Oh Canada!

Both of my dad's parents were born in Magrath, Alberta - so I've visited Canada a few times. It is a beautiful, wonderful place! Ever since we met, Rog would always make fun of me for being part Canadian. I would tell him that if he would just go there, he would see how great it is. So when Roger's brother, Taylor, got engaged to a girl from Lethbridge, Alberta, I saw it as the perfect opportunity for us to go there (so I could prove once and for all that it is a good thing to be from Canada).

I know it's no fun to read a boring travel log, so I will try to keep this brief while still documenting the important parts I want to remember. Feel free to skim if you get bored.

Our adventure started on Friday, August 27th. My mom and dad were in Provo dropping Jared off at BYU, so they came over and helped take care of the Corb while I got everything packed and ready to go. We drove to Salt Lake to stay at my Ford grandparent's house, so we would have an hour less of driving to do on Saturday. When we got there, my grandpa asked if we had our passports (and Corby's birth certificate). We looked at each other with terror in our eyes as we realized we did not. So Rog got to drive back to Spanish Fork to get them. While it was so annoying that he had to go back, we were SO GRATEFUL that we realized in Salt Lake rather than at the border that we didn't have them.

Saturday we made the long trek from Salt Lake to Bigfork, MT. My Ririe grandparents have a condo there, so we stayed the night with them. Our last stop before making it to Bigfork was at the nicest McDonald's we have ever been to. By this time Corb was done with being in the car, so we let him do some tummy time before we hit the road for the final stretch.

Sunday morning we went to church in Bigfork and then headed to Waterton National Park. We took the Going to the Sun Road through Glacier National Park to get there which turned out to be a mistake because it was super cloudy/rainy and we couldn't see any of the spectacular views that make the terrible windy road worth it. We made it to Waterton and finally broke down and bought some jackets for us. I forgot that Canada is a lot colder than Utah and we hadn't packed any warm clothes. We bundled Corby up in blankets and walked around the town a bit.

Monday morning was a lot warmer, so I got to show Rog (and Corb) some of my favorite parts of Waterton. We saw Cameron Falls, threw rocks in the lake, got ice cream, and visited the Prince of Wales Hotel before heading out.

On the way to Magrath we stopped in Cardston to see the temple (see the picture from my last post). My dad's Uncle Ty and Aunt Gloria still live in Magrath and they were kind enough to take us in for a few nights. It was fun to get to know them better and hear some stories about my Grandma Joan (Gloria's sister) who passed away before I was born.

On Tuesday we hung out with Roger's family in Lethbridge. That night we went to Tay and Martha's reception. (They had it before their wedding because Martha's sister had just gotten married and they were having a joint reception.) The food was absolutely delicious. We sampled all of the desserts and I decided this one (pictured below on the top right) was the best. I'm not sure what it was, but it was to die for! We didn't get any good pictures of Tay and Martha, so I will direct you to their blog. She hasn't blogged about it yet, but I bet she will soon.

On Wednesday we drove back to Bigfork and hung out with my grandparents a bit. Then on Thursday we made the long trek back to Spanish Fork. Rog was a trooper and drove the entire trip (other than the measly 1 hour I drove). We had the 7th Harry Potter on CD which is the only thing that made all that driving bearable.

It was a long, exhausting trip, but I'm glad we did it. Having a baby makes everything more difficult, but you can't just stop living.

{A note for all my pregnant friends: I would highly recommend getting a good quality breast pump. (I have an Ameda Purely Yours, but I hear the Medela Pump in Style is equally good. They're expensive, but we got a great deal on eBay.) It's hard to find places to nurse in public, so I would pump along the way (with a car adapter for the pump) and then we would stop and feed Corbyn. Having a good pump just gives you so much more flexibility if you want to have any sort of a life while breastfeeding.}