Clint

is 30. Happy Birthday!!

Love your sweet family!

Sydney

is 11. Happy Birthday!!

Payton

is 12. Happy Birthday!!

Chloe

is 2.  Happy Birthday!!

The Scenic Route

In the summer I drive Leonard to and from work each day.  That way my day at home without him is only 7 1/2 hours long instead of the 11 hours when he rides the bus.  I despise driving downtown, but luckily Len's work is around the corner from downtown allowing us to take the more scenic route.  I love driving this twice a day.  Who knew driving could be a stress relief, ha ha! 

 We first pass this barn during our short trip on the highway.  I love in the summer when it is all covered in ivy.

Next we pass this barn while we're on Montreal Road/St. Joseph Boulevard.  The sunflowers just make me smile. 

 As soon as we get on Rockcliffe Parkway we are greeted by this sea of lovely goldenrod.  There are also purple and white blossoms sprinkled throughout.

 Yes, I'll drive this curvy road dressed in lush trees anyday!

 There are breaks in the trees every now and then giving beautiful glimpses of the Ottawa River.  We've seen lots of animals along this road.  Not only the horses at the RCMP stables, but also all kinds of wildlife- groundhogs, racoons, deer, foxes, geese, seagulls, and even wild turkeys!

There's a bit under construction right now (Canada only has two seasons- winter & construction, ha ha!) so we've made our own detour.  We've discovered Manor Park neighborhood and decided we would love to live there.  This house is for sale even.  Unfortunately, it's out of our price range at $1.9 million!  I guess we'll stay in the 'burbs, but I do enjoy dreaming.

Waves & Rainbows

I wish this post was about a beautiful rainbow I captured after enjoying a summer shower at the ocean, but it's about my hair and toes, ha ha!

 

 I tried out my new waving iron and got my new "poodle" do.

Every summer for as long as I can remember, I paint my toenails in a rainbow of colors.  The only problem is I only have 5 toes per foot, but 6 colors to use!

Wonders of the World

I am fascinated with this world I call home and am amazed at the mighty feats mankind has been able to accomplish.  A book I ordered for Teague arrived in the mail today along with a free bookmark of one of the NEW wonders of the world.  That made me want to do a little comparison of the ancient to the new, so here they are: 

1. ANCIENT- Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt.

(This is the only ancient wonder that still exists.)

  1. NEW- Taj Mahal, India.

2. ANCIENT- Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Iraq.

 2. NEW- Chichen Itza, Mexico.

3. ANCIENT- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Turkey.

 3. NEW- Christ the Redeemer, Brazil.

4. ANCIENT- Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece.

 4. NEW- Colosseum, Italy.

5. ANCIENT- Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Turkey.

 5. NEW- The Great Wall, China.

6. ANCIENT- Colossus of Rhodes, Greece.

 6. NEW- Machu Picchu, Peru.

7. ANCIENT- Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt.

 7. NEW- Petra, Jordan.

8. ANCIENT OR NEW?- Family, Earth.

Of all of man's great accomplishments, I believe the human family is the greatest!  I love my family with all that I am.  I'm not just talking about my nuclear family, although I love my husband and children dearly, but my extended family too- parents, siblings, nieces & nephews, grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins.  My family is my family regardless of whole, half, step, adopted, in-laws, out-laws, ha! 

However, I do get concerned for my children and their future, when I hear the statistics dropping drastically for marriage, rising for divorce, dropping for children born within wedlock, dropping for having children at all.  I worry that the family will become a thing of the Ancient world and we will inherit a Brave New World.  I am trying not to let my fears get the better of me though and to have faith in the future.  This morning I read an excellent General Conference talk that gave me hope.  Have a read if you'd like to be inspired: 
That the Lost May Be Found.

Toy Rodeo

The kids were playing rodeo on the teeter totter the other day and wanted to take pictures of their adventures.  I gave them my camera and told them to have fun (and of course be careful with it  =).  I'm so glad they were able to capture some of the good times they have with one another.

Fancy Clothes

 Today was a Civic Holiday, but to be honest we were too pooped to go out and play.  So instead, we did a little photo shoot.

 Our girls.

 Our boys.

 The blues.

 The oranges.

 The pinks.

 I just love this family (Hiram had to take a little snooze).

 These kids are so sweet, but poor Hiram didn't get to sleep long enough.

 The 15 year newlyweds.

 Leonard loves Jennifer!  I win!!

 All in a row.

 Momma's boys.

 Daddy's girl.

My kids tease me that I'm a shutterbug.  I just can't help it.  I love these people that I get to share my life with and I just want to capture every moment!

Soccer Engineers

Noe and Kaleb are participating in a free soccer camp this month that their friend's dad is coaching.  Each athlete just needed to provide their own ball and cones.  Noe found another fun use for the cones.

Soon after Kaleb joined in on the engineering fun!

With frosting on top!

 I have seen a few beautiful "rose cakes" online and thought I'd try to make one myself.  My birthday was a good excuse to eat some cake!

 My kids thought it was a great idea to eat some cake too.

 Even Leonard was willing to help me out.

 Make a wish.

 I chose a pink & orange color scheme for the roses as well as the cake layers.  Originally, I wanted to cut each layer in half so it would look like 4 mini-layers: pink, orange, pink, orange.  However, after I first plunged the knife in and stuck it through the bottom, I decided 2 layers is good!  I made 3 batches of frosting for this- the white for the crumb coat and the 2 colors for the roses.  Unfortunately, it wasn't quite stiff enough and the roses on the sides all d r o o p e d.  (One day I will take the Wilton cake decorating classes from Michael's!)  It still tasted pretty good though.  I really wanted strawberry and peach ice cream to go with it, but I had to settle for a banana- strawberry and orange-pineapple-mango-peach.

 The birthday festivities also included Leonard spoiling me with one of my favorite dinners- fish tacos!  If you haven't tried them yet, I know they sound weird, but they are OH. SO. GOOD!  Corn tortillas, flaky cod, cheese, cabbage, pico de gallo, and a yummy lime- cilantro vinaigrette- yum!

 I also got a few gifts: a new hair waver, wallet, belt, and swimsuit.

Leonard and I also got to go out on a date.  We saw Brave and it was really cute.  (Check out my friend Jenny's post about it.)  I definitely had a great day!