Going Private Again

I have decided that on July 1st I will set this blog to private again.  If you read it, I would love for you to continue to do so.  Please send me your email address to: reil(dot)fun(at)gmail(dot)com and I will send you an invitation to my blog.  Thank you!

Three Houses

In the winter, we entered a contest to win this house in Alberta.

In the spring, we entered a contest to win this house/bed and breakfast/restaurant also in Alberta.

Today is the first day of summer, and we entered another contest to win this house here in Ottawa.

This fall, we are set to move into the new house we have been building for a year now.  So why have we entered contests to win another home?  It's simple, the idea of living mortgage-free would be a game changer for our family!  I summed it up in my last letter that could only be 100 words max- and that included the answers to three skill testing questions, as well as our address, email, and phone number.

Dear McIntosh family,

We are the Reil family.  We have seven children, and our youngest daughter has Down syndrome.  Living mortgage-free would be amazing!  We could put our children into sports.  We would also be able to travel to visit our extended families.  

We lived in India and witnessed extreme poverty.  We would love to pay it forward by having each of our children sponsor a child from India to receive proper food, clean water, clothing, shelter, and education.

Sincerely,

Leonard and Jennifer Reil

PS- Click HERE to enter the contest yourself.  Good luck!

Macy, the model

A friend of mine told a friend of her's to use Macy as a model for her photography business.  We were so excited when she called and asked to take Macy's photo.

After the session, she emailed me a link to download the photos.  I mainly use my laptop instead of my desktop, but my desktop is where I wanted to download them so I could burn them onto a CD from there.  Well, by the time I tried to do that the link had expired.

I asked the photographer if she could send them to me again.  She obliged, but of course by the time I tried to download them, the link had expired again- d'oh!

Thankfully, a few of the photos were shared on Facebook.  I copied them here so I can have a small memory of Macy's first modelling job.

The Cobblestone Manor

We entered another contest to win a home!  This time the home comes with a restaurant and it is a bed and breakfast!  You should click HERE to learn the details on how you can enter this contest too!

Dear Negrych family,

We recently learned of your contest to win The Cobblestone Manor and knew we had to send in a letter! We are the Reil family. My husband, Leonard was born and raised in Hanna, Alberta. My name is Jennifer, and I call Las Vegas, Nevada home. My husband and I met in university and have been married for 22 years. We have seven lovely children, ranging in age from 17 to 1 (our littlest also has Down syndrome). We have lived in France, England, Taiwan, India, and currently Ottawa, Ontario.  Leonard works for Global Affairs Canada, however lately we have been dreaming of settling down and creating a more permanent home for our family.

Why would you want to choose our family to run The Cobblestone Manor after you retire?  Our reasons revolve around family, home, nature, and art.

We have dreamed of running a Bed and Breakfast for years, but haven't had the courage to walk away from a well-paying job and pension.  We would love to work together to earn a living for our family and to teach our children valuable skills to benefit them in their futures.  Plus, The Cobblestone Manor and its grounds would be a beautiful place to live!

We love history, architecture, photography, painting, interior decorating, baking, hiking, and would love to put these passions to work at The Cobblestone Manor.  We would also love to take part in our family’s 500 year art of beekeeping and produce honey for our guests!

We love Cardston!  With my husband growing up in Alberta, his family traveled to Cardston and nearby Waterton every summer. We have taken our own family back to Alberta a few times to share its beauty with them. We would love to live in Cardston, love to serve in our church’s temple there, and love to visit Waterton whenever we had the chance.

Our extended families live in western Canada and the US.  We don't get to travel home as often as we'd like, living so far away and having such a large family. We would love to be able to host family reunions every year for all of our relatives.

As our children grow and start families of their own, we dream of having a gathering spot for Sunday dinners, long summer days, and the holiday seasons.

We don’t know what the future will hold for our daughter with Down syndrome.  We have dreams for her just as we have dreams for all of our children.  We would love to have her work with us when she grows up if she would like to.  Operating a family business would be a blessing for generations!

We are grateful for the opportunity to enter this contest.  Of course, we would love to win, but even if we don’t we hope we can help your family retire and help one lucky family win their dream.  

Sincerely,

Jennifer Reil and family