Day of Faith

This video link is of a Harvard religion panel that took place last month. 5 students with different religous backgrounds talk openly about their beliefs. I love religious and cultural studies and really enjoyed listening to each of the panelists. This link is for the "Mormon" that was interviewed. If I had the opportunity to express my faith my answers would be right in line with hers. She explains about the temple, sacred garments, Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. ENJOY. http://vimeo.com/2120177

ATTENTION!!!

IF YOUR BLOG LINK ISN'T IN "MY FAVORITE PEOPLE" COLUMN PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT WITH THE ADDRESS. I'D LIKE TO ADD LOTS OF PEOPLE BUT YOUR PRIVACY FEATURES KEEP ME FROM VISITING YOU. SO, IF YOU'D LIKE ME TO "COME OVER AND PLAY" LEAVE ME THE GOODS. :)

Coming back up for air after 6 weeks!

Awe! Little Liza Smiling!
Kaite and Liza with their matching sheep blankets a friend gave them

She looks so big to me!!! I Can't stand it.


I have a picture of Kaitlyn doing this exact same face-go figure!

Holloween was obviously a HUGE production (note the sarcasm). Notice how Kaitlyn has bunny ears on her hat, I had to slip them on with out her knowing because she REFUSED to wear her costume. I on the other hand was glad to sport my favorite wig because when you haven't showered, this look is quite a nice change. :)

Hello All, I am back among the living... atleast the majority of the time, woo hoo! Week 3 was the low point for me, lots of crying and very little accomplished, but then I learned to embrace my lack of productivity and now we all in a much healthier place. It also helps that both girls aren't sick anymore. Since Liza's been born we've gone to the doctor 8 times. Yuck! We've been doctor free for a couple weeks now so I'm back to my HAPPY PLACE!

O.K. here's my best story TO DATE:

After visiting the DR. 3 times for Liza's mysterious diaper rash problem, we were told a treatment to try. this was NO ordinary diaper rash. It was much closer to a 2nd degree burn, like I'd dipped Liza's tush in a pot of boiling water. I had been given 2 diferent diagnosis, done the treatment for both and after 2 weeks was back into the dr's office to ask what next. The poor kid would bleed when I changed her diaper, wipes were too harsh and she would just shake and cry! (This was probably the biggest contributer to the 3 week meltdown.) So, a nurse had told me it DEFINATLY sounded like a yeast infection that was being passed back and forth between us when I fed her-even though I had no symptoms and Liza had no oral symptoms. Gentian Violet was the treatment recommendation. This stuff is a dark purple/blue solution that dye's EVERYTHING it touches. I was desparate and would try anything. I put it on myself and when Liza eats, she gets it in her system as well and it kills all yeast. Sounds like a good plan. So I strip down and strip Liza down and put towels around me to catch any spit-up. I was only going to put a little on but Zach wanted his moneys worth and said not to be stingy... great plan Zach. We quickly realized the flaw in our plan... The 1st law of parenting: it is absolutely impossible to keep a baby from getting messy when you want them to stay clean. In the process of latching on, Liza successfully rubbed the violet dye ALL over her face. REMEMBER: IT DOESN'T COME OFF. After she got on, things went better until Kaitlyn strolled into the room. She doesn't pay too much attention to Liza, but thinks the milk thing is pretty cool and likes to comment on it when Liza's eating. With this in mind, she stolls over to give me her play-by-play commentary about how Liza's drinking milk-not noticing the blue part yet. At that moment, Liza chokes and pulls off to cough exposing her blue face. Kaitlyn looks at Liza, then looks at me and... starts to dry heave. I wasn't ready for her reaction and started to laugh but was still trying to get her to STOP so she didn't puke all over. Luckily Zach was close and removed her from the scene. I was still laughing while she left thinking about what must be going through her head. A few minutes later, I was burping Liza and Kaitlyn wandered back into the room cautiously. She stopped at the door and I was explaining that it was blue medicine and this was good for Liza. Kaite looked like she processed it well and was "keeping it down" fine. Then without notice, Liza spit up tons of milk... BLUE MILK. Poor Kaitlyn was glued to her spot in the doorway staring with wide eyes when the dry heaving started again. This time I didn't have anyone around to get Kaitlyn to leave and it was like she couldn't take her eyes off what was making her so sick. I couldn't get up bacause I was covered in spit up and worse then that, I was laughing so hard I couldn't call loud enough to get help. I finally composed myself to tell Kaite to turn around and leave which she thankfully did. My 2 year old dry heaving was just too funny. To this day, 3 weeks later, she still comes over everytime I feel Liza to shake her finger and say "No more blue", still traumatized by the experience. FYI: in the end, there was no yeast infection afterall. Liza, can't tolerate desitin diaper ointment, which I was ofcourse smothering all over her. After I stopped the desitin, she healed right up. Yikes! But, as a reminder of our experience had a blue mouth for 5 days. :)

Liza's 2 weeks old

Well, 2 weeks later, we are all still surviving. My mother-in-law just left us this morning and I haven't found out yet if we'll make it on our own because sesame street has been on the whole time. :) We'll see! The last 2 weeks haven't been without adventure. We've already endured really bad yeast infections on both girls and Kaitlyn was diagnosed with hand/foot/mouth yesterday. FANTASTIC. Lots of hand washing and hopefully Liza won't have to get it too. I still promise that I'll add the labor and delivery experience when I get a chance for your entertainment and enjoyment. But for now the peace has left us and I should help these girls.

picking a pumkin last week

Elizabeth Ivie Williams has Arrived!!!

Liza came Sunday Night, October 5th at 11:42 pm after 7 hours of labor. That is a 17 hour improvement over Kaitlyn's delivery!!! HURRAY! There is another whole blog regarding my delivery experience but I don't have tons of time, so we're skipping details for now.

WEIGHT: 6 lb 14 oz, LENGTH: 18 in. She has been so sweet and it feels like she's been around for so much more than 1 week. She can wake the dead with her crying when she wants to but it actually just cracks me up because Kaitlyn was very quiet. Kaitlyn looks so much like Zach and suprise, surprise I looked a lot like this when I was born. Brown hair and all. She's a Bentley! Here's some pics.

Home for 2 days and she looks so old already!!!
Dad is VERY proud
Kaitlyn's first time seeing Liza at the hospital... "I'm not so sure Mom"
This is right after Kaityn kissed her on the head... So cute!
What she looks like RIGHT NOW, let's hope it sticks long enough for a shower. Love you all and I'll do more later!

Hey! Where's the Baby???

What do you do when your Due Date arrives and there is no baby to speak of??? By all means, GET A NEW HAIR CUT I SAY! This could be a risky move, to be sure, in case the cut goes south but I really like it and let's be honest, I was so far gone anything is an improvement. So for your viewing enjoyment, here are some post-cut photos.

"Mom, what are you doing?"
The ackward side shot. similar in nature to the extremely ackward passport photo.
"I want to be in the pictures!!!"
I've noticed that almost all of my pictures show my baby belly covered up completely, so here you go! And YES, my daughter is in a belly shirt, a diaper, and boots. CLASSIC! I won't deny it, she looked like this for atleast 2 hours and we both enjoyed it.

Also: I've been anxiously awaiting what would happen when my baby timer on the side hit "0 days till baby comes" to see what it would do and to my horror, it's adding on more time. That little glitch could really be improved. :) Can't complain though, I feel fine and let's just remind ourselves that I'm not sleep deprived or heavily medicated yet so that's a bonus. :)

My 40 Week Prego Party

Last weeks theme was having a good time every day. We did some really fun things and I can honestly say I totally enjoyed it. Here's a glimspe at some of our activities.

Zach and Kaite at the beach for our final summer bash. This was the first time Kaite was really good at playing in the sand!
There is no stopping Kaitlyn when it comes to the water. She would walk right in and drown without blinking an eye, smiling the whole time. It's a little tricky to keep an eye on her but it's so much fun to watch her play and be so happy.
We hit the playground a few times which always brings sure happiness. The weather has been so nice all week it was a huge boost.
Kaite just cracks me up and I can't help but put her hair in little piggy's.
Don't worry, I only tried this manuver 1 time before realizing it was a poor choice at 40 weeks. Smiling at the top, wide eyed at the bottom!

On Saturday we went to an apple picking farm and had such a great time. The apples were low enough for Kaitlyn to pick herself. We forgot the camera but will go back in a couple weeks (maybe not me) to pick pumpkins as well. Now I've got a basket of apples to keep me occupied for the next few days. The only downer of the apple experience is that I sustained a back injury from pushing Kaitlyn in the stroller that had me in complete pain for 2 days with muscle cramps and spasms. Not a good thing when you are going into labor soon! I am so grateful that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because Zach was able to give me a Priesthood blessing and I've been sore but fine ever since and I know it's a small but profound miracle for me right now. I'm grateful for the ways the Lord blesses me and I see his hand in my life. The gospel is the foundation of our home and our marriage and it's the most important thing we have to treasure and to share. I'm planning on just being really grateful this week. I'll let you know how it pans out! :)

Our 1st Canadian Summer

Thoughts at 39 weeks Prego

I have had a change of heart... thanks to all the advise from you great friends and realizing my window is closing for 1 on 1 time with Kaite. I am going to enjoy every day before Liza comes along. THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, we are naming her Elizabeth Ivey Williams and calling her Liza. That's the final plan and I'm 99.9% sure it's sticking but if you see a post announcing her birth and her name is Fredricka, well-that would be the .01% that I can't control. :) Plus, added insurance is that Kaitlyn can say Liza so it's too darn cute to pass up.
I am also practicing hypnobirthing techniques to prepare me for relaxing through labor, and it REALLY helps. It mostly just makes me feel empowered to help myself when I go into labor. With Kaitlyn I had no way to help myself relax through any of it and had such a hard time! (that was just relaxing to a 3 so I could get an epidural!!!) Yeah, I'm excited to have a MUCH better experience and I totally recommend reading the hypnobirthing material if you plan to go natural or not because it's a great resource.
So I've been on this energy high for the last 3 weeks or so, buzzing around the house organizing every closet, making meals for myself, and generally just NESTING like crazy. Yesterday it all came to an abrupt halt and I felt like Forest Gump when he decides he's finally done running across the country and that he's tired. It just seemed to dawn on me that I was tired and wanted a nap. PREGNANCY can be STRANGE. We're just happy to be here and excited to tell everyone about Liza when she shows up. Thanks for the great advice and PLEASE keep it coming. Everyone has advice to share, even if you don't have kids yet.
OH-I ALMOST FORGOT: My advise to all of YOU! It is imperative that you get a spa treatment when you are 39 weeks prego! I was in HEAVEN. A manicure and a pedicure was JUST what the dr. ordered!!! Bless the Vietnamese and their fast fingers.

My Thoughts at 37 Weeks Prego

So... I'm 3 weeks away from the big D-day, or B-day, however you want to see it, and I'm thinking I'm not so excited about the "D". I have come to realize that a woman must be READY to go through with delivery. As in, the choice between leaving the babe in and being uncomfortable or pushing her out and being miserable is an easy one... I'd rather be miserable and get this over with. I have to say- I am NOT there yet. At church today everyone kept asking if I was excited and ready for this baby. I'm excited and there is a room set up, but I'm not to the All Important Point of Pain yet. Does anyone else get this? I think I'm kind of lucky that besides not being able to bend over and having heart burn, I'm doing pretty good so long as I'm properly medicated every night before bed. :) But I'm starting to want to be completely uncomfortable so the delivery looks like a good thing and not the endless night and day disaster it was with Kaitlyn.
I'm pretty sure I'm setting myself up here and in a week I'll be drinking caster oil and jumping on trampolines to get this all over with. It just seems so convenient that she's fed, warm, sleeping, no diapers, and I haven't lifted a finger. It's going to be a big adjustment going back to a newborn with a 2 year old too. I'm pretty sure almost everyone that reads this has already been here and I'll survive. This is a good time for give me your best advice on getting ready for #2. Ladies, help!

New York, New York!!!

Our trip to NYC was AWESOME!!! We saw all the sights and sounds and smells of Manhattan. It was an awesome time. We were there for 5 days and did a Citypass tour and got to see lots of museums and key locations. Our favorites: Empire State Building (with audio tour), Central Park, Time Square, Natural History Museum, and Rockafeller Center. Our least favorite: Figuring out the mass transit system with a stroller :) and The Guggenheim Museum. I apoligize to all of you that LOVE modern art but we couldn't get a great appreciation for it. Zach had a harder time than I did but it was still a little rough, in the end we were happy to get outside and hit the pavement again. Here's some Highlight pictures:

LOVED CENTRAL PARK. The whole time I was thinking of the movie Enchanted and One Fine Day. I couldn't believe how much I recognized just from the movies I've watched.
Zach's Cousin Emily and Her hubby Nicholaus that we stayed with while we were there. They were so awesome to put up with us coming and going and taking over the front room. You guys are Fantastic!!!
Zach is having his way with the Wall Street Bull.
Here we are about to take the harbor tour around the island and to see the statue of liberty.
TIMES SQUARE. Talk about an exciting place to be. Even during the day it's lit up like crazy. We were there right at dusk and watched the transition to night and I was astounded. Talk about cool. Kaitlyn just kept pointing to the T.V.'s and saying "SHOW-SHOW". Kaitlyn was a really good kid through this whole thing. She missed days of naps and we always got home way too late but she just kind of figured she was along for the ride. I swear she has a tougher time at home than she does on the road. Maybe I should go for a gypsy life. That's a thought.

All in all: GO SEE NYC! We had SUCH a great time and I am so excited to go back some day soon.

You know your a sucker when...

Let's just state the obvious... every parent is a sucker. It's encompases the highs and lows of the position. So much joy when they ask and you give in, and then so much regret when it all goes south. Luckily it doesn't always go south.

YOU KNOW YOUR A SUCKER WHEN: You agree to climb into your 2 yr olds crib to sing songs to her at 8 months pregnant. This little stunt resulted in a pulled hip flexor that still has me limping. Aye, Yae, Yae, Yae! What I wouldn't do. (I do want to say, this was a first, I don't climb in every night.) The cutest part was that after I finished the song she said "momma up" TRANSLATION: Your services are no longer required and you may go. I was pretty happy about it because as doing little extra favors for 2 year old's go... once you've agreed to do it there's a pretty good bet you'll be asked again. Perhaps this was a one time deal now that she knows Momma doesn't fit so well.
YOU KNOW YOUR A SUCKER WHEN: This strategic manuver (But look how cute I can be)gets her a completely separate meal than the one you prepared. Arg! I wish I could say it doesn't happen, but the poor kid would starve since she generally won't eat ANYTHING we're having. What's the trick my friends???
YOU KNOW YOUR A SUCKER WHEN: The opportunity to see Kaitlyn climb up a latter and practice washing the dishes, even though you'll have to change her entire outfit because it will be soaked in the end, is TOTALLY worth it. I like to think she'll never want to stop and when she's 8, 9, 12, 14 she'll still get all excited at the end of each meal and gather up all the dishes for a good scrub while she thanks Zach and I for the delicious meal. WELL I CAN DREAM CAN'T I?
YOU KNOW YOUR A SUCKER WHEN: There is nothing else you'd rather be doing than clean up after your kids, even though you don't like it. Because the big picture reality is, it's all going to go WAY too fast and being a Mom is a huge blessing. So good luck today picking up toys, cleaning up dirty diapers, catching throw up with your bare hands, clean clothes and inevitably your hair, and remember to smile and remember how great it is to see the big smiles and hear I love you's.

We Survived Our Trip to Utah!

So I drove to Utah with my brother's family for our Bentley reunion while my parents were on a break from the temple for 2 weeks. Poor Zach couldn't come because of his school schedule. My brother Dave decided it was the perfect opportunity swing by Mount Rushmore. Why Not? We had a great time with every seat in the mini-van occupied, there was always something interesting to think abou that's for sure. I've got to say that I've never seen 4 kids do such a great job traveling though. THANK HEAVENS! If you haven't been to Mt. Rushmore, it's a great sight. I enjoyed the Black Hills almost as much as the mountain itself though because the area is so beautiful. By the way, this is Karalee, my sister-in-law, but might as well just be my sister. LOVE HER!
"Mom, why didn't you tell me about Otter-pop's before???" Kaitlyn discovered the one and only otter-pop... my personal weakness. It's a miracle I've never bought them before and she's had them, it's probably because I can take care of a box of 500 without any help. It's just a harmless otter-pop I tell myself and that's all the convincing I need. Atleast Kaitlyn got something from me, since in almost every other way she is just like Zach.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAITLYN! 2 years sure has gone fast! I wised up this year and skipped making a birthday cake for her. Last year I slaved away on butterfly cakes that she wouldn't touch. I did a pre-birthday test run before we went out to Utah with a delicious cake and again, NO GO. Glad I checked. So what did we do you ask? Notice the platter of watermelon on the bottom left of the screen. I stacked them up in a lovely cake-like formation and stuck 2 candles on the top. I was quite pleased with it and as you can see, so was Kaitlyn.
Our daily ritual of calling Dadda on the phone to say hi and I love you. Kaite got so good at holding the phone to her ear and listening for a pretty long time. She still doesn't say much so it's a one sided conversation but darn-it she's cute. Even without the speech she's growing up so fast and trying new things. She especially loves her dolls and stuffed animals and feeds, changes, and rocks them to sleep. One at a time. It's good preparation for the new baby I figure. She can just mimic what I do with her baby or puppy. We'll see how it goes. Any suggestons for how to prep my 2 year old for a new little sister? I need to get on it. I'd love any advise. I'll have to add more later, this is a desparate attempt at posting way too late at night.

Happy Canada Day!!!

The Beach at Lake Huron on a perfect day. Kaitlyn LOVED it which was sort of surprising because it was darn cold this morning but that wasn't stopping her. Right after this picture she was in the water up to her chest and laughing every time a wave hit her.

We went with our neighbors and Chris is Kaitlyn's age and they have a great time together. He is a little older and she will do anything he does which is really fun and funny to watch.

I actually look tan next to Kaitlyn, what a bonus. It was the perfect day with perfect weather.

The party continues, check out the sweet waves on the lake. I tell you there's no beating our close "fresh water ocean". Perfect for kids and I'm a major fan.

Here's our sweet set-up. Neville and Karen live 2 doors down and he's a year ahead of us in Zach's program so we have lots in common and the kids play great. They are really fun. We even set the tent up and were able to put kids in for naps and to be contained to play-I recommend it to you all.

So Canada Day 2008 has, so far, been a HUGE success. I love the chance to celebrate 2 independence days. We'll have to think of something fun to do for the 4th as well. I can't believe we've only lived here a month. It's going to be a really fun and memorable 3 years. :)

Exciting Canadian Facts:

I have been tallying up the interesting things about London and Canada in general that I find most interesting...

1. "Eh" is highly catchy. BEWARE! You will be suseptable. There are no limitations to the uses for "Eh". I fear when you talk to me again I will be completely beyond repair... and I might like it.

2. $1 coins are called "Loonies" and $2 coins are called "Toonies". ALSO: although canadian coins look different than US, no one cares about you using US coins. "IT'S ALL THE SAME TO US" is the answer I got.

3. In general, people here are SUPER courteous and polite.

4. Corn dogs are called "pogo's"

5. They serve gravy with fries

6. Humidity is by far the worst thing that happens... EVER. Everyone complains.

7. Farmers keep their lands absolutely PRISTINE. The country side is so tidy it looks fake.

8. Lots of Londoners refer to Quebec as "Ka-bek" Apparently the french style. Although people we met from Quebec say it like we do in the states.

9. Milk is sold in bags. As in, you slide your bag of milk inside a pitcher and cut off the corner and use it like that. The liter bags are quite handy.

10. Tons of parks and all of them have Splash Pads for the 2 hot months in the summer. London is VERY kid friendly.

11. In London we have not only a street named "Wonderland" but a housing development called "Sherwood Forest". It feels very fairytail-ish in that area. :)

12. Gas is $6 a gallon (sold in liters). OUCH!

13. Sales tax is 13% and about everything is 50% more expensive.

14. Half of our local channels are in French

15. We are loving it... although we are currently taking donations to pay for food and gas. :)

Our New Life Has Begun

Zach's First Day of School! Check out the sweet scooter he gets to ride to save on gas prices!

Canada's "Beach" 45 min. away from us on Lake Huron. This really is a nice beach with waves and everything. The town even has surf shops and boardwalks. We were quite impressed. I'm a huge fan of waves AND fresh water. Too bad it's still pretty cold.

Our living room/dinning room area of the house.

Kaitlyn's hair LOVES the humidity as you can see. She's in heaven without her skin being so dry all the time. She also really likes our community backyard and the playgrounds.

The Kitchen View. These really aren't the greatest pictures ever, I know but atleast I did something. Right?

So we are on week 3 here in London and I've got to say, we are LOVING it. My pregnant self hasn't even cried in about a week so that's really looking good. I really do just cry a lot when I'm pregnant. But the upside is that I also laugh a lot too so I guess it's a trade-off.

Well folks! I went to my ultrasound appointment on Friday and we have a ruling on #2.... IT'S A GIRL! The ironic thing is that the tech is legally restricted from telling me the sex and you don't actually meet the radiologist here in Canada so she wouldn't even tell me. I convinced her to really work on getting a good shot so that I could figure it out for myself. I am no radiologist but I've been around the block once so I made the call and she backed me up without doing anything to get her fired. Apparently people around here sue if they are wrong about the sex so no one says anymore. Woo hoo. I'm able to just day-dream about my 2 girls running around.

I am putting together a list of interesting and funny Canadian facts for all of your enjoyment so stay tuned for my little tid-bits to come.

We Have Arrived and are Alive

Well, I’ve got to admit I can’t believe we are all here and the last week has come and gone. The only way I can sort out anything to tell is by doing a timeline of events:
May 16 - Zach practiced general dentistry for the last time and said goodbye to his staff and patients.
May 23 - Packed up the GI-NORMOUS moving truck with the help of Pop, Jim (Calkins), Charlie, Zach’s Dad, and the one ward member that showed up on time. J Other ward members came but we were finished. I can’t thank Kathy and Sharon enough for coming over in the morning and afternoon to clean my apartment and for Teresa and Zach’s Mom for taking care of Kaitlyn for about the whole week. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
May 24 - Left SLC at 4 am (thought it would be 3 am but you know how that goes) Set off on I-80 towards Omaha. We made it there at 9 pm. Kaitlyn was a traveling angel. Zach’s Mom and Dad made the drive with us and talk about LIFE SAVING. It’s a good thing the moving truck could only go about 65 because we stopped and gave Kaitlyn so many breaks that our mini-van driving time was worse then theirs. J
May 25 - We left Omaha at 8 am (we needed to recover from the previous day) and drove straight through to Detroit which incredibly enough took us until Midnight! Poor Dave and Kar stayed up for us and had their basement set up better than the Hilton, it was such a great way to finish off 2 long days of driving. Kaitlyn did great again but I had a heart attack when we stopped for lunch and after changing her pants I was putting things away and Kate fell out of the car right on her face on the asphalt. Of course she got over it in a few minutes, although the left side of her face is still healing, I on the other hand am still shaken up from being right there and having it happen. I’m sure it won’t be the last time.
May 26 - We slept in until 9 am and left around 10 to head for the border. Luckily we didn’t look too suspicious and after a 45 minute meeting with the customs agent about all of our visas and other paperwork they let us through around 1:30. We drove to our new city of LONDON. On the drive in we passed every major store we are used to seeing in SLC. There really isn’t any visible sign that we’re in another country besides the speed limit being in Kilometers. We found our way to Platt’s Lane where we live and pulled up to our town home and… it was not what I expected. The exteriors are older and ours looked pretty shabby, the yards hadn’t been cared for and there were tall weeds around. The playground across the street looked old and faded and I thought “well at least this isn’t the inside.” Now, let me just say that I made the mistake of conjuring up in my mind what it would be like based on our experience in Omaha and the pictures I found on the internet. I also had the floor plan from the management and made the mistake of picturing it MUCH bigger than it really is. So that’s a preface. I walked through it and went upstairs and the 3 bedrooms are more like 2 bedrooms and a 3rd space we’ve affectionately named “Mary’s Walk-in Closet” because it’s so small and our master bedroom is too small for our dresser so it had to go in the 3rd one. The basement is 2x4’s and cement, not finished at all. I saw the whole thing, went upstairs in the bathroom and started bawling. It was a great cry. I really needed it too. Packing, moving away, driving 3 days, little sleep, stress, etc plus the added disappointment of my new home feeling more like a mouse cage welled up and I was out of commission for 5 minutes. The beauty of hitting my low point right at the start is it’s all gotten better from there. While we moved in and I directed traffic, Mom put the kitchen together, Kar took over as full-time babysitter for Kate, Zach and Dad and Dave had their hands full with the entire truck’s contents. We couldn’t have done it without Dave and Kar coming to help. Kar also served as our PR rep. By the time she left, she’d met all of our neighbors and introduced us all. J
May 27-28 - We spent unpacking and working out the details of money, school insurance, etc. Which are still not resolved but in the works.
May 29 - WE TOOK OFF! We decided we all needed a break and drove to Niagara Falls and Palmyra for a 2 day trip. For the record, Niagara Falls is tons cooler than I expected it to be. It’s HUGE and the Canadian side was so well manicured and looked more like how clean and pristine the church keeps all of their buildings and facilities. What a cool place. We went on the Maid of the Mist right up to the falls complete with a drenching when we got there. Kaitlyn screamed her head off the whole time but it served to wear her out and she slept for the next couple hours. We had so much fun in Niagara that we only made it to Rochester and found a hotel.
May 30 - Palmyra trip. There is such an incredible spirit at the church history sites there. Mostly felt for me when we walked through the sacred grove. We all had an great experience. Even Kaitlyn was overcome by the peace and fell asleep for the morning. When we were done it was already 3 pm and we decided to head for home. 2/3 of the way there at the junction for Toronto I hear “Why don’t we just go to Toronto?” That’s all it took. We headed off to Toronto and found a hotel. We are a little crazy.
May 31 - TORONTO. It’s not as big as NYC even though that’s what all the Canadian’s refer to when they try to give us a comparison. Not that I’ve been to NYC but Toronto just feels open even in the heart of the city. We all decided it feels A LOT like San Francisco, complete with China town, Greek town, India town, Tour boats, a castle, a huge Beach, and it wasn’t a degree warmer than 70 the whole time there. We had a great time looking around and seeing the sites. We got home at 7 pm and hit the sack for the most part.
June 1 - Today! We went to our ward which is small but strong. There are 2 families that live here in Platt’s Lane that we’re getting together with for FHE tomorrow night. I’m not sure how many callings we’ll both get, it looks like they need the help. I guess we’ll find out next week. We’re on our way for a walk since it’s turned sunny and a little warmer for the first time all week. Zach starts his first day of school at 9 am tomorrow morning! Wish us luck.
I’d love to hear from any one and I’ll try to do a better job updating instead of the crazy long e-mail. Our info is:
TELEPHONE: 801-738-0212 (yes it’s a UTAH number)
ADDRESS: 568 Platt’s Lane London, ON N6G-3B1 Canada
Love you all!