It's Independence Day!

July 2005

This was in Great Falls, July 4, 2006

This was July 07, Pleasant Grove, UT

2007, Utah (rare picture of Stan with facial hair!)
I can't believe Macy was that size one year ago. They grow so fast.

I miss the 4th of July Celebrations. We usually try to do our own. A couple of years ago we went to Great Falls, Montana to celebrate. We'll probably do that again in the future. They have a great celebration there. Whatever we do, we are trying to make it an important thing in our family to remember both sides of the family and celebrate the big holidays that are different (ie. 4th of July and Canada Day, and Thanksgiving).
Here's the National Anthem:
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
I really like this verse:
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

History: In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid. The two were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem entitled Defense of Fort McHenry; later the poem was set to music that had been previously composed for another song by a Mr. Smith. The end result was the inspiring song now considered the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century or so, but became even more accepted as the national anthem during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The World Series performance moved everyone in attendance, and after that it was repeated for every game. Finally, on March 3, 1931, the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written.

God Bless America!

O Canada

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

As several of my blog readers are American, I wanted to share some things I like about Canada, my life here, and some thoughts about health care (since people often ask me about that). Today is Canada Day, similar to Independence Day in the U.S.
First of all, living here has given me an appreciation for my roots AND for Stan's.
I am the first to admit that I grew up a prideful American, believing the U.S. was the only place to be and that it was the best place to be. Thanks to some very loving Canadians and my experiences here, I can proudly say that Canada is a great place to live! (Don't laugh you Americans). You don't know it until you experience it but take advice from someone who has been where you are and try to open your eyes a little. The two countries are similar in lots of ways. As far as everyday living, it feels the same. Gas is more expensive though, and groceries!! I've been here long enough(5 years) that the lingo that I once thought strange, sounds normal and I have to think about the fact that Brynn is going into 1st grade (They say Grade 1 here.)
I'm grateful that my children will all be dual citizens and have the choice to live or go to school either country with ease. Happy Canada Day!

This is from Wikipedia. Health care in Canada is funded and delivered through a publicly funded health care system, with most services provided by private entities.^[1] While the Canadian government calls it a "public system,^[2][3] it is not "socialized medicine".

Health care spending in Canada is projected to reach $160 billion, or 10.6% of GDP, in 2007. This is slightly above the average for OECD countries. In Canada, the various levels of government pay for about 70% of Canadians' health care costs, which is slightly below the OECD average. Under the terms of the Canada Health Act, the publicly-funded insurance plans are required to pay for medically necessary care, but only if it is delivered in hospitals or by physicians. There is considerable variation across the provinces/territories as to the extent to which such costs as outpatient prescription drugs, physical therapy, long-term care, home care, dental care and even ambulance services are covered.^[4]

Considerable attention has been focused on two issues: wait times and health human resources. There is also debate about the appropriate 'public-private mix' for both financing and delivering services.

Also from Wikipedia is a comparison between US and Canadian systems, if you are interested. (I also did a research paper on this very subjects 4 years ago).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_and_American_health_care_systems_compared

Ladiesfest

My posts have been less regular. We have been borrowing a camera but we don't have the cable so I don't have any recent pictures on my computer. Words will have to do for now.
I ran in the annual Ladiesfest race in Lethbridge for the 3rd year in a row. It was a fun experience. I have been training so hard for this race and really wanted to improve my time and finish without being dead. I'm happy to report that I accomplished both goals! It was a great race. Beautiful day, my legs felt good, I was running at a great, comfortable pace. Two and a half weeks ago, I got shin splints on one leg. I didn't know what it was but I was very discouraged and wasn't able to finish my training program as I would have liked too. The Lord was so good to me and allowed me the duration of the race to feel so good and to have a great experience. I was completely lost in my own world the whole time, listening to great music and thinking about life ahead of me.
I love running! It is one of the best things I've discovered to do for myself that really helps me, in a number of ways. I love being with my sisters-in-law and my mother-in-law is amazing!! At 61, she is in great shape and loves to compete. I'll have to post pictures when I can get some up.
Another blurb of thoughts. For any of you who know me, I'm really into learning about financial planning type stuff, getting out of debt, planning for the future, enjoying life along the way, etc.
I came across a talk on type at the library and I lOVED it! If any of you are interested in that, this was a great one.
It's called Smart Couples Finish Rich. I highly recommend it and I can't wait to talk with Stan more about it to help us get our goals in place, again.
We are having ANOTHER rainy day today but it is a blessing as our house was stifling hot after yesterday's 29 C.

Joel's birthday

Joel's cupcakes that he requested.



Joel has been asking me for a "big boy" bike for a long time!! Stating many times that his "tricycle has grown out of me." I'm so glad we waited to give him his new bike. He was so excited and is still so excited that he has a new bike. He also got a t-ball set and we haven't been able to use it much yet. Our yard is too small and the ball goes right over the fence. He can hit it really good. He was excited to be at grandpa's farm for his birthday.

Adventures in Calgary

Stan travels to Calgary once a month to do some work and this time we decided to join him. There's lots to do there so me and the kids wanted to have some fun while he was working. We've had some free passes to the Calgary zoo and wanted to use them. As we were preparing to go to the zoo, Macy threw up. Thankfully it was an easy clean up but she was feeling miserable and kept crying. Our choices were to continue on and go to the zoo or try and see if we could check into our hotel early. We decided to go to the zoo because the other kids were really looking forward to it. We prayed that Macy would settle down, sleep and feel better. The Lord answered our prayers and Macy did sleep pretty much the entire time we were at the zoo. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals, even though most were sleeping, eating yummy ice cream cones, riding a little train they have there, AND...taking pictures. (notice there aren't any pictures with this post). I decided to be a nice mom and let Brynn have the camera for a few minutes and take some pictures. She's a responsible girl and so I decided that would be ok. Well, we were viewing the dinosaurs and a nice waterfall and she wanted to take a picture of the beautiful waterfall. I instructed her to stand in a certain place to get the best view. She ignored my suggestion, took off running to the spot she wanted to be at, tripped and the camera flew into the water, never to be seen again. I was blessed with an understanding heart and a lot of patience and assured her that the camera was replaceable and I was glad that she didn't dive into the water. Needless to say, we have no pictures of the day. She felt really bad.
Brynn's favorite part of the zoo: the baby animals and feeding the ducks
Joel's favorite part: chocolate ice cream cone, and with some questioning, he kind of liked the animals too. The train was fun too, he said.
My favorite part: Getting some sun and having the kids be happy and well behaved.
There's more to this adventurous day. We arrive at the hotel, only to find out that the pool is closed. We only chose this hotel for the pool. I couldn't reach Stan as his meetings were running late. The man at the front desk informed me that I could only cancel the reservation if I did it right then. Since I couldn't talk to Stan, I decided to check-in. The kids really wanted to go swimming and we were wondering what we would do. Stan saved the day by getting us out of our reservation and going somewhere that had a great pool. The rest of the evening went great! The kids had fun. We spent the rest of the weekend in Grassy Lake with Stan's family and we celebrated Joel's 4th birthday. I'll post as soon as I can get the pictures from Stan's mom's camera.