Hillbilly Heaven

Yesterday was supposed to be a day for Dad and his boys.... due to what I like to refer to as "nonsense" (no further explanation necessary - for those close to us, know exactly what I mean)... I ended up being able to be part of this - and I couldn't have been more ecstatic to be going to the MONSTER TRUCK show with my two favorite guys.  Five years ago, I never would have imagined being excited to go to a monster truck show, but I was!   Ashton was so worried about missing the show that when we woke up on Sunday morning and were getting ready to go to Church, he didn't want to go because he thought that we might miss the 730pm monster truck show.  We arrived at the show at approximately 715 pm and once again Ashton was worried that we had missed the show.  He sat in his seat with his eyes peeled towards the gate where the trucks were supposed to come out.  "mom, did we miss it" he said... "no honey, they will be coming out right away".... those 15 minutes seemed like an eternity to my little 3 year old... but when they came out, the giant smile on his face was definitely the highlight of my night.  For the next hour and a half the three of us hollered and cheered for the giant trucks that raced around the tracks, did wheelies, and even crashed.  Oh, what a night!!!  Although I left the arena with a giant headache from all of the exhaust, my precious little Ashton left the arena with the biggest smile on his face that he even woke up with the next morning...."mom, can we go to the monster trucks again today?"... it is memories like these - of monster trucks - that I never in a million years would have imagined would be part of my life, but the smiles and laughter that I shared with my two favorite guys last night were awesome, and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of it. 

p.s. my heading of hillbilly heaven was exactly what I thought I would see when I arrived at the monster truck show --- mullets and toothless smiles ---- instead what I saw was moms and dads just like us enjoying seeing their little ones (some may have been toothless) with giant ear to ear grins on their face!!
 



                                  okay, there may have been a few mullets... and a few adults who were smiling from ear to ear with less than 32 teeth.... maybe lucky if they had 15 or 20, but an ear to ear grin is priceless whether you have all 32 or not!!! 

watching the screen to see if his favorite truck won the race

Ashton reading a story to Rhyse the next morning... still wearing his monster truck shirt:)

Homesick...

I am feeling "homesick" lately... but as I think about where I am homesick for, there is not one specific place.  I think for me homesick is a general term for Canada.  I moved from Paynton to Moose Jaw, to Lloydminster, to Vancouver, to Langley, back to Vancouver, and then to Prince Albert for a majority of my life in Canada, and each one of them was home to me.  What is it about Canada that I miss so much??
- the people
- the beauty
- the healthcare system
- home made wine
- bunnyhugs rather than hoodies
- northern lights
- people who know how to drive when it snows
- kilometers rather than miles
- celsius rather than fahrenheit
- homecooked meals from scratch
- my dog Liz
- endless pots of coffee

- I could go on and on...
...........but most of all, what I miss are my family and friends... although I have great family and friends here in the U.S... my Canadian family and friends are the core of who I am.  They have been with me through my many ups and downs that brought me to this country;  they have smiled with me, cried with me, and laughed with me along the way.  This summer can not come soon enough for me to go "home".  Until then, I am so very lucky to have unlimited long distance, my dual citizen children who have learned Canadian words such as "bum", and "toque", my husband who reminds me daily of one of the reasons why I live here with his endless love and support,  facebook to see familiar faces, and of course my friends and family here in the U.S. who also remind me daily that the United States is a great country also filled with amazing people, and I am very lucky to have the best of both worlds.