Hockey Memories

We skated on our rink for the first time on Saturday, It was REALLY great to get back on the ice and play till our heart's content again.
I was thinking about way back when we first started making a skating rink, and I thought I would share some pictures as well as memories about it.

Please forgive the length of this post. We do play hockey everyday in the winter, so hockey is pretty much our life for 4 months out of the year!

It all began with an old barn. That old barn became so old that it was finally demolished for safety sake. All that was left was a pile of rubble and the foundation.

One day we decided to clean up all that rubble and use the foundation to make a skating rink! So clean, clean and clean up we did.

The first year that we skated on it was 2006....

These were the only pictures I could find of that first year. Back then we didn't skate very often, and none of us girls were very into hockey... yet.

In 2007 we put boards all around our rink. And our hockey adventures began in earnest....

This was also the first year that we had our "skating shack" and our wood stove...

Our dog "Jamie" would always retrieve our balls whenever we lost them over the boards. She would just sit there... waiting for us to call her.










Dad flooding in 2008...





In 2008 we added another member to our family! And also another hockey player :)





















We would skate and skate and skate... until we practically had no ice left!

2009...

Those "battles along the boards" are always lots of fun!

We always have a BLAST when our grandparents join us for a game. They both make AMAZING goalies!

Not many people can say that their Grandma plays hockey with them! Believe me... she is GOOD!

This year our rink has been re-located... and made bigger! We are REALLY enjoying all the new space. You can go to Becka's blog to see some pictures of our new rink.

And so we say goodbye to the long winter once again. 

Goodbye to afternoons spent wondering what to do :)

Hello bruises and bumps.

Hello fun family time.

HELLO HOCKEY!!!

❀ Jennifer

Flash Back Friday

Meg, Ker and I made this music video while our parents were gone for a couple of days last year. You could never know how fun it is to make one of these (especially with your sisters) until you actually try it... it was a BLAST! 

Megan posted it on her blog last year, but I thought I would post it again... for memory's sake :)

                         Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I've Been Tagged!

Well, actually it was a while ago that I was tagged by Shelby and Rae.... but better late then never right?
Here goes!

- Apple juice or orange juice? Apple

- Are you a collector of anything? Nope!

- What is usually your first thought when you wake up? I REALLY don't want to get out of bed! (this girl has a hard time getting out of bed in the mornings!)

- What do you usually think about right before falling asleep? Usually I use the time right before I fall asleep to try to figure out stuff, like anything from what present I'm going to get someone to what I'm going to wear in the morning.... all problems big or little :)

- What's your favorite color? Orange and purple is close behind!

- Have any bad habits? I get really excited about stuff, and I have a hard time not sharing that excitement. Sometimes I forget that I have already told someone something... and I'll start to tell them again, I think I get annoying sometimes!

- Are you mostly a clean or messy person? I would say 50/50. Depends when and where. Sometimes I can be a clean freak, and sometimes I get lazy :)

- What's your favorite song of the moment? This one is HARD... I have so many favorites! I'll just pick one K? "You are My All in All" Sung by the Gaithers.

- What's your favorite thing to do on a Saturday night? Watch "Hockey Night In Canada" with the fam.

- What's your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon? In the summer riding and spending time with my horses, In the winter playing hockey on our rink with the family!

- Have any hidden talents? Not that I know of!

- What would be your dream job? Being a stay-at-home mom!

- Name 1 thing not many people know about you: All of my life it has been my dream to do missions one day with my family.

- If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to? Goodness me... not sure!

- What is your favorite pizza topping? Ham and Pineapple

- What song(s) do you sing most often in the shower? I can honestly say that I don't have a certain song that I sing in the shower, it varies!

- What's your favorite Christmas movie? The Nativity Story, we have made it a tradition in our family to watch it every year on Christmas eve.

- Do you cry at movies? I sure do! Especially when they are really sad :)

- Do you play an instrument? I play the piano and guitar.

- What music are you listening to right now? The Gaither Vocal Band's new homecoming DVD "Giving Thanks".

- Which was the last good movie you watched? Amish Grace

- What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping!

- What is the last thing you dreamed about that you remember? The last dream that I remember was when we were at the Muncks home. We were supposed to get up early to go to the store that day, and I dreamt that we were late.

Tag 3 People:
Lizzy
Mckenzie Elizabeth

Jeanette

Mary Did You Know?

I've always liked the song "Mary Did You Know", I never knew who wrote it... I had thought that it was just another traditional christmas song.
Kerri bought a Gaither DVD called "Reunited" a couple months ago and in it I learned that Mark Lowry actually wrote the song.
When I heard him sing it, it was like I was hearing it for the first time. The way he (and the Gaither Vocal Band) sings it is so moving and so thought provoking.
I start to really wonder what Mary knew... did she know the depth of the meaning of all that her boy child was? What was going through her mind when she held Jesus for the first time?
It has become one of my favorite songs. And since the Christmas season is approaching, I thought that I would share the song with all of you.

Gaither Vocal Band Concert

While we were in Tennessee we had the privilege of going to a Gaither Concert! Our family (especially us girls) have been a fan of the Gaithers for a few years, we have a bunch of their CD's and DVD's and have fallen in love with their music over time.

This was to be the first Gaither concert that we were able to attend, so we were all VERY excited!

Once again, here are some pictures for ya'll....

My favorite musician... Kevin Williams

Charlotte Riche... this picture is for you Lizzy! :)

The Gaither Vocal Band...

Karen Peck and New River

The Isaccs...

David Phelps...

The concert ended up being WAY better then we imagined it to be. And we (once again) had LOTS of fun spending that time with our AMAZING friends!

Well, that will about wrap up my posts about our time in Tennessee!

My sis Megan is going to blog about our last day in the near future... so I'll save that for her.

Around here we are all getting geared up for the Christmas Season! I LOVE this time of the year, as everything feels so warm and cozy.

The guys are starting to flood our rink, so hopefully we'll be playing hockey again soon! I'm looking forward to spending some more time in the great outdoors :)

Hope you all have a great day!