O Canada!

So i know i'm posting this much after the time we actually went, but life got a little busy once we got home.

The trip to Canada was what I'd like to call "Perfect!" The drive was beautiful. And thanks to the modern conveniences like portable dvd players and video games and leap pads and leapsters all with ear phones the drive didn't seem like it was that long. The boys had new books and games to preoccupy the time too so they didn't just veg in the back seat. In fact we did a few things to keep things exciting. One of the things that we did when i was a kid on long road trips that work for this trip was putting our initials on the back tire by the gas cap. So that when we stopped for gas the person's initial it was on got to pick the treat or movie or lunch (depending on the type of stop we were making). That made the boys quite excited each time. Also when we did stop we made everyone get out of the car and walk around for a few minutes so that we all got to stretch out each time. Ethan actually pulled his tooth on the way up. And just so you all know that when you put your tooth under your pillow in Canada you get loonies (the Canadian coin for $1). Ethan liked that alot.

At the border there was a little line, but it went smoothly. We had asked a few friends what to expect at the border and all of them said somewhat the same thing that you don't joke around with the people at the border--they're all business at the border. Anyway, keeping that in mind when we got to the man in the box, he asked us some general questions and asked if we were taking anything into Canada that we were going to leave, we had got some bread for mom and dad so we said yeah, we do have some bread. The guy said OK, and then asked if we had any beer or alcohol, and about as quick as we could say no, Sam sitting in the back seat said, "ewe, gross, beer and alcohol is bad for you!" This made the man smile and and chuckle. He then replied, yep it is.

Anyway, our first impression of Canada was that it was still small country towns like Blackfoot or payson or even smaller scattered along the way. One town that we came by was called Raymond. I told Blake we should have stopped to take his picture there, since his first name is Raymond. In fact we actually passes a big silo that said fertilizer. I just laughed and laughed and laughed. Said the town was more like Blake than i thought--both are full of it!

We had arranged to meet mom and dad at the Ramada just off the freeway in Lethbridge. When they say right off of, there was no actual off ramp. The freeway became like state street, where there were lights and you just pulled off. We pulled into the parking lot and were heading into the hotel when we saw mom and dad. It was so nice to see them. We got settled in the room and then took the boys to the pool. The next morning we went to a park around the corner from the hotel and we walked around there. It was really a nice day. There was a play ground and a pond/lake with a path to walk around. After playing there for a little bit we headed off to Calgary, I got to ride with dad for the first bit then we stopped for lunch and then we switched and i road with mom. It was nice to have that one on one time to visit with the two of them. When we stopped for lunch we got to meet a few of the missionaries in that area and the AP's. We actually got to see the ap's lots over the few days we were there. This maybe a naive thing for me to say, but i guess i didn't realize how much the presidents really do have the ap's doing and involved with. I can see why they are so close with mom and dad, and why mom and dad count on them so much.

Once we got into Calgary it did seem more like a busy rural area than a small town country. The mission home is huge, even though it doesn't look like it would be as big as it is. We got all settled and then started making a list of groceries. And then off to the store. Just a reminder to my siblings when you go visit, mom likes going to 3 or 4 stores to get groceries, so don't take the kids if you can help it. But at the same time it was fun to see all things they have in the stores. (OK so I'm easily entertained, but it was fun.) The labels are different on the things they have there. Cheerios and Lucky charms are identifiable but they are boxed different. Some are easy to tell others are not, so you're guessing. Anyway, many people had told us the chocolate was good up there so we had to try a few things. We got about 8 different candy bars and the groceries and headed home. Over the next few days Blake and i ate more chocolate and candy bars than we have in a years time. But that's just us cause we don't eat candy like we used to. Either way, i do have to agree that they do have good chocolate there. So good in fact that on our way out we bought a bunch of chocolate to bring home. Something else you have to try is the saskatoon berry jam. Blake loves it. It's not like anything we have here in the states. And anyone that wants to bring us a jar of it is welcome.

Sunday we went to church in mom and dad's ward there in calgary since it was fast sunday. Mom was saying that they really don't get to the ward there very often. It was great being there in the ward around people that obviously love and praise mom and dad. Everyone was very kind and were very warm. Ethan's birthday was that week so the bishop gave him a kit kat and the primary sang to him. In our home ward in Orem, the primary is pretty small, but the primary up there is just a little smaller so they absolutely loved the boys. All the teachers came and said what smart boys they were that they knew the answers and were so good. Ryan even went to primary ok. Dad seemed to be around more on this particular sunday than i remember him ever being home on sundays growing up. I asked him if he normally had meetings on sunday and he said that they generally go to other wards sometimes they are speaking in or just visiting other areas of the mission so they are busy, but not necessarily meetings. Years ago it was meetings all day on sunday and once in a while during the week. Now it's just the opposite, meetings once in a while on sunday, but lots of meetings the rest of the week. We also got to meet a bunch of the missionaries in the area too. The ap's came to the house for dinner and the boys really enjoyed talking with them.

Monday we went to heritage park. It is a park in Calgary built around the theme of the early 1900's. We saw lots of farm animals (horses, cows, sheep, chicken, and the boy's favorite - the pig!!!) We rode on a wagon, pulled by a team of horses, a train, and some amusement park rides. Ethan said to me after we were heading back to the car that he liked the "olden time" rides just as much as the today rides. It was a fun afternoon. And it wore all of us right out.

After all the fun at the park we headed for home. The weather started to cloud up and we got to see some of the canadian rain. We had dinner and fhe and then mom and dad headed off to the hospital to go visit a sister that is in one of the far reaching stakes in their mission. We got the boys to bed and were just about to head to bed ourselves when mom and dad walked in the door. After talking with them i truly appreciate the way medicine is practiced in the states. And i know canada's not even the worst as far as socialized medicine. This sister they were visiting had waited over 9 hours to be admitted to the ER. And that was already after going for a 4 or 5 hour ambulance ride. After visiting about those things we sat and chatted for quite some time. At one point we got talking about going to the dentist office and how just stepping into reeds office the saliva glads kick it into high gear. We laughed and laughed and at that point knew we needed to call it a night.

Tuesday we decided that we'd just lay low for the day since it was looking ominous and dad had some emails that he needed to answer before the day was over so we played games and the boys went to the park with blake and mom and i went to the store again so that we could stock up on some chocolate and get some jam for home. Even though there was a big cloud cover it was pretty hot and humid by afternoon the clouds let the rain fall. And it rained hard. The rain gutters in the back of the house were just pouring over they were so full. It looked like there was a waterfall coming off the house. We watch the lightening for a bit and just enjoyed the day. After dinner we set up the projector down in the basement where they do zone leader councils and we watched "night at the museum" on the big screen. It was very nice.

Wednesday morning we got everything packed and loaded up the cars so that we could head back to Lethbridge where dad had a meeting that night that was going to last a bit. Again on our way back to Lethbridge we switched things around and Dad, Ethan, Sam, and I went in mom and dad's car. So I got to have some more one on one time with dad. When we got to Lethbridge we went to lunch for ethan's birthday and did a mini celebration then. After lunch we went to the church that was right around the corner to see some of the missionaries from that area. It was p-day (and dad didn't get any calls on that day). So all the missionaries were there at the chruch playing basketball or drawing up on the stage. Mom had heard that one of the Elders was going to be showing the sisters how to rope so she told him to be sure to bring his rope so that he could show sam (since he wants to be a cowboy when he grows up). It was so fun to watch the boys love the attention that the missionaries gave them. One sister was able to warm right up to Ryan like i've never seen before and he just hung out with her the whole time. While sam was getting roping lessons, there were a couple missionaries tinkering out some hymns on the piano that was up on the stage. Ethan hopped right up there and just plowed them over with his 3 hymns and patriotic music. The elders and the sisters were just amazed and priased him up and down and he just beamed. It was nice. We then headed back to the hotel to go swimming again. Dad was at his meeting till late but we were able to visit for a little while when he got back. It was sad to say good bye the next morning after breakfast. But it was nice to have had that time with them. Dad kept saying "so next year when you come" or "we can do it next time." I told him i'd be there and that all he needed to do was convince blake. I am hoping that we can work it out to go again next year. It was greatly enjoyed and like i said the word "perfect" is how i'd decribe our trip.