Ottawa

I went to Ottawa to finish some Show Homes there. It was very interesting to see Canada's capital. We worked hard and finished early so that thursday afternoon we could walk around the parliment buildings and see the historical houses downtown. The city was soooo beautiful, lots of trees, very humid, very green. The showhomes are still a work in progress They need to be cleaned, with appliances and lighting added, and paint touched up, but I thought I would post some so you can see what all had to be done!

Mick's Point of View

Here are few free tips on immigrating to Calgary. If I had known this information before I got to the border, it would have saved Brooke and me a dreadful experience with the rookie immigration officer. Rookie officers have a reputation of doing intense integration. Ours was nothing short of a hybrid Nazi-Mountie, “Let’s try and save almighty Canada from all lazy American pukes,” every thing by-the-book attitude.
First off, pray for a veteran officer. They are less likely trying to score an A+ from superiors and they have already chewed up hundreds of immigrants and found that it takes way to much time away from surfing the net.
Second, be upfront and honest. All other stories and advice about crossing the border and staying discrete should be chucked out the window. The first words out of your mouth should be, “I am married to a Canadian.” My entry to Canada was hinged on this little piece of vital information.
Third, never assume. My rookie officer explained this very clearly in my second interview. In the first interview, he examined our passports and birth-certificates and asked, “Where did you meet?” Umm well.. “BYU-Idaho.” And then after a series of other questions about my house in Idaho, money in my account, have I been charged, convicted, arrested, constipated, etc, he said “ok—take a seat I’ll call you when I ready.”
So, I watched him tally up all my answers and scratch his head and fire build in his eyes. He called me up and asked why he should let me into Canada as a visitor, and I said well because I married a Canadian. What!!! “You didn’t disclose that piece of information in the first interview.” I stated. “Well I ASSUMED that after you examined our paper work and seeing that our last names are the same that was a given.” “In this job you never assume----Mr. Berry.”
Now that I am here with my lovely Brookito, I am shocked at $7.00 deodorant $8.00 value meals, and $4.50 for a gallon of gas. However, these are all insignificant now I am steps away from Lake Sundance to catch a delicious trout; a bike ride away from The Bow River which gives up 27 inch browns daily, skyscraper-hoping with Joel and having lunch with big oil tycoons, and finally wrapping the day up with a golf lesson to straighten out my hook on the six-iron.

Welcome to Canada!

Mick Berry

Harrison is home!

Harrison got home from the hospital on monday. This is the two of them home together, holding hands! They are being blessed this sunday, so I will have to post pictures then!

New Aunt, New Job

My sister in law Bree had her twin boys yesterday (April 1st) at 8am. Their names are Harrison and Greyson, and they were huge! They were each about 7 lbs (I am not a mom, I don't remember the exact ounces) and they are soooo cute. Harrison is affectionatley the boy in the box because he had some fluid on his lungs and so he is in the NICU still, with a breathing box. They are so little and fun to hold. Being an aunt is the best! I also started my new job tuesday and I absolutley love it. I work with great people and my job is awesome! Calgary is great and could only be better by having Mick here with me. Here are some pictures of all of us with the babies.

Sun Valley

This was our last weekend together in Idaho, and we decided to spend it going on a trip to Sun Valley with our neighbors, the Lakes. So we all loaded up into the truck Friday night and drove to our wonderful hotel, Tamarack Lodge. The town was beautiful. There wasn’t that many shops that were interesting, but there was great food. The mountain was the best I had ever been to in Idaho. I know, Mick’s family thinks nothing will ever beat Targhee, this was no comparison. Targhee does get some great snow, but Sun Valley is so much bigger and had so many more trails, it ruined everything else here for me! Of course, my all time favorite will always be Lake Louise, but it isn’t in Idaho, so it doesn’t count! We had so much fun this weekend, we all have goggle tans and sore limbs. We are sure going to miss our friends here!

Its Official!

We are moving to Calgary! We are really excited about living in a real city. I got offered a job working for Cardel Homes and I start April 1st! I have been a little stressed lately, packing, getting the house ready to sell and all that comes with it! I wake up in the middle of the night making to-do lists, and thinking of all that has to get done before I leave for work in the morning. Mick is so patient –he just tells me to calm down and go back to sleep. We listed the house Monday, the sign is up, the lockbox is on the door! I am so nervous… We have barely lived in the house for a year, there was so much more we wanted to do, but I guess we are moving on instead! If you want to see pictures, here is the link to the virtual tour. I know we need to put some plants in the front yard – we will be taking new pictures when the snow is melted.

My First Blog!

It seems like our lives have changed so much in the past few years, and this seems to be the best way to keep in contact with people, so welcome to my first blog!

Last weekend we stayed with our nephews while their parents were in Mexico! For 48 hours I officially became a hockey mom to 2 boys, including breakfast at 6 and hockey at 7 on Saturday AND Sunday. Who knew how much work it was just to get them all fed, get all of their gear on, and actually get there on time! Here are the pictures!