(Belated) E's birthday

 I thought I had posted about Emma's birthday but evidently not. She got to be baptized on her birthday so it was a very special day in January. Quite a few friends and family were able to make it, including family that watched from home thanks to Google meet. Emma was so happy after being baptized she hopped while in the font and skipped after getting out. 

The above photos were taken the week before her birthday. All the photos below were taken on her birthday. 

Opening her new scriptures.

Fitting them in a new bag.

Wearing a blanket on her head and looking at books. Ha.

Assembling her new scooter.

Canada trip - Calgary week

 From Waterton area we drove up to Calgary and stayed a week. We were able to check off everything we'd hoped to do which included seeing the neighborhoods and schools Bry grew up in / grew up going to, got Peter's Drive-In, spent a day in Banff, made a trip to Drumheller, and went to the Calgary Stampede on opening day (which was crazy - we would have gone a different day but it was our last day). 

Mount Norquay Lookout in Banff

The mountains were so interesting and varied. 

Gwen likes going places in the Ergobaby carrier.

Silverton Falls was a good short hike

Lake Louise is GORGEOUS.

I don't know what he was doing but it looks like he's hiding.

Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller. DINOSAURS! Henry had looked forward to this day for weeks, or maybe months. We went with Bry's sister Laurel Lee and her daughters who were also staying in Calgary after the reunion. 

At the Stampede we saw motorbike stunts, got frozen lemonade (because it was HOT - the previous day we had a crazy huge but brief hail/thunderstorm but all the clouds blew away and the sun made it's presence known), saw a few draft horses, watched a Paw Patrol story time then waited to meet Marshall afterwards. Our time at the Stampede didn't go quite as we'd hoped and we didn't see as much as we would have liked but for a few short hours we got to enjoy it (for free because of an opening day special allowing free admittance and Mark dropped us off so we didn't have to deal with parking). 

These two melt my heart sometimes. They did this and giggled.

Gwen did a good job hanging out in her stroller most of the time.

Picture with Marshall! Gwen stared at him and didn't cry.

Canada trip - reunion week

 At the end of June we drove to southern Alberta for a family reunion near Waterton National Park. It was beautiful there and it was so exciting to see everybody. All of Bry's siblings and their kids made it, probably for the last time since the oldest of the kids are 18. Reunions will still happen every other year, but they'll probably be a bit different. We're so grateful everyone was able to make it to this one. 

The kids had a blast running around with cousins. Gwen was much adored, being the youngest one there. Bry was glad to be back at Waterton which holds lots of memories for him and I was so excited to finally go to it! It was beautiful and a perfect destination for our group. We did a couple hikes, walked around the town, ate good food, got bit by mosquitoes (Emma in particular turned out to be delicious to them), spent time chatting with family, and really had a great visit. 

Emma spent the longest time in the lake - 20+ minutes.
I got out when my body was so cold it started to feel like stinging.

It was EXTREMELY windy the day we did our hike up Bear's Hump. The kids did awesome, though.

Life's good with a rock and a stick. 

Rochelle headed a craft for the kids and brought paints and picture frames. The kids had a good time and Emma really loved it.

About a third of the group went horseback riding. It was Emma's first time riding a horse (she'd been on a pony ride before) and she was a natural. She did great and LOVED it. I was so happy she had a good time and look forward to taking her again sometime. 

Cameron Falls. The rocks around it are really cool with how the water has cut through them. 

We got dinner in Waterton that was really delicious. 

We visited the Cardston Temple that was Bry's temple growing up. 

The view from the Prince of Wales Hotel.

Cameron Lake was beautiful. It was a drive from downtown Waterton, but a nice destination.