Deported!

It was two years ago, that John's brother (Jordan) moved his family of four up here from Provo Utah to begin a new job. Even though we were excited at the thought of having them closer to us, we were all very nervous about his wife (Luci) and how she would handle life in Canada. She's an American. (This is where I would usually pause to make fun of Luci and how patriotic she really is, but I have recently heard her Dad speak about the American Constitution, and ever since then, it has been impossible for me to tease her, darnit!) Suffice it to say, she loves her homeland almost as much as she loves warm weather. Maybe more. However, I dare say Luci has adjusted quite well to the cold winters, short summers, and superior chocolate that Canada has to offer. In fact, I'm pretty sure that she now loves this place as well as the laid back pace of a small town.

So for the life of me I cannot understand why they have decided to leave? "WHY ARE YOU LEAVING????"

Whatever the reason, it is official. They have sold their home and as I speak, are packing up their belongings and preparing to head back to Utah. Naturally we had to throw them a Canadian style send off. And of course, the party had to be a Surprise!

I put a lot of thought into just how to throw a surprise party (I'd never really done one before), but I knew that two things were essential in order for it to work. 1. I had to involve the right people. People who would be fun AND able to take care of all the details. 2. I had to spend the week prior to the party, completely ignoring Luci. For some reason I think that is a mandatory step. You know, make it so that they sit back and wonder "why nobody even cares that they are leaving." It helps to makes the surprise part that much sweeter when they realize that they actually are loved. Anyhoo...while I worked on ignoring the honorary couple - Rachel, Kat, Jewel, Betsy and Jacki set to work taking care of everything else.

We all met in Waterton (where else?) for a wonderful potluck meal and visiting.
John's sister Rachel immediately dubbed it -the "DEPORTATION PARTY." I liked how that sounded, almost as much as I liked her decorations.

Jewel, Betsy, and Jacki put together a HUGE basket full of both home made and purchased Canadian Goodies. Kat supplied very decadent Crave cupcakes from the big city for all of us to enjoy, and most importantly Jord and Luce were surprised, so success all around!

The older kids ate fast, which is no surprise, and then spent the rest of the evening trying to catch one of the many gophers loitering on the field next to our camp kitchen. It was funny to watch a dozen kids run from one whole to the next trying to get one of these little things. It reminded us a lot of a live version of .

Actually, a small part of me worried that we might get in trouble by park officials for disturbing the wildlife. (but do gophers really count as wildlife?)

That is when Jordan pulled out a bunch of Rockets that he just happened to have on hand (shocker), and shot those off high above us, making everyone within a mile radius turn and stare.
Again, I worried that park officials might get mad at Jordan, for disturbing the peace. But then what could they do about it - Deport him?

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather. The Guys ended up down by the lake and spent a good chunk of time shooting rocks into the water using home made slingshots that John had made.

The cute Mothers held their cute babies.

The children with ADD played in the water, (clothes and all) when their Mother wasn't looking.

(I'm just kidding about the ADD part, he's just a very undisciplined child)

Jordan Jr. aka Jaxson, was pretty much content playing with these Rockets. I think he wanted to set them off just one more time. This kid is just like his Dad, it's so fun to see!

It was a perfect evening in Waterton. Not a single bit of wind, and beautiful Sun. I like to think it was God's way of telling Jordan and Luci that they should perhaps stay in Canada.

I mean, a person would be foolish to leave all of this right?

At any rate- we LOVE ya and wish you the best of luck back in the USofA ....EH!