Bella's Mittens

Next week I am going to start a new project. First I need to get my Halloween sewing over. Noah decided that his Rhino the Hamster needed a tail, Bolt wanted feet, and Jake decided he wants a gorilla costume. Tail and feet are done, but I'm heading to the fabric store in a minute to get the makings for a teenage gorilla.

I like to take my knitting bag with me wherever I go; you never know when you're going to end up waiting somewhere with nothing to do. I have a very hard time sitting still, and I need something to do in those situations.

Apparently these are the mittens Bella wore in the first Twilight movie. I am not willing to torture myself by watching it again to verify that fact--I'll just have to trust my nieces. I do love these mittens. Why do glove-makers make gloves and mittens so that 3 inches of my arm is exposed to cold, wind and snow between the end of my sleeve and the top of the glove? I guess it could just be my freakish anatomy where my limbs abnormally long. Who knows? At least these mittens will keep me toasty.

If you are a knitter, you can download the pattern here.

My 3rd teenager

Wow. I am an oldie. I have 3 teenage kids. How did this happen?

Jake turned 13 last week. He is such a sweet boy, and his brown eyes are just incredible. I love how he notices things that need to be done and does them. Don't tell anyone, but I know he is the laundry fairy that secretly does the laundry for me every chance he gets. He also notices things that might be a problem in the future and does what he can to make things go without a hitch. He's also a fabulous violin player.

I love my Jakey Bob.

Halloween sneak peek!

I have always loved making Halloween costumes. Maybe for my next post I'll go through the old photo albums to catalog my creations. Last year was the first year I did not make any costumes. All because I ended up in the ER with tummy trouble during costume-making season last year, and the kids had to scrounge in the costume boxes for something they wanted. Fortunately, we have quite a selection after all of these years.

It all started when Abram was 5 months old and I saw a pattern for a skunk costume. I knew he had to have it, and so I got busy and made it. The next year, Aubrey wore it (with a new bow sewn to the head) and Abram got a new Winnie-the-Pooh costume. This was years before Winnie the Pooh was anywhere to be seen on anything, and so I had to create this one on my own.

Each year since, I have made 1, 2, 3, or 4 costumes. A couple of times I have purchased costumes (mostly on clearance at the Disney store after Halloween) and added them to our costume boxes. My new favorite is the owl at the top of this post. It is quite a spectacle, especially with the bright stripey tights Savanna picked to go with it.
Zachary wanted to be Bolt. He loves Bolt. He thinks he is Bolt. Apparently, Disney has no idea how much money they could be making with Bolt costumes, toys, clothes--ANYTHING! So I took creative license and stitched up this little Bolt costume for Zachary.Savanna and Zack posed on the stairs so I could get some pictures of their costumes. I have finished Noah's Rhino the hamster costume--and it is super cute, too. I just need take some pictures of him. He has the PERFECT teeth to be Rhino this year. And he is super wild and crazy and hyper and cute. Once again, Disney could have made a fortune on Bolt costumes. I'll get a picture of Noah later, and tell you about the crazy pattern hybrid I used to make his costume.
Savanna was going to be Penny from Bolt, but once we found this owl pattern, that's all there was to it.

Mt. Edith Cavell

There is an amazing, beautiful mountain in Jasper National Park called Mt. Edith Cavell. When I first heard this name, I thought it was odd. Who in the heck is Edith Cavell? Well, it turns out that she was one of the bravest and most noble women to ever live.

Edith Cavell was a British nurse in charge of a nursing school in Brussels, Belgium. When WWI broke out, Edith refused to leave her post, and even as the Germans conquered Brussels and and the Red Cross took over the nursing school, she stayed. She said, "I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved". She was free to return to England, but she wouldn't leave. She was not only saving German lives in the hospital as a nurse, but she also began hiding British soldiers and helping them escape to neutral Holland. She is credited with saving at least 200 soldiers through an underground organization. When the Germans discovered this, she was charged with treason and shot. The Canadian government later decided to name the grandest peak in Jasper Park after her to honor her.

On one side of this mountain, there is a mile-high cliff, and beautiful Angel Glacier. We love to visit Angel Glacier. It is a small hike, but you come to a beautiful lake of blue glacier melt, and you can see icebergs breaking off of the glacier and floating across the lake toward the shore. We interrupted a film crew there this year. They were annoyed, but we had driven a long way, and you have to get up to the glacier early in order to avoid the crazy crowds that visit it each day, and we weren't going to let them push us around. "But we are going to be showing this movie all over Europe." Big deal. We had driven 1000 miles in a van with 9 people. I wasn't in the mood for a temper tantrum.

Here are some random pictures from our adventure that day.


















If you're ever in Jasper, you must take the windy, one-lane drive up the mountain to get to Angel Glacier.

Icefields Highway

Here's another installment of the Canadian Adventure.

One of my favorite things in Alberta is the drive along the Icefields Highway. It goes from Lake Louise northwest to Jasper. It's not very long in miles (or kilometers), but it can take all day because there is so much to see. Seriously. I usually get annoyed by anyone wanting to stop on a road trip. A road trip is usually just necessary torture you must go through to arrive somewhere. However, some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life are on this section of Hwy 93 between Lake Louise and Jasper. For example:

Waterfowl Lake

The Saskatchewan River valley
Athabasca Falls


Mistaya Canyon
Sunwapta FallsI know there are many more pictures I could grab, but that gives you a basic idea. Waterfalls, glaciers and blue lakes galore. Most of the places you can simply pull over to see, but a few of them require a short walk or hike. Mistaya Canyon is a very hidden treasure. From the road you would have no idea that anything worth seeing was down the trail, but it is truly stunning to see how the river has carved and sculpted the rocks over time.

Sunwapta Falls is an easy one to get to and to walk around and see. The trails and bridges were mostly strategically constructed to not hinder the view. However, Athabasca Falls is a tragedy. It's such an incredible rushing river that suddenly drops into a garden of enormous sculpted rocks and then flows into a high-walled canyon. But some idiot in the 60s constructed a bunch of hiddeous concrete walls and bridges EVERYWHERE. Sure, it makes walking around easy, but it is like a really, really bad 60s zoo exhibit. But the Athabasca River is beautiful--even though you have to see it with ugly concrete in the foreground.

The whole drive is full of beautiful vistas. If you're ever driving through there, take your time, bring your camera and tripod, and bring plenty of water and food. There are overpriced cafeterias at Athabasca Glacier and Sunwapta Falls, but, other than that, you're on your own for food and water.

Although the drive was amazing again, it was nice to finally get to our hotel in Jasper--my favorite town. I'll save that for my next post.

I am a winner!

Throughout my life, I have won ribbons for various things. Once in 3rd grade, I won 1st place for the "vegetable art" contest. I also won a spelling bee or two. In 9th grade, I won a bunch of awards for certain nerdy things, including one from the state math contest. I even got a cash reward at the 9th grade awards night to cover my high school registration fees. In high school I lettered in ACADEMICS. Yes. Did you know you can do that? I did all three years. I did not get a letterman jacket, however. I settled for the S applique and the pins. I kept it hidden in a box under my bed with all of my other nerdy things. I got a 4-year full tuition scholarship to BYU as a reward for my studiousness. When I graduated from college, I was Summa Cum Laude, and I got to wear a special ribbon around my neck.

I'm not telling you these things to brag. I'm just trying to lay out a pattern. Did anyone notice what it was? None of the awards I have earned were in anything sports-related. In fact, I stink at almost every sport. I've blogged before about the years of wasted dance lessons and soccer teams that my parents provided for me. They were doing their best to try to help my uncoordinated body learn to function in a semi-socially acceptable fashion. When I was in 5th grade and the goalie of a soccer team, I accidentally kicked the ball over my head and into the net, scoring the winning point for the evil Roadrunners. Oh, how we hated that team. At this point, my parents and I both reached a silent understanding that they didn't need to sign me up for soccer ever again.

I was always tall for my age. I haven't grown since 5th grade. Yes. I was a freak. Everyone thought I should play volleyball and basketball for my Jr High team. I tried out in 7th grade--and didn't even make the first cut. I resigned myself to be a lifelong spectator. And I do love to watch sports. But I haven't ever tried anything until I got this running bug in January. It turns out that there was a sport I can be mediocre and not just pathetic in.

The Seattle 1/2 marathon was my first ever race. I did alright--I didn't walk and that was my goal. Today I ran my 2nd race--a 15k (9.3 miles for those metric-handicapped folks). I wanted to keep around a 9 minute pace. That was my goal. I started out just a little bit slower to warm up, and kept around a 9:20 pace for the first 2 miles. I could have been much faster, but the east wind reared its ugly head at about 2:00 am, and so the first 5 miles of the race were pretty much into the wind. I finished strong, averaging about 8:40 for the last 3 miles. Overall, my pace was 9:09 with a time of 1:24:30. I was on track for finishing a 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours. That's my goal for Las Vegas.

The funny thing was that when the race was over, and the runners were all waiting around as the awards were announced, MY name was called. I was stunned. Me? Jill? I had placed 5th in the 35-39 year female bracket, and I got a sweet ribbon to prove it!

It only took 37 years for me to earn a ribbon in a sporting event. Won't my momma be so proud? Hooray for me.

If only I had saved my ribbon from the 1979 Vegetable Art competition.

Lake Louise

Our next stop in Alberta was Lake Louise. We did not stay at the ultra fancy and beautiful Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise you've probably seen in pictures. Although it is in a primo location, and is very beautiful, it is a bit out of our price range--especially when we have to get 2 rooms. In the village of Lake Louise, there are many, many run-down, yucky places to stay if you can't afford the Chateau. There are a couple of nicer places near the Fairmont, but they are also very expensive--again 2 rooms sort of adds up. We discovered a little treasure last year, though at the Lake Louise Inn.

It's not fancy, but they have a loft suite that sleeps 8 (or 9). It's big and clean and has a full kitchen (again, for a cheapskate like me this is huge). The kids especially love the pool at the Lake Louise Inn. It is very nice, with a huge pool and 2 hot tubs. Last time we stayed here we did not come prepared for the cost of food in Lake Louise. Not just restaurants, but also the ONE market in Lake Louise has outrageous prices. It was like grocery shopping in Belize. Except that in Belize, if a box of cereal was $12, you knew that it was actually $6 US dollars, and that was OK because that box had come from the US and then over on a boat to the island. But in Lake Louise, right off of THE main highway through Canada, this one market really takes advantage of all of the tourists. Cereal was $12 a box. Milk was $9 a gallon. Cream cheese was $7 for a tiny tub. It is a huge stop for bus tours, and all of these people walk to this market to buy their food--it's the only option, and as I learned in 2nd grade, the law of supply and demand sets the prices. That's fine--but you know what they say, "Burn me once...." This year we were prepared and stocked up on food at Safeway in Canmore before heading to Lake Louise.

My favorite place near Lake Louise is Moraine Lake. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth--and so is the Valley of the Ten Peaks you drive through to get to it. Seriously, it takes your breath away. When we go here, I am like a kid at Christmas--I just can't wait to come around the corner to see it.

We hiked up the big rock pile to the panoramic viewpoint at Moraine Lake. The kids had fun scrambling and climbing all of the rocks. I just sat and took in the bright blue water and incredible mountains all around. Heaven.



We then went to Lake Louise. It is beautiful, but just SO touristy. It is insane how many people are there. Of course we had to stop and get our photos taken at the usual spot and also go inside the fancy Fairmont and see the overrated harpist making simple songs sound fancy with glissando while gaggles of spectators took her picture. It makes us laugh every time. And then we went back to the hotel for a swim.









One other fun thing to do in Lake Louise is the gondola at the Lake Louise ski resort. It takes you up mid-mountain and gives you a stunning view of the Bow Valley. Just remember to take off your hat before you head up on the gondola--Savanna lost hers when a breeze came through. I hope the black bear we saw picked it up and took it home to his little princess.