Our trip to Banff, AB

Nate and I had been wanting to visit Banff, AB in Canada for quite a while, and in mid-August, we impulsively planned a quick trip to visit the area. I am so glad we did. I loved it there. It was absolutely beautiful. When you're there, you feel like you're in the Swiss Alps or something. It's magical. I will say that August is a busy time there, and there were crowds at some of the attractions (Lake Louise, especially), but it was still a really great trip. I want to go back again and spend a little more time there.

 

 

 

This is inside Chateau Lake Louise, a beautiful, historic hotel

 

 

 Lake Louise

 

 Chateau Lake Louise

 

We rode the Banff Gondola, which was surprisingly terrifying for all of us. But beautiful.  

Once you get to the top, you walk up hundreds of stairs, which was exhausting. The views make it worth it though.

 



 

 This was a place called Cave and Basin, with hot springs to look at. We also swam in some hot springs, which was slightly overrated, if you ask me.

 

There were quite a few Bighorn sheep off the side of the road, and they would even wander around some of the little towns. 

 Luke endured all the driving pretty well.

Halle, the rockstar

This girl is hilarious.

Luke's Big Day

 Luke's long-awaited surgery day finally came. It was on June 4th at Seattle Children's Hospital. It went much better than I imagined.

Luke's doctor (Dr. Jonathan Perkins) specializes in vascular malformations, so we were very blessed to have him. I felt like we were in great hands. We had a pre-op appointment on Wednesday, and the surgery was on Thursday morning.

It was sad knowing that Luke had no idea what was coming. I cried when they carried him away. He just looked back at me as they walked down the hall with him. I was so nervous that something would go wrong in surgery. It's always scary when your baby has to go under general anesthesia.

 

Waiting for the surgery...

 

Don't let my smile fool you, I was really scared.

 

We had to wait over 4 hours from the time they took him away, until the time we could see him again. A lot longer than I expected. The doctor met with us and said everything went well. He showed us some (really graphic) images of the mass that they removed from Luke's head and it was kind of terrifying. It was much larger than I thought it was. The incision on his head was twice as long as I thought it was going to be, so that was disappointing.

This is the day after surgery. Luke recovered so quickly. It was truly amazing.

We went for a walk around the hospital and happened to see this poster about Luke's doctor. Look at the before and after pictures of that little girl. He does amazing work.

The picture above was a week or so after the surgery.


And this was when all the bandages came off:

 

YIKES!!! Scary, huh? It was really swollen and irritated when he pulled of the surgical tape.

 

 

And this is how it looks now, 2 months later:

 

Hopefully in a month or two his hair will completely cover the scar. We are so, so thankful that everything has gone well for him and I just hope that nothing grows back. The doctor said that there is a slight possibility of that, but we're all hopeful that it won't happen. If it does, at least there is a treatment/surgery for it. Thank goodness for modern medicine.

Halle's 3rd Birthday

Halle turned 3 on the same day as Trevor and Sam's wedding (in Utah), so we celebrated her birthday the day after the wedding. We were all together in Huntsville, so it was fun to be with family.

 

We didn't do much... just cupcakes and presents. But Halle seemed happy. She loves Ariel right now, if you can't tell.

 

 

We LOVE Halle so much. She is such a happy, fun little girl. She's so funny too. She loves to dance and sing. I will post some videos soon to show off those talents. I really wish I could freeze time because she's at such a fun age.

The girls' rooms

Hello, I'm back. Lots of blogging to catch up on. I have a terrible memory, so I want to keep up with this blog.

A couple months ago, I did some decorating in the girls' rooms and I thought I'd share some pics.

I painted an accent wall in Paige and Kate's room:

And did these fabric embroidery hoops in Halle's room:

Kate took some video at the temple

Trevor and Samantha's Wedding

On Saturday, May 2nd, we had the pleasure of attending Trevor (my little brother) and Sam's wedding. It was such a great day. I really loved it. The only problem with the trip was that it was way too short! But it was great, nonetheless.

 

We met at the Salt Lake Temple for their sealing. It was nice to be in the temple with my family. I was surprised how emotional I was seeing Trevor get married. I was so happy for him, but also a tiny bit sad for some reason. I think it was hard to accept that he is all grown up and that he isn't my "little" brother anymore. He was the last sibling to get married and it's like I finally have to let go of our old family life or something. I know that sounds weird. I don't know what's wrong with me.

 

It was also a great spiritual experience in the sealing room. Their sealer was such a funny and thoughtful man. I thought he had a lot of great advice for them.

 

 

After the sealing, we waited and waited... and waited for them to come out.

 

All 5 of the girl cousins

Phew... I had time to take a selfie! haha

Aww... so cute.

What a beautiful couple! Am I right, or am I right?

Luke's hair decided to be super wacky on the wrong day.  

All the cousins. I think they were over taking pics at this point.

After the sealing, there was a nice luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. But I have no pictures. :(  Maybe my sisters will post some and I can steal them. Hint, hint...

 

 I wish I took more pictures of the reception. How beautiful is this? It was at Thanksgiving Point. It was a fun evening.

Congratulations, Trevor and Sam!

We wish you the very best.