Calgary Stampede

Saturday, July 12, Mom and I "did" Stampede. I've been once before with Meredith so I had an idea of what to expect but we fit a lot more in this time. I had a handful of attractions I specifically wanted to see and we visited all of them and more.

One of the attractions was the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. I admit I didn't recognize most of the names but the displays were neat.

Another section I really wanted to visit was the Indian Village. Many of the brightly painted teepees on site are open for viewing and the people there are very willing to discuss their heritage and culture.

After the Indian Village we made our way to "Weadickville". As the plaque says, "In 1912 the great Stampede was born from the vision of Guy Weadick. Guy was a famous working cowboy and vaudeville entertainer featured in the traveling wild-west shows that were popular world-wide in the early 1900s. He was a man with a dream of celebrating the romance and authentic culture of the old west." Weadickville is dedicated to him. It features a series of historical shops. Our first stop was an original out post for the North West Mounted Police. Next we got some information about Quebec's 400th Anniversary celebrations. Then we stopped in at the Weston Bakery for the most amazing freshly baked strudels I have ever had. They were right out of the oven and still warm! While we ate we listend to "the toe-tapping country tunes of the Keister Family Fiddlers".

Weadickville also offers a General Store, Blacksmith and Ice Cream Shop.

I had my picture taken with "western gun slingers Doc, Snake-Eye, Stringbean and the Sherrif of Weadickville (far right).

Mom and I had our picture taken as we "Made Chuckwagon History" :) And I got to pose with one of the original Olympic torches from the games held in 1988 in Calgary. This one is #4 of 150.

The only other "must do" on my list was to catch a performance of "Barrage". Meredith and I saw them *many* years ago and thoroughly enjoyed their show. When I saw that they were on the schedule at Stampede, I made a point of seeing them. They were just as good as I remembered. If you get a chance to catch this group, make sure you take it.
After the Barrage show Mom and I wandered around a bit. We visited some of the livestock displays, watched some cattle being judged and marvelled at the vast array of fried foods.

We also spent some time watching two of Calgary's top chefs participating in an "Iron Chef" style competition.

I'll put the rest of our day in a separate post.

Dinner

Friday night we all went for dinner at Red Lobster. We don't have Red Lobster at home but we still get the ads on tv (figure that one out) Anyways, it's a bit of a running joke between Mom and Robert that when they see the ads they both start salivating. Dad's allergic to all shellfish so he would never want to go. But, because he wasn't there, we could go without a problem. The food was just as good as the ads make it out to be. We had a big round table near the back that was perfect for our group. At one point the boys (Seth, Robert, Tim and Xander) started making spit balls. See the guy behind Seth? Tim was aiming at Seth and ended up nailing that guy right in the temple! The thing was, Xander was standing beside Tim when he did it, and just as Tim's spitball landed on the guy, Seth hit Xander! So of course Xander started crying, which made the guy think that Xander had hit him! And Tim let Xander take the fall!!! The guy was laughing and so were we (it actually took most of the meal to figure out exactly what happened) and as completley immature as it was, it was funny :)

Big Hill Springs Park

Friday while Tim, Robert and Seth were at work Canadace, Mom, the boys and I went to Big Hill Springs Provincial Park. The park isn't that far from their house and it's a fantastic spot for young boys to run off some energy.

As the description says "The main attraction is a series of small waterfalls that flow year-round over rocky terraces covered with a lush growth of shrubs and grasses; the park is also the site of an historic fish hatchery and Alberta's first commercial creamery." The creamery foundations are seen above.

The bugs were really bad in the park (as they are in most of Alberta) so we walked quickly. It is so peaceful there. I can see why they enjoy visiting often.


At one point Xander was hiding behind a tree. His brother's didn't see him go back there and when Mom and I were approaching it quietly they thought it was something interesting, like a deer. They were a bit disappointed to learn it was just their brother LOL

When we finished the trail the boys played in one of the shallow streams for awhile. They had fun splashing around and cooling off in the shallow water.

We inturupt the vacation re-cap

for a weekend re-cap!

Thursday evening I had dinner at Mom and Dad's and then the four of us (including Brandin) went and saw WALL-E. Cute movie. Really, really well done on the techincal side. I laughed out loud a few times. It did get a bit slow at times and I'm not in a hurry to see it again but it was enjoyable.

Friday Mom, Brandin and I went raspberry picking. I picked six pounds in an hour. I froze most of them but I do have a bucket sitting on my counter that I've been adding to salad and my cereal. Brandin and I also washed my car that evening. It needed it after driving all the way to Alberta.

Saturday was a quiet low key day. I had a "to-do" list of chores and tasks that I wanted to accomplish and I got most of them done. Saturday also marked the fifth anniversary of our local Farmers' Market. I was involved in the launch in it's first year. I created and updated weekly the "What's at the Market this week" newsletter flyer that they still use. Lots of the original partners were there and they had speeches and a cake and we all celebrated five years since the very first market day.

Saturday evening as I was leaving my building to meet Mom, Dad and Brandin for a picnic I stepped funny, twisted my ankle and fell down. I ripped a bunch of skin off my knee and jarred my arm and my head. I didn't hit my head but I had to go back inside to wipe the blood off my knee. When I got inside I had to lay down for a bit until the room stopped spinning. Now my whole body is sore and I'm nursing a wound on my knee that is three inches long and two inches wide. Not fun. :( I did manage to make it to the picnic (after Dr. Mom bandaged me up) and we had a nice time.

Sunday after church Mom, Dad and Brandin went to Vancouver. I stayed in town and joined friends of mine for lunch. Then I picked Aaron up from work, stopped at Wal-mart for my own medical supplies (big bandages, gauze, polysporin etc.), raced home and made a quick salad and headed out for a bar-b-que with my Northern Reflections collegues. It was great to be able to spend time with them without customers around. They were joined by their husbands/boyfriends and kids as well so it was a big loud party.

Tonight (Monday) is our wrap-up dinner for the BerryBeat Festival which I'm really looking forward to.

There, life goes on. Back to your regularly scheduled programming now :)

Visiting Family

The main purpose for my trip was to get away and visit as many family members as possible. My dad's sibilings had held a reunion in May but for various reasons, I wasn't able to attend. That meant that instead of conveniently seeing everyone in one location, I had to go track down the ones I could see. Not as efficient but nice because you get more one on one time.

Tuesday morning I went to my cousin Suzanne's house. She has two daughters and her husband was there for awhile before he had to go to work. My Aunt Emily (my dad's sister), cousin Rhonda and four of her kids joined us for coffee. We had a wonderful time even though we didn't stay very long.

After that Mom and I stopped and picked up Grandpa and went to my cousin Naomi's. Naomi is Aunty Liz's daughter. She has two girls. Her sister Ruth (and Ruth's son Jonathan) were there as well. Ruth, Naomi and I are all very close in age and I spent a lot of time with them in the summers when I would visit. It was great to see them again and catch up a bit.

That evening I met up with a friend for dinner. Getting to the restaurant required navigating Edmonton's river valley which is always an adventure but I arrived successfully. While I was there an impressive thunder and hail storm occured. I found out later that Mom had tried to go for a walk and got caught in it. Oops!

Wednesday morning Mom and I got up and drove out to join Dad's sister Louise (he is one of six, Mom is one of four hence all the relatives) and her husband Rick at Thunder Lake Provincial Park near Barrhead. They were taking their RV up there for a few days and invited us to join them. We spent the day relaxing in the sun and around the campfire visiting and catching up. Three of their children were able to join us during the day and I got to meet my cousin's kids for the first time.

Thursday we packed up, said good bye to Grandpa and headed South. This is Grandpa and I. He's doing quite well for an 83 year old.

On the way out of town we stopped in to see my mom's Uncle Oskar and Aunt Helen. We didn't stay long but I did get Aunty Helen to tell me a bit about the trip from Germany to Canada. More on that later.

Our last stop before hitting the road in earnest was for lunch in Ponoka with my Dad's Aunt Elsie. We had a fantastic visit with her. She's 83, fit as a fiddle and the funniest woman you'll ever meet. She reminds me a lot of my grandma (her sister) but without the worry gene that my Dad and I inherited. She swims at least three times a week (and has been doing so for over twenty years), volunteers at her church, in the community center that is part of her building and travels to see her three kids, three grand kids and one great grand child frequently. If I am doing as well as her when I get to that age I will happy with life.

We finally got to Uncle Tim and Aunt Candace's mid afternoon. Candace had picked up pizza from Seth (he's assistant manager at Panago) and she headed out at five to attend the Judd's concert with her sister. Mom and I stayed at the house and "babysat" which mostly consisted of playing the board game LIFE with my cousins. (It's a blast by the way, especially since they have a newer version of the game which has great updates). Tim, Robert and Seth got home later in the evening and again it was just a lot of visiting and quality time together.

That's a run down of the family that I managed to connect with. The rest of my time was spent wtith Tim, Candace, their three boys and my two brothers, in different combinations.

Valley Zoo

Monday after Aunty Liz got off work she, Mom, Grandpa, Jonathan and I went to the Edmonton Valley Zoo. We used to go there when I was younger but we haven't been in a LONG time. Fortunately, it was much like I remembered and still a really fun place to go, especially with an almost three year old.

Some of the displays made us laugh, like this guinea pig enclosure on the left. I have never seen so many guinea pigs together and they were all different!

Hey V, a kookabura, just for you :) He was singing up a storm too :D

This is Jonathan looking at the ring-tailed lemurs.

The Valley Zoo recently welcomed two baby Red Pandas. My dad is obsessed with these creatures. He, Mom, Seth and Robert went to the Calgary Zoo and saw the pandas there so when we saw this guy, I had to call him. They are really interesting creatures. Apparently zoologists had a hard time classifying these creatures and finally dubbed them "pandas" because they eat bamboo.

We never did see the babies but this adult was pretty to look at.
My personal favourite animals were the gibbons. they were really hard to photograph because they were behind glass and swinging like crazy!!! It was so fun to watch them go back and forth and around and around.

Grandpa's favourite was the elephant. I can't make this picture rotate correctly but you get the idea. He was amazed that the trainers could get that close to such a large animal and that it would just stand there and let them wash it. They sprayed it and then scrubbed it with long handled brushes. It was fun to watch.
I don't technically have permission to post pictures of Jonathan so these "creative shots" will have to do ;) Aunty Liz bought him this tiger in the gift shop. At the end of the handles is a trigger you can squeeze and the tiger opens his mouth. Jonathan spent the rest of the day walking around roaring and biting things.

And this is the entrance to the zoo on our way out.

Blog Challenge: Childhood Vacations

The current SS Blog Challenge is very timely:

Childhood vacations – what one family vacation in your childhood stands out in your mind as the most memorable?

Who were you with? What did it mean to you? Whether you took a vacation once every summer or once every decade; whether it was a weekend trip or a 2-week trip...let us hear about it.

Whether you were the Griswolds or the family who had their own Cousin Eddy showing up every year to deal with, there has to be some unforgettable memories you'll never forget...good or bad...that you can laugh at now. And if there wasn’t just one trip that stood out to you as being “the trip” maybe there was just the shared time with family on several trips that impacted you.

I think the way we traveled as kids and what we did impacts how we choose to travel with our own children as adults. So blog away...let’s hear about those memorable family vacations!

I was born in Alberta, Canada as were both of my parents. We moved to BC when I was three and left all our extended family behind. Dad has five siblings and Mom has four. Because of that, our summer and family vacations almost always consisted of trips to Alberta to visit family. Each trip was a little different timewise but we always drove the 12+ hour trip each way. Sometimes it was just a long weekend, sometimes it was a week, a few times Dad took us there and left us at Grandma and Grandpa's for a month or more while he came home and worked. My parents and I tried to count one time and concluded that our family has made the trip back and forth across the mountains close to three dozen times. Minimum once a year, often closer to two or three times.

Knowing this will help you understand how odd it is for me to have not visited Alberta at ALL since the summer of 2005. For me, three years is an INCREDIBLY long time. I didn't actually realize HOW long until I arrived at Grandpa's this summer.

I had been planning to go to Alberta this summer since February (or even before). I just knew it was time to make the trip and with two of my brothers there now and my last remaining grandparent not getting any younger it just made sense. I looked at flights and concluded that since my list of people to visit were spread out some, driving would make more sense and, in the long run, be cheaper. I offered Mom the option to come up with me so I'd have a driving buddy but we didn't really finalize anything.

The weekend before Canada Day Dad got the same urge and since he got the Monday off, he and Mom packed up and drove to Crossfield. He came back on Canada Day and my brother Robert drove Mom about half way to Edmonton (Aunty Liz met them and took her the rest of the way). That left me to drive the whole way to Edmonton by myself, a trip of just over 1000 kilometres.

I was a bit nervous about going that far alone but I psyched myself up for it. I gathered practically every cd I own and put them in a carry case. I hit Walmart for snacks and made egg salad sandwiches the night before I left. I froze water bottles and I made sure to hit Starbucks on the way out. I even printed directions just in case 20+ years of driving the same route didn't stick and I needed reassurance that I was going the right way.

The trip was great. I haven't been to Alberta in three years and the last few times I always took the southerly route through Banff National Park instead of North through Jasper National Park. The weather wasn't always fantastic. I hit heavy rain just before Blue River (when my gas tank was on the low side) and minor construction near Mount Robson but other than that it was smooth sailing. There was very, very little traffic on the roads. Mostly just me, local traffic and a handful of RV's. I did take a turn in Spruce Grove (just outside of Emonton) and ended up coming into the city on a funny angle but once I hit West Edmonton Mall I was able to get to Grandpa's with out incident.
Once I got to Grandpa's (Grandma passed away in 1996 which is why I'm not referencing her) the memories started to come. My parents have always rented and therefore we moved a lot. Seven different houses while I was growing up. My grandparents on the other hand moved into their house in 1975 when my mom was 15 and Grandpa is still there. That makes for a lot of memories in one place.

Most of them were good memories, I just wasn't really prepared for how MANY there were. I also had some really frank talks with my mom which were great but I went to bed emotionally exhausted each night.

A big part of that was my "detective work". I've always had a passing fascination with geneology but I've never devoted any more time to it than what was required by school projects. I know there are others researching various branches of my family and so far I've been content to let them do it, mostly just because I know how all consuming research can be. While I was at Grandpa's I pulled out some old family photo albums and pressed for details on who the people are.

On Tuesday we visited the grave yard and got photos of stones and, the biggest thing, after Grandpa left for church one evening, Mom and I went digging in his closet and pulled out a valise that he generally won't let us touch and went through it. It has ALL their important paperwork in it. Half of it is in German so I just took pictures of everyting. Scanning would be better but this was a quick portable way to get the information without him knowing that I was digging in there.

It's a bit overwhelming but it's also exciting. I'm not sure how far I'll take this research and I'm definitely just at the very beginning of my journey but I know I won't regret looking for information. I'll try and keep you posted on details.

Anyways, I kind of got off track. Bottom line is I spent my summers going to Alberta and I finally got to do this trip again. Now I have work to do :)

Alberta 2008

I'm back! I'm caught up on emails. I'm back to the grind. Now for a recap.

Everyone is asking "how was your trip?" The short answer is "wonderful". The long answer? Great but suprisingly emotionally tiring and by the time I got home my ears and head hurt. I'm just not used to being around that many people for that much time in a row. I was SO happy to be back in my quiet apartment (it reaffirmed my decision to NOT have a roommate) and even to get back to my quiet wood panelled office.

Here's the rundown for the week. I'll post separately with pictures for each events.

Sunday, July 6 - drove to Edmonton via the Coquihalla Highway and Yellowhead. Stayed at Grandpa B's where Mom was.

Monday, July 7 - Went to the Valley Zoo with Mom, Grandpa, Aunty Liz and my cousin's son (Liz's youngest grandson) Jonathan

Tuesday, July 8 - Visited with my Aunty Emily, cousin's Rhonda and Suzanne (and their kids) at Suzanne's house. Met with cousin's Ruth and Naomi (and kids) at Naomi's house. Dinner with my friend Lisa.

Wednesday, July 9 - Spent the day with Aunty Louise and Uncle Rick at Thunder Lake. Three of their kids and their kids joined us throughout the day.

Thursday, July 10 - Visited briefly with mom's Uncle Oskar and Aunt Helen. Lunch with Dad's Aunty Elsie. Drove to Crossfield which is just North of Calgary and where my Uncle Tim, Aunty Candace, their three boys and two of my brothers live.

Friday, July 11 - Went to Big Hill Springs Park with Canadace, the boys and Mom. Dinner at Red Lobster with everyone.

Saturday, July 12 - Mom and I went to the Calgary Stampede which culminated in my sixth Dierks concert

Sunday, July 13 - Visited the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller

Monday, July 14 - Mom, Brandin and I drove home and took MANY stops during the day. We had fun though.



So as you can see, it was a lot of visiting family which was the primary purpose of the trip. We fit in some fun sightseeing too which I hadn't anticipated so that was just a bonus.

Berrybeat Festival

I'm at my parents house briefly clearing out email before leaving so I thought I'd update you on what I've been doing for the past two days. This weekend was the 27th Annual Berrybeat Festival (I blogged about it last year too) and it was another successful event. I took Friday off so I could be there both days which was great but I am TIRED now!

Thursday was set up and it went well. Both mornings I started my day with a yummy pancake breakfast. I'm not really a fan of pancakes or sausage but some how, at Berrybeat, you just have to have them. It's tradition!

There was almost constant entertainment as always. One of my favourites was the little Mooshum Metis dancers. They did an awesome job. Other entertainers included fiddlers, singers (like Kristal Barrett), dancers from all the local dance academy's and the Mexican dancers at left.
The farmers' market was on today as well and these peppers were so beautiful I couldn't resist taking a picture.

I spent most of my time in the info booth again. We had lots of volunteers so I was able to roam quite a bit too. The group that puts on the festival are fantastic and I love spending time with them. It's also neat to see how many people attend the festival that I know. I guess that's what happens when you've lived in a town for almost 25 years!

Okay. NOW I'm on vacation ;) Don't miss me too much!

Canada Day "Weekend"

It doesn't really qualify as a "weekend" for me because I worked Monday but it's all kind of a blur so close enough :)


Mom & Dad went to Alberta this weekend so they asked me to stay at the house. Aaron was there but he's still "not making good choices" so they wanted me there too. It helped too because he needed a ride to work on Sunday morning so I was there and able to take him.


Sunday after church I came back to my place and hid in my apartment to escape the heat. It was GORGEOUS all weekend but I can only handle so much sun. I'm really focusing right now on completing my Philadelphia 2006 album and I'm almost there. In order to complete this album I've been doing a lot of research about the American Revolution and different events that happened in Philadelphia. It's fascinating. Not exactly "Canada Day"-ish but interesting.

Monday I worked and then I came home and completed a few pages in my album.

Tuesday was Canada Day and Meredith and I went to our local parade. It was fun and of course I have another pretty burn to show for it. (Some day I WILL learn to wear sunscreen) After the parade I went back home but on the way I had an...incident. I briefly mentioned back in March that I had dropped a toonie (Canadian two dollar coin) in my steering wheel. For the most part it's not a big deal. It rattles around and sometimes it connects with my horn randomly which is annoying. For the last few months it hasn't even really been moving but last week it came unstuck again. Tuesday it connected with my horn and I could. not. get it off. So I'm driving around with my horn blaring. Luckily I was close to home but talk about nerve wracking!

Dad drove home from Calgary that evening and as soon as I got home, I took my car to him. When I dropped the coin originally he said he might be able to get it out but he never got a chance to look at it. Tuesday I got there and told him that I was actually afraid to drive my car so something had to be done. He worked on it for awhile. Took out some screws, which did nothing. Moved it around and then finally pulled out this nifty pen shaped magnet that he has. We managed to pry the steering wheel open enough and he pulled the coin out!!! I didn't realize how bad it was to have it in there until he took it out and I almost cried. Sad but it's pathetic to be afraid to drive your car. Anyways, everytime I see him now I tell him he's my hero :)

So after the toonie incident I went back to Exhibition Park and watched the end of Canadian Idol finalist Greg Neufeld's concert and then the fireworks.

So that was my Canada Day "weekend".

This weekend we have the BerryBeat Festival and Sunday I'm off to Alberta to visit family. I'll report on that trip when I get back after July 14th.

Happy Summer!

Vancouver

Next to Victoria, Vancouver is a favourite city of Meredith and I. We love just going in for the day and hanging out. Saturday, June 28th we did just that. Our first stop was in the fun, funky shopping district of Kitsilano. I`ve driven by there many times but never stopped. Saturday was a perfect day for shopping. We didn`t buy a whole lot but we had a great time exploring all the shops. Book stores, chocolate shops, clothing botiques and more. We also stopped in at Capers market and while I was drooling over the cheese, one of the staff gave us a sample of this one. Yes, you read that right ``Drunken Goat`` Goat`s Milk Cheese. It`s a wonderfully smooth cheese that has been soaked in red wine which gives it a burgundy rind. Yummy.


After shopping we walked a couple of blocks to Kitsilano beach where we had a picnic lunch. For some reason, I didn`t take any pictures (aside from the one of the cheese which I actually took at home)


After our picnic we headed over to Robson Street for more shopping. Mere bought a dress at the Gap and I got a cd at HMV. We had drinks at the Cactus Club and then decided to get out of the city. My solution was to drive up Burnaby Mountain. There is a *beautiful* view of the city and the inlet there. It gives a great apprecation for Vancouver as a port city.

So there, nothing earth shattering, just another pleasant day enjoying one of the best cities in the world :)

CP Spirit of 150 Rail Tour

This year British Columbia is celebrating 150 years as a Crown Colony. There are many events being organized around the province and the first one I was able to take in was the CP Spirit of 150 Rail Tour.

From the website: From June 12 to July 6, the CP Spirit of 150 Rail Tour will visit British Columbia communities along the Canadian Pacific route. The tour is co-sponsored by Canadian Pacific, which will operate, staff and maintain the train.

The CP Spirit of 150 Train includes the vintage CP 2816 Empress Steam Train and support cars, two vintage passenger coaches, a vintage business car, a heritage baggage car converted into a travelling museum and a vintage stage car.
The train rolled in to my hometown just before 5pm on Thursday, June 26th. It's previous stop was the town where I work so I actually got to see it travelling between the two. (That's the picture above, the train merrily steaming it's way across the flats. I took it while I was stopped at a red light.)

The train was in town from 5-9 and I spent the first two hours of the evening volunteering at the BerryBeat Festival booth (BerryBeat is next week. Watch here for updates :)) The best part about being in the booth was that I had a front row seat for the stage show. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures :(

After my shift in the booth Mom and Dad came down and we toured the museum car together.

The museum car will feature a compact version of Free Spirit: Stories of You, Me and BC, the BC150 exhibition currently on display at the Royal BC Museum. A stage show and costumed performers depicting some of B.C.’s most entertaining and notorious historical figures will help bring history to life.

There was looooong wait to get on the museum car and frankly, I was pretty underwhelmed by the display. There were a few neat things though. Right is a copy of the original declaration establishing BC as a crown colony.

This picture shows the infamous "Flood of '48" when the Fraser Valley was covered in water. (It's a big historical deal around here)

The train is CPR's Empress 2816 Steam Locomotive
CP's 2816 is a class H1b Hudson type locomotive built by Montreal Locomotive Works in December 1930. The CP Empress is now the only surviving H1b Hudson and is one of only a handful of preserved and operating CPR steam locomotives in North America.

Initially the locomotive ran westward out of Winnipeg to Calgary and eastward to Fort William, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay). Locomotive 2816 then moved into service on the Windsor-to-Quebec City corridor. Its last assignment was at the front of a Montreal-Rigaud commuter train, making its final revenue run on May 26, 1960. Having logged more than two million miles in active service, 2816's fires were extinguished.

It's an impressive machine. Note that the wheel is taller than my dad!

They also had this engine which Google tells me is a "Passenger Extra 1401 South", the Canadian Pacific's luxury passenger train.

I love trains so it was neat to see these beauties in the downtown.

What happiness looks like

Coffeeeeee!

I didn't plan this but I'll take it.

11:30 - lunch with Meredith at Starbucks. Grande-no-water-no-foam-extra-hot-soy-tazo-chai
1:30 - mid afternoon coffee from a fresh (very STRONG) pot that my coworker made
2:45 - double double from Tim Horton's courtesy of the auditors

That's my first double double ever. I usually drink French Vanilla Cappacino's there. This was good, sweet in a sugary sort of way (obviously since Double Double means two cream, two sugar). The donut didn't help either!

So now I'm on a sugar high and I should have a carb crash coming but will be over-run by the caffeine high. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Stuff that doesn't get it's own entry...

As I was coming down the hill on the way to Mike's on Saturday the traffic coming towards me was stopped. The SUV at the front of the line was flashing his lights at me and I realized it was because this momma and her babies were crossing!

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I am sporting my first official sign of summer...well...second if you count the burn I got in Victoria. Anyways, the next official sign? BUG BITES! I have a huge one on my ankle. Actually, it might be more than one. It's nasty though and ITCHY!

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I met my dad for lunch yesterday and Meredith today. I love meeting people for lunch. It's not a lot of time but it breaks the day up. If you're in the area, look me up!

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I got my meet and greet with Dierks approved for the concert in Calgary at the Stampede. I can't wait!!!

Melissa & Jevon

Saturday Melissa and Jevon were married in a simple fun ceremony at Minoru Chapel in Richmond. I drove in with Mike and we found the Chapel relatively easy (there's something about Richmond. I always get lost there. It's very annoying).

Minoru Chapel is very popular for weddings and we saw at least two other brides waiting for their turns. There was also a large graduating class getting their pictures taken in the garden beside the Chapel.
The ceremony was wonderful. It was very simple. Just a brief message by the pastor, the vows, exchanging of the rings and the signing of the registrar. They had a harpist playing and after the ceremony the bells rang out which was a nice touch.

The reception was at the Delf Room in Richmond. They had cream puffs instead of a cake and, since cream puffs need to be kept cold, they actually did the cake "cutting" first! That was different for me but it worked. I've been to so many weddings were the cake was forgotten. This way the kitchen staff had time to serve it and it was enjoyed by everyone when the desserts were put out.

After the cake cutting there were a handful of speeches. Melissa's dad did a wonderful one that had everyone (including himself) in tears. Then Jevon's mom shared some stories and lastly, the maid of honour, Chelsea gave a toast to her friend. After the speeches we had a wonderful buffet dinner and then visited and danced all night. I even caught the boquet (that's the fourth time if anyone's counting)

L-R: Highschool friends forever. Jenna, Heidi, Melissa, Kimberley and Mike.

Three weddings down, one to go, this year.