Conway is from the small, precious town of Magrath, Alberta, Canada. This town is like something straight out of a cartoon musical. Everyone is happy. Everyone knows each other. There is one store--appropriately called "The Store". There are no street lights. There are no cops. There are at least six LDS wards but only one Kindergarten thru Grade 12 school. It is located about 45 minutes away from beautiful Waterton Lakes National Park. It is home to the Blue Goose, the local gas station that happens to carry the most delicious soft serve ice cream and Slurpees. And Con and Jon are so popular (I could probably use the word famous) that it's absolutely impossible to go anywhere without people stopping to say hello to the twins. Like I said, cartoon musical. I'm always on the ready for everyone to break into song and dance. We just returned from spending almost two weeks there this summer. Here are the Top Ten Most Memorable Magrath Moments:
10. Watching the Olympics on Canadian television with Canadian commentators celebrating Canadian athletes who sometimes placed 17th or 36th overall. The final tally for Canada was 18 medals: 3 Gold, 9 Silver and 6 Bronze. Not bad, eh!
9. Eating breakfast at Bob's--the best breakfast North of the Sugar Shack. His perfect pancakes deserve a trophy.
8. I don't know if it was the Magrath air or inspiration from watching Nastia Liukin, but I did three back-handsprings in a row at the park. That might not seem memorable, but that's the first time I've even attempted it in over five years.
7. On the drive home from our road trip to Drumheller--the dinosaur capital of Canada--we made a pit stop in Vulcan--the Trekkie capital of Canada.
6. Bonny's cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls and frozen lemon cake. Mmmm. So worth the 3 pounds I gained on this trip.
5. Our VIP tour of the Hutterite Colony (think Amish with tractors). A friend of the Wests (Bill, pictured below with some Hutterite girls), gave us a behind-the-scenes look at life on the Hutterite Colony. It was so fascinating; they don't have a care in the world. I was almost ready to convert!
4. While driving on the backroads of Magrath we saw what appeared to be a stuffed goat riding shotgun with a lady and a few dogs. Turns out the lady is a friend of the twins (of course) and riding shotgun with her was her real life pet billy goat, Jezebel, who thought she was a dog. If only I had a photo.
3. Breaking Dawn. I know it doesn't really have anything to do with Canada, but I read it while we were there. And I have to confess, I thoroughly enjoyed every pillow-biting page.
2. My first ever horse ride. Sarah Faucett, a friend of ours from HB, works at the horse stables in Waterton during the summer. She took us on an amazing ride. Trotting was the best; I couldn't stop giggling. Although it did feel like someone took a baseball bat to my buns the next day. Ouch!
and the number one most memorable Magrath moment:
Conway's brother-in-law Eric showed up with our old laptop, risen from the dead . . . Complete with a new screen and a new hard drive. And the best news of all, he was able to pull off a miracle and recover our lost photos! The first six months worth of photos and videos of Marley's life that we were certain were lost forever. They're ALL back. A million thanks to Eric. We owe you BIG TIME.
A few more photos from our trip.
17 comments:
How fun! I love the fact that 2 adult men are still referred to as "the twins."
Canada...what a beautiful place. And Magrath sounds like such a fun town to visit. Thanks for sharing the photos!
That is so cool that you got all the photos and videos of Marley back...much to precious too lose.
Diana!
I love your blog it is very cute. I found it on Heather's blog :) I miss Canada/Washington. (we moved back to Utah last year) Looks like you had a wonderful time.
Amanda (Young)
WOW, I want to go to Magrath. It looks pretty stinkin' amazing there. The views and scenery are spectacular. I kind of don't like you though...so dang pretty. One would think I'd be used to it by now. And Marley is just too cute. So glad to hear that your laptop and pictures are restored, and also LOVED "Breaking Dawn" as well. Mmmm, good book.
ok...forgot to mention one thing. Back-handsprings?! Are you freaking kidding me? You're ridiculous. I can't believe you can still do them. You're a rock star.
oh my goodness...it looks like you guys had a blast! dan and i didnt get to go to Canada this summer...but we already bought our tickets for new years...so we cant wait! i miss canada! :-)
I'm so happy you got your pictures back. I bet you looked through every picture and lauged your belly off at some then cried your eyes out at others.
Magrath, a little something like this...
"Little town full of little people, waking up to say Bonjour."
What a great vacation. (Can I wish that Link were from somewhere other than Tooele?)
How absolutely wonderful that Con's brother was able to revive your lap top with pictures and video!
Looks like you guys had so much fun. Marley is so dang cute, just like her mom. And I'm so glad you got your pictures back.
i'm sold! magrath looks like a beautiful and peaceful place. i often crave a much slower paced life.
love the pictures with the combine driver. can't help but think of my favorite country song "international harvester". hahaha
Diana,
Canada is beautiful, horrible winters though right? If you are ever home for a visit, let me know. I would love to take Marley's pics. Girl Models are sparse around my family.
Lindsay
One of these years we are coming with you, or going without you. Congratulations on getting your pictures back~that's fantastic!
i remember the first time i ever met con and jon was when our family took a road trip up to canada like 14 years ago. and i must say, con and jon were great tour guides! we still talk about the huderite colony to this day & watching the twins jump off of crazy high cliffs into little pools of water was definitely worth remembering! i haven't been back to canada since, but we need to go back...such a pretty place! glad you guys had fun..and little marley is sooo cute!! :)
oh my gosh that reminds me of how much i miss canada. i laughed out loud at almost all of your top 10's. the olympic one was classic. i love love love "the store." the hudderites (sp?)!!! and yes, the twins do qualify as celebrities in the small, almost make-believe town of magrath! love it. now email me! i'm starting hard core TOMORROW!
Hey Nan, Just checkin' the blog and seen your note. As much as I would rather not be, I'm still working full time. It was the hardest thing to come back to work, but I knew I was going to have to do it. Luckily, I have every other Friday off and Brian is home with Jaxx each Monday. And we have be best daycare around...he is absolutely spoiled by all the women there! :)
Pillow biting!! Yay!! hehehe ;) I'm half-way thru with that book now. Aw, I want to go to Magrath! Gosh it's beautiful! And it's got to be nice to go to some fairy-tale place where everyone's more likely to burst into song rather than beat each other hahaha. Course, I must say I'm much more drawn to Vulcan... And hooray for the resurrected computer! Shake your amigo's hand for me, will ya? Bless his soul for saving those pics. Marley's so adorable. Being a mommy is the most amazing thing in the world- he's my angel :)
Love the pictures! What a cute Family:)
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