Oh CANADA!

Last Monday we decided to head even further north, the true north strong and free - that is Canada! Now, I'm American born and proud of my flag, but there's still the Canadian part of me that remains loyal to the maple leaf and takes their side certain times as well....specifically when it comes to hockey=) We went to my Uncle Darel and Aunt WillaMae's house, he's my mom's brother who I haven't seen in ages and ages. What a treat it was to spend the evening with them and introduce my kids to the Tozer relatives. For a part of the time we were there my parents and Chad were there as well - here's Chad and Uncle Darel playing a game I never want to learn, Chess=(

Later in the evening we put the youngest ones to bed and played 'Catch Phrase'. It was too much fun! Logan played for the first time and was so cute to watch, he did remarkably well!

From my uncle's we headed to the Miramichi where my Mom's side of the family is from. On the way we stopped at the hospital in Moncton to see my grandmother. She's been living at home until recently when she was diagnosed with cancer. With a pre-existing diagnosis of Parkinson's and the treatment for radiation she's going through it has meant a permanent hospital stay for her. Thankfully she know the Lord and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to see her and to re-introduce her to our kids, specifically Jesse and Alana who she'd never met. As we were all saying goodbye Matthew took a short video that will, in the years to come, be very special to me. (I didn't know he was filming so it cuts off at the end since I stood right in front of it....)

From there we drove up to see my grandfather, in the Miramichi, and spent the evening with him at the Taylor's house who invited us over for supper. They've been friends of our family, specifically my mom, for years and it was fun to see them again. Also there was their son David, who is my age, and he entertained the kids outside for quite some time. I think Zachery had more fun there driving his 4-wheeler than the rest of the trip combined=)

Cute Monica peeking around the tree!

Alana enjoyed their dog, Daisy, and led her around on the leash for quite some time. How much Daisy enjoyed it is debatable=)

The next morning Matthew and I took Grandaddy out for breakfast so we could spend a bit more time with him. After that we said our goodbye's as he headed to Moncton to spend the day with Granny. After 60+ years of faithfulness to each other, it is hard for them to be apart during these rough times.

For our stay at the Miramichi we spend the night at the VanderVeen's, more friends of both our parents who opened their doors to our rowdy bunch and fed us and took care of us for the time we were there. On a side note - the house they live in has apartments in the basement that my mother rented for a time and lived there when I was in college. It is a beautiful spot! Matthew and I even picked out the idea place to build ourselves a new house....how fun it is to dream=)

Here's a random picture of a fiddlehead....anybody ever heard of them before? We've had them to eat several times during our stay - YUMMY!

Here is the front door of the VanderVeen's who are of Dutch ancestry...check out those shoes!

Mr. VanderVeen also took the kids for a ride on a 4-wheeler. They took a big loop around their property while Matthew and I trailed behind taking pictures and enjoying the view of the river and the many miles of trees surrounding the area.

On our way home we went into town to do some shopping a la Canadien - there are some things whose equal can't be found on this side of the border, for example: Crown corn syrup, caramel cakes, flavored chips, Coffee Crisp, and - Monica's find that had me leaping for joy - whipped honey!!! I haven't had any honey like that in at least 16 years!!! I describe it to people and they think they know what I mean but then I'm sadly disappointed. Anyway...enough honey talk=) This is the bridge I've crossed many times going over the Miramichi river.

You probably can't even see the orange box on this picture, but if you blow it up and look close you will see that I've put an box around the south end of a north bound moose, as they say up here. It's the second moose we've seen on our trip and, while we got a good glimpse of it in person, by the time I snapped the camera it was running into the trees. But, I promise, it was there!

In Closing :
To those of you who have faithfully read these long ramblings posts, you have my congratulations. I know it's probably not to interesting reading about someone else's family who live somewhere far away - but this blog is, in a way, my personal journal, keeping up with the day to day events of my life that I'd never be able to remember on my own=)

And now for my favorite picture of the trip so far....courtesy of Monica and my new camera=)