's going to be a monster when he's done growing.

The kids wanted to hook him up to the satellite dish

and see if we got better reception. 

The cone lasted a total of two days before he and 

Bullseye had destroyed it. He was like a one dog 

wreaking team with that thing on anyways.

So that's about it for now.

I'm going to really try and make the 

effort to keep my blog as up to date 

as possible.

Hope everyone had a great summer!

Working out!!

Well it's been a busy September!

And now it's October!!!

Crazy, where does the time go???

I know it's been awhile since I made a

post about my weight progress so 

here goes...

Start weight 192lbs

Current weight 165lbs

Total loss 27lbs

I'm happy with that. To be honest I have

weighed myself the last two months

but felt that there wasn't much

change. I guess I plateaued? Which is

good and bad, now I'll actually have to make

an effort to keep the weight off and/or lose

more. And that SUCKS!!!

Oh well... I have dropped a pants size, now wearing a 13/14.

And I can get my wedding band on... but it's still to tight

to wear comfortably. All in time I guess.

Back to school

Well it's been a crazy few weeks here

on the ranch.

But the most unreal thing happened on

Tuesday morning. The first day of school.

You might not know this but my children 

attend classes right here on the ranch.

That was until Tuesday morning when they

shut the school down.

They had many reasons, and some of them

are valid, but it came down to the fact that they're

were only two students!

So now my kids have to take a bus into town for

school. It was and still is a large blow to us all

I think, but my biggest concern is that my kids

are an hour away from home :(

On the other hand though they are super excited to

be around other kids they haven't seen in awhile and that

there is lots of new friends to be made.

It will diffidently take me more time to adjust then them.

(Darby)

(Breanna)

Well here's to a new school year and hopefully

a happy one!

Fun in the sun!

Finally got the kids out in their kayak's!!

We borrowed one from our neighbor's down

the road for Dale, so that he could go too.

It sure didn't take them long to start zipping around

the lake.

Having fun on Douglas Lake.

Dale cruising along.

 Darby chasing a Loon.

Darby decided that he wanted to swim so he bailed out of

his kayak. Then when Dale brought the kayak to shore

Darby got back in, only to paddle out and

jump back in the water!

He did this multiple times.

Breanna was sooooo over it in no time!

12 year old moodiness took over

at this point.

We had a good time.

Maybe we'll get to go back out before it

gets to cold to be in the lake.

Hope everyone is having a great summer :)

Riding with Bre

Well it's been an exciting month.

Breanna was out riding a lot.

Notice how I say WAS!!!

Well she and Quiet we're having

issues, he realized  she isn't a strong rider 

and

she realized he wouldn't listen to her.

So she gave up in a way.

I wasn't having that! Being the mean mom

I am I made her get back on!

Well after another bad experience on 

Quiet the jerk! (LOL)

She was told to start riding a different horse.

(Breanna and Que)

(don't think I spelled her name right)

And now she's happy again.

" I like mares Mom, boys suck!"

So guess what...

Now I get to ride Quiet.

(he has paint on his nose)

I personally am not impressed by the way I look on him.

We both have a few pounds to lose!

This is the first time I've been on a horse in 7 or 8 years.

Needless to say I did have an

OH CRAP!

moment while out, but all's good now.

But it's all worth it to see this face.

Learning to lope.

(Riding in Home Meadow)

So much fun. Can hardly wait to see what she'll do next.

If only you could see her... next time I go out with them 

I'll bring the video camera. 

And maybe you'll have a similar goofy smile, like

the one I feel plastered to my face everytime

I watch her ride.