Off to Another Land...

One of the most pretty places I know...

On June 7th, me and the two kiddo's boarded the plane to head to this beautiful spot.

That is. After missing our 7 a.m. flight, (by 4 min.). (moral of the story is: never buy a purse that matches your home door, and always double check to make sure your purse is in the van.

Especially if it has all of your ID in it.)

Anda fter breakfast at the Windmill to soothe the sad two year old,  after some van repairs, after a nap, after laundry, after re-packing...

...and after saying goodbye to my handsome man...on our anniversary...

Oma drove us to the airport, where we were on time, but then had to wait for over an hour due to lighting issues. 

This little girl was super excited to go flying, and every minute of waiting was a challenge. 

Thankfully, our small airport had a play area. We had enough time to do 2 diaper changes, 2 potty breaks, and playtime before boarding. 

My beautiful anniversary roses from my man.

He gave them to me at 4:30 a.m. and through all the roughness of that long day, they still kept nice - and lasted for almost two weeks! A special reminder from my James.

Watching our plane come in. 

Then hooray! We made it on! (at 5:30 p.m. Ontario time)

The flight went alright. I was nervous/excited over the challenge of flying with two. Erik was good for the first half, and exhausting the second half. He had to sit on his own seat (even though he was supposed to sit on my lap for the whole time...) and have a seat belt on. 

Katie, on the other hand, had a blast. She loved watching some kid's movies, and didn't even use the bathroom the whole flight - she didn't know there were restrooms in it. :) (but we made great use of them on the way back!)

God answered prayer, and the lady across the aisle was a a huge help. She let the little ones play with her ipad, and helped keep things a bit calmer than they would've been.

I was done in, and had tears to prove it, but hooray, my mom and Charissa was patiently waiting for us at the airport, and we made it! It was so good to see them again!! Then we started the trip to the farm. A long day, (started at 4:30 a.m. - 2 a.m.)  But so glad to be in Alberta.

Thus started almost two weeks of fun...

Katie and Erik playing.

Mom had a bunch of fun dress-up clothes which Katie loved playing with her cousins. 

The start of mom's square foot garden...which is doing amazing once again. 

The farm.

I seriously felt like a tourist back in Alberta. As we drove alone, I'm just staring at all the wide open spaces. It's so...open! :)

Me and the kiddos' - and my raccoon eyes :)

Another reason for visiting Alberta was being able to attend my friend Rochelle's wedding. So this is us, before we're dressed up. :)  

 Us three sisters.

My pretty momma. 

Anne-Marie was a candle lighter at the wedding - and got to use her dress from our wedding again.

I don't have as many pictures as I would have liked to post...I lost them somewhere... hope to get them back, but we'll see. 

The beautiful bride! Their (Nathan and Rochelle) wedding was lovely. So God honoring, and meaningful. 

I got to sing with my sisters at the reception. Nice to sing that kind of harmony again.

The Fehr kids singing. It was pretty neat to hear how good they've gotten, and see them all grown up. 

James and Heather with Geoffrey, their youngest. 

The girls made "tree houses" together.

Karina, Katie and Felicity.

James and Heather left for a couple days while all the kids stayed at the farm. I got to spend a bit more time with all of them, which was special.

We went to Writing on Stone for a hot dog roast and walk in the hoodoo's. That was super fun.

Katie's first experience roasting s'mores

Erik and Geoffrey at the picnic table.

We went for a hike up to the closed tourist centre -I still haven't seen inside it. :)

The cutie. (he's held behind - don't worry. :)

Eating watermelon back at the farm.

Making some easy cookies together. 

 Uncle Andrew reading Erik's favourite book (Richard Scarry's busy town book) to him and Ethan.

 The adorable Daniel. Good grief -that boy is photogenic. :)
I got to do their family's pictures while I was there, but those will be on my photo blog...soon! :)
They are quite adorable. :)

The two cousins on the motor car.

The girls had such fun playing dress-up together, and twirling around in their pretty dresses.

Visiting "Great" Grandpa. The children were so good with him, and he kinda like them too. :) It was a bit strange to see Gramps with Grandma, his faithful companion. But not as hard as I had thought.

Bethany came with us to see Grandpa.

Auntie Anne-Marie and Katelyn working in the garden. It was so beautiful there....

Putting the grass and dirt in the wheelbarrow.

She suggested to Anne-Marie, "can you make smaller pieces for me?"

The amazing Auntie.

Playing volleyball with the Jost cousins. Just another reminder of how grown up everyone has gotten...sniff...sniff... and how horrible at volleyball I am. :) It didn't help that they were about to compete in our little church's volleyball tournament the next day and they were all practiced up. :) While I, expecting this new little one, just feel like a volleyball. :)

Katie, working on her play dough that Grandma/Auntie Annie made for her.

Erik, working his "magic".

After nap time, Mom, Anne-Marie and I with the kids, went to watch the volleyball tournament.

There were some good players, I'd have to admit. :)

Charissa, Tim and cousin Joel were a team.

The little ones playing on the trampoline.

Neat to see a friend from Washington that I hadn't seen since before getting married - dear Lucy. :) She came up to help one of my cousins, and his wife, and their four children for a couple weeks.

Tim setting it up for a spike.

My favorite pix of the day. Luke and Tim battling it out. I love Luke's shadow.

"Our" team

While the others continued their tournament, we went back to the farm, and after supper, Erik got his beloved tractor ride. We all rode in the hay wagon at the back and then walked home.

Anne-Marie and the munchkin.

The little man, in all his glory, waved to us "peasants" behind on his own accord.

My dear parents. 40 years married.

Love this shot of my daddy with his grandson. I so hope Erik can learn lots from Grandpa.

Driving together

The kids got to experience their first parade in a town nearby, and I got to finally see a friend I hadn't seen for a while, Naomi. :)

The local RCMP

Naomi's daughter, Morgan riding in the library float. :)

Watching and loving the parade, and all the candy.

Catching up with Naomi, and watching the parade.

Erik, another one of Naomi's children. He and our Erik share the same name. :)

This mascot came by, and Grandma asked Katelyn if she wanted to give it a hug, which she did. So she got to give it a big hug. On the way home from the parade, she said in disappointment, "but mommy, I didn't kiss him."

Andrew and Rebecca were in the parade with all their kiddo's. (they just put Katie on Karina's bike for a few minutes here) They have five people in tandem. :) All dressed "western".

Karina and Grandma.

Naomi and me. :)

Later on in the day, we went to the city, and went bowling with Cam and Lisa. That was a lot of fun, but I totally bombed. I was the lowest of the pack - yes, even Katie beat me. Shall I even say the lowly score...64. :)

Grandma getting cheered on by Alanna.

Grandpa helping the kid's bowl. And bowl well. Grandpa was the secret weapon to their success. :)

Erik loved having a chance to play with those balls.

Everyone bowling.

Grandpa came too, and enjoyed the chaos with us.! I'm so thankful that mom and my family sacrifice so much time to love and spend with Grandpa. Even though it is challenging to take him many places now, it's something they will never regret. They bring so much joy to his life, at a time when he is lonely.

Adorable kid's bowling shoes. :)

Afterwards, we went to Cam and Lisa's home for burgers and homemade ice-cream. Does it get better than that. :) Sigh... :) Such a nice time all together. I just savoured all the moments spent with family I don't see very often.

The next day was Father's Day - nice to be with my dad, but the kid's were without theirs, so we sent this note to James to bless his heart. :)

My little curly headed princess - thanks to Grandma for the hair and dress. :)

Picking strawberries with Auntie Anne-Marie and Auntie Charissa

Erik working on the lawn mower with Grandpa.

A little troll crossing the bridge.

Finally went to see my pond...sweet memories of digging in the dirt. ;)

London Bridge with the Aunties.

Having a tea-party with all of us for lunch.

A little birthday party for the three-year-old-in-two days. :) Loving Grandma made it so special for her. Andrew and Rebecca came over for the evening too, which was fun,

Being spoiled by her loving aunts and uncles.

Modeling her adorable outfit from Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Andrew.

The cousins and their silly smirks.

Amazing Grandpa giving them a ride on beloved "Putt Putt".

In Uncle Andrew's tractor with Daniel. That boy (Daniel) is amazing with tractors. He drives them (yes, under supervision) incredibly, and loves the farm life. :)

Saying goodbye to Becca...

It was exciting to hear the news, that their fourth one is on the way!!! Poor girl is super sick.  

One picture with Andrew before he left. (and my daddy snuck in on purpose. :)

Then at last, it was time to say goodbye to everyone. Mom, Anne-Marie and Charissa took us to the airport, where we boarded our 6 p.m. flight.

Here we go again, goodbyes...oh how I hate thee.

The only thing good about saying goodbye to someone on one end, is saying hello to another on the other end. This time it was James waiting, and I couldn't not wait to see him!!!!

The flight was a challenge, but we made it. Thankfully, I was given a whole row to myself, and my little boy cried a fair deal. I had picked that late flight, so that he would be sleeping for half of it...but nope. He literally fell asleep (after screaming for a while) seconds after we landed. What a rascal.

But we made it, and home to my beloved. So, so, so, so glad to see James again.

Then it was to start a crazy two weeks of packing, and all the Reno's for the new home...

with more pictures to come.

So that was my trip to Alberta. I may put more pictures up some time of the ones I lost...we'll see. :)

It was a memorable time, in which I felt quite spoiled by everyone. We got lots of great times together, good visits, girl time, family time, delicious food (mom made my requests: cinnamon buns, her lasagna, smoothies, etc.) and enjoyed it all immensely. Thanks to my family for making this time work for us. :)