{thanksgiving weekend trip to the mountains}

this past weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada. what better way to spend it plus our anniversary than going to the mountains. the drive there was gorgeous: bright yellow, orange, brown & ochre fall colors. sydän meinasi ihan pakahtua kaikesta kauneudesta.

cute little town called Cochrane, near Calgary.



our hotel suite in Canmore was so luxurious. gas fireplace, flat screen tv's, washer & dryer, barbeque... Jay's favorite was the steam shower. you could get your feet or back massaged, even talk on the phone if you wanted to (which i actually thought was pretty silly).



Friday evening was cloudy and rainy. it didn't dampen our spirits. we went out to eat and bought some groceries so we could make our own breakfast each morning.



Saturday was sunny and gorgeous. still pretty chilly. perfect weather for hiking. we hiked up to Grassi lakes. talk about gorgeousness! i know i'm using the word gorgeous a lot but it's the perfect word to describe everything.



after our couple hour hike, we drove to Banff.

checked out the little boutiques and shops. then we met with our friends whose anniversary is only one day after ours. went out for supper.

Sienna loved going swimming at the hotel pool. the spiral water slide was her favorite. Jay and i loved the hot tub. it even went outdoors. soaking in the warm water after hiking, looking at the stars...

what a great start for our weekend trip. gotta love the mountains is all i can say.

ps. i'm absolutely in love with this song:



...then all of your friends they'd try to kill us... but only because they'd be jealous that our love is deeper than Edward & Bella's... if i were a zombie, i'd never eat your brain. i'd just want your heart, just want your heart...
love it! twisted bliss! :)

{ 20 }

today is our 20th anniversary.

i feel so blessed to be married to such a wonderful, caring husband. you hear so many negative comments about marriage. personally, i absolutely and completely love being married and wish everyone had the blessing of a happy marriage. it's wonderful to share your life with someone you love so deeply. if someone offered millions of dollars to me today if i gave up my marriage, there is no way i would even consider that for a second.

the best thing that has happened to us during those 20 years?

this little girl:



truly the greatest happiness we can find on this earth is our families.

{i kind of, sort of, maybe promise...}

(picture via google image search)

my poor, poor neglected blog. i promise to be back in full force next week. or the week after that. ok, maybe not promise and maybe not full forcce but i will try my very bestest to cut back on the neglecting. :)

happy, happy thanksgiving long weekend to any canadians reading this. don't stuff yourself too much or you'll start resembling your turkey. :)

{colorful food}

one of life's simple joys:

colorful food.

this blog post is part of:

{doodling}

guess who had fun doodling last night? :)

sienna and i also made these cats out of cardstock.

happy friday everyone!

{colored rice}

colorful rice in a plastic container with a lid = indoor sandbox.

4 cups (1 litra) rice

2 TBSP (rkl) food coloring

3 TBSP rubbing alcohol

put in a large ziplock bag. mix well. let dry.

use rubber gloves as the food coloring can stain. i used red food coloring and it made pink rice.

i saw the weirdest thing i've ever seen in the sky the other day. this really long orange "snake". the color was brighter than in these pictures. it was so cool!

early mornings have one good thing: beautiful sunrises.