Spring?

Yes, I do believe that spring has finally sprung!

Things are turning green,

flowers are starting to blossom

and birds are starting to sing.  This little guy was so cute and so blue.

I went to pick up Lorna and she had this gorgeous bush in her 

front yard.  I have waited so long for this, the winter has gone on

forever.

Please Pull Over

We tried to capture this on my camera when Heather was here,

but it was getting dark and we were moving so the pictures didn't

turn out.  So when I saw this article in the paper, I had to show it

and explain.

In Strathcona County, or Sherwood Park area where we live, they have

these random checkstops.  That's not so bad, but it's the way they do it.

They have all these police cars pulled off to the right and they will

stand out in the middle of the freeway, that's right, the freeway and stop

cars, motion them to pull into a spot by a police cruiser and check for

drunk drivers.  We actually passed one of these on our way home from

stake conference, Saturday night session.  It was pretty funny because we

were all driving home in suits and dresses.  Not quite the crowd they were 

looking for that night.

They do this all the time.  We've passed several of them since we've been up 

here, Courtney and Chris have actually been pulled over before.  They

ask you if you've been drinking, you tell them no, and they send you on 

your way.  It's a crazy process, but I guess it works.

Especially the fact that they pull people over on the freeway.  They stand right 

out in the middle of the road.  I don't get that.

Mission Home Is Our Home

When we moved here from Utah, we brought a few things

to make this house our home.

Family pictures, books, a few figurines and lots of gifts from

some of our missionaries and our conferences. 

More pictures, vinyl sayings on tiles and a cheburashka
from Russian.  I picked up the Canadian Scentsy burner
while I've been up here.  Pretty cool huh?

A "family" vinyl sign, hanging on the wall.

My candy machine, but do you think they will notice

if I take the grandfather clock home with me.  I've really

grown fond of it.  I will definitely look into one when I get home.

IKEA!

I love IKEA!  It has been one of our get-a-way places that we've

frequented.   It's close, it's interesting and it provides a nice, inexpensive

dinner option.

After the temple, I had some errands to run and things to pick up,

so I started at IKEA.

I had a swedish meatball lunch and picked up some things for the mission

home and a few things I've had my eye on.  I could walk around there

for hours and I almost did.

Right on Target

Well, they are finally here, the first Target stores to open in Edmonton.

We've had to wait our turn, while they opened the first ones back east.

The openings have been highly anticipated, if by me alone.

I have been so curious as to how the stores will look, be run and

compare to the ones in the states.

The first flyer, yah!!!!

 Very nice.

  And cute things.  You can sort of get an idea of the pricing.

But this, this is something you won't find in the states,

at least in the Utah stores.  Let me explain.  Many of the 

Zeller's stores were two levels, so when Target bought them

out and redeveloped, they kept the two stories.  Making this

little innovation  very necessary. 

Somehow they have to get the shopping carts up and

down the two levels, so they put in this ingenious contraption.

You push the shopping cart, or buggy, as the Canadians 

call them, through the little doors, then the belt catches onto

the cart. . . .

and up it goes.  Then you hop on the escalator

and follow it to the top.

Then when you're done perusing the departments on the upper

level, you bring it down the same way.

On the opposite side.

Not a bad invention.   We were very entertained, sat and

watched people go up and down for several minutes.

We'd shop there for the entertainment value alone.

Not really.  We didn't buy much and didn't spend much time

there, too excited to get back and shop the ones at home instead.

Better prices and I won't have to figure out a way to get it home.

Wainwright

Today we drove to Wainwright, buffalo capital of Canada.

This is a statue of one of the mighty buffalo.

Isn't he majestic.

See, I told you.  Buffalo, bison, same difference.

We've been invited to speak in sacrament meeting in Wainwright,

on Mother's Day.  Yeah, happy mother's day to me.

We did get a picture of the building to add to our collection.

The meeting went very well, it's just a small branch, but we have 

the Jolley's, a senior couple from Idaho and two elders.  

Elder Campbell and Elder Smith.

The Jolley's left church early to serve us lunch.  They had a delicious

meal fixed for us and the elders.  Chicken, potatoes and homemade

rolls that were to die for.  I just have to get Sister Jolley's recipe.

They were sooo good, I wanted more but I made myself stop at three,

or was it four, so good!

We took a little detour to take a closer look at this amazing bridge.

It was beautiful and one of the largest trestle bridges in western Canada.

We would have loved to see a train go across, but we couldn't wait

around all day.

So I took a few pictures and then we were on our way.

It's part of the fun of seeing new places.  Seeing new things that we've 

never seen before and taking the time to enjoy them.

It was a good mother's day and we were able to Skype with most of

our children.  It's great being a mom, to all 345 of them.

Elder Bear!

When my boys went on their missions, Jason and then Tyler,

I went to build-a-bear and made them both a missionary bear.

So naturally, when we got our call to serve, I took the bears with us.

And they've served with us faithfully, the entire time.

I would like you to meet, Elder Bear, complete with white shirt,

name tag and Book of Mormon.  His companion is resting at the 

moment, please excuse him.