Oh Canada!

Well, it has been a long time. Half the time I forget what I was going to blog about but most of the time, I just don't have time to sit down and type it out.

Well, this summer was great. We did a lot of swimming (Well when the weather was warm) but it was fun. On July 23rd we also left Cedar Rapids at 12:15 p.m. and drove to Alberta! I drove it alone with 6 kids. It was fine. We got to somewhere (I can't remember where it was) around 6:00 p.m. and stopped for supper and let them run around. I was hoping to get to Rapid City around 10:00 p.m. but it was more like 11:00 p.m. so I just kept driving until around 12:30 a.m. and then parked at a hotel and just slept in the van. I was not going to haul all the kids out. I also wanted to keep going when I woke up. Which I did around 1:30 a.m. so we kept driving. Then I got tired again and so I stopped for about 1 1/2 hours. But by 2:00 p.m. the next afternoon we pulled into my parents. My sisters were great. They called me at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning to make sure I was okay because they new I was going to keep driving. Heather said I could have whatever I wanted of hers just for driving up. It is a lot to drive up but you do forget about the drive after a while. Even thinking of it now it does not seem so bad. I think 3 weeks and you forget about the drive.

Well, we had so much fun in Canada. We visited friends and family and spent some great time together. I ate my weight in ice cream slurpies but THEY ARE SOOO GOOD! I loved the chocolate bars up there! Wunderbars, Aero, Big Turk, AAAAHHH! They are awesome. My mom actually brought me a box of wunderbars when she came for Ridley's baptism. Anyway, it was so much fun. Neil and his dad took 5 of the kids camping. That was great. I just had Reece for 3 days. It was very nice. I read a book, relaxed. Went out for lunch with Neil's mom and shopping. What a great little break. I NEVER GET BREAKS LIKE THAT so it was really nice. They even had a blast camping. I said we would not go up again for 3 years but I am wondering if we might change our minds. That was a lot of fun for the kids. Neil and his dad had a great time too.

Neil drove up a week after me. We had trouble with his passport in that THEY DID NOT SEND IT TO HIM!!! They said we didn't put his occupation and address of where he works. They said they called 3 times BUT THERE WERE NEVER ANY MESSAGES. Anyway, I was mad at Passport Canada at that point. I ended up calling the border and he got up with his Birth Cert. (since we are canadian) and a photo ID. To get back down to the US. They said he just needed his Greencard. I called 2 different borders 3 times to make sure. If you get someone who is having a bad day letting you through they can make your life miserable. Well, they let us through just fine. They just wanted to take our picture and fingerprints. YEAH!.

Anyway, it was a great time up there. I love my family and friends so much and it was so nice to see them. But I also LOVE Iowa with all my wonderful friends and it was nice to come home to Iowa.

1 week after we got home my mom flew out. She came for Ridley's baptism. Which was on his Birthday . It was so nice. I am so glad my mom was able to come. We had a few days together. It was so much fun. We laugh and laugh and pee our pants. It is fun. Anyway, SCHOOL STARTED which is GREAT!~ I was so excited to get school back in. I love my kids so much but I love when school gets back in. I have just enjoyed my days with 2 kids. We clean, and play and sit and relax and it is very nice. Thank you teachers for taking great care of our kids in school!!!!

Anyway, life goes on. We are enjoying our little family. Reece has started to walk. He loves to play with everything I would rather him not play with. I tell him he has 5 kids worth of toys to play with and he just will not play with them all the time. He would much rather play with everything I don't want him to play with.

Anyway, Austyn has been running in Cross Country and she is doing so good. The kids all love school and enjoy their teachers. They are such great kids and I love them so much. They can drive me crazy but I love them.

It has been beautiful weather. I have been running outside all summer and it has been great. I finally made the 4 mile run. I am so excited and I think I am really enjoying running I ache to go outside for a run. I know however there are days when I run that I don't think I will ever want to run again because it was hard but when I have a good run it excites me more.

Well, I am signing off. Have a great day!