Oh Canada!

Yes, we are in the middle of our annual summer visit to Canada to spend some good quality time with Tara's parents Don and Kim.  Most of our time is spent relaxing and letting Nana and Papa play with Aden.  Of course there are always projects of various sizes we help out with a little and we usually try to make it through a season of CSI while up here too.  One of my favorite things to do is see the community they are living with up here.  Last night we went to dinner on the reserve and Tara and I met the new chief of the band (or reserve) and were able to visit with some people we have seen for three years now.

Aden is having a fun time with all the attention he gets up here.  He has also been able to get more familiar with Kim's dog Maggie and cat Mittens.  They were both a little interested in Aden at first, then they discovered he is better at pulling hair rather than petting.  However, Maggie will still lick Aden's hands and face looking for something tasty left on him.  Aden is also very familiar with mosquitoes unfortunately.  As much as we try to protect him from them and cover his cot with bug netting they still have gotten his cute little face.

That is about all we have been up to here.  We will be back in Wisconsin on July 31st.  Also, we will be having a baby dedication on August 14th for Aden at Valleybrook church in Eau Claire.  Anyone in the area who would like to come is welcome, just shoot me an email and I'll get details out to you.  Even though we aren't able to attend Valleybrook much because of being overseas we still view it as our home church and want Aden to be dedicated to God there before leaving for the school year again.  Fortunately for us a dedication for babies and children was scheduled at a time we could be there.

"Hey look at me.  I'm over here being all cute" - Aden

Mommy, Aden, and Mittens

Necessary mosquito precautions

Aden in his new towel Nana made for him.

Family ATV ride.

Papa and Aden hanging out on the floor.

Nana, Aden, and Maggie

thankful thoughts and pictures

 We have been fully enjoying our time in the States.  We finished our time up north by relaxing at the cabin.  We did some fishing, boating, and just hanging out.  It was really nice to have time to do nothing in particular.  Then we headed down to the Eau Claire area.  Our friends Steve and Meredith Dehn joined us there to go camping.  It was Aden's first camping trip and he did a great job.  We ended up putting the pack 'n play in the tent with us knowing we would all sleep better that way, but it did make things a bit tight.  Aden loved being outside and the mosquitoes didn't seem to bother him at all.  We stayed in Eau Claire for four more days, but stayed at a hotel.  We spent our time visiting good friends, eating at all the restaurants we had been missing, and doing some serious shopping.  Thank you to everyone who took the time to get together with us.  It really meant a lot to see you all.

One thing we got to do while in Eau Claire was visit our home church, Valleybrook.  We sat in the balcony and as I looked out over all the people singing and praising God I realized how much I had taken the church for granted before we moved to Saudi.  It really is a blessing we have here in the States to be able to come together and worship.  We can listen to songs and sermons online at our home in Saudi, but it is not the same.  So, if you find yourself at a place of worship this week, take a moment to think about it and be thankful for that freedom, not everyone has it. 

Tara

 Aden loved driving the boat.

 Petting Grandpa Ron's friend Redbutt

Aden on his first boat ride.  He didn't really like the life vest so it was a short ride.

Visiting Great Grandpa Howard

Camping!

Our tent, Aden took up a lot of room

Hanging out in the tent with daddy

Scotland Part II, then back in Wisconsin

We finished our Scotland trip with a stop in Aberdeen, some highland games, and a visit to the William Wallace National Monument.  In Aberdeen we met up with a friend from Eau Claire who was studying in Scotland for the summer.  From Aberdeen we drove south to the Drumtochty Highland Games where Scottish guys were throwing hammers and trees in their kilts.  I also had the opportunity to do a 5 mile hill run.  It was great as soon as I made it to the top of the hill.  From what I heard it was a 1000 ft. climb to the top.  When it was all over I was very glad I did the run.  It was good training for the triathlon I am doing in a couple of weeks and the views were amazing.  I only wish I could have carried a camera with me.

On my birthday we left Aberdeen and visited a very small micro-brewery in Bridge of Alan.  Some of their beers were just weird (licorice flavor?), but they had a double expresso beer that was fantastic.  From there we went down the road to the William Wallace National Monument  which was pretty interesting.  My favorite part was seeing his sword.  apparently he must have been 6'6" to have used it properly.  It was a pretty cool stop for any Braveheart fan.

As of now we are in Northern Wisconsin visiting family.  We plan to do some fishing, boat rides, and are starting Aden on solid foods.  If you are reading this we will probably be seeing you soon.

Enjoy some pictures.

Jamie

This guy is throwing a big hammer

Best and worst part of the trip for me.

MooOOO!  Aden in a highland cow hat

William Wallace National Monument

Family pic at the top of the monument with a sleepy boy.

William Wallace's sword!

Mmm Mmm.  Aden getting his first rice cereal.