Weekend: Fully Loaded

Last weekend was my Mom's 35th nursing reunion, so Ma & Pa ventured to Edmonton for the weekend of festivities. Mom's festivities centered around the reunion, but Dad's fun centered around US (as spouses are no longer invited to the nursing reunions!)

They arrived Friday night and Mom went straight to her shin diggity. Dad came to our place, and Carlynne took a break from her intensive studying to join us for the evening for supper and the viewing of one of our all time favourite movies: Princess Diaries. We're so lucky to have men in our lives who like (and arguably prefer) chick flicks!

Saturday came quickly, and started early with breakfast at Uncle Tom & Aunt Janet's. What a feast. I love breakfasts. I look forward to them when I go to bed. I really don't understand people who don't eat breakfasts.

Next it was off to the Kinsmen Sports Centre for Mom, Dad, Lowell & I. We planned on playing tennis and/or badminton but the courts were booked. Dang. We made use of our time there anyway, and came home right ready to scarf down some loaded sandawichies. 

After lunch (and a NAP- very common among the G fam), we went to the Brink's place for tea. It's always a delight to catch up with "Auntie" Irene & Shannon. We always pick up where we left off and have a grande ol time!

Following that delightful tea time, we dropped Mom off and had our first 7-11 stop. We had coupons for free stuff, but we could only use one coupon each at each 7-11, so we had to make a couple stops. We got bevies at the first stop, then redeemed the most important coupons: the ones for the HOT DOGS. Not only was this supper free for us, but we actually made money on it. As we were leaving the second 7-11, the lady called us back in (rather frantically I might add) and gave us 62 cents. We're still a little confused about that little transaction! 

This satisfied my 3 month craving for a juicy 'dog with a lot of ketchup. Nothin but ketchup. I loooove ketchup.

We enjoyed our hot dogs while watching MATTY (aka Matlock). My Dad hadn't seen it in ages, so it was a happy reunion for him indeed.

After din din, we soaked up the brilliant sunshine and went for a walk. We played at the Legislature for a while, then took the long way to a coffee shop for some refreshing beverages.

Our little snowball-aiming competition at the Legislature didn't satisfy Dad's competitive spirit as he sporadically grabbed snowballs during the rest of the walk and hucked them at random targets. 

(PS- the next day he still picked up snowballs, but this time started throwing them at me on the way to church. I quickly walked right up to an elderly lady with limited mobility(also going to church) thinking that this would prevent my Dad from whipping the snowball at me. NOPE. The snowball grazed my body anyway! That Daddio... always looking for some good (and slightly risky) fun!)

Sunday, Mom & Dad's last day here, came all too soon. Before church, I pulled a Shareen & Kylie and did my make-up in the living room. I never do this... they always do. I didn't want to miss any of the action.

(I know this action doesn't look overly invigorating, but I'm sure the conversation was intense!) :

After church we had a family lunch, then bid the parentals farewell.

This month has been a family-filled month and I wouldn't have it any other way. On Thursday night, Carlynne and I are flying to Victoria where we will meet Shareen & Kylie and have a sister weekend. Too bad I'll be attending a conference 85% of the time...

And one more bit of news for today: CARLYNNE FINISHED HER LAST EXAM FOR MED SCHOOL THIS MORNING. SHE'S DONE!!!! She will officially have her M.D. in a month. CONGRATULATORIES CARLYNNE!!!

Adventurous Crepes

We have the best BS (Bible Study) ever. Here we all are:


Tonight was a BS night. We had fun times with pizza, conversation, hockey... and another unexpected adventure.

As the hosetess, I ducked away to the kitchen (when the pizza was gone) to whip up some crepes for dessert. APPARENTLY we have super sensitive fire detectors as our fire alarm kept going off (and the crepes weren't even burning). To help clear the air, we opened the door to the hallway. This turned out to be a big mistake as the overwhelmingly loud fire alarm for the entire building started screaming. I thought "oh crap"...but that wasn't the worst of it. Apparently.

Literally, less than a minute later, we heard sirens...lots of them. We looked outside, and 2 giant fire trucks were parked outside, and big, fully-equipped firemen began pouring into the building.



Either this was a freakish coincidence, or this was my fault.

Then there were more sirens, and another firetruck and an ambulance came to join the party.

And neighbourhood folks began to gather to see what was going on.

OOPS.

The adrenaline was running high in our suite. Ashley swiftly took over crepe-making while I paced back and forth in disbelief (while taking pictures of course).


Lowell and Dan went downstairs to talk to the firemen and explain the situation. They had a good sense of humour about it, and even asked if we had any extra dessert.

The crepes were well worth the adventure! MMMmmmm yummmmm...


I have a bit of a tumultuous relationship with fire alarms. Have I told you about the fire I started at work within my first month? No? Well, that's a story for another day. Coconut really is quite flammable...especially when left with the broiler on high...

Family Quiz

Before I give the fam a little quizzeroo, allow me to triumphantly declare that SPRING HAS SPRUNG IN EDMONTON! SPRING SPRING SPRING. I LOVE SPRING! Even though Calgary got that nasty storm, E-town is springy as Spring can be!

There is a couple behind that tree on the left who were socially unaware in a very awkward way. The reason you can only see one person is because they were currently displaying their social inappropriateness. It was awkward.

We've already shown you pictures of our view...but this is a picture of us walking in our view, and Lowell's pointing to our suite!

Okay, now for my very brief (but important) quiz for the fam (although anyone can answer if they feel they know the answer!) :

What is significant about today?

Spring Break (is over...*sniff sniff*)

Mercy me! Not only has Spring Break already flown by, but so has another week of work. Unbelievable how fast time flies. Our break was indeed very pleasant. We didn't go anywhere (although we were tempted by a wicked awesome last minute deal to Costa Rica), but the days all managed to fill up and fly by.

To start things off, Marc & Kylie (and their computers) were here from the Thursday night before Spring Break until Monday. Kylie had a bit of a rough start, but she managed to pull herself together soon enough:) They weren't even here for 5 minutes when Kylie sat on our poof (kind of like a bean bag chair but not) and unexpectedly flipped over backwards and cranked her head on the heat register. About 3 minutes later, she helped herself to cranberry juice- using a SIPPY CUP- and spilled cranberry juice all over her sweater. It was all extremely entertaining.




We were all very proud of the impressive line-up of computers (most of all Lowell). Lowell misses having their computers around… and we miss them of course too!

While they were here, we had a surprise (lingerie) shower for Carlynne. Large amounts of (somewhat shocking) fun was had by all…

On Tuesday, we spent some time with Dave, Janelle, & Katelyn (Janelle is Lowell's sister). That was incredibly enjoyable, and it's always so great to get to know our growing little niece better. She's just so dang adorable.

Don't you just want to pinch her cute little cheekies?

The highlight of Wednesday was going on an adventurous romp through the forest (i.e., river valley) with Jenna.

Sandal-clad Jenna impressed me with her adventurous spirit and graceful ice-maneuvering. It was springy warm outside, but the trail we traipsed had random blocks of intense ice that couldn't be avoided- so we embraced those moments.

All I clearly remember about Thursday is trying a yoga class with Lowell. I thought it was very brave of Lowell to join me! Turns out that I suck and Lowell's an all-star. While the instructor was leading the class, another lady walked around and made sure that everyone was performing the postures appropriately. She corrected me 4 or 5 times in the first 20 minutes. Did she approach Lowell at all? Nope! Lowell was right in there. He turned to me with a sly little grin and said, "rookie". Who's the flexible, limber female in this relationship anyway?

I don't remember what we did for the rest of the week/weekend (other than the naps), but I do know that it was very relaxing and fun. I just don't have any pictures to remind myself of this fact (or prove it to you).

And now, after a week back at work, JAJ (Julie Anne Joy—Lowell's sis) just got here! We're gonna live it up in springy Edmonton!

Sleeping Beauty

I'm not the only 'sleeping beauty' around this household.

(Take special not of his furry companion)

I do, however, believe that I am the more fashion-conscious one.

Life isn’t fair

How unfair is it that International Nap at Work Day lands during my SPRING BREAK?

Goodness knows I love my naps- and always have…