Sunday, September 21, 2008

Oh, Canada!

Now that the painful memories of the endless drive in the car have past, I can blog about our trip to Canada.

It was so crazy, and we tried so hard to get the visa for Coleman. We thought we were going to pull it off. I got his passport back from the Marshall Islands in time to send it to LA with my friend who was going to visit her sister. We completed all of the paperwork and had someone that could deliver it to the visa office. We found out 2 days before we were scheduled to leave that they wanted 5 other documents, it was not possible for me to get them all in time. It was so frustrating for all of us. We had a back-up plan in case everything did not fall into place, and that was for Coleman to spend time with Jim's brother and his family. They live on a farm, and they were also attending family woodbadge camp that he was going to get to go too. He was pretty excited about hanging out with them. So our excursion just turned into, just me and the girls.


There was several times leading up to the trip that I called Jim and tried to get out of going all together. I missed him like crazy, I felt bad that he and the boys were not going with us and I was worried about 3 days of driving by myself. But time and time again, he told me that he knew without a doubt that this was something I needed to do.


I am glad I went, it was really, really hard, yet really, really worth it.


I uploaded my pictures, and they loaded however the pleased. So I am just going to go with it instead of rearranging them.


We went several times out looking for wildlife. We saw lots of deer, and Elk, but never did see a moose. The kids claim they say a bear one day. When Jason went to check it out, he did see evidence that an animal had been out in the "bush" but he is guessing it was a moose, not a bear.



Tori and Aly LOVE Uncle Jason. They hung out with him every chance they got.




We went down to the river one day, the kids caught frogs. They had a blast swimming with their cousins and the fishes.

So, on the last night we were there, my sister Beth and I decided that we hadn't really taken any pictures of us the whole week we had been together. So we first tried to take one ourselves, that didn't work out too well, so Jason took a few others for us. He just started snapping, not really waiting for us to be ready for the camera.






Once we entered Alberta, it was wide open prairie, and beautiful farmlands.






One of the prettiest things I saw was the canola fields(as in canola oil). The Bright yellow flowers were so beautiful. These pictures really do not capture the beauty. We passed acres, and acres of canola. I had never seen canola fields before. It really was stunning.
These 2 dogs got lots of love and attention while we were there. Duke and Shy. The kids ran them ragged. My sister said they were pretty lonely after we left.
Did I mention that my sister lives in Beaver Lodge, Alberta? Home of the largest beaver in the world.

We had a great time, it was so nice to get away and to connect with my sister again. I always feel cheated that the only sister I have moved many miles away. I always feel bad when I see other sisters hanging out and getting to spend time together, I have always wished that there was not thousands of miles between us. I needed this trip to have those experiences. As hard as it was, it was equally as wonderful to be together.
The trip home was exhausting...4 days in the car was so long. I was so thankful that my parents went up as well, and we could follow each other. I couldn't of done it otherwise. I am sure that they would of had a much more leisure drive without us tagging behind, but we made lots of great memories. We also got to see Tyler and Emily on our stops in Utah coming and going. They are doing great. And Alyson got her big brother fix!
I had never been so happy in all of my 24 years of marriage to see my husband again. We were apart for 4 weeks. I missed him more than I can even explain. The minute I saw him, I started to cry and just couldn't stop. I vowed to never be apart that long again. Ever. It is true absence does make that heart grow fonder. I learned a lot about myself and had a lot of time to reflect and to ponder. I am not ready to get in the car anytime soon...but I am sure one day I might be.

5 comments:

Char @ Crap I've Made said...

I'm glad you stopped in Utah both ways, too.

:o)

Looks like a fun trip!

Becca said...

Those are beautiful pictures! I have always wanted to go to Canada! I am glad you had fun! I would have wanted to cry being in the car for 4 day, but hey...we do what we can to hang with sisters! I love love love to visit my sisters! I am glad you had a good time!

melanie said...

The pictures are beautiful, I'm giggling at how you and your sister are pulling your shirts the same way.
Nothing in the world like family!

I'm glad you're home now!

Anonymous said...

looks like a great trip!! Those are fun pictures.

Unknown said...

SO, SO fun! And I'm so glad you got to connect with your sister... she looks like your sister! Oh Canada... it's beautiful!