Saturday Mountain Drive April 9,2011

We have learned very quick that when the sun is shining you take advantage of it and head outdoors.  Saturday was a beautiful day and so we decided to take a drive and go for a hike. Well as you can see there was still  WAY more snow in the mountains than we had anticipated.  Clearly if we wanted to go for a hike we would need snowshoes....

We all laughed when we stopped to use the "washroom"and saw the little trail dug out to get to the building.  Now that is a lot of snow!
 Grant, Dad and Camille decided to go for a short hike.  As you can see we were very ill prepared!  Grant had his tennis shoes on with short sport socks!  He was determined to get to a little island in the middle of the creek.

And...he made it!  "Grant's Island"    He did however come back to the car wet up to his thighs!

 Camille has become quit the little photographer.  It is nice that she has that interest.  There is always something to take pictures of in beautiful Canada.
 This picture is so funny because there are parts of the road that have so much snow that they don't even try to plow the roads. They just wait for it to melt.

This was a beautiful little place in the river that had a family of deer at their water spot.  It was a great day.  I am looking forward to summer because I never get tired of exploring the outdoors here. It is never the same and it is spectacular!  You need to come and see for yourself!

Canada's April Fool's Day Joke!

I know that the weather has been crazy all over the world this year but we have had SO much snow!  We were thrilled because it finally was just about all melted and then this.....It snow 12 inches in ONE 24 hour period.  The good news is that is was melted 4 days later. People here say that this is their April Showers...it snows here sometimes even in May. I will say I have had my fill of snow for one year!  Bring on Spring. 

Beautiful Canada 10-2010

Beautiful Canada.  What I see off my front porch... 

Flowers from my favorite man! ;)  He knows when I need a boost!

Sunday Drive 9-26-2010

We decided to take a Sunday drive because the colors are just beautiful right now.  We have been warned that WINTER is on it's way...so enjoy this beautiful weather while we can! 

The camera does not capture how vibrate the colors really are.

I loved this little trail!

Grant's picture taking skills!

We LOVE living in all this beauty.  Know that I will be taking all this back when
it starts to snow! ;)

OK OK....FOR THOSE THAT KEEP ASKING FOR PICTURES OF THE HOUSE.

When my kids asked me which house we made the offer on...I said "The Ugly house" .

So that is how it was known in our family.  This is what they call a reverse walkout in

Canada so actually this is the back of the house but it is our front.  You don't see

many like this.  It is sure nothing like the Texas homes but it has a ton of potential

and I LOVE the views!

This is the dining room.  If you look close you can see the whole in the ceiling from

the leak we had in the tub the day after we moved in.  Welcome Home!  :)

This is what Stacy B. called decorating at it's finest!  She put this together and it

looks great!  I am not sure what I would have done without her help.  Honestly,

she breathed life back into me.  I was so spent from everything that had gone on. 

It was so fun to get the juices flowing again.  I am sure we would be the number one

reality show if they filmed us working together.  We  bantered back and forth and

laughed a ton.  Just for the record..If I said alittle to the left, Stacy would say no,

a little to the right.  I noticed that she would finally see it my way but it added to

the fun! (Oh I can't wait for Stacy to read this! :)





The mirror wall.  Honestly this is one of my favorite things in my house. Not only

do the mirrors all have a story but Stacy's Mom Tish started this idea and she,

Stacy and I all have a mirror wall in our homes.  Mine is the BEST!  OK  Stacy's

is pretty great to.  



The Family Room

The view from upstairs.  One thing that I love about the house is that I can stand

upstairs on the landing in my room and see all the way downstairs. 

 I know exactly what is going on the house.

The kitchen table. I love the view out my back window.

This is as you walk in the front door. 

Looking out my kitchen window

My bedroom.  No I do not have the bedding I want yet.  It is a work in progress. 

I just haven't found "IT".  OH Please do not tell Stacy I  haven't found

anything yet... she may loose sleep over it! ;) 

Steve's home office.  It is still a work in progress as well.

Notice the cow picture that MBB painted. I want to get a W to hang over it. 
 Love it!

The apartment.  One of the things we liked about the house is this apartment. 

It is great for company or if we ever need to have Mom come and stay for a while. 

The apartment needs updated but it has it own kitchen and  washer and dryer. 

Come Visit! Just be mindful that Stacy calls this "Her Quarters".

This is my view from my front steps.  This truly is my favorite thing about the house. 

 On clear days the mountains are in full view.  It is stunning here.





The back of the house

OK starting right now.....The FIRST person that comes for a visit gets to take

this wonderful billiard light fixture home.  I have a couple of beer plaques that

I will throw in just for fun!   The homes here are so expensive and not at all as

beautiful as Texas homes....but there are some great things here as well. 

I think (HOPE) we will learn to love it here.  



IT'S A SMALL WORLD AND IN THE CHURCH IT IS EVEN SMALLER!

Just a couple months after we moved to Canada my dear friend Angi moved

to California.  She had mentioned that I should look out for an Elder Draper

from California as he is in my mission and Angi and his Mom have become 
friends. As fate would have it I had been asked to help serve a lunch the
very next week to missionaries for a Mission Conference.  I called Angi
and told her I would look for Elder Draper. Elder Draper's Mom Teri
called me and was so excited that I would see her son today! 
It is funny how thrilled we are as Mothers that someone we may not
even know gets to see and talk to our missionaries! If you have ever
had a missionary out.. you know exactly what I mean! I was so happy
to track down Elder Draper and his Zone.  I think they all enjoyed the
 attention as well! Elder Draper is the one in the middle.



The Zone



Now this was a BONUS for ME!!  While I was in the kitchen preparing the meal

a sister asked which General Authority was here.  Someone answered her...

President Zivic of the 70's.  I gasped!!  They said what?  I said he was my 

oldest son Tyler's Mission  President in Spain!! After he had eaten I went up

and asked if they remembered Tyler.  They both jumped out of their chairs

and gave me the biggest hugs...It was a tender and teary moment for me as

I know how much Tyler loves them and what a wonderful influence for good

they have had on his life.  They were thrilled to talk and said some very sweet

things about my boy.  I felt a bit like a groupie and guilty for taking the time away

from the missionaries but for some reason I felt like the Lord sent me a

blessing today. :) The only reason I took my camera was to take a picture of Elder

Draper.  Good thing I had it with me!



After lunch was over the whole group sang Army of Helaman.  At the end they

sang and thank you for the food....It was moving and darling all at the same time. 

I couldn't help but think about my Blake in South Africa serving in much the same

way these boys are.  I am so thankful for the members there that are good to him. 

It was a wonderful day!

Welcome to Canada! 9/17/2010

This is what we woke up to this morning.  Granted it is only a skiff of SNOW but it is

snow indeed and it is only Sept. Camille walked out of her room this morning

and said...What is this!  I said it SNOWED..welcome to Canada Sister.  She

just moaned!  :) 



This is the deck on the back of the house. 



You can see that the snow did not stick much on the ground but 
look at the roof tops! 



So I guess it is the season for fireplaces and hot chocolate!  I am afraid we are in for

 a long cold winter!