Thursday, December 29, 2016

Montana


We crossed the border into Montana and spent the morning driving through Glacier National Park.  We didn't stop very long in any one spot, but enjoyed a longer break for lunch, where the kids got to play by the lake.  



We visited friends from Oklahoma who now live in Montana.  We enjoyed dinner at their home, followed by dessert at Big Dipper Ice Cream.  Our family shared a Super Nova, which had a brownie layer on the bottom, followed by several scoops of ice cream and toppings.

In the morning, Angela and I went for a run through some of the streets and trails near them.  All of us went for a hike, where the kids enjoyed picking the blueberries and flowers along the way.  The kids collected some wildflower bunches for us.  They also thought it was fun to put blueberry "paint" on their faces.  We had a great time!    


Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Edmonton, Calgary, Cardston

We're almost out of Canada on our trip... after we left my aunt and uncle's place, we headed to Edmonton.  We left Nathan in charge of the kids at the motel, and just made it in time for the last session of the day at the Edmonton Temple.  


In the morning, my parents headed on to Calgary (where they returned their RV and caught a flight to Utah).  We headed over to the giant West Edmonton Mall, which was much more than a mall - there was a water and amusement park, mini golf, and several other things which we didn't have time to do.  We also met some friends for lunch, which was fun.



We all did the mini golf, and then we divided up - Alex took Nathan and Jared to the waterpark and I took Owen, Weston, and Savannah to the amusement park.  We didn't do any of the fast rollercoasters, but they all did well on the other rides.



There is a big pirate ship in the middle of the mall - we had to check that out too.  

We spent most of the day at the mall, and then headed to our motel in Calgary that evening.  The next morning, we went to the Calgary Temple, and then headed to Cardston.  

Cardston was a cute small town - we stayed at a bed and breakfast there.  The owner had the bear skin, which the kids got a kick out of.

Here's a little bit about the bed and breakfast.  We stayed in one portion of it.  There wasn't much fancy about our bed accommodations, but the breakfast area was pretty fancy.  The ceiling tiles were made from scraps from the Cardston Temple.   


We went to the Cardston Temple that evening - two temples in one day!  It is pretty impressive to see a big temple in such a small town.  It's a pretty cool temple.  It was dedicated in 1923 and was the first temple built outside of the US.  Here's some more facts on the temple.


The next morning, we headed across the border.  We had to wait in line a while, so we took some pictures by the the border signs.  The kids thought it was cool to have one foot in each country (although I don't know about the technicalities of the actual border).