Sunday, June 14, 2009

Edmunton Mall, Alberta, Canada




Can anyone guess what David's favorite was? A tractor of course! Here we are in the Edmunton Mall, playing and having lots of fun!






The girls are standing in front of the Sea Lion Show and Pirate cove. This mall is fantastic. Scott, Krisi and Dave are playing near the wave pool in the water park.




Cana




The children loved swimming in White Fish Lake. It was surprisingly refreshing; not as cold as we thought it would be. On the way back to the hotel, we spotted a doe with her new fawn. It couldn't have been more than a week old. It was tiny and couldn't even see over the top of the grass. We just sat and watched the two, in awe at our luck for seeing such a little miracle.






The waterslide at the pool in White Fish was a big hit. Needless to say we all slept well that night!

Alberta, Canada

We finally made it into Canada two days ago. It is very pretty here, but not what I imagined. I imagined more wilderness, but Alberta has a midwestern feel to it. Lots of rolling green hills as far as you can see with the ocassional ranch to break things up a bit. We went through Cardston, Alberta and were able to stop for a few minutes to see the temple there. We all got out and took a picture on the front lawn then we piled back in the car for a few more hours of driving.

Yesterday we spent the early afternoon and evening at the Edmunton Mall. It claims to be the largest mall in the world and we certainly aren't disputing that claim. Scott spent about 5 hours at the indoor water park with Krisi and David (yes, we are the mean parents that not only threaten, but follow through on our threats to naughty children!). Scott said that Kristen had no fear when it came to some of the scarier rides. At one point there were a couple of older teenage boys standing at the top of an 80 foot free fall drop water slide, debating whether or not they dared go down it. They saw Krisi bravely standing there and after Scott confirmed that she was going, they decided they couldn't be shown up by a 7 year old!

The other girls and I spent the same 5 hours wandering around the mall and I am sure we didn't even see a third of it. It had the indoor water park, a casino, hundreds of restaurants and stores, a dinner theater, an Imax theater, bowling alley, amusement park, sea world, ice skating rink, gallaxy center, and the list goes on. We had a great time exploring and playing in the fountains!

We are in Dawson Creek tonight. The children are totally pumped about the 2 story waterslide at the pool. Dawson Creek is known for the history star of the Alaskan highway. The middle of town marks the 0 Mile Mark so we will head there first thing tomorrow morning for a photo op!

We are missing you all and would love to hear from you on our blog! Hope all is going well. We are enjoying our trip but feeling anxious to get into our new home as we get closer and closer to Alaska.

White Fish, Montana 6/10/09

White Fish Montana was beautiful. Scott has always said that he could retire in a place like this and now I know why. The tall natural grasses sway right up to the trees. Everything is green right now; not a sagebrush in sight. We haven't had to take our allergy medicine in almost 4 days now. The weather was about 67 degrees. Perfect.

We hiked the trail of the Cedars in Glacier. The children are obsessed with hiking and had a great time learning about the native plants and animals. One of our good friends sent a message to the girls telling them not to eat anything in the wild that looked like M &M Peanuts and they took that to heart. They made sure to remind each other not to eat anything they found because it might be something, "really disgusting"!

We did get a chance to drive around the east side of glacier where you can drive above the timber line and look down into the valleys. It was breathtaking to look down on those mountain valleys shadowed by the majestic mountains.






David thought he was the serious ranger out hiking with his sisters! He kept us hopping the whole time. Here he is hiking on by the creek and balancing across a fallen log. He is just like his daddy!
We drove right by this moose as it was lazing the day away in the river.









The girls loved playing in the creek. All of the children worked very hard for their Jr. Ranger badges in Glacier. They now have Jr. Ranger Badges for Yellowstone, Yosemite, Pipe Springs, Arches NP. and Glacier. They love to learn all they can about the National Parks and take their jobs as Jr. Rangers very seriously. You can imagine Scott and I trying to shush them as they loudly voiced their concerns about people not following the park rules! :)














We had so much fun out on Lake McDonald. As I was driving the boat the kids kept saying, "go faster mommy, go faster". I think we were over the weight limit by 150 pounds and that poor little motor was working as hard as it could!
Glacier was fantastic. Sadly we didn't know that only the lower half of the park was opened and the top of the park wouldn't open until June 18th. Scott says this is the most beautiful part and was disappointed. The kids and I didn't have anything to compare it to so we were in awe. We rented a little motor boat and went out on Lake McDonald for a cruise on the water. The water was so clear and crisp that it was like looking through a looking glass. The reflection of the mountains on the lake was magnificent! The water had a beautiful aquamarine color that was truly mesmerizing. The kids had a blast out on the water in that little motorboat.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Day One: To West Yellowstone

We left Salt Lake at 8 A.M., right on schedule! Had to make a "quick" stop to get a 2nd key made to our new truck. Two hours later we are back on the rode. Stopped outside of Brigham City to get gas. I went in to get ice to fill the cooler. Mission accomplished, back on the road. About 5 miles down the road, I discovered I couldn't find my wallet. I knew I had it in my hand when I brought the ice to the back of the truck to fill the cooler because I remember being grateful that I had only tripped, not completely fallen on my face balancing my wallet, treats and two bags of ice. But it wasn't anywhere in the truck. There is no way I could have set it down right?! I mean seriously, how many times have I reminded Scott not to set his wallet down on the bumper, top of car, middle of the store, etc.! Just to be safe, we called the gas station and turned around. No one there had seen it, but they would look for it they told me. A sick feeling started to gnaw at my stomach. My credit cards, driver's license, and cash (I know, I never have cash but under the circumstances I was carrying about $400). We said a quick plea to Heavenly Father to help us find the wallet. My sweet children trying to cheer me with, "don't worry mommy, we'll buy you another one" wasn't as comforting as they had hoped. Bless their hearts! The whole way back we are scouring the opposite side of the freeway with little success. No luck at the gas station either. By this point, I am not above frantically digging through the garbage cans like a mad woman. The looks from the gas station patrons were priceless. Had I not been under serious duress I would have laughed! We decide at this point to hurry and re-trace our path on the freeway. We get on the onramp at a whopping 6 MPH, hazards flashing, irritated motorists whizzing by and we all have our heads out the windows looking for my wallet. About a half mile up on the middle median, I spot something that looks like my wallet. Sure enough, there it is...opened! We pull off to the side and Scott gallantly sprints across the lanes of the freeway to rescue what we hope are the contents of my wallet. JACKPOT! Hesitantly, I dashed after him. Scattered over about 60 yards in the weeds are all of my credit cards, driver's license, concealed weapons permit, ins. cards, etc. It had been run over and a few cards were bent, but fortunately, the zipper compartment and my secret hiding placed were undisturbed! What a miracle! Our prayer had been answered in a major way. After a heartfelt prayer of grattitude, I turned to Scott and sheepishly said, "and THAT'S exactly why I am always telling you never to set your things on the bumper!" Bless him. He just smiled and didn't even have a negative word towards me. What a trooper! It's a good thing I have a new stress relief aromatherapy stick because I've already used half of it and it's only our first day! :)

The weather has been mostly rainy, but very beautiful. Some of the animals we have seen today are cranes, ravens, crows, rabbits, elk, deer, ducks, cows, horses, mules, llamas, seagulls and fish! The kids are keeping an active log of all the wildlife on this trip.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers. Obviously we truly need them! Love you all. We will keep you posted as much as we can.