The Rest of Canada

After we left Jasper, we drove 5 hours to my sister's house in Grande Prairie, AB. We stayed with my Shawnelle and her family for one night. We enjoyed touring their "farm" via quad, eating the finest from the well-known Alpine Outfitter kitchen, and playing with the kitchen. We had to be at an outdoor wedding at 6:00am the following morning, so we packed up and headed to Shawnelle's in-laws for the night (shaving off an hour of driving time in the morning).

The morning of the wedding I awoke to the sound of pouring rain. It was dreary and cold all day, but thankfully the worst of the rain held off for the ceremony where we sat outdoors with no shelter. The weather didn't seem to affect the bride and groom one bit. They seemed very happy to be getting married, rain or shine. This was not your typical wedding, as you might gather from the picture. That is a three-tiered wedding pie they are cutting. They had a country western theme with some very unique ideas. Definitely a one-of-a-kind wedding!

As soon as the reception was over we headed to my parents place which was a stopping off point on the way to my Gramma's cabin at Clearwater Lake in The Pas, Manitoba. It was a seven hour drive to Wainwright where my parent's farm is. It is amazing how many car games there are, yet they still get old after seven hours!

The following day we again got in the car to begin the 8 hour drive to Manitoba. It is amazing how little there is to see on that trip. There are more open fields than you can count and I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to live out there in the middle of nowhere. Even the police don't hang out there. In all of our travels totaling one day and seventeen hours we saw a total of . . . (drum roll please) two cop cars.

Being at the lake brought back so many memories for me. It was neat to be able to show Matt some of the history of our family and the memories that shaped us. The one thing that we had always done there is take pictures of the sunset. Every time I go I take more pictures of the sunset, but somehow pictures cannot capture the beauty and wonder of the real thing.

We spent some time tubing and water skiing and probably would have even more if the water had been warmer. The lake typically stays fairly cold because it is so large. (It is approximately 15 miles wide and 15 miles long. Water depth can be more than 100 feet deep in may parts of the lake.) We enjoyed cruising in the boat and even went across the lake to "explore". Actually, we were on a mission to find a waterfall we had been told about. We were all a little disappointed when we finally found it. It was two feet tall at the most! Although the falls were disappointing, we had a lot of fun along the way.

To add interest to the week, I had planned a photo scavenger hunt. We were separated into four teams, each with a child, and given a list of items to find and photograph. We had most of the day to accomplish this. We were judged on creativity and the number of locations photographed (with the point being to get out of the house). My Aunt and Uncle came out to judge the pictures at the end of the day. We had pictures that were as random as this ball, and as amazing as this lake shot. But the one that I am sure won first place, was the one of Amber on the beach. They don't come much cuter than that!

Since we had everyone together, we had to get some family pictures. When we finally got everyone together and changed locations 3 times to get out of the sun and avoid the shadows, this was the final result.Now we are back home again, trying to adjust to life in the fast lane again. On August 29th we will find out if we will be staying in New Jersey or looking for a new church/job. Your prayers would be much appreciated.