General Women's Meeting

Last night I took my girls to the General Women's Meeting. I don't remember why we didn't go last time, but this was the first time I've taken my girls since it changed to include girls as young as 8 years old. 

I was in the fence about going, I knew it would show on TV, and there's a lot to be said for staying home, watching it with popcorn, wearing pajamas.  But, I knew I would pay more attention, and it would be more memorable for all of us if we watched it at the church. So I couldn't decide what to do. 

So as I asked around, Kristie was on the fence, and Kim was on the fence,  and I stayed undecided.  Then as I sat next to Kim at soccer yesterday morning she said, "I'm going to go. It'll be better for me and my girls."  Just what I needed to hear. Yes, it would be better for me and my girls to go to the church too. 

So off we went last night to watch the General Women's meeting.  It was so great!  The theme was the temple and the speakers were all so good. President Uchtdorf spoke at the end and his talk was so great - about Heavenly Father loves us no matter how popular we are or what dress size we wear.  It was awesome. 

After the meeting we started inviting everyone knew to go out to get a treat together.  We ended up with 5 moms (Kim, Kristie, Kalie, Kristen, and me (the only non-k name, sometimes I tell them to call me Karen - haha) and 7 cute daughters at a yogurt place.  The moms chatted and laughed while the girls ran around on their sugar high.  It was such a great night of inspiration and friendship.  And I almost stayed home and missed it! 

 

 

 

Aubrie, Bailey, Perry, Andie, Kaisa, and Emily. 1 girl was too old to be associated with this crew and wouldn't get in the picture!

Oh Canada! Part 3

  The inevitable happened - we had to come home.  We left Winnipeg Saturday night and got a few hours down the road to Brandon, Canada.  The next morning we headed out for a full day of driving.  I think we drove almost the entire width of Canada - the whole thing, or at least really close to it. 

   I think the only highlight of that day was stopping in Regina to see my parents' temple.  Yes, a mere 6 hours from Winnipeg!  This was the littlest temple I think I've ever seen.  It was just in a neighborhood too. 

 

 



 

Alberta, Canada - our 3rd province!

Cardston Temple - awesome!

Love that giant square mountain that overlooks Cardston.

 

 

 

We drove as far as Cardston that day.  Our hotel had this gem:  a microwave/toaster.  Bailey asked me if I'd packed any frozen waffles.  After being on the road for 11 days.  Frozen waffles.

 

   We did get one gem of a story from our stay in Cardston.  It was Tyler's birthday that day.  So when we were leaving to get breakfast - we told him he got to pick where we had breakfast.  After asking the hotel clerk what options there were in the bustling metropolis of Cardston, he told us there was a Subway and a bakery.  Not super impressed with his options, Tyler picked the bakery, and we were off for a bakery birthday fit for a new teenager. 
   When we got there we were a little unimpressed - it was small, run down, and pretty yuck - just to give you the full picture.  The first few things we ordered they told that they didn't have, or wouldn't be done for a few hours, so we were really striking out.  Finally, we all found something to order and we sat down to wait.  Breakfast ended up costing $60 - not exactly what we'd planned on for breakfast.  One breakfast would come out of the kitchen at a time.  Slowly.  Very slowly.  I'm 100% positive that there one lady in the kitchen - because she would come out, deliver the one breakfast, and head back to make another.  For 6 breakfasts.  Not the way we really wanted to start our huge day on the road.  But finally everyone got their breakfast and we ate.  Derek started to talking to the lady, and told her that it was Tyler's birthday, and it would be really great if she had a cinnamon roll we could surprise him with.  She told us that she had one, and then went back to the kitchen.  So while we were done eating, Derek kept stalling us so this cinnamon roll could make it's appearance.  Then we see the lady come out, and ask one of the customers if she can borrow his lighter - I thought for sure her pilot light on her stove had gone out and now she was asking to borrow a lighter.  Oh no, not the case at all.
   Out she comes with the cinnamon roll - topped with 13 lit sparklers!  She yells to everyone in the restaurant "It's Tyler's birthday - let's sing!" and a restaurant full of strangers sang Happy Birthday to Tyler.  It more than made up for the cost and the wait of that breakfast.  As we drove out of town I asked Logan how his pancakes were.  He yelled, "De-lish!".  The bakery just kept getting better.
   Our next stop - the USA border.  The kids were excited to go back through border security - and  little disappointed that we were barely asked any questions at all.  

  Next stop, Glacier National Park.  We had planned on coming home through Glacier for months.  We really wanted to drive the Going to the Sun road - a 50 mile road that bisects the whole park.  I knew snow removal was a real problem, so for 2 months I had been checking the snow plowing progress on their website.  There were certainly no guarantees that the road would be open by late June.  So we watched and waited as more and more of the road opened.  When we got there we knew that road wasn't all the way opened yet.  So we drove 17 miles from one entrance, turned around, drove around the entire perimeter of the park, and went in the other entrance, and drove in 15 miles.  It stunk that we couldn't do the whole road, but it was still awesome to see some of the park. 

2nd National Park!

 

 

  We did find an awesome hike to Avalanche Lake.  It ended up being about 5 miles round trip - but the kids all did awesome  - maybe they were just so glad to be out of the car!

  That night we continued the birthday celebration by heading to Kalispel and eating at Famous Dave's.  Tyler LOVED Famous Dave's. 

By the end of this trip, our kids knew their way around a luggage cart!

 



Checking out of our hotel in Kalispel - our last one!

6 different hotels, 11 total hotel nights

Idaho - our 6th state!

 

This is our "after" shot - just a few minutes from home.

 

All in all, it was the most amazing trip.  I loved visiting Winnipeg, and seeing where my parents live, work, shop, and meeting people they love so much.  It was so fun to take on a huge road trip with the kids, who rocked it.  They were SO good, the whole trip.  It was definitely a trip to remember.

Oh Canada! Part 2

At last!!  We made it to my Mom and Dad's apartment in Winnipeg!   3 days, 24 hours, close to a billion miles, I think, but we made it!

 

This is right when we parked the car in front of the their apartment.



Of course, their apartment building was easy to find because my mom was pacing out front - probably for a few hours.  How fun to see her!!  That's an understatement.  She had dinner all ready for us - with all of our Grandma favorites.  She had Canadian shirts for all the kids and chocolate Canadian coins.

In their apartment - my mom's picked up some Canadian pride

 

 

We chatted and chatted, and got a tour of her apartment building.  Not ever being around apartments - this kind of blew my kids' minds.  You get to ride in an elevator every day!  You have a trash chute!  You have underground parking!  Minds blown.  By the end of the week they had covered every square inch of that building, and walked around like they owned the place.  They mildly stood out, since the minimum age to live there is 55, but that didn't stop them. 

Logan taking my mom's "bag lady" cart around for a spin

in the parking garage.  How else would you get your groceries up

to your apartment?  Things I have never though of. 

 

Our first night they took us to Assiniboine Park - which is a huge city park, bigger than Central Park.  



Reunited!  Totally worth the drive.

After the park we headed to my parent's mission office.  We got to see everyone's desks, the big transfer board, the President's office, where they do all their skyping, and lots of miscellaneous coats, shoes, suits, etc.  

        







The kids loved being in the office - and playing office!  Bailey would call Emily,
while Tyler was faxing something.
I don't know why it looks like there is something in my mom's hair - there really wasn't! 
It's a camera problem, not a hair problem.  Sorry mom. 

Now this is where the story gets weird - Derek was supposed to be on a business trip, right when we had planned to be in Winnipeg.  Of all places his meeting could be, it was in Toronto.  So, bright and early the first morning we were in Winnipeg, he flew to Toronto.  This left me and the kids in Winnipeg with my parents for a whole week!  We missed Derek, but we got to spend a way longer time in Winnipeg than we'd planned, since now he wasn't taking this time off.



   Monday morning our first stop was the Dollar Store - we needed bug spray.  I will say this, Winnipeg has it's share of mosquitos.  It's share, and then some of everyone else's share too.  There's a mosquito problem in that city.  So off we go to the Dollar Store - just to get some bug spray.  But, here's the thing - my kids forgot they had ever seen a Dollar Store in their lives and they kind of freaked out - they started grabbing stuff like crazy!  We ended up spending $40 that trip, and didn't get any bug spray. 

 

We left looking like the Dollar Store had thrown up on us. 

 

   After our wildly successful Dollar Store trip we headed to The Forks - the "it" place to be in Winnipeg.  It's called The Forks because it's where 2 rivers - The Red and The Assiniboine rivers come together.  Our first stop was an observation point so we had a great view of the city. 

 

 

 

 

We at lunch at the awesome Forks Marketplace.

 

Next we got ready to board a boat tour that took us on both of the main rivers in Winnipeg.

 

 Waiting to  board

 This picture makes me laugh because it sums up both my boys to a T -
if Logan doesn't want to smile, or anything else for that matter,
he's not going to.  And Tyler's always there trying to be so helpful.

 On the boat!

  Tuesday was rainy and cold, so we decided it was the perfect day to go to the Children's Museum.  My kids LOVED this place - we stayed for most of the day - and they could have stayed longer.

 

 

 

 



 



Tuesday night I took all of my family's laundry over to my mom's apartment.  I thought when we were there for lunch or dinner, I'd throw in a load.  Wednesday morning I came back to her apartment to find this:

 

 

A full week's worth of my family's laundry - DONE.  In one night.

She must have been up all night switching and folding laundry.

 



 Wednesday we headed to a Mennonite Community Visitor's Place - think Nauvoo for Mennonites.  It was all preserved from years and years ago.  We learned lots about Mennonites - that's because we pretty much started at knowing nothing about Mennonites.



 

 

 

  On the way back to Winnipeg we found a little deliciousness called Tim Horton's.  These are literally on every corner.  My hotel was 3 miles from my mom's apartment, and there were 3 Tim Horton's between the 2 of us.  They're famous for their donuts - and we agree, famous they should be.  We consumed many a donut that week!

 

 



Thank you Tim Horton's!

 Thursday morning we went to Birds Hill Lake.  It was this great man made lake.  It started out chilly, but by the afternoon it was lots warmer and the kids had a great time playing in the sand and water.  Next, we explored the Winnipeg Forest.  This thing is amazing - it's right in the middle of this giant city, but you feel like you're in the middle of the forest. It's 700 acres big.  There's wildlife, trails, and quiet. 

  

 

  Friday we headed back to Assiniboine Park and went to the Nature's Children's Park. This was the best park.  Ever.  It had the most fun playground. 

 



 

After the park we headed to the train that takes you all through Assiniboine Park.

 

Almost every afternoon we headed back to the hotel and logged some major pool hours.

 

Friday night Derek flew back to Winnipeg.  We decided to celebrate Tyler's birthday a few days early to celebrate with my mom and dad.  Tyler picked an Italian restaurant at The Forks for his birthday dinner.  

Of course Grandma was on top of making sure Tyler had a birthday cake. 
Happy early birthday teenager!

Saturday we headed to the Lake of the Woods.  Wow is all I can say. 

 

Ontario - 2nd Province

 

This lake is 1700 square miles big and has over 14,000 islands.  14,000.  That kind of big is mind blowing.  We went on a boat ride, the MS Kenora, and toured a tiny piece of this amazing lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On board the MS Kenora

  After we got back to Winnipeg Saturday afternoon, we had to say goodbye.  We were going to get a few hours down the road Saturday night.  Was it hard to say goodbye!!  We had such a great week, got spoiled like crazy, and got to spend days and days with my parents. 

Thanks for the best week ever mom and dad!

 

We loaded up the family van, 4 kids, and a bunch of treats - and headed back on the road.

 

These kids - ready for another 24 hour drive home!