ChRoNiClEs from the NoRtH: February 2011

Tonight I was invited to join some friends for supper while my hubby was still at work. Tyson and Catherine were visiting her mom and dad here, so we all went out to the Bear's Den for some grub.

I was recalling our trip in 2008 to Prince George conv. to Catherine. This was our the first time we had ever been to Hythe as well, where Catherine's in-laws live. We had stopped in overnight to see Adrienne there and then drove on the rest of the way to Prince George in the morning. Dean and I had a blast on this trip. We didn't set any times/schedules other than to be at Prince George for Wednesday supper. And to leave whenever and be back whenever :) Those kinds of road trips are seriously the best! It was summer time and Dean didn't have any more classes I believe so we had a pretty flexible schedule!

We saw all kinds of things and places that we had never seen before. So I thought it would be fun to share some of our memories with you.

An old deserted Truck on the side of the road

Part of our reason for going to Prince George was to visit Dean's older sister Val and her family.

Here Laurelle is having a snuggle with uncle Dean.

These two take after their mother.... hahahah. just kidding Val...not sure where they actually get this from?!??!

Laurelly bean

The whole fam.... danika not showing her face yet here ;)

Some fun floral pics...

Spotted an elk on the side of the road at night... thankfully we didn't meet him face to face... I hear they can do a lot of damage :(

My knight in shinning armour.... coming through the sunroof of our car. What a geek!

LOVE LOVE LOVE driving in the mountains... everything is so fascinating!

We stopped at Athabasca Falls in Jasper

And this is what happens when you let your hubby have the camera... he takes pictures of mosquitoes, ants and inch worms.... oh groan!

The ice fields in Jasper

Talk about GOING MOBILE!

Our stop in at Hythe to see Adrienne as well as Uncle Mac and Aunty El for a brief visit.

Driving through Chetwynd.... so neat! Some serious talent here... chainsaw carving!

LOVE

For those of you who haven't already heard, our neighbors here, Brian and Janelle have made a point of organizing a men's potluck now for the last few years. All of the food brought must have been prepared by the men. No women allowed to cook... finally a night off.. hahahah JK. I don't mind cooking, but lets just say I really do appreciate it when my hubby finds it fun to cook for me instead :)

Brian and Janelle have also picked themes for these potlucks. This past year it was a summer theme... in the middle of February. This year the theme was FIRSTS.... so it could have been the first time you had a certain dish, or the first time you ever cooked something it was... or the first thing you have in the morning. All kinds of ideas... whatever comes to your mind when you think of firsts with food.

Well, we do have a certain 'first' memory ... and many of you have already heard this story. But my kind hearted hubby decided that he wanted to surprise me for our first anniversary in 2006 and made a nice romanitc dinner at home. He seemed to be going to a lot of work... I wasn't allowed in the kitchen at all until we were right ready to eat. He brought out the fine china, had a huge heart set out on the whole table made of tealights, and supper was being cooked out on the grill. So I had no idea was he was making.... lets just say it SURE DID take me by surprise.

Don't get me wrong, I love to eat fish and will eat fresh fish any day!! However, when it greets me on the plate with eyeballs, head, tail, everything still intact... ummmmm.... I think I'll pass!

It took me by such surprise that I immediately started to shed some tears. I was feeling absolutely sick to my stomach ... because I couldn't stomach it for one, and for two, my hubby had gone to such great detail and effort and thought into our first anniversary supper, that I felt TERRIBLE!!!!! BEYOND TERRIBLE ACTUALLY! However, with the kind heart he does have, he didn't seem to feel all that bad after all, I mean he did feel bad that I wasn't enjoying it... but he was glad to have bbq'd fish and now have TWO bbq'd fish to eat!!!

So far I haven't had anymore surprises like this. I think he is scared to do anything out of the ordinary now. Poor guy! I still love him to bits though and love him even more today!!!

Here are some pics of the potluck. Sorry for the poor quality.... I need to have my camera settings checked out. So will have to get some copies from some others that attended.

Enjoy!

This is so cute.... Terry playing Phase 10 with the kids.

The crew of COOKS!

Deen preparing his fish. Yes, he did at least gut them. ugh. nastiness.

They had some serious poky spikes on them.... I believe these are perch.

Before they got put on the barbie.

What the bbq'd fish looked like cooked.

Only half of the selection that was there. Yup, definitely did run outta room on the plate mighty fast!

I had to laugh so hard a this. George brought bagels and cheese, because thats the first thing he has in the morning at A and W. So here, he had bought a toaster too for the first time because he doesn't even use a toaster at home I guess. Even had to dig out the instruction booklet. hahahah. There is a first for everything. lol. Okay, we will go easy on you George, yes, you're right, I guess there were some digital programming options he was curious about.