Our Summer RV Trip July 2017!!

So, we have both wanted to have an RV Family Trip for a long time now, especially me! With the birth of Jesse, we knew travelling a long distance in our van was just out of the question. We hadn't been to Calgary and surrounding areas for a few years and really wanted to see our family and friends there. Andrew shopped around for the best deal, and I made plans with everyone we wanted to see and set up times. Miraculously everyone was available and we got to see everyone on our list! So we rented an RV for 10 days and off we went. Starting out Friday, July 10th, 2017. It was super exciting to pack our stuff into the RV and have a look around. The kids were so excited too! Andrew said it was pretty big to drive, and it pulled a bit the whole trip so he had have a good grip on the steering wheel!

We caught the ferry and made it to Hope the first evening. We didn't get the RV till about 6pm, so we were happy for the headstart come Saturday morning! We parked in a church parking lot and woke up to this! Beautiful!

Our plan was to drive all of Saturday and arrive in Calgary Sunday morning sometime. We made a few stops along the way and swam in the Shuwswap! It was awesome and hot weather!

Swim spot #2

On the road again and made it to Calgary that night! We parked in the Wal-mart parking lot.

First stop was to see my brother Mike and his fam! They got to meet baby Jesse, whom they adored:)

I was so happy to see my brother, Sister in Law Karrie and my nieces and nephews again! I always miss them. Our next stop was to see our long time friends, the Kutarnas. We love them so much and they are some of our closest friends. We were in the same YSA ward back in the day and we got married within a few weeks of each other so we were in the same family ward which is where we got to know each other. I was Alex's VT, and we became friends that way. She is a beautiful Mother and I look up to her for her dedication to motherhood and her abilites. We lived in Bowness just down the road from each other. We have always made an effort to see them and keep in touch, and they have come to visit us in BC before too! The kids all ran wild and even made up a song, and played so well. Deaner and Kelly were reunited as well and shared a bike ride;)

After our visit with the Kutarnas, we went to see the Kearls! I was so looking forward to seeing Stace and have her meet Jesse! I have known her since I was 16 years old and she has been one of the most influential people in my life. I love her so much. We got to visit while Andrew took off dirt biking with Brian and his friends. I am glad he came back in one piece, it was questionable a few times.

It was hard to leave, but alas we drove on to Red Deer to visit Buckey and Amy and their kids! The crazy part is the last time we saw them, we had 2 kids and they had 1. Now they have 5 and we have 3!! What the! (They had triplets, and then a baby a few weeks younger than Jesse!) So crazy. While the kids were playing on the trampoline, Julian knocked Lily and she lost her first tooth!! They all were going to have a sleep over in Lilly's room, but Julian didn't last long lol. Our one night that we spent out of the RV and in a house was with them.

Buckey made waffles for breakfast, the kids danced and played together. Amy braided Jayna's hair in the morning and sent us off with ice cream sandwiches:) Andrew met Bucky when he was a missionary in his ward. He taught and baptized our sister in law Hilary. Andrew has been in touch ever since and I have come to know and love Bucky and his family too. They are wonderful people. Hats off to them too, they have triplets!! Whoa man. Lily lost her first tooth while we were there! After our late evening and quick morning visit with the Lumsdens, we headed to Sundre to visit Auntie Sally for the rest of the day!! She showed us her dirtbike and Daddy took us all on a ride. I screamed the whole time of course. The kids loved their ride though! We went into town and got some treats and explored the river. Then a storm came in ( typical Alberta!! ) and we had to get out of the water! We headed home just in time, and saw the downpour from Sally's house! The kids didn't want to leave Auntie Sally and clinged to her!!

Group shot!

Next, we drove to Carstairs to visit my Auntie Nee Nee!! My kids adore her and she adores them and I was so excited to have them see her again as she was so good to me growing up, especially as a teen and young adult. I lived with her before my mission too in Calgary. She had to step our to help her grand daughter in Calgary, so we killed some time at the splash park in Carstairs and I made some sandwiches for us. Handy having the RV for that I tell ya! The poem " A Sacred Date " has always been in her house, and I memorized it when I lived with her. It is a poem dear to my heart and I can still say it word for word 12 years later:) I was lucky to also see my cousins Anna and Shelby, and Anna came with us to the candy store in Carstairs and splurged on some cool candy! Then we had to work our way back to Calgary....see you later "Mee Mee" as my kids call her...

On our passing through Calgary we stopped at my brother's house again for an afternoon. He lives in the perfect location when heading out of town since he's right off McCleod Dr on the way to Southern Alberta. We went to their community Lake in Chapparel.

So hard to say goodbye to my brother, always. Then we travelled onto Fort Mcleod, we stopped so Andrew and Jayna could take a dip in a river. Julian was sleeping, and I took Jesse out for some sun. He was such a good baby the whole trip. He is 7-8 weeks during our RV trip.

We stopped at my sister Loni's and spent the night parked in her driveway. We got to spend the morning with her and my brother in law Darren. The kids got to sit on their horse and explore the farm. It was a very short and sweet stop... I used to come most summers with my Dad to visit my sister and her kids. I learned how to drive on the back roads by her house too. Of all my siblings on my Dad's side I am closest to Loni because I've spent the most time with her. She is a good woman:)

We left mid day and drove straight to Cranbrook and met our friends at Wasa Provincial Campground! Dayln and Amanda live in Mahogony in Calgary, but we missed them there by one day. So we planned to meet them at the end of their vacation at Wasa Lake so that we could see each other. This was a highlight of our trip for sure, so we ended with a bang! They took us to their family lake house property and we went out on the boat! Dayln and Andrew did some wakeboarding, and then he took the kids out one by one which they both loved tremendously! They played music on the boat and it was great fun! The kids had a lot of fun at the campground as well, and Andrew's pulled out his metal detector haha. Once all the kids were in bed the 4 of us played cards in our RV, except Jayna was still awake so she hung out with us too. It was a fun summer night making good memories. The next day we went to such a beautiful lake nearby and went swimming. It was some of the most clear water and very warm! Some of us did some cliff jumping, and we made friends with people there and they lent us their boats, and we played in the water. Then we ended with lunch at Boston Pizza. It was hard again to say goodbye. Dayln is one of my oldest friends, (since I was 15) and one of my truest friends as well. I have come to develop a friendship with Amanda and they are both such good examples to Andrew and I. I always leave hanging out with them wanting to be a better person:) I am so grateful for all our wonderful and amazing friends and family and that we got to see them all!! We have more friends and family in Alberta than where we live, which makes me kind of sad. But I guess it makes it an exciting place to visit:)

We headed home after Cranbrook and stopped at Christina Lake for a pit stop. We drove down a quiet rode to park for night time. Andrew took the kids out to the field for a bike ride, but they didn't last long because of the mosquitos! We caught the ferry home and took the RV back:( It was a long, bumpy, happy, joyful, fun, exciting trip. One for the books! Jesse was such a good baby, the older two were great for the most part;) I don't want to forget sleeping with jesse in the back bed and flying up off the mattress as I was holding onto him when there were bumps! The air conditioning didn't work so at times it was stinking hot. What an adventure, and we want to do it again for sure in a few years!