Cody gets a bath

Cody was at my moms for a whole week and when you go to the country, well, it's hard to stay clean. After his bath, he was so happy that he was running around the yard. My camera didn't capture his happiness but just take my word for it.

Another Birthday

My birthday has always been a special day for me!!! This year was no different!! The celebration started on Tuesday with a special dinner cooked by my mom. Steak, salad, potatoes.. yum yum and then a BEN and Jerry's ice cream cake!!! Perfect!!! On Friday morning, Dan surprised me with a gift which turns out to be a funny story. When we were in Canada, a girlfriend and I used his phone to look up a purse that she has been wanting to buy. Apparently, Dan doesn't remember this and the next day sees a purse that he thinks I had looked up. So Dan surprises me with a purse my friend wanted. It's the thought that counts right???? Not to worry, the purse has already been sent back and I hope (fingers crossed) that another purse is on it's way. (one that I emailed to him after opening the wrong one). So all in all, it's been a great birthday week. That's right, I'm entitled to celebrate the whole week. Here are some silly pictures of me enjoying my birthday with my family!! I wish I had some of that cake left!!!

O Canada

We are in Whistler this week for a 20 group meeting. We are so blessed to be here. Whistler is absolutely gorgeous!!! We flew into Vancouver on Sunday and then took a sea plane to Whistler. The ride to Whistler in the sea plane was amazing. The lakes, mountains, volcanos, snow...acres and acres of Douglas Firs....Incredible!!!! We are staying at the Four seasons which is in the Upper Village of Whistler. The winter Olympics are here in February. We bought a few shirts and other things with the Olympic symbol on them. On Monday we went zip lining. See the pics attached. It was so much fun!! At first, I thought "what have I gotten myself into" but it turned out to be unbelievable!!! I'm not sure how high in the air we were but above the trees and then some!!! You have to be 60lbs to do it. The cables will hold 8 SUV's and the trolley attachment you use to hook on the cable will hold 250lbs. Safety was first with the tour guides. They were constantly checking the harnesses and clips. Our group had 3 guides. 2 would go across first to help receive and then one would send.
Today we did the Peak 2 Peak gondola. It is one of the largest gondola's in the world of it's kind. It goes from Blackcomb mountain to Whistler Mt. We first took a chairlift up Blackcomb and then took the P2P over and then took another gondola down. It takes almost an hour and a half. We saw a Mama bear and cub on Whistler Mt. There is a rock formation on top of Whistler that will be the symbol for the olympics. The rock formation looks like a person. I would love to come back for the Olympics. The paraolympics are in March. That too would be incredible to watch!!! Maybe better than the Olympics because they have beaten all the odds.

I've got to sleep. It's midnight here but 2am at home. I'll try to write more tomorrow!!! Enjoy the pics.

Graceland

Today we went to Graceland with friends from Facebook!! HA Actually, they are friends that I know from school but I speak to them more on FB than in person. It seems to be that way more and more!!! Anyway, Kathy Taylor and I realized that we both had lived here for a very long time but had yet to see the home of ROCK AND ROLL!!! So she planned the day starting at 8am. First stop, the mansion. Not exactly today's definition of a mansion. It was very surreal being inside the home and thinking about his life. How he and Precilia may have set in the Jungle Room or ate dinner from the dinning room table. Or where Lisa Marie may have played. Elvis is buried in the Memorial gardens next to his pool that is shaped like a guitar. Next to his grave is his mother, father, grandmother and a twin brother who died at birth. On his grave it reads "God knew he needed rest so he decided to take him home" As I read those words I thought about Michael Jackson who has recently passed away and how he to may have needed some rest.




Our tour did not stop at the Mansion! OH NO!! We saw Elvis' airplanes, in which one he gave to Lisa Marie for her 9th birthday. We saw his cars...a white one he gave to Pricilla and another made for Frank Sinatra but Elvis wanted it more. We saw Private Elvis-his military days. And we must have walked threw at least 5 gift shops. Every time you end a tour, it ends in the gift shop. It was definitely Elvis overload for me. I'm checking it off my list of things to do. It was a little cheesy but at the same time I enjoyed it and I'm happy we went. For lunch we decided to continue with the Theme and have lunch at HARDROCK CAFE downtown. We got home around 4:30 and now it's midnight so I'm pooped!!! I've seen enough of Memphis for awhile. I even drove by the Lorraine hotel today. I'm curious of how long Graceland will continue to give tours. Eventually, the young will not know who Elvis is, Megan and Rachel can't truly understand his Fame. Heck, I was 3 when he died. Ok so like I said, it's late and I'm exhausted so here are some pics. ENJOY!!
Here's a few songs that you may remember. I'm all shook up!! ...You ain't nothing but a hound dog!!! 'are you lonesome tonight'....

UNAMERICAN July 4th

I think this is the first July 4th that I have not spent in the UNITED STATES. We flew to Canada Thursday to visit Dan's parents. They live outside of Montreal in St. Eustache. It was a very quick trip but A FUN one. We went into Montreal on Friday and shopped and also took the girls on the subway. I'm not sure they appreciated the subway like I did the first time I rode it. Probably because they've been on the monorail at Disney and many trams at different airports. What they did get a kick out of was a picture booth. It's one of those booths you go inside and it takes 4 pictures of silly poses.

On Saturday, we went to Arbre en Arbre which translates to TREE to Tree. It is a zipline course located in a wooded area. Dan did the course with the girls but I walked underneath and took pictures. See the picture above. Dan's brother also lives there so his family joined us on Friday. The cousins are 10 and 7. The 10 year old speaks very good English but the 7 year old does not so it's interesting to see them interact. They usually figure out what the other is saying by pointing. Last year, they played Cache Cache. I may have misspelled it but it means hide and go seek. Luckily, Megan and Rachel can count to 10 in French and Emily (7year old) can count in English so it works out. And then there's the older brother Andrew who helps translate. I wish they had the opportunity to see one another more often.

Happy 4th of July!!!