Oh Canada!

A couple weeks ago I got to go home for a week and a half and it was awesome. TJ was on the east coast doing some training for his new job, so I decided I didn't want to stick around here by myself and be bored, so I went home!

My first day there we went to Heritage Park! I went there all the time as a kid. So many memories. They've got a whole bunch of historical things there and it's so fun. They've got gasoline alley where there are old cars etc. (Grandpa's fave), there are also old shops, one room school houses, a delicious bakery, candy shop, old rides, old houses you can tour, and it's just a lot of fun to see a bit of history come to life.

Here are my cute grandparents just walkin' along. Love them.

My mom and I got there just in time to join my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for lunch. Aunt Mel and her boys were there, and I had no idea, so it was so great to see them!! After lunch we went on the S.S. Moyie.

Me and Mom rockin' the wind-blown look on the boat

I mentioned there are old rides...and my grandma is cool enough to still ride them. She went on the carousel...

...and on the ferris wheel!

I don't know many 81 year olds that still do that!

My cousins, Adam and Jacob. They were thoroughly embarrassed at our screaming the entire time we were on the ride (that's how you have fun right?!) and were thrilled I was taking pictures :)

We had to go to the bakery and get gingerbread men. Best. Gingerbread men. Ever. Yum!

Last stops of the day were to the candy store and then the ice cream shop.

It was really fun getting to hang out with some of my mom's side of the family. And great to get to go to Heritage Park!

Mom had a lot of blueberries...so we made some yummy blueberry syrup!

And blueberry pies! So good that we finished it straight from the pie tin, even though we were stuffed from dinner (and a full piece of pie for dessert...) Aunt Lu, Aunt Lisa, Kira, and me.

Sometimes I forget things I love about Canada until I'm there. Things like:

Horizontal traffic lights (and the stampede flags on top!)

Sour soothers!! For those who don't know, in Canada most people call a pacifier/binky/etc. a soother. It just so happens that they make little candies like a little soother. I love 'em. They're similar to sour patch kids.

Other things, I miss and crave until I get home again. Like ketchup chips. Mmmm...

And timbits. They're doughnut holes from Tim Hortons. But they're the best doughnut holes.

And of course, CANADIAN SLURPEES!!!!!!!!! Had these on several occasions. It was so fun to have Josh home to go on slurpee runs with :)

When I came home, TJ still had about 5 days left to spend on the east coast. (we were apart for just over 2 weeks!! That was no fun.) When I got back he had left me cute little notes for each day until he got home, and he left me this one on the soap in the shower....

Such a sweet husband :) Makes me smile.

Oh I love Canada!! I'm so glad I got to go. Hopefully next time TJ will get to come with me. That would make it the best :)

Last Days in Provo

Let's be honest, packing all day gets pretty old...and I get a little grumpy when all I do is pack for days on end. So our last week in Provo, while it was definitely filled with a LOT of packing, we also found some chances to get out and enjoy life in Provo :)

We rode our bikes up Provo Canyon to Vivian Park one day. It was perfect weather! It's such a beautiful trail. I miss the canyon.

We took some Subway for a picnic lunch :)

At Vivian Park!

TJ bought us backpacks that are the camelbak type and we had fun playing with 'em :)

We realized it's hard to get pictures while you are riding a bike...but we still got a few :)

This was my attempt at getting both of us on our bikes.

Also...if you haven't seen the video of the little boy's speech after he learns to ride his bike...please click here and enjoy. I am so glad I "know how to wide a bike!" Even if you have seen it...it's totally worth watching again. Hilarious!

Another fun little side track was Brad and Angie having their baby girl!! Abigail Jane came a few days early, which worked out perfectly for us because we got to meet her! Congrats Brad and Angie! The cute little Hunter family :)

Me holding little Abby. She's such a little cutie! If you want to see more pictures of Abby you can go to Brad and Angie's blog.

Another day, we decided we should hike Stewart Falls together because we hadn't done it before. Another excuse to get away from the packing :)

Hiking on the trail

Coming around the corner to Stewart Falls.

Me at the top.

We made it! We've both done this hike with other people, but never together. I'm glad we finally got to!

We also did fireworks almost every night the last week we were there :) We brought some fireworks back with us from Washington because Utah changed the firework laws :) It was awesome!

Those were our last adventures in Provo! So far we are loving Idaho Falls :) Updates on the move soon....

4th of July weekend

I've been wanting to blog for a long time now, but it's just been so crazy and busy with moving etc. and then we didn't have the internet until Friday, so hooray for blogging!! And I will post pictures of the whole moving process and of our new place once we're all settled in. We're mostly unpacked, so it should be soon...

We made a last minute road trip to Chehalis for the weekend of the 4th and surprised TJ's family. We only told his parents, so everyone else, especially Kaeli, was excited to see us :) I am so glad we went home for this holiday! It's been pretty much tradition to do so, and I'm so glad we could keep it up this year, including celebrating Canada Day!!! We got out some big sparklers and ground blooms to celebrate.

We had a blast trying to get cool pictures. I didn't even try to do this perfect circle! Impressive, I know.

Even TJ's dad (whose favorite pass time is to make fun of Canada :)) came out to celebrate. He secretly loves Canada, I know it.

My sweet mother in law :)

For the 4th Whitney wanted to try making cake pops! Mmm I love cake pops. So yummy. This was our little work station. Ryan and TJ were really good at helping eat the ones that fell apart :)

I think they turned out pretty cute! We had a ton of them. We made like 92 or something.

Naps were also an essential part of this weekend for the boys. Haha!

If you don't already know, I can't have dairy. Yes, it sucks. I know. I use almond milk, and I actually really like it. I use it for my cereal, to cook with, etc. and my mother in law had the idea to try and make ice cream with it! We just left out the cream. I didn't get a picture of the finished product, but it was delicious!! Best day of my life. Thank you, Kendra!

Now on to the festivities of the 4th. This has come to be one of my most favorite holidays. Being an Emrich, it almost has to be :) It's kind of a big deal around their house, and I absolutely love it! The Emrich's had about 48 people at their house for a bbq, all family and close friends. It was a lot of people and a lot of fun! This picture was after the bbq so no one is in the background...haha...but this is me and my sweet, handsome hubby on the 4th!

After the bbq TJ, Nic and Matt (an old neighbor and good friend of the Emrich's) shot off a bunch of parachutes for the little kids to chase.

Then it was on to the 4 wheelers and dirt bikes! This is Grayson (TJ's cousin) and his girlfriend, Sarah.

We hooked up a little trailer to one of the 4 wheelers and took kids for rides around the field. It was so fun! I'm wearing goggles because my allergies are SO BAD in Chehalis. Ugh. Hate allergies. But I love this pic :)

The kids had an absolute blast riding in the trailer. We'd take 'em down the hill to the beach on the river and they'd scream and chant "again! again!" It was really cute. We did several rounds of rides so all the kids could have a turn, and then one time we went over a bump and the hitch came off and we lost the trailer! It was hilarious! Haha. The kids were so freaked out. We hooked 'em back up and went a little bit further and then the hitch came off again! Oops. One of the kids got out and starting walking in the field because he didn't want to be in the trailer anymore, haha! I went and got him and he sat up front on TJ's lap. Another girl was too afraid to stay in the trailer so I had her on my lap and I sat backwards and kind of made sure the hitch would stay on while we drove back up to the house. It was absolutely hilarious. Poor kids!! When we got back to the house they were all saying things like " do NOT go on this thing! We fell off!" Too funny.

When the sun was setting we went down to the beach (TJ's parent's property is bordered by the river, so they have a little beach down there) and set up for the night. We had lots of chairs, tiki torches to keep away the bugs, supplies for s'mores, and lots and lots of fireworks :)

And a huge fire. Of course.

We shot off fireworks for quite a long time! Probably a couple hours. I love fireworks. They are so beautiful to watch, and they're just fun to light off and see what they're going to do. We don't have a super cool camera, but this picture is still pretty cool.

Me lighting off fireworks :) Happiness.

I truly am so grateful to live in this country. I feel so blessed to have so many freedoms and to live in a land of such great abundance and opportunity. I am grateful to those who gave/give their lives so I have the privilege. Hooray for America!

After the 4th we just hung out in Chehalis for a while. It was kind of nice not having to go back to Provo for anything, we basically had no ties there at all. We just had to move, but the dates were still yet to be determined, so we just enjoyed being with family.

This is what a good time looks like at the Emrich home:

We had a lot of fun riding :)

We also got to meet our sweet little niece Jane! Nic and Becki had their little girl a couple weeks early, and I'm so glad she came when she did so we could meet her! She is so cute and so sweet. We didn't get hardly any pictures, only this one. Sorry it's blurry.

I am so glad we got to take this road trip! It might be the last one we take together for a long time. It was a blast! Love being with family. Love being in Chehalis (even with allergies). Love being with TJ. Life's good :)