The Story.

FRIDAY.

Some things are better to keep secret, like the events leading up to today, July 19, 2013. 

My aunt and uncle had been planning to have this special surprise for me on the 19 so I had to keep in mind for all the planning I've done on this trip to be back home for this great surprise. I had no idea what they wanted to plan for me and whenever I tried to speculate what it could be the only things i could think of were ideas like a big hike, or hot air ballooning (Paige went with Aunty Niki and Uncle Bruce last year!) or a movie or something lol 

Uncle Bruce explained that the surprise was in the afternoon and we were going to fill up the rest of the day with some architectural tours of vineyards and restaurants and such which I was super excited about!

We started at a vineyard right near uncle Bruce and Aunty Nikis house called Mission Hill, I've never been here before even though I can always remember seeing its bell tower and beautiful form on the mountain from driving around the area. 

We were first met with a beautiful rose garden lining the parking lot and the walkway into the vineyard!

There was a spectacular view and I love the uniformity that you find in the way the wine gardens are layer out! 

Here's Uncle Bruce and I enjoying the view :)

This lady here (the tiny lady in the archway of the photo below) we ran into and she works at the place, and Aunty Niki mentioned that they have out free guided tours of the main courtyard and she told us of a tapestry that was in a main hall which was always locked except for when big events were there and some other stuff about the bell tower

Then uncle Bruce stole my camera away and said he wanted to try out the video on my camera (cuz he's interested in getting a camera similar and the whole trip I've been trying to persuade him of my canon ways :p)

Just as uncle Bruce started filming from the base of the bell tower, I got a surprise visit!

DEVON! And I was sooo excited and shocked and surprised to see him! I exclaimed over and over "why are you here!? You're in CANADA... Why are you here!?" Still hadn't crossed my mind at all that he had a certain question on his mind....

So when I finally stopped screaming why are you here, he said "we'll actually there is something I want to ask you" and I said uh oh... That's right I said uh oh.... Aloud!! Not in my head lol...

Then he got down on one knee and you know the rest of the story ;)

Aunty Niki was crying and grandma and grandpa was crying and I was just laughing and all smiles and my voice sounded as high as a 7 year old boys...

Then uncle Bruce hugged me and I started to choke up then..... But I held it together lol

And thanks to Larry and Sherry for holding this guy up at their house for the last couple days :)

And I know you're wanting to see the ring, so here she is!

Lol and my one blue thumb... 

And I got these gorgeous flowers from my handsome fiancé :p

So, the story is, I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend!

A Little R&R

SUNDAY.

Sunday was switcharoo day. It was really hard to say good bye to my little cousins but at the same time i just focused on how excited I am to see them the next time and see how different and grown up they will be!

So I settled into my next stop with my grandparents and then set out for a movie! We saw Monsters University it was so good! I loved it :) one of the better Pixar films!

Then we headed home for some dinner and after dinner we went on a wee adventure and drove around taking photos! It was so great to get to experience the prairies and see for miles and miles around in every direction! Truly spectacular!

 

I LOVED the canola fields they are stunning! Such a bright yellow :)

My excellent guides,

MONDAY.

We did a bit of yard work and then I had boxes of old reports and assignments I had to sort through! I got It down to a small little box of funny old stories I wrote and pictures of my classmates and of course old report cards! Then.....

I got to drive the lawn mower tractor!!

Then we needed a coffee break so we got Timmies!

Then Monday evening I learned how to make AMAZING scalloped potatoes! They were delicious :) and that was followed by another exploration drive!

Where we found a herd of Elk! They were farmed but it was still so exciting!

I thought they would be like cows to photograph.... So I got out of the car slowly and expected them to not even notice I was there but as soon as the door opened they bolted to the other side of the field! 

I was so surprised grandma and I just started laughing! But I got some good photos becaus ethe sun was setting perfectly and hitting the velvet of the antlers in a really special way!

I took ALOT of photos so we will just leave it with those 3 :) and we were back onto our exploring!

And look what we found in the ditch! He posed so pretty for us!

It was starting to get dark so my photos are all a bit blurry.

TUESDAY.

This little robin is making its nest infront of grandma and grandpas door and would get scared every time we came and went, Silly little bird!

So we went on a further adventure to Valhalla for lunch at the mercantile - a Norwegian cafe with excellent food! And we saw lots of oil patch workers there and after we stopped at the small store across the road. That place was disgusting! Open for more than 60 years and easily had some junk in there  from before that! It was the messiest junkiest dollar store type place I've ever seen and it smelt like cigarettes that had gone rotten! Turns out moments before we got there the fridge had caught fire and left this terrible rotten burnt smell in the place. Just looking at that store made me feel so sick that I turned around and left within a minute lol. That place was so rotten and dirty it shouldn't be open anymore! 

On the way home we stopped at Aunty Louise and Uncle Allan's place to say hi and see all the renovations they have done in their home. The house was great and I got a surprise to see Carter, Caden and Ty. Ty is the cutest little boy! I just enjoyed talking and teasing him!

Then we headed home and grandpa and I watched some tv. I forgot to bring my SD card on Tuesday so I wasn't able to take any photos all day! And we even saw mor deer and even a coyote!

WEDNESDAY.

In the morning we sorted through some more boxes then we went to take more photos and explore more areas of Grande Prairie 

We saw canola fields that were sooo tall!

This is me standing tall a metre into the crop!

Then we saw a fantastic old barn!

The barn looks like its got a little smile with little eyes...

And my fav animal..... 

COWS :)

Then we ran a few errands and met grandma and grandpa Nichol with Ethan for dinner at Boston pizza! It was so awesome to get both grandparents (and a little cousin) all to myself for a dinner! 

Then I had to say goodbye to my grandma and grandpa. I'll miss them so much but I can't wait to see them again! 

After dinner we visited Costco and I got a fantastic new camera bag made by national geographic for only $30!!!!! The same style bag at future shop was $115 so I was petty stoked to see that deal!

The rest of the evening was spent outside enjoying talking to each other and drinking some ice cold water! I took a final drive on the tractor (lawn mower) and while mowing the back corner the tractor stalled and so I looked up and saw a deer, not 15 meters away from me jumping over a bush! Oh boy I got soooo excited! We watched her for a while and I loved watching her! Se was so graceful and elegant. We saw her again later but in the front yard as the sun was setting but by the time i got my camera she had run away!

THURSDAY.

Road trip day! We are heading back to Kelowna! We left early and got breakfast at macdonalds, then drove for a bit and came by this visitors centre that was full of taxidermied animals, all the signs said no touching but of course I touched! Was probably my only time in my life I'd get to feel a cougar, beaver, bear, wolf, lynx and many more animals! 

The cougars were soooooo soft!

Finally found a bear!

The lynx was very soft and furry too!

Would NOT want to come into one of these... Man wolves are a bit scarey!

Then we got back on the road and saw mountain goats in the middle of a cliff face! Just chilling out.... I have NO idea how they got there! They are quite funny little things.

Oh and then a real big highlight so far was seeing this guy, super picturesquely located next to some pines, a beautiful lake and elegant mountains!

My lens makes it look far away, here's a lens woth the same depth as our eyes,

An Elk! He was so big! And so close!! Easily 2-3 meters away. I'm so excited still!

Next up we saw a coyote but when I got into a good position to shoot him (with my camera :p) he went up over the hill! I missed my chance.

Now there's this guy,

He made these beautiful wood carvings

So he came over and noticed my nz tattoo (this tat has been a great convo starter!) and he's a guy from chek republic who wants to travel nz real bad! So we had a good chat and then a costumer came up so he went to talk to him once he left he came back over and this is what he said, "so are you married?"

Caught off guard I say "erm, no"

"Oh that's great! I'm trying to find a wife for my son, and you'd be perfect!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Yea, he's a good kid and I'm trying to find him a good lady."

"We'll I'm sorry but I'm already taken" lol

"Oh, that's too bad...." Then he went on to say what a great boy he was and he just finished university and that I would be perfect for him so bubbly and not fat lol. Not fat... He went on about that for a while!

On the ride we started listening to a Janet oak book on tape and its only 3 hours long, about 15 mins left in the book, the tape froze up! Just as we found out that the main characters who were engaged were actually brother and sister. Grandma and I started yelling at the tape player! And it wouldn't play and we thought we would never know if they were brother and sister or not!

Grandpa fixed it for us and then we found out the rest of the story!

We finally (after 14 and a half hours!!!!) made it to Kelowna :) and it was so so good to see Aunty Niki and uncle Bruce again!

I went for my first run in 5 weeks lol I really needed it after such a long drive!