To the Temple

Kaleb and Noé have had the opportunity to see several temples from the outside, and they got to tour the inside of the Newport Beach temple on the inside during its Open House, but last weekend was their first opportunity to serve in the temple.  Leonard was able to go with them and all 3 of them had a wonderful time!  Our ward brought 12 men, 9 women, 9 young men, 11 young women, and 4 missionaries.  I wish we had a temple in Ottawa, but I'm grateful to have the Montreal temple only 2 1/2 hours away.

We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is for EVERYONE!  That's right, we believe it is for those that are living, and for those that have already passed on.  In our temples we receive sacred ordinances for ourselves and perform vicarious ordinances for those that didn't have a chance to receive them during their earthly life.  For example, Kaleb and Noé participated in baptisms for the dead.  (No, we do not dig up dead bodies and baptize them- that is just creepy!)  We are baptized in the name of someone who is deceased.  We believe they are being taught the gospel in the spirit world (where our spirits go after our physical bodies have died, before our spirits and bodies will be resurrected after judgment day).  Each spirit can then choose to accept or reject the gospel.  If they accept it, there are certain ordinances, such as baptism that are essential for eternal salvation.  We perform those baptisms for them in case they accept it.  If they don't, there is no harm done, we always have a choice- living or dead.  And for those of us who serve in the temples, it is always a peaceful, special experience for ourselves as well.  I'm so proud of Kaleb and Noé for sacrificing their Saturday to serve in the House of the Lord.

 

 

Montreal, Quebec Temple.

Life's What You Make It

I saw this on facebook and just had to share it here too.  Okay, so I may not be able to make myself a fairy princess with a unicorn, but there are so many things I CAN DO for my life!  I have always wanted to be a wife and mother and as the days draw near for me to become a mother to six amazing, beautiful children I just feel so lucky, blessed, privileged that the dream I have always wanted is my reality.  I have other, more personal dreams too.  I would love to pursue my art and become an accomplished painter someday.  I love to dance and would love to be able to perform again. (Unfortunately, there's not a huge market of dance classes for middle-aged moms who want to dance for fun and exercise.  The only adult dance classes I know of are for professionals or couples.  I would love to dance with Leonard, but my dream of dancing is not in the ballroom genre.)  I love to travel and if we had less children Len and I could do a lot more of that.  However, I would rather have my family than the opportunity to visit every country in the world.

 

I have had a few lovely comments from people when they find out that I am pregnant with baby #6.  However, most of the comments have been disparaging:  "Wow, your life must be hectic!"  "You should get another hobby!"  "I can't even imagine what your life is like!"  My life is wonderful!  It is busy, but it is not anymore hectic than anyone else's, I've just learned to prioritize.  The important things always get done, and if other unimportant things don't get done- oh well, they're not that important!  As far as the hobby comment is concerned, I don't see mothering as a hobby, but as a calling.  It is what I am here to do.  And if they are referring to sex, have they tried it?  (Just kidding, but seriously each of our children was planned, none of them were an accident, surprise, or mistake.)  For those that can't imagine how gratifying my life is having 6 soon to be 7 of my favorite people to share it with each day, I honestly feel sorry for them.  I can't imagine what their life is like entirely self-absorbed. 

 

We are all different and should have different dreams.  I know that some of our dreams just can't come true now, but I believe in eternity and believe all of our good dreams will come true someday.  I hope everyone can follow theirs now and find the same happiness that I have in following mine.  To quote Walt Disney, "If you can dream it, you can do it!"  Now I must be off to go slay a dragon.

Letter to the Editor

*Our school board is having meetings this month to discuss its English programs.  I will not be able to attend those meetings, but I did send this letter and wanted to share it here.  Local friends, what do you think?

 

To Whom It May Concern,

I would just like to voice my concerns about the English programs in Ottawa.  We are a bi-national family as I am American, my husband is Canadian, and our children are dual citizens.  We have also lived in England, France, and Taiwan.  We really enjoy our Elementary School, but there have been times when we have been frustrated with the school system in Ottawa as compared to other experiences we have had in other countries.

My husband is tri-lingual (English, French, and Mandarin) and we think the French language is beautiful and would love our children to learn it.  However, we do not feel like the Immersion program is right for our family.  We want our children educated in their mother tongue (English) with French being taught as another subject, just like math, science, etc.  We have felt that by keeping our children in the English track instead of French Immersion that they are viewed as lesser than those in French immersion.  I feel they have the right to an English education and that they should be treated as equals to those in French Immersion.

The High School my husband attended in Hanna, Alberta was small and very homogenized.  The High School I went to in Las Vegas, Nevada boasted students from 53 different countries and we were proud of our diversity and unity.  I feel like Ottawa's school system is very segregated.  First, there are four different school boards- French Public, French Catholic, English Public, and English Catholic.  We are English speaking Christians, but not Catholics so we chose the English Public board.  Second, there is further segregation within the English Public board with English track, Early French Immersion, and Mid French Immersion (as Late French Immersion is not offered anymore).  I would love to see ONE public school board for all English and French speakers of all religions.  I think it would be great if half of the day were taught in English and half taught in French.  I also think it would be great if the major world religions and their values were taught to our children.  Not in a proselyting sort of way, just in an educational sort of way.  Our modern society's values have greatly declined just during my short life-time.  Our children need a sense of humanity and to do what is right for their community and world, not just what is right for themselves.

I am currently 37 weeks pregnant with baby #6, so I will not be able to attend any of the meetings about the English programs.  Even if I did, I don't know how to change this system, but I did want to voice my thoughts.  Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Reil

Our Primary Colors

Are 1, 2, 3- red, yellow, and blue.  Each one has a message for you and me.  Each is a symbol true! 

Red is for courage to do what is right.

Yellow for service from morning till night.

Blue is for truth in our thought and our deed.  We will be happy when this is our creed.

Our lovely tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth blossomed this week and their tiny existence brings me tremendous joy!  I'm not sure if we'll make it to the tulip festival this year, but I'm glad that these little beauties grace my life.

My friend Jenn stopped by this week and gave me a bouquet of a dozen of these beautiful pink-tipped carnations.  Thanks Jenn!

Flowers just make me smile!

Oy, IKEA!

I have a love-hate relationship with IKEA.  The part that loves it thinks it has practical housewares for a family budget.  The part that hates it thinks it just has over-priced junk.  Here we are about to have baby #6 though, and I really wanted to get 2 more Hemnes dressers with matching nightstands.  We have the black-brown stain for Gavin & Teague and they really give you a lot of bang for your buck (I mean they hold A LOT of clothing!).  Anyway, we decided to get the gray-brown stain for Kaleb & Hiram and the white stain for Noé & Six.  With a Saturday to-do list a mile long, we decided to check one thing off our list and go Friday night.  Oy, what a waste!

Ottawa boasts IKEA's largest store in North America and anyone who has shopped at IKEA before knows it takes hours to walk through.  After touring the beautiful showroom and fun-filled market hall we finally came to the aisles of flat-packs.  With our aisle and bin numbers in hand we had 15 minutes before closing to get our needed items.  White stain nightstands, check; white stain dresser, out of stock; gray-brown nightstands, out of stock; gray-brown dresser, out of stock.  Are you frickin' kidding me?  So home we go feeling very defeated (I only have 3 weeks to completely overhaul 2 children's rooms).  Once home, I searched online.  I could order the 2 dressers and have them shipped to me for an additional $100, but alas no gray-brown nightstands.  Since we're a bi-national family and we'll be in the States this summer, I checked the US site- sure enough I can order the gray-brown nightstands there.  What to do?  Time is of the essence for the dressers, and could the nightstands get broken during our summer trek?  Last night I was told they re-stock the store every morning at 5:00 and to check online before they open at 9:00 in case any of our items became available.  Well, I did that this morning and no the gray-brown stain and white-stain did not become available, but the plain white became available for all 3 pieces.  The dresser was now also in stock in blue and the nightstands were in stock in red.  So I gave up my aesthetic color choices for necessity and we drove all the way across the city again and were finally able to get the dressers and nightstands we need.  We also were able to visit some other stores to get Hiram a big boy bed, a new kitchen table, and last Saturday we bought a new mini-van that we'll get this week.  Now we just have to assemble everything!!!

Seventeen

I turned 17 back in August of 1992 and my Aunt Connie bought me a subscription to Seventeen magazine.  I remember feeling so much older than my 16 year-old self.  I graduated from high school the following June and left home less than 3 weeks later to begin BYU's summer term.  When August rolled around again, my mom had a birthday cake delivered from the campus bakery.  My classmates were shocked that I was just turning 18 and that I had been living away from home for almost 2 months.  Yes, I was very mature indeed.

 

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary!!!  Inside, I still feel like that 17 year-old girl with her head full of dreams, but on the outside I am a middle-aged lady about to have her 6th baby.  I am so grateful this day (and everyday) for my wonderful husband Leonard.  He is such an amazing man, father, and husband.  He is my biggest cheerleader.  He believes in me and is always encouraging me to follow my dreams.  I try my best to support and encourage all of his dreams too.  I am so grateful for the life and family we have built together, it just keeps getting better and better!

 

I can't wait to update this picture with all 8 of us!

 

May Decor (temporary)

I finally got all of the Easter décor taken down and put away.  However, I did not make the stuff I wanted to for our May mantel.  I've been too busy nesting for baby's arrival that the mantel has taken a back burner.  I had visions of purple flowers in honor of Mother's Day and spring finally arriving.  I have purple and lavender rosette balls done and I bought a darker purple crepe paper, but haven't made the last rosette ball yet.  I have a purple subway art about families, but I need to do a flower paper piecing and make a silk flower arrangement- I am dreaming of fluffy hydrangeas.  Some day it will get done, but for now this is just our every day décor.  Since we haven't seen it since before Halloween, it's still a nice change.

I like the dining table wearing her red, but I'd probably have to change it to purple too to match the mantel?!

Our Little People set this month has nothing to do with purple either, but it's the wedding set in honor of our anniversary!

Housewife vs. Stay-at-Home Mom vs. Homemaker, which do you prefer?

My husband shared this article with me and I wanted to share it here.  (Click on red here).

Here are two of my favorite quotes, "Homemaking is not the same thing as housekeeping. Though it may also include certain mundane but necessary domestic tasks, homemaking, as I envision it, is less about scrubbing toilets and more about that old saying “Home is where the heart is.” Homemaking is about creating and maintaining a healthy and loving environment for everyone in the family—kids, spouses, and the homemaker herself—and fostering your family’s relationship to the wider community."

"A homemaker is a parent who prioritizes the home rather than the house, and the family as a whole, rather than merely the children."

I like her argument to bring back "Homemaker!"

Okay, after watching this video "Director of Operations" isn't bad either.

Simon Dewey Art

We have artwork of the Savior in each of our four bedrooms and in our dining room.  I love these eight paintings by Simon Dewey that I get out every Christmas and Easter too.  Today I'm taking down the Easter décor, but I want to keep these pictures up a little while longer.

His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

In Favor With God

Growing In Wisdom

Light And Truth

Living Water

In Humility

He Lives

 

*I am so grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ and for all He has done for me!

FIVE!

Our Teague-y boy turned 5!  How is this possible?  He was only 2 months old when we moved from Taiwan and now he's a big school kid!  He didn't have school on his birthday though as it was Easter Monday.  It was so nice having everyone home to celebrate with him!

He is such a fun guy and I had to add this shot to show his black and white socks and that his pants are on backwards, ha!  He loved wearing his birthday hat all day.  Hiram tried to snag it from him at one point and Teague asked him, "Is it your birthday or mine, Hiram?"  Len and I laughed so hard!

Originally, I was going to have a friends party for him, but after our trip to Las Vegas, Easter weekend, and being 8 months pregnant, I just couldn't do it.  He was perfectly happy to have a family party (the benefit of having lots of siblings), so we hung up balloons.

Opened his big present...

a new mini-tramp...

jump for joy, this boy can tell the monkey inside of him not to jump on the couch anymore, ha!

We had cake.

(Yes, sadly it was store bought.  Does it look familiar?  Hiram's was the exact same, but in chocolate.  Hiram's birthday was at the beginning of my pregnancy when I was so sick and Teague's is at the end when I am so huge.  Next year will be better boys!)

Again, Teague didn't care, he was just thrilled to have cake!

With all of the snow (finally) melted, we went over to the park for some Nerf wars.

Kaleb and Noé shot them all over the park and spent a lot of time retrieving the bullets.  The little boys soon lost interest with that and wanted to play on the playground equipment.

Hiram was so happy that he could climb up the big slide all by himself and slide down.

(Every time he did, I had a mini heart attack, as it just has a steep ladder to climb up and the shoes he was wearing were 2 sizes too big.  Thank goodness he never fell while climbing up, but he did fall every time he landed, he thought that was part of the fun!)

I love this pic of Teague and Gavin on the teeter-totter.  Teague is laughing so hard, because I was teasing him about his pants falling down.  He is so skinny, he constantly has to pull his pants up around his waist- and that's after I've cinched all the inside elastic and buttons!

On Tuesday the treats continued with brownie bites for his class mates.

It's always so fun for me to go into the school.

Teague has 4 teachers!  His EA, ECE, his favorite Mrs. N, and his student teacher.  Since the advent of full-day kindergarten the kindergarten classes have doubled in their size.  Yes, I think it's good to have 4 teachers taking care of 29 kids!!

He came home with another birthday hat and a big sticker.  This darling boy enjoyed his 5th birthday celebrations and I hope he enjoys this new year just as much!

Easter Sunday

We got all dressed up in our Sunday best for a wonderful church service.

We had to throw in a silly picture too.

(Not sure what gang signs Gavin and Noé are throwing, ha!)

After church our sweet friends came over for dinner.  Rita is a rockstar!  She is a single mother of 3 who works 3 jobs and she wanted to make dinner for us (what?) and she made us a feast!

All we made were the potatoes and deviled eggs, she made everything else- turkey, stuffing, the most amazing brussel sprouts, corn & peas, carrots, salad, and rolls.  Everything was so good, that dinner was pretty quiet as we were all too busy stuffing our faces.

Kaleb made us each his new specialty drink- Orange Sunrise.  Just add Orange juice, Sprite, and Grenadine, yum!

For dessert, Rita made 3 homemade pies- Banana cream, Pumpkin, and Chocolate mousse.  Did I mention that she is a rockstar?

Afterwards we had the kids go on an Easter egg hunt.  We hid 80 eggs, but they were all too fast for me to get any action shots.  Here's all the cute kiddos together though.  Silly Talia can do awesome cross-eyes and Ruby just ate a black jelly bean, they're so cute!

Later that night, Hiram didn't want to go to bed so his daddy snuggled him to sleep.  We had a wonderful Easter!