Paris Mountain Field Trip
I got to go with Zoe on her field trip to Paris Mountain this year. Thankfully, it was rescheduled because of rain and they did not have a repeat of their kindergarten experience there when they all got drenched. Zoe had a blast with her class!
Goodbye Canada
It took 3 flights to get home but the views were amazing, especially the first flight from Vancouver to Denver. We were happy to be back home but cannot wait for another chance to explore more of Canada, a country we fell in love with!
Canada Day 6 - Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler
We packed so many things into our one full day in the Vancouver area (and still didn’t scratch the surface of all we could do). The first part of the day was spent finding Virgin River filming locations. Apparently, all of our favorite shows are in Canada…aside from Gilmore Girls but the pilot was filmed in Canada so that counts. Our first stop was Doc’s clinic in New Westminster.
The clinic just happened to be right across the street from Queen’s Park so of course we had to tour the park in Her Majesty’s honor.
Next we headed over to Burnaby to see Doc and Hope’s house, which is across the street from the park where Paige’s Bakeaway truck is filmed.
Then we headed to North Vancouver to Murdo Fraser Park where Mel’s cabin is located.
Then we hopped on the incredible Sea to Sky Highway to head up to Squamish. We tried to find the locations of all the incredible waterfall shots in the opening scenes of Virgin River but couldn’t find a list. Shannon Falls was one on the list, which was right off the highway. It was beautiful and we kept saying the forest looked like the Enchanted Forest. We later found out that this area was used as the Enchanted Forest in Once Upon a Time.
We stopped in Brackendale for lunch at the Watershed Grill, which is the exterior for Jack’s Bar. We ate outside on the patio with the beautiful Squamish River behind us.
At the recommendation of the Canadians on our tour in Hope Valley (side note, the Canadians truly are the nicest people), we hopped back on the Sea to Sky Highway to drive up to Whistler. On the way up, we stopped to see Brandywine Falls, which may be the most impressive waterfall I’ve seen in person.
We enjoyed walking around Whistler ski village and seeing where the Olympics were held in 2010. I also realized that we just missed being there at the same time as Prince Harry and Meghan for the Invictus Games.
After we left Whistler Village, we took a detour to see another waterfall that was on the way up to Olympic Park. We just happened to be on that small road at just the right time of day because we passed 3 different black bears snacking on the side of the road. We were quick to get some pictures of the waterfall because we did not want to run into any other bears outside of the car.
We headed back down the Sea to Sky Highway making multiple stops along the way for pictures of the gorgeous view.
Next we stopped at Queen Elizabeth Park in downtown Vancouver. There we got to see the oak tree planted by Her Majesty during her first visit to Vancouver when she was still Princess Elizabeth. I couldn’t get enough of all the tributes to the Royal family in Canada!
We ended our trip with a visit to the beach to see the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. This time away to celebrate the end of cancer treatments was exactly what we needed after such a hard year and a half. And we could not have picked a more beautiful place to celebrate that huge milestone. The only problem is that we packed so much into our time there but still didn’t get to see everything so now we want to go back. Western Canada holds a special place in our hearts!
Canada Day 5 - Calgary to Vancouver
On day 5, we said goodbye to Calgary and drove along the Trans Canada Highway to Vancouver. The drive was filled with beautiful scenery the entire 11 hours. It started out rainy but we got to see a double rainbow, that ended in the Rockies. We stopped to get gas just outside of Banff at a place that just happened to be on Native land, which came with the fun surprise of free roaming cattle. It was wild to see cows walking around a hotel parking lot! Our drive took us through multiple national parks and just confirmed that we need to come visit again to explore even more of this gorgeous country.
Before reaching Vancouver, we made a slight detour to MacInnes Farms, the home of another one of our favorite TV shows, When Calls the Heart. We just barely made it in time for our tour of the Hope Valley set. It was amazing to see all of Hope Valley. We got to go into the buildings and see all the main sights like the row houses (there are only 2 in real life, the others are CGI in the show), the jail, the mercantile, Abigail’s cafe, the Queen of Hearts, the Coulter’s office, and of course the school. We also got to see the cabin in the woods, the kissing bridge and the mine, which was constructed inside an old milking barn.
After our tour, we headed to our AirBnB in White Rock, a beach suburb of Vancouver. As we were driving we noticed the sunset over the water and found a little park to pull off for some incredible sunset photos. Walking back to the car, I turned around to get some pictures with the boardwalk too and we had a bald eagle fly over us. Western Canada is just incredible!
Canada Day 4 - Heartland
Day 4 in Alberta was all about Heartland. And if we are honest, Heartland is the reason we started looking into visiting Alberta years ago. I fell in love with the TV show Heartland many years ago and DJ started watching with me. We’ve since gone back and rewatched it a couple of times since he didn’t see the beginning. It is definitely one of our all time favorite shows so we made a whole day out of visiting the filming locations. First up was High River, the setting for the town of Hudson. We started the day at the Museum of the High Country where we saw several costumes and lots of memorabilia from the show. The museum is also where they film the library scenes in season 18.
The museum gave us a map of all the filming locations in town and the areas around town. We walked down the street and as we turned the corner we saw the sign for Maggie’s Diner. It was so cool to feel like we were in Hudson! Maggie’s isn’t an operating diner so we couldn’t go inside but we got lots of pictures through the windows of the set. We also saw Jess’s art gallery, the street where they did a cattle drive through town, the gazebo where Amy graduated, the motel where Ty’s dad stayed and what I think is the bar where Ty and Caleb hang out. It was so fun to be in Hudson and see all the sights in person.
While in High River, we also saw the Wales Theater, which was named after HRH Edward, the Prince of Wales, and used in many movies. We also had lunch at Evelyn’s Memory Lane Diner, which is the inspiration for Maggie’s.
Next we drove to Diamond Valley to go to Marshall’s Country Store, which is owned by Amber Marshall (aka Amy Fleming)!
Our next stop was the Hudson Rodeo Grounds.
From the rodeo grounds, we headed to the super cute church where Lou and Peter got married.
The actual Heartland ranch location is not given on the map. However, with some digging on Google maps satellite, we found what we thought was the ranch. So, we decided to be adventurous and find it. It was worth the scrolling on google maps because we found it! And not only did we find the ranch, but we saw Caleb’s truck with a Heartland trailer, Lou’s Expedition and Ty’s blue truck, which might as well be a character in and of itself.
The final stop on our Heartland tour was Spruce Meadows on the way back to Calgary. This is where they film the show jumping scenes. There were events going on so we just drove by it but it looked really awesome. We had so much fun scouting out all the Heartland film locations and it was even more fun watching the newest season after being there in person! And it all truly is as beautiful in person as it is on the screen.
After dinner in Calgary, we took a little walk from our hotel to see the skyline. It is so cool to see the city skyline and mountains together.
Canada Day 3 - Lake Louise, Banff and Canmore
We headed back into Banff National Park for our next day in Canada. We started the day at the iconic Lake Louise. We had no idea it would still be frozen and we could walk out onto it! We missed the time when it was open for ice skating so we will just have to go back in the winter. We also want to go back to see it in the summer when we can canoe on it as well as drive or hike up to the beautiful Moraine Lake, which was still closed because of icy conditions when we were there. I could not get enough pictures of Lake Louise and the Fairmont Chateau. It was incredible to finally get to see this place that we’ve eyed on Instagram for years in person. Although, the theme of the trip was that we just want to come back in every season and see even more. Pictures just don’t do this place justice.
We spent the rest of the day hiking. First up was Bow River Falls. It was a nice hike along the Bow River to the falls. We got a glimpse of the Fairmont Banff Springs, known as the Castle in the Rockies and it was so impressive. As we were taking pictures of the falls, DJ noticed a plaque marking Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Sentier Walkway. It was my first Royal related sighting and I was thrilled by the surprise!
Our second hike was the Tunnel Mountain summit. This was labeled as easy but Western Canada’s definition of easy and the Blue Ridge Mountains’ definition of easy must be very different, although we can blame the altitude for some of the difficulty. The hike was worth the incline because the top was filled with 360 degree views of the Rockies and the town of Banff. We got a bird’s eye view of the whole area, including the Castle in the Rockies! It was incredible. We kept saying the whole time that our mountains back home will never look the same after seeing these mountains. The Smokies and Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful but they just cannot compare to the Canadian Rockies.
We ended our day with some shopping in Banff then more shopping and dinner in Canmore. While in Canmore, I had to get a picture at the North West Mounted Police station in honor of Mountie Jack and Mountie Nathan from When Calls the Heart!
Canada Day 2 - Canmore and Banff
For our second day in Alberta, we explored the town of Canmore and Banff National Park. The drive into Canmore and Banff was beautiful with 360 degree views of the Rockies. Canmore is such a cute town surrounded by the Rockies!
The town of Banff and all of Banff National Park that we saw was absolutely beautiful. There were breathtaking views everywhere you looked. The town was filled with nice shops. Our main adventure for the day was a horseback ride along the Bow River. We loved our ride on Red (me) and Eli (DJ). The river is such a pretty color because of the glacier run off and the Banff mountains are just incredible. After horseback riding, we went back into the town of Banff for dinner and more shopping. It was a great start to our Western Canadian Adventure!
Peace out Chemo, Hello Canada!
After 10 rounds of chemo, DJ finished treatment in January 2025! We decided to skip the last 2 rounds after multiple conversations with his oncologist and lots of prayer. His white blood count was dropping lower than we’d like and his fatigue was getting much worse. His oncologist said that he had received the benefit of the chemo with the 10 rounds and that 2 more at a lower dose wouldn’t make much difference. The info that really tipped the scales was that a new drug was approved in the fall that specifically targets the gene mutation that causes his tumor. So, we know that if his tumor starts to grow again in the future, we have even more options to treat it. This was such a long and very hard journey but we are so thankful for how God sustained us all through it. We also could not have survived the cancer treatment journey without the help and encouragement of our family and friends! A huge thank you for all the prayers, texts, meals, babysitting and encouragement through this whole journey.
To celebrate the end of cancer treatments, DJ and I took a trip to Western Canada. This was the biggest trip we’ve taken since before Ava was born and the longest we’ve ever left the girls. Our moms took turns keeping the girls while we explored the beautiful Canadian Rockies, a place we’ve wanted to visit for many years. It was exactly what we needed after a very long year and a half.
We flew into Calgary, AB on May 4th. We had a very early wake up that morning because we had to leave for Atlanta at 3:30 am! So, we did not do much our first day in Canada. We spent our time getting settled in our hotel and planning out our week. I’ll break the days up into individual posts because I have so many pictures.
Easter 2025
We celebrated Easter with my family as usual this year. My mom, grandmother Aunt Kay and Uncle Ron all came over to our house for lunch and an egg hunt. The girls decorated eggs the day before Easter. This year, Ava didn’t want to hunt eggs but was happy to help hide eggs for Zoe. And surprisingly, we did not lose any in the yard this year. We had a great time celebrating the Resurrection with our family.
10 Years
April 7th, 2025 marked 10 years since my daddy went to Heaven. I cannot believe it’s been a whole decade since he was here on earth. So much has happened in those 10 years that I so wish we could’ve shared with him. I wish he was here to know Zoe and to see the girls grow up. Each year April 7th comes around with so many emotions. It hits different some years but is never easy. This year felt like such a huge anniversary and it was definitely not easy. I’ve heard it said that it hurts so much because of how much love there was and that is so true. I am so grateful we know that we will see him again one day. We miss you so much, daddy!
Zoe, your birthday is a hard day for me because I want to be fully present for you and to celebrate but I am pulled by grief. Your Grampie would have made sure you were spoiled on your birthday, and every time he saw you. It breaks my heart when you say it’s not fair that you never got to meet him. It isn’t fair and I hate that you don’t have memories with him. But, I pray you get to make all kinds of memories with him in eternity!