Day 2, Part A- Pindigen Park

On Sunday, after church, we rode the train downtown to visit the Holocaust Memorial.  We got a bonus, with visiting Pindigen Park on our way.

Macy wasn't sure what to think of the train at first.  Soon she was singing and dancing with her reflection in the window.

The park highlights Indigenous culture and heritage, and its name evokes the spirit of inclusivity and harmony among people.  Pindigen means, Come on in!  All are welcome here.

Daddy and Ali...

...with this cool eel statue.

Mommy and Macy...

...inside a woven basket.

Teague and Gavin...

...with a moose a birds.

Kaleb and Hiram...

...with another moose.

The park was filled with several of these cool animal sculptures.

As well as these beautiful paintings representing land, water, air, and people.

Macy gives the most beautiful smiles, except to the camera.  This one of her eyelashes and delicate facial features is still precious to me though!

Staycation, Day 1- Pink Lake

Elder Reil had 12 days from when he was supposed to report to the mission field in Mozambique until he actually reported to the mission field in Toronto.  We took a week's "staycation" to get out of the house and stretch our legs for a couple of hours each day.  On this Saturday, we went to Gatineau Park to hike around Pink Lake.  The lake is named after the Pink family, but the water is actually green, because of a lack of oxygen in the water. 

I hiked this lake back in 2004 with Kaleb and Noé (2 years old) and my friend, Lianne, and her daughters, Lucy and Alesa.  It was time I took the whole family back!

Pie, Jam, and Bread

Kaleb was in a baking kick and he made a fresh rhubarb and strawberry pie, and rhubarb jam, cherry jam, and bread.

Everything tasted delicious!

(It's a good thing Kaleb left on his mission, because I have a weakness for baked goods!)

Year-end Art

I love going through the art my kids created through out the school year.  I decide which treasures to keep forever, which to take pictures of, and which can be recycled.  Here are some recent favorites.

Macy exploring color and texture with her sandcastle and seashell art.

Ali's rendition of The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh.

Hiram's family picture for his French class.  I loved how he spelled everyone's names.

Teague's bakery board game.  I can't wait to play it!

Embassy Suites

When Noé was taking her university courses online here in Canada, she won a night's stay at any Embassy Suites to use within a year.  Of course, she chose the one in Hawaii, hoping she would get to go before the year was over.

Her hopes came true and she got to spend a night in the lap of luxury with her roommate, Anais.

They had a blast!

Teague's 1st Temple Trip

Our temple in Montreal opened back up for proxy work, so Leonard and I got a babysitter for our 3 youngest kids and took our 3 biggest kids to serve there (we were missing Noé)!

Gavin and Teague waited patiently inside, while Leonard, Kaleb, and I served in an endowment session.

Afterwards, they joined us to do baptisms for our ancestors who had passed away before they were baptized.  Leonard baptized me, while Kaleb baptized Gavin and Teague.

(Our ancestors in the Spirit World can choose not to receive these ordinances, but we offer them in love and hope they will choose to accept them.)

I'm so happy I got to be here with Teague on this special day.  I look forward to the day when Leonard and I can serve in the temple with all of our children!

Prom 2021

Kaleb and 3 of his great friends from St. Pete's were each other's social bubble during the covid insanity.  Kaleb and Jason graduated in 2020, so they missed their Prom.  Morgan and Emma graduated in 2021, so they also missed their Prom.  The 4 of them decided to get dressed up and head out early one Saturday morning to take "Prom" pictures anyway.

Kaleb and Morgan.

Kaleb and Jason.

Kaleb and Emma.

I'm glad he has good friends!

Home is Where the Heart Is

Early in July, I wished a friend of mine a Happy Birthday on facebook.  While I was on her wall, I saw that she shared her niece's house for sale in Georgia.  I immediately fell in love with the home and showed it to Leonard.  He has been working from home for almost a year and a half, so we set off to see if he could continue working from home at a new address.  This home is 2/3s bigger than ours, on a half-acre, with several HOA amenities (2 community pools, tennis courts, playground, lake, 5 miles of walking trails), all at about half the price of our home in Ottawa.

I was going to be out of town, so we decided to hire a photographer to take pictures of our home, just in case we wanted to list it, while I was gone.  Long story short, we decided not to move to Georgia this year, but it has put the travel bug back in us.  We also got some beautiful pictures of our home in the meantime!