Back on track!

When my friends came, it was hard to keep a balance diet. I have lost twenty two pounds all together  before they arrived which, I was happy with but, with our busy schedule and the amount of time I indulged eating treats, I ended up gaining two pounds which, of course, I was disappointed about.

However, now that they are gone, I am able to be more diligent and eat better balanced meals. Just with tweaking/watch what I eat, I lost the two pounds I have gained and am starting my regular workout again.

I really want to succeed with this weight lost thing so here I am again. I hope I can do better this time.

Tom Baker Appointment!

An old one but I like it. I don't post a lot of
picture of me so here's 2 for now.

August eight marked my six months (well a bit over) appointment since I was diagnosed with cancer.

I was to see the oncologist at twelve forty five at the Tom Baker Cancer Center (T.B.C.C), so we left Taber in decent time to get there.

I had to do an x-ray in July to check my lungs before the appointment in Calgary so I made sure that I did it.

Once at the center, I had to check in at the front desk. I received my cancer patient card to use every time I'll be going to the center. I have to say, I felt really sad receiving such a card. As if getting to such a place wasn't bad enough.  Keeping the card in my wallet will remind me that I am a C- patient every time I see it.  All those feeling I had when I first heard my doctor tell me months ago I had cancer came back all at once. Walking down the hallways of the hospital felt overwhelming. I was trying hard not to cry.

Before getting in to see the doctor, I had to do another x-ray for my lungs. After a long wait, we finally got to see Dr Mack. He told me the results of both x-rays looked good. What a relief!
He look at my scars and touched to feel any bumps or lumps. He felt a bump, the same one I have been feeling in my thigh for the past couple months, so I am to monitor this as often as I can. He thinks it is just scar tissues from when they closed the wound together. Since there were no trace of metastases in my lungs, I shouldn't be too worried. Of course, I monitor this thing often. It doesn't seem to grow so that's a good sign.

I am still grateful for my blessing with this journey. I am blessed for not having had chemo and radiations and hope it continues that way.
I had a discussion with my sister a couple days ago about life and the trials we face while we are here. I am grateful for my life and the cards I was dealt! It shapes the way I do things and see things. Every cards dealt was a lesson learned and definitely a character building experience. Life is beautiful! I love mine!

Here's a quote from Randy Pausch I like: "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." My faith is my strength and how I deal with my trials. Life is so good!

Fun times and friendship!

The past couple weeks were quite exciting, busy, fun and tiring all at once. With my friends visiting from our island home, we spent a lot of time driving, eating, visiting, shopping, cooking, and laughing until our eyes and guts hurt. A lot of late night were had, and a lot of indulging in treats as well.

I met Gaelle, our first day in high school, and we have been friends ever since. She came with one of her co-worker and her son which I was happy to meet and get to know during their stay here. I got to chauffeur them around, cook for them, and discover new places at the same time than them.

Gaelle!

 After a first relaxing day, I decided to take them to Waterton on their second day here. We briefly stopped in Cardston hoping to grab some things at the distribution center but it was closed. We had so much fun in Wateron, admiring the always stunning place that it is. We had such a great time, we didn't make it back to Taber until eight thirty at night.

Gaelle!

Mere!

Jude!

The Musketeers!

The next day (Friday), we went to the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden in Lethbridge. It was my first time there too so I was equally excited as my friends. I am glad I read about this place before we even went to visit it. I loved it there! It was so quiet, so peaceful. The place was beautiful, so authentic. My friend's knowledge of the Japanese culture was refreshing, and instructive. She amazed me even more. She surprised the workers there with all that she knew about Japan and its culture. I was impressed! I would recommend not taking kids there if you want the full experience of the beautiful serenity of the place. After our visit was done, we went for a picnic at Henderson Park so the boys could have some fun kids time.

Gaelle is a master of taking sefies!

Superboy/pirate and his sidekick!

The boys and tatie Gaelle!

We followed this turtle in Henderson park.

Jude and Yann!

My handsome boys!

Mother & Son!

On Saturday, I decided to make the day about the boys. We packed our cooler and off we went to the Henderson swimming pool. The boys were in heaven and so were we. It was relaxing, beautifully sunny, and the driving portion of the day was really short. It was another great day! We went home feeling a bit tired but what great tans we got, as if we needed to get browner :).
 Sunday morning,  I picked up my friends at their hotel, we had breakfast at our place then we dropped Mere and Jude back to their temporary home. Gaelle, my family and I rested a bit before heading out to Church. Sunday was, of course, a low key day which was quite welcomed. With late nights, not much sleep, and parading here and there, we were all happy to have such a treat. Once home, Marc finished up making supper while I visited with my friends and uncle D and aunt Celia. D got to practice his Tahitian while I helped my sweetheart with dinner.

Monday, we all got up early, had breakfast, and headed to Calgary for my appointment at the Tom Baker Cancer Center. I will write a post about it later. It was so good to have friends with us. They looked after the kids so Marc and I could talk to the doctor without kids interrupting. Once that was done, we grabbed some lunch and off we went to Edmonton. On our way there, all happy, and smiling, we had to pull over the road because we had a flat tire. Now that was fun! After Marc put on the spare tire, we went to the Costco by the CrossIron Mills mall, and got the van in the shop to get two brand new tires on the back of the vehicle. Meanwhile, my friends and I decided to do some shopping in Costco. Once the tires fixed, we continued on and made a quick stop in West Edmonton Mall for supper, before checking in in the hotel. We put on our bathing suits and went for a quick swim. By eleven thirty, a few of us were getting hungry so we went to Denny's to grab some food. I was so tired yet so happy that I didn't sleep until a few hours after leaving our friends room.
 Tuesday! Well, it was shopping day for our friends, mostly! They shopped like pros! By the end of the day, they all had a brand new Samsung tablet in their hands. HAHA. Gaelle bought a lot of things for her nieces back home. How spoiled they are going to be when she goes back to Tahiti. The drive back to Taber through Calgary was mostly entertaining! I was so glad my sweet high school friend was here. We had so much catching up to do. Our friendship was definitely strengthened! I am so grateful for my friends. The new ones I made in this Country and the old ones I made back in my island.

Wednesday, we stayed home! We all needed a break from seating in the van, and walking here and there. What a beautiful day it was as well! We literally did nothing beside laughing, talking, eating, and watch a couple movies. We didn't do anything productive at all, and you know what? That felt so great!!!!!

Thursday, we went to the Hat! Since it was my birthday, I couldn't think of a better place to take my friend than my favorite place in Canada, the butterfly house! We all loved it! I LOVED IT!!!It was as beautiful as my first time there. We stayed for a couple hours then went back home. We waited for Marc to get home then we celebrated my thirty seventh birthday. Marc even found time to make me a cake while he was on his lunch break. How I love him! Dinner was great! The cake was great! The company even greater! What else could I ask for!

Butterfly food!

The green caterpillar I photographed a month ago
became a beautiful Atlas Moth. She was as big as my hand.

A beautiful hibiscus!

I really liked that bird! He was free to fly anywhere.
His cage was open but he stayed perch on his branch.

Curly!

It was too humid inside for my big boy!

Friday, was a not so busy day! We went to Lethbridge! Stopped at Best Buy then Oliver Health Foods and Oliver Book store to get something my dear friend has been looking for since she arrived. From there, we made a quick stop to Superstore and went back to Taber. My newly made friend, Mere, made dinner that night and it was delicious. A dish from home that I love! I was so grateful for her, and the time she took to make supper.

Saturday was definitely a relaxing day for all of us.However, that morning was quite eventful and a bit stressful for the girls. Somehow their credit cards refused to work, so we were all kind of wondering what was going on. With a customer of the hotel, and the lady that was at the front desk, we tried to figure out why it wasn't working. I was on my way out the door to grab our credit card at home when suddenly, the employee called me to tell me she found a solution to our troubles. We were all jumping, and hugging each other after all was done. We ate breakfast, visited, went for walks, spent some time at the M.D park, and checked out a couple stores before just hanging out in the apartment. We laughed, visited, ate, put our feet up, napped, watched a couple movies, ate some more. Laughed some more. I was sad that our fun was coming to an end. We did our night routines with the boys, then put them to bed. Marc joined them after I got mattresses ready for my friends so they could try to catch some sleeps but neither they or I could, so we just watched Netflix. Eleven thirty came around, we jumped in the van and drove to YYC. When time came for them to go, we said our goodbyes, hugged and my friend and I embraced each other and cried for we were not only sad but also truly happy to have had that time to be together again.

Most morning I cooked a big breakfast for all of us. Every morning I picked them up at their hotel and dropped them there every night. I miss that! I miss them! I miss all the fun time we had, and the good laugh! I miss Gaelle washing the dishes, HAHA. I cannot wait for more visitors to come from Tahiti so I can show them this beautiful country. Nurturing friendships is so important. I loved the time we had!

They are here!

My friends are finally here! I have been counting the days ever since I found out they were coming to visit from Tahiti.

They left Tahiti a couple of weeks ago and spent some times in Tacoma (Washington) visiting families and friends. Then they stopped in Los Angeles for a couple days visiting the area and San Diego before joining us In Canada.

Marc took today off so he could help with the drive to the Calgary International Airport last night. While the drive to YYC was tiring, it oddly, was quite exciting. The drive back was quite entertaining! We are so happy to have them with us.

This morning, we had breakfast all ready, well most of it, before I picked them up at their hotel. We ate, visited, then decided to go to Lethbridge for some minor shopping. On our way out, we stopped to grab lunch for the kids and some snacks for us. We visited uncle D so he could practice his Tahitian before coming home for a really late supper.
Marc got his chef hat on and made some yummy burgers and coleslaw for us while I cooked up some corn and made my favorite side mushroom dish to accompany the burgers. Everything was so tasty! After some more visiting and laughing, and Gaelle's addiction of taking food photos and selfies HA HA, they thanked their chef then I took them back to their room. We said our goodbyes and good nights and went our separate ways.

It was a fun, relaxing first day! Tomorrow, I am taking them to Waterton. It should be fun!
These are pics that I "borrowed" from my sweet friend.

Gaelle and her cheri. LOL!

 Supper tonight!

 Mere and her cherries! LOL!

Crazy 24 hours!

Last Friday, we left Taber at 6:36 pm and headed out to Lloydminster for the night, and off to the Vermilion fair the next day.

We ate on the road that night, and stopped at the Cactus corner for, you know what, and also for the boys to stretch their legs and get a treat (which we always do). The ride there seemed to go faster this time. The boys are such great travelers that we never have to worry about meltdowns or anything of that sorts. They usually have one movie on, then the rest of the drive they either sleep or sing with us. Their favorite CD to listen to is the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol 1.
Marc did most of the driving and once in Viking, I took over while the boys and papa got some sleeps in.

We made it home around midnight. We were happy to be there! Our house still feels like home even after all that time.  Once in our house, we went to work. We put some laundry in the washer, Marc and I went through the whole house to see what is left to pack which is mostly big furniture, two boxes of dishes and clothing, wall frames and pictures. It should be a quick move when we go back in September and empty the whole house. We then loaded our van with everything we could to bring back here. After that work was done, we put the last load of laundry in the dryer and went to bed. By then it was 2 o'clock in the morning.

We all got up around 8:30 am, had a quick breakfast. Then we filled the van with gas, went to the bank, and did a last walk through in our house then headed out to Walmart where we met the Bennetts and had a nice visit with them. By then it was lunch time so we grabbed so food at Carl's Jr and left to go to Vermilion for some fun.

It was cold and drizzling in Vermilion but we managed to have fun! As tradition wants it, we got mini donuts and cotton candy. This year we didn't go to the burger shack since our tummies were full already, and didn't have lemonade from the lemonade stand either. So sad! We didn't have the heart to go through the displays this year since grandma didn't enter anything in. She always wins a few prizes every year so it was sad knowing that we wouldn't see her winning ribbons.

The highlight of our trip is seeing the joy on our babies' faces while ridding a few rides at the fair. Marc and I got to ride on the Carousel with each one of our boys, even if we really didn't have too. It was free for the parents so we did! I got quite excited about it HA HA. Growing up, my dad always took us to the midway. It was so much fun for the whole family, and at the end of the night, my dad always bought cotton candies for everyone of us and mostly for my mom who loves them. I love that I get to do this with my boys. It's tradition! Looking forward to Cornfest where we get to do it again.
After the rides, we went to the petting zoo. Little M wanted to hold the bunnies but the line was too long so we just watched them. After a couple hours at the fair, we left and headed back to Taber. Marc drove all the way to Hanna then we switched. We got back to Taber at exactly 6:36 pm on Saturday. It was a crazy 24 hours but so worth it!
I forgot my camera at home so that's all we have for pics.

Camping Trips!

So far we've only been camping twice this year. We've planned a couple more times but had to cancel due to sickness, crappy weather and the fact that Marc has to work every third week ends and be on call the whole following week.

We definitely love camping! The boys love the tent! If it wasn't for all the fun outdoor things we do, the boys would be hiding in the tent all day long.
Setting up camp usually takes us half an hour since we have a gazebo to set as well as the tent. We've had our tent for almost 10 years and it still looks fairly new. We always make sure it is completely dry before we ever pack it. We are pretty uptight when it comes to things like that HA HA.
Packing the van is quite easy too. We have 4 camping totes that are each labelled for different things which keeps everything quite organized and easy to find when needed. A tote for gears, one for wood and kindling, one for food, and one for clothing. And of course the cooler for keeping the food cold. Yup, we are pretty organized folks HA HA.
We even keep a digital copy of a check list of everything we need to pack for camping. When times come to go, we print it out and off we go going through the list and the totes making sure all is there. We find that sometimes we wish we brought this or that on our trips so when we come home we add it to the list and tadda we have an updated list of things we need. Crazy? I know, but we like it that way. It keeps us always checking the contents of our totes without ever assuming that everything is already in. It is a pain to realize you forgot to pack things once you get to your campsite. Trust me, been there so many times. So, we like doing things that way.

Castle River Bridge is Marc's favorite place to go to. I love the drive there!

Our first camping trip was interrupted by crazy rain which got us packing to go home Saturday afternoon instead of  Sunday morning like we originally planned.
We packed our van Thursday night, left Friday evening after Marc was off work, stopped in fort Macleod, and continue on to Beaver Mines. Once everything was set, we went to the river to throw rocks and play with the boys then headed back to camp for a late snack, and treat. We stayed up late, and had fun telling the boys about a few childhood stories, and they had some really impressive stories to tell us about bears attacks and ghost. We all had our glow sticks, and glow necklaces on because camping without these is just not fun :). The next day, we got up fairly early, papa made breakfast then we went playing at the river, and collecting things for our scavenger hunt. We went to get some more ice in Beaver Mines, played at the cute playground there, had lunch at the falls then off to the beach we went. We built sand castles, played in the water, and ate wild raspberries. After hours and hours being outside, we headed back to the campsite, got some supper cooked, and went for some more fun at the river. We never stay at our campsite too long. We are always gone somewhere. Our little trip to the river was cut short by the rain, so we went to our tent, waited for the rain to stop, packed everything back in the van, took the tent and gazebo down and dried them in our apartment once we got back.

Our second trip was all about discovering some of Alberta's history as mentioned here.

Once all our sight seeing/discovery, and lunch eaten, we headed to Beaver Mines beach for some water fun and more sand castle building. This time, Marc and I brought our chairs to watch the boys play, and play, and play some more. Yann went in the water to play for a bit while Marc kept building away, and making trenches on the beach to allow the water to get in. He called it his island. After a couple hours spent there, it was time to go back and have some delicious supper. We relaxed around the fire telling stories again, and decided to go for a walk by the river and while we were walking, the boys finished they scavenging hunt. We had a late night treat, brush our teeth, and read scriptures, and when we saw the kids were getting tired, we sent them in the tent, put a movie on, and they usually just fall asleep right away. Yes, you read that right. We put a movie on! We brought their little portable dvd with us which they only use when it is dark out and only before bed time.
Marc fell asleep on his chair by the fire so I sent him off with the boys while I stayed out, put away all the totes, and waited for the fire to dye down before calling it a night. I love tenting! It gets cold at night so I always pack a bunch of comforters along with all of our sleeping bags which makes it so cozy, and we have folding mattress that are very comfortable so we all sleep quite nicely. I cannot wait for the time the boys can sleep in the second tent we bought when my brother was here.
Sunday morning, we got up early again, ate breakfast, and packed everything up to go home. We stopped at Beauvais Lake just for kicks and bumped into the Fyfes who invited us for lunch, and tried the fish they had. It was really tasty especially with lemon pepper. The boys were happy to see their buddy Sean. After a quick lunch, and a visit, we came back home, unpacked, clean what needed cleaning, emptied the clothing and food totes, and put everything away for the next trip.

We had fun camping and hope to be able to squeeze some more of it before the cold arrives. My favorite part about camping is being away, and doing things with my family. I love being with my three men. I love being close to the water as well.  It reminds me of home, and all the time we spent at my grandma's place, on the beach. I love being among the trees! And being away from cities, and towns. I love the fresher air you breath and the beauty, and grandeur of God's creations.