The Good Word of the Woodwards: November 2010

Our annual trip to Ol' McDonald's farm on Buffalo Lake near Stettler... The girls love it and we love being together as a family. We love our annual traditions... all the swimming, camp-firing, etc.

This year we were fortunate to have borrowed Will's Dad's camper. Unfortunately on the trip from Lethbridge to Red Deer it got several flat tires, and Will almost ripped his thumb off changing the tires. Poor guy was about wiped out before we even started the trip. In the end we got things sorted out and had lots of fun! Thanks to daddies to work to make things fun for their kids!

Here are some of our memories...

The "Merry go Round"

The train ride

The playground! We ride our bikes everywhere around the campground - including to the playground, usually several times a day.

Coloring at the table in the camper. Even camping - this is one of the girls' favorite activities.

I love this little tent. We get to eat outdoors - bug free. It's also a great place to play games.

The girls saw me helping Will back up the camper the first day. When we went to pick up fire wood, they offered to help. How cute is that!

Sistas!

Swimming and beaching - one of the best things about this campground!

Very becoming of Will, doncha think?

Will and Eden had a big water fight one day this year, after Eden got the hang of the water guns. Watch her little face to see what she thinks of it all.

Where was Kyleigh? Off to the side. She only likes this game if she can do all the shooting, and not get shot at. After a few squirts, she was done!

Not Eden. Bring it on, Daddy!

One of our annual traditions that I LOVE - is creating a sand 'castle' together. Usually its anything but a sand castle, and always it is amazing manifestation of the creativity that lies within my husband's brain. I could never think up these things - it is something that Will is so good at. This year was no exception - watch how the sand transforms from a pile into something you'll recognize.And... watch for the result. There's a competition every year at the resort. In three years of going there, we hadn't won. The pile begins to take shape...

It's a sea serpent / ogo pogo

Fine tuning

The sand castle building team! Go team Woodward!

The final result. Cool - eh? And.... we did it! We won first place! The girls were so excited! So was I!

Our reward for winning the sand castle competition was $20 Ol' McDonald's bucks. We used them to indulge in these - the awesome cinnamon buns.

Yes - it's true. Laurette does occasionally go for a swim.

Beautiful Eden

Stunning Kyleigh

Smooooorrees! MMMM. We make ours with peanut butter cups. No calories or fat in those. Right?

Our friend Carrie, aka Miss Luckwell, came to hang out with us. We roasted smores, played games and as you can see - sang campfire songs!

Starting the fire

Our campsite. That's Grandpa Woodward's famous camper in the background.

A gorgeous sunset to end a fun day!

We were fortunate to be able to travel to Utah this summer and stay with my sister Cynthia and their family. They are wonderful hosts - and we had so much fun! We love being with the Hasslers!

You'll get to enjoy some of our memories in this blog entry, but somehow I didn't get photos of everything - so a little bit of text is necesary too! Who could forget the smoked ribs and brisket done in Mike's smoker.... Will is still talking about those! I don't think he even touched the side dishes at that meal - it was a protein only dinner for him! We also loved Abby's new obsession - Yogotogo - a serve your own yogurt place with dozens of toppings. MMMMMM. Did we go there 3 times? YUM!

Dutch Blitz... I brought it with me although we didn't get around to playing this card game for a few days (too much fun shopping and sight seeing!), but after introducing it to the Hasslers, I have some converts and a few girls who have challenged their auntie to a competition for next summer! BRING IT ON ladies!

We got to see Spencer & Lori and their kids too - which was great! Including a visit to the park one day with the kids, and a Marvin Goldstein concert for the ladies. I'm so envious of all the cultural opportunties in Utah - imagine this - a posting at a mini golf course for a Hilary Weeks concert for free! Just down the street! Sheesh!

Anyways - it was a fabulous trip! Here are a few of our memories!

Mini golfing with the girls. The boys were out dirt biking - which Will loved!

My girls loved eating their meals at the island seated by their cousins!

Jenna & Abby making puppets with the girls & Ethan.

Abby doing a 'make over' on the girls.

One of my FAVORITE times this whole summer was a double date with Cynthia and Mike to temple square one night. When we were at temple square earlier in the week, we had seen a posting for a free concert in the park with Mercy River - one of my favorite LDS music groups! I was so excited this happened during our stay and we were able to make arrangements to go. The concert was awesome and so uplifting. Great to be in a park setting too - so uplifting. Afterwards we walked over to temple square. We saw the temple display in the visitors center and then to our surprise, the actual grounds close to the temple were open so we walked in. We also at at the restaurant on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Our appetizers included fried dill pickles - which I thought would be gross -but were really yummy! And dessert of course. I don't think I could have had a better night - good food, good music, beautiful setting and fabulous company!

The Salt Lake Temple is so pretty at night!

We're just missing a white dress & tux!

With my fabulous sister, Cynthia - and Mercy River. What a great concert! So awesome to meet these inspiring ladies!

At Tree House museum. Cynthia was so awesome at showing us around and taking us to places that we would be interested in. Jenna and Abby were very patient too - which was awesome! Even though the activities weren't always up their alley - their good attitude allowed us to be together! Thanks!

Architect at work!

On our last day in Utah - Spencer brought his kids and met us at a park. It was great to see Spencer, Sydney, Zach, Alex and Sam. Sorry we missed Lori. Fun to have the cousins play!

Before our triple date with Spencer & Lori.

Cynthia spent a lot of time with me shopping for jeans (and other items! Love the US deals!) I bought these sparkly jeans as a reward to myself for completing my weight watchers goal - 25 pounds. Cynthia found herself some cute jeans too!

Some of you know that Will loves watching the Food Network. In specific he likes a show called "Diners Drive-ins and Dives". When we were in California, we googled some of the episodes to see where to eat - and we tried one in San Diego. Yum. So - we decided to do the same thing in Salt Lake City - and settled on "Moochies" known for Philly steak sandwiches and meatball sandwiches. We went there on a triple date with Mike / Cynthia and Spencer / Lori. So fun! Mike ended up with meatball all over his face. Will ordered two sandwiches and still salivates over them today. Afterwards we enjoyed a movie together.

Just look at the joy in the man's eyes!

A visit to temple square with the Hasslers. I wanted our girls to know where the prophet lives / works so when they see conference they know. It was a really hot day outside - thus the red faces! We canucks are not used to the heat!