weekend getaway.

This past weekend we went on a weekend trip to celebrate our anniversary.

To say the least, it was beautiful and a weekend I will surely never forget.

We woke up Friday morning, took Chester to a local dog kennel and hit the road.

About three hours later, we were driving into the mountains and arriving at Jasper National Park.

I had never been this close to the mountains so I was in awe.  I'd seen mountains from the window of an airplane or when we were driving up to Canada but never like this!  We made our way through the park to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

This isn't the best picture but it's the best I could do from the car when the husband isn't slowing down because there are cars behind us.

We're here! The grounds of the lodge were beautiful! When we went to check-in the receptionist told us that they had a couple of suites available if we were interested(we had reserved a deluxe room), and instead of $120 additional per night he said we could have it for 50 bucks! So of course we said yes. So glad we did...this was the view from our room!

Frozen lake and mountains right out of our window...sooo beautiful.

Zoomed in version...it was so peaceful. There were a few people ice skating on the lake but there was a sign that said the ice was still thin...all I kept envisioning was falling through the ice, no thank you!

View from part of the hotel that faces the lake...it was adorned with Christmas decorations inside and out. It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit!

We spent the afternoon checking out the hotel and decided to eat dinner at a pub in the hotel and played some darts. (I won.) We sat by the huge fireplace in the lounge and drank some coffee and then we hit the hay, we were sooo excited about getting an early start in the morning! We had a map of the places we wanted to go and see, however, the place I most wanted to see, Mount Edith Cavell (the glacier that looks like angel wings and never melts!) was closed! We'll have to go back to see that. : )

So the next morning after an early breakfast, off we were!

Athabasca Falls. This was amazing to see!

I think this is my favorite picture...with the sun in the background, I love it! Athabasca falls was amazing...most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Next we drove about 30 minutes out to see Edith Cavell only to find it closed.  Bummer!  So we just enjoyed the drive and then stopped in the little town of Jasper and had some lunch in a little cafe.  It's such a cute little town! Next, we headed to Maligne Canyon.

This was so beautiful and the pictures don't even do it justice!

We had such a wonderful time spending a weekend here. 

Here is a picture our last morning at the hotel. Aren't the colored chairs precious??! I didn't realize there was a lady in the picture until I uploaded it. Oh well!

We took a few more picture in the park on our drive out.

We loved this trip and cannot wait to go back! I hope after looking at all of these beautiful pictures, it makes y'all want to come visit! ; ) *hint hint*

It's trips like these that make me so glad that we took this opportunity to come to Canada. If we hadn't come here, I would have gone the rest of my life without seeing God's beautiful creations at Jasper National Park. It was a weekend I'll never forget!