Back Half of Summer and P-club Party Time

 Two of the kids have started school, as of last week, so I need to hustle and finish up our summer report for our family history blog!  A school and birthday report are coming shortly...When we last posted, we had made it through most of July.  Every single day in summer we seemed to be running somewhere.  No wonder it flew by in a jiffy!  We (we, as in Grant, Brenna and I crashed the Taylor family's outing) hiked through Timpanogos Cave.  Katelee had a bday party and Dave opted out.  Harrison was not invited!  It is a pretty cool place!

 The girls and I had an outing to the Little Mermaid.  We had to swim to our seats and we felt right at home under the sea!  While the boys didn't join us, Dave took Grant to his first concert- Imagine Dragons!!  It was a pretty big deal! 

 Grant officially has entered the preteen phase as a brace face...

 

 

Can't wait to see those pearly whites when the work is all done!  Our stake was invited to walk in the state children's parade.  Our ward did a neat little float all about ancestors.  Every child in our church got to write their name on a leaf and hang it on our "family tree."  To help us learn about our ancestors and our individual family trees, the kids picked an ancestor to learn about, attach to a stick and they were ready to tell about their branch of the tree.  

 Here are the kids from our church that marched together.  Luckily the parade route wasn't too long, we had some unhappy campers. 

 Brenna was in heaven, because she could wave to all her adoring fans.  The parade could have been much longer for her! 

 The next weekend, Grant and Katelee ran a 5k.  I can't get the pics to load, but they really did do it!  I don't know what we were thinking.  The kids did great but it was a bit of a precarious situation...it was way too early to wake up the littles, so Dave just dropped them off at the finish line amidst thousands of  strangers and hoped they came across the line to him.  Phew, both kids finished and were accounted for!  Next time a parent will be with them, lesson learned!  I was a bit of a nervous wreck!  The end of July, we met up with Aunt Amy, Uncle Mark and Lauren and Evan for a day of fun at Lagoon!  It was pretty much the best thing that ever happened to Harrison.

 The people standing in line wherever he was most likely did not enjoy their time, but the rides were a hit! 

It had been three years since I was able to go on a Presidents Club trip with Dave.  Last year he didn't qualify and the year before I was about to birth a babe.  So, we were thrilled to get to go to Whistler this year!  We left a few days before President's Club officially started and stayed in Victoria. 

 

First matter of business, high tea at the Empress Hotel.  Yea, we are proper like that...except we had hot chocolate, of course!  We stayed at the Empress which is right in the heart of the action, so we walked over to the British Columbia museum.  I had grand memories of this museum from a childhood trip decades ago, and it did not disappoint.  Well, Dave took a snooze on a bench in a simulated beach room and I roamed around, so we both got what we wanted!

 

 

We hit the jackpot on our whale watching tour-3 humpback whales, around 30 killer whales,  a sea otter, sea lions, seals, breathtaking backdrop. 

 

 I've been ruined and can never go whale watching again!

 

 

There are a few resident pods that live in the waters by Victoria.  All three of the pods somehow had arranged to meet up that day and we got to witness their family reunion!  It was jump on the boat,happy dance, kind of cool!

 

You can't go to Victoria without visiting Buchart Gardens.  Even Dave found himself taking time to smell the roses...eh..hanging flower pots...

 

 

and frolic through the greenery!  (check out those calves!OW OW!)

 

 

We flew over to Vancouver, were taken to the resort town of Whistler via the spectacular Sea to Sky highway to meet up with ADP and the other peeps from Dave's office.  The first night, we rode a gondola to the top of a peak that had magnificent views of mountain range after mountain range, glaciers and rain forests.  Amazing!  There was a delicious work dinner and a band and dj to help set the mood! Here is the whole SL crew:

 

 

We stayed in Whistler during the Redbull Crankworkx competition.  So, as every time we were walking around we got to watch professional mountain bikers on this crazy course doing flips and jumps-it was legit!  We got to choose a couple of activities through ADP and we opted for ATV riding and a zip line.  The ATV

 

 

course was through ponds and a cool trail through the rain forest.  We LOVED it.  Luckily, we were right behind our guide.  We had to stop a wait for the rest of our group a few times and there were some slow pokes- we would have hated being stuck behind them! 

 

The zip line was THE BEST!

 

 

I had never been on one before and I don't think it could ever get old!  On our second line, I got to go first.  I leaned back, flipped over and hung upside down.  Everyone was so shocked, but they couldn't be shown up!  So, most of the people came in to the next plank hanging  by their feet.  I did not think there was anyway Dave would be that adventurous!  Ha!  But, to my surprise, he came in upside down!  He couldn't let his wife look cooler than him!

 Part of the trip always includes an awards ceremony.  It's a big accomplishment, so it's cool to see the employees (and spouses!) recognized for their hard work. 

 These are all the qualifiers from the Salt Lake City office.  It was a big group this year, so it was a lot of fun. 

 While the presentation can be a bit too lengthy by the likes of me, we stayed entertained with some selfies and an amazing performance by a Canadian singing group that performed at the Olympics...

Our last day in Canada, we drove over to a tiny little church branch in Brackendale for church service. 

 

 I am always strengthened when I see the sacrifice and hear the testimonies of saints in different areas of the world.  I love to feel unified in our beliefs and love of the Savior.  It is a highlight of traveling for me. 

We thought a good way to observe the Sabbath would be to explore the gorgeous nature around us, so we went on a hike.  It had a river with glacier mineral colored water,

 

 

a suspension bridge...(which Dave had to shake and jump on for people who were afraid of heights! ha!ha!),

 

 

and just amazing scenery, which proved to be a bit too rigorous for one hiker in our group!  ha! He needed a ride at the end, it just made Dave feel at home. He always ends up carrying one of our crew.

 

The last night event was a Katy Perry concert!  So, yes, we did church in the morning, Katy Perry at night...ha ha! 

 

 

It was a private concert just for ADP, so it was really cool being that close.  She is quite the entertainer.  It's well recognized that Dave has some serious dance moves, so we rocked that party!  GOOD TIMES! 

 

 

ADP trips are seriously pamper-fests.  I hardly believe it's real when I am there, but I will take it! 

 

We had such a good time and now we are back to reality.  We left a few things in Canada-Dave's suit bag...wah!  We left it on an airplane and have yet to track it down.  And, apparently my sense of humor is somewhere up north.  The day after we came home, I told Brenna not to do something and she huffed, through her hands up and said, "You aren't fun anymore!  You went on your trip and not you just aren't fun anymore!"  That's quite offensive to me, I feel fun still!

She is quite the lady.  My mom and Dave's parents were so kind to help out and watch our littles and Brenna, on her own can be a handful.  I was face timing her to check in one day.  I asked her if she was being nice and she slyly responded with, "I can't be nice ALL the time."  It was that calculated sneaky grin that really got me!  She tried to rule the roost, but my sister calmly told her she would not be under her regime!  Everyone survived and had a great time doing fun activities with grandparents and aunts.  Grant had one upsetting day when the wifi wouldn't work for the ipad.  While it upset him, it resulted in one of my favorite texts of all time.  Here it is verbatim...

 

'mom the wifi is not working today for some reason and this is grant also.  I turned the wifi off at the bottom of the computer and its still not working (insert 3 mad emojis) can you get back to me in the next hr???  This is super stressing for me!!!!!!'

 

Can you get back to me in the next hour!?  Ha!  Such his dad's kid!  So, Canada is officially in the memory books!  Now, on to real life!