Our Weekend

We had a mini family vacation this weekend. It was fabulous! We left Friday night after a fantastic fireside on Christ's Atonement given by the mission president and his wife, Pres and Sis Nielson. Landon had fun talking with them since Pres Nielson is originally from Cache Valley and Sis Nielson is originally from Brigham City. They sit and talk about places that all three know. :) We actually took the ferry with them, the missionaries, my parents, and Matt's family. I played with the kids while the "adults" talked. :) I do fit in better with the kids. :) We shared a hotel room with my parents that night in Courtenay. Emily thought it was perfect. She tried to convince Grandma to let her stay in their bed in their room. In our room their was two double beds. Emily decided that if she couldn't sleep with her grandparents than she must sleep with mom. This meant I slept in one double bed with both Emily and Collin. The kids slept really well.

I got up early in the morning and drove my parents to the airport as they are spending 10 days with Rita and her family. Emily woke up and was a bit confused that Grandma and Papa were gone. We had a relaxed day window/real shopping. I bought Emily the perfect dress. I love it! We dropped Landon off for his church meetings at 3pm in Nanaimo. Sis Norris came with us to check into the motel. That was when I realized I had left my skirt at home. So we got directions to Value Village (a second hand store). I found a really great dress and skirt plus Emily three dresses all for $30! I will post a picture of Emily and I in our new dresses the next time we wear them. Her peach dress looks right out of the 50's. Actually I have a feeling it was a very expensive dress from 50's. :) She looks ADORABLE in it! Saturday night was the adult session for stake conference. A member of the Quorum of the 70 was here for the two days, Elder Perry. He was so funny and just really nice. He did a question and answer time which was INCREDIBLE! I learned so much.

Sunday we went to stake conference and well the kids have definitely behaved better in the past.... :) Ethan sat with us for the first part. He and Emily are great together. Great talks, I always love the time we spend at conference. Afterwards we were invited to Rachel and Justin Kingsley's home for dinner. It was so nice of them. Rachel made a FEAST! It was delicious. I wish I lived closer so that I could take some cooking lessons. We had a nice time visiting with her family, her parents, and sisters. Emily loved Claire's toys and spending time with all the kids. Thanks again for being so kind to us. We drove down to Victoria and spent the night at my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Lynol's house. We had dinner with them, my cousin Stephanie, her son Tye, my cousin Celine and her fiance Tim. It was a delicious dinner and great visit. I wish I could see them all more often. Emily loved playing with Tye and Uncle Lynol. Collin showed off to all the pretty girls! :)

Monday we went to Build a Bear where Rmily got her Christmas present for Collin, she stuffed a monkey! Of course mom and dad named him Chunky Monkey. We let her pick one up for herself, she picked a bunny. She named her, "Bunny." She picked out the noise "giggling." It is cute when she and bunny sit and giggle together. Collin loves the monkey, he laughs when it makes monkey noises. We had Arby's and New York Fries for lunch and then drove back up the island to catch the 3 o clock ferry. The kids slept most of the way. My aunt had us over for dinner when we got home. It was a fantastic weekend with my wonderful little family!