Canada Trip: Part 4 - Leavitt Family Reunion

While we were in Canada this past week, we were able to attend a family reunion on my mom's side of the family.  My sweet Grandma is 96 years old so we know there won't be many more opportunities to see her and to have my kids know her.  We are very grateful that we were able to spend some time with her.  Between her and my gramps, who passed away last year, I think they counted that they have 147 descendents.  Pretty darn iimpressive!

 

The girls loved the jumping castle and spent a fair amount of time playing with cousins in it!

 

My sister Shental and me, with her son Daniel (or Danny, as I like to call him, much to his dismay!!)

 

Barrett looked adorable, as usual, with the step-grandaughter of one of my cousins.  Yep, I have first cousins who are already grandparents.  Kinda crazy!

Isn't my grams just about the cutest little old thing?  She has been such a fabulous example to me throughout my life and I was so glad to be able to see her again.  Even though it was heartbreaking to witness the deterioration of her mind...each time I'd see her again, it was like she was seeing me for the first time and I'd have to re-introduce my kiddos to her.  Bless her heart.

There were a lot of games and activities for the kiddos to play...here's Payton participating in a balloon toss of some sort!

After taking a break from the reunion in order for Barrett to get in a nap, we took the kids to the temple, the Cardston Alberta Temple...where Kevin and I got married.  It was fun to take them there, walk around the grounds (even though it was drizzling and chilly), and show them where mommy and daddy got married.  The girls LOVED seeing a bride (or princess, as they called her) come out in her pretty dress!

 

And back to the reunion for more fun and activities.

Alexa and her Grampa.

Barrett with Gramma Jenny...my mom has issues with opening her eyes in pictures, apparently! :-)

 

One of the girls' favorite places was this little crawl space in my Aunt Marina's & Uncle Royce's house.  They loved it and we could usually find them in it...or the jumping castle.

 

We experienced a major downpour while we were there and the girls loved running in the rain.

And jumping in the rain.

My niece, Emma, with Bubba!

 

After the rainstorm, we got to witness this beautiful double rainbow.  It was a complete arch!

 

Cute cousins!

 

The last night of the reunion, there was a bit of a program in honor of my dear Grams!  Payton and her cousin, Lenaia, sang I Am a Child of God...so tender!

 

 

 

A BIG thank you to all my aunts, uncles and my parents...and everyone involved for putting this all together.  It was great to see everyone again and to have everyone meet my little family.  A special thank you to Royce and Marina for hosting this big event!   You guys rock! :-)

Canada Trip: Part 3 - Waterton

Another thing we did while in Canada that I've been wanting to do since we got married is go to Waterton Lakes National Park.  It's a big part of my growing up and I really wanted to share that with Kevin and the kids.  So before heading to the family reunion, we popped up to Waterton to play for the day and to meet up with my sister-in-law Christy and my niece, Sarah.  I haven't seen Christy since shortly after we got married, so it was a fun day!

 

The kids had fun at the splash park and park.

 

Barrett with my niece, Sarah.  What a cute duo!!  

Christy, Payton and me...man, I've missed that lady!! 

You can't go to Waterton and NOT go to Big Scoop! It's against the law.  Seriously!

Yum!! 

 

And then we took the kids down to the lake.  It was freezing cold, just like I remembered! 

But the view....breathtaking!

The Prince of Whales Hotel...

I always loved driving up to Waterton and catching a glimpse of that hotel! 

My cute girlies!

And my handsome men!

Kevin wanted to get a picture of him and Barrett wearing their University of Arizona shirts so that he could email it to the athletic director for the UofA and hopefully get an appearance in the Weekly Wildcat....and it worked!!

Our little family in Waterton Lakes National Park!

It was a tad bit windy that day, especially up on the hill by the hotel!

Sarah, Christy and me!

And our last stop while in Waterton was Cameron Falls.  What a beautiful place!

 

I'm so glad I was finally able to take my family to one of my favorite places!

Canada Trip: Part 2 - Garth

I was able to check something off my own personal Bucket List while in Canada.

The second night we were there, I went to....wait for it, waaaaaiiiit for it...

a GARTH BROOKS CONCERT!!!!!

 

There was a time in my life, so long ago, when country music was a big, HUGE part of my life.  It was all I listened to.  I dreamt of cowboys, listened to all the sappy songs and LOVED it.

And I. Loved. Garth.  LOVED him. Like loved him so much that all I wanted for Christmas one year was a black silk tour jacket with his signature embroidered across the back.  Didn't get it...still not happy about that, but we'll leave it in the past! :-)  Anyways, then I moved to the big city when I was 15 and country music wasn't as cool there as it had been in the small town I'd lived in.  And even though I still loved it, it slowly faded in importance in my life.  I rarely listen to it now, partly because me Mister isn't a fan, like at all, but mostly because I don't really enjoy the new stuff that's out there now.  I like the good stuff, from 20 years ago...the stuff that will always hold a special place in my heart.

Soooo...we had found out several months back that Garth would be performing during The Calgary Stampede this year and I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass me by.  My sisters and I bought tickets and I have been looking forward to this day ever since!

 

Katrina, Benita and I all westerned up for the big night!! :-)

 

 

On our way there and sooooooooooooooo excited!!!

 

My other sister, Tausha also had tickets with her husband and two of their kids...but we were all sitting in separate parts of the arena.

 

I could see Katrina from where I was sitting.

 

I was behind the stage and to the left of it a bit and it turned out to be such a fabulous seat.

Just waiting for the concert to start!

 

And waiting for Garth to take the stage!!!!

 

Aaaaaahhhhh....a dream fulfilled!

 

I don't think I stopped singing or smiling the entire concert!  And when he sang Unanswered Prayers, I couldn't help from crying.  For reals, I'm not ashamed to admit it.  That song meant something to me during my growing up years and it's even more poingnant now...I'm so eternally grateful for the way my life turned out, for MY own unanswered prayers, that my Heavenly Father knew what was best for me even when I so badly, so desperately thought I wanted something else at various times in my life.

Then Trisha came out on stage (yes, I am on a first name basis with these people!!).

They sang together, which was amazing. 

 

 

And then she sang She's in Love With the Boy, and I couldn't hold back the tears again.  I know, I'm such a sap.  But, again, this song really, truly meant something to me as a vulnerable, fickle teenage girl.  There were definitely a couple times when I was soooooo SURE that I was in love with this boy or that boy.

Anywho, just love this song, love Trisha and loved having her perform it live!

AND, I got her to wave at me.  No. Joke.  While she was on stage, the two women sitting in front of me had left to go get another beverage and so that left a straight shot from me to the stage, with no one blocking my view.  Both Trisha and Garth came to the back part of the stage quite often and so it was quite up close and personal.  Well, during this particular song, when my view was unobstructed, Trisha started walking my direction and I immediately put both hands above my head and waved them back and forth....and lo and behold, she looked RIGHT at me, and waved back the EXACT. SAME. WAY.  Truly!  It was so fun!

 

And then they sang together again.

 

What an amazing experience.  Garth did like 3 encores, even coming back out in the Flames Jersey he had been given years earlier when he'd performed in Calgary before.

It was just such a fabulous concert!

 

Now to work on the rest of my bucket list!!

Canada Trip: Part 1

Our trip to Canada will have to be documented in stages.  We packed so much into the 6 days we were there, and I tried to take as many pictures as I could to document everything along the way...but since there was just so much going on, I'll let you enjoy it in segments!!  It'll be easier on you, me and everyone!!

 

Our trip began nice and early the morning of July 11th.  Thankfully, we had a straight flight from Phoenix to Calgary (the only way to fly with kids), but we still had to drive from Tucson to Phoenix, park our van in an off-site parking facility, take the shuttle to the airport and wait for said flight.  It made for a long day, especially since Bubba decided to not take a nap.  I almost, ALMOST, got him to sleep on the flight there and then made the mistake of scratching an itch on my leg or something and that was it...that tiny little movement ruined any chance of a nap.  Bummer!

 

 

Payton and Alexa both enjoyed a siesta during the 3 hour flight though.  Kevin definitely got the better end of this traveling deal! Next time, HE gets to have Barrett on his lap!! :-)  Oh and this was Payton's FIRST trip to Canada.  The last time we went as a family, I was pregnant with her...so doesn't really count, does it??!! :-)

 

 

And then within minutes of getting settled in our rental van, we turned around and found THIS...the poor lil' tuckered out duder! 

After we made it to my sister, Katrina's, where we'd be staying for the first couple nights, we had a fun little BBQ with some family and old friends.  I wish I had gotten pictures with everyone that came...but trying to keep an eye on 3 kiddos in new territory AND visit with everyone made that task a little hard!  Here I am with my fabulous friend Stacey though.  She bought me a book of 10 free slurpee coupons to use while in Canada...best. gift. ever. THANK YOU!!! 

 

And here I am with my best friend from high school, Erin.  Man, the memories....ohhhhh, the memories.  We hadn't seen each other since my wedding so it was so great to catch up!  We'll have to make sure it's not another 8 years before we see each other again, m-kay?!

 

 

And just for fun, and because when I saw the above picture of Erin and I, I remembered having recently found an old photo album of my single days which contained THIS lovely beauty of a picture below...

 

 

Hahahah...Erin hasn't changed hardly a bit, still as beautiful as ever.  I, on the other hand....BOY HOWDY, am I ever glad the years have been good to me, or at least I hope they have.  This picture above was taken in 1998, doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago??!!  Man, I just can't stop chuckling as I look at this picture!  And I remember thinking we looked dang hot for the dance we were headed to that night!!!  HaHa!

 

Anywho...our younger sisters were friends too and so Megs came to the BBQ too.  So fun to see her and Erin both and their adorable kids.  Sometimes though it just blows my mind that so much time has passed!

After our fun little get-together, Kevin and I made a bee-line to get some much needed Canadian treats...some poutine, YUM! And a heavenly, oh so divine slurpee!!!  They just don't make 'em that good anywhere else.  (Truth be told, I had already had one slurpee on our way from the airport TO Katrina's house, but I wasn't going to pass by any opportunity while in Canada to have a slurpee!!)

The next day, we took some family pictures in the morning (more to come on that in another post), and then we took our kids to the Calgary Stampede.  I'd always loved going and was so excited to have my kiddos experience it as well.  First stop, the little mini-donuts...a MUST every year at the Stampede.  And they did not disappoint!

 

Then we let searched and searched for rides the kids, both of them, were tall enough to go on.  Apparently, we were looking in the wrong area (as we were later informed), but we finally found this that the girls both loved!

Our cute little family

Calgary Stampede

July 12, 2012

 

And then it was back to Katrina's house to enjoy hangin' out with family.  The girls absolutely LOVED spending time with their cousins!!