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!