Last Days of summer

The end of summer came before I could even think of when it had started. I didn’t realize how fast four months could go by, so I guess it’s true what people say; “time flies when you’re having fun” and did I ever have fun this summer.

Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. ~Charles Richards

As mentioned earlier in my blogs the majority of my summer was spent in Churchill, Manitoba working with Sea North Tours. However there was a week during July that I was able to return to my hometown (Burns Lake) to attend my friends Kelsey and Trent’s wedding. It was fun to see many of my friends from back in the day, as well as being able to have some down time from Churchill.

Prior to the wedding, I was able to spend time with my good friend Hilary. She and I had a chance to meet and get our picture taken with Justin Bieber! Unfortunately it wasn’t really him, just a large cardboard cut out of him as a way of promoting his new perfume ‘someday’ which oddly enough smells good. Of course from there Hilary got to play dress-up with me. She helped me pick out some awesome new clothes for my upcoming school year, because apparently I have no taste.

Saturday July 9 was the day of the wedding. The night before we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner then later that night Hilary and I had did our nails. Saturday morning the bridal van came and picked me up and us ladies headed down to get our hair and makeup done. We all looked absolutely amazing, especially the bride. From there we hurried to steam our dresses and get them put on. We did this at my friend Michelle’s parent’s house, where they served us a nice treat. It didn’t sink in that my friend Kelsey was actually getting married until she walked down the stairs in her wedding dress. She looked so beautiful that it almost brought tears to my eyes, but I didn’t want to ruin my makeup.

Kim (bride's sister)

Michelle (MOH)

Berly and I

Kelsey (th bride)

Angel (brides younget sister) and I

Sisters

A few pictures were taken before heading for the hall where any nerves I may have had went out the window. We all walked down the aisle before the bride and then waited as she walked towards her husband to be, being led down the aisle by her father Dale. It was an amazing experience to be a part of.

Mr. and Mrs Trent Hanson

After the ceremony of course was the photo shoot. We first headed down to Radley beach for most of the photos where luckily for us the weather decided to cooperate. The past few days it had been wet out but on this Saturday the sun came out and it was about +26 degrees outside. The bad thing about this heat was that our bridesmaid dresses were black; needless to say I was more than happy when we were done in the heat. From there were headed out of town for more photos, but not without a quick stop at KFC. Now I don’t eat fast food, but how many people can say that a few hours before having a big dinner do you see the whole wedding party going through KFC! Personally I could’ve gone for some fruit, but since that wasn’t an option I sucked it up and waited for dinner (which was amazing).

Can you beleive we've been friends for almost 21(ish) years!

The bridal party's (minus me) pre-dinner

So the wedding went without a hitch, everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves with tons of pictures being taken, lots of dancing being done, tears being shed (good or bad still waiting on that), kissing in almost every corner, and all of this with only a bit of alcohol being involved….Yah right who am I trying to kid…this was a Burns Lake wedding. The best kindaJ

Most importantly the bride and groom were happily married…finally.

From Burns Lake I went back to Churchill for the remainder of July and part of August, where the fun only continued. However, I thought that because I would be leaving Churchill mid August that I would have a few weeks to relax before my final year of school starting. Boy was I wrong!

I flew out of Churchill on August 15, I arrived in Calgary around 430pm. My brother James was nice enough to pick me up. Upon arriving at his house I was met by my other brother Mike whom I hadn`t seem in over a year, so it was nice to be able to spend a bit of time with the two of them. That night I babysat both of my nieces, Hailey and Brookelynn because James and Sarah went to out. This was perfect because I hadn`t seen them since April, and although Hailey was fast asleep Brooke and I had fun.

The next day Sarah and I took the girls to the Calgary Zoo, once there we met up with some friends of Sarah`s. I was an extremely hot day, but perfect for wondering around the zoo. That night I again babysat the girls, this time so James and Sarah could go to hockey. Brooke and I did puzzles, played games, read and even coloured. Keeping a 3 ½ year old busy isn’t as hard as some may think.

Sarah and I also took the girls out to Kanaskisis country while I was visiting, it was a beautiful drive and we got to introduce the girls to nature. Hailey loved it as she picked up pinecones and didn’t have care in the world, while Brooke was a little more hesitant but in the end she did well.

Sarah and her girls

Brookelynn showing me her photography skills

Hailey and I

Friday morning I had planned to head off to my mom’s in Provost, AB which was about a 5hr drive or so. Shortly before I left, Sarah decided that she and the girls were going to come with me. So I had to unpack my already loaded car and put my things in the van. I also helped Sarah get the girls ready and van loaded, and by doing so we were able to head out about 1130am.

Both girls rockin' the t-shirts Gramma got them in Churchill, MB

An added bonus to heading to my mom’s was getting to meet my brother Clint for the first time. Sarah and the girls and I stopped in Settler at a local restaurant to meet Clint. It was awesome being able to finally meet him after almost 1.5 years of talking. I was glad that Sarah was able to come too, she had said afterwards that it wasn’t an awkward meeting it was like we’d known him for years. So that was really important to me. And of course the girls didn’t mind either, although I think they were more interested in the fact that Clint had brought his dog Duke. We were able to visit for a few hours before continuing on our journey to Provost.

Clint, Myself, Hailey and Brooke

We arrived in Provost around 6pm and it was a surprise for my mom because she thought that only I was coming to visit, so she was excited to see that Sarah and the girls had decided to come as well. We didn’t get a very long visit at my mom’s because the next day we left early and headed to Sylvan Lake to meet James at the waterslides, in which we spent a few hours.

Brookelynn on my shoulders heading into the Waterslide. James and his girls playing in the water

I headed back to my mom’s with her on the Sunday as we were heading to the Okanagan from there in a few days. I did get a chance to stop in Camrose, AB to do some shopping. Camrose was where I was planning on going to school for my degree but instead moved to the Okanagan and from there to Lethbridge, but it was nice to see how much it had changed. Once arriving back in Provost, mom gave me the tour around the town before heading back to her place. I was able to relax for a few days while visiting my mom, as well I was able to go through some of my things that she had packed up for me. The night before we were leaving, I loaded the van up with all of the things that I wanted to take home since we were doing a stop in Lethbridge.