Guatemala Adventures 2003

So, I took a wee trot over to Guatemala in February of 2003. We stayed there for a little over two weeks. We did a lot of volunteering (teaching about agriculture, because they dont eat vegetables and fruits they harvest, built a water well, taught some basic english to children, and helped out everywhere else). We had a really good trip and only got sick once!

-A scenic picture of Guatemala.....it really is a beautiful place and I would go back in a heartbeat

-I bought a lot from this woman! They just have a way with words, "I make this for you pretty girl.....your mother love you forever you buy this for her, I make this special for you" ugh!!

- I found the picture of "the jump"

-This was a banana tree. We would pick these bananas and the locals would dip them in chocolate and then freeze them.....in the summer I still do this! "Chocoban"

-We lived with these women for a week up in the mountains called Bezaleel. It turns out that they were all older than us by atleast 2-5 years. I swear they are so short and little due to the fact that they hate fruits and vegetables and only eat beans and tortilla.

-Just a boat of us sitting in the ocean passing by a small volcanoe that was letting off a little steam....no worries or anything!

-I turned 18 in Guatemala, so they took us to a secluded baby waterfall.....this picture was taken right after we all jumped from the waterfall.

-We had a day hike trip up to the Mayan Ruins.....amazing!

-This is taken at an orphanage for children who lost family members during the 30 year civil war or just really do not have a family. We went in and spent the day with them singing songs, playing, and teaching.

-Catholicism is the dominant religion in South America. We just happened to run into a an ancient convent.....I forgot that my hair was so long!

-Lets talk about the cuisine for a moment. When we were in the Indigenous region we are only black beans, homemade curds, and tortilla. However, in the city there were many other special treats to try...like iguana eggs, guacamole, rice dishes, and pig tongue!

-This is their "capital" building. On our second day in Guatemala a woman was shot for stealing from an open market, which happened to be right infront of us. The army came flying from around the corner....we were all on the ground...it was very scary, but we made it through and had an eye opener.

-10,000 families live in the dump in the city of Guatemala.....this is a picture of the dump. (we did go visit families who lived here...it was brutal).

THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving,
So I had a Celiac attack on Friday night and never made it to Regina for our thanksgiving with grandma. As it turned out grandma fell and cracked her collar bone answering my phone call. She is fine now, but oy between the two of us we were in rough shape.
Anyhow our family made it out to the farm on Sunday for family thanksgiving. We had a great time with the family and
playing with Zoe. We were teaching Zoe how to take self portraits and she was eating that up!

-This is taken after about 9 tries of getting lazy eyes, weird non-smiles, and Zoe running in and out of the room. (my sister Sarah and I)

- Tata and Zoe....she loved taking pictures and looking at them after.

-We were teaching Zoe how to do self portraits.......She did better than Sarah and I. We also have her calling us by name pretty well now "Tata Jilly and Tata Sarah" (FYI: tata is the cute term of aunt in French)

-My mom and Zoe.....Zoe wouldnt let "gramma" sit down all night....she even had her hiding under the table....we didnt think mom would come back up at one point.

Camp Tapawingo

Camp Tapawing is a children's camp located at Candle Lake. I started off there when I graduated as the Recreation Director. Basically it was a fancy term for teaching canoeing/kayaking, lifeguarding, and implementing a recreation program. In my last year at camp half way through I finished the summer as both acting director and recreational director, so a touch bit chaotic. Anyhow it was an amazing experience and I wouldnt trade it for anything.

-This is the best sunset to date...right from our beach

-This is from my first summer there.....just the female staff

-This was my main station during the summer

-We offer sailing at camp on the last week of the summer

-Ian and I creeping around

-This woman at Minowaka Beach made all these dolls.....we went there every summer and bought her out! They were so creepy just take a closer look at what they are made of.

-Believe it or not, this is taken in August. It was soooooo cold that I never took my lifejacket off, because I used it as insulation.

My 1st Home

So, in 2004 I moved to my very own condo in Saskatoon. It had yellow walls, chocolate brown carpet, and weird greenish flooring at times. So, my dad and I ripped out the flooring and put in hardwood, repainted all the walls, and put in new fixtures and shelves. Anyhow It was an awesome project to do with my dad and the finished product is pretty rewarding.


And the living room finale

This is my bedroom after

This is my bedroom after we ripped out the carpet and repainted

This is after

This is the kitchen before

Lets Get Loud

RANDOM PHOTOS THAT SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT BE SHARED WITH THE PUBLIC.

-Giving the camera a "what the hell am I doing dancing with this guy" look.

- My birthday was a month later.......celebrated at Whisky Jacks of course. So, this is "big balls." He sings the ACDC song "big balls" all the time. Part of my dare for a free drink was to ask him to sing it for me for my birthday. So, being brave I danced up to him and said, "So, what does a girl have to do to get a song sung around here?" Anyhow we chatted a little longer....he went up and sang big balls for me......AND THEN WOULDNT STOP TRYING TO DANCE WITH ME FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!!!!! HAHAHAH ( I deserved that).

- And the music starts..... "RIDE IT.... MY PONY!" by Genuine. So that is the bouncer at Whisky Jacks who knows us by name.....especially Alicia.

- Alicia trying the "greatest pick up move" created......WHERE DID YOU GET THAT HAT?

-I threw a surprise birthday for Alicia in January.....I made her a list of things she needed to do in order for us to buy her drinks that night......the first was to ask a male for a condom.

-New Years with Alicia and company. We dressed up with princess gloves and tiaras.

- This picture was for my "Chrstimas Card." It was taken in the fall.....when I had mono....outside of St Thomas More, where I took my religious studies courses.

-The greatest creeped out look of all time

- Anatomically Correct Gingerbread Men.....created by Miss Krikau and Miss Cunningham = Krikaham

I GOT MY BRACES OFF!

So I had braces a little late in life. Some mothers refuse to fight with their daughters at the tender age of 12, so those daughters get braces in University instead! Anyhow I had oral surgey 5 days before Christmas in 2003. The surgeon extracted my four wisdom teeth as well as 4 towards the front (for more space in my mouth). Anyhow I was very sick and out of it.....actually I read out my made up will to my sister one night, convinced that I was going to physically die that night. Anyhow I am here......braces were the greatest part of the whole process. It was a huge deal when they came off.

The Big Bad Fam....

Our family loves to wine and dine. These three pictures were taken at the Boffins Club on the University Campus. A pic of just the immediate kids with momsy, a picture with immediate kids and the rents, and then a picture of the whole family.

Zoe and Davis

And how could I create a blog without including my favorite little boy and girl. Zoe was born on February 14th in China. My brother Remi and sister in law Paulette adopted my girl in March of 2004 at the age of 1. Since having Zoe in our family we no longer understand how we had fun at family functions before she arrived and no one gets up to do the dishes due to playtime interference.


THEN July 30th 2004 my brother Serge and his wife Pam welcomed Davis into the family. Now our family has two toddlers 5 months apart....life will never be the same! For those of you who know, our parents are international travellers with a lot of cool antiques throughout our family home.....not so kid friendly, which changed real fast! These two babies have really added a new dimension into the family......and I am glad that things will never be the same, because I wouldnt trade Zoe and Davis for anything. We are now anticipating the arrival of Zoe's baby sister in the new year......the planning and and arrangements are already in place....now we just wait for a picture from China!