Oh Canada Part Two: Waterton, Eh!
After the gastronomic fireworks during the drive up to Canada, we were understandably a bit hesitant to put the kids in the car again. Luckily the boys started perking up a bit, because it’d be a crying shame to be in Southern Alberta, and not visit Waterton. A CRYING SHAME I tell ya! A little piece of heaven is what that place is. Love it. Love it! The kids seemed to feel pretty good all day, and the short drive was thankfully uneventful. As we were driving into the park (it’s like a national park…it’s the Canadian side of Glacier National Park actually) Greg asked me what I wanted to do first. We decided to head up to Red Rock Canyon. I had never been, and Greg always talks about how he loved it as a kid. It’s funny because it didn’t really live up to Greg’s memory, but I thought it was awesome.
It was possibly a little disappointing for Greg because he was majorly distracted. Just minutes after this picture was taken, he accidentally locked the keys in the car. ah SUCK! We were able to get a hold of help pretty quickly though, and the kids and I got to play while we waited.
This canyon is awesome. The stones are so colorful, smooth, and beautiful. I couldn’t help walking the boys down to play in the water even though we weren’t dressed for it at all. It was so fun! I can’t wait to come back, and hike around it more. It was totally worth the little detour and locksmith ordeal to see it.
Here is Waterton for me though. I didn’t feel like we were there until I saw this iconic vista:
All you can see are mountains, and lakes, and trees, and then…at the top of a hill…the Prince of Wales Hotel. It’s ridiculously romantic. I fell head over heels for this place the first time I saw it.
This is me standing behind the hotel. The view from high above the lake is breathtaking.
It was WINDY on the cliff edge. I suspect it always is. We had fun pretending we were flying. An “I’m the king of the world!” kinda moment. :)
The first time I came to Waterton, it was February 2001. Greg and I were dating, and I came up with him for his cousin’s wedding. Waterton was a winter wonderland. We drove down into the little town, then hiked to the top a stunningly beautiful, frozen waterfall.
This waterfall…but frozen. Everything was frozen. It was freaking February in Canada! And it was awesome. The world stood as still water droplets as Greg dropped to one knee in the snow, and pulled out a ring. Well done Greg! I’ll never forget that place.
It was even better being there with three kids wrapped around our legs.
Tell you what, saying yes and marrying this man in the temple, is the best decision I’ve made. I can’t imagine my life without him.
We finished off the day with a stop at the Big Scoop. Perfect. You can tell that Miles hasn’t had a ton of experience with ice cream cones. HA! Where’d that kid learn how to eat?! My flavor was pistachio almond. NEW FAVORITE!
Until next time, Waterton. Take care of the little piece of my heart I left behind.
Love, (me)
(To be continued)
Oh Canada Part One: Great Grandpa and Grandma’s House
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to spend a little quality time with Greg’s Grandparents. Too long! So we were really excited to get to Canada a few days early, and visit with them. We had pumped the kids up to go see them, and they were dying to get out of town and go. However, after all the time we spent traveling (and puking), I don’t think they would have cared where we stopped as long as they didn’t have to buckle in for a while. :) Just kidding. We all really enjoyed our time there. Grandpa kept us entertained with his stories and weather watching. Grandma kept our bellies full of yummy homemade bread. Fresh tomatoes were picked, and eaten on the spot. And of coarse we played ROOK. It wouldn’t be Canada without card games.
Eve was all about rocks this trip. Everywhere we went, she was sorting rocks, sucking on rocks, throwing rocks…you get the picture.
(To be continued)
Pack it up
So I mentioned that I went on this amazing backpacking trip. Remember that? Remember I said it was really pretty, but you’d have to wait for pictures. Well, I actually didn’t even take a camera. (GASP) Something about my pack getting too heavy or something. Lucky for me, a couple other (stronger, apparently) people brought theirs, and kindly shared. Shared all 783 pictures. Holy lot o’ pictures! I was asked to make a slide show for everyone who went, and I’m sooooo glad. I’ve had a blast going through them all, and reliving the memories. It really was such a fun trip.
So our hike was “The Hike” for all the 4th year girls in my stake. We drove up into the Stanley Basin to Sunbeam dam, and turned on a dirt road. I don’t remember the name of the mine we passed, but we continued on to a jeep trail that took us quite a ways up to our trail head.
Then it was pack your stuff up and over the saddle, and down into base camp at Lightning Lake. (I’m going to use official “mountain terms” like “saddle” and such. Cuz I’m cool enough.)
The lake was incredible. Emerald green and crystal clear. It was little, and full of little fish. Cut throat trout, to be exact, that now all have sore mouths from all the catching we did. Everyone who fished caught one…usually one after the other. Very gullible fishies.
Oh and yes, that is snow you see on the south side of the lake. S N O W. I can’t complain, because our weather was actually pretty fantastic. I was definitely glad for my warm sleeping bag the first night though!
Fish weren’t the only things being snatched from the water. There were TONS of frogs. Tons! We even saw a pair ensuring the continuation of their species. My friend and I sorta accidentally disturbed them. accidentally. sorta. and we laughed. HARD. like we were 10 year old boys.
I actually did take this picture of Buckshot. Isn’t he handsome? (Some day we will have a dog, Greg.) Buckshot was hilarious. He kept trying to retrieve the fish as they were being reeled in. I think he has a taste for sushi. Good doggie.
Wow. I’m so cute. I had gotten my pants wet, so here I am wearing my long johns under my man shorts.
I loved base camp time on the trip. Sitting around, frying fish, warming your buns by the fire, and listening to the stories. Oh man, and what stories! I don’t think the girls really understand just how lucky they were to be on this trip. We were able to spend three days with our Stake Presidency AND their wives. Incredible men and women, whom I now adore more than ever. I am confident that I could hang out with them everyday for a year and never get bored. I laughed A LOT, and learned a ton. I am so grateful that I had that opportunity.
Day two of the trip was our big hiking day. Our objective was to bag The General. (”bag” being one of those mountain terms. Meaning to summit, but more awesomely than your average person, I suppose.) But hey, if you’re going to go to the trouble of bagging one mountain you might as well do two, right?!
Here we are at the top of Jordan’s Peak. Elevation 10,063 ft. All of our girls made it to this point. Then a couple turned back to the lake. The rest of us dropped down the other side, and walked the ridge back up to the top of Mt. General. Elevation 10,329 ft.
Seriously, best licorice of my life. Must have been the lack of oxygen at that altitude. I mean, I like twizzlers at sea level, but they were golden up there.
And to prove that I was thinking about my fella way up there…my ring with the marker on top. I was there, and I would have victory kissed you if you had been there too, Greg.
I quickly wrote down this down at the top while we ate lunch:
“I almost lost my breakfast on the way to Jordan. President Peterson talked me into eating two scones this morning. Dang, they were good, but double dang they did not sit well. I made it to Jordan Peak. It’s all I thought I was going to be able to do, but I must have burned off the greasy scones. (Though it may have been the slice of summer sausage.) I couldn’t be left behind. I was feeling good, plus I had to bag The General so I could prove that Hough does indeed rhyme w/ tough. (inside joke) It wasn’t bad, and I felt good the whole way. It was worth it. This place is incredible!“
Mt. General July 10, 2009 @ 1:35 pm
I really did feel like puking on the way up to Jordan. It was interesting though, because me feeling like crap allowed me to help two other girls make it. It was awesome how it worked out, and about 10 yards from the top of the peak, the nausea went away. Making the choice to continue on to Mt. General was easy. It was weird too because after that I felt stronger with ever step I took. Even bushwhacking our way down the side of the mountain/cliff on our way back to camp. The Stake President thinks he’s half mountain goat. Think twice before you follow him on a shortcut. Then choose to follow him, because I’m sure you’ll come away with a better memories. Anyway, back to me being sick…I guess my point is it’s kinda like life. You can feel defeated long before you reach your goals, but as you push through, your confidence builds. Accomplishing one hard thing makes it easier to accomplish the next. Don’t you think?
The very top of The General felt like the top of the world. Mountains as far as you could see. Breathtaking! Pictures could never do it justice. We tied my bandanna (it was almost a gold color) to a stick at the summit. It was sort of our “Ensign to the Nations” if you will. Sister Dalton would be proud. These girls are amazing.
Here I am with the Stake President’s wife on the way back to camp. Jordan Peak is off stage to the right.
This is my Stake Presidency. I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am that I was placed in the calling I have, at this time, in this ward, in this stake. That I have been able to rub shoulders with the people I have, has been a privilage. I cannot thank my Heavenly Father enough for the challenges he has given me. I have been molded and shaped for the better these past five years in this stake. This is where my family was supposed to be.
Hat trick
*This post, peppered with hockey terminology, is brought to you by: “eh!“.
There’s a term used by hockey fans to describe when you team scores three goals. It’s called a hat trick. I don’t get it. What does scoring three goals have to do with hats? And why three? Maybe third time’s a charm. Who knows when it comes to hockey fans. These are the same people who throw octopi onto the ice to rally the team. I don’t know about you, but to me, nothing says “GO TEAM” like a boiled octopus flying through the air.
All I know is last night we experienced our own little hat trick. Eve rounded out our puke-in-car trifecta about 20 minutes before we pulled into home. I knew the moment she woke up that morning that she wasn’t feeling so well. Poor girl slept nearly the whole 12 (or something) hours on the way home, but as we hit the homestrech, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. I’m so over traveling. So’s the rest of the family.
We have about 4 million pictures from Canada to sift through. (I’m only barely exaggerating.) When we get back into the swing of things, I’ll show you the fun we had between being sick.
abc food
On our way to Canada on Tuesday, Greg posed this question to Miles:
What do you want to eat for lunch, Miles?
Miles: Uhhhh…A CORN DOG!
Greg: What if I can’t find a place with a corn dog? What’s your second choice?
Miles: Uhhhh… Corn dogs have a choice. Hmmmm…Corn dogs taste. Corn dogs…
Greg: Miles. Focus. What else sounds good to you?
Miles: DAD! Stop! I’m telling a story! …………..hmmmm… Corn dogs …. are… good!
If only I could type the inflextion in that kid’s voice. Anything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious just because of the way he says it.
We found a corn dog for Miles, and he tells me that it did taste good. The first time he tasted it anyways. He got a second crack at it when he puked it up just before the border. Not so yummy the second go round. Miles and B have been taking turns throwing up this whole trip. Beyond awesome. Somehow we’re still having fun despite the flu. Hopefully we don’t pass it along. Our big Hough reunion starts today. The only real tricky thing is Miles’ B.G. numbers have been crazy. We’ve had a heck of a time keeping him above 100. Every other time he’s been sick, his numbers have sky rocketed. It’s making mea little nervous to be in Canada experiencing this for the first time, but I feel better now that Greg’s cousin that has type one is here now too.
On a happier note, we took the family to Waterton yesterday. That’s where Greg proposed to me a little over eight years ago. It was good to smooch him back were it all began. It was kinda funny to have three kids wrapped around our legs this time though.
I’m home
I spent the last couple of days on a backpacking trip in just about the prettiest place imaginable. Pictures can prove it, but for that you’ll have to wait. You can take my word though…it was breathtaking. I find it facinating that even though I was living out of a pack, sleeping on the ground, and hiked to the top of two 10,000 ft. + peaks, my trip was one of the most relaxing vacations I think I’ve ever taken. How is it that I can feel rejuvenated, body and spirit, when I’m sooooo dog tired? There’s just something about being in the high places, I think. I loved every second of it.
That being said, it’s good to be home (and clean) with my greatest adventure. What? You don’t think being a mom is an adventure?! Then you haven’t had to clean up copious amounts of #2 left on the carpet by a son that’s not feeling so hot. I have. Just now. And my assesment is that only the brave could make it through. It’s not without reward though. Tight hugs, big smooches and stories told in tiny voices make it worth it. I am really glad to be home.
Dear Falene,
I am dying over this picture that Bryan took. I should be packing for my trip, but I couldn’t help but play with it in photoshop so I could gaze at that delicious face some more. He is perfect. OH MY HECK! And you look amazing too! I wish we could have been there. Please give little Gavin a HUGE kiss from Auntie Melinda. Aidan too. :)
Love, Melinda
Where’s the van?
We celebrated our great nation’s independence playing on the sand down by the river. (minus a van, government cheese, and a stash of doobies.)
Here’s Miles looking somewhat disturbed, because he has no pants on. And by no pants, I mean NO pants. There’s just a tiny strap keeping a handle on his dignity. That’s what you get for leaving the river with a soaking wet, sandy butt.
The whole day was great. After the river, we dressed up and went to see our good friend get baptized. What better way is there to celebrate our freedoms than watch a man take the first step toward making his family an eternal one? So cool. Grilling and fireworks with family is pretty good too. Which rocks because we got to do that too. Good times! Hope you had a good 4th as well!
A couple days later, Miles turned three. This year his candles were atop his grilled pizza. He thought that was pretty crazy. He requested chocolate ice cream for dessert. So we went out to the new Iceburg Drive-in for the biggest freakin’ cone I’ve ever seen. Eve was going out of her mind trying to steal bites from everyone. Someday she’ll learn that I’m the only one willing to share.
Happy Birthday my little Milage. Love you to pieces.
Photo of the day
I have a love/hate relationship with my camera right now. I’m learning a ton about it, which gets me excited to try new things (like shoot on manual). The byproduct of trying to do all the new stuff (shooting in manual) is I feel like I kinda suck all over again. (Could aperture be anymore confusing?) I’d say about 90% of the last months pictures are a flop. FRUSTRATING. But I’m learning so….I guess it’s all good…I tell myself. This is one of the few pictures I like. It’s of my friend swimming in the Idaho Special Olympics. I wish I wouldn’t have cut off her hand and toes, but I love her reflection and big, fat smile. I love this girl period.
just (me)linda 
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