Canada - July 09

I mentioned back in July that we were getting ready to head up to Canada to visit my family and see my beautiful cousin, Karen get married. And of course life has been so busy between now and then that I still have not blogged about our trip! {Sorry!!}

There's so much to say about this trip, and I hope you'll forgive me if my thoughts are all over the place! My hubby wasn't able to come because of work, but my Mom, my daughters and I all made the trip together in my minivan - thank goodness for a minivan to hold all the junk we brought along!!

It was a long drive, the longest the girls have spent in the car. But I was so impressed with them! They were awesome little travelers! We had a big laundry basket that we placed back by their seats in the van and it was filled with books, games, crayons, activities, MP3 players, etc, etc, etc. We also had tons of snacks and a cooler full of food and drinks so the only stops we had to make on the whole trip were to jump out of the van, run in to use the bathroom, then back into the van. We ate all meals in the van and had lots of snacks between meals. We also had DVD's and music and books on CD - there was actually so much to do that the girls didn't even get to it all. I also printed out maps of the states we would travel through with landmarks that they could look for - this helped them see exactly how far we'd gone and how much further we had to go. Like I said, they were wonderful little travelers!

I really, really enjoyed all the hours spent with my Mom. My Mom is one of my best friends and having countless hours to talk was just wonderful. We talked about everything under the sun and I always find so much encouragement from time spent with my Mom. She was also such a big help with the girls. They love her so much too!
OK, here's the part where I need to explain about my family. My Dad was one of 4 boys. My Dad grew up in Canada, and I also grew up living there until I was 14 yrs old. My Dad passed away about 5 and 1/2 yrs ago, but his 3 brothers and their families still live in Canada. I haven't seen most of them since my Dad's funeral, and I haven't been up to Canada to my 'home' town for about 10 years. So when I found out my cousin Karen was getting married I knew it was a great opportunity to go up for the wedding and see everyone as well as be there for Karen's special day.

I am so thankful that we decided to go. I experienced such a myriad of emotions on this trip. The joy of watching Karen wed her beloved Jon, the blessing of being able to show my daughter's 'where Mommy grew up', the love of being surrounded by family that I haven't seen in so long, and at times even the heartbreak and grief of missing my Dad and wishing he was there. I had an especially hard time being around my 3 Uncles - they each remind me of my Dad, in different ways, but each of them in some small way made me think of and miss my Dad. And when I hugged two of my Uncles goodbye they each gave me these big bear hugs, the kind that were so much like my Dad that I could barely hold back the tears. {ok, slight pause on this topic while I gain control of my emotions ... let's look at some pics for a minute...}

Gorgeous Karen being walked down the aisle by her Daddy, my Uncle Jim
My girls and my cousins, Joseph and William - we stayed at their house and even though they were a little older and they were BOYS ... the girls still had a BLAST playing with them!
Uncle Greg, Aunt Anne and their boys - like I said we stayed at their house and were so thankful for their wonderful hospitality!
The whole family - Bride and groom, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc ... {only my brother's family was missing ... and my Dad and Grandparents who are all in glory now - sure wish we could have ALL been there - but someday in heaven we will reunite with JOY!}
My silly girls at the church ...
Beautiful bride Karen - she was a 'Junior' bridesmaid in my wedding - she was only 10 at the time ... now she's a gorgeous, grown up wife!
Mom, myself and my girls ...
The cousin picture! Only missing my brother Matt!
My cousin David, he is Karen's brother ... he is a pastor and performed part of the ceremony, it was beautiful! He is getting married to his beautiful fiancee Jody next month ... {it was so nice to meet her for the first time!}
Later that weekend we got to go to the church that I grew up in. Again, another emotional day where I had to work hard to keep my emotions in check. You see my parents were a big part of starting that church and my Dad was one of the people who helped build the building. So being there I was reminded of all those memories of the days when they were building the church and those first few weeks when we 'moved' the church into the new building. It was just so hard to be there and picture everything without him there - just didn't feel right. The blessing of that day was getting to see some of the families we grew up with and had such sweet fellowship with. I got to see a couple of the girls that I was close friends with as we grew up in church together - and also several of the parents that my parents were very close to. We were invited to dinner at the Adams' house after church - a wonderful family that we have been friends with for years! Again, so tough to be there without my Dad though ...
The Adams also have a daughter and a son who my brother and I were friends with growing up - they both stopped by for dinner that day which was such an unexpected blessing! Paul is still single and Esther and her husband, Craig were there with their 2 boys and were only a few weeks away from expecting baby number 3! It was wonderful to see all of the Adams and we had wonderful dinner, conversation and fellowship with them that day.
After that I got to see my grade school friend, Jenn! We were the best of friends in grade school and wrote lots of letters for a couple years after my family moved away - then we kind of drifted apart for a bunch of years and recently re-connected on Facebook. It was so much fun to see her again! She hasn't changed one bit! She had all these OLD letters and pictures from me - so embarrassing but also fun to look through and re-live all those fun memories. Jenn and her husband Dan have a gorgeous home and were just married last year - it was great to see her life and all of her family who came by to see us and say hi too.
Jenn, myself, my daughters and Jenn's sisters ....
On our last night in Canada we went out shopping to try to round up some Canada souvenirs to take back home to the States with us ... I happened to see this gorgeous sunset from the parking lot and just happened to have my camera in the car ... {does that surprise anyone??!!}
Yummy Canada treats!!! {I really wanted the Mint Aero bars but couldn't find any - boohoo!}
We found some great sweatshirts at the duty free shop at the border - yay for Canada!
My Uncle and cousins gave the girls some fun baskets to welcome them to Canada which included these great beach towels! Perfect for girls that love the beach and the pool! {Thanks Greg, Anne and boys!}
OK, so as I said, this trip was full of such a myriad of emotions. But overall, it was a wonderful, fun trip in which I came home feeling so grateful for the chance to go and also for the amazing family I was brought up in. My faith in God, my legacy, my whole life has been shaped and molded because of the people who love me and who raised me. I can't imagine the person I would be or the life I would have lived had I not been raised by my loving, Godly parents. I thank God for them. Because of them I came to Christ at a young age and chose a life of following God, and because of God's great love and grace He has been working on me ever since. His Holy Spirit continues to mold and shape me into the person He wants me to be.

Being in Canada was hard at times. It was emotional at times. But that's only because of the deep, deep love that I still have for my Dad and my Grandparents who I miss so very dearly. It was also such a blessing to see so many people and places that were so important to my growing up years. I had fun introducing my daughters to all those people! I had fun showing my daughters the house I lived in, the elementary school I attended, the church I went to, the mall I used to ride my bike to ...
I had a great time seeing family that I don't see very often. And it made me want to see them more! So I'll have to plan more trips up there and hopefully they will know they are always welcome here too!

So, how do I end this? Well I'd really like to share some songs that mean a whole lot to me. Sorry if they seem cheesy but they speak to how I feel right now. And I kid you not, as I was typing this whole long blog post I had Pandora radio on and 'I Can Only Imagine' popped up on the playlist! It's an amazing song that will forever make me think of my Dad - dancing before Jesus!
'Friends are Friends forever' applies to both the friends and family that we got to see ... because we truly are friends 'forever' when God is the Lord of our lives ...

OK, hope the music clips work ...

**oops, sorry, just have to continue this very long post a tiny bit longer - bear with me! I just wanted to add that through all the heartache and grief and pain I've had there have been some times where I thought 'OK God, what exactly are you doing here? How exactly is THIS going to work together for my good?' Even moving from Canada when I was 14. I did not want to move. I hated the thought of leaving my school, my friends, my church my family and everything I knew and loved behind to go to a state that was thousands of miles away. And there were times in my teen years when I wondered why on earth God had us move when we did and where we did. There were ups and downs. I learned to adapt, I made new friends, I had new experiences. But now that I'm a little older I can finally start to see how all the pieces fell into place. Had we not moved, maybe I wouldn't have gone to the college I went to, maybe I wouldn't have meet my amazing husband, maybe I wouldn't even be here in this house with this life at this moment ... who knows? Well God does. And it was all a part of His plan. His plan IS to work all things together for the good of those that love Him. And even though it's sometimes hard to see at the time, it will all work out. SO, I'm going to add a third song - 'How Great is our God' - I remember singing it the week after the hurricane hit New Orleans a couple years back and thinking that even in the midst of that terrible tragedy, How Great is our God!!

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:3-6

Listen, enjoy, repeat ... thanks for reading! Love, Kathy