Having a Great Time in Canada

I flew to Canada on October 7th to visit my family here in Coquitlam and Mission, B.C. Mom and Dad picked me up at the airport and the first thing we did was to go to one of their favorite Greek Restaurants, Mr. Greek's. Yum. Dolmathes, pita bread with tzaziki sauce, avgo-lemono soup and bougatsa for dessert. It just doesn't get much better than that! The next day (which, by the way was Annie's twentieth birthday) we went to Steveston, a little town that was historically a Japanese fishing village. It's now a great little resort town with waterfront walking and bike trails, little shops and restaurants, etc. We took a little walk in the brisk autumn air and then had fish and chips at a place called Dave's. The food is really great. Then we browsed the shops, bought a ten dollar loaf of artisan bread from a crazy Romanian named Constantine and ate gelatos. After we got back from Steveston, Craig dropped by and we had some dinner and a couple of games of cribbage. Elaine and Erin drove out from mission and we visited and watched a movie (Elaine and Erin stayed overnight). The next day was Elaine's 50th birthday. Yes, that's right, my little sister is 50! Mom and Dad took us to IHOP for birthday breakfast. More good food! Check out this sign that was in the IHOP! Perfect for Elaine's 50th birthday! We took the following photos in the IHOP parking lot.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at historic Fort Langley, another great little resort area with lots of antique shops, cafes, etc. We stopped by the Langley temple site to see how the new temple is progressing. It's coming right along with the temple building, a Stake center and a home where the mission president for this area will live. It's all supposed to be finished by next year. After we were done at Langley, we drove to mission and went to the White Spot with Lucia and Rachel. Mike and Matteo were at a B.C. Lion's game with the scouts. We had a fun visit and some great food.

Tonight I'm going to the surprise birthday party that Len is giving for Elaine tonight. Elaine has known about it for weeks but what the heck! Tomorrow is Sunday dinner at Mike and Lucia's place and Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving at Elaine's. I will be doing extra time on the treadmill next week. Signing off.