my home & native land

 even though its already been 2 months since we flew up north to visit my family in british columbia, i still wanted to remember that very special trip here on my blog. it was much anticipated (first time our whole family was up there in over 3 years) and very much prepared for (new green card for me, and renewed passports for both josh & i) and when we drove the little car filled to the gills with kids and suitcases over the washington border, into BC and i told the kids, "we made it! we're in canada!" my voice wobbled and i had happy tears in my eyes.

it was a glorious 10 days, truly.

 so much beauty

so many cherished family members! this is my younger brother james holding my newest nephew, ethan whom we met for the very first time.

this was the first trip since moving to california 9 years ago, where i felt like a true tourist. i had my camera out as much as my husband did trying in vain to capture some of the rich, green gorgeous views that surround that part of the world.

the calendar was filled ahead of time with fun little day trips and ideas for things to do and see. my dad got to take josh, tristan and samuel out to see trains, throw stones into a river and watch a giant sturgeon being caught.

ava and i opted to stay closer to home, most days drinking in our fill of quality time with family (especially little ethan) and eating our fill of raspberries, freshly picked from the backyard.

the weather smiled down on us, sprinkling slightly only one day out of ten. warm enough for short sleeves during the day, and cool enough to put a sweater on in the evening. just perfect.

josh had a chance to go on a couple of hikes, the last one being up part of mount baker, the peak of which you can see in the distance in this photo.

our kids loved every minute of it as well. they had plenty of playmates and new destinations nearly every day to keep them occupied (sam and ava are at mill lake, above with presley, our friends' daughter)

cousin time was the best though! my oldest brother andy's kids sarah and jacob got along great with our boys. and whenever uncle james & auntie jacelyn came around to play, the fun increased tenfold.

getting out for breakfast at our favorite pancake place was a huge priority for my mom, sister and i.

but my favorite memories of the entire trip were times just like these. sitting together, laughing together, watching the kids (and uncle james) playing together.

celebrating my little girl's 2nd birthday alongside her cousin jacob was like the icing on the cake for me.

all of the togetherness was the most precious part of all. the goodbyes were really hard this time, but the memories from this trip are doing their part to pull us back again.....and we're definitely not going to wait 3 more years again!