MACY, my baby

So, since we got back from our cruise in November, Macy has been quite the challenge to put to bed. Before that, I've NEVER had a problem at bedtime. She has been an easy going girl. You put her in her bed, say goodnight and she would go to sleep, waking in the night, rarely. After we got back, I gave her more love and attention because I'm sure it was an adjustment for her. She started needing to be rocked or something until she was asleep. This was ok for a little bit but now it is stressing me out. I'm really dreading nap time and bed time. She moved herself to a big bed and said she didn't want the crib anymore, so we took it down. I decided today that we needed to let her cry herself to sleep. She keeps waking up at night and won't go back to sleep without effort on our part. We are all exhausted. So I let her scream today and she fell asleep by the door but only slept for 30 minutes. Same routine at bedtime tonight only we decided to put up the play pen so at least when she crashed she would be in bed and hopefully sleep through the night. Brynn was a screamer at bed time for a LONG, LONG time. I hated it and was so glad when Joel was always so easy, and then Macy. Now I'm back to screaming child and I really don't like it. Any other suggestions? Is it really worth it to lay down with your child every night and every nap time and every time they wake up in the night? What happened?

Christmas Fun

We had a fantastic Christmas. It was really fun having my parents come and spend Christmas with us. They arrived early, avoiding the worst of the winters storms. As a result, they were able to attend church with us where I played the piano for the choir, Joel gave a talk and Brynn a scripture in the primary, and I taught the lesson in Relief Society. They couldn't have planned a better week to come. We enjoyed watching movies, playing games with the kids, eating lots of food, visiting and being lazy. I don't think I've ever seen my dad so content to do nothing. I thought he would be bored and ready to go home by the second day.
Christmas Eve was so fun with friends from our ward and the missionaries. I started a new tradition having our big dinner on Christmas Eve. It was too cold to sled on Christmas so we hung out, watched movies, played games. It was so nice to be together. The kids were in heaven, having so much attention all day long. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad! We love you.

Grandma and Grandpa Wright came for Christmas this year and stayed for 9 days!

New jammies

This is the cast of our Nativity on Christmas Eve, with our friends, the Aweres

For Christmas we bought our family a super fun attractions pass to the West Edmonton Mall. For three months we get to swim at the waterpark, ride the rides at the amusement park, ice skate, visit their aquarium, and mini golf, as many times as we want. We've almost paid for it already. It's been so much fun.

Weather

Many people have been sharing their weather experiences so I thought I'd give you a view into mine.
For the past week, the average temp has been around -15F, with the wind chill -30F(has anyone heard of the wind chill factor? I hadn't until I moved to Alberta).
Growing up I thought it was cold when it got to the single digits in Fahrenheit. This cold weather hurts when you go outside. It's so normal here that nothing shuts down. As long as your car starts, which is sometimes difficult, everything is still up and running. I'd like to say that you get used to it. But I'm not sure that is true. If you are dressed appropriately though, it is bearable! A lot of gas is used for the car to warm up enough to get in without getting frostbite. We have quite a bit of snow too but it will be here until March or April. We're hoping it warms up a tad so we can go sledding!

Brynn turns 6!

We wrote this message to Brynn for her birthday. The small writing says "You are: smart, happy, loving, kind, helpful, beautiful, excellent singer, great speller, wonderful reader, nice sister. She is all of these things and we are so glad she is part of our family!
I just can't believe she is 6!

Brynn's Birthday cupcakes. She's so flexible. She originally wanted them in the shape of a princess. This mom couldn't do that without a lot more time and someone else to help. She was happy with the bright pink frosting and the sort of heart shape we attempted.

We went to the waterpark for her birthday. She loves it there. Now that she knows how to swim, it is so much more fun for her.

Ward Christmas Party-A night in Bethlehem

This is Stan with our Bishop and the other counselor in the Bishopric. They were the Wise Men and they sang "We Three Kings"

Whitney, Stan's sister was a huge help keeping the kids close by.

The kids and I eating pita bread with hummus, stew and salads.

Joel, Cooper (Joel's friend), Madison (Brynn's friend), and Brynn-I had to add to this. Cooper told his mom that Joel was dressed up as the Holy Ghost! Don't you love the things kids say?
We tried to dress in traditional attire of the time Jesus was born. The props were great. The Activities Committee did an awesome job making the gym look like Bethlehem. The program was the Nativity, with songs performed by various groups in the ward. We all had a great time.

Breakfast at Denny's

My sister-in-law gave us the idea to take our kids to breakfast or something similar, once a month on the day of their birth. It was Joel's turn so we went to Denny's. He looks happy in these pictures but it wasn't a super fun experience. We had to wait 15 minutes to be seated and to pay after we were done. He's 4 and waiting with nothing to do is not his forte. After we sat down, he said "I miss daddy, Brynn and Macy. Can we go home?" He asked this question several times while we were eating. The food was good but I think he would have been much happier if we gave him $5 to use somewhere at the mall. Cheaper for me, more fun for him. I guess I don't know this 4 year old of mine very well.

Brynn is excelling!

I just wanted to pass along some great stuff about Brynn. I met with her teacher yesterday to receive her first report card in grade 1 and to speak with him about her progress. She is doing excellent in all areas, but especially excells in reading and writing. Her creativity is amazing and she is particular about detail. Another thing he really praised her for was her ability to be mature emotionally. As far as he could tell, she is friends with everyone in the class. She chooses to remain unscathed by the emotion many girls, especially, experience at this age. She doesn't come home ever complaining about having a bad or even sad day. She takes life as it comes and makes the best of it. What an amazing example to me! She loves school and her teacher is excellent and obviously enjoys having her in class. Their personalities really work well together and she is a super listener and hard worker. I guess if I want to see some of those same results at home, I'll have to ask her teacher for suggestions! We are so proud of Brynn for working so hard and for just being a good girl. She was so surprised that her teacher had all those nice things to see. She kept talking to me about it and wondering why he kept saying all those nice things. To be so innocent again...
We love you Brynn!

Camera

A big thanks to Ryan and Tonya (Stan's brother), who sold us their camera for super cheap. It works great and we are so happy to have a camera again. Now I don't have excuses for not blogging. I'll have to remember how exciting day-to-day life is and not compare it to the tropics.

Picasa Web Albums - ShNell - Southern Caribbean Cruise!

Picasa Web Albums - ShNell - Southern Caribbean Cruise!

Here are more pictures. If this worked properly, there should be captions on some of the pictures.
St. Martin was my least favorite island but we made good memories there. It was our first chance to swim in the ocean since our first stop was on Sunday. It was my first warm water ocean experience. It was amazing how well you float. Stan was the only guy with us. He was sick the day before and needed a relaxing day off the boat so he came with us. We collected some sea shells, rented wave runners, played in the water and soaked up some sun.
In Antigua we went to their rainforest and zip lined for 30 minutes or so. The course was really short but it was a lot of fun. That afternoon I got a dose of the world of bartering. I wasn't very good at it. It was way too much pressure and some of the people were slimy. I finally just stuck close to my sister-in-law, who was used to this.
In St. Lucia (Loosha) we sailed on the pirate ship that was used in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. There were 3 actors from the movie on board that day. It was a fun experience. We sailed about 40 minutes or so to Pigeon Island where we swam and hiked up to Fort Rodney. This was my favorite island and I definitely want to go back some day. We heard there's a direct flight from Calgary there for pretty cheap.
Barbados was the last stop and it was rainy that day. We went to see some caves and have a tour of part of the island, by bus. Beautiful place, wonderful people. The beach had the most amazing sand and the clearest, blue water we had ever seen. In the middle of that beach experience, a big rain storm came, forcing everyone to vacate the beach. We took cover for awhile and then decided to go swim in the rain. It was so much fun!
My brother-in-law is burning us all cds with pictures from each couples' camera. I'll probably post a few more pictures when I get that.
We had the time of our lives and can't wait to vacation again!

Just like Heaven

What an amazing trip we had to Puerto Rico and the cruise to St. Thomas, St. Martin, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados Seven nights on the ship, Serenade of the Seas, with 17 other family members: Stan's parents and all of his siblings and their spouses. The weather was 85F/29C every day with some humidity. It was sunny until Barbados, the last stop. I loved that we got to see so many places, spend so much time with people we love and have a completely stress-free 9 days without kids. My parents were amazing to keep our kids for us and the kids had a great time with their grandparents in Washington.
I'll make a couple of entries to spread this out a little.
We flew into San Juan and stayed the night. We visited the Rainforest the next day and boarded the ship.
These pictures here are of San Juan and the El Yunque(Yunkay) Rainforest.



Most of these are pictures of or on the boat. After we ate dinner the first night, we were required to do the safety drill, in case the ship goes down. The food on the ship was amazing. Very good and too much of it. My body is recovering from food overload. Our stateroom attendant left us every night with a towel creation. Our ship held 2400 passengers but it wasn't full. I guess the week we were out was just prior to the regular cruising season. We were lucky because most of the time we were the only cruise ship in the port. It wasn't ever crowded, anywhere we went.

More to come...

Anticipation

Not having a camera is the pits. That's why I don't post very often because it is so much more fun to have pictures. Alas, I'll try to quickly update with words.
We had our ward Halloween Party on Friday. Kids had so much fun. We had trick-or-treating to different classrooms, games, coloring, pinatas, more treats and a dance! Macy is the little dancing girl. She loves to dance. She was so cute to watch. At that age, they aren't self-conscious and they are too cute anyway. Stan and I even dressed up. Someone must have taken a picture.
Today is my 29th birthday. I feel pretty young, same as I did when I was 20 except that I have 3 kids and I've been married for over 7 years. I'm actually in better physical shape than I was when I was 20. My visiting teachers had me over for lunch. One of them is super party girl. She made a quadruple layer sandwich that was shaped like a flower. It looked like a cake but it was a sandwich and it was so yummy and fun. I get to enjoy one more year in my 20s before I enter the next decade. I'm not scared or worried. What are years anyway?! I'm happy to be the age I am and I don't plan on that changing. My birthday present this year is thanks to Stan's parents who are taking us all on a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean! (By this I mean, all of stan's siblings and spouses, no children!) Stan got off the hook this year. I'll give him a whole year to plan my next birthday, the big 30. We leave Edmonton on November 6. I'm sure you all can imagine how excited I am for warm weather, nice beaches, amazing food, and even better company! To prep us for it, my sister-in-law and I are spending 3 hours at the spa this Saturday, getting our hair cut, and having a pedicure. I feel so spoiled! I'll be sure to post pictures, we are getting a camera before the trip.

General Conference

I always look forward to and really enjoy general conference weekend!
I was asked to speak in Church next Sunday so I had a focus for conference. It helped and now that it is over, I'm glad I really get to study the talks more and come up with something to say in my talk that will be helpful and uplifting in our sacrament meeting.
Many insights came that were needed in my life right now. We are all still adjusting to Stan's new calling in the bishopric. The best advice I received was from President Monson's life history that played yesterday between sessions. I've been praying to feel comforted, helped, blessed with extra patience, and being more supportive to Stan as he is required to sacrifice much time and energy. I thought again of covenants we have made in the time to give of our time, talents etc. This is a part of life! As Elder Wirthlin said (from his mother), "Come what may and love it!"
The other talk I really enjoyed was President Monson's Sunday morning talk. He spoke much of gratitude. Ingratitude being among the most serious of sins and Gratitude one of the noblest virtues, or something like that. He spoke of "Enjoying the journey, NOW!" Time never stops and moments pass all too quickly. I think there was something from each talk that stuck out to me but these were most significant to me right now. I'm so grateful for living prophets! I feel so blessed to have continuos revelation and guidance for me and my family.

Banff

We spent the last weekend of September in Banff for a race and much needed family vacation. We stayed at a great hotel with waterslides and indoor playground for the kids. My parents met us there to help with the kids while we ran. Stan's parents ran in the race as well. It was beautiful there! A little chilly for the race but no snow! We had an amazing view of the mountains from our hotel room. I miss the mountains so much.
The race was the big one for me this year. I ran a 22k, Stan and parents the 10k. It's a pretty tough course, with several small hills. I was in better shape than I ever had been and I felt good for most of it. I really have enjoyed these last few months of training and the race was a great ending to it. My time was good enough for me. I'm still in recovery mode. I really miss running but my body needs the rest. I'm trying to be patient as it recuperates.
I'll post some pictures when we get them on our computer. We celebrated Stan's 31st birthday while there. It was a great weekend with family.
Here is a link to a few pictures of me during the race.

http://www.fleetfeetphotos.com/Searchm.aspx?eid=70&tp=marathon&ID=532621&bib=6342&pwd=1

The final pics of Spokane

My mom made the girls' matching dresses. I thought they turned out so cute.

50 years!

My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage this August. What an accomplishment! It's so wonderful to have an example to look to. It hasn't always been easy, it never will be but they are in it together, forever!

I love this picture of my parents.

Almost every morning Macy would finish her breakfast in her chair,
then she would climb up on Grandpa's lap and eat some of his too.

We celebrated my mom's 69th birthday with her this year.
The anniversary party turned out so good. My sister Niki had the idea to do something special so she made assignments and made sure it all turned out great. My mom makes a scrapbook for each child on their 40th birthday, containing pictures, memories and letters from the siblings. Niki decided we should each do a page and make mom and dad their own scrapbook. It turned out so good and they were touched. My brother Kyrk and his wife Emma made a DVD scanning all the years of the their life and what has become of them and us. It's a keepsake. The final hurrah was an open house for my parents. The house was full for most of the night. The best part was just having all of us together, except Bruce and Anne Marie, who just had a new baby a couple of weeks earlier. We missed them. I love you Mom and Dad!

More Spokane

I met an old roommate, Anne Marie, from BYU. She lives near Yakima, WA.
We had a fun time visiting while the kids played.

I've trained my kids well. We were cleaning
Grandma's house before the 50th wedding anniversary party.

Me and the kiddos before church one day.

Macy has begun her streak of mischeif. She is so cute.

Pics from Spokane

They were pretending the corn was a space ship

This was Grandma's makeshift booster. Safe?

Fruity Cheerios for breakfast! Slightly more healthy than Fruit Loops

I got a haircut. 4 or 5 since this one. My hair grows fast.

Swimming lessons

Yeah for Jackson family Swimming lessons in Spokane Washington. The lady started teaching 50 years ago and she is now 76 years old. Her grandchildren run the show most of the time now. She only helps with the beginner classes. That was the class Joel was in. They call her Grandma Sal and she is the sweetest lady.
Brynn and Joel have been in swimming lessons forever and not really progressing, especially Joel. This program was results oriented. They are firm and the kids listen but they make it fun, so they want to try new things. Brynn is a swimmer! She has a small fear of deep water in other pools. For some reason she thinks this pool isn't as deep. Joel can even swim a little bit on his own but mostly he gained confidence in the water and loves to swim!
I'm doing it again next year.

Brynn posing on the diving board

Joel waiting his turn to get in. The best part
of these lessons for him was that he actually loves to swim now. Yeah!

Brynn just jumped off the diving board and is
swimming to the side of the pool.

Joel's assisted back float. He wouldn't put his head
anywhere near the water before this class.