Fun in the Sunny South

Our two-week stay in the sunny south (i.e., Lethbridge) has been flying by.

It started off with a visit from Marc, Kylie and Niko.

Man did I love having a dog around the house again. In fact, let's look at another picture of the cute pooch.

I also loved having M&K around (of course). We did lots of fun things (when we could drag Lowell away from the massive amounts of school work that he had looming over his academic little head).

I'll show you the pictures of all the fun, but first let's take a gander at the G Family dictionary for a moment and learn a little somethin somethin.

Frisbee golf, noun, a game in which hands are used to toss a flat, round disc at a number of targets, in succession, situated at various distances over residential or park areas having natural or artificial obstacles, the object being to hit the chosen target with the disc in as few attempts as possible. Individuals who partake in this activity MUST be goofy and have fun. Moving targets acceptable.

Okay, now here we are introducing Jenn (who currently lives with us) to our traditional family sport. Perhaps it'll make the Olympics in 2012?

(note the big steaming pile of Niko poo that mark is proudly displaying in the above picture)

After a (not-so) intense round of frisbee golf, we had S'MORES!!! With CARAMILK BARS! In my egocentric little world, I thought everyone used Caramilk bars in their s'mores. Apparently not. But everyone should. They provide the perfect gewey chocolately caramel deliciousness that a true s'more deserves.

Who needs a fire pit to roast marshmellows when you have a BARBEQUE. Propane taste aside, they're delicious.

Marc turned THIRTY in June, so Lowell and I had a belated gift for him... a remote control helicopter. Marc was ECSTATIC about this. Probably more so than if he had received it for his ninth birthday.

Niko and Marc both have their eyes on the 'copter!

Ooooo, let's talk about bugs. I hate bugs. Like, reeeeaaaally hate bugs. Especially gross creepy crawly spiders.

I (briefly) let my fascination overcome my hatred when I spotted this guy on our deck:

Gross, but also kind of cool.

We threw bugs on the web and watched the spider work SO FAST to wrap it all up and CONSUME it.

I soon came to my senses and thought 'What are we doing? We're feeding this little monster and it's going to become a big fat hungry monster and eat our whole family. It MUST be destroyed!'

So I killed it.

Anyhoo, before we knew it, it was time for Marc, Kylie, and Niko to LEAVE!

Bye bye M, K&N!

(Dad supervised Marc checking his oil before he biked off to work)

Don't worry, not ALL the fun left with M&K. We managed to scrape up some good times (when I successfully forced Lowell away from his work).

Aside from the regular bike rides, walks, and runs, we tubed down the river (after inflating the tubes)...

I spring-cleaned the playhouse...

Went on picnics with friends...

And watched the Olympics while in the hot tub!

And now...I must get my bum into packing gear as we're LEAVING. For NEW ZEALAND. In THREE DAYS!!!!

The Whole Fam Damily

After wedding hubbub, it was FAMILY TIME!

But FIRST, let's talk about the paper route curse. Since Carlynne and my 10-year paper route stint required us to drag our bums out of bed by 6 every morning, I now have a biological alarm clock that is PERMANENTLY SET. For EARLY. So, despite the fact that by the time we got to bed after the wedding it was well into Sunday morning, I sprung out of bed at 6am and was wide awake... for the time being.

So, I was wide awake when we had family friends over for brekky on Sunday morning:


But my head started getting hazy and my eyelids got heavy during church. Immediately after the service, Lowell and I crashed on the lawn while Mom and Dad chatted away inside.


After a much-needed nap (back at the house), we headed to my Aunt & Uncle's farm for part one of the G family reunion.

Dan’s family also joined us. After all, they are family now…

Let me just fill you in quick on the G family. My Dad has 7 siblings, each of which are married and have at least 3 kids. That makes 32 of us grandkiddies. 28 of these 32 grandkids are married, and a whole slew of them have kids of their own, so there are 53 GREAT grandchildren. So when I refer to my “little cousins”, they’re actually my first cousins once removed. I think (all this first, second, third, and removed stuff is confusing).

Anyhoo, so aren’t my “little cousins” cute?

My cousins who have recently returned from a 3 year medical mission in Namibia (South West Africa) adopted this little gal (above) to add to their brood of 5. She’s sooo cute, and such a quick little learner! She had already mastered the high 5, so we took it to the next level and taught her the pound. She caught on right away, and couldn’t get enough!

"I'm ready- make sure you catch this on camera!"


"I'm sooooooo good!"


"Any other takers?"


As usual, there were sports, a hay ride, animals, visiting, and food at the farm.

Doesn't Shareen look cute here? I think she was feeling a little nostalgic:)

Now let’s talk about Monday morning. Lowell and I were up at 3am in order to pick up Dan & Carlynne to take them to the airport so they could get their St. Lucian honeymoon underway!

As soon as we pulled into the passenger drop off area at departures, our car spontaneously STOPPED... aaaand wouldn’t start again. It DIED!

Since we were in a drop-off only zone, we spoke with a security person and left a friendly little note on the windshield begging the big bad guys not to tow us.

We waited at the airport with D&C for about 2 hours (bright side of the dead car situation: free curbside parking at the airport for 2 hours!).

We ate a Timmy’s breakfast while waiting with them in the check-in line. When they got to the counter, Lowell and I waited in the open area so we could say our farewells after they were done their checking-in business and before they went through security. They were taking forever at the counter, and without warning were suddenly whisked away (because apparently they both got selected for random baggage checks and their plane was ready to board). WE DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SAY GOOD-BYE! When this fact struck me, the waterworks began. It’s not like we were just going to be separated for 2 weeks. When they come back, we’ll be off too New Zealand for A WHOLE YEAR. CRAP.

We at least said good-bye over the phone, but still. HUGS. I NEED HUGS!!

Anyhoo, when we got back out to the car, it started again. YEAY! So we didn’t think twice, got in and tried to see how far we could get….it died again just inside the city. Shoot. So, we called AMA and waited…

The tow truck driver attempted to remedy the situation, but eventually decided that Lowell's hypothesis was correct--the alternator was dead--and there was no hope of reviving it again without a new alternator. Great. So he towed us home. It wasn't just any tow ride though- this guy was a philosopher. Apparently he’d been a philosopher for 25 years, but he tows cars to pay the bills. He claimed that he knew the answers to everything in life, so we were to ask him a question we’ve been itchin to know the answer to. So Lowell goes ahead and asks, “Why is there pain and suffering?”

Good one Lowell.

This launched him into an exhaustingly long tirade. It was interesting…at first. But then we arrived at home (it was a holiday Monday so mechanics weren’t available), and we were sitting in the tow truck and he was still TALKING. In his defense, he had no idea we’d been up since 3am (and it was now 8:30am), and I very easily could’ve curled up into a ball and fallen asleep. ON THE CONCRETE. Anyhoo, long story short, I went inside to bed while Lowell listened to him gab (and NOT unhook the car) for another 45 minutes (thanks for taking one for the team, Lowell). Zzzzzzzzzzz...

After lunch, we went to another Aunt and Uncle’s cottage at the lake. The sun was shining, there was boating, fishing, hot tubbing, volleyball, conversation…and mocha cake. Of course.

On Tuesday after our car was fixed, Lowell and I made our way to Lowell's parents' farm for some more family time. There was a little farewell party for us, and it was delightful. There are no pictures though, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

Ah, we love family.

Southern Alberta Pride

Any Canadian Idol fans? Well, I can boast a little connection here because THEO TAMS WENT TO OUR HIGH SCHOOL (2 years below me)!!! That’s right. He might even know my name. Or perhaps not. But that's not the point.

I haven’t so much watched the actual episodes (due to crappy TV for the past couple of months) as watched his performances on You Tube after the fact, but my parents are hardcore. They very rarely watch TV, but for this guy?


They’re committed.

They’ve even got a picture of him publicly displayed on our window so no one can question their loyalty.

Since we're now at my parents' place with a decent TV, Lowell and I joined them in front of the tube last night. And he is good. Real good. And fun, well-spoken, an amazing pianist, and attractive to boot!

I voted. A lot. With two phones at once (you're welcome, Theo).

Tonight we find out whether he stays or goes. I'm sure he'll stay.

Go Theo Go!!

You can check out last night's performance of Sarah Sleen's 'Sweet Ones' below. If you skip over to a minute and 25 seconds, you'll catch the beginning of his little number.

Just get them to the church on time!

So many people. So much happening. So much fun… and photos aplenty!

If I presented all the stellar blogging material I have in a single post, it would be a mammoth monster post. So, I shall break it up. This post will only include the wedding week. Not even the whole week- just starting on Thursday. That's all. Promise.

The craziness began Thursday when the last of the immediate family trickled in. The sisters kicked off the celebration by going for pedicures (and one manicure!).

Our feet were already soaking while Kylie was still waiting for her manicure to begin, so she took things into her own hands...

Then we picked up the freshly steamed wedding dress. EEEeeeeee! Shareen and Kylie had the highly prestigious (and stressful!) duty of keeping it safe and wrinkle-free in the back seat. Mission accomplished.

In the evening, we had a pleasant dinner, then our entire immediate family trucked it over to Dan’s parents' place where his entire immediate family was congregated. It was just a big happy family time!

Here we are two by two!

Marc and/or Kylie...would you like to explain the muscle shirt? hehe:)

Friday was wedding prep galore. We had a bit of an unusual situation as the hall was unintentionally double-booked on Friday, so we couldn’t decorate until Saturday (the day of the wedding if you’re keeping track. Not every bride’s dream.) However, we were given a room on Friday where we prepped everything so Mom and her crew could set it all up on Saturday. Which they did, and they did well!

Carlynne's creativity and artistic flare was everywhere. Some day I hope to share on the blog a sampling of Carlynne's amazing artistic pursuits so you can know her and her extremely talented self like we do. Everything from their wedding invitations/programs to the decor and seating plan just screamed 'Carlynne'. Anyhoo, Carlynne painted all these pots which they stood in front of at the ceremony. And that's just a teeny tiny glimpse of her creativity.

Friday evening was rehearsal and rehearsal DINNER! After downing a scrumptious meal prepared by Dan's Mom (now a.k.a Auntie Marge), we devoured the mocha cake (which was Carlynne's excellent dessert selection). The extended G family goes batty over this cake as it was my Grandma’s specialty, and oh so delicious.

Look at us just sharin the love in the presence of the mocha cake!

Friday night we headed to the “wedding house”. Family friends of ours were unable to attend the wedding because they had a family reunion in Ontario, but they graciously allowed our family to occupy their lovely abode during wedding time as it was a convenient 5 minute drive from the church. It was perfect.

Saturday was the biggest and most special day of all…DAN AND CARLYNNE’S WEDDING! It was super. Super DUPER.

So our day started off at the hair dresser:

We each got shoulder and hand massages out of the deal. Ahhh.

Then we drove back to the house (all 6 of us girls crammed in Lowell and my little bitty car)…

…where Shareen began pumping us all through her little (yet extravagant) make-up station.

Meanwhile, Dad and his little helpers decorated the wedding vehicle. My Dad's trusty van was Marc & Kylie's wedding vehicle, Lowell & my wedding vehicle, and now Carlynne and Dan's. Each of us decorated it uniquely- starting with Marc & Kylie (you can't really see the whole thing, but just imagine some muffin tins and pop cans hanging off the back, and you get the idea!)

This was Lowell and my wedding van:

And this was Carlynne and Dan's! My Mommy was responsible for the decor which went perfectly with Carlynne's artsy fartsy theme for the day.

Us girls then grabbed a bite to eat (with the Brianne & Ashley's pleasurable company!)...

...got dressed, and boogied to the church where we eagerly waited for the spectacular event that was about to take place.

And take place it did. In a delightfully beautiful fashion, if I do say so myself.

Now I will fast forward to the reception because I want to wait for Brianne's professional photos to fill in the detail between the wedding and reception. Oh, but our little twin friends and their family came to the wedding, so I will leave you a couple of pictures of the sheer cuteness that is them. I'm gonna miss these kiddies.

Okay, now we're onto the reception. Well, at least bits and pieces of it.

My Dad has re-written a song for each of our weddings, and the rest of the family helps with instrumental and/or back-up vocals.


Darrel (the best man) and I also prepared a little number, which, I hate to say, kind of bombed. We secretly got together a couple of times and rehearsed to perfection...really. The problem? We used a different guitar come show time, and it was in an entirely different key. A key that was way too high for my poor scratchy vocal folds. I could only dream of reaching such levels of falsetto. Shoot. It could've been soooooo good! Oh well, at least we look like it went well!

We have these precious moments on video, thanks to the videographer for the day: Lowell.

(LOVIN the pant leg. Apparently I dropped the ball on my wifely duties there!)

Dan and Carlynne had a great kissing game which I'll explain more about some other time because it was just so stinkin cool and original. Here's a part of the game with absolutely no other context for you.

As previously mentioned (and displayed), Carlynne and Dan started the dance off with a self-choreographed number. It was so fun!

Later in the evening, I got my time to shine. I've already shamelessly bragged about my family's limbo skills. Well, we got a chance to show them off once again.

I think we get our limbo skills from my Mom:

Second place winner was Marco:

And first place was (hee hee) me:

And then we proceeded to dance the night away...


The. End.