Thursday, July 10, 2008

Oh Canada II

... After a rough night (since Ian's still teething), on Wendsday morning we had a fast breakfast then we went to two museums in Cardston where they showed us how a trial was in those days. Alan (Glenn's bro) and Jimmy (his son) were playing the scene as well as other members of the family. Glenn, Nicky (who was scared and hiding behind my legs), Ian and me got to go to Jail just for fun:) We also learned some more about how the Church was estabished in Canada. It was neat to know that Glenn's ancestors had to move from Utah to Cardston to help to establish the Church there. They have always been pioneers. I feel very proud to be part of them. Then we went to a rest home where Grandma Woolf is.We all sang FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER. She suffers from dementia but she had a good time. We were very blessed when we saw her happy and trying to match up the faces with their right names. It was a very touchy moment for all of us. After that we went to do some ice blocking. Yeah, I know, it sounds like huh?...but this is the thing, some of the family went to buy some ice blocks and brought some towels. We went to a very high hill with grass, we put our bottoms on the towel the towel on top of the ice and the ice in the grass....get the idea? Then we slid down and it was VERY CRAZY AND NEAT. Ian and Nicky slid with me some of the times. Glenn and I had some competitions and of course I WON! The only bad thing was that Glenn and I were sliding with white shorts and since we were sliding in grass with the ice our clothes at the end of the afternoon were a mess. I'm still strugulling with the stains, but since I had lots of fun I don't regret it a bit. After the ice blocking we went to the church to have a nice dinner. We had roast beef, funeral potatoes, lots of salads, lots of diferent desserts, rolls, and more. It was as always a banquete, too bad for me since like I told Glenn what we eat in Canada...stays in my hips. Anyway after that I played with Glenn some basketball and then everything was made ready to have our family talent show. The treat was candy for the participants. We had everything: singers, piano players, flute players, dancers, acrobats (little kids doing somer salts) etc.etc. Ian practiced his little weird eye wink, but he was too tired to do it for all of them. However he did it the last few days and everybody loved it. Nicky practiced a song for her grandma but she ended up singing head, shoulders, knees, and toes with her cousin Katherin and her brother Ian. After the talent show the teenagers were going to play a game named commandos. Since Cardston is a very small town the idea of this game is a bunch of people have to go from a point of the town to another place without being caught by 2 or 3 cars which are supposed to be hunting them. Glenn and I weren't planning on going but they called us to tell us that they needed more people for the game. So our kids were asleep already and my mother in-law offered to take care of the kids while we were on the game. Glenn and I had to dress with dark clothing to not get noticed and of course tennis shoes. Then we divided two groups: one of them were kids from 12 to 16 year old and the other group were the old people (yup I'm the old people). Of course we had 2 young ones, Max and Madison. Anyway it was very exciting while we were hiding and running. Of course not too exciting when in one of my attempts to survive I threw myslef to the grass without noticing a big poop next to me. I was very scared that I was on top of it. Anyway, after more running, we were caught! We laid down on the grass in the dark. Sarah (one of Glenn's cousins who was driving) started yelling names which didn'g belong to any of us. I just remember hearing Spencer (Glenn's cousin), "RUN RUN RUN!" So I ran and hid. I didn't noticed that I was alone, and even though the town is very small I had no clue where to go. I got scared and I was about to yell "PLEASE CATCH ME HERE I AM," but then I saw Max's hair and I ran to ask him where were the others. After more running we were caught. Glenn in his trying to save the team jumped a big gate and was caught first as he ran down the street

Of our team the only survivors were Becky (Spencer's wife) and Heather (Glenn's cousin) and of course the teenagers team was in the goal 15 mintues after the fame started (ours of course took like 45 minutes or more haha, age is after us I guess). Anyway it was very fun to do that. Of course Glenn and I are totally out of shape so next day all our bodies were in pain (mine actually still).
Next day we woke up early again and went to Waterton, a National Park 30 minutes away from Cardston. On the way to Waterton we saw this fields in mustard colors. Glenn told me that when he was a child his sibilings used to tease him a lot. They used to call him "mustard." He never knew why until one of his brothers told him that he was named like that because he was picked up from this fields.Anyway we finally got to get to Waterton...now you need to realize that I'm not a nature lover, but I fell in love with the place. We rode bikes with the kids to go and see the little falls that the place has.The kids also got to see a deer very very close to them. The dear didn't get scared of any of us!Glenn showed me how to throw rocks in the lake in a right way to make them skip.The kids had a blast. The deers were walking like nothing close to people. It was neat seeing in the playground the kids playing and very close to them the deers playing as well. Nicky and Ian of course loved it. After we had another buffete lunch with all the family the guys started a water fight. Glenn of course got wet.It was funny seeing the little kids getting involed in that war. At first they cried since the water was very cold, but then they enjoyed the revenge making everybody else wet. Nicky and Ian were playing with their other cousin trying to catch golfers which by the way are everywhere Ian of course was very tired. So after that Glenn took us to eat some ice cream. I got my favorite,pecan. Nicky got gum flavor Ian Strawberry and Glenn.... got Canadian Moose. Then we went to see the hotel who was specially made for Queen Elizabeth and her royal familyIt has a perfect view of the mountains. After that we went to help around with the preparations for dinner at the chapel. Everything was great: chicken with rice, lots of salads and a variety of desserts. Again we had a buffet. Then Glenn and I wanted to play some basketball but we noticed our bodies very sore from the night before. The funny thing is that we did it again that night. We played commando, but this time we were seekers. We caught 3 kids, but that was all.
Next day was an official WALKER FAMILY REUNION. It was just Glenn's sibilings (and their families) invited to spend time together. In the morning we went to take some pictures with Grandma and Grandpa Woolf after that we all went to the temple. It was neat having this experience with them. Then we had lunch at Grandpa Woolf's house. Then we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Walker at the cemeteryWhere also some of Glenn ancestors are. We also visited the place were Glenn's dad was raised, and where he used to play as a child. Nicky opened her eyes wide, and her mouthe, too, when I told her that that was the house were grandpa used to be punished when he wasn't good. Anyway after that, three of Glenn's sibilings with their families and us went to bowl..unfortunetly the place was closed so we couldn't. The kids were so hungry so before dinner they asked me for some of his favorite treats: PICKLES! We had dinner and the cousins had their last chance to play. The moment to say good bye to 2 of Glenn's siblings was hard on Nicky, but she got over it after she saw again her cousin Katherine. The next day Sherri and her boys, as well as Glenn and I, went horse riding (Nicky went to play with her best friend cousin Katherine, while Ian spent time with Grandma and autie Laura). Glenn had promised to take me horse back riding since we were dating...well after lots of patience and 6 years of being together we finally did it He wasn't very excited, but he ended up loving it. We are planning to have it as a hobbie. Max, one of Sherri's boys didn't want to go, but he liked it too. My horse was the best. His name was Freckles and he was just perfect. I have riden a horse before but the last time that I did it it was in 1996. Well I was a little nervous, but then Freckles was the best. He was obedient and when I told him that I wanted to run he ran. When I told him to stop he would do it. It was perfect. On the other hand Glenn's horse which name by the way was Sherry was a glutton; she just wanted to eat all the time. It was also funny the way that they conected to go potty at the same time. haha. After that we came back home and had again an amazing lunch at Grandpa's house. To keep the fun going my dear mother in-law took care of our kids for the rest of the day since Glenn and I were invited by Glenn's cousin Spencer to his father in-law cabin. It was gorgeous. We did the famous 4 wheelers. It was very neat to do this with Spencer and his wife. Glenn and I had lots of fun My learned about that you're never supposed to open your mouth while you are doing it, especially if there are ponds with a crappy smell. We all got our teeth dirty, and also our faces. We were so glad that Becky had all the equipment to not mess up our clothing. We as you have supposed were so tired after that that we went back to Grandpa's house, took a shower, and headed to bed. The next morning was Sunday so we went to church and Ian was the saddest kid on earth. I felt so bad for him. Then after that we went back to Granpa's house and had some snacks. We all took a nap and then we went to Auntie Peggy's house. We had left over family reunion food (with the ones who didn't have to return home). The kids again had a blast. Bethany, one of my new nieces had her b-day the same day. Nicky was upsetd to see her "friend cousin" Max being beting by her cousin Madison. Here is Nicky playing with her cousin Katherine. Ian enjoying the ice cream mmmmIt was late so we went back to grandpa's and laid down our kids. Before that we decided to visit more with Grandpa Woolf. Nicky was being very silly so I decided to take some pictures of her. She asked me to let her take some pictures of us, so I told her if she would sing Grandma song's I'd let her do it, and she did. She sang for grandma twice so after this picture that I took of her She was allowed to take pictures of all of us on grandpa's deck Grandma Sharon and Great grandpa Woolf and of course Granpa Jim was making her laugh with silly faces. He is just the best.After that we made her sleep. Since we were planning to go next day to banf. We went back to Aunt Peggy's and for the first time in my life I had my first s'mores.That cookie with the Canadian chocolate and the marshmallow was just the perfect end of our day. We had so much fun with everybody that night and before we went to sleep Glenn and I decided to save our last day to Canada to spend it with the family. So we cancelled our trip to Banf...and I don't regret it at all. Next day we went in the morning to play mini-golf. Again Nicky and Ian stayed with their Grandparents, apparently they are more cool than us..well they and their cousins. We didn't complain though. Although I thought they would have enjoyed the mini-golf. After that we were planning to do some go-carting, but they weren't open until 3:00 PM. Then we thought about going horse back riding again, but before that we had a nice pic-nick in a nice park in lethbridge (45 minutes from Cardston). Then we decided to go bowling, but to our surpise the place was closed AGAIN. So instead we went to Walmart to buy some souveniers, and a swimming suite for me since I didn't have one and we were planning to go swiming after riding horses. We came back to Cardston and Glenn was told that the owner of the place that rents horses had to go to his son's basketball game, so we couldn't do that. Then it's started raining so we cancelled our visit to the pool. Instead of all that we went to buy some more souveniers for our home. Then we all ate at 6:00 p.m. and we had a family home evening with Sherri and her kids, my in-laws and us. It was neat after that we played "catch the ball." The kids were tired so we laid them down and then Glenn and I went to Aunt Peggy's house. We were invited to spend our last night together. So we played UNO and Catch Phrase. I didn't want to play this last one because it's harder to think in English with an alarm pressuring you, but everybody as always was very patient and supportive with me. They let me skip words and sentence until I felt comfortable with the one that I wanted to describe. It was very surprising for me to see even Calvin and Jake (14 and 15 yrs old) cheering me up and being that patient with their old new auntie Claudia haha. We ended up at home that night very late. So we said good bye to everybody and went back home to pack and have everything ready for the next morning.
We left at 7:05 . Before we left I needed to go to the bathroom. Well here is another history. All the kids that had been in Grandpa's Woolf house when they were very little wouldn't let their mom go to the bathroom without them. So to make the mommies feel guitly about leaving them outside of the bathroom they would put their little fingers under the door while saying the word "MOMMY!" Well Ian wasn't the exception...although he didn't put his fingers under the door, they were his toes.Anyway we arrived on time to take our plane which by the way SUCKED AGAIN. We had a delay in Colorado for 90 minutes and then had to wait for 2 horus in Denver. Our pilot made us all sick and Ian was crying all the way back. After landing in Austin we lost luggage so we had to wait for 2 hours more in the airport. My sister and her family were already waiting for us. They were so nice to waited all that time. Then after that we finally got our luggage and spent the night at her house. Glenn and I laid down the kids and visited a bit with my sister and her husband while we were eating dinner CARNE ASADA AND SOME POLLO LOCO made by her husband with an exquisite salsa and some tortillas mmmmm. Anyway after that we went to sleep and slept through all night until 10:40a.m. Then we prepared breakfast and came back to our home at 1:20 p.m. I barely finished with the laundry and it was a good thing that the house was impecable so I didn't have to clean. We went to Golden Corral and put the luggege away. Ian was so excited to see his crib again. I laid him down, and he didn't cry, he just huged his crib and then I was looking at him through the crack of the doorway, and he was so sweet laying face down with his head held up and looking at his toys and kissing his bed. Then I saw Nicky who was "scared," so she was hugging her picture of Jesus (sounds kind of catholic, but this is a picture that the missionaries give to the investigators). Anyway we are back and trying to gain all our strength. We already are planning to go together to inflatable funland with the kids, and bbq someday soon before Glenn's away rotations.

Whewwwwwwwwwwwwww! Now I have the most important of our trips in this my visible journal :)
and now I'm out .

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Oh Canada! part I

Well, as everybody knows I wasn't very excited about our trip to Canada because there is never time for our little family to spend together and have fun at the same time. So we left Temple on June 27 to spend the night with my little sister Dina, who by the way lives 30 minutes away from the Austin airport. Well Ian couldn't sleep well that night, so as you can all imagine neither could any of us. So the next day we had to leave very early to get to the airport and we were running late. Of all of us the people in the airport had to check JUST ME, and to make the scene more exciting they had to bring the most masculine female employee to touch all my body...ewww. Anyway after that we took our first flight to Canada. United was our airline and WE HATED IT. If any of you have had the chance to use a mexican airline you should try it, they bring you a whole meal and A WHOLE BOTTLE OF JUICE OR WATER. This airline barely gave us a cup of juice. We just hated it. Anyway we had to stop in Denver for 2 hours. We all were hungry so we bought a few sandwiches at Quiznos, which the cost was the equivalent to a nice dinner for Glenn and me. The kids didn't like the sandwiches and neither did I. It had a lot of onions which made me sick the rest of our trip. Ian to my surprise was very good on the way to Canada. He and Nickey were fascinated everytime that they would look to the window and see the sky so close to them. Anyway we arrived to Canada at 3:00p.m. rented our car, which was very small, the only that I could think of was, "WERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT OUR LUGGAGE?" For some reason the guy couldn't find the key of our small car and in his laziness he decided to give us another car...which by the way WE LOVED! We had lots of space in our trunk, and the kids didn't miss our mini-van at all since they had lots of space. We were supposed to drive for 3 hours to arrive in Cardston, but my honeybunch made it in 2:30 hours during which the kids and I took a nap. When I woke up we saw my mother in-law with uncle Gordon (her brother). She gave us a tour of Grandpa Woolf's house (her dad) and we stayed in the basement for the whole week and a half. The kids got their own room with a pack and play ready for Ian and a bed for Nicky. Glenn and I had another bedroom with a nice full bed. We put everything away as soon as we arrived then my father in-law came back from picking up Laura (Glenn's sister) from the airport. She flew in from Ohio. I was officialy introduced to Grandpa Woolf, which was very neat, too. I know how important he is for everybody and in this little trip I could understand why. He is an amazing and a great man. Full of love for his family, but especially for his wife. Anyway after that we all had dinner and after that the kids were ready to play. It was very neat and convenient to see that Grandpa Woolf's backyard connects to a great playground where the kids could play. After a couple of mosquito bites, we had the chance to meet Uncle Ross and Aunt Peggy (who by the way live a block away from Grandpa). We all were at the playground visiting and getting to know each other more. We all loved that moment, even with the mosquito bites. After that we came back home and to our surprise it was already 9:30 PM and the sun was as bright as noon day. Glenn told me that about Cardston, that 11:00p.m looked more like 7 or 8:00p.m. I didn't believe him but he was right AGAIN! Anyway it was neat for the kids to have blinds and curtains in their room. I layed them down and they fell asleep. We went to Grandpa's deck for a bit to visit more with the family. Next day was Sunday, so we were ready almost on time (their ward started with Relief Society first and the same as us at 9:00a.m.). I recieved a lot of compliments about Nicky (how nice she was with everybody and what a beautiful girl she is, so obedient, etc.). For a moment I wanted to believe it until of course I caught her fighting with her brother. Maybe she is just like that with new people, who knows. Anyway after church the kids played ball with their Grandpa and Auntie Laura played some hymns for the kids. They were trying to help her as you can see. After that we had a nice nap and then we all had dinner. After dinner we were invited to Auntie Peggy's house where we started warming up and meeting some of the members of the family. Nicky was thrilled to meet so many kids and so was Ian. It was very impressive to me and Glenn to see how nice all of them were with our kids, especially because Nicky and Ian were some of the youngest.
(Grandma Sharon, Savanna and Adam (second cousin)playing with Ian.
(part of the cousins)
Savanna (who is 7) made sure that Nicky as well as Ian were included in all the kids games. All of them were wonderful. Being without of the stress of how our children were we could visit and I had the chance to meet more of this new extended family that I have now...and let me tell you something: I LOVE IT! Each one of them was so nice to us. They have such incredible hearts and souls. So close to the gosspel without losing the fun of life. Just wonderful. Next day was Monday and we just used that day to relax so we went to the pool (Savanna helping Nicky in the pool)
and met there with part of the family you know to let the kids warm up for the rest of the week. Of course we also enjoyed the great weather.
Everybody arrived on Tuesday, July 1st: Canada's Indepence day. So officialy the family reunion got started at 4:30p.m. Before that the ones that were there already went to Raymond, another small town about 45 minutes away from were we were. They had a parade. It was very neat to see everybody, even the little kids, riding their horses, bikes, 4 wheelers, etc. While they were doing all this they were thorwing candies to everybody. It was funny to hear Nicky screaming to all of them"THROW ME MORE CANDY! THROW ME A SUCKER!" We loved every single moment. After that we went to have lunch with my father-law's family. Every year after their parade they get together at a Great Uncle's Glenn house (brother of Grandpa Walker) and they had a big lunch and trampolines for the kids and even a snake which by the way Ian loved. We got the chance to get to know more about each other. It was amazing to see that many people and weird to see that we all are relatives. The lunch was over as soon as it started to rain. So we went back to Cardston where we took a short nap and got prepared for the official Woolf family reunion. My mother in-law and all her siblings asked permission to use the church, so we all ate and after that we got to talk to everybody and introduce ourselves. Half of the group (including us) went to the pool and the other half stayed at the chapel playing some basketball while the little kids played with all kinds of toys that the family and church provided to them.
(Nicky and second cousin Katie)
(the guys playing basket ball)

After that we waited until 11:00p.m to go to Powerhouse Hill where the town was celebrating. We all went to see the fireworks. Nicky and Ian were so excited to see them. It was very neat. We had a great view. After that we all headed back to our places to have some rest since the next day was planned to be a day full of fun...
Grandma Sharon, Grandpa Jim, Glenn, Laura (sis), Harumi
and Misa (sister in-law and niece)

(Uncle Paul, Katheryn, Nicky, Rigdon watching the fireworks)
Me and my baby