November Quad Ride

Mr. Grant is a great fire builder. There was kindling and cut wood left over from someone else. So we just found some kindling, a little bit of paper and Mr. Grant had the fire going.
Chloe is very happy we have stopped for lunch and to get warm.
Ryan Layton waiting for his turn to roast a hot dog. Notice the tire seat.
Mrs. Bev getting her lunch.
Mmmmmm. Those dogs tasted so good roasted over the fire. The kids were tired of holding their sticks so Mr. Grant made them a little stick holder, then they could sit and monitor the cooking.
Mr. Grant is still waiting to eat.
Russell and Chloe did not want to have a bun so I wrapped the hot dog in paper towel. It works.


Mrs. Bev and I went around the ice. Curtis and Mr. Grant went over the ice and did not brake through. Then came Ryan. The ice could not take any more. This was the only ice we broke through. When Curtis and I were here 2 weeks earlier, it was very muddy and we were in 4x4 most of the time. Now everything is frozen and the riding was great.
In the back seat of a quad, there is not much room for a large chain saw. Mr. Grant bought his little one along in case we needed it to clear a trail. There were some pretty big trees and the little saw did the trick.
Russell and Chloe watching the tree cutting process.
Beautiful scenery.
This was a big tree but it did get cut up. The winch on the quad pulled it out of the way and than we were off, till the next tree over the trail.

We spent most of the day outside. We all came home and had hot showers and supper. The kids and Curtis were spent. If the snow stays away, we will most likely be out again on Sunday. I guess the basement can wait till the weather turns really cold. Mr. Grant and Mrs. Bev also have basement work to do and are waiting till winter sets in also. Maybe we won't get started till January. Every day without snow is one day closer to spring!!

Helicopter Fun

Our neighbor is a helicopter pilot and well operator. He flies south of Grande Prairie and covers a huge area. The work of checking wells would take lots longer by truck. There was fog in his area this morning so he flew home for a few hours to let the fog burn off.
Russell thought is was very cool to sit at the controls. There was no time for rides today but maybe next time.
Eldon and his 2 kids Ciera and Hudson.
Ciera was so excited to sit in the pilots seat. I love her HUGE smile.
Eldon and his wife Jennifer.
Hudson liked the helicopter better when his daddy was in there with him. The inside is very tight. Eldon was telling us that the pilots can't be overweight because then they can't take much fuel with them on the job or fit very easy in the seat. Eldon flies alone so he takes his tools, generator and a full take of fuel.
This is their back yard.
Just lifted off the ground.



There he goes, back to work. It only takes about 15 minutes to fly south of Grande Prairie from our house. We could hear him long time after he was out of sight. We had a pretty good afternoon. Something to put in the memory bank.

Four Generations

The other day, yeah you guessed it, my friend Cassy took our pictures. Grandma is visiting from North Carolina. The kids have never met her before. Four generations is not that common. Chloe will remember this!
Cassy has a good eye for picture taking. The weather was a little cold to be outside in a field or something so we went to her house. I love the stair case. A few years ago we had our family Christmas picture taken on the stairs with the railing decorated, very nice.
Just in case someone missed it, this is Mom's mom.

Curtis' 37th Birthday

A church member works at Dairy Queen and makes cakes. I called Joseph during the week to see if he could do a cake for Curtis. Last year he did his cake as well. Joseph asked me what I wanted on it. As I preceded to tell him, he interrupted me and said he had some great ideas and wanted to make a John Deere cake. Joseph did an awesome job. Notice the tread on the tires, 3 point hitch on the back, and the John Deere symbol. Thanks so much Joseph.

This is not all that happened for Curtis' birthday. Last Saturday evening, several friends came over for some food and visiting. On Thursday, which is the day of his birthday, we went out for lunch and he had some phone calls from family. The kids are now getting into others birthdays and they had fun with some of the planning.
Chloe is patiently waiting to have a taste.

Quad Ride in the Saddle Hills

We might not have too many more nice days to have a quad ride like we did yesterday. With the snow we had in the past, the trails were quite muddy and we were in 4x4 most of the time. We went in a new area which was nice to explore. The kids couldn't wait for snack time. I think they just like eating outside. I took them for their last swimming lesson in the morning while Curtis packed everything up.

It was too cold to wear rubber boots but too muddy for winter boots, but winter boots it was. There were a few places where I needed to get off in the mud. We were all dressed in layers with long johns on and several shirts. So when we got back to the truck, we took off all our outer layers and threw them in the box. The washing machine was busy last night!

This is looking to the north towards Woking. We were in the Saddle Hills and quite high up here. This would have been a nice picture when the leaves were still on the trees.
Chloe was getting tired and ready to head back to the truck. I guess it is hard work bumping around on the back. She only got hit by one tree!! Russell has a racing helmet with a full face cover so he just puts that down and then doesn't need to duck for all the branches! We don't have one of those fancy GPS for marking trails. The one we have marks points and it comes in handy for pointing us in the general direction of the truck. One day the quads will have to go to the shop to get all clean before winter. If this nice weather continues, next Sunday we may be doing the same thing. I guess the basement flooring will have to wait. Soon winter will come with a vengeance and then we will have lots of time to do indoor things.