Lillian Lake I, II & III

That was what Matt nicknamed Lillian Lake, Galatea Lake, and Upper Galatea Lake. I think he might have been hinting that all the lakes looked the same to him or similar enough that he couldn't justify more kilometers up a mountain to look at another. I nicknamed him pack mule because as he hiked beyond our set destination his facial expression eloquently communicated a calm submitting to his fate as he reluctantly plodded on after Dad who all but ran up a mountain with his fishing poles with me somewhere in between them.

But everyone in my family knows that if Dad tells you you are going for a canoe trip down the Bow River, you can count on paddling upstream and carrying your canoe back to the point before the rapids to experience them over and over again, and if he tells you that you are hiking to a certain destination such as a lake, you can count on taking a few hiking side trips or extensions on the way. Even while it can be irritating you have to admire that level of enthusiasm.


This was supposed to be our John Wayne pose. Clearly Matt hasn't watched enough westerns with my Dad. Or have you watched any? Have you actually gone five years of marriage without watching a western movie with my Dad, Matt?

While hiking up to Galatea Lake a personal analogy came to mind. That happens a lot when I am in nature, I think because there is a lot of uninterrupted time to quietly reflect (I love that Matt and my Dad can both enjoy silence like me). My inspiration came when I turned to look behind me on my climb up the mountain above Lillian Lake. I was instantly struck by the breathtaking view, and by how much it contrasted with the view I had been focusing on most as I climbed- my feet.

I think my perspective of life is like that a lot. I feel like the horse wearing blinders, wearily pulling it's burden as it stares down at the ground to watch his footing. Too often I have a narrow tunnel vision of the earthly routines and troubles immediately before me. Sometimes I am suddenly touched by a scripture, or a thought shared in conference, or the spirit I feel in the temple and for a brief instant the scope of eternity seems to unfold before me and for a moment I revel in the beauty and glory of that vision. I understand. The view is breathtaking.

And fleeting. The instant I turn my gaze to the rocks that I am afraid I will stumble on, it is gone. The feeling of wonder that was at the instant it was felt, so poignant, is past.

Like the moment in my journey up the mountain when I paused to contemplate where I had come from and where I was going, my life on the earth takes on so much more purpose, beauty and meaning when I contemplate it in the context of the plan of salvation. I need to strive to do more of the things that will constantly keep that vision before me so that the "blinders" life places on me can be shaken off and I can see and comprehend more clearly. That is after all the reason I am here.

Rubber Ducky

is the best way to induce hysterical belly aching giggles for 5 minutes straight. Simply squeeze ducky to make funny noise or to squirt water. To re-induce giggling fit simply hold rubber ducky in front of baby's face. Caution: if used right before bedtime this can make baby act extremely silly.

FOOD!

First bite of food ever.


Getting the hang of it.


Sweet potato surprise not so sweet?


You can tell Matt and I are first time parents because we fed Jonas while he was wearing white pajamas.


Jonas wanted to try finger food early- precocious child.

More Pics from the Wedding

My favorite pictures of newly weds are always the first ones taken right when they emerge from the temple- their faces are always radiant with perfect happiness.



Matt has returned to facebook so I "borrowed" these pictures Mom Harker took at the wedding three weeks ago.


It's ironic that now that my hair is close to the length I want to keep it, I'm suffering from post-partum hair loss. Grandma Low told me my hair was "glamourous" anyway.


Seeing how happy grandkids make Mom Harker makes me happy too. She always looks this blissfully and completely contented whenever there is a grandchild nearby!


Jonas' wife. They were married at the wedding reception... and started arguing just seconds later.

Humble Pie

The victors of the second annual Hunsperger-Harker mini-golf match enjoying their winnings- DQ dipped cones.

Matt and I had humble pie instead. Blech! I hate humble pie. The peanut buster parfait we shared did help to take away a little of the bitter aftertaste though.

Next year will be the tie-breaker (rubber match?) to determine the ultimate victors. The stakes have increased from ice cream at The Scoop last summer, to DQ this year, so next year I think we might have to raise them to say a Chocolate Explosion cake from Boston Pizza or a Key Lime something or other if Mark prefers.

Hunspergers are our closest friends in Lloydminster and here are 10 of the many reasons why:

1. They pretend not to notice when I'm being a poor sport (Matt on the other hand gives me those lofty disapproving glances he is so good at to communicate that I am acting childish) and they are good natured when I boast about winning lame things like Monopoly games.

2. They babysat Jonas when he was only 3 months old, when Matt and I had given them only 15 minutes notice (who does that? Matt and I apparently- which just goes to show what close friends the Hunspergers are because Matt and I seldom ask other people for help and then only those close to us).

3. They were very persistent in befriending us when we moved to Lloydminster. Matt and I are usually reserved around new people so it takes awhile for us to come out of our socially awkward selves. Consequently, I think the Hunspergers had to supply the majority of the conversation, planned activities and invitations for dinner (we're still working on that huge tab) initially. But they never gave up and the pay off is that when Matt and I form friendships they're deep ones so they always last.

4. The Hunspergers are always up for dinner at the Harkers- even for Matt and I's crazy experiments in cooking Indian, Japanese and Vietnamese food, and of course our ubiquitous funeral potatoes.

5. The Hunspergers are always up for any activity we propose- even posing as Riders fans in their rival city Edmonton, which can actually result in a lot of verbal abuse on the LRT (and when you shout Rider sentiments at random Edmonton pedestrians- Mark) we discovered.

6. They always have ideas for fun things to do that we haven't tried before- like making jam, having a mars party and playing soccer in their bounce house.

7. We have fun Halloween parties even when only one kid comes trick-or-treating to their house.

8. They don't mind that we almost always bring a baby (sometimes a grumpy one) in tow now.

9. They jump completely on board with whatever sport Matt and I are currently infatuated with. Last year was the year of golf, this one will be the year of snowboarding, and maybe running too for Kalinda and I.

10. Hunspergers are two of the most loyal, fun-loving, generous people we know!

Handsome Harker Jr.

Future Elder

5 Months

Here are some funny things about my little five-month old monkey:

- He is very sensitive to tones and looks. The other day Matt and I sang a couple lines of "I love Jonas" to the ironman song. The result was a trembling lip and tear filled eyes. So no more hard rock, only classical and Primary songs.

- Speaking of classical music, Jonas and I listen to it nearly everyday when I make dinner before Matt comes home. No matter how hard I try to convert him Jonas won't like Beethoven. Mozart? Of course. Handel? Absolutely. Debussy? Sure. Beethoven? Definitely not. It makes him irritable.

- My worldly little baby loves to survey all his personal possessions. When I hold him in front of his bookcase his eyes light up and he can pull his toy basket out of the second shelf by himself.



- Jonas' new trick today is to open and close his jaw in a very exaggerated way without talking. It reminds me of a fish breathing underwater. Last weekend his favorite trick was sucking on his bottom lip.

- One of Jonas' favorite thing to do during the day is to "wrestle" with me. Wrestling mostly consists of Jonas laying on my tummy while we roll side to side and the "Burmese tiger cub" and I alternately pretending to eat each others' necks. It gets a lot of giggles but I think I might be unintentionally teaching him to be aggressive. Yesterday he seized me really tight by the braid on either side of the top of head, pulled my face to his, and rubbed his slobbery open mouth all over it before giggling maniacally.

- He jumps like crazy in his Jolly Jumper now. Not only is it entertaining for him, it's very entertaining to watch. Matt and I really crack up once he gets going.

Typical Saturday Morning and Books

This is what a typical Saturday morning looks like at the Harker house. I have a wonderful husband who makes me a wonderful breakfast every Saturday or Sunday. Usually my breakfast champion makes me pancakes even though he is not a pancake lover himself. And they are the best, fluffy pancakes ever. Matt wrote out the recipe for a couple of missionaries that requested it when we lived in Saskatoon and three years later it was still being passed down from one missionary to the next. Almost whenever he would introduce himself to a new missionary they would say "Is that your pancake recipe?!" (Or "You're in the quartet!" He was also famous for his angel voice, the quartet he belonged to was the musical pride of the whole stake).


And that is Tolstoy's War and Peace on the table. It's 1300 pages of amazing. I've decided to stick to reading huge books for a while because I tear through thinner ones too quickly. I like small books too but usually they feel like a snack that whets my appetite for a whole meal. Generally a book that allows me to feel engrossed in a different world for a longer period of time leaves me more satisfied for longer afterwards. I recently devoured 800 pages of Dickens' David Copperfield which is also incredible. Uriah Heep is a masterpiece.

And as you can see from the picture Jonas has inherited my love of reading as well (that makes me feel unspeakably smug) and even Matt has been inspired to like reading since I introduced him to a friend of mine named Harry Potter in 2005. Usually Matt and I adopt one another's interests wholeheartedly and reading is no different. When I recommend a book I think he'll like, he usually reads it and sometimes likes it so much (most recently Treasure Island and Hounds of the Baskervilles) that if I don't have a book I'm equally engrossed in at the same time I can't help feeling a touch jealous.

To quote Arthur, a children's cartoon Jordan and I watched at 7 a.m. every morning while eating our supper after finishing our night shift at Wal-mart, "having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card". (Except having a library card to nearly any other library in Canada, excluding Gibbons, would be infinitely superior to Lloydminster's).

Great Grandma Low

Grandma Low and Jonas meeting each other for the first time at Dal and Katie's wedding last weekend.

This Year's Backpacking Destination...

is Lake Lillian. It will be a considerably shorter trip than the West Coast Trail Dad and I hiked last year. Matt and I don't want to leave Jonas longer than a night, and there is also a Low family reunion the same weekend. But even if it's only for a day and a half I'm glad Matt, Dad, and I can do it and I really hope the three of us can make backpacking an annual tradition. I've really been craving a backpacking trip. I love how simple life seems when you have set a goal to reach a beautiful place and there is only you, your pack and the trail ahead of you. Kind of like the journey that is life except that life has so many more distractions. I've been thinking a lot lately about what those distractions and how I can eliminate or prioritize them to make reaching my eternal goal simpler.

One of my greatest joys has always been being outdoors in nature. It is so much easier to think clearly and connect to who I am there. I've always been a person who treasures quiet time to ponder and reflect and I find I do that best early in the morning and in nature. I'm lucky to have a Dad who is equally passionate (or probably more since I can't boast some sort of hiking/camping/canoeing/snowshoeing adventure every other weekend) about being outdoors so he always has a fun outing planned whenever I visit (he has already figured out how to take Jonas cross country skiing with us this winter).

I've also been craving a snowboard trip but I guess I'll have to wait a few more months for that.

Calgary

Matt, Jonas, and I got to spend Friday in Calgary with Mom, Dad and Amy before they left for their Vancouver-Seattle-Portland trip the next day. We spent it visiting Mom's work (so she could show her grandson off to the staff and seniors there), playing miniature golf, eating barbequed steak, and then a classic Stoddard movie night. It's funny watching Mom, Dad, and Amy scheme how to sneak Jonas away from one another. Jonas is bound to think he is the center of the universe after these kinds of visits.