oh canada!!!

I finally made it home to Southern Alberta, Canada (I think it was exactly 3 years since I had been there) and all I have to say is OSHO's!!! I have yet to find a restaurant that even comes close to it!! Just look at this dish... Delicious teriyaki beef with a slightly fried potato broccoli carrot side that is unbelievable as well as a yummy salad with a fun creamy asian dressing. They also have great veggie tempura as well. You would think that after I keep asking them that they would eventually sell me a bottle of the teriyaki sauce but no such luck. Dagnabbit!

Ok, moving on... I also enjoyed visiting with family & friends. Warning - Lots of pics. I had to weed through almost 1000 pics so I think I did pretty good!!

We stopped on our way and let the kids check out the World's Largest Truck.
First stop was to visit Grandpa Ben (my dad) who graciously took the boys and cousins fishing.

Then we headed to a family reunion on my moms side (I haven't seen some of these relatives in over 25 years!) These are my mom's sisters and her only brother. My mom is the 2nd on the left.
I had to take a picture of our tents. The tent on the right is ours and the tent on the left was my moms. She had bought it thinking it was a bit bigger and this was the first time setting it up. Seriously, a dog couldn't have fit in that thing!!Aunt L was in charge of games and prizes and did a fantastic job!
My brother Joey and his wife Louise.
My brother Mike and his wife Jamie (whom I met for the first time) as well as his two cute boys Noah & Logan.
I also met my 22 year old niece Brandi for the first time and it was her first time meeting all my family ~ including her half brother who had just barely found out about her.
This is my oldest brother who has MS and his daughter that was put up for adoption at birth.
My cute nephew Benj.
The whole crowd!! A lot of my cousins weren't able to make it but we still had a pretty good showing.
By the end of the reunion we were tired of camping so we headed into Lethbridge to stay at the Ramada & to have some water slide fun.
Here is my fearless ryland going down the huge water slide by himself for the first time.
As you can see by the next day he was already more relaxed and in his lounge mode!
wakely & bridger having a blast as usual!

Kaden wasn't so sure about the slides the first day but was all over it on the next.

say cheese!!

Aunt L needed to be at the Calgary airport which gave us the perfect opportunity to visit a good friend of mine who lives just outside of the city. We had a wonderful time there and my only wish would be that my kids will turn out half as great as her kids when they get a bit older.
We went to the nearby river and had some fun.
Dionne & I lived together in Edmonton before her marriage & my mission.
After that we headed back South to where I grew up.

A little tidbit of history.

My friend Lana who I went to school with (grades 6 to 12)

This was one of her twin girls who Ryland quickly became good chums with. So dang cute!!!

These shots remind me of home.
My brother Joey has a great farm with many many animals and fun things to do & here is a shot of him giving Ryland a ride on the kid quad. I think he could have driven it by himself but Bridger's reckless driving ruined all chance of getting to try. ;o)