.Manly Camp

Air was gone last week on a camping trip.

This wasn't just any old camping trip, however. Last week Air decided to take a 19yr old kid he works with on his very first camp out and pretty much made his dreams come true.

Not to mention his own dream of camping while working!

They decided to go for three days. This kid was sooooo excited! You have no idea. And he had the time of his life! Air says the whole time they were there he just kept saying how awesome it was and how he couldn’t wait to go again ASAP.

Air was excited too.
I was, however, a little underwhelmed to be spending the week with no Air. Poor me, right? haha

Oh yeah, and I made them promise to take some pictures for me to see how they fared out in the wilderness.

See here:

They cooked, relaxed, watched animals, built fires, and hiked around Elk Island. (apparently they also made up some secret campfire songs? Air’s lips are sealed on that one)

Then, 'doo-dee-doo just drivin along…………..… oh hey, what’s that little black thing in the road up there?'

No. Freaking. Way. A HUGE buffalo was about five feet away from their car! Seriously?? When does anyone ever see wild buffalo anymore? You can't tell the size of this guy from pictures, but Air says it was about as tall as him--he's 6'2"!

I am jealous.

Maybe I’m just excited about buffalo right now because I’ve been reading a lot of pioneer stories for seminary lately… they are pretty cool looking animals though.

*names and faces were omitted from this post to protect my husband's job.

It is against company policy to share photos of the children on the internet

...lame

.Oh Mother, where art thou?

Dearest Mom,

When I was growing up I could be anywhere in our home and if I needed you I could just call out at the top of my lungs 'MOM!!!'. Because that's just how we communicated with each other in the Leary household. You always answered back and helped me with everything I ever needed. And sometimes it seems like I needed you for every little thing I did. That method just doesn't seem to work for me anymore. I realized this recently and started yelling for you. After calling out 'MOM!!!' for a good ten minutes I concluded that you just aren't here.

Why don't I ever see you anymore?

Ya know what? You still do help me with everything I need. Of course I don't need you for every little thing anymore. But when I do need something I just call you on the phone (international/long distance). You always make time to talk to me--even though I can hear the eight screaming children you tend causing trouble in the background. You always know all about whats going on with my life because you always ask. And it really seems like you care. I know you do. In fact, I think you care more than anyone else on this planet (aside from Air, maybe?).
Which is why I write this blog.

For you.

Thank you for being the ultimate example to me of greatness in motherhood. You are amazing. I love you!
Happy Mother's Day

love me

*My sister Heather is missing from this family photo... I don't know why?

.indoor s'mores & good news

We like us some s’mores. Even when it’s too nippy outside to start a fire.

Some of us like them a little more crispy (burned) than others…

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In other {good} news!

1stly—Air finally got a check for his tuition from the U of A yesterday! This is both good and bad news… Since Air was too sick to complete the courses he was enrolled in we had to apply for a total refund of his tuition. It was a pretty long process (especially when the school ‘misplaced’ all of our doctor’s notes and we had to go get new ones), but I’d say it was absolutely worth it to get that money back! YEEHAW!

We’re trying not to spend it all at once.

2ndly—IT’S BEEN SUNNY AND WARM IN ALBERTA!! I got my first suntan (burn) of the year, and it feels great!

it also looks like I have sideburns in this pic. hmm...

.Easter 2011

We were in Cherry Grove on Saturday and Sunday(Easter) with the family. It is so beautiful there... I forget how much can be done out in the country. Who needs TV’s and computers when you have quads, nature, trampolines and family??

We drove up a day later than the rest of the family with my mother-in-law and Josh since we all worked.

We went over to Air’s cousin Shay’s home for the party! Games, chatting, food, karaoke, dancing, and fireworks! We loved watching all of our cousins cute kids sing their hearts out. haha

We slept in Aunt Tracey’s motor home for the night. So nice actually!

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On Easter morning we all got ready and headed over to the church across the street for the Cherry Grove ward’s Stake Conference. It’s broadcast to there from Edmonton and sadly, the broadcast cut out a few times… but we did get to hear some amazing and uplifting talks before it stopped.

We really enjoyed the rest of the sunny day with the whole family. Lunch, cousins, relaxing, games, and an egg hunt for the kiddies.

This boy is my favorite. Our cousin’s son Ethan waiting patiently for the quad to get back… and then here he is driving the quad around causing trouble.

Alas, it was time for all of us Gusa's to head home on Sunday afternoon… but not before playing with the puppies! They always have a new batch of puppies at their house! Luckies!

And we stopped on the way home to steal some of the local roadside plant life...

We slept over at the family’s on Sunday night and spent the evening sitting around a campfire telling stories. Scary Easter stories! No, not really.

The Easter bunny surprised us on Monday morning by bringing us some goods! Thank you bunny! We love you!

.ramblings of today

Today I didn't work. And what does one do when one has a day off and no car, you ask?

You stay at home mostly. Clean, work out, organize, watch a movie, call the insurance company about the new car, email, do loads of laundry, sleep... And then there's the hour that I got to go to lunch with Air and the kid he takes care of.

They came to pick me up today at noon. I selected the lunch spot... Burger King. What? We have coupons, "2-can-dine-for-$8.98" --no it does not rhyme.

In the car Air seemed extremely chipper. He's always a happy guy, but when I proceeded to tell Air about my morning. Seminary stuff mostly... some stress that I'm having about students and what not. He didn't show me his usual concern. He listened and then enthusiastically started talking about other things.

I thought this was odd. Maybe it had something to do with the kid listening in the back seat?

So we're at Burger King eating whoppers... You know what's funny about Air and me? We are completely and utterly unable to throw away our leftover food. It is unthinkable for us to ever consider throwing away those extra french fries or the last bite of a hamburger. THERE ARE STARVING CHILDREN IN AFRICA! but more importantly, if I were ever in Africa and starving, maybe I would have some leftovers to pull out of the fridge and eat. I will never have to starve ...It's pretty genius.

But what is not genius is the fact that spell-check just corrected my spelling of the word 'genious'. Wow.

Anyway, we're at Burger King and I notice the kid Air watches has something written on his arm in permanent marker. It says "HAPPY 4:20". So here's the thing: Air has to go with this kid anywhere he wants. It's his job. And yesterday he had to take him downtown because he wanted to go to the big 4:20 celebration.

Oh, you haven't heard of the big 4:20 celebration downtown? Well, either had I, until yesterday. Do you want to guess what all of the homeless people and druggies do together at 4:20 downtown on April 20th? Yeeeeaaah....

Air was acting strange, and I start to wonder if he had possibly inhaled a little too much smoke the day before and was perhaps.... dare I say.... high? buzzed? a little?

Back to BK... So then who do you think should walk in the doors there at Burger King today? LDS Missionaries!! WOO! I say "Hey Elders!"

Of course they probably don't know us. I just get excited to see them around town. There aren't as many missionaries around here as there are in Utah..... (why would that even be?)

So then we're driving away from Burger King (with my leftovers, of course) and the 4:20 thing comes up in conversation. Air says that the air (the actual air) was so full of smoke that you couldn't even breathe. Everyone was coughing like crazy, and still smoking. Retards.

I was pretty sure I had it figured out by now, so I tell Air that he's been acting a little weird... like last night he stayed up really late playing games and he couldn't focus on one thing at a time...

He denied it.

But does someone who is high ever really recognize it themselves? Does getting high usually last for more than a day?

These are questions I never thought I'd need to know ...and I think it's pretty hilarious to hear myself thinking them. And a bit sad. My poor Air bear.

Okay, so here's a really good question --Is my wonderful hubby of almost three years going to completely murderize me for posting this?

Probably.