A mighty fine crew

Growing up we always went out to the cabin in Invermere, BC. I was so sad when my parents sold their cabin, and sad that my kids could never experience all the fun times I had there growing up. It was the best summer vaca spot and we would spent weeks and weeks there. We shared it with 3 other families, mostly our relatives. anyway we would end up going up for our week then a few of us would stay up when our next cousins would come, and then when our friends would come and it was just fun all summer long at the lake. 

Anyway, since i have been married, I have come home every summer for at least a month and I have loved every summer that i spend up here in the perfect weather and away from the Texas heat. Well for the last 6 years we have come up and gone out to my Dad's sail boat that is out in Victoria, BC. I have been able to get certified and cruise around the islands with my parents and have also loved the memories of that and bringing my kids out there to do that. I have some great funny stories and have seen some of the most beautiful things in my life out there. Boat life is so different than anything I have ever known! 

soooo....point of all of this is that my Dad is selling the boat to my uncle who lives in Australia and they needed to get the boat down there. The journey will take several months and the first leg of the journey is from Victoria to Hawaii. The Crew got wound up and Brian of course jumped on that!! It has been something that we always thought would be cool to do and he wanted to go, and could with the flexibility of his company. 

This last weekend we headed out to BC to see the boat off... so we spent a few days in the cutest little town called Chemainus. We usually only go there by boat and it is so small and quaint that it was strange to actually stay there and drive in by car! It is a town known for its murals painted everywhere and the little theatre with live plays year round. The kids loved all the hotels and playing at the boat on the docks waiting for the crew to finish up the preparations to leave. 

 My Cousin Brookie. I haven't seen her in 14 years and it was SO fun to see her since she spent over a year with us when I was 16 years old. She became my sister and I love her so much. She is only a few months younger than me and it was so fun to catch up and meet her husband!

 Boots had a blast running up and down the docks catching star fish, spotting jelly fish, feeding clams to the crabs and watching the boats come and go. Mom bought him a little kids fishing pole that he really wanted opened up and everyone was just a little busy getting things done around the dock and boat. We were kind of scattered. All of a sudden, I hear cries coming from along the dock and soon realized it was boots. I see him running at me holding his arm with blood coming out everywhere. My first thought was a fish hook got caught and we took him down to the boat to get cleaned up and see what was going on. I finally got the story out of him that he wanted to open his pole and he went down into Grandads cabin and found a brand new pocket knife, opened it up and started to try and open his pole. he sliced his thumb in the process. Typical boots. just a little emergency before the boat took off!

 Brian has been growing out his beard for several weeks and then the day before he came, he shaved his head. He had never done this before and although I couldn't stop looking at him at first and touching his head, I think I kinda like it! haha

 Here is everyone before they took off....

 I had tears in my eyes and rolling down my face. I know they will be fine but I am a little nervous about it all and hope they make it ok and everything runs smoothly. It is such a scary amazing adventure they are taking!

We then turned around and got on the ferry to come home. the kids thought the ferry was the coolest thing ever!! We watched the beautiful sunset from there!

meet the CREW:

BROOKIE "Mary Ann"

                                                              Brian "Ginger"

                                                            Dad "Captain"

                                                              Tim (Brookes hubby) "Gilligan"

                                                           Uncle Rick "The Pirate"

                                                                Garrett "the professor"

So safe sailing guys and see ya in 3 weeks!!!

If you would like to follow their sailing blog it is on my blog role on the side... it is called "voyage of the Fury IV" They send me info in texts or short calls daily and I will keep it updated. thefuryiv.blogspot.com 

Floods

Calgary, Alberta, CANADA. It was a City where I was born and raised. I come back every Summer and usually Christmas. It is the most beautiful city and place that I have ever been to. It is clean and fresh and the mountain views are gorgeous. I never knew how awesome and pretty it was until I left for Texas. 

Dont get me wrong, I am not saying anything bad about Texas...I LOVE Texas. But it just isn't Calgary. 

So we arrived last week and the day we arrived it was raining. It had been raining for days and the River that goes from the mountains through the city and south through southern Alberta had flooded. Never before since my parents have lived there (40 years) has this ever happened. I actually don't think  it has ever happened. These pictures aren't in Calgary but they are in the town where my parents live. you cant even tell the depth of it all without knowing how it usually looks, but it is crazy.

The flooding took out entire towns along the way and tore houses down the river. They evacuated 100,000 people out of the their homes and thousands of homes and cars are destroyed. Thick mud is all that remains now and there is a huge need for volunteers to help clean up. Thousands around the city have chipped in to help out and it has been really neat to be here to see the City come together to help one another. 

We went out to the dam close by my parents house where they had opened 3 of the gates to let the water out slowly. It was insane.

At least they got to enjoy the aftermath of the rain... hundreds of worms that they quickly collected named and cared for. It made me want to vomit. Gross! Wormy and squirmy were the most loved of all the worms. 

Beauty of a night

We went out to our first rangers game of the season as a family tonight. It was kinda hot when we got there and I was a little worried about sweating and whining, but it was a perfect beautiful night!!

A whole bunch of food and candy later... And a little explaining about baseball and the kids wanted to stay longer and longer. We stayed until the top of the 7th but walked away sad because we didn't get to see the fireworks for a home run! 

Love nights like this out as a family!! They were so good and actually super interested on the game for once! Courtney lived every time anyone slid into a base and boots loved watching them be sneaky stealing 2nd base! 

Long days

Well I've been gone at girls camp all week long and I missed the kids so much!! Girls camp was great, another post will follow on that. 

The week before camp mom was in town and we stayed busy swimming, build a bear, bowling with friends, temple, shopping, eating, and just relaxing with momma. I love when she comes and I am sad when she goes. 

Brian and I went on a date tonight, Saturday, to see a little concert for a group called a hard nights day. They play all Beatles songs and were so good! The Beatles have the best music! We then got dinner and went to see superman. We didn't get home till 230am!! I am pooped!!

I'm tired. I don't have much to report other than I am tired and I missed my peeps this week while I was gone. 

Warning... Gruesome post

It started like this... 

It ended like this....

The big boys were doing flips into pool, and of course the 4 year old wanted to be like the 8 & 10 year old... And Flipped into the pool bashing his head on the side of the pool. 

Libby watched it happen and I immediately yanked him out of the pool. His poor little head was gushing blood. 1 ER visit, and 5 very painful stitches later... He was on the mend and back at being crazy and running around. He is so brave and still maintained his composure through it all. 

Nat

It was a beautiful night last night and Natalie and I went out on an evening walk. She told me she wanted to have 6 kids, 3 boys and 3 girls when she is married. Then she asked me if I went on a mission or got married... Haha I took the next little while to tell her the story of how Brian and I met and fell in love. At the part when Brian sang to me, I started to sing to Natalie. She got so embarrassed and asked me to stop. I laughed and told her that's how I felt when dad did it to me! 

It was a fun little walk together just the two of us.