Exploring

Saturday we were all ready to go spend the afternoon out on the lake. We had the boat on the trailer and everything packed to make walleye and bannock over the fire. As Kendall drove off to buy minnows, I heard the thunder. So we came up with Plan B and went out exploring. We just substituted hot dogs for fish and Eli prayed that it would only sprinkle where we were. It started pouring at one point when we had just stepped out of the car to walk around. So we drove a bit farther and ended up spending several hours at the new site. And it only sprinkled there.





Still no bears. Only these prints.

4-wheeling

Yesterday afternoon we went out on 4-wheelers with Marvin, a man who Kendall has been working for and likes a lot. It was, of course, beautiful. We went out on some trails that you couldn't drive a car or truck down and that would have taken hours to walk down. So that made me more sympathetic to Kendall's desire for a working 4-wheeler. (He bought one, but it has been a lemon and currently is in many, many pieces.)

Kendall, Eli and I piled on to the super-duper big and mighty 4-wheeler (pretty much the equivalent of a Goldwing) and Evan caught a ride with Marvin. I couldn't hear much over the roar of the machines, but I found out later that both boys were singing and talking away as we bumped along the path. Another moment of happiness for Mommy.

Later, they got to ride in a trailer behind that super-duper 4-wheeler. They were bouncing around like little helmeted bobbleheads. This elderly 32-year old had tried it earlier, but found it to be way too bone-jarringly violent. The boys were back there smiling and laughing. However, when we got back to the truck, Eli informed us that he didn't like the ride. When I commented on his smile, he let me know that he smiles when he's mad. I guess that's a good thing for me to know!

Overheard

This afternoon I heard a conversation between Kendall and Eli. Eli was measuring something with Kendall's tape measure. Kendall was trying to help him know how to read the number. He explained how numbers with 3 digits work. So he helped Eli start out correctly, "One hundred..." "Forty-six!" finished Eli. I knew that Eli still has a long way to go in reading numbers when I heard Kendall's response: "There's not a four or a six." The correct answer was 192. :) Good thing Junior Kindergarten starts tomorrow for our little student!

Homesick?

Yes, I guess I am. For much of the summer I haven't felt too homesick. We've kept pretty busy as a family. And being home full-time with the boys has gone better than I expected. I've pushed myself socially, so maybe being at home feels like a bit of a refuge. I don't have any great friends, but I usually feel hopeful about friendships.

But the past week has been harder. I just want to have good conversations and laugh with comfortable friends.

But that probably won't be happening this weekend, so how do we keep moving forward and encouraging each other when we're both struggling with some lonliness?

We're trying to be creative. Tomorrow's supposed to be nice, so we're hoping to do some "day camping," as I call it. (Camping without hauling the tent and bedding and everything else to sleep out there.) We're hoping to go on a date (our first one since being here!) sometime next week. We have supper plans with another family next week. Hopefully we can have company Sunday evening. (Or maybe get invited away!) We might stay up late tonight or tomorrow night to play a game with Kendra next door. We'll find things to do and hopefully be able to keep the bogeyman of lonliness away. :)

And in the meantime, hopefully our friendship with each other and God will deepen.

Overheard

I was listening to CBC in the car one day and Barack Obama's name was mentioned. (Yes, the US election is news here.)

Eli, who I didn't know was even paying attention, exclaimed, "Barack Obama! He's my best lawyer guy!"

Suppertime

I noticed that I've been bragging a lot in my recent posts. So, in that spirit, I want to talk about the supper I made. I made ceviche, which we learned to like in Ecuador. Out of good old fashioned walleye! I also made ensalada rusa, which doesn't look so appetizing, but is yummy. I must say that I was rather impressed how walleye could turn into something as gourmet as ceviche.

Here we are ready to enjoy a wholesome family suppertime together.


Yummy, if I must say so myself!

The boys thought they were so hilarious when they set Kendall's place with a tiny fork and spoon.


Now Eli thought he was so hilarious when he tried to get a cookie from the container and ended up with 4 stuck together.

Oops! This might be a more realistic picture of family suppertime together. Evan is explaining why he doesn't have to wear a bib (he'll lean over his plate) and who knows what kind of sinister plan Eli is coming up with to make supper more "interesting." Maybe he was thinking about how he would later drop his cantaloupe on the floor. Too bad you can't enjoy the sound effects of our "wholesome family suppertime." It actually went better than sometimes tonight and I (wholesomely) initiated a conversation about our best and worst parts of the day. The boys both enjoyed working on the 4-wheeler with Dad. Their worst parts were "washing dishes" (Eli) and "picking up my stuff" (Evan). Eli explained to me that washing dishes will always be his worst part. What?! If they've already labeled chores as bad, they've got a lot of worst parts coming up!

Eli likes Racheal Ray and often asks me to pretend I'm Racheal Ray when they're watching me cook. Tonight I did my show on how to make ceviche. The only thing is that, since I was making ceviche from walleye, I felt like I was on a cross between Racheal Ray and the Red Green Show.

Since I'm rambling about Racheal Ray, I have to tell about our Racheal Ray show when we were camping. We video-taped Kendall making lunch over the campfire and called it the Kendall Ray Show. Mr. Kendall Ray asked a special guest, Eli Hochstedler, to come up front and explain how to build a fire. Eli took his role very seriously and did a good job explaining how to do it. (He even specified that kids should use their dads.) After he was done, the audience went wild with applause. Kendall later told me that Eli confided in him that he was nervous. :) Sweet!

Outdoor and Indoor Activities

Tuesday afternoon the boys had the opportunity to ride miniature horses with someone from church. They did this once before. So Eli was very confident. Perhaps, overconfident. But they did great. Eli did say, though, that he almost got bucked off once.



And this just might be the kids' other favorite activity. In my drive to be a wholesome mother, I can't quite bring myself to say what they're doing and how much they ask to do it. But I'm sure you can guess.