The Day We Overdid It!- Day 6

Nadine and I woke up early on this day because we had booked ourselves back to back with so many things to do. I was quickly realizing that this trip was a marathon and not a sprint and I had little time for sleepiness.

Our first stop was to Pegasus Stables for horseback riding. I've been on horses and around horses plenty of times, so it was nice to just get out and have a great time. My horse, Rusty, was a bit lazy, but it was fun getting him trotting to catch up to our guide!

Pegasus Stables

Pegasus Stables grounds

We asked the kind rancher where we might find a bathroom. His response: "John's around the corner." And sure enough, we went around the corner, and there was John... waiting patiently, and stinky-ly, to help us out. Yuck!! LOL

Nadine on her horse, Miller, and our guide, Amanda

Nadine and I being the sassypants we are!

After our ride, Nadine and I headed into Edmonton to the West Edmonton Mall. This mall is the 2nd biggest North America, only after The Mall of America. WEM has the biggest amusement park though. So, that was our first stop of the day of course!

The West Edmonton Mall (WEM)

The lower floor of the WEM

The upper floor of the WEM

The scariest ride was the Mindbender Rollercoaster. We rode it the first time and loved it. But, after we went around the other rides once and headed back to Mindbender for a second time, it only took the first turn for me to realize that it wasn't going to be good. During the first turn, my neck and head smacked into the side of the seat so hard, I started to black out and almost went completely out before I shook it off. It was so scary! For the rest of the day, I just didn't feel quite right. That wasn't so fun. Here are some pictures though:

Me going into the amusement park at WEM

Me & Cosmo: The Love Affair That Could Never Be

Galaxyland at WEM

Me in front of Mindbender (this was before almost blacking out)

Mindbender

The most terrifying ride in the whole park! I screamed like a girl the whole time

Nadine in front of Mindbender

Me on the Kiddie Koaster

Nadine on the Kiddie Koaster

The scary ride again, I forgot its name

Nadine on the train ride, heading into the dark and scary tunnel

After the park, we went shopping for a little while. See, the West Edmonton Mall has over 400 stores and we were totally intent on walking the entire upper floor before heading home that night! And I was so well behaved... we went into Guess and I resisted the urge to buy the $125 pale pink leather purse. It was sad, but I was proud of myself for holding myself back. We took lots of pictures though!!

Me standing in front of the Olympic sized ice skating rink in the middle of WEM (yup, I said in the middle, meaning INSIDE!)

I didn't do this, but it's 3 stories of climbing obstacles where you are attached with just a harness and you climb to the top. It looked like fun, but we didn't have time.

The indoor water park at WEM

The other end of the indoor water park

I was so excited to find my favorite store from New York in WEM! Too bad the clothes have changed so much that I didn't buy a single thing. Disappointing!

Anna told me to find a mountie. My momma told me to always find new ways to make the boy mooses say "WAAAaaaaa"! So, I found both! LOL  He was very snuggly. I wanted to take him home with me!

They have themed corridors at WEM. This was Burbon Street.

My momma also told me to find a job when I went up to Canada.... Well..... I gave it some serious thought!

I love telephone boxes

Nadine in Burbon Street

I found a candy store where they had an enormous Toblerone (one of my favorite candy bars). Too bad it was $125! I could have bought my Guess purse for that!

The Europe themed corridor

It was so cute!

Right smack in the middle of the WEM was a replica of the Santa Maria. It was HUGE! So awesome!!

There are far more pictures, but those are all that I can stand to post for right now. I don't want to overload some people.

That night, I was so tired, I literally have NO recollection of the drive back to Breton Acres. None. My brain was already asleep, just with my eyes open.

Halfway Point -Day 5

This day was actually quite peaceful since I didn't actually get out of bed until 10 and Nadine had to work, so I mostly just bummed around the house. Well, and the barn...

Nadine's family adopted a barn cat, or rather, the cat adopted them and then she had 6 kittens in the top of their old barn. The MacMillans hadn't been able to see much of the kittens because they stayed hidden and Mama Cat (her actual name was Minnie) wasn't ready to show them off. However, Mama Cat didn't even see me coming! :) Sure enough, as soon as I was up, dressed and ready to go, I pulled on my Wellies (Wellington Boots that went up to my knees) and I went snooping all afternoon until I was able to find the kittens and lure them into my clutches!

Me holding the baby while Mama Cat made sure I wasn't hurting her

Me, out at the barn in my Wellies

At this point, I couldn't believe that it was only my first full day in Canada and yet my trip was already halfway over. Sad!

Pictures, BC, AB and Arriving in Canada!!! - Day 4

So, Day 4 was 11 1/2 hours of driving. This post will be mostly the inevitable photo dump, but it was just so pretty!

The first several hours of driving were through the mountains in the Southeast portion of British Columbia and it was gorgeous!

As a native of "the backwoods", I am very familiar with signs on the sides of the road alerting drivers to the possibility of seeing animals (mostly deer, elk and even the occasional moose) and to watch for them. In British Columbia... they watch for....

Yep, you guessed it... Big Horned Sheep! WTH??!?!

So, after driving for that long through BC and getting so used to the winding roads and all the pretty scenery, you can imagine my disappointment... and boredom... when I go over the border into Alberta and find this....

Straight and fields everywhere you looked... for 8 HOURS!!!

Oh, I guess until I hit Calgary at rush hour... oops! But, it was all worth it when I finally made it to Nadine's house and found decorations for my welcoming party!

View of Breton Acres (Nadine's Family's Property)

They have ALWAYS referred to me by my proper name: "Princess Heather"

I was dead on my feet. Absolutely exhausted. I had never driven that far by myself before and I had no clue how much it drains you. But, I was so grateful that I had a sweet bedroom that I could disappear into that beautiful oblivion of sleep... for 11 hours! :)

Parades, Pedicures & Priesthood Blessings- Days 2 & 3

The 2nd day of the trip was jam packed with as much fun as Ann, the kiddos and I could cram in. That morning, we went out to Hayden to the Hayden Days Parade. And just to show you how small town and redneck (forgive me, but I speak the truth!), here are some pictures:

So, it starts out with cool floats. But, don't let them fool you...

They had donkeys

And yes, my friends, those are ponies all dressed up looking like princesses

And then came the camels, because we have a plethora of camels in Hayden, Idaho

Of course, they couldn't forget the 20 old and crazy looking cars

So, let's not sugar coat it... it's pretty crazy, but I know the kids loved it. It was short, sweet and had Smokey the Bear! It just doesn't get better than that, right?! :)

Emma and I at the parade

Ann at the parade

That afternoon, Ann creamed me at Canasta and Farkle and as soon as Tyler got home from his hiking/camping trip, Tyler, Ann, me and the kids all went to their ward BBQ and I got to see some of the other friends I'd made while living there. It was so good to see Jaylyn, Mike, Joyce, Barb, etc! And everyone actually recognized me! See, when I lived there, I wore my hair dark brown all the time and only let it go back to the natural blonde after I'd moved back to Idaho Falls. So, last year when I went to visit, no one even knew who I was. This year, everyone came up to me and said it had been "SOO long" since they'd seen me! I laughed pretty hard.

When we got back to the house, Ann and I stole away for some girl time. We went shopping, got a yummy treat (ok, you caught me... we got a couple!) and went for pedicures! Ann had never experienced just how wonderful it is to be pampered like that and now, sorry to say to Tyler, she's hooked! She got a smurf blue color with cute white flowers. Here are mine:

Turquoise with yellow flowers and pink centers

Church the next day was interesting because the ward was pretty 50/50 with people who had known me from before I'd moved and people who were new to the area and had never met me before. So, it was really fun to be walking down the hallways and have one person come up and greet me talking about how it had been "years" since they'd seen me, and the next second have someone else walk up to Ann and I or Tyler and I and ask if I was Ann/Tyler's sister. Our reaction: "Yup, she sure is!" Too funny.

That night, I asked Tyler for a priesthood blessing. I had gotten one from Andrew before I left so I could travel safely and all that, but I've always had this close relationship with Tyler and Ann and where Tyler is like a brother and I don't have a priesthood holder in my home, I knew I needed to take that opportunity. A lot of people will get Father's Blessings once a year, I knew I needed to get a Tyler's Blessing. :) It was incredible. I won't talk about it much here, but I just want to say that I am so grateful for men in my life who uphold and magnify their priesthood responsibilities. I can only hope to endeavor to deserve a man with such greatness.

It was so good to see my wonderful friends even though it was such a short visit. I sure love them. I can't wait for them to come visit me (we are hoping in November!) because we always have such a fun time.

Panic Attacks and "Drive Lag"- Day 1

For the month of July, my new and different wasn't exactly just one thing. I've been to Canada before, but while there, I was able to do some new things. More details to come. But, I'll try to get a little bit of each of my days.

On my way to Canada, I had the joy of driving up to Post Falls to visit my bestie, Ann, and her family.

The drive, I must admit, is not the best. Montana has to be Heavenly Father's idea of a practical joke. It's enormous and boring to drive through (and might I add, not very pretty in some parts). Honestly, if the earth were a body, Montana would be the arm pit.

I had purchased some CD's (Adele! Whoo hoo!) and had many old ones that were favorites to sing along with so as to keep me awake. I also had one of my besties here in town who gave me a cute "Canadian Travel Kit" to keep me company.

However, even with the excitement of getting to see Ann, Tyler and the kids, I was ready to be done driving within about an hour and a half. Ick.  Not to mention the fact that because of a previous wreck, I was scared to death that I might somehow roll my truck. Every time I had to make a turn through the mountains, I began to have that sensation of tipping over and the inevitable panic attack would ensue. Fabulous.

But, make it I did. And I had no clue how tired I was. I was dead on my feet that night. But, I was so happy to get to see Ann and the kids. Tyler was off with the Young Men in their ward on a campout, so I didn't get to see him that night.

What fun I have when I get to see these people. Ann and I can get each other giggling so hard we can't stop. She and I love to play card, dice and board games. Our favorites are Canasta Caliente and Farkle.







And actually, one of the best things about her is that when she begins to take the lead in points, I'm not exaggerating in the least, my eye starts to twitch. I truly believe that is Ann's favorite personality trait about me. It's really too bad that it's a trait that shows just how much I need a Xanex while playing games with her! She's pretty cutthroat, let me tell you!

Ann and I from last year. Sorry, I didn't get a good one of the two of us this trip.

Then, of course, there are the kids. Brenden, Ryan, Emma, and Naters. I'll tell you something... these kids are crazy, but I love them to bits. And it didn't take long for Miss Emma to warm up to me and wrap me snuggly around her perfect little pinky!







Naters





Ryan, Emma and Brenden

The first day was like a marathon, not a sprint and I just knew that I had to keep going or I would fall right over in a dead sleep. I've had jet lag before and this felt pretty similar. Would we call that "drive lag"? Is that even a term? I don't know, but I'm sure someone ought to call Merriam and Webster.

Coming Soon....

I'm so excited I can barely stand it. It's July's New & Different... Details coming soon!