Friends

What would I do without my friends? I have met many friends in all the places I have lived and cherish all of them. Today is the birthday of one of my dear friends in Edmonton. When we moved to Edmonton 4 1/2 years ago, Jolynne Wright was one of the first people I met. I was drawn to her for some reason. She was down to earth, easy to be with and talk to. I felt like we were going to be friends. We are in the same stage of life, which allows us to share many common, daily struggles and joys. Our 3 kids are near the same age and, as they have gotten older, play really well together. We forced our oldest two to play together because we wanted to hang out.
Jolynne is from Barnwell, Alberta, a small farming community near Taber/Lethbridge. She is turning 29 today. She is the 7th of 8 children, one sister,6 brothers. She is a mother of three children, Levi-5, Emily-4, and Sadie- 21 months. She is married to Tim Wright. She is an RN and works in the Newborn ICU. She is our ward chorister and is an essential addition to our ward choir.
Why I love her:
-great with babies and children and possesses the ability to handle chaos
-patient, kind, and loving
-She loves to have fun
-She is very sympathetic
- a great listener
-willing to give her opinion. I love this because you always know what she is thinking. There is no guessing or wondering.
-She is so willing and eager to help. There are so many times that she has offered to take some or all of my kids so I can have a break. If I'm having a hard day with one of them she'll invite them to come over and play so I can re-group. After Macy was born she kept the other two overnight and had them numerous times, too many to count, throughout the days after the family help left.
Things we like to do together:
-Chat- We talk most every day on the phone. Since the kids are older and busier we don't spend as much time together.
-We love to shop together. Thank goodness for the West Edmonton Mall. We have spent many hours there together.
-Run/exercise.
-Scrapbook-although we've only done it a couple of times. It's not a priority at this stage in my life.
-sing. We took voice lessons together for about a year and we sang a song at Christmas time, with one other lady, in sacrament meeting.
-We probably would enjoy doing anything together. These are the things that are most prevalent in our worlds right now.

As you can see from the pictures. I talked her into being my running buddy. She was sure she was going to hate it but she stuck with it and we were able to finish a 1/2 marathon together.

This was our first race together. Canada Day 2005

This was our first 1/2 marathon. October 2005
We look really excited. I didn't post the after shots.Jolynne and her husband, Tim. Fall of 2006.

She is in the process of selling her house and moving back to southern Alberta, we think. I will miss her!

Happy Birthday Jolynne!

Walmart pictures

These are my kids' cute, but fake smiles

These are Macy's 1 year pics. We had to go twice. The photographers aren't usually very good and Macy was extremely uncooperative both times. She's still cute.

Not bad for $7

Injuries AND walking

The picture doesn't show too well but her left eye is bloody. She got elbowed in the eye by her brother. It Looked really nasty so I took her to the doctor to make sure everything was ok and it was. A few hours after we got home from the doctor, her little finger got smashed in the door as the kids were being wild. Macy wouldn't let me take a picture of her finger.

Front Row

We arrived early for the devotional that Elder and Sister Nelson were speaking at. Some men in our company were assigned to help with parking. A good excuse to be early and get a good seat. We ended up sitting on the front row, right in the middle. Talk about being close! It was awesome.
It was such a treat to hear from them. A choir sang the song he wrote "Our prayer to Thee." I think that is what it was called. They did a great job. Elder Nelson is such a sweet man. It was so fun seeing him in a different setting and to be that close was amazing. I feel so blessed that we have a prophet and apostles on the earth to guide us. Here are some highlights of their talks.
Sis. Wendy Watson Nelson:
She opened by sharing a story about her "preparation" to being pursued by Elder Nelson. She was speaking at a conference in Raymond, Alberta and as she was preparing for the event, she had the feeling that something big was going to happen in her life. Something that was life changing. She was humming a hymn before going to the meeting and was trying to figure out which hymn it was. She sang a little to her sister and asked what hymn it was. Her sister informed her that it was Elder Nelson's hymn. She thought nothing of it. Shortly after, he called on her and the rest is history.
-We know the Lord will give us what we need to grow into our true selves
-talked about pre-mortal therapy. She said she believes if we could just see 10 minutes of our premortal lives, it would change the way we live and the way we view our lives.
-D&C 88:33- Receive the giver AND the gift. She told a story she called the parable of the pink heating pad. (If anyone is interested in knowing what it is, let me know).
-Testified of the Lord's timing in our lives and said that He is never late!
Elder Nelson- Talked mostly about families. I was just impressed with how laid back and real he was. He has a big smile and is so friendly.
-Our families are our first priority, spouses first, then children. We are each other's ticket to the Celestial Kingdom.
-Gave this counsel to the women D&C 132:63- we glorify God by having and rearing children. It is the most important thing we will ever do!
-This was the counsel for the brethren:
1. Anticipate her hopes, wishes, the secret desires of her heart
2. Appreciate
3. Contemplate go to the Temple together, Celebrate anniversaries, love, the Sabbath
4. Cooperate work together
5. Elevate treat a person how they ought to be treated and they will grow to become
6. Motivate Help her to develop her talents- give your wife a night off now and then
7. Radiate goodness. provide light of the gospel in the home. Radiate more light than heat. Be the light of her life.
8. Supplicate be a praying people Alma 37:37
Then he said "good luck! I hope this helps."
He quoted a saying about enjoying your babies because they don't keep but I couldn't get the right words. I've heard it before though and it's sweet coming from a grandfather.

Elder Nelson's Biography

I've been reading Elder Nelson's biography in preparation for his visit to Edmonton this weekend. What an amazing man he is! I still find it hard to believe one person can accomplish so many things in one lifetime. Here is a small list:
-pioneer in open-heart surgery, he was on the team that performed the first one and then was the surgeon who completed the first one in Utah.
-on the team that developed the hunt-lung machine to make open heart surgery possible
-has been awarded or appointed high positions in several (20 or more) organizations such as the American Heart Association, Utah heart association, etc...
-Fathered and helped rear 10 kids, most of the credit goes to his sweet wife!! He seems like he was such a great father.
-instrumental in opening doors for the preaching of the gospel in many nations
I love this book and know that Elder Nelson has been blessed because he chose from an early age to put God first.
I'll post after we go to his devotional on Friday. His current wife, Wendy Watson Nelson, has family here in Edmonton, which is probably why they are coming here. Sheri Dew is accompanying them so it will be a great treat for us.

The warm weather came!

Macy's first experience in the sand.
She loved it!


At the park, after the bike ride.

Joel says "this bike is grown out of me."
He is anxious to get a real bike.

Brynn is getting really good without training wheels.
She learned at the end of last summer but it took her
a couple of times this year to get comfortable again.

We finally got the nice weather we all desperately needed. Isn't it amazing what the sun will do to boost your spirits? We had a fun afternoon together as a family, just enjoying the weather and getting some exercise. And today is another beautiful day!

Heart Rate Monitor

I've been shopping around a little for a heart rate monitor to help me with my running programs, etc. If you know me, I am super cheap and hate spending money on pretty much anything. I wanted a simple, inexpensive one that I could use mainly for running and possibly for swimming. Stan thought I should get something nicer. He encouraged me to shop the Garmin brand, as they have GPS included. What a fun device. So this is what I bought. (View the link below). Hopefully I'll get it hooked up today so I can use it for my run.
http://www.shop.runningroom.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=1351

3 kids

I've been asked several times if it was difficult adjusting to three kids. For the first 11 1/2 months of Macy's life, I said no because she was a really easy and very content baby. The past two weeks or so, I've changed my mind. She is a handful!!! I keep thinking that maybe she is just having a bad day but it isn't getting better. Where's my sweet girl who was so content? She has the best tantrums I've ever seen from a child this age. For a few days in a row, she was beating her head on the floor or anything else she could find, every time she got upset. Needless to say, she has bruises all across her forehead and everyone asks if she's been falling a lot. So I tell them the truth.
On a happy note though, she is very close to walking and we are all excited!! Walking will bring so much freedom for her. Mom will actually let her play outside now. It's muddy with the winter thaw happening and I don't want her to be covered in mud. She'd probably like it. For anyone who knows what this means: It's going to be 18C today!!!! and 21c tomorrow. We haven't had anything over 9 until yesterday when it was 11. Maybe spring really will come.

Macy's 1st Birthday, March 22

Oops, Daddy. That's not my name!

Her face really shows what she thought of the special day.

She loved the icecream cake, even if it did have Brynn's name on it.

I'm going to start my blog by sharing some pics of Macy's birthday. It was the day before Easter so we had a double celebration full of lots of fun and a little chaos.