More Summer

I have so much catching up to do...

To continue on from our trip to BC this summer, we headed off to Vernon to help celebrate Adam's Uncle Don and Auntie Sharons' surprise 30th Wedding Anniversary. We had a great visit with Uncle Don and Auntie Sharon while we were at Green Lake, but they had NO clue that there was going to be a party for them in a few days! So it was a wonderful surprise for them when they showed up at the party house expecting to going out for dinner and looking around to find all of their friends and family there to celebrate THEM!!!

Here is Bryan peeking out the peep hole to see how close they were to coming through the door!! I love how the cute little girl is laying under the table in her "hiding spot!"

There they come!!! So surprised!!

The temperature was 38 degrees, so we spent a lot of time out in the heat, as the temperature in the house didn't seem to be that much cooler! They had little kiddie pools set up in the yard for all the little kids to play in, but Marin was interested in the sweet little chicken coop!!! Looks like she was getting sassy with the hen!

The day after the party we got to hang out with Adam's cousins and Don and Sharon and a few friends. Calli and Marin loved spending time with their little cousin, Cohen, and I think he loved having them dote on him, too!!

We stopped off for some fresh Okanagan cherries on the drive home and Adam found his dream vehicle....

We endured searing temperatures while we were in BC, so I was glad to come home to a more temperate Albertan climate. The drive back through the mountains is really stunning...

As we were driving on the highway, we noticed this cloud seemed to be looming right above where we were heading!

I know I've told you about the off-leash dog run here, but it really is amazing. It's so nice to have a clean, free spot for Nellie to race around in. The kids love going there as well and checking out the wildlife, the wild flowers and the bugs. It's pretty chilly some days, and on this particular day, it reminded me of the English countryside when we were walking in the mist...

I see many days of walking along this path in our future....

Horsie has this strange habit of sleeping like this sometimes. I've never had a picture of it until now.

Nellie has a hard time when Adam leaves for work, so to show him that she's upset, she digs. In this case, she has ripped up the freshly laid sod, dug up the soil underneath and retrieved a giant rock with which to fill her time chewing and carefully bringing to various spots in the yard.

Does she look guilty to you??

One morning the girls decided all of the teddies needed to watch cartoons with them. They had a lot of fun throwing the teddies down the stairs, but not as much fun cleaning them all up and lugging them back up the stairs.

We drove out into the mountains one afternoon. We stopped in this beautiful valley and roamed around in the old river bed. Nellie had a great time swimming in the freezing cold water.



It was so welcoming that even the girls took off their socks and shoes and dipped their little toes in! Nellie always picks a great spot to shake the water off!

You can see the old river bed in this photo. It must have been a roaring river at some point in time.

Further up the hill we came across this memorial...

What a wonderful spot for the memorial. So peaceful.

Marin can't stop herself from picking the pretty flowers.

They are tempting...

These yellow ones grow wild in bushes all over the place! But you have to pay money to buy them at the nurseries...

We loved these big fluffy seedlings growing all over the place.

These are called harebells. They are abundant and gorgeous.

Adam, the kids and Nellie running around in the river bed.

We had so much fun.

I swear I could just take pictures all day long.

Later, on the drive home, we spotted a group of deer in the trees. Adam, of course, had to stop and have a closer look.

He liked what he saw!! The buck was in full velvet and his antlers looked so soft.