Hi Everyone!

I haven't been on the blog for awhile, so here's an update.

We are doing square foot gardening this year. Brent built a 4' x 4' box - he planted potatoes in it about two weeks ago, just before going on shutdown. He also built two 4' x 10' garden boxes. I have them almost filled with the mixture. I am looking forward to planting the garden on Saturday. Everyday I check out the potatoe box to see how they are coming along! I am happy to say they are sprouting!

Aaron and Chelsey moved in with us on Mother's Day. We are enjoying their help and their company! They have a little dog named "Rocky", named after Rocky Belboa, of course! Brooke will be here for the weekend so I am sure she will be very willing to help Grandma plant the garden.

Keisha graduated from playschool tonight. Chelsey and I attended...it was very cute. I am sure Jordan and Kristina will post pics soon.

I went to visit my family on the weekend...we had a short but good visit. I am really enjoying my early morning walks...in fact I look forward to it! Anyway, that's about it for now.

Take care everyone!

Love & hugs,
Roxanne

Hello to all from colorado again. the state. Jeanine and I are at one of the rinks for a goalie camp that I help out with and we have internet so we thought we would jump on and say hi to everyone. Jenny I hope you and Grahm have fun at that concert and everything goes good on the road. I know from driving to colorado that the experience of a road trip is fun but sometimes gets a little hard. I just wanna warn you that gas has gone up a little in colorado so i am guessing it would also go up in nashville but what am I saying gas is way more expensive for you in canada so I guess enjoy the cut back while your here. lol.

Everything is going good here for the most part. I am still waiting to start painting with my buddy cameron, and Jeanine is still going through interviews looking for a job. It is a little hard sleeping on the floor of someone elses place but its not bad. We are still looking for an apartment or a house to move into, but that will happen soon enough after we get working. sometime it is hard to be out here on our own by ourselves away from family, but when Jeanine and i sit back and think about it, both of our parents did a good job raising us because we can survive on our own in our own place. (or in a buddies for the time being. lol) well i hope everything is good for everybuddy and we love you all.

love you all,

Cassidy and Jeanine.

WAY TOO QUIET

What's happening here? You guys weren't that quiet when you were growing up! I was forever telling you to play quieter. Do you remember when Garth sounded like a whole army when he played with his little plastic soldiers in a sink full of water? Now we don't hear him on the blog hardly at all - only in comments, it seems. But then, we know it's pretty busy planning a wedding.

So did everyone get a chance to watch the CANADA WIDE STAKE CONFERENCE? We thought it was wonderful.

For all you Americans - last Sunday we had a Canada-Wide Stake Conference. President Monson, Elder Ballard, Elder Snow, Sister Dibb were all in Brampton, Ontario. They spoke to everyone in Canada. We received it via sattelite. It was a wonderful conference. They were all very relaxed and gave great talks. We found out that Sister Dibb, who is a counselor in the Young Womens General Presidency, is President Monson's daughter (apparently the only daughter). She was a teenager when Pres. Monson was Mission President in Toronto. Also, we heard that Elder Ballard was the Mission President in Toronto immediately following Pres. Monson. They were all delighted to be in Canada. You could tell. I hope all you Canadians got a chance to watch them.

Last night at our Empty Nesters Family Home Evening we played some games. Then they gave us the following quiz to do. I'll share it with you because I think it's fun.

See if you can find 16 books of the Bible hidden in this story


I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu. Kept people looking so hard for facts. For others, it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers. To others, it was a real job. I want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can complete. Relax now, for there are 16 names of books in the Bible in this story.

O.K. There you have it. See how many of you can find them.

Love you all lots,
Gramma

Just a little hello. I check our blog fairly often and was getting bored of seeing nothing new. So a few Polischuk highlights.
* Graham is done his shutdown WOHOO!!!! It was a good 47 days of night shift, poor
guy. We spent the weekend together and I remember why I love him.
* Our basement is getting closer to the liveable stage. Graham was a painting machine, so
just flooring and finishing work then bedrooms/bathroom are ready for Al and Jon. Sorry
no pics yet.
* Only two weeks then the Polischuk's are taking a roadtrip down to Nashville, but not for
country music...a Rock Festival with Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Willie Nelson
and many other artists. We are pumped!!!
Love you all! ~Jenny

U S...eh

So here we are in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where they say "If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes." Now this has been the longest winter we've had since we've been here. Having snow in May (that's strange enough, but having it five times, RIDICULOUS).

OK, so Thursday.... 52 degrees, Friday.... 86 degrees, Saturday.... 91 degrees.... go figure.

Anyway everyone here is doing great, we are working on the house every hour possible. It is coming along. Pat just got back from Phoenix (he drove out with his girlfriend). Mat is still in Ellensburg, at University. Cass is still in Colorado doing hockey stuff. Cal had another cooking competition. Kenz just finished a coed indoor soccer game tonight.

Nancy is doing much better, with all the decisions needing to be made for the house. I know she didn't sign up for that!!! Every time I tell her I need to know where something goes or what she wants she says do I have to choose right now. (not much time for contemplation).
Myself, just working and then working at the house. I took Bear with me the last two weekends, he seemed to love it.

Well I hope this note finds everyone well.
Take care and God Bless,

Uncle Troy

P.S. We do have windows in the house now, I know it's not much, but we're excited.

Charley Pride

Last night Grampa & I used our Christmas present. We went to the Jubilee Auditorium to see Charley Pride. It was an outstanding show. He sang all the oldie goldies - the ones you guys remember that were on the tape we had.

His son, Dion Pride, opened the show. He's very good as well. Quite a bit taller and all-round bigger than his dad - his voice is not as deep as Charley's. But then, his dad is very skinny and his voice is still as deep as ever.

He told us that he's been married 51 years - He must have been married at 18 because I Googled him today and read that he was born in 1938. That's one year later than me and he's been married one year longer than I have. It's nice to see entertainers that STAY with their spouses.

He apparently wrote an autobiography. They were selling them after the show but we didn't stick around to get one. It was a full house - lots of grey hair!!

It was quite funny, the old fellow sitting next to me was really down at the mouth at the start when Dion opened and during intermission before Charley came on, but as soon as Charley got on stage the old guy was clapping and bouncing like you wouldn't believe. Must be a really big Pride fan.

Anyway - thanks Garth & Janene for the night out. It was great.

Love to you all,
Gramma

Hey all! Hope that this finds everyone well. Things here have been busy non-stop. We've moved out of our apartment and out to Ft. Saskatchewan into Jen and Graham's place for a while....our apartment building and more importantly our suite had BED BUGS!!!! It was pretty disgusting and I felt like a buffet for a few weeks until we figured it out. So slowly we've been making the crossover to their place. We even bunked with gramma and grampa for a few nights, not that it was a bad thing. Who doesn't love made for you breakfasts?!? It sure started off the day =) The really stinky part about it is that we had to garbage our couch, chair and bed. Good thing my sister loves me and thinks Jon is funny or we coulda had to make our new abode with the homeless guys behind our building. Oh well, these things happen!

On a happier and less gross note, Jon got a job doing accounting/finance for a construction company in Sherwood Park for the summer. He works 10 on and 4 off, overtime for the weekend shifts and it's not a crazy commute into the west side anymore. So he is excited/nervous to start this job, but were grateful to be working. (Well I am grateful that he is working...maybe that means I don't need to hehe) I am just getting ready to wrap up the end of the year with my classes and enjoy a hot, bellyful summer. Should be fun, now that we're at Jen's I might invest in a kiddie pool for the backyard...I have no shame! I am also looking forward to relaxing with my sisters this summer and letting Jenny go baby prep crazy for me. =) Thanks Jen!

That about wraps it up for the Bird's. Little helicopter is still growing...she made me gain a heck o' weight this month. (Although I'm sure it wasn't all her...truthfully she doesn't even like the chocolate treats I eat) She is also a very busy little lady what with the crazy kicking and rolling around. It seems like she hates kicking my sides or by my ribs, but give her a bladder and the girl is all about it! =) Jon is able to feel her moving alot more, and also hear me complain about her moving alot more. We're excited to meet her and see who she looks like. Any bets?

Love you guys lots, and we really are a great family! Love The Birds (Jon, Al and Helicopter)

we have babies!

It all started at 3am when mom heard kitty meowing and mom thought she was hungry. So this morning at approximately 8:00 mom went out to give her food and water and there were two babies....and then when we came home from school there were two more. Since Kitty exploded it looks like she went on a diet. Whenever she walks there is extra flab that jiggles.

The kittens are 5 hours old in these pictures. Well i will talk to you all later. Love emmmmaa!

More on MOTHERING!

BIG HUGS to you all!!!

I love reading what our family shares, we are darn lucky to have one another...not every family is like this. We actually like each other!!!

Addie, I am so excited for you and Mike.

So I gave a talk today! I could have easily used my aloted 10-15min discussing my mom but focused mostly on MOTHERING. Each of us will have people in our circle of influence that may not marry or physically be a mother, but as women posses divine qualities that allow (us) to be MOTHERING!! Here are a few of the thoughts I shared:

Sister Ardeth Kapp shared a story of a little boy new to her neighborhood who knocked on her door asking if her children could come out to play. They do not have children and when this was explained to him she says that the boy “squinted his innocent face in a quizzical look and asked the question that she had dared not put into words, “If you are not a mother, then what are you?” A real question. An answer from President David O. Mckay “The noblest aim in life is to strive…to make others lives…happier”. All women are blessed in our divine nature with certain attributes and characteristics of noble womanhood. All women have it in them to influence, nurture and love…this is MOTHERING!

“You need not posses children to love them. Loving is not synonymous with possessing, and possessing is not necessarily loving.”

A sister with four young boys shared this thought with me. This is the time to fill my lamp with oil. She said, “Jenny fill it up girl, fill it with lots of oil…your prayers may be answered with four boys and you’ll be glad your used these years to fill yourself up!” I love that thought.

“Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God…for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and his own way, and according to his will.” We seek to live according to the will of the Lord.

You guys already know me but most likely know others, just thought I would share. Very, very cool...my dad/Uncle Louis came to church today to hear my talk. How great is he?? Dressed up and everything!!

Love you all ~Jenny

From Gramma -- Again

Hi Everyone,
I haven't been on the computer for a few days. So fun to see the updates.

It was great to attend the temple with Addie for the first time yesterday. A spiritual experience. Jenny came all the way from McMurray to support her cousin. Very special. Arland & Emma spent the 3 hours changing our neighbourhood. -- and it will never be the same.

They went to bus shelters and wowed the passersby with mimes. Also took some amazing pictures. I am always stunned by their imaginations - now I'm wondering if people know who they belong to (joke!)

Charlene got back from Salt Lake today. She was at a quilting show for the week. Charlene & Sylvia are hard core quilters. We met her 'plane at noon and took her back this evening to go on to McMurray. A nice visit but short.

I haven't been scrapbooking for a few weeks but have finished the 1960's. I have 84 pages double sided - that relates to a LOT of pictures. This week I hope to get some names and a bit of journaling attached to them. Then put them into separate albums. However, I've been asked to do some subbing at the temple so might not get as much done as I'd like to.

I have planted a little balcony garden. Two containers that had pictures in them are now my vegetable garden. They are two plastic bins. I took Dad's electric drill with the largest bit and drilled holes in the bottom, (carpenter Gramma) then tossed empty plastic bottles etc. etc. in the bottom (instead of rocks) for drainage. Don't laugh! That's what the guy at the nursery told me to do!! Then I used SOILLESS Potting Mix. In one container I planted two tomatoes and some onion sets and in the other one I put in lettuce, carrot and beans with a few marigolds around the edges. It will be fun to see if they'll grow. Dad just humours me along. I think he's pretty skeptical but lets me do pretty much what I want. Although every morning he's checking to see how they made out overnight.

I also have some flowers planted. They look really healthy. Not even the tomatoe plants looked shocked when I transplanted them.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Happy Mothers Day to EVERY female in our family. Whether you are a biological mother at this moment or not, each woman and girl has a great influence within our family as only a person of our gender can have. May the Lord bless each of you with your most righteous desires. And many many thanks to all those of the male species who support us in our role. We couldn't do it without you and we love you for it. Thank you for being you.

Love always to everyone,
Gramma

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

Happy Mothers Day Gramma,

Thank you for all the love and support you have given us growing up. There is not another mother in the world that could come close to doing all that you have. You are always there to listen when times are tough, and to help with scrapes and bumps, with hugs and kisses to make it better. Always there to hold a hand and show your unconditional love.

I Love and appreciate all you have done for me.

Lots of LOVE from your BABY boy, Troy......luv ya Mom.


Also a Happy Mothers Day to all the other Mothers in the family,
and even those who don't have kids yet, because they are special too. After all they are mother type roll models to all the children that they come into contact with.

Happy Moms Day to all, and keep up the tough task of Motherhood.

Love Troy

iSPY

Look, im cute!

Thats why arland is so smart!

Beware of the future in-law!

We always wondered where addie came from! jk

Dad always nose!

This look suits Grampas personality!

Grandma is always watching you!

Just some fun stuff we came up with. Love ya all! Arland and Emmmmma!!!!! :)

Some photos from the zoo and the sceince center!

Some photos from our trip, there is to many to put up here...so we will share a good few!

Calgary Tower!!

this was so much fun! The kids just loved it..i thought it would freak them out...but Noo not our kids! Was a lil scary stepping on that see thou floor for the first time, i wont lie there!

Newest House Pictures

They built a platform from one end of the house to the other so they could walk on it while they rolled trusses, and to help when they were handing up sheeting.

The 2 pics of the house are taken from the creek, and here is a pic one of the waterfalls that is in the creek.

Here is a small video of the upstairs once the roof was sheeted. What a difference it makes in the appearance of the rooms.


Take care everyone, we love you all very much.
From the Hudkins....South of the Border.