.Imma Canadian + Canada Day

Last week I took the Canadian Citizenship test at Canada Place in Edmonton.

I've been studying for this test off and on for the past two years since I first applied for citizenship. That is how long the process of paperwork has taken. To say this has been difficult would be an understatement, it's pretty much been a part time job some days getting all of these applications, documents, and requirements done.

You have to be a permanent resident living in the country for at least three years before applying for citizenship, and then apparently you have to wait two more years on top of that?

Anyway... I've learned a lot of stuff about Canada recently. Provinces, territories, national anthem, politics, government, economy, culture, history, symbols, etc. Everyone keeps telling me that I now know more about Canada than most Canadians.

Fun stuff.

I have to tell you something that I hate to admit....

Before I met Air, everything I knew (or thought I knew) about Canada was a complete by-product and result of my love for one particular movie. The infamous "Strange Brew".

It's dumb, but it's also a hilarious movie. Did I really think that one movie could possibly exemplify an entire country full of people? I'd never even considered that.

And so when I first came to Canada I was looking for the things I already knew. Pointing out all of the breweries we'd pass by, people wearing plaid coats, big old vans and Winnebago's I'd see around. And then there's the fact that they say "Eh" sometimes (but I'm pretty sure American's say it more than Canadians by now). I've come to the realization over the years that Alberta, Canada is nothing like the movie "Strange Brew". The people here don't talk like that. I've heard that people in other provinces do out East, but not this one... much to my dismay.

And so I find myself wondering how much the rest of you Americans know about Canada? Or how much you care to know? I knew NOTHING before I came here! Sadly, I never really cared to learn or even expected to come up here. I never even considered going north on vacation.

But here I am.

And here is your Canada lesson #1:

This is where we live:

A little (enormous) city called Edmonton, in the province of Alberta.

Edmonton is the capitol of Alberta and is an incredibly beautiful place. With the huge North Saskatchewan River flowing right through the city, there are tons of deep ravines and trees and trails, and parks all over. It's a historical place too. One of the main things that blew me away about this city is how old it is. It's been sitting up here all this time and I never even noticed it on a map! haha

Another thing that blows me away about Canada is how few people live here. There's just so much space... It's kinda great. We drive for hours through countryside once we leave our city before we arrive in another town.

So anyway, I passed that test last week easy peasy. 100%. The very same test that I stressed about for TWO YEARS only took me about 5 minutes to finish and I didn't break a sweat. In a few months I'll go to my ceremony where I'll do some weird things like pledge allegiance to the Queen and then I become a dual citizen of Canada and the USA. I'll be able to freely live in either country, whenever I want, for however long I want to. And that's pretty much the only perk I can think of... worth it I guess.

You know, I'm really glad Air and I live here. Canada is an amazing place.

And now I give you some photos from our Canada Day 2014:

 

Ames was scared of the sparklers…. he’s turning out to be a pretty timid and scaredy little guy. He’s scared to run through sprinklers. Scared of all loud noises. Too scared to go down the slip n’slide.

    

The funny thing is that after he acted like this through the entire firework show he couldn’t stop excitedly talking about the fireworks for days. “fie-wouks! big! BOOM! I wuv it!”

 

.Leary Family Reunion 2014 (part 2)

Father’s Day came on our third day at the reunion and we headed over to church in the morning. Usually our LDS wards will give out a little gift to all the men on Fathers day and the women on Mothers day. This ward didn’t. So lame! haha (I don’t think Air even noticed)

I want to mention again that Air is the most brilliant Father ever and we would all be lost without him. He does so much for our family… I love him.

This is actually sadly humorous to me now (because we suddenly have no income and can’t spend money. period.), but here are the sweet Father’s Day gifts we got for Air:

↑↑↑a new pair of Sperry’s↑↑↑

↑↑↑Philips electric toothbrush with cleaning kit (came with an extra one for me too)↑↑↑

↑↑↑ecorox waterproof bluetooth speaker↑↑↑

Hope you enjoy these Air cuz they’re probably the last things we’ll buy for a while other than food. haha

In the afternoon we went for a few little hikes to upper and lower Mesa Falls with a group of family members. Heather’s fam, Tyler’s fam, Seth’s fam and Jordan’s fam.

   

That night was the big talent show where almost every single one of these people showed off their skills for the rest of us. There is so much talent in this room. When did all of my siblings and nieces and nephews get so talented and what happened to me?

We went downstairs and watched some really old family videos too. Like the very first ever video footage of my Mother, and then some cute videos of our family when we were all young… good times.

After this we spent a whole extra day at the cabin, although almost everyone else left to visit Yellowstone or to go back home. We enjoyed relaxing in this big cabin for as many days as we were allowed to!

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To finish off this reunion I am just going to post some more highlights and fun things from the week.

1. This adorable photo of my parents somewhere in Idaho

2. Volleyball, canoeing and hot tubbing. That cabin had endless entertainment.

  

3. We split up meal duties between all of the families which worked out perfectly. We made Sunday breakfast.

4. The children’s bunk room, the huge indoor gym, slides, foosball, air hockey, ping pong, piano, everything.

  

5. The perfect views out our bedroom windows of the horses and beautiful countryside.

 

6. This Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post we found hanging on a wall in the cabin.

At the bottom it says “Young Ames Returns”. Maybe we need to read this book?

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And then we left to Yellowstone for a day. It happened to be a pretty cold and rainy day… and I don’t think Ames was very happy to leave the reunion because he was a bit GRUMPY in Yellowstone. It was still fun. This was Air’s first time there so we went straight to Old Faithful.

 

Here is Ames screaming “NO!” at the top of his lungs with Old Faithful behind him. Hello terrible two’s.

We drove around to lots of beautiful spots and looked deep into some hot springs and paint pots. Watched geysers explode and pour out over the land like a volcano. Smelled some wonderful sulfury smells. Pulled over to watch the huge buffalo eating grass on the side of the road. Stared into the forests as we drove through in case we might spot a bear (no luck).

And then we drove home. And then Ames slept. Thank goodness this boy still looks like an angel from heaven when he’s sleeping.

 

Never grow up little one.