I finally got to meet my cute baby nephew Benson...
Oh boy its been a long time since I've written a blog. Here goes... we had a great time in Canada over Christmas! We had the "opportunity" of being there during a cold snap. It was -35 Celsius pretty much the whole time we were there! Usually a cold snap lasts 1 or 2 weeks max but not this time... it was truly freezing out the whole 3 weeks we were there! I was actually up there for a whole month, I went a week before Chad and it wasn't too cold but a few days before Chad came, it got really cold! You would think that we wouldn't have done too much with it being so dang cold out but pretty much everyday was eventful. Before Chad came up I went downhill skiing at Sunshine with my mom and Jean (a friend of ours). It was beautiful snow and it snowed the whole day we were there which made for even better snow while were skiing! It was perfect. I told Chad that he had better learn how to ski when we move up there otherwise he'll never see me in the winter!
We went to a Christmas concert the night before skiing that a (large) group of many talents called "Northern Lights" performed. There was a concerto, symphony, orchestra, choir, a skit and a lady who played a solo on a harp (she has a CD out but I can't remember her name). What a way to get into the Christmas spirit! It was an amazing show. I also got to see my librarian from Grade 5 perform in the choir. I saw several of my old teachers there at intermission also. I saw my old principal and he remembered me from elementary school! I love going home, it brings back so many great memories!
My mom treated us all to Nutcracker! We had a girls night out and all drove to Calgary. My mom, sister, sister-in-law, 2 nieces and my moms friend and her granddaughter all went. We left the boys at home and they watched a hockey game. I'd never been to the Nutcracker before that. It was so amazing!! We are going to try to make it a tradition from now and go see it every year! I think I was the only one there who hadn't seen it yet... another great way to get into the Christmas spirit!
Nutcracker (I'm not in the pic because we needed someone to take it)
We had a really good visit with my family. There was a lot of driving to see everyone but it was fun. The roads weren't the best... there was perma-ice on them the whole time we were there and it snowed almost everyday. It made it difficult to travel in but we managed to make our rounds. I can't remember how many different beds we slept in but there were a lot! It is so fun to see family!
We went to a guy's house who has over 100,000 Christmas lights on it... you can see his house from space. The guy who does that every year happens to be my old science teacher. He is such an energetic, fun guy! He's retired now but when he was a teacher, he had Canada's biggest school zoo in his science classroom! It was fun going to his class because while we were sitting in class we got to hold our choice of animal. I usually held a hamster or a parrot but one day I wanted to be cool and hold a snake... that got me over my fear of snakes really fast! The stinker got caught in my hair though so that was creepy. Anyway, back on topic... we had fun going to his house even though it was bitterly cold out! He also has his backyard decorated and different trails you could walk down to look at stuff. This teacher remembered me from Grade 7... I must have made a real impression on my teachers (good I hope... sure, let's just say that).
We went tobogganing but it was so cold. We lasted for an hour which is pretty good considering how cold it was!
As I write, I'm looking at my pictures to remember everything we did. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of everything we did.
We went to my nephew Cameron's hockey game. He had a few of them but we could only make it to one. I can't believe he is already 14! The last time we got to see him play hockey was 2 years ago, the last time we were in Canada for Christmas! A lot has changed since then! They are body-checking now and playing a lot more aggressively now... it was a little tough for me to watch... I didn't want anyone hurting my little Cam... well big Cam now but still little to me.
We spent New Year's at my older sisters. We played board games and ate and ate and ate. We were so busy playing "What" that we missed the countdown for New Year's so we celebrated it about 10 minutes after midnight.
Happy New Year!!! (with ski boots on that my sister got for Christmas... breaking them in for her)
Chad has been talking with a dentist who needs a partner in Red Deer, Alberta so we went and visited him while we were there. This dentist (Dr. Dolynchuck) wants to get involved more with the business part of dental offices. Currently he owns 4 offices and is building a 10 million dollar medical building which is where Chad will be working if he decides to team-up with this doctor. Chad wants to be his associate for 6 months to a year before he buys in. Hopefully he wants to wait for Chad to be done with dental school although we aren't holding our breaths. They really seemed to hit it off though and that's what's most important when you're partnering with someone so we are pretty excited to get in with this guy. He's a great guy and Chad's pretty excited for the opportunity.
I feel bad because I didn't get any pics of Christmas with my dad because I forgot my camera when we went there.
Oh what great times we had... why can't it be December every month?? It was really hard to come home and I still miss my family and friends too much but I'm getting better with each day that goes by. It makes going home that much more exciting when I haven't seen anyone for a long time.
Bath time for the cute little guy (Benson)...
Brooklyn showing me her moves from her ballet class...
Sadie & Brooklyn taping themselves into a box...
Brooklyn kissing her little brother... this picture is so cute!
Megan & I
Chad & Megan
Cam, Sadie & Megan
Me and my honey...
Brooky with pajamas on her head and missing teeth...
Poor Dawson... I'll be showing his girlfriend this when he's older ha ha!!
Me and the darling baby...
My brother Jon & Cameron at Cam's hockey game...
There are more pictures so if you're interested in looking at them you can follow these links (there are 2 different albums)...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97175&l=7819b&id=677497176
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97186&l=0dca9&id=677497176
Dr. Ancajas swearing Chad in.
ach year after school the National Guard will disburse $25,000 as a bonus. There is a small risk of being deployed for 90 days but only 15% of dentists in the National Guard have been deployed since 2001. I am excited for the opportunity to serve my country and I am excited that my country wants to make our (Mandy and I) lives a lot easier while in school.
For those familiar with EKGs, this is pretty much what my heart rhythm looked like. There shouldn't be so many small humps between the large spikes. Below is what a normal heart rhythm should be on an EKG. Big difference huh? (or eh? for our canadian readers)
.JPG)
