Family Time

We had a weekend off here in Vancouver where our family and friends could come visit us. Trey's parents & sister came and my dad came. It was such a great time together. We were able to show them around our new town and share what all we've learned since living here. We also did touristy things that we aren't able to do in our regular life because we don't have a car... and they did :) I'll let you live through our weekend together in pictures.

We started the weekend driving the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler. It's a beautiful road that runs along the water and gorgeous mountain range. Whistler hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. We got to see 2 bears and shoot the same guns the athletes use on the Biathlon. I didn't even know what that was until we were there :) BUT for only my 2nd time shooting a gun I got all 5 targets! And so did Trey's sister, Kristen... so we have bragging rights! On the way back to Vancouver we stopped at a couple different lookout points and an incredible waterfall.

On Saturday, we went whale watching! It was absolutely incredible. We saw bald eagles, California Sea Lions, & Orca whales. Our boat was supposed to leave port and head south into US waters, but they got reports of a pod of whales north in Canadian waters. This made a difference because we were able to get much much closer to the whales. We weren't by any means within an arm's distance, but I was able to get some good pictures with our zoom lens. Not to mention, more beautiful snow capped mountains.

On Sunday, we took the ferry over to Vancouver Island and spent the day in Victoria. It was a quaint little town, being the capital. We drove down along the water and again, stopped at some beautiful lookout points. We also got the closest we could to the Pacific Ocean. Now we only have 2 more oceans to make it to and get our picture in front of.

 Monday we slept in! It was great for all of us. We spent the day around downtown Vancouver. There is an incredible park in downtown called Stanley Park. It's massive, on the water with a beautiful view of the city and Lion's Gate Bridge. So of course, we stopped at points along the road and took some pictures :)

They also spent time spoiling us with last minute things we need to take to Africa and some groceries for here. We are so thankful to have supportive family. We did miss my brother and his wife (Allen & Ashley). They couldn't come because she's due with their first child within the next two weeks. And miss all of our other extended family. Wish we could pack up everyone we love in a crate or suitcase and take them with us. Unfortunately, we can't. We said our goodbyes to Trey's family late Monday night and my dad early Tuesday morning. We can't wait for them to come visit us on the other side of the world!