Oh Canada!
On June 26 my dear sweet Grandpa Brandley passed away. He had been suffering from Alzheimers and Parkinsons for some time now, so it was a blessing for his fragile body to be left behind so his giant spirit could return to his Heavenly Father. He always gave me "peach kisses" with his scratchy whiskers, ate an ice cream float every night, and told the cheesiest puns whenever we came to visit. I don't know him as well as my other cousins do since most of my extended family lives in Canada, but from our few visits since I was a little girl, he made sure I knew I was loved and special to him.
Once I heard the news, I strongly wanted my little family to go to Canada with me for the funeral and to meet my Grandma Brandley and Torrie before it was too late for them. My Grandma hadn't even met Rex yet, let alone our two boys. So Rex, being the wonderfully understanding husband he is, took off work and we all drove to Canada. Once there, it wasn't so much a time of mourning as it was a time of happiness to have ALL the family together again. I hadn't seen most of my cousins and aunts and uncles in almost 10 years. Everyone agreed that Grandpa must have held on just long enough so the funeral would be on Canada Day weekend so the whole family could get together and celebrate his favorite holiday with a reunion. And celebrate we did.
We had our traditional shishkabobs at Grandma's house, went to the July 1st rodeo, watched the Canada Day parade, and much more. The boys had a blast and I was so happy to get to show them and Rex a piece of my childhood memories.
Getting down and dirty at the rodeo
Walking back from the rodeo
Aiden got REALLY into the music that was playing throughout the parade. I just love his adorable booty-shakin' dance moves. :)
Sam's "noculars!"
We spent a day visiting the Torrie side of life. We visited my Grandma Torrie in the nursing home, which ended up being a family reunion with my Torrie cousins who showed up. Then we went to my dad's farm growing up where my cousins took over when Grandma moved into the nursing home. The boys loved riding (and even driving!) the huge tractors and getting good and dirty.
Look who's behind the wheel!!
Waddya think, farmers in the making??
Aiden is the biggest poser. Where does he get these moves from??
Look how dirty his face is! I love it.
This is my cousin Eric who everyone thinks Sam resembles, in features and personality both. They're both goofballs with big foreheads, basically. :)
Eric took the boys and my brothers for a spin on their fancy-schmancy combine tractor. See the boys in the huge window in the front? Talk about big! It comes with its own GPS system and everything. The tires on that thing are HUGE and are $5k a piece. Farming ain't cheap, folks!
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