Weekend in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada

We had the privilege of meeting my Uncle Bob, Aunt Janice, Grandma Kurtz, Cousin Renay and husband Paul and little baby Madeline in Niagara Falls this weekend for a wonderful Mother's Day get together. Saturday at the Falls was spectacular -- we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was sunny, the perfect temperature, and hardly a cloud in the sky.

At first, I was a little anxious about driving all the way into Canada with just myself and the kids for the very first time and not having passports. The drive up was beautiful though -- we took a short cut that went along some rural highways and through a lot of beautiful country. It only took us about 3 1/2 hours door to door. Getting through customs was pretty simple really. She took my ID, our birth certificates, asked me a few questions, and we were on our way.

When we parked close to the Falls to meet up with everyone, I soon realized that I had to exchange some currency to pay for parking! It was the first time I've ever done anything like that and I found out that Canadian money is much cooler looking than U.S. money -- at least, in my opinion.;-)

The entire weekend was a feast for the eyes with all we saw. The tulips and flowering trees were in full bloom and you wouldn't believe the colors. Amazing! We also visited the very quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and that place was amazing too.

It was wonderful to spend time with family seeing all of those sights for the first time and I feel blessed that we were able to do that. A ton of thanks goes to my wonderful Uncle Bob and Aunt Janice for their generosity and kindness this weekend.

Here's a slideshow of some of the pictures!!

A Mother's Day Surprise

Greg's class entered a local contest in which they each had to write a story about their mom for Mother's Day. The stories were submitted to the company and they chose a winner. He only had one day to write his story since we had been in California and he missed a whole week of school. Regardless, Greg's story was chosen as the winner and because of that, I was delivered a beautiful bouquet of flowers along with a copy of Greg's story. Below is a picture of me and Greg with the bouquet. His story will now be submitted in the national contest for a chance to win $25,000 and a new car! Wouldn't that be cool?! Below the picture is a typed version of his story.



My Caring Mother
by Greg Beck

My mom is the #1 caring mother in the world which feels like the universe. I feel this way because she is like a mother bird and I'm a baby bird and she is protecting me from the outside in the neverlasting land. She gives me food of healthy parts of the food chain so I can reach my goal I'm now proceeding in. She is a very trustworthy mom and never lies. Never before did she lie to me. She will not spoil me, which if she did, I would be a selfish little brat. That is why my mom is the number one caring mother in the whole world.
*isn't that SOOOO cute??!!!