Goodbye to Victoria

Somewhat sadly, yet very excitingly we are leaving Victoria tonight. I think most of all I will miss the girls that I have gotten to hang out with the most. It is beautiful here on Vancouver Island, and I will always treasure the memories made here, but there is nothing like home.

And yes. I. Should. Be. Packing.

However, I have been packing all morning, I have a headache, and I am already exhausted! So I think that I deserve a small break. Bristol has been a HUGE help with the packing. She just has her own way of doing it. First, she completely takes out what I put in the suitcase (all neatly folded), waves it around in the air, tries to put it on, and then puts it back! I just have to laugh because at least she isn't hanging onto my legs as usual.

Tonight we drive to Sydney and board the ferry that will take us to Tsawwassen, pronounced tawasen. We have to be there around 8 PM, and the ferry leaves at 9. We will arive on the mainland at 10:30 where we have booked a hotel room for the night. I'm sure I'm going to be completely exhausted, Bris too. Then we get up bright and early tomorrow morning and drive 10 hrs. 39 minutes (thanks mapquest) to Boise. My dad and Ashley come in from Alaska tomorrow night in time to see us. Then come Friday morning another 4 1/2 hours to Logan where we will move into our new place! It is rather exciting, but as much as I hate packing up a place, I don't like moving things from a storage unit to a house much better. Oh well! I'm just very greatful that we have a place to live!

Until we have internet...farewell, and bring on "the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!" I have missed you U.S. of A.!

Boise/McCall Part 1

Mid-July Bristol and I flew from Victoria to Boise for a week long stay with my family. We had so much fun! The flights were long...well, in reality they were short but with a toddler it seemed long. My layover was in Seattle, and I was supposed to have 40 minutes. That was turned into 20 minutes and I didn't know that I would have to go through customs, re-check my luggage, and take two different trams to different parts of the airport. I had no time to buy some snacks, change Bris's diaper, or go to the bathroom myself. I was sweating bullets by the time that I barely made it on the flight. Whew! Arriving to Boise was awesome though. I love it there. The whole family came for a BBQ and swimming. Bris loves the pool! Her favorite thing to do is sit on the edge of the slide and jump in to my Dad. She got a kick out of that! If you think I look tired in the picture, I am. it was a long day! well worth it!

Don't you love the swimsuit with the built in life jacket? My family has always had them, they work great!

Canada Day & Gettin to Victoria

July 2, 2010: Happy Canada Day!

Yes, we were living in a hotel. Yes, it was raining. But we still had a fun time! In downtown Nanaimo we watched the flag parade and bought some treats! Don't ask me the history behind Canada Day, because I have no idea. But it was a great excuse to get out and have a good time. (Especially knowing that the 4th of July would be spent moving and not quite celebrating.)

Little did we know...

4th of July, 2010: Happy 4th USA!

Ugh...we had no idea what that day would bring. We LOADED up the subaru so much that my feet had to ride on the dashboard. The drive was 1hr 30 minutes, so I was dying! We were excited to know that we were going ot be living in a house in Victoria. So cool! A yard for Bris to play in and everything. However, when we got there I wouldn't even get out of the car. The place was a nasty disaster with overflowing toilettes and carpets that had never met a vaccuum. (I did eventually brave it). Alright I thought, I can hire a cleaning crew to just come sweep this place clean. Thought #2, I'm not living here. There was a guy living on the main floor and we would live upstairs. No separate entrances, no door to lock at the top of the stairs so this guy couldn't get into my living space. Can you believe it? Some random guy would be living downstairs. Well, that place didn't work out. Nobody blamed us either. So we waited a little bit and then thankfully moved into a place. (I still feel guilty Walburgers.) The highlight of the day was eating at Red Robin! Good ol' American food. That was our 4th of July celebration! we missed being at home celebrating with families. Hope you all had a great time!

Victoria: Welcome to Victoria! It is beautiful here! The week we moved had to have been record breaking temperatures. We have no AC, and it was hot outside which only meant eating cold treats and playing in the water. We are pretty good at that!

Disclaimer: I know...I'm way behind on posting...sorry so late! I'm getting there!

Menu Board

I want to make this! It is so easy to make (even for craft dummies like me) and uses a lot of materials that I already have! Also...great for a meal planner like me. I will not go to the grocery store without a meal plan. And the coolest part is that if you plan seven meals it usually will last you 9 or 10 days because of left-overs or last minute eat out nights. The trick is to save the meals for last whose ingredients won't go bad if they sit longer than a week! (Pasta, meatloaf, etc.) I think that I might add a dessert list too, if I can make it fit!

Englishman River Falls and the BEAR!

On our way to Englishman River Falls we saw a bear! People have told us that they have lived their whole lives on the island and never seen a bear. We did! We stopped and watched it for a few minutes before reaching the falls.

Englishman River Falls is really beautiful! The falls is HUGE, and the scenery is breathtaking. You walk over a bridge that takes you right over top of the bottom of the falls. It was really neat!

BRING ON YOUR "A" GAME

Dear TyRell,
With the approval of the School of Graduate Studies, the Accounting is pleased to inform you that your application has been approved and you have been accepted to begin graduate study at Utah State University. You are to be congratulated for your achievement.
Your acceptance details are as follows:
Starting Term: Fall 2010 Advisor: Richard Jenson
Department: Accounting Program: Accounting Degree: MAcc

That's right! USU here we come! If you haven't heard, it's been quite the stressful process. Back in the spring TyRell took the GMAT. You have to get a certain score to even be looked at by USU, and he missed it by 2 points. Ty had been told by the accounting advisor that he shouldn't even apply because they won't even look at you unless you get that test score right. However, I encouraged Ty to apply anyway because he had already graduated from USU with an above average GPA. His GPA was also well above that of the mini mun requirement. So he did. We have been waiting...and waiting all summer to hear from USU and it just hadn't happened. Last night we were talking and both really worried about where we were going to go. We knew it was decision time, but we just didn't want to make that decision without knowing his fate with USU. So today he called, and the gal told him that his acceptance letter had just been sent. He called me, I cried, but he still made me open his e-mail because he couldn't believe it! We are so excited to be going back to Logan. We would have LOVED to be closer to family at either one of the other schools we were considering and are so grateful for the family members supporting us, but USU's program is just right for TyRell. We are so blessed. We couldn't be more grateful right now! Utah State hey Aggies all the way!

Ereksons Visit Part 4

Qualicum Beach

This was the BEST I had ever been to Qualicum beach. The tide was extremely low and we all found tons of treasures. We spent a ton of time here just browsing the beach. My sisters probably kept about 100 full sand dollars (don't worry, just the dead ones), and played a bit in the water. My mom loved hunting down geo-ducks. Have you ever watched living sand dollars move accross the sand? It is so amazing! And when you hold a live one it almost feels like it's stinging you they are so prickly! Pretty cool!

I loved this shot: A drumstick in one hand and a sand dollar in the other.

Erekson Clan Visits: Part 3

Cathedral Grove

Cathedral Grove is a grove of trees right off of the highway. They are ancient and huge trees! I hadn't been there previously, so I was excited to show my family! We packed a picnic lunch and waded through a stream to find a quiet place to have a picnic! We had a great time!