Vancouver Adventure...and Proud to Be Canadian!

Two weekends ago now, the kids and I took an adventure and went to Vancouver (Surrey to be more specific) to visit my Dad and Step-Mom, my three brothers and sister-in-law. Now, going to visit them is always fun, but going to Vancouver in the middle of the Olympics has to be declared a full-fledged adventure...or just crazy...depending on how you see it. We saw it as an adventure! We didn't see any sporting events, but you didn't have to to know that the Olympic spirit had infected all of Vancouver and it's surrounding areas let alone all of Canada.

We did visit the Surrey Site of activities in downtown Surrey. They had kids tents and events including crafts, curling and a toboggan run. Since the line ups were nuts, the kids didn't actually do any of those, but they were completely satisfied taking in the music, waiting to see the horses of the RCMP Musical Ride (which we only saw 1 of), and seeing all of the Canadians come out in full-fledged Canadian gear. In fact, even the kids were wearing their Canadian sweaters!

It was so great just being with our family and having some great bonding time.

Thanks to Uncle Brandon, Uncle Brett and Uncle Blaise for keeping their old toys for so long!


Some crazy fun at Tim Horton's!

The kids and their Uncle Brandon.

The weather was also fantastic!! We even got to go to the beach and the kids had their first "dip" in the ocean (just their fingers, don't worry) !

One other thing to consider: there has been a lot of talk about what these Olympics have done for Canadians and their patriotic spirits. I don't know about the rest of Canada, and whether this spirit will last, but I can say I am a Canadian Patriot and proud of it! Brennan and I were talking last night and we decided that being patriotic is honoring God for the country we belong to. It calls us to be thankful for the beauty that we are surrounded by - from the prairies that go on forever to the majestic peaks of the Rockies; to pray for our leaders - from federal to city; and to be thankful for religious freedoms and the fact that we can be missionaries in our own country! Praise God for Canada indeed!!