Road Trip Part 4 Stampede/Okotoks

Our next stop was Karen's home town of Okotoks and the Calgary Stampede. Basically the Stampede is the reason this whole trip got planned. Karen has had a standing invitation for me to come up and go to the Stampede for many years and we figured we could actually swing it this summer. Then, the planning began and it mushroomed into a 25 day road trip with a 5 month old. Here are days 9-12.

Here we are at the entrance to the Stampede. It is like a really big AZ State Fair with more live entertainment and a giant rodeo. We were randomly selected to have our bags checked and Rick was almost thrown in Canadian jail for having an illegal weapon in his backpack. It was a can of mace that my grandpa gave me for Christmas one year (he gave one to all of the girls), but Rick agreed to let them keep it and so we were allowed to enter.

Karen and I in the Indian Village with a creepy crow.


I had never seen a "teepee closed" sign... I wonder what was in it.

Trying on Cowboy hats at the Lammle's Western Wear Tent. Karen worked here one summer.

It's an over sized hat. It's funny.

Riding some buckin' broncos and supporting Alberta Beef.

We couldn't leave Canada without a photo with the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, aka the Mounties.

We couldn't pass this up!

Yep, deep fried pickles. Delicious! We also had bison burgers, which were pretty good. The meat was a lot more tender than ground beef...I love fair food, too bad I don't have the metabolism to eat it on a more regular basis.

This was a little show we stopped to watch. They were French Canadian Comedian/acrobat type performers. We also went to a basketball dunking show...they jumped off of trampolines, so I wasn't super impressed. Also, we went to a high dive act, and we went to an ice skating show that was pretty good. It had Olympic skaters and sweet classic rock music. Good times.

The chucks! (or chuck wagon races) The Campbell's hooked us up with some sweet tickets to the Grand Stand show which includes the famous chuck wagon races that I had heard so much about from Karen over the years. We had great seats and they were really fun to watch.

A better view of the stadium and of course the Budweiser team.

Rick and I at the Grand Stand show. (Karen was with us too.) After the chuck wagon races the shows started. There was a comedian, kids show choir type performance, acrobats, motocross guys doing some crazy stuff and a singing and dancing type of performance. Quite the show.

Enjoying our last day at the Campbell's.

Photo op at "Campbell Corner" with our wonderful hosts. We had so much fun and the Campbell's were so generous to us and they even baby sat. Thanks for everything!!

Road Trip Part 3 Cardsten/Waterton

After spending the day at Writing on the Stone, we headed across the prairies of Southern Alberta to spend the night in Cardsten.

We thought the prairie was beautiful. There were yellow, purple and pink flowers along the way.

We spent the night at this bed and breakfast, which was slightly interesting due to the awkward girl that served us at dinner that night.

Mark and Louise had to leave unexpectedly in the morning because they found out that a long lost relative from Denmark would be in Calgary the day.

Rick and I were able to do some sealings at the Cardsten, Alberta temple in the morning before we headed for Waterton with Karen.

Waterton is the Canadian side of Glacier National Park in Montana.

This is the historic hotel in Waterton, I think it is called the Price of Whales.

It was SUPER windy, but the scenery was amazing.

There were deer all over the town and they would let you get pretty close. This is one of 2 little bambi's we saw crossing the street with their mom.

This was our lunch stop. It was run by a couple of young LDS brothers, we could tell because the kid taking orders looked like he was about 12, but he was wearing a wedding ring and then he told someone he and his brother were the owners. Good weiners!

We hung out by the river for Truman's lunch break. The glacier water is amazing and so clear and blue. It looks like Caribbean water.

I loved Waterton! It was absolutely beautiful and the town feels sort of like a miniature more homey Park City.

Here is a glacier lake. Pretty amazing how beautiful and clear everything is.

Finally, we saw some buffalo on our way out.

Road Trip Part 2

Next, we were off to Southern Alberta. We made a quick overnight stop in Helena, Montana before meeting up with the Campbell clan at Writing on the Stone Provincial Park.

There appeared to be a random Christus statue along the highway in Montana. This was the best picture I could get out the window and I haven't found anything on the Internet....

Here are some photos from Writing on the Stone.

Hiking with the Campbell Clan.

Pretty cool rock formations and the Milk River.

Some ancient petroglyphs, thus the name, Writing on the Stone.



Then, we went and floated down the Milk River.

It was really fun and shallow, so it wasn't too cold.

Don't worry, I got beached at about this point because either it was too shallow, my tube was leaking air (it really was we heard it hissing when we got in, which made me nervous until I realized the water was about 2.5 feet deep), or I just hadn't lost enough baby weight yet! haha!

Road Trip Part 1

We planned and accomplished a 3 week road trip in July. We left at about 8pm on July 8th and drove through the night to Provo.

We stopped in P-town at Patrice and Dave's to take a nap after the all night drive. And we were able to catch up with Kelsey for a couple of hours too. It was the first time I'd seen her since she left for her mission. It was really good to catch up and Truman liked her too!

Then, we headed to Salt Lake for a short visit with Rick's grandpa on our way to Twin Falls. We had a really good visit he sat and talked with us for a while and Rick was able to express his love to his Grandpa and Grandpa did like wise. He told us he loved us and kissed our hands and we returned the gesture. This would turn out to be our last visit with him and it was a good one.

On to Twin for the Berry family reunion! We had a good time with the family and we were able to stay a few extra days to help Joe and Cindy do some work in their kitchen. Patrice and her girls were able to stay and help too. We stripped wallpaper, painted the cabinets and painted the walls. They were waiting to have new counter tops and a back splash put in after we left.I can't wait to see the finished product.

We were also able to get together with Rick's friends a couple of times when we were there. Her is Truman and Sofia, Greg and Tasha's little girl. She is 8 months and totally looks like the Gerber baby, so cute! Truman is about 4 1/2 months in this picture.

4th of July

This year's 4th of July was a little different, instead of telling everyone that we were going to have a baby, we actually spent it with our little person.

Here he is wearing the onesie we used last 4th of July to inform my parents & siblings that we were expecting.

Our festive sneakers.

All in all a good Sunday 4th and always a great day to remember how blessed we truly are to live in this country eventhough at times we may not agree with our political leaders or some of the other things that legally go on around us. When I take a step back and look at the freedoms I enjoy and safety that I feel both physically and economically compared to others in this world, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

Mr. Bob Davis

Truman and Bob just happened to be matching one day last week. Bob is so nice! He carries Truman around when we come in to work out and Truman absolutely loves him.

Thanks for the Nebraska shirt Coach Bob!

Cutest Picture EVER!

I don't know, maybe I'm bias, but I think this is the cutest picture ever taken.