One year older-Joel is 5!

Joel's wish for his birthday was to have it at Grandma and Grandpa Torrie's farm. However they are on a mission in Nauvoo and we decided it wouldn't be as fun without them. Then he wanted to have a party with Brayden and Tyson, his cousins that live in Taber.
I finally was able to talk him into something a little closer to home. Since we had recently moved, 30 minutes away from all of our friends, I convinced him that two or three friends would be good and they had to bring their families. 30 minutes is too far to drive to drop off your kid for 2 hours. So we had a BBQ and just played. We had only been in the house a week, so everything was still in boxes. We had a great time!

Joel wanted me to make a dinosaur cake but was happy when we found the Hot Wheels cake at WalMart.

Some of the guests, the Pitcher family-Jared, Ayden, Spencer, Dallin, David and Kristi(not in the pic)

The other family that came, the Leons-Ale and Parly, Alexa, Jacob and Axel (his knee is in the pic)

Joel's gifts from the family.
Looking over the past year, we are just amazed at how much our little man has grown up and matured. He is one of the tamest boys we know. He can get wild but by nature is gentle and quiet. He must be like his dad. He has been ready for kindergarten for some time now and is often wanting to do all the things his big sister can do. We think it won't be too long before he is bigger and stronger than she is and they won't remember it any other way. We love Joel and are so happy to have him in our family.

The first tooth FINALLY comes out

Brynn had this loose tooth for months, probably since around Christmas time or shortly after. We were all wondering how and when it would fall out. One April morning she was munching on some Mini-wheats and out it came. She had the dexterity to sort the tooth and cereal in her mouth. She finished her bite and spit out the tooth. She was afraid that without the tooth, she wouldn't get any money from the tooth fairy.

All for the princess shoes

Macy LOVES to wear these princess shoes. Because they are dangerous with their heel in the back, we made a rule that she wasn't supposed to wear them on the stairs. She disregarded many warnings...

and this is what happened

She cried for a little bit but would NOT take off the shoes. In fact, when I picked her up from the bottom of the stairs (she landed on the cement in the basement), the shoes were still on!

Start from the end?

Where to begin...
In the past month, Brynn lost her first tooth, we moved out of our townhouse, we had a week away, since we didn't have a home, we moved into our new place, we've cleaned more than we've cleaned in the past year and we still aren't done, Joel turned 5, and I'm 17 weeks pregnant. That, in a nutshell, has been our life recently. I have pictures of Brynn after she lost her tooth, Joel's birthday party and I'll post for each of those two events sometime when I get around to putting the pictures on the computer.
About the house, we knew that when we bought the house that it would be a lot of work since it hadn't been well cared for, that's why we got it for a good deal. After being here a week and a half,we are beginning to realize all that comes with owning a larger home, since we lived in a townhouse for the past 4 years. We've been weeding quite a bit and are slowly making progress. Brynn really enjoys gardening when she is supposed to be doing something else. Joel enjoys it most of the time.
I've been driving Brynn 30 min each way, twice a day back to her old school to finish out the year. We don't get out until the 26th of June. I have a really hard time with the LONG school year here. The extra two weeks really does me in. My first child is just finishing grade 1(first grade). I'm assuming I'll get used to it.
On the best note, we are loving our new community. We have great neighbors, there are lots of kids in the area, it's a quiet, smaller town, just outside of the big city. I can get to the convenience if I want but I don't live right in the middle of it. We LOVE having a garage to park the cars in. This one is huge and fits our van and car with ease. Stan is anxious to finish cleaning it up and getting a work bench so he can work on some projects.
We haven't been to our new ward yet. Stan was released from his calling just after we moved and they asked us to go back so he could bear his testimony. Last week we made the attempt, but ended up at the wrong ward because we went at the wrong time. Oops! This week for sure.
I'm feeling amazing compared to what I was a month ago. The nauseousness is gone and I'm so thankful for that. I do have more energy than I did and the kids are trying really hard to keep me busy playing while I'm not unpacking or cleaning. I haven't gained as much weight this pregnancy and I'm really hoping the trend continues. With any luck, I'll have a baby smaller than Macy and not bigger. That's all for now.

Amazing

I just wanted to pass along this link of a great video. Stan's brother sent it to us and I wanted to share. Check it out!

Ode to Mothers

I'm doing this post early for Mother's Day as I have been thinking about mothers and how wonderful they are.
I love my mother! She is selfless, kind, caring, compassionate, loving, patient, and a million other things. She is the perfect mother for me. I'm so grateful this week for her willingness to serve us. She drove 11 hours, each way from Spokane to Edmonton and then back, just to help us pack for our move. Can you believe it? Some people are blown away by the idea but my mom does things like this often. Our house is packed up except for the last minute stuff and I know I wouldn't have half of it done, had she not come. My brain is so scatterbrained right now and I'm so tired. She helped me have focus and keep working so we could get it done. Because she was so efficient, we were able to get some other projects done too and have fun with the kids. How will I live without my mother?
As for other mothers in my life. There are too many who have had an influence to mention. But I will mention my husband's mother. In the 8 years I've known her, I'm amazed with her abilities and the talents she was blessed with to raise her family. She persevered through many hard times and raised an amazing son who has a strong testimony of the gospel and is a great provider, excellent husband to me, and wonderful father to our children.
So, I'm grateful, and will always be, for the motherly influences I have had in my life.

House

Here are a few pictures of our new house. We get the keys on May 22. We are excited to have a home in a nice neighborhood and community, and look forward to making it our new home.

The front, obviously. The bonus room is above the garage and the front door is on the right side.

The back. We are very excited about a walkout basement!
The yard. Our fireplace inside is gas so this fire pit will keep our marshmallow and hot-dog roasting alive.

This is the living room on the main floor that you see as you walk in the front door.

Too much to catch up

The month of April started with a great family vacation to Utah where we visited with lots of family and friends. The biggest reason for going was my friend Bridget's wedding on April 11. It was an awesome time with her and Jake. They were married in the Draper, UT Temple. After their sealing we did a session and then we were asked to do some sealings. It was wonderful to be in the Temple for half the day! We enjoyed a break from the kiddos, thanks to Kyrk and Emma. It's amazing what a 24 hour break will do for a marriage relationship. It's so fun to have uninterrupted conversations!
The kids did some fun Easter things with their cousins while we were at the wedding. We spent most of the Easter Day driving home. We made it to Great Falls that night. We had our Easter dinner at IHOP, a favorite of mine. I missed my ham and potatoes but yummy breakfast was a nice alternative.
While we were gone, we sold our townhouse. The timing was perfect. It could not have worked out better. We just bought a home in Beaumont, AB, just 10 minutes south of Edmonton. I had no idea the buying of a home was so much work. We made three different offers on three different homes. The first two were beat out by higher offers and the third one worked out with some negotiation. So, you ask, is the market slow? Not really. It's picked up this spring. The lower priced properties are going quick.
I'll attach some pictures, if and when I remember. I didn't take too many while we were gone.
And...we're expecting child #4 in November. Talk about a crazy life. I think I'll survive it.

The party

Macy's new sunglasses, she broke them today, already.


My attempt at creativity. Good thing I
don't have to be graded. I get an 'A' for effort
and the kids thought it was great.

Here's a video of Macy on the phone with her grandma. I love the beginning, sorry about the rest.

Too many sick days AND Macy!

We've had too many sick days now and I'm come down with round 2 of the colds. It's miserable. To welcome in spring, we got 2 inches of snow and it's supposed to snow more. I am really looking forward to our family vacation in 2 weeks to Utah. That's as southern as we'll get this time, but I think it will do for a weather change.

Today is Macy's 2nd birthday. It's unbelievable! It's hard to remember our family without her. She is very entertaining. It might be the age or just that she is the 3rd child, we aren't sure. But, she makes us laugh, a lot. She has the cutest little voice and talks a lot. Another priceless thing about her is her singing. Anyone who checked our blog two posts ago, got to see her in action. She knows several primary songs and LOVES to sing them. I hardly listen to the radio anymore in the van. She asks for THE music and it's a CD we have listened to at least 50 times in the last few weeks. It's the CD for the kids' primary program songs for the year. They all love it and don't want to listen to anything else. Who could resist such requests for sweet music?
Macy has brought much joy to our lives and we are so excited to celebrate her birthday. The family party will be tomorrow. Stan is in Utah this weekend for a roommates reunion. I'll post pictures and maybe a video after we have the little party. We are so excited!

Who said sick days can't be fun?

Thursday morning arrived and Brynn informed me that her throat was sore and she didn't feel well enough to go to school. Joel gave the same response. (Very unusual for both since they both really like school.) I started the trend last week with the horrible cold. Macy picked it up soon after and I guess it was time for Brynn and Joel to get it too. They played so well all morning. We had previously planned to spend the afternoon at Galaxyland since Brynn gets out of school at 2:30 on Thursdays. We have been so house bound lately and everyone seemed fine so we went anyway and we all had fun, one more time. Our pass expires on Monday. We are hoping to get in one more trip to the waterpark on Monday for Family Home Evening. Were Brynn and Joel really sick? I don't know but we had a really fun day anyway.

The Family is of God

We LOVE this new primary song. The kids are so cute singing it. I had to share!

Cousins

Tyson, Colby, Brooklyn, Joel, Brayden, Brynn, and Macy(she didn't have her hair fixed yet)
On Valentine's Day weekend, some of the cousins came for a visit. These were the only pictures we got! They were so cute lined up in a row. They weren't staged for the picture but did it themselves to watch a movie. (We only have one couch). While they were here, we had plenty of fun! We spent Saturday afternoon at the waterpark. The oldest kiddos were so brave and went on a lot of the big slides. The younger ones were content doing all they wanted to do. On Monday we went to Galaxyland. I can't believe those kids. The oldest two of Ryan and Tonya's kids talked me and Tonya into going on the new twisty roller coaster ride. They liked it way more than we did. We were so glad to have them come visit and we got to see them again two weeks later. Brayden, the oldest, was baptized and we said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Torrie who are headed to Nauvoo for an 18 month mission. Lots of fun family times!

Parenting book

I'm reading another parenting book. I love the methods of "Love and Logic." This book echoes the same principles but it is from a different angle so it adds to my knowledge and skills or lack of skills.
The book is "Kids are Worth It," by Barbara Coloroso. It was a national best seller in Canada.
The basis is giving your kids the gift of inner discipline, learning how to own and solve your own problems, empowering your kids to be responsible adults that can stand on their own. I've been trying some problem solving techniques with Brynn. Last Sunday she came upstairs telling me that Joel was playing mean. She wanted to know what to do. I asked her how she felt and told her I knew she could find a nice way to work it out. She thought for a minute and then asked for some suggestions. I told her that if it were me I'd say to Joel "I like playing with boys who are nice." Then I'd find something else to do away from him for a few minutes and let him decide. She loved the idea and went and told him. He immediately started crying.
Yesterday they were playing in the snow together and she came in to tell me that he threw snow in her face. I told her it sounded like she had a problem and I knew she could resolve it and to let me know if she needed ideas. She turned to me and said "I know exactly what to do." She went out and told him she wanted to play with boys who were being nice, came inside and started doing something else. He cried again and was really sad that she wouldn't play. She felt so confident in her skills and it was so fun to watch. After a few minutes of cooling off time, they started coloring together and making pictures together and they played happily together the rest of the night. Kids are so smart and it's so fun to encourage them to use their brains!

Just for Fun

I got tagged several times with different lists from Facebook and decided to do this couples one, in honor of Valentine's Day.
♥ What are your middle names? Wright(now that I'm married). His is Jones.

♥ How long have you been together? January or so, 2001

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? 5 months

♥ Who asked who out? He asked me out. I'm not exactly sure which date it was though. I'd like to say it was the fun one where we made foil dinners and played Super Mario Kart.

♥ How old are each of you? I'm 29, he's 31.

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most? When we were first married, it was more mixed, now it's more his. They live closer.

♥ Do you have any children together? 3

♥ What about pets? Names? No pets!

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Time together for sure.

♥ Did you go to the same school? We both went to BYU.

♥ Are you from the same home town? Nope, he grew up on a ranch in a very small town in Southern Alberta and I grew up in Spokane, Washington.

♥ Who is the smartest? Depends which aspect of life you are talking about. We're specialized.=)

♥ Who is the most sensitive? Probably me, but he's sensitive for a guy but in a good way.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Eating out? What's that?

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? As of Novemer 2008, Barbados! We really want and like to travel!

♥ Who has the worst temper? Me.

♥ Who does the cooking? Me, but he is often willing to take on the role when he's home. It just depends on if I feel like eating what he will cook.

♥ Who is more social? Depends. I'm more shy than he.

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Depends on what it is. We both hate clutter but can't seem to get a handle on it. I keep thinking that it will be better when we have a bigger house. That is partly true but I really think I need more help organizing. Any volunteers?

♥ Who is the more stubborn? Probably me, but it depends on the issue.

♥ Who hogs the bed? Stan

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Depends on the day. It used to be me until we had kids. In the summer, it's me. I like to run first thing in the morning.

♥ Where was your first date? His apt. He was too sick to do it where he'd originally planned(Provo Canyon).

♥ Who has the bigger family? He does. 8 siblings, 25 or so grandkids. I have 7 siblings and twenty something grandkids.

♥ Do you get flowers often? Rarely, can't remember the last time. I got them more when we were dating!

♥ How do you spend the holidays? We used to switch off for Christmas but have spent the last 3 at home and really have enjoyed it. Mostly we enjoy relaxing and not having a schedule.

♥ What is "your song"? When we were engaged, it was "It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw but he has written me a few songs and those are better.

♥ How long did it take to get serious? He made it clear when we started dating what his intentions were. We dated for 4-5 months, engaged for 2 1/2 months.

♥ Who eats more? ME. Anyone who knows him, can out eat him. The kids too on some meals.

♥ Who does/did the laundry? Definitely me. Sometimes he carries the laundry basket up the stairs.

♥ Who’s better with the computer? Him.

♥ Who drives when you are together? He usually does.

"Stand close together and lift where you stand"

We had an excellent lesson in Relief Society from Pres Uchtdorf's message from the Priesthood session of last General Conference. We talked a lot about our callings and the need to magnify them and that every calling is important and helps the ward in moving forward the work of the Kingdom of God. I can think of only one time specifically where I didn't magnify my calling and it was a horrible time. I had a horrible attitude about it and I was relieved when I was released. I feel like I'm really helping the ward and myself in the callings I have right now. Something from the lesson that our teacher pointed out.... All around the world there are terrible things happening. We often feel guilty in not helping with every country's starving children, etc. She pointed out from the talk that the Lord put us in an appointed place, where we live, and we need to do everything we can, in that appointed place. All of us need to work together!

New thoughts on piano

Thanks for the tips I received about piano lessons. I was ready to throw in the towel and wait until she is older. I think I received some inspiration today. The one thing Brynn always says about piano lessons is that she LOVES to do it with mom. I finally caught on! I'm going to have "piano lessons/practice time" with Brynn until she is more mature and can do it on her own. I vaguely remember my sister-in-law saying something about doing that with her son for the first while.

Do I know what I'm doing?

You would think that by the third child, you'd have a few things figured out. And I do...but every child is different, I keep re-learning. This is the continuing saga of Macy and her sleeping troubles.
She slept great for 4 or 5 nights, in her big bed. Mind you, we have been staying with her until she is asleep. But we didn't think it too big of a deal since she was sleeping all night. Well, she oscillated back to the waking several times trick, Stan slept in her bed once, hoping that would help. We finally say "NO MORE!" For anyone who knows me, I've always been the sleep nazi. After a rough start with Brynn, at four months, I taught her to put herself to sleep, which meant screaming until she fell asleep. This continued until she was almost two, for naps and bedtime. I don't know how I survived it. So with Joel, I really didn't want the screaming and starting putting him down in his bed to sleep from a very early age, maybe one month or so. He rarely even cried. Angel! Macy came along, I was determined to give her a soother(binki), which was awesome, and I rocked her to sleep until she weaned herself of that just before she was 6 months old. She weaned herself of the binki too around her first birthday, has always been easy to put down, including being put to bed by babysitters and relatives. The trouble stems from the time we were away on our cruise. The Final answer is that we have her in her crib AGAIN and she is staying there for awhile!

Randomness

Week 2 of piano lessons went terrible. Brynn wasn't getting it and I didn't know what else to do so we had a break for a few days and we are starting again. I did something different, very basic, today. She seems disinterested. Is this normal? How do you make the beginning stuff exciting when they can't really play anything?

Macy is sleeping through the night again and I think naps are going to have to stop. She sleeps better when she doesn't nap. I am so sad to say good-bye to naps though. I love that break and she is so clingy.

I'm the food storage specialist for Enrichment for our ward. I'm getting really excited about the year. We are focusing most of the enrichment activities around food storage. We're going to get prepared, finally! I got emailed a great website. It is full of TONS of great info. http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/getting-started/

Since I married Stan, we read the Book of Mormon all the way through in January. So, I'm currently in the middle of it. It's so hard to not speed read it. When I slow down and pay more attention, it is amazing! I love figuring out who goes where and how the stories relate. I highly recommend doing it at least once in your life. It gives me a feel for converts who pick it up and just can't put it down. It's an amazing book and I know it's true!

Piano lessons and back to school

Today, I gave Brynn her first piano lesson. It was really fun to make it formal and she LOVED it! She asked me if she gets to have one every day. I told her she gets to practice every day until our next lesson, next Tuesday. I hope it will be a fun experience for her and me. I still can't believe I have a child old enough to be learning all these fun things and going to school all day long. We have missed her since school started again yesterday.
Macy is sleeping better and back in a crib. I'm not sure what will happen now. My back is breaking having to put her in and get her out. She's a solid kid. I'm so grateful that she loves to snuggle though. She loves to sit with me and be held. She gives great hugs. She talks about grandma and grandpa daily, since they were here for a week and a half at Christmas time. I think she is wondering where they went.
Joel started a class today, where he will learn a variety of different sports. He loved his first day and is excited for next week because his teacher said they would play basketball. He also started learning about space and the planets. He had fun making planets out of play-doh this afternoon.
One last thing,
I learned yesterday that my great friend, Bridget, who is currently living in Utah, just got engaged and will be married in April! We are so excited for her.

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