Echo Lake in June!

Right before Justin started residency we took a week trip to Echo Lake, Montana where Justin's parents have a cabin. I'm pretty sure everyone in Southern Alberta has a cabin or has access to a cabin through relatives (since everyone IS related!).

It was pretty early in the season and the lake was RISING as we were there. A LOT! We were there before the boating ban. Right after we left they banned all motor boats or anything that makes a wake because houses and shorelines were being ruined by the water. Luckily the Low's place is up an incline so they won't really be affected. I've NEVER seen the water this high! And all of the snow hasn't even melted yet! Yikes! Not only was the water high, but it was FREEZING! Too early in the summer to play. That didn't completely stop us though!

And yes, I warn you and realize that I posted a ton of pictures. They aren't all exciting or great, but I couldn't weed any more out. Camera happy! At least it is documented. :) We won't forget a moment.

there is usually a steep incline at the ridge of that grass there that you can walk down to the dock on. We had to get the canoe out to paddle to the dock!
So marshy. We ended up moving the dock so we could access it easier.

"Sittin' on the dock of a bay...wastin' time."

Why do little kids look so cute in life jackets?? :)

My men. Isn't Zach strong? He's flexing for you.

Kate waving the flag and saving the day.

Isn't it gorgeous!! I've never been there when there has been that much snow on the mountains still.

Aww. He really is such a great grandpa. He let Zach drive by himself. We were going in a slow circle for a bit. :) Just keep turning and turning...

The boat is relaxing...and breezy. Here they are trying to stay warm.

Kara in daddy's hat.

Again. Gorgeous view. Kate loved that spot in the front of the boat. Thanks for holding on to her Karen!!! You are such a good/fun auntie and we really appreciate you!!

Gorgeous. See that tiny speck in the middle of the clouds?....

Just a Bald Eagle!! What?! I've seen them here before. I think it is so cool! Maybe that is the American in me. Awesome.

Dallin and his buddy Aaron were so great with the kids too. It helps make it feel like a vacation/break for us too. Thanks guys!

Dallin frying himself. AGAIN! Remeber the PAIN a few hours after this Dal? :)

Zach blowing some lake bug off his hand. He loved the canoe. Mostly the oars.

See, they are great Aunties and Uncles.

Zach was pretty alarmed when they started floating away!

Dallin had to paddle them back to shore.

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Just another classic Ken Griffey Jr. tourney on the Nintendo. It ended up a tie, so there will have to be a tie breaker next time. Check out Zach and Aaron. He loves him! He knows him from Dallin's basketball games and from just hanging around the house. He calls him Dallin's brother.

Thanks for putting up with us Aaron!

Kara being a pirate. ? That's what she said! Put your pants on your head and say "Arrr matey!"

"Arrrr"
I think she looks more like a nun. :)

"The hills are alive, with the sound of music..."

Another photo overload, but this girl was workin' it with these glasses! She is too cute. I know I am biased though.

Just another day at the lake.

Kara and Bama. BFFs.

This picture goes in my all time favorites. When I have my big picture wall, this will definitely be there. Love this dude.

See, I went too!

On a long tour of the lake with grandma. The boat is relaxing. They all "slept."

Justin looking oober manly navigating the boat on a long lake tour with his mom. :) Can you tell he is a BYU fan? Go Cougs!

Miss Kate. You are a cutie patootie.

Paddling around with Daddy.

This little girl is such a water baby. She LOVES it! And it was freezing. FREEZING! That didn't keep her away though.

I was a bit nervous on this tube ride. I was in charge of these 3 little bodies staying on and me being the big girl and not being scared! I was not raised with a boat and am a pansy when it comes to being pulled at high speeds. I don't like being injured and am injury prone. I am a wuss and I know it. This was a really easy ride, but any time we got close to going out of the wake I was leaning back in all scared. What a baby! Trying not to show too much fear!

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By the end of the ride they were all a little bored, trying to sleep. It was kinda stressful to me trying to pin all of them down as they wiggled all over.

See the leaning? What a wimp. Fun picture though. it was much better with Daddy. Although i felt like Kara and I were going to fly out at the smallest bump.

And who doesn't love a flexing family picture. :)

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This was SHOCKINGLY cold! Brrrrr...Man. That was cold.

Zach didn't like it...

...then loved it...

...then really wanted out again! Look at that expression. Poor guy! It was cold!! Then after 2 minutes your body was numb and you were fine!!

The Big Move

Well, the time actually came. I had been doubting it and pushing it out of my mind. I even felt a little numb while packing the boxes. It didn't seem real, but it is. And here we are in Southern Alberta. It isn't a bad thing, just a different thing. I am sure when it is the middle of January and we are having a Chinook and taking a walk outside in the sunshine I will be thrilled with the move. I miss my home and I miss my friends and the area we lived in, but it is nice to be closer to Justin's parents and in a smaller town that still has great access to everything. I really do like my new home and I am actually starting to make some friends. So change stinks, until it doesn't anymore. :)

The weekend before we moved three of my "once Edmontonian but now moved" friends were in town. Four of my friends way up north are photographers and are good dressers/make up girls so we got together one day and hung out for one last time all afternoon and night long. (Thanks Mom, Dad, and Justin...) We had a delicious lunch by Barb, got all dolled up, and braved the mosquito infested random farm to get some great shots. Luckily Jordana had a tiny bit of mosquito spray to thinly share between us all. We almost weren't friends after that, brawling over the spray. It was life or death. Really. Well, it would have been if I hadn't have gotten it second. :) Man, I HATE mosquitoes and this year has been AWFUL!

Anyway, this may seem like a vain part of this post, but it is a great memory and I like how several of them turned out, so...

here are a few shots...

courtesy of Alysha...check out her photography at
alyshasphotography.blogspot.com

She is amazing.

Maren's...I think the funniest/funnest thing is that the only the pants, wedding ring, and shoes were mine --no one else has a size 11 shoe? hmmm...And that's why I am glad I married into the Low family, where I can feel normal. :). All other parts were pulled from others' collections.


Love what photoshop can do.

It turned vintage when we got my Hawaii hat out. I knew it would go to good use someday...

I love these next two shots...I've never loved my profile. Last year my sister said something profound about how a cute profile doesn't have to include a button nose. I decided she was right. I can love my European nose.

I love this photoshop action. This looks like it could be 100 yrs old. Wait, were there camera's then?

Sarah's...

This little house/shack was so cool. I loved the color.

Maren's shot, while I was...

...sneaking into Sarah's work. HA! :)
Posing is so not natural to me and I felt awkward doing it, but it was really fun to just hang out with the girls and feel pretty for a day.

The gang.

After the fun photo shoot, we went to dinner and then were just going to go hang out at Maren's house. I got there and saw Sarah running inside. What a spaz. Why is she running? Then I walked in and SURPRISE!!! Kamry, Leslie, and Maren had planned a surprise going away party for Natasha and I! It was so sweet! Although I do have to say my first thought was, dang...now I can't put my sweats on for a few more hours. Ha!! It was so great to see some of my friends that I just wasn't sure I was going to be able to see before I left. Thanks so much guys for all of your work and thoughtfulness. I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU MUCH!!!! I have great friends.

Right before I said goodbye for the last time I grabbed a post-crying picture with Maren. Luckily it still turned out happy. :) Our eyes are just glistening. I know it's not goodbye, it's just see you later, but it still doesn't make it that much easier. I miss you!!! Thanks for all the fun and for sharing your sisters with me too!! Edmonton wouldn't have been the same without you all. In fact, it would have been much easier to leave, that's for sure!

Zach saying goodbye to Sarah and Maren's kiddos. They wouldn't smile until we let them just do silly faces. Love it.

Emily, one of the kids FAVORITE babysitters! WE MISS YOU!!!

The kids with Rachel and Asia, their adopted sisters. We love the Gibbs family! Thank you SO MUCH for all of your help with the kids. They took at least one of the girls every Sunday since they were born. And if they didn't come to get them, the kids would find them and beg to go sit with them. She even brought little toys and snacks for them! Grandma Gibbs. :) We love and miss you. Last week in church Kate looked around and said, "Where's Rachel?" Poor girl! She misses you! It makes me sad to hear them say things like that or ask to go home. :( So confusing to them! This is our new home guys. It will be good, I promise. I wouldn't mind if the Gibbs moved down though...

We also stopped by to see Arnold one more time.

These happy pictures make me sad!! Avery is our good friend and neighbor and I remember taking these and thinking, you don't really get it Zach. She won't be down the street anymore. :( Debbie Downer. Sorry. But it is true. I LOVE the Baldwins and miss them A LOT!!

I don't know how, but we got a picture with ALL of the kids looking! The Low and Baldwin kiddos. BFFs. :) I will miss watching the kids run down the sidewalk to their house, having Avery and Anna pop by and play, or our evening walks to the pond or park.

And Nicole. I love you! I will miss you so much. I loved how easy it was to talk to you and how we could plan a park/pond walk/dinner or activity last minute and it was no big deal. You guys are so chill and so great. Please move to Lethbridge. And then where ever else we move. :)

All of the sister-in-laws. I love these girls and am super bummed I am not living close to them anymore. Here's hoping they move south too... SOON!! At least I know I will see them often!! Just noticed something...think the Low boys prefer brunettes?

Our last family photo in our wonderful Edmonton home. You should've seen the inside at this point. Yikes. Boxes and stuff EVERYWHERE! Here is where I need to say THANK YOU to my mom and dad for coming up and helping us through the chaos of a move. It went smoothly and when I gave up or got tired, mom and dad just started picking up my slack and working away. We love you guys and really appreciated it. Tons. Now why don't I have any pictures of/with you? Come back so we can get some.

The sun setting on our Edmonton life...can you tell I was/am really sentimental and emotional about this move? I know it was supposed to happen and it is going okay now, but it is sad and hard to deal with change. Morning of the move. Justin's parents took the girls home with them the night before. Zach REALLY wanted to stay and help with the move and see the big truck. It was really fun to just have our big boy. He was so good. That would be weird if he was all we had. Simpler, but weird.

Yay, a picture of Dad! And Zachary...helping... :)

With help from a bunch of guys and my visiting teachers, we got out of the house by noon, drove 5 hrs, and had the van unpacked by 6pm that night! Wow. Thanks especially to Ben Court, Derick Heggie, Justin's dad, Dallin, and Uncle Ron and Aunt Tammy and fam for unpacking! It was done even before Mom, Dad, Zach, and I arrived!

Looking at these pictures makes me happy this is all over with. Phew...

Introducing Dr. Justin Low!

Graduation morning! Justin had to turn in his robes right after grad, so this was the best we were going to do for a family picture. He did it! We did it!! I love how this picture turned out. Of course in the one picture where everyone is looking the kids and I are in our pjs. I've been trying to get a picture like this FOREVER! Maybe I will still enlarge and hang it. :)

Justin and his cousin Connor Low went through med school together.


Dean's speech during the grad ceremony.



Where's Justin? I can see him! And Connor!

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After the ceremonies we finally found him. I got a little emotional during the ceremony. I am so proud of Justin and all of his hard work. He is a real live Doctor! I am a doctor's wife. And I don't mean to sound arrogant when I say that at all. I just mean that we did it! We got through the busy hard schooling times and exams. It is (almost) over! After residency...which may be just as busy or busier than school, but it's a new chapter at least.

Justin and Connor--2011 Grads

Both sets of parents were able to come up for graduation!!! It was fun to get together and especially great to have help during the craziness of this week and the move.

Drs. Low. :)

All of these guys are doctors. Brian is a family physician in Cardston, then Justin and Connor, and Connor's dad Ron is a dermatologist in Lethbridge.

It kinda felt like our wedding again...all the poses with the different combinations of people. :)

I love this. Proud Mama and son...playing on his iPhone. :) Or maybe it's a Gameboy.

They held the banquet at the Expo Centre (and no I did not just misspell that. That's how we roll in Canada.) in Edmonton.

At the fancy banquet that night drinking my fancy drink. Sprite and cranberry juice.

Delish.

This picture how exciting all of the speeches were. Actually, the excitement came afterward, when we discovered that the dean delivered a speech given at Stanford last year...whoops...He's not the dean anymore. Scandal.

Justin and his good friend Pen Li and his fiance Chantal. Why do we look like a giant couple? :)

Oh what a night. Justin is going to be a VERY good doctor. He is very smart, learns quickly, knows how to ask the right question and listens for answers, is very personable, nice and happy, and a great communicator. As one of his teachers told him..."He has the mental capacity of a day trader and the demeanor of a Priest." Whatever that means. :) Anyway, thanks for babysitting Mom and Dad! ;)