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Catching up..........

Well, I have been properly chastised (thanks Mary Lou) and it seems like I need to update my blog. It is still a new thing to me, and I will catch on soon......hopefully : ) Anyway, summer has really seemed to speed up as we have been able to do more things. In July we camped in Wetaskiwin and went to the airshow. It was fun, and interesting at the same time. We had seven kids with us - yes - 7 - it was not a typo!! We had our own five kids and then two foster kids with us too. We had a tent for Tyler (he's 6 feet tall and thought he could use his own space), but the rest of us piled into our tent, and then our niece Makenna decided that she needed to be in there with our girls too. So we had nine people in our tent. I think the girls were a little excited as they didn't fall asleep until 10:30 and then we were serenaded by Becky until 11pm - that girl does not like to sleep, but at least she can sing on tune! We had a great time at the airshow even if it was stinking hot!! We were all glad they were giving out free water. It sure was fun to have this fun little family reunion - thought I think it should have lasted a little longer.

Well, that was July in a nutshell. In August, we went to Cherry Grove. This little town reminds me of the little town that I grew up in. If you didn't know it was there you would completely miss it!! Seriously - you drive down the highway and you can see the community hall and a building that used to be a store, but isn't anymore.........that's it. But when you get behind all the trees there is a lovely little town. Well, people and a church anyway - what more do you need. It is only about 10 min outside of Cold Lake, so they go there for everything they need. It was the 75th Anniversary for the town, and since Matt's family was one of the main settlers and there are still quite a few members of his family still living there - it was a bit of a Hatch reunion as well. Matt's grandpa moved up there when he was 15 with his mom and dad and 8 brothers and sisters (three more came up there too!!), so there are a few relatives!! We had a great time, even though it rained most of the day Saturday, but we found out our tent was waterproof anyway!! We camped in the rodeo grounds and Matt decided that we should put our tent back into the trees..........I must admit that I didn't think it was a great idea as we were being eaten alive while trying to put it up, but when the winds and the rain came and we had a great shelter, I actually swallowed my words and admitted that he chose a great spot to put the tent!! We had a great time visiting with Matt's Dad and step-mom and his sister. The kids had a great time and since all the meals were taken care of with our registration fee - all the more better for us!! They fed over 800 people for dinner on Saturday night and then the last count showed 530 at church the next day!! I did not envy the primary teachers, but it was a nice 2 hour break for us!!

We bought a membership at the Space and Science Centre this summer and we have gone three times already this summer. The kids love it and they are learning things at the same time (I can only hope). We are going camping again next week for a few days. It has been very hot this week, so hopefully we can keep that up at least until we are back!! I was able to travel down to southern Alberta to see one of my good friends from high school last weekend. It was a long drive, but my girls did well. I only had to take Rebecca and Sarah and Matt kept the rest of the kids for the weekend. Other than spending most of a day putting my house back in order and doing the huge piles of laundry - I would say that Matt did a great job. He even marinated and BBQ'd steaks - WOW!! Now if I could only get him to do that when I am home....... hahahahaha!!! Yup - still laughing!!

Well, my lengthy post is now done - I guess you all get all or nothing from us!! Maybe we will write again soon.............