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.

Fun lunch

I'm sad to say that we are still without a camera! We didn't want to buy another cheap one and we have lots of things on our to-buy list. Many of which have to do with the beginning of school year stuff. I wish I could post pictures of our fun lunch.
My kids don't love sandwiches and it frustrates me because it is so easy and cheap. Macy usually eats the middle of the sandwich; I've discovered that she really likes tuna fish but not tuna sandwiches. She prefers it on crackers. So I have been thinking about doing this for years. We got out our set of 101 shapes that I got from Wal Mart many years ago. Each child picked their shapes. Then they chose peanut butter and honey or jam. Brynn chose toast with butter. Fine with me.
I think Joel ate almost two sandwiches. Macy ate nearly a whole one and Brynn had three pieces of toast. Hurray for a good lunch! The only drawback was the crust waste, which might have been why they ate so much sandwich. I refuse to let it be ok to not eat crusts so I helped them find shapes that filled the bread a little better. I got comments such as, "you're such a fun mom," "this is so much fun to eat dinosaurs," and "can we do this everyday?"
There will be a post with some pictures of our time in Spokane coming in a week or so. We used my mom's camera while we were there. I'm just waiting for her to send me the cd of pictures.

Summer travels

Sorry everyone who checks my blog. I've been on the computer for an hour trying to upload photos. Dial-up internet just won't do...
Here's an update and I'll attach photos some other time.
We (the kids and me) left Stan and our current home on the 26 of July. We spent almost a week in southern Alberta visiting family and friends. First stop was Medicine Hat. Spence, Jenn and Kali Torrie were kind enough to invite us to stay with them in their cute little house. They have a large backyard that the kids loved playing in. The next stop was Grassy Lake where we stayed with more Torrie family. I went on a killer bike ride with my sister-in-law. Farm roads=lots of bumps=shakin adult syndrome. My bike does not have shocks. I was riding the same speed as I run. My arms and head were aching by the end. Brynn and Joel spent 3 hours on a baler. Way more than I could do. Go Torrie kids! It must be in your blood.
The next few days were spent in Lethbridge with my good friend Jolynne. the kids were amazing and had so much fun together. We didn't leave the house with them for 2 whole days. They had fun playing house, in their backyard creation, climbling the tree, and jumping on the trampoline. Jolynne and I had fun hanging out, and cleaning and organizing her "suite."
On the first of August we traveled Spokane, Wa, where we will spend nearly the whole month of August.
Life is exciting. Two friends are getting married in the next month or so, kids are in swimming lessons, and we are at grandma and grandpa wright's house!

Jasper Getaway

Stan and I went to Jasper in the middle of June to have a break from the kids and to remind ourselves that we are still friends and we like being married. It was awesome. We didn't do too many exciting things. We stayed in Hinton, just outside of Jasper because it was way cheaper. We went into town and walked around the townsite, had a yummy lunch, and sat in the Miette Hot Springs for 2 hours. We were supposed to go on a hike but we were both so tired and I was having shin splints in one of my legs. It was so nice to just be lazy and talk. We probably had the most fun talking. We don't make time to do that enough. We are committed to having outings like this at least twice a year. Everyone who is married needs to do it!

This is me in a wildlife preserve, provided by the city of Hinton for people to enjoy. They built boardwalks all through the marshes so you could see a beaver's habitat and other things. It's really peaceful and nice.

This person's house had several antennae on the back. We walked past his driveway to find this ghostbuster car. The sign on the side says "Our service takes you out of this world." Notice the antenna on the car. We thought it was funny and wondered what kind of business he runs. (Also in Hinton, AB)

This was our bed and breakfast. Nice suite, lots of room, very countryish.

These mountain goats or whatever they were, were licking underneath the backs of buses, all taking turns. Interesting.

Happy 4th of July

Our friends were nice enough to come over and party with us and take this picture.

Who wouldn't come for such a yummy dessert. I created this all on my own. It was delicious AND healthy!

Look at my baby! She is growing up. She loves this swing that she got for her birthday.

My pretty girls. Sometimes they are really glad to be sisters and to be cute together.

It's Independence Day!

July 2005

This was in Great Falls, July 4, 2006

This was July 07, Pleasant Grove, UT

2007, Utah (rare picture of Stan with facial hair!)
I can't believe Macy was that size one year ago. They grow so fast.

I miss the 4th of July Celebrations. We usually try to do our own. A couple of years ago we went to Great Falls, Montana to celebrate. We'll probably do that again in the future. They have a great celebration there. Whatever we do, we are trying to make it an important thing in our family to remember both sides of the family and celebrate the big holidays that are different (ie. 4th of July and Canada Day, and Thanksgiving).
Here's the National Anthem:
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
I really like this verse:
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

History: In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid. The two were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem entitled Defense of Fort McHenry; later the poem was set to music that had been previously composed for another song by a Mr. Smith. The end result was the inspiring song now considered the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century or so, but became even more accepted as the national anthem during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The World Series performance moved everyone in attendance, and after that it was repeated for every game. Finally, on March 3, 1931, the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written.

God Bless America!

O Canada

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

As several of my blog readers are American, I wanted to share some things I like about Canada, my life here, and some thoughts about health care (since people often ask me about that). Today is Canada Day, similar to Independence Day in the U.S.
First of all, living here has given me an appreciation for my roots AND for Stan's.
I am the first to admit that I grew up a prideful American, believing the U.S. was the only place to be and that it was the best place to be. Thanks to some very loving Canadians and my experiences here, I can proudly say that Canada is a great place to live! (Don't laugh you Americans). You don't know it until you experience it but take advice from someone who has been where you are and try to open your eyes a little. The two countries are similar in lots of ways. As far as everyday living, it feels the same. Gas is more expensive though, and groceries!! I've been here long enough(5 years) that the lingo that I once thought strange, sounds normal and I have to think about the fact that Brynn is going into 1st grade (They say Grade 1 here.)
I'm grateful that my children will all be dual citizens and have the choice to live or go to school either country with ease. Happy Canada Day!

This is from Wikipedia. Health care in Canada is funded and delivered through a publicly funded health care system, with most services provided by private entities.^[1] While the Canadian government calls it a "public system,^[2][3] it is not "socialized medicine".

Health care spending in Canada is projected to reach $160 billion, or 10.6% of GDP, in 2007. This is slightly above the average for OECD countries. In Canada, the various levels of government pay for about 70% of Canadians' health care costs, which is slightly below the OECD average. Under the terms of the Canada Health Act, the publicly-funded insurance plans are required to pay for medically necessary care, but only if it is delivered in hospitals or by physicians. There is considerable variation across the provinces/territories as to the extent to which such costs as outpatient prescription drugs, physical therapy, long-term care, home care, dental care and even ambulance services are covered.^[4]

Considerable attention has been focused on two issues: wait times and health human resources. There is also debate about the appropriate 'public-private mix' for both financing and delivering services.

Also from Wikipedia is a comparison between US and Canadian systems, if you are interested. (I also did a research paper on this very subjects 4 years ago).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_and_American_health_care_systems_compared

Ladiesfest

My posts have been less regular. We have been borrowing a camera but we don't have the cable so I don't have any recent pictures on my computer. Words will have to do for now.
I ran in the annual Ladiesfest race in Lethbridge for the 3rd year in a row. It was a fun experience. I have been training so hard for this race and really wanted to improve my time and finish without being dead. I'm happy to report that I accomplished both goals! It was a great race. Beautiful day, my legs felt good, I was running at a great, comfortable pace. Two and a half weeks ago, I got shin splints on one leg. I didn't know what it was but I was very discouraged and wasn't able to finish my training program as I would have liked too. The Lord was so good to me and allowed me the duration of the race to feel so good and to have a great experience. I was completely lost in my own world the whole time, listening to great music and thinking about life ahead of me.
I love running! It is one of the best things I've discovered to do for myself that really helps me, in a number of ways. I love being with my sisters-in-law and my mother-in-law is amazing!! At 61, she is in great shape and loves to compete. I'll have to post pictures when I can get some up.
Another blurb of thoughts. For any of you who know me, I'm really into learning about financial planning type stuff, getting out of debt, planning for the future, enjoying life along the way, etc.
I came across a talk on type at the library and I lOVED it! If any of you are interested in that, this was a great one.
It's called Smart Couples Finish Rich. I highly recommend it and I can't wait to talk with Stan more about it to help us get our goals in place, again.
We are having ANOTHER rainy day today but it is a blessing as our house was stifling hot after yesterday's 29 C.

Joel's birthday

Joel's cupcakes that he requested.



Joel has been asking me for a "big boy" bike for a long time!! Stating many times that his "tricycle has grown out of me." I'm so glad we waited to give him his new bike. He was so excited and is still so excited that he has a new bike. He also got a t-ball set and we haven't been able to use it much yet. Our yard is too small and the ball goes right over the fence. He can hit it really good. He was excited to be at grandpa's farm for his birthday.

Adventures in Calgary

Stan travels to Calgary once a month to do some work and this time we decided to join him. There's lots to do there so me and the kids wanted to have some fun while he was working. We've had some free passes to the Calgary zoo and wanted to use them. As we were preparing to go to the zoo, Macy threw up. Thankfully it was an easy clean up but she was feeling miserable and kept crying. Our choices were to continue on and go to the zoo or try and see if we could check into our hotel early. We decided to go to the zoo because the other kids were really looking forward to it. We prayed that Macy would settle down, sleep and feel better. The Lord answered our prayers and Macy did sleep pretty much the entire time we were at the zoo. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals, even though most were sleeping, eating yummy ice cream cones, riding a little train they have there, AND...taking pictures. (notice there aren't any pictures with this post). I decided to be a nice mom and let Brynn have the camera for a few minutes and take some pictures. She's a responsible girl and so I decided that would be ok. Well, we were viewing the dinosaurs and a nice waterfall and she wanted to take a picture of the beautiful waterfall. I instructed her to stand in a certain place to get the best view. She ignored my suggestion, took off running to the spot she wanted to be at, tripped and the camera flew into the water, never to be seen again. I was blessed with an understanding heart and a lot of patience and assured her that the camera was replaceable and I was glad that she didn't dive into the water. Needless to say, we have no pictures of the day. She felt really bad.
Brynn's favorite part of the zoo: the baby animals and feeding the ducks
Joel's favorite part: chocolate ice cream cone, and with some questioning, he kind of liked the animals too. The train was fun too, he said.
My favorite part: Getting some sun and having the kids be happy and well behaved.
There's more to this adventurous day. We arrive at the hotel, only to find out that the pool is closed. We only chose this hotel for the pool. I couldn't reach Stan as his meetings were running late. The man at the front desk informed me that I could only cancel the reservation if I did it right then. Since I couldn't talk to Stan, I decided to check-in. The kids really wanted to go swimming and we were wondering what we would do. Stan saved the day by getting us out of our reservation and going somewhere that had a great pool. The rest of the evening went great! The kids had fun. We spent the rest of the weekend in Grassy Lake with Stan's family and we celebrated Joel's 4th birthday. I'll post as soon as I can get the pictures from Stan's mom's camera.