Summer Forget-me-not...House Building

When Mike tells people that he built a house this summer his friends think it's cool. When I tell people that I worked construction this summer they stare at me in disbelief. But build a house we did, whether you think that's cool or you're wondering how in the world.... ;) (I will admit that I wasn't always the most valuable worker on the site...:/)

This is actually the second summer my family has done this together. It was my first summer doing it with the rest of them. And who knew such hard work could be so much fun!?!

It was a blessing having work lined up before Mike and I even arrived back in Canada. And it was such a blessing to get to spend the summer working alongside my husband and my family.

Rednek Piknik

This is what we do for fun around here. :) A little strange? Don't judge until you try a little bit of redneck yourself!

Credit for the planning of this party goes to Mitch who {very impressively} baked us chocolate cobbler {by himself & from scratch} just so we would all agree to get into Yoda {the much abused Toyota} and drive across the field to have a picnic by our own private lake {aka. the dugout}.

Tim Horton's fill-the-gap-er

Every true Canadian dearly misses at least one thing whenever they leave the country: Tim Horton's. (for our family & friends who are insulted by that statement, don't worry, you're on the "we miss list" right next to good ol' Timmy's ;)).

Well, like good Canadians, the other day Mike and I were bemoaning the fact that we must endure this crazy Texas heat without any access to a refreshing and so-delicious Tim Horton's Iced Capp. But the Lord has graciously seen fit to provide for us during this time in which we are outside of the great land flowing with maple syrup and iced capps :). Thanks to Suzanne who discovered and shared the wealth with us, today we enjoyed a Frozen Cappuccino from QT (Quick Tripp). While it is not quite on par with a Timmy's Iced Capp (impossible to match - its kinda like Texas and hockey...leave the ice to the Canadians), it was pretty yummy and it will definitely fill the gap.

Mike loves when I take pictures while he's trying to study - there's some good Canadian sarcasm for you ;)

P.S. If you non-Canadian's cannot understand the depth of our attachment to this place see the following link for greater insight as to the importance and to just how far the Canadians will go to ensure their daily cup of Timmy's: Tim Horton's in Afganistan.

Letter L-ing it from Canada to Texas!

Letter L-ing it across the continent (in honour of the Lorusso name, of course ;)) 

1 province and 7 states, 4 430 km, 46 driving hours, over the span of 8 days...brought us back to our home in Fort Worth, Texas. What sweetened the deal is that we got to share it with friends. John and Jackie Rice mentioned several months earlier that they'd possibly be interested in driving down to Texas with us and we took them seriously...and made an adventure out of it.

On our honeymoon we somehow got stuck in a time-share presentation (after being warned many times prior by my dad to watch out for them :))...we were shocked and annoyed that they especially tried to influence us towards buying with the idea that we NEEDed a vacation place to regularly take our family in the years to come. Since when did our blessings and privileges become needs? I think of this often now anytime that we travel and it has caused me to be even more thankful for opportunities to go places, see things, to enjoy life and the world which God created!

Butte, MT (looked at the copper mine mansions, walked up to the headframes (required trespassing, but after we had been given 'permission' by one of the locals))

Salt Lake City, UT (explored the state building, toured the Beehive house (Brigham Young's historic home), got asked to leave the Beehive house because we wouldn't convert, walked around the Temple square, took pictures of Tim Horton's coffee cups with the statues of the Mormon founders/leaders)

Zion National Park, UT (rode the shuttle through the canyon, drove through a mile-long tunnel, hiked, hung out with the squirrels, nearly died of heat exhaustion)

Las Vegas, NV (walked the strip, explored the hotels and casinos, went outlet mall shopping, relaxed at our cheap and beautiful resort!)

Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV (probably our favourite part of the Vegas chapter - toured the resort, ate at the buffet (thanks Dad&Mom :)), watched the fountain show 2x, watched John and Jackie fight off cockroaches during the fountain show)

Hoover Dam, UT (drove across the dam, toured the power plant and visitor center museum)

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ (rode the shuttle/hiked the rim of the canyon)

Family & Friends enjoying God's creation

We Must Be Back in Canada...

The loyal fans...

A great Canadian legend, Don Cherry...

The game...a rather sad situation, unfortunately :(

The best part (in my opinion) ...thanks Auntie!

Our handsome waiter...