Baby Shower (work) Photos!

 

Cake for Hayden Herthel & James Mason

 

Me and Christal at our shower

 

CCU Got James a Car Seat!

 

My friend Elizabeth cross-stitched something for James' room :)


Charles and I opening adorable gifts...


Dear work friends--Donna, (me), Christal & Debbie


Cute picture Donna took of Charles and I (she's a professional photographer)

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!

I would like to send out special Happy Canadian Thanksgiving greetings to all of my friends/family who celebrate Thanksgiving on the wrong day (just kidding). I have been talking to Martha about the pros and cons of having Thanksgiving this early. One, is that the whole Christmas season starts earlier (which, if you enjoy this like we do, is a pro). You can have your Christmas decorations up longer, and you have more time to shop (and possibly more time to slow down and enjoy the actual meaning of the season). Another pro is that their Thanksgiving is on Monday, giving them a 3 day weekend. Many peopld could do this in America, but since ours is always on a Thursday, you may end up having to request Friday off work, and thus risk having that request denied. ha. A pro to the US Thanksgiving is that we get massive day after Thanksgiving sales which helps jump-start the Christmas purchasing. In Canada, they have Boxing Day, which is like the day after Thanksgiving sales, except you've already been expected to give gifts to your friends and loved ones by the time that this sale occurs. So thus for the purpose of saving money on presents, it's pointless.

Another side note related: I was on the phone with a member today at work, and mid-conversation he pauses and asks, "What part of Canada are you from?" and I of course said that I wasn't. And to curb his obvious confusion, I said that I was from TN but married to a Canadian. He said he could hear it in my voice. This just proves one thing.. I am a cameleon. ha!

Funny Camping

We have wanted to go camping for awhile, actually, since we got married. Seeing as I am 7+ months pregnant now, I figured that it's "now or never!" So this past Sabbath we threw everything in the car and headed toward one of my favor places to camp--Gee Creek, on the Hiawassee river. It was a beautiful weekend, and thus, there were lots of people up there. On the way up, it struck me that this might not be a great plan, as there is only one bath house there, and a limited number of sites near to the bath house. We both prayed that we would be able to find a campsite near the bath house (since I have to visit places like the bath house a lot more frequently than when I wasn't pregnant). Fortunately, when we got there one of the only available spots to camp was right beside the bath house! First prayer answered...

We begin the task of setting up our camp for the night. After we fought with the tent and got it set up, I started dinner and Charles started inflating the air matress. After a little while, he informed me that our brand new air matress had a hole in it--not even on a seam. I was so upset and worried because I so needed a good night sleep away from my dogs (!). More prayers for answers to this dilemma. We prayed that someone would have duct tape. No one had duct tape. I was about to dispair, when Charles looked down, and right beside our car was a big piece of duct tape that had been folded in half and left by a previous camper! That would have to do for the night. Were it not for the duct tape sent from heaven, and my loving husband who pumped up the mattress every hour or so I would not have had a decent night of sleep. Still, it was rough, but better than being awake all night.

One other funny thing was that we forgot to pack cutlery. Fortunately, I'm married to MacGyver, and he was able to whittle us some fork/shovels to eat our eggs with the next morning at breakfast. Overall, it was an interesting and funny experience.