yes, i am related to the biebers

The absolutely STUNNING Ms. Arianne Leishman became Mrs. Arianne Bieber on Saturday September 18, 2010! It was a super fun day that I quite enjoyed :D

Burns, Kobe, and Me on the way to the TEMPLE~~~!!! Actually...we were on our way to my grandma's house to babysit all the kids while the parents went to the sealing.

Me and my cutie pie niece, Eva, waiting for the sealing to be over so we could go take pics and see the newly weds. Amy's kids have the most beautiful eyes! In fact...all my nieces and nephews so far have gorgeous blue eyes that I'm sooooo jealous of!

The seeeeeesters!!!! And Burns and Joe and Nat. Photo credit: Dad


Being silly in the rain!

Marshie and the gimp! Don't worry Breanne, I love you. :P

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I mean...UUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! and my filling ^_^

Burns and I were the perfect assistants to photographer, Alex.

The reception was really great! The food was amazing! Burns and I were asked to perform a few songs (background musica) and that was super fun. The atmosphere was just so chill and relaaaaaxxxxxxx. (the x's aren't meant as a rating - or else that would have been a pretty scandalous reception!)

All in all it was a good day.

And it turns out that unfortunately sister Jessica and her fam couldn't make it to the wedding. But they had GOOD reason. JESSICA HAD A BEBEEEEE!!!!! Baby Ashton Arpad Barabas. He sure is a CUTIE and I wish I had a picture of him to put on here but I don't. He has the softest hair and man he is just sooooo CUTE!!! I can't get over it haha.

IN OTHER NEWS

Breanne, Berekti, and I went on a roommate date to Boston Pizza last week some time.

And I didn't put a picture of myself at this event because I didn't want to blind anyone with my hideousnessessess.

*.*.*.*

John Of Fuca

OH the wonders and perils of the Juan de Fuca Trail. For those of you who don't know where this 47km hike is located, it is right beneath the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. My mom, Sarah, Arianne, Daryn, Burns, and I hiked for 5 days to conquer and achieve what we have never achieved before! (except my mom cause she hiked the West Coast Trail back in the day). It was honestly the hardest physical labour I have ever experienced in my entire life! And I loved it! - The feeling of beating what was beating me!

Burns and I were picked up half way to the coast from the Wood's home from being at the cabin for a week of relaxation (see previous post). We got to our campsite at around 11:00pm and set up camp in the dark. It started pouring on us for around 10 mins some time during the night, so Daryn and Burns (who were sharing a tent) jumped out of their tent and threw a tarp over it and the hard rain stopped a couple minutes after. Then it was just drizzling, but their stuff still got a little damp.

It was drizzling all the next morning (the first day of the hike) and we were so scared it would be like that the whole time. Luckily for us we got a lot of sunshine and a couple days of fog and that's it! It rained while we were driving home!

I can be a bit of a clutz sometimes...so about 5 minutes into the hike, I turned around and tried to take a picture but I tripped over one of the many roots. I liked Arianne's description of it being like old people (see Arianne's blog for more detail). I needed help getting back up because of the extra 50 pounds on my back. So I learned my lesson to always know where you are stepping.

This is our first campsite at Bear Beach after wanting to die because I wasn't used to the extra weight. The pack dug into my collar bone and hips and I didn't have enough time to buy good hiking shoes so someone lent me theirs. It was better than running shoes (basically what Sarah brought to hike in) but it was still really hard on my feet. At the campsite (which was such a relief to see) Burns and I turned to each other and questioned whether or not we could finish the whole thing. Burns was ready to run to the car and come pick us up! But we trecked onward and we were able to continue on to the next day - which happened to be the hardest day of the whole hike.

We would explore and enjoy the ocean and rainforest scenery at our campsites. One of Burns' and my favorite things to do was to go flip rocks over and watch the crabs and other life scramble to "not get eaten". We picked a few crabs up and found a couple tiny hermit crabs.

The forest was beautiful! Especially at the little streams. Too bad most of the hike was spent looking down at my feet...

And wouldn't you guess it! Burns found the perfect drum sticks - probably sticks for a cot...but they were the perfect length and weight!

The second day consisted of hiking up super steep hills, then down again. Up and down up and down all day long. 10 hours in fact. By the end of the day my eyes were welling up with tears because I was soo tired and sore and I just wanted to be at the campsite!!! Needless to say, we made it.

Burns and I were a little frustrated with how slow we were travelling. It consisted of stop, wait, go. Stop, wait, go. Stop, wait, go. So we just ended up hanging back for 10 minutes or so and then just go go go go and catch up to everyone. SO one time we just hung back and we decided to do a little exploring of our own at Sombrio Point. I'm so glad we did! This was part of the third day - the second most difficult day. This day ended up being my favorite day of the whole hike!

Exploring Sombrio Point

We got to go swimming in the ocean!!!! Burns and I have always wanted to go to the ocean together and I think this picture expresses how happy we were to be there together.

We swam out to a rock and conquered to cold of the ocean and the roughness of the rock! We were CHAMPIONS!!!! Then when we were back on the beach some naked lady (not kidding! all she had on was her birthday suit!) swam out no probs and climbed the rock and just sat up there. It was mine and Burns' rock until she came along...

Then Burns and I hung back from the rest of our crew to enjoy the beach a little longer. We then hiked to the beat of hippies having a gay ol' time (quite literally) to our next campsite which surprisingly for us was not too far from the beach we relaxed at.

We again played by the ocean and found this creature under a rock. Fish? Eel? Who knows?

The fourth day was foggy and honestly the scariest day. We kept seeing bear poo all along the trail...and the fog didn't help the situation. Try hiking through dead looking trees, in the fog, knowing Vancouver Island is the most densely populated area for cougars and bears, and seeing bear poo every 5 mins on the trail!

Oh and we got to hike through a bunch of mud and walk on slippery logs.

The last night we didn't get to sleep by the ocean, but it was still beautiful and very peaceful!

Burns and I explored the beach near our campsite and it reminded me of Milo and Otis because I was imagining seeing a bear on the rocky beach in the fog.

We made it to the last 1km to the car. You'd think this would be a sinch! But this path was mostly uphill and I was expecting a nice little stroll in the park. Oh yeah, and on our way here, I noticed more and more yellow and decaying leaves on the ground. I said something along the lines of us walking into autumn...but I'm not sure if anyone heard me.

Since the last little stretch only took us 2 hours we had time to play at Botanical Beach and explore the tide pools!

And Burns was in such a passionate mood he tore his shirt open when we got to the cars.

WE SURVIVED!!!!

Then we went back to life and acted like nothing happened.

The End.

The Shoe Swap

Welcome to the Shuswap, where the sun is shining, the water is lovely, and houseboats are NOT in short supply.

I went to the Shuswap with Burns, Rick, Denise, and the Russells! It was soo great!!

One of our favorite things to do there is DEEP SEA DIVE!!!! Basically we just put flippers and goggles on and dive to try and find stuff. I found a tape measure (in almost perfect condition) and a swiss army wrench. Burns found a toonie!



Another favorite thing to do is just laze about in the sun after swimming all morning.

There is usually a bat that lives in the outhouse but he wasn't in there when we went to find him this year. :'(

This picture makes me want to go back. We got about 4 days of wonderful sunshine..then the last 3 days were a little smokey from all the forest fires.

In preparation for the Juan de Fuca trail which we would be hiking the next week after Shuswap, Burns bought a new knife. It was really sharp so he shaved some hair off his leg.

AAAWWWW!!! Boonie loves his mommy! And she loves him!

Good morning starshine! Burns had a better sleep out on the dock than in the cabin because all the kids were being whiny and LOUD!

KIDS THESE DAYS!!!

So Elise brought her iPod to the cabin and she would play music every now and then. But every time we were listening, suddenly Lady GAGA: Bad Romance would be blaring from the speakers. Who was the culprit you might ask? None other than Eden (She is about a year and a half I think).

She knew how to find Bad Romance on Elise's touch screen iPod. I stood over her and watched her do it one time and I was absolutely amazed!

This here is log beach. Burns was walking all over these logs...so quick and nimble, like a cat! He beckoned me to come forth, so I hesitantly went out on the logs with him. I almost fell quite a few times but thankfully never did.

Burns brought me to some cabin who's owners weren't home at the time so we played on their swing for a little bit. It was so tranquil and peaceful in the forest. I wanna go back!!!

Yet another favorite is star gazing. Burns showed me where Jupiter was with Rick's binoculars. He tried to get me to find the four moons but I couldn't see very well. Time for new glasses...

He also showed me how to find the closest galaxy to ours. Andromeda. I found it...it just looks like a tiny blur when you look at it with binoculars. I loved looking at the stars with Boonie. We saw quite a few shooting stars, too!

Anyways...this picture is of the moon taken from my camera.

And this picture is of the moon taken with my camera through binoculars! It amazes me!!! I love technology!

Some treasures I found while deep sea diving at a beach. Burns found some sun glasses and a toy badge. He also got some cans for his mom to recycle.

On our way back to the cabin from the beach, Burns wake boarded.

Did I mention it was smokey there?

This is on our way to do a little hike. I just thought it was cute cause Edan is super cute and Boonie is even cuter! Hahaha....

We found this on the trail.

So when we first came up to the beach to start the trail, there were lots of boats and houseboats and people. When we got back from the hike, everyone was gone and these signs were up! Good thing we didn't run into the bear!

And a big thanks to the Woods for letting Burns and me stay at their place while everyone else went home and we waited for the Juan de Fuca crew to come pick us up! They were so hospitable!!! Burns almost got hit by a train but thank goodness he is still with us!!! This is at the Wood's beach in between Salmon Arm and Sicamous.

I LOVE SHOE SWAPS!!!