fraser and kally's wedding

fraser and kally picked a spectacular location for their wedding, renting the entire main lodge of canmore's alpine club hostel.  it was a serious party, in a beautiful setting with awesome people.  hanging out with old friends was a highlight, as was meeting fraser and kally's families and the multitude of international friends that flew in from around the globe.

getting ready in a hostel was a lot of fun.  the bride getting ready two doors down (and 30 min before go time) along with the other wedding guests made for an informal enjoyable vibe to what can sometimes be a tense time.

speaking of tense, stormclouds loomed above canmore all day, sprinkling rain just before the ceremony, only to dissipate just as people were being seated, never to be seen again.

i was honoured to officiate the wedding of one of my closest friends.  it was a lot of work, but putting together a ceremony in consultation with fraser and kally tied kylie and i to their relationship and to their families and allowed us to know them better.  fraser and i have not lived in the same town for over a decade, so the communication and planning was welcome.

kally of course was gorgeous.  her sister alexia flew in with her husband from philadelphia to be her maid of honour.

aaron and alexia also gave some advice about relationships during the ceremony.

fraser and kally wrote their own vows.  friends and family gathered around the couple for the final part of the ceremony, to better hear the vows and also to make vows of their own.

 the venue, on a rise surrounded by sparse trees overlooking the three sisters was perfect to bring people in and produce a personal intimate feel in a majestic setting.

it is really fun to pronounce someone husband and wife in the presence of their community.

after the ceremony it was time to party!

the interior of the hostel was done up hunting lodge style, with big exposed beams and a huge hearth.  it was a tight fit to get everyone in, which again contributed to the intimate feel.

 the party was a great mix of family and friends and interesting people we had never met.  it was great to spend some extended time with katherine and chris and family, currently in exile in ontario.

fraser had rented a sweet sound system and the party pulsed all night.  the weather was perfect, and we spent the majority of the night on the above deck.  i climbed into my bunk at 3am, leaving the couple and a bunch of jet lagged intercontinental travellers still going strong.

the next morning fraser and kally woke and cooked everyone a huge brunch with norwegian waffles, deluxe scrambled eggs, fruit and of course BACON!

once again the weather cooperated and the party deck turned into a spectacular brunch deck.  i like the way this picture lines fraser's family in the foreground, kylie's family in the midground and canmore's pride in the background.

after the brunch people separated to explore the mountains in smaller groups and then reconnected for a bbq dinner and a great campfire.  most of the guests from afar stayed in the hostel a second night, extending the celebrations to almost biblical proportions.  the extended party was a great way to get to know kally better, hanging out with her and her family and fraser and kally's lab colleagues.  it was heartening to have fraser's life choices confirmed so abundantly!  ;-)

the next morning we said our slow goodbyes and then went for a canyon hike with aaron.  canmore is our kind of destination wedding!

after aaron left, kylie and i checked into the paintbox lodge in canmore and went out for an amazingly tasty dinner at the crazyweed cafe.  (both businesses HIGHLY recommended by marc and kylie)

the hotel had sweet townie bikes for us to use.  canmore has a gorgeous bike path network even aside from all the crazy mtn biking and hiking trails.

mmm... porkbelly watermelon salad.

and finally, after an amazing celebration, some time with old friends and some time on our own, kylie and i hopped in the subaru and made the quick drive back to lethbridge to see our boys.  four days away was perfect.  the wedding was perfect.  canmore is gorgeous.  nice work fraser and kally!

Trip to Lethbridge Part 1 in 51 pictures or less . . .

We just returned from two weeks in our hometown and we definitely packed it full of fun.  This post only covers our first week in Lethbridge.  We also spent some time in Canmore in the middle as well, that post to come soon!)

We stopped in Canmore (this was a very Canmorecentric holiday) on the way there and did a canyon walk that we did last year.  Ty is not too much different (well except for the number of Why's that come out of his mouth) but Zeke can climb rocks (Ack!!)

He doesn't have a bad arm either.  Right before this photo was taken he threw a rock at my head. 

Right after we arrived in Lethbridge, my niece Maria turned 3. All the kids loved the pinata and after the party Ty asked if he could have one at his birthday that no one else would be able to hit. 

This picture makes me laugh.  Grandma and Grandpa paparazzi in the background:

 Birthday girl cuteness!

Rolling down the hill at Grandma's park:

Zeke had a ball in Lethbridge (hahaha) and went from being a kind of shy child before going to Lethbridge to squawking at strangers in the park to pay attention to him.  Right now he has kind of a seagullesque shriek that he makes when he wants something and sometimes the decibel level can be EXTREMELY high.  Good thing he's cute!

One day we ventured to Beaver Mines Lake for some frolicking with the fam!

Zeke made a lot of new friends on this trip.  Uncle Aaron:

Tavia and Catriona

After we canoeing on the lake we convened in Beaver Mines for a BBQ reunion of sorts.  We got together with the M's and the G's,  our family friends from growing up.  It has been over 10  years (and a couple of children each) since I have seen some of them and it was great to reconnect!

Staring adoringly at Deanne.  I think I did the same thing when I was little too. ;)

All the third generation children in attendance(minus Carson)

The Originals:

Second Generation:

Marc departed for Waterton to do some bachelor party hiking the day after this BBQ and my mom and the kids and I headed to a corn maze/petting zoo outside of town.

Scary llama!!! (or is this an alpaca?)

Tu

Ty went down this crazy long slide with no reservations.  As he was about to go down I looked up and read a sign at the top that said "Caution: Slide extremely fast" and the next thing I knew Ty shot off the end about 3 feet into my arms.  The next time he wanted me to come up with him and I too shot off the end but instead of into someone's arms I went flat on my face.  (Well maybe that's a bit dramatic but funny nonetheless!)

Ty spent a lot of time with his cousin Maria (and Fraser and Stefan the week after).  These two are very funny together, I enjoy seeing their interactions in this next series of pictures.  Goofballs!

Time stamped the same time as the above photos:  Marc enjoying Wateron with Fraser and Aaron

On our last day with my folks we visited the Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale.  Lots of fun!  Ty loved these ducks until one of them bit him.  It scared him but not enough to stay away from the eagle!!

Summer lovin' babe. He doesn't want summer to end either!  What will happen to his tan???  I sometimes put suncreen on him.  Really!!!