10 Years in Canada

The sky line while on a Bridge in Montreal

 

January Second 2014 will be our 10 year Anniversary. We decided that since Seth was spending the majority of December in Montreal Canada, that we would celebrate early and I would meet him up there for a few days. Our Honeymoon was spent in the Freezing temperatures of Jackson Hole Wyoming and its only fitting that we froze our rears off for our 10 year anniversary as well.

I was able to spend 3 full days there while my in laws took care of the kiddos. Hats off to them :)

This was definitely the furthest East I have ever been, and probably will be, it was a fun new adventure. Seth picked me up Thursday Night and we Headed for some Hot Chocolate and doughnuts. The perfect way to start in my opinion. Then we settled in for the night at the hotel.

Only in Canada would a man ride a unicycle in the snow.

The top of the Bridge

 

Our Hotel Room

 

Not too bad for a work paid for room.

 

Then Friday we woke up and had breakfast together. Our plans were to attend the Montreal Temple which was about an hour from where we were.  It was a nice and interesting drive. Its a unique city and considering it was so cold there I could not believe the amount of people who walk around the city there. 

 

I did forget to mention that Montreal is in Quebec which is a French Speaking State of Canada. It was very interesting to see everything in French and have everyone greet you in French.

 

We arrived at the Temple right in time for the session, they only have a few a day, its a tiny temple. Then while getting out of the car Seth received a call and needed to head into work. Bummer. So we took a few pictures and headed back.

So Pretty

 

Quick Picture to prove we were there

 

ITs really Bright

Thankfully, we were able to head back later that night at actually attend a session. It was so small but so lovely. There were only 5 of us in there and I could really feel the spirit. The patrons were all so happy to have visitors, and asked us to come back soon a few times :)

 

Outside the temple after the session

  

Its a relatively new temple

 The only pictures we got of the two of us the whole time were these fantastic selfies.

Saturday Seth had to work early, we were able to have lunch together but he had to work more than expected. So I hung out in the Hotel and watched movies. It was so relaxing. Then we had dinner and did some shopping. We went to the mall to try to find Seth a warm coat. It was packed. Then we noticed how very quickly it wasn't packed. So strange all the shops closed at 5PM.. It was very odd.

Evidence of how cold it was

This really awesome Catholic church was so pretty with the snow falling all around

Its one that's still in use

 

Sunday was a snowy mess. It dropped a foot of snow this day. We went to church at a local ward and the snow was deep all around. The people were friendly and the ward, as expected, was small. They had no one to play the piano and thus all the sacrament hymns were sung acapella. It was strange but also really neat, sincere and sweet. One member was so interested in my history, right off the bat asking, have you always been a member? were your parents members or converts?, etc. He said their ward was primarily converts. Which was really cool. Again, Seth was called into work and we had to leave after sacrament. We had planned on doing some sight seeing this day, but due to the enormous amount of snow, we were not able to.

 

Overall it was a very relaxing and fun trip. Even though we were not able to do a lot, it was nice for it to just be us. The last time we stayed the night somewhere without kids was for our 5 Year anniversary and it was one night. Before that it was pre kids. So in the last 7 years we have been alone and away 1 time. Not enough. We will definitely be trying to do it more often.

 

It was fun to reminisce about the last ten years, what we have done and how we have changed. But also discuss the next ten years our hope and dreams of what's to come.

 

I am very thankful for Seth. For the wonderful husband, Father, provider and example that he is. We have had a lot of ups and downs and ups again, and all the experiences we have had has made us stronger. I am thankful to know that we are married for all eternity and that we have a never ending road ahead of us.

 

Here is to the next 10 years! And eternity after that.

The day of snow!

Departing Montreal, the frozen waters 

Arriving for my connection in New York.

 Departing New York. It was absolutely beautiful!  We flew out over the Atlantic then back over the river to head home. The pictures don't do it justice, it was breathtaking. Or maybe because after being in the Dump that was called La Guardia Airport, it seemed extra special.

 

The Advent Calendar

Drinking eggnog

This year instead of candy in the Advent calendar I tried to be a little more creative. Everyday we have been trying to do something. I wanted my kids to really feel what Christmas means. We wake up every morning and see what the calendar says to-do.  Some days its as simple as saying something  nice to someone, others do a service. We have made Stars and discussed their meaning in Christmas, colored manger scenes and a few others. Of course there have been days of playing the Wii as a family and watching a movie, as well as watching the video of the birth of our Savior, scripture reading and just playing games. It has been pretty fun and the kids have enjoyed it thus far. Naturally I couldn't take pictures of everything, but here are a few of the things we have done so far.

Look at that Manger

Yep I can color

Good assist Dad

Cutie

Quite the artist

Displayed art work

Coloring and cutting

Nems loves to color

The Star

Abbys Nativity

The Star

Here are some videos of Playing the Wii as a family. Thankfully Abby didn't get one of Seth and I duking it out. That would have been embarrassing.

Ice Ice Baby... Too Cold Too Cold

Attempting to slide down the front yard

As I sit and write this, its day 3 of the Ice storm. It was fun and pretty the first day and School was cancelled. Day two was rough because roads were bad and we couldn't leave. Day three, shoot me.  Seth's out of town, the kids are stir crazy, all we do is eat and its cold. The road in our neighborhood is a solid sheet of ice and I am not brave enough to drag the kids in the car by myself. 

I would venture to guess school will be closed tomorrow as well. We are running out of things to do without killing each other. Most places are closed, even church was cancelled.  Crazy times. I do enjoy spending time with the kids, don't get me wrong. But I like to go to the park, play in the back yard, ride bikes all of which are out. The crafts come harder to me plus I don't really have the supplies. But I am trying. I don't like my kids to watch tv all day. Granted they have been watching more than normal but its still limited.

We did go out and have a little fun. These pics and videos are from day 1.



Brrrrrr



Take a picture of me mom.

Look at how think the ice is on our tree

Ice angels



Hugs...

Project Christmas

 The day after Thanksgiving we took advantage of the beautiful weather and decorated for Christmas. Abby really wanted to be on the roof. Seth obliged and I had an anxiety attack.  She was having the time of her life. She thought it was the coolest thing she has ever done. She even told her class when asked what they did for thanksgiving. That was what she remembered.

After the outside was done, we worked on the inside. We got the tree up, the manger out and Christmas treats were consumed. It was a fun day. Briggs in no way wanted to take part in being on the roof. Neither did he want to be on Seth's shoulders to string the tree or place the star.  So Emily did the honors :)

The time of her life!

No dad!

My turn?

Cheese

Little miss adorable.

 My camera is dying a slow death resulting in some blurry pictures but, at least I have some :)

Good little patient

 Where to begin? Emily has struggled with ear infections since birth. She had her first set of Tubes around 9 months old and they helped a lot. Unfortunately they only lasted 7 months before falling out. When the tubes fell out the ear infections started to come quickly. I decided to try a more homeopathic route with oils and going to the chiropractor, and they did ease up, but never did they go away.

After spending lots of money on the chiropractor and oils with continued ear infections we started considering tubes again. Then she got another infection. She was put on antibiotics, after two weeks her ears were worse. She got a stronger antibiotic and by the third week of antibiotics we decided it was time. She was always in pain and I hated her taking so much medicine. I called her primary care physician to see how many ear infections she had actually had, it was 7 in 6 months. YIKES I didn't realize it was THAT many.

We went to the pediatric ENT Tuesday, who suggested taking her adenoids out too. Since this was her second set of tubes it would maybe prevent a third set in the future. I wanted it done ASAP because I knew she would just get more infections if we waited, plus Thanksgiving was approaching. The surgery was scheduled for Friday. Thankfully Seth was able to take the day off and take care of Abby and Brigham.

She was such a good girl. We had to be at the hospital at 530am and wait til 7 for our surgery. Seriously everyone kept commenting on how good she was in pre op, not to mention her overwhelming cuteness.

10 minutes before the surgery they gave her something to calm her down, and in turn basically make her super giddy. It was hilarious. Then they took her away :(  She had to be under for roughly 20 minutes, she had to have an IV and a breathing tube, which I was really nervous about. But she made it through. The doctor said the tubes went in well and he cleaned out her ears. Her adenoids we larger then expected too so it was a good thing we took those out while we had the chance.

Waking up from anesthesia was really rough, as they brought me to her, I could hear her screaming for me. No Bueno. She had lines and tubes all over her and she was very disoriented. It was really hard to watch.  I laid in the bed with her to try and calm her, she would ease up for a bit and then start wailing again and screaming for me despite being right next to her. After about 20 minutes of that not working I told the nurses I needed to pick her up. They helped me with all the gear, and once she rested on my chest, she was much better. She calmed down right away and fell asleep a few times. It took awhile for all the drugs to wear off but we were released around 10. We went home and had donuts, she was super clingy for a few days and rather grumpy, but today is day 12 post op and she is much better.

Here is hoping these tubes last much longer.

The little patient

Pre op entertainment

This is a short video of Emily doped up.  Cute and sad at the same time.

Brighams Feast

The week before thanksgiving, Brigham's school hosted a feast. Just like last year the food was rather tasty. Brigham loved having Seth, Emily and I there. They sang some songs and then we feasted. We sat with my friend and Andi and her son, who also attends the school. It was a fun day. All except for the fact that as soon as Seth left, Brigham got that look in his eye. I knew it would come and sure enough, it did. He puked. Thankfully I was able to catch it all in my cup.  Not that many people seemed to notice around us.... Well except for our table mates and some of the teachers...sorry about that.

Favorite Pic of the day!!!
 

  

Primary Program

We recently had our Primary Program at church. The kids had memorized their parts a month before and we so excited to do it.  The went up on stage like it was no big deal, sang their songs, spoke their parts and it was over. I loved it because I could pick out Brigham's voice out of all the kids up there singing. Proud momma moment. As you know we have had our fair share of melt downs when it comes to public performance so I was a bit worried, but they did it and it was lovely. Here are a few pics of the kids dressed for the big day.