100 mile house

we set out friday night after having dinner, bathing the kids and putting them in their pj's. by abbotsford we stopped to get gas, check fluid levels and feed penny. we decided that we would look for a starbucks in hope and so carried on.

the girls were laughing so hard at...well i'm not sure what, but it was so good for my heart to hear them this way. i tried to get penny laughing too but she stopped as soon as the camera was in her face.

by hope the girls we asleep and we were in travelling mode, and for us that means silence. scott and i have always travelled this way and to some of our friends who come with us, it really bothers them, but to us, its comfort. every so often we ask the question "what are you thinking?" and some sort of conversation usually emerges from that, but for the most part we are fairly quite travelers. without a word of a lie i would say that during this five hour journey we talked for maybe a grand total of an hour and a bit...now, let me tell you about the talking and what it was about. as i have already stated we were waiting until hope to find a starbucks for a tea and a treat...those of you who know hope already know that no such thing exists there, for those of you who didn't know, now you do and i suggest you get your fill before getting there. anyway, back to the story. scott drove the square that is hope in search for our ideas of starbucks and seeing that there were none, we carried on, sure that in the four more hours that are between hope and 100 mile surely there would be a starbucks...maybe even a tims, something. as we left hope we smiled at each other, sure that this adventure would be great. we got to yale with a sign just outside of it saying that there would be food, gas and lodging there...and there was, all in one building with the lights out - dark. and so it would seem that every little town past hope was dark and unaccommodating to the werdal travelers in search for tea and treats. and so the conversation on the way to 100 mile was full of laughs as we soon realized the mistake we had made. we would smile at each town sign and wonder in great anticipation what would be waiting there for us and never were we let down. by the time we got to 100 mile it was just after midnight and the phillips were waiting for us. with a quick tour of the house we got ready for bed and jumped in...then jumped back out as little miss penny had already decided she had slept enough. with five hours of driving behind him, scott got back into the car with his bare feet and pj's and drove until three in the morning when penny chose to close her eyes again. saturday morning came quickly but we were in good spirits and great company. we heading out to see carmens parents home and let me tell you, it was full of adventure. from feeding chickens, to seeing moose, riding atv scotters (as sophie calls them), taking pictures, and sharing great moments together. we couldn't have asked for a better day. that night we shared a great dinner of wild salmon and purple potatoes...i have to say that though they taste great, seeing a purple potato on your plate is a little weird.

at the farm, feeding the chickens

watching the moose with her calfruss and carmenpenny needed a few photos of herselfi saw this building and i thought...great place for photos, so...friends

sunday we headed to green lake as we were invited by some of russ and carmens friends to spend the day together with them. we had some nice conversations and sat outside watching the kids play in the lake. we headed back to 100 mile for a quick dinner, some raspberry picking and got the kids ready for bed and into the car. (we were a little smarter on the drive home, we picked up some tim hortons in 100 mile for a treat later on the road!)

sophie's transition...happens everytime around water.

new friends. soon after this photo it was just sophie on the floaty being pulled by her dad until it was time to go...and then the tears came.penny on the beachthe beautiful carmen who i so enjoyed getting know a bit betterstarting the drive back homesmoke from the forest fires over an hour away. at night at the phillips the smoke and ashes from the fires covered their yard.yeah for family time...and potty timewe had a fantastic weekend. nothing extraordinary, but truly wonderful in every way. thanks friends. we couldn't stop saying what a great time we had and how thankful we are to have such beautiful friends.

saturdays

why do we have to wait all week to play with the ones we love only for a few days...and then wait all over again. it seems odd, this little life we lead. we marry the ones we love because we want to spend our days with them, share our hearts with them, grow in love with them. we have families to extend our love to, to be surrounded by, to leave a legacy to. but once we have them, the reality is, is that life doesn't offer much time for them. our little society seems so wrought up in the greed of life we forget its simple pleasures. and yet this is the way of life. work. i am not opposed to work. i am opposed to work stealing from me and my family. i imagine a life where we are free from the race of life, free to grow and share memories, free to explore and have adventures of all kinds, free to take pleasure in one another without the time frame of a weekend. but then Monday comes...and i wait for Saturday all over again. i love Saturdays. i love that scott is home and when sophie asks if he is going to work, the answer is no. i love spending my days with my family. i just love it, i really really do. last Saturday we played in our garden. my heart was full. my family was close. we picked blackberries and veggies. what more could i ask for. my life is good. i am blessed, even while i wait for Saturdays.

someone seemed to eat more blackberries then they put in the bucketpicking...and eating the last peas of the seasonplanting one last peawashing the produce with dad...both need to pull their pants upblackberries...turn into blackberry pie bars

are we crazy or what...it looks as though we are going to brave one final adventure before the summer comes to a close and school starts again. students come in less than two weeks so we are heading out friday night for 100 mile house to visit with friends. it will be a long journey, but we will take it at night and scott and i can ride the way we used to. we can pretend for a moment that we are just the two of us...maybe we can even hold hands for a while. i am looking forward to it. these last few pictures share what comes with mondays, just me and my girls, learning how to share, learning how to grow as a family, learning how to love each other well, cheerios always come in handing for that.

sophie and penny sharing a book and cheerios, a daily event