Trippin' 2010!

One of the best parts about living away from where we grew up is being able to go back and visit! We always have somewhere to go, someone to see, when we get time off. We were looking forward to 2 weeks of family and friends.

We packed our mini van to the brim and headed out, in the pouring rain, towards Alberta. There had been so much rain in the Prairies that the highway had been washed away in parts, so we took the "scenic" route, which took about 2 hours longer, but we got to pass through towns we'd never been to.

Our detour took us through Drumheller, so we made a stop to the Royal Tyrell Museum. I hadn't been there for years, and it was very interesting. I'm not sure how much the kids really enjoyed it, seeing as it was a whole lot of bones, but they seemed to have fun :)

...and really, who doesn't find dinosaur bones fascinating? I mean, these creatures walked the earth! Crazy. (by the way, this neat shot was taken by my totally talented husband with our point and shoot)  :

I wanted a better shot of this mammoth, but there were these women who were standing there for over a half hour taking pictures in front of it. I tried asking them to let me take a photo, but they didn't speak English. So, we got one with them in it. Still good :)

We arrived around dinner time on Saturday, June 26th, and spent the first evening visiting with Mom and Dad G. and my sister-in-law with her kids. Just basically took it easy :)

Day 2:

Sunday, day of rest :) We went to church in our in-law's ward where we were reunited with so many familiar and beloved faces! It was like coming home. We felt so welcomed and so loved. We saw my sister and my nieces and nephews, as well as my sister-in-law and her kids. We saw many friends like the Rowlands, Helen, Erica, Sandra, and more. Loved it!

That evening I had a wonderful photography session with a very adorable and spirited 1 year old. She was so gorgeous and we had fun exploring with her and her parents. I even took a bit of a tumble into the stream, but I managed a couple of cute shots out of it :)

Since I arrived back at the house soaked through, I changed into my jammies and relaxed more with my family. What else are you SUPPOSED to do on vacation? ;)

Day3:
Not much to show for Monday. Lyndon woke up feeling extremely light-headed and dizzy. He spent the day laying in bed, trying to recover from over-exhaustion while the girls and I did some shopping. Later that evening we drove out to Airdrie to photograph some good friends of mine. It was SO great seeing them again.

Day 4: By Tuesday, Lyndon was feeling quite a bit better, but we still weren't interested in having him over-do it too much, so we decided to drive around the city and photograph every house we ever lived in while living in Calgary. We also photographed our schools. It was SO neat to revisit those memories and show our kids where we spent our childhood.

A sight-seeing trip around Calgary would NEVER be complete without a stop at Peter's Drive-In. The kids thought it was funny when we were telling them how much prices have gone up. When I was a teenager - oh, 15 years ago - I could take $5, spend $1 to get into the dance, then buy a milkshake and onion rings with the remaining $4. Now, a milkshake is $4.50!

But those milkshakes and burgers are soooooo worth getting. The prices may have gone up over the years, but they still make their single burgers with 1 1/2 patties and their special sauce. Ooooh, delish! And you can still get a milkshake with up to 3 flavors mixed together. There is something for everyone at Peter's Drive In!

Day 5:
Wednesday we split up to enjoy twice the fun! Lyndon took the girls to the new Cross Iron Mills mall to check out the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World! It was crazy inside!

To give it some scaling - that's a full-size plane hanging from the ceiling. We're talking HOURS of exploring fun to be had!

Then they headed out into the mall to see what fun they could have there. They weren't disappointed! I mean, what better way for a princess in training to travel than by carriage?

And she needed her entourage with her as well, otherwise where would the fun be in THAT?

The mall was huge with every high-end store I'll never shop at. I did make a stop (on Canada Day) at Bath and Body Works to pick up some amazing deals on my favorite scented products - Velvet Tuberose Shower gel, Body Lotion, and Body Spray. Nice!

So what did I do on June 30th while my family was off playing at Cross Iron Mills? I was playing in an entirely different way with my lovely sister and my gorgeous nieces! We met up for lunch at Boston Pizza then headed over to the theater to watch Twilight Saga: Eclipse! I loved it.

The day didn't end there, though. Lyndon and I dropped the kids off with Grandma and Grandpa and headed over to his aunt and uncle's home to have dinner with them and with T&C. We were treated to a delicious meal and good company before heading out to do a photo shoot for T&C's engagement pictures. We were losing light quickly, but still managed to get some laughs and snap a nice pic or two.

Day 6:
Happy birthday, Canada! This was a great day on our trip. We started the day out by stopping at the mall for me to get my bath goodies, then we headed out to Airdrie to visit and have lunch with our good friends J & J and their kiddos. They prepared a delicious shepherd's pie, salad, and a fruit platter for us to enjoy as we visited and caught up about the last couple of years. They are such good people. We are so honored to be their friends.

After dinner with the T family, we drove back into town to enjoy the rest of the day at my brother-in-law's home near a beautiful little lake. The women stayed put in the house, making gorgeous fabric flowers, while the men folk took the kiddos down to the beach to enjoy some sunshine and water.

We ate back at the house and visited even more. It was such a great day and I got to know my beautiful sister-in-law, Erin, a lot better and I admired her for being such a wonderful mother. We also visited with T&C and J&F, which was so fun. I loved it. With all of that excitement, we were ALL feeling pooped out on the drive back to the house.

Day 7:
Friday, July 2, started out with us being lazy, but we were just gearing up for some serious fun at the Calgary Zoo. We invited another good friend of ours, Mary, with her little girl, L, to join us and it was SO good to see them again. We were so impressed with how nice the Dinosaur park looked after it's facelift and had a blast with the animatronic dinos.

Little miss "L" was just as adorable and giggly as I remember her. Such a happy girl, and a total joy to be around. We were scared silly when we thought we lost her in the playground for a few minutes. Luckily we found her playing in the shark's head. Not fun for us, but she was having the time of her little life!

I loved the butterfly room. It was filled with all kinds of gorgeous, colorful butterflies. I couldn't believe that I didn't have a memory card in my nice camera! Luckily, my main man is amazing with our point and shoot and was able to catch a couple of nice shots.

These guys were cute....but rank. I mean, STINKY!

Soon our girls decided they were done and TJ's tummy started feeling a little sick. We said our goodbyes to Mary and her daughter and headed  back home.

Our busy day didn't end there, though. Our good friend, Sara,  babysat the girls at the house while my mother and father-in-law treated us out to dinner and a movie. We enjoyed some delicious Vietnamese food and watched the movie "Knight and Day" which was thrilling, funny, romantic, and so entertaining. Loved it (except for the ONE stuipd "F" word they just HAD to stick in there). Still, fun night out.

Day 8:
Just in case we were in danger of getting too much rest on our vacation, we decided to spend Saturday the 3rd at Calaway Park with our kids, Grandma and Grandpa Grunewald, and J&J and their kids. The weather looked like rain in the next few days so we made the choice to do Calaway Park while the sun was shining.

TJ spent a lot of time hanging out with miss "A" and going on rides with her as a sort of "chaperone". She loved it and felt OH so grown up.

Funny story - these 4 young adult men came walking past with armfuls of these cute little stuffed duckies. I could see them dropping them in random strollers as they passed. I waved them over, yelling "Hey, 8 kids over here!". They ran over and dropped 8 of them in our laps! The kids were ecstatic to have a cute souvenier to bring home with them.

Day 9:
This Sunday was special in so many ways. We were able to witness not only Jule's baby blessing for Baby "B" but we were also there to see my brother-in-law ordained as a high priest and called as first counselor in the bishopric! It was so amazing to be there for that, and the tears flowed freely.

After church the Grunewald family met for a family dinner and we took some photos, which included one of all of the G grandkids. Not an easy task to fit 13 kids together for one shot, but we got a decent one :)

After that my husband dropped me off at my sister's house to spend a week with her! We headed out quickly to take HER family pictures before her husband had to travel out of Province to work that night. It had been raining all over the city that day and when I arrived at her place it was cloudy but no sign of rain. She told me that she wasn't worried about our pictures because she had prayed that it wouldn't rain, and sure enough....it didn't! The rain held off during the entire photo session, then the downpour hit a short while after we went back to her house. The power of faith is amazing!

Day 10:
The next week was eventful for both of us, though separately. I was enjoying some R&R with my sister at her house while my husband and kids went to the NE Leisure center with the B kids and with Grandma. It has been vastly improved these past couple of  years! The kids had a blast!

What was I doing? Shopping, eating, laughing, relaxing. I loved every second of my time with Laurie.

Day 11:

Lyndon had an appointment so he took the girls to a local pet store before dropping them off with my sister and I for a few hours.

I don't envy Lyndon the drive home he had. There are certain benefits to living in a smaller city. We don't come across this scene.....ever.

Day 12:
Wednesday my sister was quite sick for most of the day. She has this illness that sets in for no apparent reason out of the blue. She slept on and off for most of the day while I watched movies and scrapbooked. This was supposed to be my last full day with her, but since she was sick, I didn't want to leave like that. I decided to stay an extra day. We did manage to get some fun in, though, in the form of jumping on the trampoline. I only had 2 good jumps in me before I was totally tired! Boy, I'm old.

Day 13:
My other amazing sister, Kathy, called up Lyndon to invite the girls to go play at Prairie Winds Park for the day with her daughters and their kids. The weather was nice enough to don the swimsuits and get splashing! Thanks, Kathy!!

Later that night, Lyndon headed over to his childhood friend's house. Kevin and Amber were great hosts, feeding my family well and letting them invade their gorgeous house. Lyndon loved catching up, but he somehow didn't manage one decent photo of Kevin! Oh well, the top of his head will have to suffice.

Back at Lauries, we were enjoying a date with our favorite vampire, Edward Cullen. I think he likes me best..... Just sayin'.

We also did a lot of scrapbooking. I finished 8 layouts and Laurie worked on her mini album. It was so cute. Oh, and we made some fabric flowers like the one I'm sporting in this picture. Yes, we are total scrapbook slobs - it's how we roll.

Day 14:
Our last day in Calgary. Boo. Lyndon picked me up at my sister's place just after lunch, and we headed out to visit our cousins and good friends Mark and Christie. It amazed me how much I don't realize I miss someone until I see them again! It brought back memories of when we lived so close to each other and visited every day! They are so easy to get along with and we love them so much. Thanks for everything!

Our girls played so well with their 3 daughters and their middle child even made up treat bags for each of our kids before we left. Next time we just HAVE to visit longer.

I couldn't believe how big their youngest had grown since we saw them last Thanksgiving! She is growing into a beautiful girl!

Day 15:
You would think our last day would be uneventful, but our trip wouldn't have been complete without a stop in at Lyndon's cousin (and our good friend) Joanne's place. Once again, my heart ached with missing her!! Their family is just so good and so fun to be around. We became friends in record time and have stayed that way ever since. Her kids are growing in leaps and bounds, and soon she'll be expecting a new little one! I wish we lived closer. I miss you, Joanne!!

Soon we were on our way, and happy day - the highway was open again! We could see out our window just how high the water had been. We could see fences littered with debris from the flood waters, and there were trucks all over the place putting the highway back together again.

Soon we were entering back into Saskatchewan! It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we loved every second. Family and good friends are so important to us. Those relationships are so much of what makes me, me. It was such a great summer trip, and now that we're back, we feel so much love and friendship here, as well. Life is so good and full of so much joy. I feel blessed to be me and to have the family and friends I have! Sometimes it takes a trip like this to appreciate it.