Seager Wheeler Farm

One Sunday we headed to the Seager Wheeler Farm, a National Historic Site, for brunch. We met my sister and her family there, along with my niece, AnnaMarie. The farm is located about a 1/2 hours drive north of Osler. Seager Wheeler was renown as an inventor of farm implements, developer of new grain and horticultural varieties. He introduced several new trees to our local area, such as the Silver Leaf Willow. We have wanted to visit this site for years and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love old houses and yard sites. The farm has a garden, animals, orchard and experimental plots of grain, flowers, and trees.

We toured the old barn which is still being used. I love the smell of hay in the loft!

Notice the grass in the boys' mouths and Alex's pocket, full of acorns.

Silliness

I have been too busy and distracted to blog a lot this summer. So I figured I would go back to the beginning of summer and get you caught up on what we have been doing.
At the beginning of July, Alex spent one week at SciFi day camp at the U of S. He loved every moment of it! He built a mouse trap powered car, ferris wheel, bridge and many more things. He was very proud that his group won the competition to see whose bridge was the strongest. It will be interesting to see where this passion takes him!
Morgun got rather bored without Alex around. One day he asked to have his face painted like Two Face, his version of it according to his Lego guy. Malia had to have her face painted as well. I was sick with a bad cold all week so Malia ended up being a clown rather than the puppy she wanted to be. By the time I had painted their faces I was shaking. . . but it was well worth it!

I was given instructions on how to style my hair. . . it may become my new look. . . ;)

The Tree

We rarely take a summer vacation. Summer is the busiest season for Martin. . . However, we did have plans for this summer. We were planning to travel to Yellowstone National Park for 2 weeks. Over a year ago we checked to ensure that Malia could travel without a Canadian Passport, and were told it shouldn't be a problem. In May I called the US consulate (just to be certain)and learned that our travel plans would have to wait until Malia has a passport, which she can only get once she is a Canadian citizen. We thought her citizenship would long be in place by this summer. Our other option was to travel to Calgary to get a travel visa for Malia. That is a trip in its self, and therefore not feasible. We were very disappointed, but decided to make the best of things and explore our local area of Saskatchewan.
The first place we decided to visit was "The Crooked Bush" (a small clump of prairie trees that are crooked and gnarled for some unexplainable reason)and "The Tree" (apparently the largest tree in Saskatchewan). It turned out to be the most comical excursion ever! We began the day by meeting Martin's brother and sister-in-law and family at Rosthern Regional Park for lunch. Then we headed to "The Crooked Bush" with only a vague idea on how to get there. We decided to stop for directions at a gas station and were given the wrong directions. We spent several hours trying to find the place, in a driving rain and hail. Eventually we gave up and decided to head to "The Tree". This time we did not need to stop for directions. . .Yeah! There were signs! (can you hear me chuckling?!?) :) We followed these signs and eventually found the tree!

Sounds good. . .doesn't it? We had to look closely to find "The Tree". (By now we were all laughing!) We stomped through the mud, swatting at mosquitoes, quickly took a picture, again swatting at mosquitoes and dashed back into our vehicles, swatting mosquitoes!

So, if you're looking for some fun. . . I can give you directions, well sort of. . .

Sask Valley Adoption Support Group

Sometimes I feel very new to parenting. . . especially since Malia arrived. I feel the need to be almost perfect, as though too many mistakes will traumatize Malia to a point of never recovering. In my head I know this is simply not true, but in my fearful heart I worry. I realize that fear does not come from God and sometimes I need to talk to someone who understands. Someone who has similar fears, questions, and experiences. That is why we started a local adoption support group. It is small, and its beginnings are slow. Nine families met for the first time this summer to encourage and support each other. We had a wiener roast at a local park and the kids played while the adults talked. We all had a wonderful time!

There are support groups in Saskatoon, but it is difficult to really connect with such a large group. It is also unlikely to develop close relationships with people that live 1/2 an hour south of the city. . .that makes it an hours drive for us. Our area is populated with many Mennonites, some who are prejudice and still opposed to things like interracial marriages. Living in the same community allows for deeper understanding of one anothers challenges and pressures.

Alan Jackson - It's All About Him

I mentioned this book and song a few months ago. Today was one of those days where I needed to be reminded to focus on Him! It's far too easy to get caught up in life's disappointments and my wants. Thank God for his promise to "never leave or forsake us!"

One Year With Malia

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since Malia first entered our lives! She is a ray of sunshine and we couldn't be more blessed! I will never forget the moment I first saw Malia. . . a terrified little girl holding back her tears. I can only imagine how overwhelmed she must have felt. Her expression says it all! She first went to Papa and sat with him for a while. She instantly had him wrapped around her little finger!

Eventually she let me hold her, but rather reluctantly.

I'm not sure if you can see how we are nearly bursting with pride and excitement at Malia's arrival, but that is how we felt! Our boys were almost in tears. . .totally thrilled!

Malia continues to explore and learn. She has adjusted so well that sometimes we forget that it has only been a year and expect her to know and understand things other 4 year olds know. It makes me smile every time I see her experience something for the first time, every time she says "wah eye knee" (my spelling. . .like it sounds) or "I yove you", and every time she looks at me with that twinkle in her eye! God sure knew what he was doing when he led us to her!

Malia amazes us every day! We know that she initially did remember many things about her life in China, but was unable to tell us about those memories. We have come to conclusions on some things. We do believe that she was in a loving foster home where she was taught to be responsible and clean up after herself. She is drawn to elderly people and freely talks with them, touches them tenderly and always has big smiles for them. We think Malia may have been raised by an elderly woman based on this and a few things she has said. At times Malia acts like a 2 year old and the next time she is mature beyond her years. She frequently says "I yike my family! God made us a special family!" or "I yike being in this family". Malia talks non stop! If she isn't talking she is singing. . . usually a song she has made up. Lately one of her favorite songs is Waving Flag by K'naan. Alex and Morgun get sick and tired of listening to Malia and frequently tell her to be quiet. Malia's cheerful, resilient nature is incredible and is an inspiration to me!

China was not the first country we considered when we decided to adopt. In fact, it was one of the last countries I thought we would adopt from. Yet in some miraculous way the country and its people have become very dear to our hearts! I pray that Malia will love her culture, appreciate her history and always feel privileged to have been born in China.

I always knew adopting would be an amazing experience, but I never knew it would change every fiber of my being. I wish I had the words to explain what I mean, but nothing seems quite adequate. However, I do know that I am not the same person I was year ago. . . life is becoming more and more about following God first and foremost, serving others, and being the best wife and mother I can be. Having a little, vulnerable child trust and depend on us when her entire life has been filled with uncertainty is mind boggling and yet so very rewarding. Who would have thought we had so much to offer. . .

Our boys are not the same either. They have a compassion and empathy rarely seen in children their age. They are beginning to understand how unfair life can be and that usually there is something we can do to make a situation better. They love Malia and are very protective. They fight with her, tease her and get annoyed with her, but wouldn't trade her for the world!

Martin has also changed. He was content to have 2 children, but would love to adopt again. Only God could do that to him!!! He is more open to what God wants, even if it means sacrificing material possessions, financial security and giving up his sanity! ;) Being an observing bystander is no longer an option for him.

I enjoy being a stay at home mom more every day (. . .well, not every day. . .you know the ones where every one is grumpy and misbehaving ;) and feel so very, very blessed! My cup runneth over!!!!

I am becoming more of an advocate for adoption and sometimes step on other peoples toes. Not that I mean to. . . it's just that I am soooo excited about what adoption has meant to us, and I would love to have others experience the same thing!

Rain, Rain Go Away. . .

I am sick and tired of rain!! I am generally very tolerant of any weather. I love snowstorms, -45 degree weather and thunderstorms, tolerate wind and unpredictable weather. But this year I have had it!! We normally get about 10 inches of rain in a year. The rainfall to date is approximately 22-23 inches!! It is impossible to keep up with the yard work. My garden is full of weeds and my trees only partly tilled. I managed to mow yesterday, but we didn't get the edging done with the whipper sniper. I did get some more weeding done today before it once again began to rain! :(
We have been working on our pond and are in the middle of prepping to place concrete around it. This is what it looked like this afternoon.

Martin was in the middle of replacing an upper ball joint (thanks to Saskatchewan's horrible roads!) when it began to rain, so the garage got very wet and so did the quad!


We have a dry creek bed to accommodate spring run off and heavy rainfall. It was flowing this afternoon!

By the time the rain stopped my attitude had changed. . .after all, what is better than listening to rushing water?!?!

My garden took a beating due to the strong wind and our root cellar flooded. Oh well, worse things could happen!

I'll tell you what is even better than listening to rushing water. . . watching our kids splash in the puddles!!!!

The turnaround on our yard was full of water, so the kids wadded and I enjoyed watching them and admired God's painting in the sky!