Family Photos... Gong Show...

So mom decided that she wanted to take family pictures considering that Ian is leaving on his mission to St George in a couple of weeks. Our family just doesn't take these kinds of things seriously... Observe...

My Dads favourite thing...

hehehe.....

This one perfectly describes our relationship as siblings.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!! My little brother looks so adorably alone. Haha!!!!!


Best. Family. Ever.

So Many Adventures!!!

This has easily been one of the best summers of my life. The following events are reasons why.

A) Ray bought me flowers for absolutely no reason. This has never actually happened to me before with anyone so this was a momentous occasion!! Aren't they pretty?!??

I thought he did an amazing job picking them out. Bright and awesome. Totally perfect. Best husband ever. :D

B) First husband/wife vacation just because we can. We went to Cardston and Waterton and had an amazing time.

We stayed at this amazing little bed and breakfast, which was right in Cardston, and ran by this older couple who were originally from Holland. The place was called the Shalom B&B and had tons of character. There was all sorts of stuff from Holland used as decorations, so there was always something interesting to look at. Regrettably, we didn't take ANY pictures of that place.. I was kinda bummed when I realized that after we got home.. But such is life I guess... We loved our stay there though. The people that ran it were so kind and welcoming, and the breakfasts were awesome. I was slightly confused though. I was kind of expecting them to be Jewish, considering the name of the place, so I wasn't surprised to see a star of David on their front door. When we went inside, however, there were crosses and references to the Bible and Christ. haha! I didn't ever ask them about it though... and neither did Ray. When I think about it though, I'm surprised we never asked... Well... More surprised that Ray never asked. haha! What's more puzzling is how they ended up in Cardston since it's 98% populated by LDS people. The Alberta Temple is in the centre of the town. It was the 6th temple ever built! So there's this random Dutch couple that live there that are both Christian and Jewish???... Sure... I guess it will just remain a mystery. ... Unless we go back one day. We totally would. It was a great experience.

We went to the temple together, which ended up being an adventure in itself! Ray forgot to bring his Church clothes, so we went on a quest to find him some preferably cheap clothes. We went to the Distribution Centre, and thankfully, the nice lady there directed us to this little thrift store in town, where Ray lucked out and found the only pair of dress pants that were smaller than a 42" waist. hahahaha.... They were $2.00. Then he bought a 50 cent tie and a 50 cent belt, and we were good to go. Despite forgetting his Church clothes, Ray remembered his dress shoes, so we didn't need to worry about that. haha. I love my husband. This is an old picture of the Cardston temple around Christmas time last year. It still looks the same though. :D haha.

Ray and I went for a walk around the temple, and thought we saw a couple owls sitting in between those pillar looking things, but we didn't really believe that that's what we were seeing. So we asked a couple of girls that were chatting together on the grass if those were actually owls we were seeing. Apparently they were real, and there were actually 4 of them, and they all live on the temple. I guess a few year ago, there was a major bird problem at the temple. Tons of birds were just crowding onto the temple pooping on it and causing some significant outer damage. Members prayed for guidance on how to fix this problem, and then one day these 4 owls show up, scaring away all the birds, totally fixing the problem! The owls now stay there there, like it's their home. haha!! Such a cool story! So every time we went past the temple that weekend we looked for the owls, and they were always there, night and day!

I took Ray to Waterton for the first time too. We saw lots of awesome things.

bears...

Momma and baby bears...

Cool looking deer...errr... Those are deer right??.. :S

awesome rushing waters!!!

... which were actually pretty scary. There was quite the drop from where I was standing. I was being brave.

and pretty flowers/mountains/nature.

We also decided to venture into the town of Waterton, and found a place that rented out super sweet cruiser bikes for only $6.00 and hour! We capitalized on this opportunity.

It's pretty clear we had some fun. The picture of Ray in front of the waterfall pointing the other way from it is hilarious to me. Seriously! I crack up every time I see it! And with signs telling you to watch out for angry, kicking deer... Well that's just a moment screaming to be documented. haha!

okay... moving on...

C) Revisiting my teenage years... The Backstreet Boys concert!

I'd known about the concert coming for a long time, but I never planned on going because tickets were stupid expensive. Then one fateful night, I was on facebook and someone had posted that they got $25 tickets!! She explained how to do it, and I was immediately filled with a need to partake in the awesomeness thereof. It was obvious that Ray wasn't gonna go, so I sent out a mass text asking for people interested in going with me, and got 4 other girls! WOOT!!!! So I bought 5 tickets, two days before the show and we were off! The teeny bopper screams came back to me like it was 10 years ago. I was surprised, but well pleased. haha.. It was just like the old days.. Except that there were only 4 of them, not 5. I guess the oldest one, Kevin, decided that being 40 years old meant that he no longer qualified to be a Backstreet "Boy" anymore. Fine by me. I didn't let that damper my night of awesomeness. haha...

I had so much fun. I almost lost my voice... It was totally worth it. And as cheesy as it sounds... it made me so much more grateful to be able to come home to Ray. He's so much hotter than Nick Carter. haha!!! I'm also way more in love with Ray than I ever was with Nick Carter. hahahahahaha.

D) Calgary Zoo with Ray and my little brother Ian.

This adventure actually has two parts. Half way to Calgary, we stopped to get donuts because Ian wanted to stock up. He got the donuts, we went back to the car, and somehow the subject of Ian's ear blackheads came up. haha!! Don't judge me!! Ian gets these incredibly huge blackheads inside his ear, and since he can't see them, he has to get someone else to get rid of them. Yes it's gross, but its so fascinating!! They're huge!!! See???

So in this picture, we had already gotten one, which is why there's the bleeding, but there was still this other one that we could NOT get out! It was so frustrating and it was hurting him so bad. haha.. We took a picture of it to show him how awesome those things are. haha. Yes.. We're sick.. But seriously!!! Aren't zits fascinating?? Secretly inside I'm sure we all get a sick sense of satisfaction when you pop good ones right?? haha... Okay... Anyways.. This is me trying to get these blackheads out.

It was Ian's idea to get the pen. You squeeze the blackhead out with the hole in the end of the clicky pen and it gets all the stuff out. It's amazing.

Part 2. The Zoo!

They renovated the dinosaur part and now it's incredible. The dinosaurs move and roar and breathe. Woot!!! So exciting!

E) Longboarding Downhill Race

This was mostly for Ray's amusement, but I thought it was pretty exciting too. These kids were in full leather suits with helmets and everything! We watched most of it at a corner where there was a lot of crashing and falling. I was entertained. But there was also some pretty wicked skill too!

Summary...

BEST SUMMER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!