O Canada!

Last week, Dallin and I got back from Canada. We went up for a few reasons: one, I have never been to Calgary and haven’t met most of Dallin’s extended family; and two, Dallin’s Grandma and Grandpa Salmon had their 60th wedding anniversary. So, we made the LONG drive up to Canada. We went up with Dallin’s dad , mom , sister (Tara) and her little 19-month-old boy Sam. Sam did great in the car – better than me, anyway. :) Dallin and I stayed with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Cindy, and everyone else stayed with Grandma Palmer – so it was cool to get to see people from both sides of Dallin’s family. We had such a great time and did so much while we were up there. Here are a few pictures of what we did.

On our way into Canada we stopped at this visitor centre (yes, I spelled that right) and took a few pictures. They even had this huge dinosaur (apparently Alberta is a hot spot for fossils) outside that we took pictures with.




Friday we went to the world-famous Calgary Stampede. It was so much fun, there were TONS of people but there was also a lot to do. We had to get a picture of us with our cowboy hats, and also with a Royal Canadian Mountie. We saw a human cannonball (way cooler than we expected), an ice show (with the beloved Canadian ice skating couples from the 2002 Winter Olympics) and a really cool trampoline show. Also, there was a huge building we could walk through and see all of the different animals. Dallin even got to reach his hand INSIDE the back end of a pregnant cow!!! Tara took Sam on some rides, and it was fun watching him. Later that night we went to the chuck wagon races. They were so fun to watch, and we kept betting on which wagon team we thought would win each race. Tara was the best at picking for sure (she married a Kentuckian, so I guess that’s expected). After that, we saw the Grand Stand show – basically a huge, spectacular display of singing, dancing, lights, effects, talents, and fireworks. To be honest, we didn’t really understand the storyline, but they had a ton of really cool acts and the show was amazing.










Saturday was shopping day, and boy did we shop! We bought tons of Canadian candy…SO good!

Sunday we had a great time with Dallin’s extended family. In the evening we went to the 60th anniversary reception for Dallin’s grandparents, and we met a lot of old friends and family.



Monday we went up to Banff. On the way up, we stopped by the construction site for the Calgary temple – that was cool. Banff was awesome, and so beautiful. Sam was making new faces so we had to get those on film. Later that night we went to a family get-together. It was so much fun to see all the family – Dallin’s family is huge! A highlight was getting to hang out with the Salmons’ close friend Bertram (from Nigeria, but has been in Calgary for a long time).









It was a really fun trip. I’m glad we went, even if the drive was long. It was fun to meet and hang out with of Dallin’s family up there, and especially to see Dallin’s “home and native land.” :)