Broken

Our desktop computer won't turn on.  Aughhhh!!!  I don't like this little laptop I'm using now, so I won't be able to blog until we get our desktop fixed.  Our good friend who's a computer expert is out of town for the next 3 weeks too.  So sad this blog will just fall further behind, sigh.  I'm happy to not have the distraction though so I can enjoy these few weeks of summer with my sweet kiddos!!

Len's 38th

Leonard had a birthday!  Shout hooray!

 

We had Lebanese take-out for dinner.

 

Followed by homemade chocolate-cream pie for dessert.

 

Make a wish!

 

Hiram licked the plate clean!

 

He also got the book, "God, Family, Country" by Ezra Taft Benson.

I love you Leonard!  I hope you had a nice birthday!!

Party Animal

Gavin went to 3 birthday parties in 1 week!  At this party there were several animals the children got to hold.  The birthday boy's mom sent me these pics.  What a cute little chinchilla.

Gavin wasn't sure about the gecko.

He loved the bunny rabbit!

I love you Gavin!

Intermission

This year Noé took a lyrical/contemporary dance class.  Recital week was hectic with photos, 2 rehearsals, and 3 performances, but Noé did great.  I just love to watch her dance.  She's been dancing now for 7 years and it hit me that she only has 7 more years of living under our roof.  I hope she'll continue to dance all of those years!  I know I'll love watching the second act.

Greek Statues

Lyrical/Contemporary- 5th grade

Bengals Cheer

Summer fun

Dominoes

Jazz- 4th grade

Hot, hot, hot

Jazz- 3rd grade

Rec Center Cheer

2nd grade

Nutcracker March

Ballet- 1st grade

Teddy Bear's Dream

Ballet- Senior Kindergarten

Sing, sing a song

Ballet- Junior Kindergarten

This little lady is just growing up right before my eyes.  I'm so glad that she's my daughter!

I love you Noé!

Prayer, Fasting, and Testimonies

Once a month (usually the first Sunday of each month, except for April and October when we have General Conference) our church has a Fast and Testimony meeting.  Members are asked to fast for special blessings and then to share the money they would save from those meals with the church to give to those less fortunate.  Also, during our Sacrament meeting there are no assigned speakers, but members can come up and share their testimonies as they are moved by the Spirit to do so.

My son Kaleb jumped up early in the meeting and shared his testimony on the power of prayer.  He is such a good boy, I am so proud of him.  I am so grateful to be his mother and for all of my sweet children.

Afterwards both Kaleb and Noé were nudging me to go up and speak.  I was thinking I might go up next month, as Fast Sunday will fall on birthday, but I guess the Spirit had other plans and soon my heart was beating fast and I knew I needed to go up this month.

I just shared a few simple thoughts on how grateful I am for the opportunity to fast.  I'm so grateful to pray to my Heavenly Father every day to thank Him for all of my blessings, and to ask for His forgiveness, guidance, and protection.  I see fasting as an "extra special" prayer.  There have been times in my life when I have had to fast for essential needs.  Today it hit me how important it is for us to also fast for our wants- our hopes, our dreams, our desires.  This earth life is the only one we get and I think Heavenly Father wants us to counsel with Him about it.  Of course, I want to do His will and fulfill the mission He sent me here to accomplish.  But I also want to share my will with Him and ask Him for special blessings, miracles even.  I have full faith that He will answer my prayers.  The answer may be no, but the answer may also be yes.  The important thing is for me to ask.  I'm so grateful I can fast for my needs and wants as well as the needs and wants of those I love.

I found this in the Bible Dictionary on Prayer and I just loved it:

As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

I love these promises!

School Carnival

It's that time of the year again...cake walk!  This year I made Cookie Monster cupcakes because I just loved them after Teague's birthday party!

The best part of the carnival is all the inflatable structures.  Here comes brave little Teague first.

Followed by Gavin flying down.

Noé bounced along.

Kaleb slid down the other side before I realized it.  This pic shows you just how tall the slides were.  I sure wish they'd let the parents ride!!

Bunny ears and ...

...photo bombs!

A more serious Cayden in this one.

Cute girls...

...add a few more friends...

...and a little brother.  An enjoyable evening was had by all.

We couldn't believe our luck, but this year we did NOT win at the cake walk.  I'm still shocked!  We did make a quick stop at the bakery on our way home and picked up this little cake to take home.  We did win the silent auction for the photo session with Jenna Sparks.  I'm so excited about that (coming in mid-August)!

Something Amazing

I love this family!  They have been some of our bestest friends for over 10 years!  Mary and I met shortly after we moved to Ottawa the first time and we soon began playdates with our 3 kiddos that were only 12 days apart in age.  A year and a half-later #4 joined the group and our playdates continued each week for almost 3 years (until we moved to Taiwan).  After we moved back we just picked up where we left off, this time our weekly playdates were with kids #5-8.  Now that all of her kids are in school, my littlest one has missed out on these playdates, but our families still get together often.

Gregg decided to be baptized after years of supporting his family and attending church with them each week.  I was always impressed by him and now I am just so excited that this beautiful family is united in the gospel!  I am so grateful for my own testimony of Jesus Christ and to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

Time to Sleep-in!

Seminary ended about a month before school did.  Len had a great group of teenagers to teach this year!  I'm not gonna lie though, it's been nice to sleep-in, tee hee.

I made cupcakes each month for his students.  These popsicle ones were the last batch.  I think I'm actually going to miss him teaching seminary next year!

Framed

My gypsy blood is itching for a move, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.  I'd love to completely redecorate our home, but the budget won't allow for that.  So, I finally hung these frames I've had for a year in the dining room.

I also hung these frames I've had for 2 years in the upstairs hallway.

These are up there too.

I put my favorite pic from our girls trip in this frame.

I added pics from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg from Len's trip in January (I still need to get the flags!).

 

*This didn't satisfy my need to decorate.  We're thinking of doing some major room shifting in our home, but we're going to wait a little while still before we do it.  I get bored too easily, ha!

11 Mile Hike (tulip festival part 2)

We set out on Victoria Day to enjoy the last day of the Tulip Festival.  We started at the beginning of the Rideau Canal, walked all the way down to Dows Lake, had a little picnic, walked all the way around Dows Lake, crossed the canal at the Hartwells locks, walked back up the canal on the other side, and crossed again at the locks on the Ottawa River.  It was a fun, but exhausting 7-hour day!  We figured out afterwards that we covered 11 miles.  Our kids are troopers!  My plan was just to enjoy the day with my family and not take too many pictures.  I just couldn't help myself though- nature was out in all her glory!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sweet kids enjoying our picnic (and taking their shoes off for a bit).

 

Poor Hiram slept during the only part of the day he could have gotten out of his stroller.  We did let him walk some, but the fear of him falling in the water on one side or getting hit by a car on the other, made the walking excursions brief.

 

I wasn't up for a hair and make-up day, but I still let my kids take our picture because I want them to remember that I was there (even if I wasn't pretty).

 

 

 

 

 

The kids got a kick out of this "living" statue.  They gave her some money and she gave them a sly wink.

 

See all the people above the flower tops?  The tulip festival always attracts a large crowd.

 

Getting ready to cross the bridge on the west side of the canal.

 

Looking at the same bridge from the east side.

 

 

 

More statue fun.

 

 

While we were walking I heard an amazing, but brief conversation between a father and his 2 young sons as they passed us on the sidewalk.  As they approached I heard the father say , "Yes, but son what is most important in life?"  I couldn't wait to hear the young son's response and his answer was brilliant.  He said, "People."  And then they were gone and that's all I heard.  I was so impressed that this father was teaching his children that PEOPLE are what is most important in life!  I was equally impressed that his sons were listening to their father's counsel.  There were 2 ladies in front of me that also heard the father's question, but had already passed them before they heard the son's answer.  One of the women asked her friend, "What?  What is most important in life?  I need to know!"  I wish I had been more brave and told her what the son had said.  What a beautiful world we could have if everyone thought that people are what is most important in life!