Creche Exhibit

At ISU tonight, at the Stevens Performing Arts Center, there was an exhibit of nativity scenes and original Greg Olsen paintings. Rita had told us about it and I thought that it would be a good way to get the kids out of Landon's hair as he was studying for his two finals tomorrow. Emily brought along the sacrament quiet book I made her to show Cassie. (We had hoped to run into Rita's family but they weren't there before we left. In the quiet book there are small pictures of Greg Olsen's paintings with quotes on the back along with pictures of different temples. Collin has one as well but he didn't bring his. I did not know the paintings would be there and Emily was so excited to see them. Right away she remembered which ones were in her book and which were in Collin's book. She would flip through her book at each new painting to find its "match." She was so excited. It was her favorite part. She and Collin got a kick out of the nativity's that used bears for the people. She saw a nativty that was carved out of yellow wax. She giggled and told me that baby Jesus was yellow like cheese. We left when Collin started getting out of control and almost knocked a couple of people over as I tried to catch him. It was a beautiful exhibit that showed the meaning for this season.

Visit to Rexburg and my finished pillows

We drove up to Rexburg and took Jordan Coe out to dinner. We met a few of her roommates and walked around the temple grounds of the Rexburg, Idaho Temple. It was a lot of fun. The kids have missed her. They told her that "next week we are going to Powell River to see Serena and Grandma and Grandpa." My kids sure miss their friends and family in Powell River. I also finished making the pillows to go on my recovered couches. I love that I had all the fabric and pillow forms in my house already so it didn't cost me current money to make them. :)

Pictures from my Birthday

Here are a few pictures that Rita took before and after I got to my house for the surprise birthday party. Thanks Rita! Enjoy the picture of me catching my breath and calming my heartbeat of coming home and having my nephew run at me out of the dark. :) The top picture is the birthday cake I made for our joint party on Sunday.

Emily's First Field Trip

Emily's first preschool field trip was during the second week in October. I decided to take a personal day and take her on the field trip. I drove Cassie as well as Rita had Maggie's dance class. We were all excited to go to the corn maze, do some fun activities and pick out some pumpkins. Sadly, just after we arrived Cassie accidently squirted hand sanitizer in her hands. It was really sad because she had gone into the porta potty proud to go all by herself, and the hand sanitzer didn't squirt downwards but right into her eye. I asked her if she wanted to sit out but she wanted me to carry her in the corn maze. I told her the tears would help the eyes feel better. I carried her crying through the maze. Sad to say I lost patience with her because Collin kept running away so I couldn't find him and I wasn't able to carry her the whole time so sometimes she refused to walk and would just cry. It was a really long maze for that reason. I felt extremely bad for all of the kids because of my poor attitude. It wasn't the kids who were upseting me so much as it was the fact that there were parents everywhere who knew what was going on and no one offered to help. Instead they would loudly tell their kids about how some kids push in mazes and they shouldn't (when Collin would push by), or remind their kids that parents should keep their kids with them at all time in the maze, etc. I was very disappointed and extremely embarrassed. When we got out of the maze Rita was waiting for Cassie. (Cassie was better by later that afternoon.) My kids were excited to play with the bean bag toss, and the kiddie corn maze. They loved picking out mini pumpkins to take home.

The kids all ready to go (It was cold outside when we first left but it warmed up.)

The kids at the beginning of the corn maze

Collin running through the kids maze

Emily and Collin with their pumpkins

Halloween 2011

I haven't had much time for our family blog lately so I am going to try and do some catch up. I am not sure anyone reads this anymore but for the sake of family memories we are going to fill in some blanks. Emily and Collin were superheroes this year. They were able to wear their costumes to library time the Wednesday before Halloween. Emily wore her costume to dance class and school the Thursday before Halloween. I was able to have a coworker switch after school homework lab with me so that I could be home to take the kids to our ward's trunk or treat. I got home with enough time to get the kids into their costumes, dump the candy in a big bowl and head to the church. We got there 10 minutes early and it was packed! Landon had to take our car into the shop so he got there 20 minutes later. Rita's neighbor was nice enough to pass out our candy for us so I could go with his wife, their kids and my kids. Their son, Jake, is 5 years old and he and Collin call each other best friends. It was great because he helped keep an eye on Collin for me because he kept wandering off. There were so many cars that it took about half an hour to weave our way through all the vehicles. The kids saw lots of their friends and people in our ward. Collin had to empty his small bag into Emily's because it was full. By the end I was carrying Emily's because it was so full. Our friend's the Stein's invited us to pizza at their house and then trick or treating around their neighborhood. Before we ran up there my friend Lorilee and I went to old town to take the kids trick or treating. They had just ended so we went to a few homes in the ward instead. The kids were so excited to see Kestrel. They had a "moster in the bush" that the kids thought was fabulous. We left Lorilee to trick or treat with our friend's the Moores and headed up to Steins. It was a lot of fun to visit with them. Not many people go around their neighborhood so the kids made out with a HAUL! I could not believe it. Emily and Collin were most excited about the microwave popcorn, juice box, and pencil they got. :) It was a great day! Enjoy a few pictures.

On our way to the Trunk or Treat

Jake, Collin, Caleb, Emily

Lorilee and Emmet

Rita and her family

Caleb, Kestrel, Collin and Emily

The Monster in the Bush

Our Haul (before we went up to Stein's)

Emily's Bat Cat pumpkin (We had Stein's over the previous week to carve pumpkins. She and Collin painted the other pumpkins)

Videos for Emily and Collin

Every year Santa sends a video to Emily and Collin through the PNP. Enjoy!

Collin's Santa Video

Click Here

Emily's Santa Video

Click Here

Beautiful Heartbreak

You know those days that you just are looking for the end. And then in the middle of it you hear a song or receive a letter and suddenly the clouds are gone and you can feel the sunshine. This song was that for me today. Enjoy!

Beautiful Heartbreak by Hillary Weeks

One of the best things about being a parent....

It was a magical moment tonight watching Emily's face as Santa Claus came down the chimney and talked to the little girl in the movie. Emily got so excited. She kept saying, "It's Santa! It's Santa!" What a magical moment!

I just bought the book, "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" from Maceys. It is a wonderful book and makes me even more excited for this Christmas Season. I highly recommend the book. It shows how Santa shows us how to live the true spirit of Christmas and why it is a wonderful thing. :)

(Not taking away from the real reason for the season but it shows us why it is an important lesson to teach our children. The reason Santa exists.)

Emily's favourite Christmas Movie

Landon wanted to choose a Christmas movie to watch as a family tonight. He and I were comparing our favourite movies and we decided to watch The Santa Clause 2. Emily strongly voiced her opposition to our choice. I said, "It is one of Grandpa Hull's favourite Christmas movies." To which Emily replied, "It's not my favourite movie." I asked her what was her favourite Christmas movie. With a big grin she declared, "Dora's Christmas Movie!" And then regaled us with tales about Swiper and Dora. Landon groaned and declared he was not going to watch Dora. Emily rolled her eyes and said she guessed we could watch The Santa Clause 2. She has picked up many adult phrases and expressions lately. It makes me laugh!

Remembrance Day Canada 2011 - Requiem To Sacrifice

As tomorrow we celebrate Remembrance Day (Canada) and Veterns Day (USA) let us not forget the reason for the day. Thank-you to my parents for instilling the respect this day needs. Thank-you to all the veterans and current military who serve.

Mark Wills - 19 Somethin'

Heard this on the radio today and came home and watched the music video. It made me smile! I hope it makes you smile too!

Watch out Hallmark here come Emily

Last night I asked Emily to make a birthday card for her friend Caleb as we were going over to his house for cake and ice cream. Emily thought about it and then asked for the following to be put on the front of the card:

"Emily Palmer is going to Caleb's birthday party."

That was it. Nothing else. Unfortunately we ran out of time to actually make the card. :) But there you go, her presence at your party is all that needs to be said. :)

The World from a 4 year old's View

Yesterday was the primary presentation during sacrament meeting. Emily has been practicing her line and the songs for a few weeks. She was so excited. Especially when she found out that Grandma and Grandpa Palmer were going to be there to watch her. We got to church a little late but we were able to get into our places. Emily was the first child to get up to say their line. She did exactly as she had practiced. She walked up, pulled the mike down to her level and said, "Feast upon the words of Christ." Then she sat down and gave me a thumbs up and a big smile. (I was sitting behind her with some of the other kids her age. The presentation went very well and I was really impressed with all that participated. Landon even came up when it was time for all the older boys to sing their song (he was supposed to because he teaches that age group but he kept threatening not to come up.) The kids sat very well through it and I think it was a great success. Because they had all done very well the primary president gave every child a can of pop and a bag of microwave popcorn to have at home. That way there was no mess at church. Emily proudly came and showed us the can of "Diet" pop she had picked up and told us she was going to give it to Collin. I was surprised she had picked it up because we don't drink diet soda at my house and I won't bore you with the reason why. :) She had passed up Orange soda which is her favourite. At home I asked her why she had picked it. This was the conversation:

Me: Emily why did you pick a diet soda?
Emily: Because diet soda makes you skinny.
Me: (Very puzzled as I have definitely never said that.) Who told you that?
Emily: The boys. (She couldn't make up her mind which pop and so the boys in her class told her that.)
Me: Emily you don't need to worry about being skinny.
Emily: (Giving me a puzzled look which almost made me think she thought I was stupid.) But mom, I have skin. See skinny! (And then she pinched her arm to show me.)

I busted out laughing. So there you go, she must have been worried that Collin didn't have enough "skinny" so she got a diet soda for him. :) I love kids!

Last week (I think Wednesday or Thursday) I was putting Collin to bed and he was telling me about all the super heroes. He knows them all. And their respective villains. There was Batman, Robin, Penguin, Joker, Catwoman, and the other batman villains. Then there was Captain America, the Hulk (who gets "MAD!" and then gets strong according to Collin) Iron Man, Rodi, Thor, Cyclops, Aquaman, the green goblin and the list goes on and on. Eventually he winds the list down and says, "But mom, Spiderman is my hero. He captures bad guys. And he is my HERO." It was really cute. I love watching him act out the different super heros and here about their adventures and their origin stories. I can't believe how much knowledge about super heroes he has in his little two year old head. It is at times like that I realize just how much I love my little super hero. And then he goes back to be a two year old. Those good memories are helping me get through. :)

New Family Pictures

I took a day off a few weeks ago so that I could take Emily on her first field trip. As I had the day off we decided to run out with Rita and take some family photos. They turned out really good especially since we had them all done in about 15 minutes. :) Here are some that I have been fooling around with today. My math students had some free time today and they wanted to see my kids. They helped me pick out the font for the kids pictures. I think they turned out fabulous! Thanks Rita! Rita promised to help me with the family photo so that we can hopefully switch Collin's face with one of the pictures he was really smiling in. What do you think?

Wahoo, I'm 32!

I just had the best birthday weekend ever! (pictures to come if I ever download them from my camera.)

Friday -
My sister Rita, Landon, and my friend Lorilee conspired to throw me a surprise birthday party and they totally succeeded. Rita told me that she would take my kids Friday night so Landon and I could go out for dinner. We went out to Ruby Tuesday (which was pretty good food) and I was so hungry I ate way more than I should. I felt extremely full. Landon told the waitress it was my birthday so she gave me a free scoop of ice cream. We drove home and Landon let me be the first one to walk through the door. As soon as I started to walk in this really loud roar of "Surprise!" hit me as my nephew Tyson almost tackled me. I was in a little shock. My friend Alicia said I went into a defensive pose and was worried I may hit someone. It was extremely overwhelming. I got over it quickly and I became overwhelmed with the work Rita had put in to everything. (I should have known something was up since Landon had cleaned the house spotless during the day. I assumed it was because it was my birthday.) She had made decorations and TWO cakes. The Moores, Hymas', Johnson's, Peck's, Loveland's and Marjanna Hulet all came. (13 adults, 13 kids.) On Sunday I had two other families tell me that they had not been able to make it plus our friends the Stein's couldn't make it and came the next night. It was a really full house. Thanks to Landon for allowing it! It was nice to sit around and visit as all the kids went downstairs to play. A mystery did unfold as the toy shelving came crashing down ontop of Caleb who was luckily unhurt because of the cushiness of the crash bag. None of the kids came explain how it became unachored from the wall... Luckily no one was hurt and one of these days I will fix it. :)

Saturday -
The kids let us sleep in and then they climbed into bed with us. So nice! We just snuggled and visited for a little while. My friend Alicia lent me her lawn mower as ours is broken so that we could mow. (Alicia and I arranged this when I was at my dinner the night before. She texted and asked what I was up to because her husband was at work and she was bored. She was actually waiting in my living room for me to get home. Silly girl!) I was able to winterize our yard because Rita had cleaned my kitchen before leaving Friday night. I swapped out everyone's summer clothes for the winter. Lorilee, Rita, Crystal and I all went out for lunch at Butterburr's. Delicious food! Landon babysat Caleb Lorilee's little boy so that we only had to take her son Emmett. Thanks Landon! We sat around and chatted for over an hour. So nice! I picked up a cake from Costco on our way home. Rita and I split it as we were both having separate get together's at our house that night. In the mail I got a birthday card from Rita's inlaws, Clarence and LaRie. They wrote me really nice notes and gave me a $2 which is what they give their grandchildren on their birthday. It made my day. I made the birthday cake for Rita and my joint party Sunday night. Rita had requested a "candy basket" cake. Easiest cake I have ever made but SUGAR OVERLOAD! I had the Johnson's and the Stein's over that night. I had invited a couple other families but they had been unable to come. My birthday present from Landon was that I was allowed to invite over a few families to get together for cake and games and he would be social. :) He was a sweetheart and did it two nights in a row! It was lots of fun.

Sunday -
The kids let us sleep in again and I read a few more chapters in the book I was reading. I got the kids ready and ran out to drop off some flowers and a card for a friend who is going through some rough stuff right now. Emily loved it because she ran up to the door, laid everything on the door mat, knocked on the door and ran away before the door opened. She thought that was the coolest game. :) Collin was a pill most of the day as he was tired from two full days. Sacrament meeting was really good. I had to take Collin out before it was over because he was trying to run around. Out in the hallway I saw Rita and a bunch of her friends. They all wished me a Happy Birthday and I got lots of hugs. Rita looked gorgeous in her new birthday dress. A few friends in my ward gave me cards which was really thoughtful of them. Lots of birthday wishes as well. Then the next two hours of primary was practicing for the primary presentation. That was actually a lot of fun. The best birthday present was that Lorilee's son Emmett came to me without crying even though I walked away from his mom and dad. :) I fed him my cake on Friday trying to bribe him that he loves me. :) I'm going to keep working at it until Lorilee and Brad will be able to leave him with me so that they can have a date night. Emily did really well with her part and sang well. I get to sit with her class and they are just so adorable. I am really excited for next Sunday. We went home from church to a beautiful roast in the crockpot. YUM! I did up some potatoes in the oven and some steamed carrots. Perfect! My dad called me at the end of dinner to give his birthday wishes. They put it off till after church so that I could sleep in. :) So thoughtful! It was great to chat with my dad and I loved chatting with my mom afterwards. I have the best parents. My mom is sending Rita and I for a little pampering for our present. Nic is in charge of setting it up so I don't know all the details yet. We headed over to Rita's for a joint family birthday party for Abigail, Rita and I. I can't believe she is 1 already. Nic's siblings (who live in the area) and his parents all came as well. Jamie (Rita's sister in law) was really sweet and gave me some lotion and shower gel from Bath and Body Works. I love the scent! We visited for a few hours and then went home and put our children to bed. I then finished my day finishing my book. (With few interruptions: a phone call from Naomi and a text from Sheryl.) Perfect Day!

Monday -
I finally got a chance to check my email and there were over 50 birthday wishes on my facebook page. So much love. Made my day. Right before lunch a bunch of 8th graders came into my room with a big poster that said, "Happy Birthday Mrs. Palmer." They then sang me Happy Birthday. It was my friend Marilana's social studies class. They asked how old I was and I told them. They were sweet and acted surprised that I was 32. A few of my students said they would have guessed 25. (Mid terms come out in two days, I think they were looking for some extra credit. :) )

Thank-you to all those who made my birthday such a wonderful day!

Halloween

On October 3rd I came home from work to Emily waiting for me in the living room. She informed me that Aunt Rita had a ghost up in her house for Halloween. And "Where are our ghosts?" Emily and I raided the decoration boxes and I was surprised to find I actually have some Halloween decorations. I always forget to decorate until a few days before. Emily helped me set up everything in the living room. She decided that the extra witch needed to be hung in her bedroom. She also told me that I needed to paint some ghosts with feet on our windows. That is on my to do list..... :) Emily also decided that she "needed" to have a pink unicorn costume. It cost $40 so mom squashed that idea. I thought about making costumes but I decided that would stress me out too much. I went online to Target.com to see what they had. I found a SuperGirl costume for $12. I bought it a few sizes too big so it would last awhile. Emily has been asking for a pink Superman costume for a few months. We received the box in the mail on Thursday. She put on the costume and assumed her super powers of speed and strength. Collin was lifted into the air. I had to time her running around the house. Collin had to put on his spiderman pj shirt, lego batman/robin pj pants, batmobile slippers and superman hat so he could have super powers. Then we took Cassie her fairy princess costume with both my kids dressed up. Collin is Spiderman this year for Halloween. I am so excited!

Emily's Dance Class

Emily started Dance class the week after she started preschool. She was so excited to have Miss Katelyn back as her teacher. She loves taking tap again. Here are some pictures Rita took on their first day of dance class. I love the picture of Collin and Maggie as well. They have a love/hate relationship. :) I love the ever present Superheros in Collin's hands as well.

Emily's First Day of Preschool

I am so lucky to have Rita as my sister. I had to work Emily's first day of school but my sister was kind enough to document it for me. :) Emily was so excited to go. She came home a little disappointed that it was a "house school" but she said that she can wait to go to a "real school" next year. That is what happens when she gets to go to school with mom a few times and expects her preschool to look like mom's school. :) She loves Mrs Tammy and thinks its funny that she sees her at church each Sunday. She is learning so much! She now knows three letters and proudly finds every A, B, and O in signs and books. Emily wanted a purple back pack but I convinced her to pick out material from my stash of fabric that had purple flowers and we made up a pattern together for her school bag. It turned out really cute but she broke one of the straps that first day. Instead she uses the cute red corduroy bag my Aunt Margaret made her a year ago that has her name embroidered on it. And this bag has become her dance bag. :) She loves having Cassie in her class. Tammy says that they are really good about including everyone in their class in their play. Cassie makes up songs and she and Emily sing them. She said that they are really cute but work hard. A good start to a love of learning!

Memory with Collin

(September 29, 2011)

Tonight I sat on my bed with Collin "talking on our phones." He talked into the alarm clock remote and I talked into my phone. he would tell me when to dial and when to put my phone to my ear ("get your phone up!") . This is how the conversations would go:

Collin - "Hey mom what you doin the next day?"

Me - "Going to work." "Taking my kids out" "Going to bed."

Collin - "Ugh!" And then repeat what I said disgustedly. Then he would tell me I was taking my kids to the park.

Me - "Okay"

Collin - "Its time for a dancing party. Talk to you next time."

I hope I can never forget this experience. Excuse me as I go and put him to bed since it is 9:45 pm.

Fickleness of Teenagers

(Since Landon isn't finished his homework yet I thought I'd squeeze in a post)

Last Friday I woke late for work. I had just enough time to pull my hair back, throw some clothes on and head to my carpool. Arrived to school to be reminded that it was picture day and I had to have my picture taken for yearbook and staff id. Should have been my first clue to what kind of day it was going to be. The picture turned out okay but I didn't really care. My first hour went well. Second hour we split up the class and I was working with a group of 8 students. One girl kept rolling her eyes and sighing anytime I would correct someone's pronounciation or ask comprehension questions. After 20 minutes I told her that it was rude and she needed to stop. She did it again! So I told her to pick up her books and move to another part of the room and do the assignment because I didn't want to be disrespected any longer. She stopped and we finished the lesson. This girl's brother is in my 3rd hour. He was a PILL along with a few other students. My fourth hour would not stop talking and were really rude. I was ready to go insane. After lunch I had my fifth hour class which was the worst behaved class of the day. I was so glad it was my prep. I have been trying to get my IEP program working and spent half an hour trying to dowload the shortcut from the website. Wasn't working so I headed to the office to try and get a few things copied while the program downloaded. While there I had to deal with a stupid note from the high school SPED department. I was not in a good mood when the principal called to ask me to go to the counsellors office. He may have been on speaker phone when I said outloud, "I do not have time for this!" The secretary covered for me and tried to cheer me up because I had tears in my eyes. I arrived in the counselor's office to find the girl from 2nd hour with her mother and sister. I had no idea why I was there except that the mother looked like she wanted to kill me. The counselor explained that the mother wanted an apology for disrespecting my daughter just because she was Mexican. I explained what had happened in class and waited while it was translated. The girl spoke up and said she was talking about the day before when I had taken her pencil away. I explained that situation to the mom as well. (As in the girl had been asked to stop answering questions when we hadn't read the material for it yet. So I took her pencil and returned it when it was time for her to write.) Her mother apologized to me and told her daughter to apologize and stop disrespecting me. By this time I am in tears. Too much in one day. It turned into this big circus and finally after 25 minutes they let me go. I cancelled homeroom because I couldn't stop crying and didn't want to see students. Of course a student decided to come in after school for help and I didn't get to leave until 4:30. I just about quit my job. I was just done! Instead I came back Monday with a proactive behaviour plan (which so far is working) and a big smile on my face. The part that makes me laugh now is that this same girl ended up on the overnight field trip to Crystal Park, Montana. Most of her friends really like me and two of them were in the same cabin as her. This girl suggested to them that they should ask to have me as their chaperone in their cabin. She even asked me. She said it was because they all like me and knew that we would have fun together. We hung out together for two whole days and had a blast. I have learned my lesson. When a teenager is upset about something wait four days. It will change!

(It may have helped because I told her mom how invaluable I thought she was and what a leader for positive behaviour in the class she can be. :) )

Its Been Awhile...

School has begun. I still haven't come up for breath. My computer at work died so I am using a school laptop which for some reason won't allow me to access my blog. As I am either at work or home playing with my kids this blog has been neglected. The transition to full time work again has not been pretty and I wanted to spare you all the details. Landon is on the computer working on his homework once the kids go to sleep so I don't really have time or access to any computer to blog. :) I usually just go to bed. There are lots of things to report and hopefully I will get a chance soon. Tings such as Emily's first day at preschool. Enjoying the beautiful weather. Landon's birthday. Some good things happening at work. My overnight trip to Crystal Park in Montana with some other teachers and some 8th grade students. But as we are heading out the door to go to Utah to belatedly celebrate Landon's birthday I am just quickly saying Hi and giving a promise to come back soon. :)

Answers to Prayers

My prayer for the last year has been to make at least one friend. Someone I can call, do things with. I love having Rita nearby and definitely count her as a best friend but she has her own friends and life. I have found that lots of people are friendly with me but if I don't put forth all the effort of contacting, initiating interactions, etc than nothing happens. I have started to feel really alone. I have a few friends from work but that is just it, the interactions mostly occur at work. We have tried to do things outside of work and it mostly falls flat. After many attempts to see people in Canada and actually only seeing 2 people in a whole month I started to wonder if maybe it was me. Maybe I'm not friend material. So began a bit of a spiral downwards. I'm still trying to meet others but have really felt discouraged. Tonight was a fireside to adult women with our stake president. I didn't particularly want to go because today was one of the worst days of my life. I didn't want to go out and pretend to be happy around people. I wanted to be cranky. Rita texted and asked if I wanted a ride so I said Yes. If she hadn't I probably wouldn't have gone. The two talks were incredible! One was on prayers, and how many times the answers take time or how they may depend on others using their agency. I started to have an "a-ha" moment but I still was a little crabby. The second talk was on doing good works and how those good works can turn into turnaround points for others. Sometimes we may know when our good works are turnaround points but others we may not. We watched a video which illustrated this. I cried the whole time. He challenged us to share with others the times that someone's good works helped us or when ours have helped others. But sour face me was thinking that I was tired of the one doing good works. I felt really good about what I had heard but a part of me still wanted to be angry. As I shuffled my way out of the room I was staring at my feet trying to disappear. Then I saw Lauralee in front of me. She and her family had just moved into our ward. We had them over for an ice cream party and then she and Caleb came to our water party. Caleb and Emily have become really good friends. She walked over and started talking with me. We talked about some funny/cute things Emily and Caleb had done in primary today. We kept walking together to the gym to get our rootbeer float. I found that she stayed with me as we swapped stories of how our kids were frustrating us and brainstorming ways to work with them on it. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and it was Kaylene. Her kids and my kids are good friends and it was her husband who tried to free Collin from the bathroom with a "Borders" card. She joined in with us and we stood and talked for 15 minutes. Kaylene and Ryan had invited us over a few weeks ago at the last minute so that Landon could play a game with Ryan and his cousins and Kaylene and I could chat while the kids played. I remembered how she had been reaching out over the last few weeks. It hit me that the Lord was helping me see past my pity party and see two great friendships in front of me. As we left the building to go home I felt truly blessed. As I was getting into Rita's suburban I suddenly felt an urge to tell Lauralee how much it meant to me that she had singled me out. I ran up and told her how I had been feeling friendless and how she had turned that around for me. She gave me a big hug and told me that she had been feeling the same way. She was having a hard time getting to know anyone and was feeling quite alone. She said it was nice to know that she had a friend and that as an added bonus our kids liked hanging out. I agreed, gave her another hug and headed back to the van. I came home a happier person. I am so grateful for a patient Heavenly Father who does answer our prayers!

Who would have known????

Emily and Collin wanted to throw a water/end of summer/Back to School party with their friends. I picked up a "water football" for each child. (I loved that they were on sale for 60% off, end of summer sale so they were less than a dollar a piece.) The football's soak up the water and then they can have a water balloon fight without the balloons. :) They invited Maggie, Cassie, Caleb, Mady, Bodi, Annabelle, Isaac, Bo and Til (pronounced Teal) over. There was a nice variety in ages. Caleb's mom Lauralee and Bo and Til's mom Erin stayed to help supervise and chat with me. It turned out to be a lot of fun even though it rained a little that morning. The first rain all month. Because of the rain and the tempermental mood of my lawn mower my lawn had not been mowed. :) The sun came out when the kids decided to start throwing the footballs around. When they got tired of throwing the footballs or blowing bubbles I brought out some fingerpainting supplies, which was pretty humourous. :) Emily had wanted to get lunchables for everyone but since that was not in the budget I made one big lunchable. The kids had crackers, cheese and lunch meat to choose from the tray. They each got a MinuteMaid juice box and a mini KitKat bar for dessert. I made sandwiches for the adults and Tyson. It was a really fun afternoon. It became a little chaotic at the end when parents started picking up kids. While I was talking with Ryan (one of the dad's) Bodi came out to tell me that Collin was crying in the bathroom. I figured that he had gone potty and needed some help. I got to the bathroom surprised to find the door shut. Collin hates shut doors. I tried to open the door only to find it locked. Figured everything was still okay since bathroom locks are easy to pick. Yeah unless some weird person decides to install a keyed lock on the bathroom. Yep a keyed lock which is not keyed to the front or back door key. I ask Collin to turn the handle. That doesn't open the door. I try to talk him through turning the lock. Doesn't work because he is in panic mode and begging me to let him out. I then notice that the door hinges are on the inside. Rita and Ryan have come into the house by now. I figure I am going to go get a hammer and bang the door down. Ryan suggests letting him try and do the credit card trick and get in. Collin calls out that he has to go pee. I suggest going on the potty. It was the only time he stopped crying. I left Ryan to his work. Rita called Nic at work to see if he had any ideas. None that we weren't already trying. I ask for a locksmith number. I call a local locksmith who says he will send someone over. It will cost $52. I figure that is less than a new door. Ryan decides that my bathroom door is more secure than his parent's front door as nothing will allow him to swipe through. By this time Quinn (another father) has come to pick up his kids and he tries to pick the lock with a knife. I grinned. Two different engineers with differend methods of opening the door both with no success. I try one last time with Collin. I ask him to open the door like he opens the front door after mommy locks it. Three seconds later my son is standing in front of me. Luckily the locksmith got the message when I called back and just kept on driving past my house so I didn't get charged the $52. (The kids waved at him as he drove by.) Landon and I bought a new door handle yesterday at Lowe's, one for bathrooms. Tomorrow I will install it. Now to worry about how often my son opens the front door after I lock it....

My Summer To Do List

I had a list of things that I wanted to accomplish this summer while I was not working. I was a little worried that the trip to Canada would make it impossible to complete the list. There is only one more item on the list to complete and the weather is too hot to be out in my garage organizing it so it is being relegated to the fall list. I was able to recover both the couch and loveseat for $140. Landon helped me pick out the material in Idaho Falls. I had material that worked for the decorative pillows as well. Thanks to the kindness of my mother (who bought me the parts Emily lost to my sewing machine) I was able to sew everything within 3 days! I love it! I am renting a carpet cleaner tomorrow to clean all our carpets. I reorganized my whole kitchen and love it! Landon helped me take our car in and vacuum it out and wash out the inside as the car wash guys washed the outside. Love it! I started using my job box again so my house is not only tidyed but deep cleaned. (The job box is what my mom had when I was a kid. Jobs are designated daily, every other day, weekly, every other week, monthly, every other month, every 6 months, yearly. Then you have the days of the months and names of the month and you rotate the jobs accordingly. It is so easy to do and once you get going it takes 30-60 minutes to clean your whole house every day.) I have bought all the wood and with Nic's help it is all cut so that I can build a bench for my kitchen table. Hopefully I can also get that done tomorrow as I have to work Tuesday. But at least there is Wednesday and Labor Day weekend for anything not completed. The Lord has truly blessed my family this summer. I was able to put together at least one playdate a week for the summer for my kids, and do many things as a family. I am actually quite sad to go back to work because I have loved being home with my kids. I wish that it was possible for me to be home. I know that soon it will be. I am counting on it. I am quite envious of all you stay at home moms.

The Fair

There was a fair held in Pocatello a few weeks ago. Rita asked if I would enter the pillows I had just made for my couch. They always need stuff entered in the adult section. I also put in the quilt that I made Emily a few years ago. All of my stuff won second place! Couldn't believe it. That netted me a total of $6 in prize money. The best part was the look on Emily's face as we walked through the fair and she saw her blanket hanging with a ribbon on it. She was so happy.

The Cabin

Landon and I had the opportunity to go up to his parents cabin last weekend with Mel and Vauna, Cade, Janie, Zerric and Audrey. Janie called ahead of time to let me know what crafts she was bringing so I was able to bring up the same things for my kids to have. Janie is fabulous on thinking up ways to keep the kids occupied and happy. It was a lot of fun. We went on a hike that the kids loved. Mel was kind enough to supply suckers for the kids half way through. We took the kids down to go swimming but their were too many boats speeding by which made the water too rough for my kids. Fun was had by all. We headed home Sunday morning so that we could teach our primary class.

Palmer Family Reunion

I attended my first Palmer Family Reunion this year. Landon had a blast hanging out with a few of his cousins, dad, and brother in law Mike. My kids became fascinated by the game of baseball. I through numberless balls for them to swing at and both picked it up better then I would have thought possible. As I can count on one hand how many people had 1-2 minute conversations with me and had to deal with a very rude child who bullied my kids I will not write about my time. :) The most important part was that my husband had a great time and my kids had fun playing with mom. :)

Ice Cream Party

Since we have been back from Canada, I have felt a little friendless. I think I am discovering that I am not as cool as I once thought I was. :) I decided that I need to put myself out there again and try to meet more people. So during sacrament meeting I wrote a note to Landon asking for his permission to invite some families over for an ice cream party for Family Home Evening the next night. He agreed. I ended up inviting 5 families but only 4 ended up showing up. The Steins brought ice cream and so did we. Everyone else supplied toppings. The families who came were the Steins (2 adults, 1 teenager, 3 kids), the Johnsons (2 adults, 2 kids), the Swallows (1 adult, 1 teenager, 1 kid), and the Hulits (2 adults, 2 teenagers). The adults and teenagers hung out in the living room while the kids were in the toy room or outside. It was a lot of fun! Everyone had a blast and we are already talking about the next one. A couple of families didn't end up leaving until 9:30. It helped me remember that I really am blessed by being surrounded by some really nice people.

Lagoon

Landon and I planned a day trip to Lagoon at the last minute the second week in August. As in Monday night we were calling around trying to arrange babysitters for the next day. Rita agreed to take the kids at 2pm and since we couldn't reach Kestrel we ended up having one of the Young Women from Rita's ward come over to babysit the kids for the morning. Landon and I left around 9 am and enjoyed driving down and talking without any interruptions. We spent the first couple of hours at Lagoon by ourselves. We ran from ride to ride. It was a lot of fun. After lunch, we received phone calls from his mom and sister that they were at the park. We met up with Mel and Vauna, Ashlee and Mike for the rest of the afternoon. We rerode some of the rides and rode even more. It was a nice relaxing time. Once we started to get really hot we went over and rode the rapids and got soaked. It felt so good. We ate dinner at Pioneer Village. (I had the roasted corn on the cob and loved it!) We rode on a few more rides but called it quits around 6:30. We made it back to Pocatello before 10pm. The kids went straight to bed when we got them home. It was a really nice, relaxing day. Landon and I don't go on many dates so this was a lot of fun. We have decided we do need to make more time for us to see each other one on one.

Emily's Girl Party

On the way home from Canada Emily asked if she could have a girl party. She wanted to have manicures and pedicures and make pretty necklaces. I said yes but told her we weren't going to a salon for nails. We planned the party for the first Wednesday after we made it back (Aug 3rd). On Tuesday Emily, Cassie and I went out and picked up nail polishes for each girl. Then we hit the craft store where they selected pink and purple beads. I picked up a flower, matching ribbon, etc. We used the party boxes from Naomi's bridal shower in Pocatello to package up the nailpolishes, a little treat and some princess stickers. They would add their necklaces when they were done making them. Emily invited Cassie, Hallie, Mady, and Abby. Abby wasn't able to make it at the last minute but the other girls had fun. Rita stayed at the beginning to help me paint the girls nails and toe nails. While they dried Rita read them Pinkalicious and Goldilicious. The girls loved it. Maggie asked if she could stay and Emily said yes. The girls made their necklaces, which turned our really cute. Emily had asked for pink food so their were sugar cookies with pink icing, watermelon, strawberries and pink juice. She chose cookies and cream ice cream because their wasn't cotton candy ice cream at the store. When Mady's mom came by to pick her up Mady and her brother Bodi didn't want to go so I said that they could stay while mom went home to nap as she was 9 months pregnant. :) Rita called a little while later to ask if I could look after the rest of her kids plus Jamie's kids and babysitting kids. She and Jamie were delivering cookies for the fundraiser they had done for their brother in law's surgery. I decided the more the merrier so 9 more kids joined our party. That brought the total to 16 kids (including mine). The kids were really good and there wasn't any fights. I chopped up the rest of the watermelon, made ice cream cones and sent everyone out to the yard. It was only for an hour so it all worked out. My in laws pulled in for a short visit as Rita and Jamie walked over to pick up the kids. The kids and I went over to Rita and Nic's house for a celebatory BBQ for Nic passing a test at work. All in all it was a wonderful, perfect day!

Concert at Willingdon Beach

The Ensembelles

Collin loved to touch the water

Walking down to the fishing hole

I love this picture of Collin and Landon

Collin, Landon, Jordan, Amy, My dad, Serena and Emily

Emily loved the frog

Emily wanted us to have our picture taken with grandma after the concert

On Sunday my mom (and her musical group Ensembelles) sang in the SeaFair concert series down at Willingdon Beach. She started 1/2 hour before church got out so her young women and my family skipped out a little early to hear her sing. She did such a great job! To keep the kids happy we walked down to the breakwater and looked at the sandcastles. Emily was quite upset that we would not buy her popcorn. She thought that it being the Sabbath was not a good enough excuse. :)

Memory Filled Day

We took the kids to see Chris Bloeming today. It was really nice to see her. I was sad when her husband passed away and she has often been in my thoughts. The kids loved her and her dog Misty. It helped that Chris gave the kids cookies and chocolates. Landon showed Emily a picture of Bill and Chris and explained that Bill had died. Emily brought me to the picture and told me that Bill had died. I told her that I knew that and expressed to her how Bill had loved her. She stroked his face in the picture and told me how she wished she could have seen him one last time. It was quite sweet. It was a nice visit. We left when Collin started to get a little naughty and I was afraid he might break something. I really love Chris and enjoyed the time we were able to spend with her. I hope this is not our last time together.


When we got home I inflated Emily's swimming pool (that I purchased when she was a year old), the Spiderman slip and slide (that I purchased when she was two) and various other swimming toys. Emily and Collin ran around in their swimsuits jumping through a sprinkler toy my mom had. They were so excited to help me fill the pool with water. I got into my bathing suit and demonstrated to them how to use a slip and slide. Emily was in heaven while Collin decided the water was not quite warm enough for him. Emily couldn't quite get the whole thing. She would run up to the slide and then drop to her knees. And not move. Finally she started to sit down and Landon or I would give her a push. After we splashed in the pool. I was able to take some really fun photos which will help us remember the good times. Emily kept practicing on the slip and slide, waiting for my dad to get home from work. By the time Papa was in his swimming trunks Emily was able to get herself 2/3 of the way down the slide by herself. By the end of the night she could go the whole way. She was so proud of herself. Sariah and Ethan arrived and quickly stripped down to their underwear and joined in the fun. Matt has 2 billets from Mexico staying with him, a mother and daughter. The daughter stripped down to her bathing suit and had a blast. She never quite figured out the slip and slide but she had fun in the sprinkler. Lots of fun memories.

We all headed to mini golf after dinner. Collin was hilarious. He would hit the ball with his plastic club, chase after it, pick it up, place it at the edge of the hole and then hit it in. It made me giggle. Emily and Ethan would hit their balls at the same time and then rush after them. Very entertaining. Sariah stood and cheered for them on the sidelines. Steve golfed a very good game with Papa bringing up the rear. After a really fun game of golf we had ice cream. Emily had her cotton candy ice cream cone (her new obsession) while Collin had his orange "baby" cone. It was a lot of fun!

Spiderman!

The paparazzi were out in full force this afternoon and Collin was able to have his picture taken with his favourite superhero!

All of his dreams have now come true!

Too Many Video Games???

Emily learned how to go down the Spiderman Slip and Slide today. She was very proud of herself when she was able to use her own momentum to get down the slide without an added push from her mom or dad. The second time she was able to do it she fist pumped into the air and said, "I did it! High Score!"

Later we went mini golfing with my parents, Steve, Matt's family and his 2 Mexican billets. Each time Emily "golfed" a hole she would say, "I scored. Next level!"

Yep, Emily's favourite game is Angry Birds. It shows.

Manicures and Pedicures

I love to start my summer off with a pedicure. I just never got around to do it in Pocatello so I scheduled an appointment for Emily, my mom and I here in Powell River. My friend Suzanne mentioned how much her daughter loves to go and have it done so I decided to take Emily. I wish I had thought of bringing my camera! Emily was so cute while she was getting her manicure. She sat up tall and smiled at the lady and talked with her. She picked pink for her nails and they put a small heart on each of her thumbs. She was so excited to come and show my mom and I. My mom had never had a pedicure so it was lots of fun to treat her to one. We got the Spa Pedicure which included a foot massage, sitting in a massage chair which massaged as we sat there and few other extras. It was so relaxing. My mom almost fell asleep! (Which Emily thought was hilarious until she turned serious and asked me who was going to drive home because Grandma couldn't because she was sleeping.) :) Emily helped us pick out our toe nail colours. Emily was a little sad that I had only booked her a manicure appointment because she wanted her toes done too. :) I told her that we would do them tonight at home. It was a really nice girls outing.

I love my Husband!

My dad has been crazy busy with work. Since we got back from Naomi's wedding he has only had one day to mow his lawn. And the ride a mower broke after only getting the back 1/3 of their 1 acre property mowed. He finally was able to fix the mower but has been really stressed about finding time to mow his lawn. I mentioned this to my husband this morning before I went to work. When I got home Landon went out and started mowing the yard. The front yard is done and now he is working on the back. Landon has really bad allergies and so I know that this is a big sacrifice for him. I really love my husband!

Sleeping in the "Farm"

While we are staying at my parents we are sleeping in the loft in the barn. My children love it but will not be persuaded that their beds are in the barn. Emily is convinced it is a "farm" and as Collin believes everything she says, he says it that way as well. Last night the kids slept on the futon in my parents basement and Landon and I stayed out in the barn. My mom found Emily in the kitchen crying at 5:30 this morning. Emily told her that she had gone to the "farm" to see mom and dad and that the door was locked. She had come back to the house very sad. She went back to bed with Grandma but my mom said it was hard not to laugh when she insisted she had gone to the farm not the barn. :)

Harry Potter

Our friend Sheryl and her three daughters (Jordan, Serena and Amy) convinced Landon and I that we wanted to stay up to go to the midnight opening matinee of Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows Part 2. I will admit there wasn't a whole lot of arm twisting but I did think twice as I had to work Friday and that was also the day we were leaving for the reunion. Wes bought our tickets in the afternoon and so we didn't have to head down to wait in line until 10 pm. Amy, Sheryl and I hung out with Serena joining us when she finished babysitting. We had a fun time sitting around and chatting. Jordan was actually working in the theatre that night so she scored us seats up in the balcony. :) Landon joined us at about 11pm when they started letting us in. We spent our time laughing and talking until the movie started. WE LOVED IT! I think it is the best Harry Potter movie yet! They stayed pretty true to the book which I liked as well. We got home around 2:30am so I manged to get in about 4 and a half hours of sleep before gettng up for work. :) I am definitely getting too old for this but as I don't forsee any more movies that I want to stay up for I am safe. :)

Hull Family Reunion/Get Together

Last summer my dad put together a weekend of camping for his brothers, their wives, and posterity. It was held at Qualicum Bay Resort and it was a ton of fun. My dad's aunt and uncle (Mel and Rita Hammel) and his cousin Sally were able to join us as well. Because it went so well we decided to have it again this year. My dad booked the sites including a cabin for his family to stay in. As the weekend approached we wondered if anyone would come as the forecast said rain, clouds and more rain. My cousin Megan is due the first of August and since she lives in Ontario we knew she wouldn't be able to make it but hoped that others would come. My little family left on the noon ferry on Friday so that we could spend some time in Nanaimo doing a little shopping and reminiscing of times we spent there. My parents came over on the 5 oclock ferry and we made plans to meet up at 7:30 pm at Qualicum Bay Resort. The kids and I slept the hour and half drive to Nanaimo. We visited Costco, drove around a bit and then went to the mall. We were able to find a batman toy for Collin who was ecstatic. Landon and I treated ourselves to a few things and I was able to have New York fries Veggie Fries. Mmmm! We were late leaving so we didn't get to Qualicum Bay Resort until 8 pm. It had stopped raining. Finally! It ended up my Uncle Mel and Aunt Judy had been there most of the afternoon and had not been able to put up their tent because the rain was coming down so hard. So they rented the cabin next to my parents. My cousin Dalia and her daughter Jada were there but because of the rain were going to stay with Dalia's uncle in Qualicum. She promised to come back the next day. I put the kids and myself down to sleep early. The cabins sleep eight due to two double loft beds, a double bed and a futon. We put the kids on the double bed, Steve on the futon and my parents and Landon and I took each of the beds up the ladder. It worked pretty well except having to climb down the ladder at night to look after the kids. The next morning we slept in and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. My aunt and uncle put their tent up and we visited with them for a little while. My mom, Aunt Judy and I went for a walk up on the trails through the forest. It was really fun talking with them and just walking in a peaceful place. It was beautiful and I wish I had brought my camera. My Mel and Judy came for lunch at my parents cabin. We needed a few things so Landon decided to go for a 3 hour drive to get them. :) By the time he got back my cousin Dalia had come back with Jada. My cousin Amber and her husband Neil and kids Sophie (5) and Graham (1) arrived around 3 pm. They had decided not to stay the night camping but to stay with Dalia in Qualicum. My Uncle Wayne and Aunt Cee showed up around 3:30pm. Aunt Cee's daughter Karen came by with her husband and new puppy for a few minutes as well. Around 4 pm it started to rain. Not just rain but dump buckets and buckets of rain. Everyone piled into my parent's small cabin. My dad, 2 uncles and Neil decided to put up a tarp. I documented with lots of pictures becuase it was quite humourous. But eventually they got it up and a fire started. It was a little smokey but fun. Hans Stussi, a family friend and owner of the Resort, came to visit with us for awhile and made us all laugh with his stories. The kids mostly stayed in the cabin with Landon keeping a watchful eye on them. Collin loved the fire. He kept blowing on it. :) The kids came out to cook hot dogs and make smores. It was a small percentage of us there but it was a lot of fun! We missed those not there but have plans for next year. The best part is that they've booked 3 cabins and 2 tent sites so even if it rains we should be able to stay dry. :) As soon as I get the pictures off my camera I will post them. Emily kept telling me how much she LOVES camping. I didn't have the heart to tell her staying in a cabin with a flush toilet, heating, mattresses, and a kitchette are not camping. But there was a fire and we did get soaked so I will let her think it for now. :)

Funny Moments

I have fallen behind on this blog but I wanted to record a few humourous things.

1. Maternity Pants
When packing for our trip to Powell River for the month of July, I packed one pair of pants. A pair of jeans. I figured that we were camping the third weekend and it may rain a few times. I did not count on rain for the first 7 days we were here. If not more than that. I tried to wear capris a few times but found I was rather cold. How did I know remember how much rain we get here? To be far to myself there has been more than usual but still! One morning I realized that it was too cold for shorts or capris and Collin had wiped food on my jeans and I hadn't washed them. Oops. It was then that I remembered that my sister in law Ashley gave me back all the maternity stuff she borrowed. There was one pair of maternity jeans in the bag. I wore them to work.... Yep. I folded the waist band down and it worked as a belt so I had jeans that stayed up. I felt a little weird but they definitely were warm and quite comfortable. My husband said he felt they looked as good as my other jeans. Hmmmm. :) They have been employed a couple of other times. I did buy a pair of lounge pants and another pair of yoga pants while at Costco on the weekend so now I have more pants. And of course the weather has turned warm. :)

2. Emily is learning in primary the hymn, "Praise to the Man." She practices it daily. Her favourite part is "Hail to the prophet! And the elephants!" Yeah she isn't a hundred percent on the words but the tune is really good. Yesterday she and Collin were singing in the car. Suddenly she said, "Let's go crazy!" She and Collin sang the "Hail to the prophet!" line over and over while fist pumping into the air. I was busting a gut laughing. I love my kids!

Hull Family Photo

Back Row: Sariah, Matt, Emily, Landon, Collin, Tamara, Tyson, Cassie, Russell, Nic
Middle Row: Papa (my dad), Emily, Claire, Ashley, Naomi, Gary, Grandma (my mom), Maggie, Rita, Abigail (aka Gabagail)
Front: Stephen

Candace was wondeful to take a current famiy photo. The last one my family took was 2 years ago and we are missing Abigail and Claire. For having 10 kids in it I think it turned out nice. :)

Naomi's Wedding

I am just a little behind in posting about my sister's wedding. We had a wonderful drive up through Montana and arrived Monday night for a surprise birthday party for Gary. It was fun to get to know Gary and his family that night. We stayed with Gary and his brother Everett at their house "down the road." Now this is Taber, AB so that consisted of driving through a lot of farmland. :) Poor Everett's room was next door to ours and the kids were not so good about going to bed quietly. And he had to be up and out of the house by 6 AM. The next day we left for Cardston just after noon. Naomi had asked me to be her escort for her first visit to the temple. My parents friends Rick and Ginny Williams saved the day by coming in at the last minute to help my Aunt Margaret and Grandma Knoll babysit the 10 grandchildren which included 2 babies. :) They brought bubbles, sidewalk chalk and treats. There is a reason they are our favourite people. :) The temple was beautiful. I hadn't been there since my own endowment session 11 years ago. It was such a beautiful, spiritual experience. I am so grateful for the temple and the promises and blessings given there. Afterward Naomi (who had not eaten for most of the day) was feeling a little faint so Gary took her home while the rest of us had a picnic in the park and then a nostalgic drive through our childhood hometown. It was fun to show Landon my old elementary school, and three of the four homes we had lived in. One of them had been torn down so he actually only saw the site of the old hotel. We stopped in to say Hi to Greg and Debbie Burt and then headed back to Lethbridge for bed. The next day Naomi, Candace,(a friend of Naomi's from beauty school who lives in Jackson Hole, WY, also a bridesmaid) Rita and I headed into Lethbridge to pick up all the last minute things for the wedding. Like order cake for the reception, buy the food for the luncheon and reception, oh and buy the stuff to make Naomi's wedding cake. Nothing like remembering at the last minute she didn't have a cake! :) It was a fun day filled with laughing and Five Guys Burgers and Fries. You can't do better than that. We headed back to the house to get started on everything. My dad and Nic had taken Rita's kids and Emily swimming at the Taber pool. Emily went down the tall waterslides all by herself! My Auntie Margie was waiting for Naomi as she was having to alter two wedding dresses trying to make them work for the wedding reception. (Naomi's dress had been at a seamstress for alterations and she had butchered the dress.) So the day of the wedding we came back to two BEAUTIFUL wedding dresses and Naomi had to pick. She chose one for the Lethbridge reception and the other is for the Powell River reception. We love Auntie Margie! Rita was up until midnight making a cake, laying fondant, and decorating it with Naomi. After our afternoon family picture Gary had stolen Naomi away for a date. She returned at about 10 and remembered she did not have a veil. So my mom put one together. It was crazy but Naomi held it together. And the next day she was all smiles, no nerves or worries. The temple ceremony was beautiful. She and Gary are such a wonderful beautiful couple. Perfect for each other. Naomi was stunning as she left the temple in a very stylish white dress and cage veil. Gary leaned down to hug Russell and some how popped out the lens of his glasses. But Everett's bowie knife came to rescue. Thank goodness for Cowboys. :) The luncheon afterwards was beautiful and such GOOD food! We headed into Lethbridge to stay at the hotel. The kids were so excited to be able to swim and go down the water slides! The hotel had mixed up our reservation but after some perseverance from my dad we got our rooms and without a raise in price. We went straight to the pool for some well deserved relaxation. Candace joined us for the night as well. We met up with Naomi's childhood friend Karlyn and her family at the pool. Emily and Collin loved going down the slides. Especially on the tubes. (They had to go with their parents though as the slides ended in four feet of water.) They also loved the wave pool. Everyone slept very well. We headed out for pictures the next morning with Naomi and Gary at Charlie's horse ranch. (A place Naomi volunteered at.) It was fun to meet Charlie and see his place. Candace also wore the hat of wedding photographer and she set up some cute shots. She left right after to drive home to Jackson Hole. We hope to see her later this summer. The kids all loved looking at the horses, petting the cats and climbing the hay bales. Charlie passed out chocolate bars. Mmmmmm. The kids went back to the hotel for naps and then we headed to the wedding reception. It was in a converted barn. It was gorgeous. Matt and Ashley put together a cute slideshow and Matt MC'd. There was a dance after. Lots of fun! The pictures on my camera have not been downloaded yet but when I do I will post them. It was so wonderful to see my sister be married to an incredible young man. Congrats!