It's Almost Christmas.

Wow, I should have updated earlier. Not that I'm going to backtrack that would take too long. December is quite a busy month for me, I have a couple Christmas concerts to go to, both for Busy Bees, & 4 Christmas Parties. Working at Busy Bees has kept me pretty busy, but it's a good busy. I love playing with the kids and having adult interaction with some really cool girls. I don't have much Christmas shopping to do, so that's good.

Kali is doing good, she loves school, she loves singing and memorizing the rhymes we do. She says the "3 little kittens who lost their mittens ", she has a great memory. I've gotten to know her better by being at school too. She is quite the perfectionist, maybe a little OCD, and she eats snack like me, eats everything in order and saves the best for last. She also has a hard time saying sorry and she's very sensitive.

Spence is still at Sunwise Engineering, he's keeping busy which is good. The Economic crisis worries me a little, but all we can do is be prepared. Too bad we wasted so much money on the cruise.

September is a time for change.

Well, Kali started school this month, it's actually her second year in preschool. She loves it, she's so good at making friends, she loves to have routine and learning too. She finally figured out how to write a "K" on her own today I've been trying to teach her different ways for the past year, I am so proud of her. Her teachers are awesome and the school is great, I am biased though because I just started working there. Kali's teachers liked me so much last year that they hired me this summer. It's a great job, I play with kids the whole time and they pay me pretty well for not having any real experience besides sunbeams teacher. It'll be a great experience.

The girls at the preschool invited me to their Yoga class and the first class was tonight, it was so relaxing, I had lots of fun.

Kali and I went to Logan UT to help our sister-in-law organize her move. We had lots of fun with family and we got to eat at my favorite restaurants, Costa Vida and the Golden Coral. I got to go to my favorite store, Deseret Industries, I only spent $30 and bought a pair of shorts, 2 skirts, 2 shirts and a jean jacket, I love that store. We drove, it took 11 hours to get down and 13 hours to get home, I did okay staying awake, we arrived home safely even though it rained the whole way home. I love Utah and the mountians, if Logan were in Canada, I'd move there in a second.

We are also planning on going on a cruise in November. It's a Royal Caribbean cruise from Puerto Rico stopping in some exotic island and down to Barbados, it's a 7 dayer. It'll be hard to be away from Kali for that long, although she'll be with my Mom here so that should reassure me. All the Torries and their spouses will be going too, so in total there will be 21 people, wish me luck.

My little brother, Clinton, is getting married this weekend in Leduc, we are driving up for the weekend and we get to MC his reception. I'm going to start on it tonight, I hope. I've never done this before so I hope it goes okay, we bought a wedding joke book, it should be fun.

Life is good, knock on wood, I'm looking forward to life with my little family, it's neat to see how our circumstances change and how we adjust to it. The Lord is definately watching over us, I'm so grateful for that.

Torrie Vacation 2008

We just got back last night from our family vacation thanks to the Wallaces. We went down to Ashley Lake, MT and camped at their cabin. We left at 7 pm Thursday night and got there at 2 AM, it probably would have been a better drive it we had done it during the day. The route we took had lots of cows on the road, it was a little freaky... man, cows are STUPID. We met the rest of the Wallace clan, it was really fun, they are such a great family. I did a little triathlon on Saturday, 200M swim, 10K bike and 3K run, it was hard swimming in subzero temperatures and running and biking on the gravel roads, I'm definately not used to that. It was fun and I felt good, that's all that matters, right?
Spence took me shopping and we bought some essentials, including a BB/ pellet gun (to take care of our bunny eating my garden problem).

Saturday was also the day I met up with my awesome friends Barb and Sarah and their little girls in Kalispell. We had lots of fun hanging out just like old times, we went for dinner at Bajios, shopping at Borders and out for ice cream at DQ. We all bought "Breaking Dawn" since it was the release date, we were so excited! I just had so much fun!



We got to go to the Gibb's cabin after church on Sunday, I was SUPER excited to see Ronn and Wendy Gibb, they're like parents to me. We had a nice relaxing day just hanging out.
Then on Monday we got ready to come home, packed up the tent and all our other junk. Ken took us and Trev and Erin out for a wakeboard before we left, it was amazing. Trevor is really amazing to watch wakeboard. Spence and I went too, we had lots of fun, and we are feeling it today (especially in our backs, uh-oh, I sound old). Thanks to the Ken for the patience driving the boat and the Wallace clan for putting up with us.

I'll post a few pics of my favorite memories of this weekend.

Erin and Trevor Wallace

Taylor Strong, Kali Torrie & Whitney Butler

Who likes ice cream more, Nixon or Erin?

My seemingly busy life

I'm so glad that Kali's birthday has come and gone, I like to stress out about stuff like that. We just had a BBQ at a local lake with five other families, it was fun. I was quite amazed with myself for not forgetting anything, it ran really smooth. Although what's a party without someone crying? We played a game where you tie balloons to the kids ankles and they try to pop each others, one of the final two, she's 3, cried when the other girl came close. We had two winners in that game. The pinata was fun, I hoped none of the kids could brake so I could smash it... my wish came true. And I actually made the pinata out of paper mache, it was a cat, the kids loved it. Now what's a BBQ without those friendly SEAGULLS, we had some brave ones. They actually drive me crazy, I have a fear of being pooped on. Therefore I grabbed a handful of rocks and actually hit two, they all left for about half an hour, I was quite impressed with myself. Kali got spoiled by her friends parents, I hate trying to find places to put all the new toys, she loved it though. One of her favorite parts was the Kung Fu Panda cake, I wish I could say that I made it myself, but alas, it was from Safeway. I've never had a Safeway cake that I didn't like, you just can't go wrong with the butter cream icing. It was a great day, Kali also had her last day of school that day, so we were busy.

Our car died on Sunday too, that's exciting... not really. The block heater plug broke so the car leaked anti-freeze and over heated, hopefully when we fix it this weekend, that's the only problem. Oh, and we bought our first house this week, that's kinda exciting too.This picture was actually taken last year, we've been renting it for a year from Spencer's brother, Ryan. It was a great deal we couldn't pass it up. We've done some renos, we've been happy that Ryan paid for them.
My scooter is getting closer to being ready to drive, I'm excited about that, it's been put on the back burner for a while; next week I hope to register and insure it. We actually have to totally rebuild it and do some body work and paint, I might be jumping the gun a little for next week, but for sure this summer. I am so lucky to have a husband who is so mechanically inclined, he really is amazing, he can fix anything. He's great in so many ways.

Olivia, Kali and Rafael at the circus.

Me, reading to Kali and Rafael ( My future son-in-law)
Mom and Dad's cat, China, after she was shaved.

Circus Adventures

I took Kali to the Circus a couple weeks ago with some friends. Ahhh, the circus... do I like the circus? The answer is NO. Depending on where you sit all you can smell is animal urine or feces, how do you like that when you're eating your stick of cotton candy? The performers are all dressed like skanky harlots, (Kali came home and told her daddy that the girls where just wearing their panties), and the weird things they do, where the heck do you learn that? There must be some freak University where you learn to hang in the air by a rope around your neck, or run and do tricks on a huge exercise ball. My question is why I care if people can do these things? I will never go to the circus again. I remember as a kid going to the circus, my mom paid our babysitters to take my brother and I to the circus. The only thing I remember is when we were leaving I wanted a snowcone, and Liz wouldn't buy me one. Okay, I know what that sounds like, but my mom gave her money to buy us treats and we got nothing, she just pocketed the money, now do you feel sorry for me? This was a traumatic experience for a 4 year old.

W also went to the farm last weekend and brought our friends the Velardes with us. Kali loves their kids especially Rafael, he's about a year older and they are such good friends. Before the kids went to bed Kali and Rafa decided they wanted to sleep in the same bed. Isn't it so fun to be innocent?

Happy Mother's Day

Well, I had a great Mother's day, this is the first one where Kali was actually excited. At school she made me a flower sprayed with perfume and a candle holder with a tea light. At Mother's group she made me a beaded necklace, I had to wear it to church, I was surprised more mothers weren't wearing theirs. I woke up to Kali bringing my paper bag of gifts, she was so excited she tried to open the bag before I could. Spence and Kal made me a wonderful breakfast, we had waffles with ice cream, strawberries, peaches, and whipped cream, we also had bacon, sausage, eggs and o.j. It was great, I love breakfast food, especially bacon.

I always reflect on Mother's day about my life and I feel a little inadequate, then my husband tells me how wonderful I am, he thinks pretty highly of me. He really makes me feel like a wonderful woman and not only on Mother's day.

We went to the farm for dinner, which Ryan , Spencer's brother, made, it was great. We had lasagna, salad, garlic bread, hot wings, and wine gums. It was nice to visit with my in-laws, although lately we've been trying to plan a girls trip to get away from our kids... probably not the best to talk about on Mother's day.

Thinking about Mother's day made me think about Father's day, it's next month. I don't know how it is around other families, but I think everyday is Father's day at our house, and Spencer actually admitted that I was right. So next month it won't be any different than any other day, he might get a little present from Kali. Ahhh....my feminist self from a few years ago would be kicking my ace right now. Not that I claim to be a decent wife, and let me tell you, I'm not the best, but my husband has it pretty cushy. I think I am going to stop now.

Anyways, it's been rainy the past few days, and it snowed a couple weeks ago, I am just so excited that I don't have to water my lawn and how green it is. Life is good.

This is March!

Hello all from sunny Medicine Hat,

I recently got called to be the Venturer Leader here in the Medicine Hat 3rd ward. I went to woodbadge one and I'm excited to have some good old fashion fun out in the tulies. Our first camp was Feb 15-16. We rolled a round straw bale down the cutbank into the grove by the river at Wayne and Judy's. Then we lashed a 7 foot square cube out of poplar deadfall. Then we propped more poplar branches all around it to make it like a tipi. then we filled it in with lots of willow. then we put straw on top of that to keep the wind and snow out. Then we put loads of straw inside to sleep on. It worked like a charm. So next time you go camping and happen upon a big round bale of straw you can try that out. The river was frozen really well after a few weeks of bitter cold so we were able to hike into the grove on the ice with sleds and toboggans. It was really nice to be able to pull in loads of stuff on a slick surface without needing to carry it on our backs. Some of the Young Men used ice skates too.

Work is going well, I'm following in Uncle Kevin's foot steps with a similar field in building systems engineering. I do mostly mechanical design, but some lighting and electrical and controls. all in all its a nice mix. I'm saving the planet one plumbing fixture at a time!!

My virtual mountain bike contraption is in it's second edition now. I'm using linear actuators from old tread mills and gas shocks from an old hatch back for the platform this time. I have the thing built, now i'm working on controls. it should be better for the next reunion. Thanks for all your constructive feedback from the last rendition.

Jenn is the Sunbeam teacher. She just got a new batch of kids that don't know how to sit and not hit their neighbor, so she's tearing some hair out (mostly her own). Her magnetic personality is bringing our family out of obscurity here and we have quite a social life keeping up with all our new friends here. She is also our chief home renovator. She always has the best ideas of what to do with this house we're working on. We're actually renting it from Ryan and Tonya, and we're saving up to buy it, if that's still in the cards when we have enough. When we moved in it was somewhat of a dive, but thanks to Jenn's genius and hard work things are looking great.

The weather here has been so awesome! I love southern Alberta! Edmonton seemed so dismal and gray all winter, but here it gets interrupted by the blessed Chinook. Our camp was actually during a Chinook, so our main concern was staying dry; warmth was no problem.

Kali is just finished swimming lessons, so now she just has preschool a couple times a week. Jenn is signing her up for soccer in the spring, so that should be fun too. Kali loves to dance and sing everywhere we go, she really makes life so much more bright and meaningful. Yesterday we were at home hardware and it was time go and Kali wasn't having it so she gave me a little whack. I didn't think much of it, but there happened to be a wonderful elderly woman standing by that saw the interchange. She sternly, but lovingly told Kali that she was a grandma and that Kali shouldn't hit her Dad, because he loved her more than anything. Kali was speechless and embarrassed, but i sure was glad that there are great people like that lady walking around in our neighborhood.