Gratitude and Day Four and Day Five (June 30-July 1) of the Fabulous Vacation

First of all, I just want to say thank you to all of your comments on my previous post. It did my heart really, really good to see so many women that feel the same; I forget easily that I am one of many. Strange how we can feel alone when in reality we are not.
I also wanted to thank m&m for her comment --it's also easy to forget that those who honestly struggle with obedience or the role of women are just trying to find their way --like all of us, really. It's not correct to assume they are trying to do wrong, and I hope my post didn't come across that way.
Anyway, you guys are the best. And thank you for your words!

Anywhoserswhatsoevers! On with the show...

Day Four:
We drove. And drove. And drove.
My kids are awesome when it comes to driving. You can read some more about that here. My mom drove with us, and we made excellent time! We were on the freeway by 8:30AM and arrived at Great-Grandma's house (my father's mother) by 4:40PM. Boo-yah! We only stopped twice for gas, and twice for bathrooms; the line at the Border was only about 10 minutes long. Of course, they made me back up so they could get a clear picture of my license plate, and then they made me get out of the car to tell them the license plate number (who in the world remembers their license plate number??), but they were nice and it didn't take too long.
After getting to Grandma's, we waited for the stragglers (i.e. the SLOW people) to arrive. My father drove my sister, brother, brother's fiance, and my two nephews. My soldier brother and his wife and son drove in their car. Some more cousins and aunts and uncles arrived (ones that live in Lethbridge) and we had a nice little picnic dinner in the back yard. It was an excellent evening (except for the wind, of course).
Because there were so many family members crowded into Grandma and Grandpa's (father's parents) house, I went and stayed with my good friend Mandy B. Mandy and I have been friends since we were...let's see...ummm...born. Yep, that's right. Birth began our friendship because our parents were all friends together growing up. She and I have maintained that friendship throughout 29 years, 9 children, 2 husbands, 4 college degrees, many moves, and 2 countries. It was absolutely wonderful to stay with her for three nights and here's a BIG thank you to Mandy! Thank you!

Day Five:
HAPPY CANADA DAY!
While I was growing up, I spent more time in Canada during the Fourth of July than I ever did in America. My soldier brother shares his birthday with Canada, and so every year he got a parade, a barbeque, some cake, some presents, and fireworks.
Not bad, eh?
This year was no different. Here are the hightlights:
*Both sides of my family getting together in Raymond (I was so lucky to have both of my parents grow up in the same Stake and city. Their parents were already friends when they decided to marry, so it was nice getting to see both sides of the family every time we went to Canada!) at my aunt's house for the awesome Raymond Parade! (you know, I was in that parade about 15 years ago). The following pictures don't even show everyone, either. Too many people, people! And I love it.

*Showing off Canadian Pride with some fake tatoos. Even my mom! (sorry, mom. I had to put the picture up. I still love you!)

*My mother's mother being in the parade because she is the last of 11 children and represented one of the largest families around (that helped settle Raymond).

*Lots of music (hey, it's a small town. We're going for effort here, people!):

*Eating delicious food after the parade.
*Getting a surprise visit from some more cousins (who live in Calgary and drove down for the day)! Hooray!!
*Going to the Raymond Stampede. In the rain. Yee-Ha!

*Having a delicious pizza party (20 pizzas, man!) and birthday cake (for my dad and my brother) in my Grandma's house (father's mother) because Lethbridge got record-breaking amounts of rain.

*Sadly missing the fireworks because of the rain. And we are talking RAIN.
*Staying up late talking with Mandy and her hubby.

I Love Canada, people. Don't get me wrong, I love my country, too, but there's just something about a place where your heritage is, you know? My family all come from England, Denmark, Sweden, and Scotland. Then they all came to Utah. All of them. Then they each proceeded north to Canada. All of them. This is why I have such a love for England, Utah, and Alberta. Truly, I think this is why --you know, all that Elijah stuff. :)


Stay tuned for Day Six and Day Seven!