these darling girls let me take pictures of them backstage even though i was late, even though i was nervous, even though i dragged tyler behind me, even though my shutter sounded like a shotgun, even though i clumsily tripped around them to find an awkward picture.
but they were glowing.
and i stopped thinking about i.
they were there to dance for someone else they didn't know in a country they had never been to in a world they could never imagine. they were there to raise money for suffering and impoverished children and their families. it was inspiring and beautiful.
except christmas. but every other day would be okay.
if you haven't tried yet, you must try canada day in raymond, alberta. you could come over to the evans family barbecue. the kids might even share their parade candy with you.
harry potter
camping
mountains
internet friends
gingerbread oranges
wicked
flying model airplanes
crashing model airplanes
jammers
sunsets and ukulele music
all in one weekend
last week, someone asked me if i missed toronto yet and always having something to do because it is so darn big.
ha.
and if you have a fire pit, a fire place, a neighbour with a fire pit or a fire place, or a nearby park with a fire pit, or place to build a fire, you must try the following:
make biscuit dough.
gently massage the dough onto the end of rather thick stick or branch (maybe an inch or two wide) until the dough is a couple centimetres thick. (i think it is better to soak the end of the stick in water for a couple minutes before to prevent it from burning). hold over hot coals and slowly rotate for even cooking for about twenty minutes and until the outside of the biscuit is golden brown. gently pull biscuit off stick. pour whatever filling your heart desires into the vacant hole. my mouth starts watering when i think about butter and homemade peach jam, but next time i might go to the dark side and use nutella.
mmm... nutella...
love,
me
(because tyler thinks putting nutella in a jammer is a sacrilege...)
i've been trying to be his favourite aunt since we've come home. however, the classic "distract, confuse, and lead away from mom" move didn't work. that amicable look is deceiving; he's one tough cookie.
and then his grammy and grandad came home from europe and he ran right up to them like he had been expecting them at any moment.
i can wait for that.
he and his uncle tyler do make a smashing duo, though. they certainly have swagger.
pictures taken while we were waiting for his grammy and grandad to come home.
we missed them, too.
love,
r&y
ps. uncle tyler would like you to grow a pirate beard like this, jacob. please don't.
we drove for three days, slept in the car in mcdonald's parking lots, used minimal air conditioning, and learned how to drive a truck bigger than the house we lived in that happened to be pulling our car...
we needed a good road trippin' song.
i thought of a brilliant idea: we would take one picture every two hours of our trip to keep accurate documentation of our epic journey.
naturally, i forgot about it exactly thirty two minutes into our drive.
however, we did find the largest scrap metal display in the u.s. of a. on the enchanted highway in north dakota. it was a big deal. we took pictures.
love,
the currently showered, well-rested, and cultured in the ways of well pipe geese,
r&y
i got a new dress. i had a yellow dress when i was four, and i have been looking for another more grown up, less poofy sleeves version. and here it is.
i also wanted bangs like dr. blight when i was six, and even when i try to change it up, i always seem to revert back to blight bangs... i thought they were fabulous as a six year old, too...
and i think it is too bad that it is looked rather poorly upon to have a garden of dandelion globes. thank you, city of mississauga, for not using pesticides and letting my garden of dandelions grow in the field across my old street.
love,
me
ps. all pictures taken in mississauga except the last one with an alberta sky.
it takes two years for an elephant to grow a calf.
it takes two years to build an eiffel tower.
it takes two years to make a toy story movie.
it takes two years to serve a mission.
it takes two years to use a costco supply of saran wrap.
it takes two years to learn how to clean teeth.
and it takes two years of being married to realize that a million more years might not be enough...
but anyway, toto, we're home. home! and this is my room, and you're all here. and i'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because i love you all, and - oh, auntie em - there's no place like home!
nicely put, dorothy.
we're home. and this time we can spend as long as we want wherever we want because we'll see the rest of you tomorrow.
movie nights, garage parading, piano concerts in the living room, four hand ragtime, gourmet meals, visits with old friends, late nights with new friends, a tubby dog and bubble tea, ginger beef, blacksmithing, digging up a tin foil book of mormon, jimmy's donairs, photo sessions in the rain, miles of sky, earthworm roommates.
well, that list doesn't sound as epic as it has felt to move back home...home for good...but it is enough that i now give everyone permission to start living again now that i am here. thank you for waiting until i got back. for the most part.
we've taken about 4.9 bazillion pictures since moving home, and have only just found a place to develop them. until i can blow your mind with that awesomeness, please let this video help bide the time. it represents us living out of cardboard boxes. and not even lions could make us move away again. and, well, of course, the binding love between ty and i.
our house is in a truck. and i got my hair did today to celebrate. one more party and a long drive and we're home.
we have also been watching old (like older than 50 years old...) movies. we have decided to stick to musicals, comedy's, and any movie with audrey hepburn or a dance number.
list of things we will miss:
10. spring beginning with magnolias.
11. not needing a sweater at night in the summer.
12. outdoor concerts. everywhere.
