Okay, this may possibly be the longest post I've ever posted on my blog. I'm still a few weeks behind but I'm posting in chronological order.
The day after Jaron got back from Scout camp, we left for one last whirlwind trip up to see family in Canada. I am SO sad to think that I might not get back to Canada for 2 more years (or *weep* longer!). But it was so great to see my parents, grandparents, and siblings and for my kids to be able to reconnect with their Canada friends and family.
My best friend from my teenage years, Kristin, was going to be gone for the week we were there (we always seem to have bad timing with getting to see them) so she and her husband were nice enough to let us crash their brand new house! I was super worried that we'd ruin something major in her pristine-condition everything but we had a great time and it was so nice of the Smiths to let us stay there (Thank you Smith family!!).
I think Gracen was happiest in the house and would be pleased to be adopted by the Smiths for the following three reasons:
Gracen has never sat in a hammock, a high chair, or a Bumbo so she thought the Smith's house rocked.
One of the first things we did was to have a barbecue at my Dad and Irina's house. As I posted these pictures, I realized how awful I am at getting photos of the group of people involved in an activity. Plenty of photos of the kids, but not many of everybody else. :-)
We spent most of our trip in Raymond this time and we had fun visiting the Raymond Pool for the first time since it's been finished. Let me tell ya, I had a hard time not being jealous. When I lifeguarded here (a short ten years ago), it was nothing but a rusted metal tub. The new pool is a far cry from that! The kids had a blast and Cassy and her new husband Jarom were nice enough to tag along with us to spend some time with us and our kiddos.
Isn't photo-fiend Genny so cute? That's a six-months-pregnant belly she's sporting there and I can't wait to see through pictures :-( the next little Steed in November.
There was thunder shortly after we got there which cleared the pool. We had fun for awhile chatting on the sidelines but we soon decided to hit good ole' Burger Baron for a healthy serving of poutine (french fries smothered in gravy and mozzarella cheese) before returning to the pool. When we got back, we almost had the pool to ourselves.
There was thunder shortly after we got there which cleared the pool. We had fun for awhile chatting on the sidelines but we soon decided to hit good ole' Burger Baron for a healthy serving of poutine (french fries smothered in gravy and mozzarella cheese) before returning to the pool. When we got back, we almost had the pool to ourselves.
We had planned on going up to Calgary to visit my Grandma Morison and taking the kids to Calaway Park. When we checked the weather the night before, though, it said 70% chance of thunderstorms and we almost bagged the trip. But we decided to go anyway and I'm so grateful that we did.
The kids had a blast at Calway Park. I think the bumper cars are destined to be an all-time favorite for our family.
At one point as we stood in line, I looked down and caught this. Oh Gracen and Eden, how cute are you?! I'm so grateful that my kids have so many cousins their age on both sides of our families.
Eli's favorite was definitely the train ride.
Genny and her kids hung with us the whole week and Cassy and Jarom and Dustin were also nice enough to make the effort to come to Calaway Park with us, even though a day of kiddie rides was not high on their priority lists.
The reason that I'm most grateful we decided to go to Calgary is because we got to see my Grandma one more time. Six years ago, my Grandma (my mom's mom) had a series of strokes that left her unable to communicate, chew food, or move the right side of her body. It's been difficult for her to not have any method of communicating with people and it's been tough to see her struggle. I am always so grateful that I've gotten to see her, but I leave each visit in tears. I guess I mourn for the loss of the Grandma I really remember and I'm so sad to see her in such a state. My grandma passed away four days after we made this visit and I am soooo grateful we got to see her when we did. I'm thankful for tender mercies like that and am also thankful that Grandma has been released of her physical challenges.
During this trip we also did one of my mom's favorite things: we celebrated birthdays. My mom loves to do this conglomerate birthday thing where we lump everyone who is having a birthday in a certain (large) timespan together and celebrate. This time we celebrated me, Genny, Eden, and Gracen's birthdays all with the same cake!! And watch how that was possible:
Sorry that picture of Genny is awful and blurry, but I had to show you how you too, by merely changing the numbers of the candles, can celebrate multiple age birthdays with a single cake. :-)
Alden and Eli had a really rough time saying good-bye to Eden and Brielle. I was so sad that we were about to move so far away from all our kids' cousins.
Our last Canada adventure took us to my Aunt Robyn's (my Dad's sister) house for dinner. Robyn has this huge dog and it's funny that I always get pictures of him with the kids but I never get pictures of the group of people.
But I did get this one of my Grandpa Allred who is the kindest, nicest, most inventive person ever.
And that sums up our last Canada trip in a long time. Next post: The Move.
