Invermere, British Columbia, Canada FoT 2018 Candid Photos and Videos!

ABOVE:  I found this shot of the swans in flight online which I thought would be the perfect opening shot since I was about to physically take flight, and I was leaving home base of AC campus.  :-)  Not sure who the photo credits go to, but it is a great shot.

Here is my annual FoT journal for the family and friends who would like to view it.

It all begin Thursday morning bright and early on the AC campus.  We are blessed at HQ to have the option of AC shuttle rides to and from the college to the airport.  Thanks to Andy I. for driving Sarah B., Alexis C., and myself bright and early that day.  It was a fun ride with the students to the airport.

ABOVE:  Kayla wanted to take the pic above.  This is definitely not a glamour shot; more like a "deglamouring" shot  ....hair all pulled back in a 6th grade bun.  :-)  So we, by chance, were on the same plane from OKC to MSP and spent some lovely time together on our layover there.  We both agreed that the flight attendant on our flight was the loveliest one we've ever had and we've both been blessed to travel around to different countries.  It was fun to have some sister time together.  Kayla is one of the loveliest gals I know.  I remember loving her character from the time she first arrived at AC back when she was a Freshman.  I remember telling her how mature and sweet she was.  Now she is a graduate, and so genuinely sweet and a friend to just everyone.  We both were going to attend the FoT in Invermere, but we had separate pre-feast trips planned at different spots in Canada so we said temporary goodbyes at MSP

Long story short....bad weather delayed my flight into YYC, so I ended up not getting to Canada until 1:30AM, and didn't actually get completely out of the airport and on the road until 2:30AM, and decided it wasn't worth getting a hotel room since I had already lost half of a day of touring in being stuck on a plane, so I made the decision to just drive the long drive to Banff then and there to stay with my schedule..arrived at Banff just after 5:00AM and stayed most of the morning..and then around noon drove the fair bit of a drive to Lake Louise, and then drove the super long drive from Alberta to British Columbia where Invermere site was....so I went 24 hours without sleep, but it was definitely the right thing to do, because I got everything in that I had planned...no sleep just had to be a plan B.

BELOW:  Picking up vehicle rental at YYC.

 ABOVE:  Finally made it to pick up my car rental at around 2:00am.  I was thankful to God they stayed open and waited on our super late flight. I was praying about that.  As a single woman, it's not always safe getting into a taxi alone at night in the wee early hours of the morning, God worked it out.  I was truly grateful to Him for that. Oh, above is my feast car rental.  Happy to have a SUV to drive in Canada.  Came in handy on my pre-feast trip up in the mountains where it was snowy and the roads were winding.  Getting this vehicle was another blessing...free upgrade that I didn't ask for, but was just given by the agent that I considered to be a feast gift from God.....easiest and best vehicle rental experience ever.

BELOW:  I don't understand why it's a Canadian thing to call the bathroom a washroom as shown below; (I remember when the wonderful Paulette and I were roomies, she would always say that, I was like huh)...and for that matter, why do American's call it a bathroom and restroom.  Guess it sounds better than alternatives though.  :-)  Fun, yet pointless life trivia.  :-)

 Made it to Banff at about 5:14am to he exact  I was so tired and had been praying for God to keep me awake as I decided since I left with my car rental and actually hit the road around 2:30AM, that it would be a waste of time and money to get a hotel, so I decided to drive the fair distance to Banff, and with God's help, I made it fine.  Turns out it totally was the right move to make since my flight had knocked a half day of adventure from my trip, I had to compact everything into one day, and since I drove it overnight, I got to see everything.  I was a bit tired, but my adrenaline and realizing where I was at kept me awake. Though that evening, I begin to have cold symptoms as well are a scratchy throat.  Probably a combo of going for 24 hours with no sleep and being up in the mountains with cold snow and ice, as I had to hike a bit in the weather to see what I desired to see.

 It was so foggy in Banff that I was disappointed as I couldn't see the tops of the mountains, so my pictures aren't anything special other than the fact that God opened the door for me to experience His beauty here in person, and I will say Canada is one of the most beautiful places I've seen, even when it is foggy and cloudy.  Yeah for Canada!

Once I was satisfied with seeing Banff, I headed to Lake Louse which was a little bit of a drive out of the way from Banff, but I wanted to see it.  It was also cloudy there, but still pretty.  Still sad I couldn't see the tops of the mountains though.
I have noticed in Canada that French is the prominent second language to English as you can see on the sign in the below pic.  This is so unusual to me because growing up in Texas, you had to take at least 2 or 3 years Spanish to even get a high school diploma, so I'm use to Spanish as a predominant second language even in Oklahoma.  I feel like I am learning a wee bit of French on this trip by reading signs, and listening to town locals chat.  Now because of the below picture, anyone reading this knows Lake in French is Lac!  :-)  It is just strange to me hearing people speak French.  I guess the people from here would feel the same about Spanish.  Oh, well, one day everyone will speak one pure language.

All bundled up!  Brrrr...it was snowing and freezing there at the lake.  You had to walk carefully as the ground had a layer of ice on it.

Taking many pics at Lake Louise hoping that one would be less foggy, but oh well, there is still beauty in it with the fog.  Looks fascinating though.  Anyway, here is what I am able to share....fog and all.  I think some others went to Lake Louise later, and tweeted their pictures and you can see the difference when it is not foggy too.

 BELOW:  Now it was time to head to Invermere, the feast site.  Time to leave the province of Alberta and head to the province of British Columbia.  Wow the drive was a whole lot longer than I expected, (It seemed so long that I pulled over at a view point and asked a super nice family if I was headed in the right direction, and they told me indeed I was, and that I was only about 10 minutes away from the road split leading to Invermere....funny that I got paranoid just a few minutes from arriving...but it gave me a great sense of peace knowing I was headed in the right direction......Canada doesn't have a ton of road signs along the way like the US does..at least not the part of BC that I traveled through.  I kept looking for road signs to let me know what road I was on, and I never saw any.  Maybe I was just blind though.)...it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever had and seen though.  Was totally worth it.

 FINALLY pulling up to feast hotel.  Just gorgeous!

My suite is definitely fit for royalty.  As an adult on my own, this is my second favorite FoT accommodation ever; only second to the swanky hospitality suite I was blessed to experience at the Indian Wells, CA feast site, on my blog, a few years ago.  This resort in Invermere Canada is like a cottage.  I will have to entertain to share and give back this blessing.  Here are a few pictures of my suite that I took when I first arrived.

BELOW:  living room

 sofa, coffee table/bench, TV and fireplace in living room.

 Happy with these accommodations!  This picture was actually taken later on in the feast, but it fits right here in the blog best I think and breaks up the furniture pictures.  :-)

dining table..guess I could have pulled chairs out for better picture, but oh well you can see them under the table.

full kitchen...even has a dishwasher...pots and pans, baking pans, large mixing bowls, plates, bowls, cutlery, cups, stove, frig, microwave, exhaust fan, ETC!!

bar and wine rack

master bedroom...nice comfy bed

master bedroom fireplace and TV

master bedroom doors leading to a patio with a full sized BBQ grill and patio furniture.

my gorgeous view from patio!

master bathroom

wow, even has a totally separate guest bathroom.

 and a full laundry room all to myself inside the suite!  Wow!

BELOW:  Moving on....survived D-Day ,or should I say P-for piano day with the long 4 hour long choir practice.  Shane G. was a kind and great director  I don't think I'm the best at rehearsal type settings, as my training throughout life has been more on the concert side of things, but with God's help we survived and the choir sounded fab though my back hurt for a few hours from sitting upright at the piano.  We performed at the opening night service.  Sunday was a busy and nerve racking day for me  There really was only a 30 minute window to eat all day for me to eat, and I chose to forgo eating as I can get an upset tummy easily when nervous. I also forgot my glasses at home, so I was half blind when trying to read the sheet music.  Not a good thing at all, but did well w/Gods help and the performance on Opening Night went better than the rehearsal even and sounded great I thought.  Whew!  We had a Steinway!!  Thanks CRO(Canadian Regional Office).  I am definitely not worthy of it, but it was great for the congregation!  :-)!!!

 BELOW:  An example of how everything here is English and French...one side of the cereal and almond milk is English and the other side is French  I cannot get over this!  :-)  I know I'm a nerd!

BELOW:  Aiden M has been great with the hymns  Young talent!

 Lovely Friends!

A few of my favorite married and dating couples..... So sweet, both of them!

BELOW:  The wonderful newlyweds, Eric and Danielle F.  They are both so nice, and I think they set such a wonderful example.  It really has been a blessing to work and live at HQ......many friends have been made with students who are now graduates.....Danielle is one of them.  I still remember her YA debut duet in the official feast video years ago when she and Ashley B. sang a duet with horses in the background.  This lady has a lovely voice still today!  She and her new husband did special music.  He is a great guitarist.

 This pic is to redeem Kayla and I from the airport pic that was shown at the beginning of this post and now you know K made it safely to the site as well; though b/c I had piano on this day, I had my hair pulled back in a ponytail to keep it out of my face while playing. but that is one step better than the airport bun.

BELOW:  So happy that the Cooks from the land down under are here!  Met Kirsten when I visited South Africa and she was visiting at the same FoT and we were tent mates on safari after the FoT, then reconnected with Kirsten when I visited Australia on her home turf, and she was so kind to me and totally looked out for me and showed me around Australia on a personal tour.  Happy to see her married to a fabulous man now, and getting to spend a little time with them...who would have ever thought you could meet someone in South Africa, reconnect with them in Australia, and then reconnect with them in Canada!  The abundant life for sure!  Without God in life, I know I would be nowhere on my own.  I am still no where.....everything good is definitely from God.  Aside from that I have nothing on my own.  I am very thankful.

 The fabulous festival choir

BELOW:  Long story short; while playing King All Glorious live during services on the first HD, in the middle of the song a draft or something blew my sheet music off the piano and this page flew away and it is the last page of the song.  It was shocking, so I stopped playing for a few seconds to re-group in panic, until I heard the choir slowly trailing off key, and then I pulled it together, jumped back in where the choir was, and continued to play the rest of the song from memory   It was rough in some spots, but with God's help we made it to the end, and everyone said it wasn't really that bad.  To me it was a night mare, but it is done!  I learned my lesson, secure that music!!

BELOW:  Photos from the singles mixer.......I really liked how the mixer was just natural and relaxed and not formal......just new and old friends spending innocent time together....it was a serving each other atmosphere.....it was a great evening to make new friends and reconnect with old friends.  Thanks to the really wonderful Jordan E. for being responsible for this activity.  He had one rose for each single lady.  Tulips and roses are the only two flowers that I am not allergic; so I was happy, and what a nice touch!

 Kayla received THREE roses from a certain gentlemen.  :-)!

 

 BELOW:  Zachary B. in a classic gentlemen s pose.

 Adding some feminine classiness to the picture with the super lovely Arianne O.  Another one of my favorite AC graduate dating couples.  These two are wonderful and super service oriented.  I really like that about them.

 So happy Abigail is here  We were at the same site last year in KY.  Got to know this sweet and kind gal when she was an AC student.  I had a get together with some of the students at my house back when she was a student, and we played a game where one person had to tell what their favorite character trait was about a person, and then everyone else had to guess who the person was according to the trait stated.  I never forgot that her trait was said to be Proverbs 31ish by one of her classmates, and everyone there guessed it was her.

 Thanks to Mr. Ozipko for letting me take a picture of his dessert.  Swanky!

 Mr. Oostendarp speaks.  He is our wonderful F.E.and another great fruit of A.C.

 The crowd.

 My dessert.....I assumed the flower was an edible one...I am still alive after eating it, so I am thinking it must have been.

BELOW:  Moving on to family day......fabulous food and fellowship.

 Family day was super relaxing at this Canadian site.  I really liked it.
BELOW:  The Chef came out to check on the buffet and agreed for me to take a picture of him with the fruits of his labor  He did a great job for us.  This resort has some great and professional staff.

 New and old friends!  This site is super "friendly".  See what I did there  :-)

Little princesses

 BELOW:  Newlyweds Dan and Laura W. Sweet couple and more AC fruit!  :-)

 BELOW:  The lovely Paul/Shannon Kessler familia......oh wait....I cannot use Spanish in Canada...I need to learn how to say family in French!  :-)

 Buddies....Liam and Brendan
That's Ryan below getting photo bombed by his big bro Liam.  Boys are fun!!...his mom Dawn is in the picture as well.  I think she was or may have been in the first 4 year AC grad class.  I can't remember!  Uh, oh I am getting old!  She has always been so sweet!  Time flies!

 BELOW:  The super nice James/Reagan Ellis family with Zach and Arianne.

 BELOW:  An Australia family reunion!  Part of the Rumler and Hudson family.  Mr. Hudson is our assistant F.E.  Brad and Mrs. Hudson are brother/sister!  Of course Brad and his family reside at HQ now, but the Hudson's are still in Australia  I think this family reunion is so sweet  This is a great and caring family.  Another family as a whole that treated me like royalty when I visited Australia.

 ABOVE:  Mr. Oostendarp and his eldest daughter who bit a perfect chunk out of her dad's watermelon that was totally a commercial worthy photography shot.
BELOW: Ms Arthur and I.  Thanks to Danielle F. for taking this picture.

 Canada is known for bears.....there is one right in the resort by the gift shop.....oh wait....it's dead and stuffed.  :-)  This is the closest encounter that I dare to have with a bear while I am here.

 Pictures of the outside of the resort.

Thanks to Eric and Danielle F. for getting a mountain hike going.  This something I definitely had wanted to do, but would never do by myself with bears lurking around in Canada.  It was a lot of fun!

 I snagged these two pictures from Danielle.  She takes great photos.

We made it to the summit after a hard and winded hike; at least for me. The men did great.  I think it was the altitude that affected me.  After every steep grade we would hike up, I'd be so winded and have to stop a few seconds so I wouldn't pass out from a lack of oxygen and my legs felt like jello by the time we reached the summit, but it was well worth it and felt like a great accomplishment when we reached the top!

Okay, so Abby's summit sign came out better than mine, so I snagged this one from her.

A few pictures of how this particular part of the Canadian Rockies looks like from the summit.

A visit to the business office for business and to see Matt and Tabitha B.  Great to see them!  More AC alumni friends serving here at the FoT.  These two are so friendly.

More friends at services.  Mr M....can't spell his whole name.  I apparently need to work on my East Indian names,..Joel P...another old AC friend....this year I am really seeing the fruits of AC more than ever at this site it seems....and Ms. ?.... Shame on me!

 Reagan E. with her 2 month old...

Jordan E. played the hymns today  He always does an excellent job!  I think he is a real life genius, and out of all colleges he could had chosen he chose AC.

 With prayer and God's help, I didn't have any sheet music incidents in playing the song Creation will be at Peace for the festival choir today  It went really well, the creation stayed in piece on the piano....see what I did there....., :-)  and the choir did great!
I opted out of playing Rivers of Living Waters on the LGD though.  There are tons of key changes in the song, and it is just super difficult to play with live singers though I have to admit, after I opted out of playing it, I felt bad because it was just my nerves as I could have played it fine when we had a technical glitch with the sound track they used in place, but it was done.  Whenever I get nervous with the piano, I go blank and have trouble even reading the music under pressure...something for me to overcome.

BELOW:  Our wonderful and gifted choir director and music dept head;  Shane G. with his lovely mother Ms. Arthur.

BELOW:  The singles and teens had a combined activity which turned more into a family friendly activity.  I wasn't feeling the best, so I didn't go zip lining, but I went to watch and support and cheer those on that went.  They did great.  The McCarty's, the Rumler's, and Mr. A Hudson were there which I really liked.  I loved mixing the singles with families.  It makes it feel more like family.  I have to admit, I didn't go ziplining....I wasn't feeling the best that day healthwise, but it was fun cheering on those that did the course.  It truly seemed like an extended family activity, and was super enjoyable.

Thanks also to Brad R for going and getting take out for his family and myself.  Many of us didn't have time to eat in between after services and the activity,  Brad was a hero!  :-)

Above some kind of authentic Canadian food that Brad said was called poutine.  We have it here in the States, but apparently, it is authentic to Canada, and he said it tasted different in it's authentic state, and we learned that we jazz it up in the States to where it is something different. 

That is Christy M. on the video zip lining.

BELOW:  I snagged this pic from Ms. Elesia Weppler.  She tweeted it.  She is such a fun lady!  This was one of the best pictures from the event!  Glad she got this.  I missed this shot and she is such a lovely lady too!  It was a joy to spend time with her.

BELOW:  Finally, some free time for a gals afternoon.  Abby and I ate a quick lunch in the hotel restaurant.  The food there is amazing, friendly service, big portions, and a 15% discount......pretty great!  Having nice food to eat is something that we can take for granted in blessed nations.   When you have traveled around the world I think you realize this even more.

 Thanks to Shane G. who was seated at another table in the restaurant at the same time...After he left, the waitress came over and said he wanted to buy either dessert or drinks for us....  How nice of him!  If he is reading this, thank you!!!  We chose the below drinks....Moscow Mules...one of my favorite drinks.

 Then, we had a fun filled afternoon at the grocery store....Again, more French!  I am so exciting......when I finally have free time I choose to go grocery shopping!  :-)

BELOW:  Royal Formal Dinner Dance!!!  Thanks to Mr J. Macdonald and Mr T. Oostendarp for this, and thanks to James Ellis for pulling this together along with everyone on his team who helped.  It was definitely a royal evening.  It was mentioned that it was to be at least AC Grad Ball standard, and I think it definitely was...there were enough AC Alumni there to help too.  The evening started off with an elegant meal catered by the resort restaurant, and then there was a short entertainment night evening portion, and then the dance begin.  I noticed that most of the single men asked the single ladies to be their dates and escorted them to the dance too I noticed, so most of the singles had dates and were just about all included.  The children were all included as well as the teens.  I think everyone had fun, and it truly was a royal family evening.  It was great to get around and fellowship with everyone in such a royal atmosphere, so I enjoyed it.  Apparently, even the resort wait staff told those over it how impressed they were by our standard in everything from how people conducted themselves, and how we knew proper etiquette with the meal as well.  A great evening to be remembered by all who attended I'm sure.

 BELOW:  Pictures from this regal event.

Finally got a picture of the Benedetti's!

 ....and the Frederick's!

 .....and finally was able to catch Mrs. Oostendarp in a picture....another AC fruitful lady and friend.  I really like this picture of the Oostendarp's!  Lovely family!  Their daughters are so sweet!....though missing one daughter in this picture.

 ....and the McCarty's

 ...and Keith Lesser with his lovely daughter....another AC grad friend.....and one of the few long time friends that I know who graduated high school the same year as I back in the day.

my table friends

 ....and the Smith's!

 Our lovely resort waitress staff.  They gave me permission to take this shot of them.  They served us professionally with proper etiquette of raising from the right and lowering with the left, and understood what positioning your utensils mean when done or still eating, ETC.  It's rare these days that wait staff understands or does these types of things anymore, so it was great!  I heard they were impressed with us in the same manner.

This couple, the Cameron's, have been married for over 40 years and are in their 80's and went swing dancing!  They are in shape and so fun to have conversation with.  I was whining about being sore from mountain hiking, and then they got up to go swing dance, and I had to get silent about my whine as they took away my cheese with their action!  :-)

 Posing with little princess K.  She was so friendly!  See her little tiara she is wearing!  Adorable!

After eating we enjoyed a few entertainment acts.  I really liked the concept of E.T. night being combined with the dinner dance.
Aiden M. plays piano.

Mr. Ozipko plays violin

Tiara H. sings

Danielle F. sings

Katie R. dances

Brendan M. plays piano

Lovely mother daughter duet.....Kessler ladies

Let the dance begin...

Moving on from the dance to the next morning!  This site was super extended family oriented.  There is a room rented out in the resort specially for people to have coffee and tea first thing every morning should you choose to take advantage of this.  Here are two pictures of that in the Jade room.

The children had their first choir practice today.  It has been so busy that today was the first day that I could really have it, and I was as trying to be considerate of the parents schedules too.  It is working well as they will perform tomorrow, so it will be fresh on their brains.  Funniest moment from practice today was when one of the gals pointed out that I had ripped my dress at the bottom.  I blew it off, but really was thinking, what, how did I do that, and then I wanted to laugh as children are so honest.  LOL  :-)  Anyway, the children are super respectful and seem to be excited to be singing for the most part.  I am looking forward to their performance tomorrow.  Thanks to Aiden M. for playing piano for them as well  He is a new and upcoming HQ great pianist!

BELOW:  A picture of the children at their first practice.

BELOW:  Moving on to the day of their performance...They did fantastic...sounded even better than the rehearsal....and thanks to Aiden M. for his fantastic piano playing skills who accompanied them.  I think Mr Malone teaches him and I have to say, he is doing an excellent job!  Going back to the choir though, they sung their little hearts out, and with bright smiles too singing praises to God.  Their performance was definitely royal quality in their singing and how they behaved on stage.  That credit has to go back to their "apparently", no pun intended, :-)...great parents.

 I am not sure who took these pictures, but they were on my camera when I checked it of the dress rehearsal with the children.  Thanks to the mystery friend who took these pictures of the children the day of their performance with my camera.

 a royal shot

 a fun shot

Random shots of new and old friends!
BELOW:  I have seen so many pictures of Whitney and Olivia, and I finally got to take one in person myself.

 The lovely Clarke ladies

 The wonderful Canadian RD made it to town!

 Lunch with some lovely AC alumni friends along with Jordan's nephews.  His nephews were a lot of fun!

Thanks to Matthew F. and Zach B. for getting together an AC alumni party for all of the AC grads that were in Invermere, and thanks for the honorary invitation extended to me as well.  I grew up at Ambassador and have worked at HWAC almost from it's start, so I have always been blessed to be around the students a lot and have really gotten to know them and the AC culture, so it was fun watching them in their mini reunion.  That was really kind of them to include me.  Maybe they just needed a photographer to capture the moment.  :)  Fun evening!
BELOW:  Pics from this fun.

 Keith's wife Dawn belonged in this alumni group and she did drop in for a second, but she couldn't stay as she had sick children to take care of.  From a student to sacrificing fun being a great mother!

 Group picture time!  So many fruits and growth in this group!

 BELOW:  A fun group pic with the marrieds in the center as the nucleus, the dating couples by them, and the singles bringing up important book ends.  Fun picture!

Enjoying the fireplace in my suite on the evening to the start of the LGD after a fun little dinner in my suite.

.

LGD shots

   ..So my worst nightmare happened the morning I was departing.  I got stuck in a Canadian snow storm which turned more into a blizzard. where you could hardly see when driving the snow was coming down so fast and heavy.  Thankfully I had the SUV as shown and mentioned earlier in this post; with all wheel drive and could totally see God's hand in making sure I had that.  Before the feast, someone at HQ had told me I should make sure to rent a 4 wheel drive rental in Canada, but I didn't want to pay a 4 wheel drive price as it is quite a bit more up there, so I had rented a midsize car, but when I got to the Alamo car rental agency in Canada, they had upgraded me to an AWD SUV for free and I didn't ask for it; the car rental agent just wanted me to have it.....in fact he insisted that I take the upgrade......little did I know how much of a miracle that really was.  God had to have inspired him to do that for me.  If I had not had the AWD, I would have not made it.  The positive to having to drive in the "snowmagedden" is I had finally had to overcome my fear of driving in snow.  This will make snow where I am from seem like nothing.   People travel for experience, and I have just officially experienced and survived, with God's help, driving hours and about 200 miles in a massive Canadian snow storm.  Cars had slid off the road, and it was difficult for cars without 4 wheel drive to stay on the road or go up hills or even just drive through the snow as it was pretty deep.  There was an Canadian officer that was walking down the highway and making every passing vehicle stop at a checkpoint so to speak, and if you didn't have 4 wheel drive, he would make you pull over and off and road and I guess wait out the storm.  When he got to me, he didn't even ask any questions, he just said, I can tell this thing has all wheel drive, you can pass as if you drive steady and a slow pace because you can make it fine.  He then let me through.  Because he had pulled over most off the traffic and most don't have 4 wheel drive, that was a miracle in itself for me, because that meant that there were few vehicles that were allowed to keep going on the highway, so it made an open road for me to drive through the snow.  Zach Bush and Arianne Olsen were about 30 minutes in front of me and stuck in the same blizzard and road jam situation, and Zach told me that they just missed the officer where they were at.  The didn't have 4 wheel drive, so if they had been back where I was, they would have had to pull over and off the road, so I can see how God looked out for them too. Zach, being from the Northern USA is comfortable driving in snow, so they made it fine without the 4 wheel, and God made sure they got through.  They said they saw cars that had slid off the road trying to make it up slippery hills, ETC.   It is amazing how God looked out for them and me in a different way!  Faith building for sure!  Many vehicles had to pull over and off the road, but my AWD did great.  Also, that morning, I had a few snacks left in my frig at the resort, and instead of throwing them away as I was about to do and usually do, I had a sudden last minute thought to take them with me in case of an emergency, and was I ever glad I did....I had things to snack on and water to drink while being stuck in traffic in a major snow storm.  I think that thought was a miracle as well because I never had done that before in my life.  I usually leave all unopened food items in the hotel with a note for the maid to enjoy, but I took it with me this time, and turns out it was a need.  To show the seriousness of this storm, it was Canada, and Walmart and other places were shut down once I finally made it to Calgary after hours of traveling...even the locals thought it was big.  It was pretty serious, but I made it thanks to God.  Once I got over my BIG initial fear of having to be in the storm and drive through it by myself..was I ever scared....and was praying to God asking Him to be my protector in which He really was big time, I became irritated at first because once I was in it, I realized I was gong to miss my flight back home because traffic was moving slow and I had to use wisdom and drive slower myself, and then when we came to a BIG 4 hour stand still, and I mean a total stand still for 4 hours, that sealed my fate, but once I got to the airport, I realized how God really had looked out for me as some didn't make it out of Invermere, the FoT site, they closed the mountain pass road apparently after I had left, and then others had to stop and stay in hotels along the way, there were accidents, ETC, but I made it all the way to the airport on the day of the blizzard without accident of incident, and they were able to re-book me a new flight out first thing the next day with no extra charge which the agent told me is not the norm up in Canada for bad weather since they have it a lot... if you don't have insurance on your flight at least.  I know she was telling me the truth because a friend told me that they had missed their flight too, and had to buy completely new tickets to get home, so I am really realizing how God had taken the role as my protector and provider during all of this.  It's pretty awesome to think about!  Since I arrived at the airport hours after my flight had taken off, they had marked me as a no show, and she said they don't re-book since I was many hours late, and that I would have to buy a completely new ticket.  I didn't argue with her, and was prepared to do so, but then the ticket agent all of a sudden said she liked me, and was willing to make an exception for me because get this, she said her best friend had just married a man who lived in Invermere and had tweeted a picture of the blizzard, and she said the picture looked awful, and that she knew I was being truthful about my 200 mile drive in from Invermere from her friends tweet, and she worked really hard at finding me the best and earliest flight out that she could without any extra charge, and said that the flight that she had found for me only had one seat left.  She also waived my baggage fees because she said I had been through such a rough day that she wanted to do something nice for me.  I was thinking, God used her friends tweet as confirmation to her....that was pretty incredible.  She joked it was my lucky day that her best friend lived in Invermere and had tweeted the picture so she knew I was telling the truth, but I told her I am sure there was something greater than luck on my side, and she then said, yeah, it must be, because this is literally the last and only open seat left on this new flight; and so it was done. Going back before the feast, a great friend of mine, Paulette Corey, who is originally from Canada, had advised me to do any trips pre feast verses post feast because of snow that could come in.  Looking back, that was such a blessing that she gave me that advice because I would have missed some spots I wanted to see had I not listened.  Friends who have God in their lives are so wonderful to have!  Now that it is said and done, I can reflect back on just how many miracles God performed for me to get home.  This trip really showed me that God really does know what is best in our lives....as He worked it out differently for each of us.   It is actually pretty awesome!  I shouldn't have been irritated, just very thankful!  I took pictures while traffic was stropped for 4 hours....you can see how the snow kept getting progressively worse and deeper.  I can't believe I drove in this.....total miracle for sure!  This was definitely a physical true Canadian traveling experience, so I have had the "full Canadian experience", but even greater than that, this is one of those experiences that makes you want to work harder to please God and do what's right, because you saw how hard he worked things out for you when you are just a little undeserving human being.  Awesome, faith building experience!

 You can see how the snow has gotten deeper.

 Up at the Calgary, Alberta Canada International airport bright and early the next morning......looks like someone got stuck in the passenger pick up area.

 more airport pictures

 Made it back to the USA today and thanks to Sean and Gladys Welsh for picking me up from the airport with my changed arrival day and time!  The Welsh are amazing in many ways and it is a blessing to have them as friends!  Always serving and looking out for others!  Thanks again!  The last thing that I bought at the airport in Canada is something that I usually don't buy, a soda pop.  I don't have to explain it, I'm sure you all get it, though the drink needs to be re-named Canada Not-So-Dry!  :-)
It truly was a great FoT in Western Canada!  God's creation is just beautiful there. Words cannot describe it.  I always thought that the Sound of Music musical opening in Austria was so majestically beautiful, and I would put Western Canada in the running with that beauty.  It is breathtaking!   In fact, it is one of the most beautiful places that I've ever seen and I've been blessed to travel all over the world, so it is just gorgeous; and the people there were fantastic and super friendly which is even better! I am thankful that God gave me the opportunity to visit Canada and to meet some of the lovely people up there.  I hope I was able to give them what I could there, because the people there sure gave to me, and God looked out for me every step of the way.  It was also great seeing my parents again after getting home, and now just a few days before I see my brother, sister in law, and my favorite niece because she is my only niece, Sophia, again when they return from their post feast trip. Family!,... and it was truly great to have the opportunity to spend time with the Canadians!  Thank you to all who made my time in Canada a time that I will not ever forget!