my southern family comes north :)

i know, this post has been a long time in coming...but finally, here it is!!!

on the 7th my mom and 2 sisters left va to come visit their long-lost relatives (that would be dave and i) in canada :)

my cousin gabe hitched a ride w/ them as well...he spent a few days in dryden w/ another cousin (dustin), and then they both came up to red lake for a lovely little canoe trip with us :)

after 28 hrs. of driving, they finally arrived :)

we were so blessed to have friends invite us over for supper that night!!!

dave and i met matt and diana winter of last year, and they have been so much fun!!!

they own an island and have had us over for meals quite a few times :) they have electricity on their island, but no running water.

this is a picture of their house. they have been doing renovations on it now for 4 years, and just made it their primary residence this past winter.

matt is a marathon runner, and the sunday before my family left we were able to watch him do a triathlon here in red lake

swimming 1.5 km

beginning his 40 km bike ride

and then he ran 10 km

i dont' know what his final time was, but i think it was somewhere just under 3 hrs. he came in 2nd :) yeah matt!!!

everyone standing on the dock watching the swimmers

bec and autumn being tourists :)

thursday morning we all headed out to the bush for a 2 night/3 day camping trip...pretty sure that was the highlight of my family's visit :)

bec and autumn practicing their portage skills and showing they've got what it takes to portage a canoe the evening before we headed out lol

our first morning out...notice the dark clouds in the background? well, let's just say they didn't stay in the background!!! we got dumped our 1st day out!!!

thankfully i have an amazing husband who can provide shelter when such things occur :) despite our lack of appropriate rain gear we faired pretty well in the downpour :)

not only can my incredible husband provide shelter, but he portages canoes all by himself so that his pregnant wifey doesn't have to do too much lifting :) :) :)

we couldn't have done the trip w/out him!!!

bec busy taking pictures of herself while the canoe careens towards the rocks below...notice autumn's face...

poor autumn :(

it took these two a while to get the whole paddling a canoe down pat, but eventually they did get there ;)

mom and dustin ... pros in the making!

along the way, gabe made several territorial claims

gabrakistan

gabrielville

-notice the desperate women in the background back-paddling as hard as they can to get in the picture?

this point here was our destination...it was a high rock cliff on anishinabi lake

we got there around lunch time on our 2nd day, made a fire, and had hotdogs, mac & cheese, and marshmallows :)

i was in the process of roasting the perfect marshmallow when it decided to take a suicide dive off my stick :(

rebecca tried to save it...

but to no avail :( sad day for me and the poor little marshmallow :(

we never did have very strong wind on the trip, but there was enough on our 2nd day for about an hour of sailing :)

a welcome break for us all :) well, except me and bec who had to hold up the sail ;)

the 2nd night of our trip we found a beautiful camping spot...perfect to watch the amazing sunset God decided to give us :)

enjoying the view w/ my favorite person :)

the boys taking a swim

mom and dustin successfully navigating the falls ;)

some homeless man in cowboy boots we found along the way

making memories :)

lots of good meals over the fire!!!

we had pizza mountain pies, egg wraps made in bags, hot dogs, mac & cheese, blueberry dessert mountain pies, pancakes, and mountain pie egg sandwiches :)

i sold my mom and sisters on mountain pie irons...they stopped at a cabela's on the way home and picked up 4!

i cannot thank God enough for the beautiful and safe trip that He gave us!!!

and thanx to my amazing family who took the time to come visit me!!! i had such a good time :)

love each one of you!!!