Canada Part 1

So it's been over a month since I posted. Life has been busy. My trip to Canada was.......FABULOUS! I LOVED every minute of it. I loved being back in Lantzville - the village by the sea - my hometown....with all of its familiarity. I LOVED being with my family and sharing so many places of my childhood with Andrew and Bethany. I loved being stress free and having Andrew be stressfree for a change and just see him enjoy himself and have fun. I loved seeing my mom and sister so many others spoil Bethany with love and attention and even some gifts. There are so many wonderful things about my trip that it may take me awhile to write all of them. Here are some things that happened though:

- I went for a walk at Oma's beach and looked at the sand and water and treasures along the seashore.
- I went to Piper's Lagoon and hung out on the beach there with my cousin Tara and her daughter Katie and  Bethany, my mom and Eman.
- My mom and I took Bethany to Huddlestone Park and had a picnic there with my friend Ann and her boyfriend Sean and Ann's girls Caitlyn and Victoria.
- We went to Vancouver and: spent time with Elena and Mike.....saw the Ramage family (who were in our ward here in NZ and then went back to Canada...they happened to be on a family trip to Vancouver and we ran into them at the Canada Day celebrations downtown - they are from Edmonton), ate yummy gelato at Casa Gelato and other place
- We were able to spend some quality time with my Uncle Simon at two different times. He passed away a couple of weeks ago from Leukemia. This was very special to me. He and Bethany had a beautiful connection with one another and they enjoyed each other's company,
- We hung out with Tanya and Laura and B and I spent the night at Laura's place and then went up to Squeamish to visit HEATHER! Yes, HEATHER! Bethany somehow dialled 911 while we were at Heather's and Heather had to convince them that "yes she was alright and that the phone call was an accident". We drove around trying to find a store where Heather wanted to purchase some furniture. We went to the beautiful university where she works, we went to Wendy's because Heather loves Wendy's.....it was good times!
- My mom, B, Andy and I went to Victoria to the museum and Harbour.....
- My Dad came out to meet Bethany - his first grandchild - and spend time with us. He spent Eman's birthday with us at my mom's house and it was a wonderful experience...everyone was friendly and kind to each other and got along well. A couple of weeks later me, Elena, Eman and Bethany drove up to see my Dad at my cousin's place in Royston and spend more time with him. This was also really, really great.
- I had a Booster Juice
-I bought some new jeans and clothes for Bethany

Here are some pics from our trip.More to come later.


Bethany in the swing at the playground at Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal. This was the day after we arrived in Canada. We were on our way to the island. For some reason she always leans forward when she sits in these baby swings...I don't know how that can be comfortable.

                    Playing Oma's piano.This talent seems to run in the family!

                                                Family pic at Cathedral Grove.

                                                                   Being tickled by Daddy.

 This one is funny because she opened my mom's cupboard and took out this box of canning jars. She was in the family room while we were in the kitchen and everyone knows that when kids are quiet they are into something. We went to check on her and found her like this - and putting the rings (from the jar lids) on both of her arms and shaking them to make noise.  It was quite comical! I think we need to buy her some bangles.

There were more things that I did but this will have to suffice for now. I will write more next time. Just so you know, Bethany is 18 months old in a few days. She has started going to nursery and really likes it, though she is probably quite tired during the two hours because we have church in the afternoon 1-4...the WORST time for kids.