Happy Birthday, Zach !

I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.

Do you know that book?

It was a popular one in our home when my boys were little.

Some of my best memories were of reading to them at night in my bed as part of our nightly  routine – although now I realize it was almost a sacred ritual we were partaking in – the  memories are so special. 

But Not the Hippopotamus. Barnyard Dance. Good Night Moon. 

And of course, I’ll love you forever.

Because that’s what mamas do with their babies.

And every year on my babies birthdays, there is a celebration of life – of who the baby has become, is becoming, and always has been. And, at the same time, in my same heart, a slight sadness at how the years feel like somehow they were stolen from me. Like I didn’t get enough time. A reminder of how precious every second is.

Today is my celebration of my life forever changing- in the very best way possible. 

It is the celebration of one of the most incredible humans I know! 

He is certainly my favorite oldest son 🙂 

Happy Birthday Zach!! 

I truly am amazed at this kid especially as I’ve watched him over the years overcome challenges, create exciting adventures, dedicate himself to his goals and dreams, and pick a partner that he is loyal to, head over heels in love with and his true equal counterpart.

Zach is incredibly hard working, driven, focused. He also knows how to have fun, be silly, question things, be stubborn  and is a very loyal, kind, direct, considerate friend, brother, son, and husband. 

While he is seriously frugal and loves a good deal (which he doesn’t care what people think about that)  he knows what he wants to invest in and  experiences and travel top that list. 

He can be counted on, he is reliable and committed, and family tops his list of priorities. 

It has been so fun to watch him and Rachael this past year thrive as a couple – living an adventurous student life! Can’t wait to see them continue to flourish in years to come.

We love you Zach. So happy to be your mom! Happy Birthday!! 

Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam is finally “legal” adult age. 

At least in some parts of the world.

But given he is number 5, I think he’s considered himself adult age for many years. lol

He graduated high school, enjoying a lot of fun times with his friends. We barely saw him this year! 

He’s headed to Carleton (and will be with Josh – don’t want to even think of the trouble those boys will get into) and is going to study Political Science. 

Sam is such a social guy – loves to be out with his friends.

He is also very musical. He has taught himself guitar, and can be heard singing loud in the shower 😂.

He also loves listening to music – especially old stuff. Hence why he chose England (with a whole bunch of music tours) for his “16 trip”.  Concerts are also his thing. 

He also loves to play sports – soccer, rugby – whatever team he can join at school – he’s in.

He also loves watching soccer and cheering his team on. It was fun to visit a couple of stadiums in England that he really wanted to see. 

He’s also becoming quite a writer and he continues to enjoy reading.  

Can’t believe he’s the last to fly the nest. Great things in store for him! 

Happy Birthday and we love you, Sam!!

Happy Birthday Gabe

It’s the crazy birthday month!

Good thing I’ve switched up my birthday posts since our family has been growing. I’m not doing a great  job keeping up with the blog in general – never mind 3 posts on two weeks!

But today we are celebrating Gabe! 

Gabe just finished off 2nd year law school. He transferred this past year from Florida and went to Brooklyn Law School.

Needless to say, he’s loving it! 

And doing so well.

Both he and Shannon have taken to New York and enjoy spending their weekends exploring the city. 

Here are a smattering of photos I have of Gabe- I can’t be blamed for not having good pictures bcs I take what I can get :))

Gabe has really worked hard this year and it is paying off – not only in school, but in the internships he is doing. 

He has a dynamic personality and people are drawn to him.

He is super funny and still continues to make every one around him laugh.

He’s a committed and supportive husband.

He still is like his dad’s twin in so many ways! 

A bright and sunny future!

Happy Birthday and Love you Gabe!

Masterminding

This past year I joined a Mastermind led by the woman who truly introduced me to life coaching.

Not to say I had not heard of life coaching. One of my BFFs had been a life coach for many years, and back in 2014 I actually became certified as a life coach.

But in 2017, on a family trip to Cambodia, I was frustrated with my kids (lol) and googled something like “bad lds mom advice” and a podcast came up called “Be Bold Mom”. I started listening the podcast, hosted by a Life Coach, Jody Moore. That podcast led me to learn about The Life Coach School. I spent the next couple of years learning and listening, joined Jody Moore’s membership program called Be Bold and then eventually became certified with The Life Coach School.

Since the beginning though, Jody Moore was always a great example to me of the kind of coach I wanted to be and I have been learning from her for years. A couple of years ago she started a business program and I set my sights on it. Then last year, I decided I really wanted to invest in my business and decided to join her mastermind.

What a great experience it has been!!

We met in person 3 times – last September, in February, and then last week (end of June). And then had calls in between.

I went into knowing that I would learn a lot about my business, and I had said that I was looking for the experience – the journey – and that is what I got – and more.

I met so many amazing people and my mind was stretched in so many ways, and so many opportunities and shifts happened. It was truly an experience that I am grateful for having and has propelled me into a direction I love

It was because of one thing that led to another that led to another that led to another that led me to start my Advanced Training in Nervous System Resilience – which I am halfway through taking 10 coaches through! Wahoo!!

I wanted to post some pictures of the three weekends so I have them to help jog my memory!

From September:

Then in February:

Then last week…

Amazing experience with so many amazing humans:)

Happy Birthday Rob

Rob is on business in Germany this week – and is away for his birthday!

But we will celebrate when he is back in times for Father’s Day.

We are almost official empty nesters and Rob and I both work at home now – so you would think that I would tire of him …

but, alas, no.

He’s simply the best.

Kind, considerate, crazy smart, funny, loving, witty, generous, talented, creative, passionate, driven, hard working, goofy, sexy, ambitious, logical, calm, peaceful, empathic. The list can go on (of course there is another list of things that drive me crazy lol but bcs it’s his birthday, Ill focus on the important stuff:)

So blessed to have him in my life to now follow the adventures of our kooky kids and create ones of our own.

Love you Robbie McHottie! xoxo

Happy Birthday Rachael!

The first time I met Rachael, she was barely 15. I was a leader at a local youth conference. She and Zach were put in the same group and became fast friends. That friendship turned into a little bit more… and over the years, even though they lived 1.5 hours apart, we got to know Rachael a lot more

They dated on and off over the years, but took a big official break when she graduated high school and Zach was entering grade 12. She headed to France to be an aupaire and Zach finished high school (their official good bye when she left for France….)

The following year, they both decided to serve missions for our church. He went to Tahiti, she went to Thailand. They figured they would see what happened between them when they both came home from their missions. 

The official mission goodbye:

Well, they both were called home in the middle of their missions due to Covid… and that time home solidified their relationship. They did both decide to head back out to complete their missions. Zach went to Alberta and Rachael went to BC. They officially reunited in the summer of 2021, headed to BYU and got married in June 2022. 

The rest of history… or history in the making.

They decided this year to be a bit adventurous. Zach is studying for his MCAT and they decided it might be fun to go back to France to her aupaire family from years previous. He would study. She would help out the family who just had another baby.

And that is where they are celebrating her birthday. Well, actually, I think they are catching a flight to Portugal for the weekends. The benefit of being in Europe!

Then they plan on coming back here for part of the summer  after their time in France. Rachael will work, and Zach will continue studying, until he writes the MCAT in August. Then back to BYU they will go where she studies nursing and he’s in neuroscience.

They are a very driven couple! Fun, ambitious, hard working, dedicated, loyal and kind. 

But since it’s Rachael’s bday – I’ll focus on her a bit. 

She’s fiercely independent, but also open to connect. While Rob teases her about being “scattered” (it’s an ongoing joke between them), she is on top of things and gets the job done. She doesn’t offend easily and has a great sense of humour. She seeks advice, but also figures it out on her own. She’s humble, and confident. 

She accepts Zach’s shenanigans, but also puts him in his place. She is kind, but firm, and a plus in my books is she’s a communicator.  She loves to travel and is frugal (although is often teased about it – but she takes it all in stride. We had a lot of similarities in how we were raised, so I respect that side of her immensely:) 

She’s an all around great gal and we’re so happy to have her in our family! 

Happy Birthday Rachael! 

Happy Birthday Zandra and Ilyah

The blog is slowly dwindling to a blog of travel experiences, special occasions – which includes birthdays.

But, I am changing that up too!

I’ve decided that birthday blogs will mainly include some updates on each person so that way I can capture all the adventures that each person has done that year.

Of course, I’ll have to throw in some amazing-ness stuff too..

And, I do a cheat for Zandra and Ilyah since their birthdays are back to back and they are married:)

Ilyah celebrated a couple of days ago and Zandra’s is today

So the birthday couple have had a lot of change in the past little bit.

Zandra graduated from BYU Hawaii with her degree in Education and Ilyah finished up his service in the army.

They packed their bags at Christmas and left the island of Hawaii and headed to city life in San Francisco. Zandra is working now at a preschool and Ilyah has started community college. They both have plans for more education; Zandra wants to get a masters in teaching and Ilyah plans to go to get his degree as well.

They have two cute cats – Boo and Theo that get up to cuteness no good! They all love San Francisco – Zandra is happy to be back in a city ! She has always loved San Francisco too.

They are coming to Toronto this summer and holding a wedding celebration – a big party to celebrate their marriage (which they did on their own in Jan 2022 in Hawaii). So lots of excitement about that!

Of course every child Zandra works with adores her bcs she is so good with them! She has a heart of gold and her love shines through. She continues to explore her creativity and seems to have new paintings done whenever we talk with her! Ilyah also has that crafty streak taking a wood working course and bringing things home for their apartment. He is curious about everything and enjoys learning and sharing his knowledge. He is enjoying showing Zandra his home city!

Happy Birthday, you two! Love you!!!

Manchester

Manchester was the last leg – of what felt like the Amazing Race, lol.

We arrived and found a spot right around the corner for dinner and enjoyed some really yummy fish tacos.

The next day we had a private music tour booked and our guide was amazing. He combined the history of music with the history of the city. It was truly fascinating. He spent a lot of time talking about some famous Manchester groups including Oasis and Joy Division. He took us to some very famous parts of the city too – where album covers had been made, famous clubs (like the Hacienda) and neighbourhoods where people grow up. Sam even got to meet Mr. Sifter from Sifter’s music

After the tour we went for lunch and had yummy schnitzel and bratwurst for Sam (we went to a German restaurant).

In the afternoon we went to the National Football Museum. It was fun to read all about different players. Football (soccer) has been a big part of our lives bcs of how much the boys played.

Dinner was at the local food court/market (sounds bad – but it is super unique with excellent options for food).

The next day we wandered the city – did a walking tour of the historical cites, went to the British Museum, the library and ate outdoors from the street food stands (again sounds bad but super cute). In the afternoon we did some shopping at Afflecks – this three level store made of up 60 unique stores.

We ended off our day heading back to London and stayed in the airport hotel for our final night bcs our flight was early the next morning.

Overall, it was a good trip and even the England rainy weather did not disappoint:)

Some sample photos:

Liverpool

We caught an early train to Liverpool to spend one night.

We arrived, checked into the Hard Days Night hotel and headed for a quick lunch.

Following lunch, we went to the Beatles Museum by the port. It was pretty impressive – you take a guided audio tour through different rooms and learn about the different phases of the Beatles – lots of trivia.

We walked around a bit and then went to chill for a bit!

We headed out into the rainy evening and had some pizza before we finally crashed at night!

The next day we headed out to go on the Beatle’s Magical Mystery Tour – to see all the sites including the homes where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Strawberry Fields etc. Again, super interesting! Sam is a huge music fan so all the music tours are for him!

We had lunch at the Cavern Restaurant and then went and visited the Cavern Club – unreal how many people have played there!!!

We also made it to Marks and Spencer to have their famous Mac and cheese (I love Mac n cheese)! Then we shopped a little bit and chilled at the hotel before trying to catch our train.

Of course, our train was cancelled and it was a bit of a pain – as we had to hire an uber to take us to Manchester where we are spending the rest of our trip!

Sam’s 16 Trip – London

Well we are finally rounding up the last of the 16 trips.

It was such a good idea when we first came up with it years ago – but who knew that Covid would hit, and that life would get incredibly busy over the years which would lead to Josh having an almost 19 trip and Sam having a 17.5 trip.

Better late than never.

So here we are – the final 16 trip.

Sam decided to go to England. Being a music nut, he wanted to hit London, Liverpool and Manchester.

We arrived in London and hit the road pretty quick after checking into our cute hotel on top of a neighourhood pub. We had a fish and chip lunch and then headed out.

The tube was a 7 min walk which was great, but we opted to make our way by foot to see Westminster Abbey.

We walked along some pretty posh streets and then saw the Abbey (it was closed), Big Ben, headed to Trafalgar Square, saw the London Eye, then walked through the park to Buckingham Palace.

We headed back and found a cute restaurant near our hotel for Indian food.

The next day I had a little route all planned out, but then we got a call from our guide for a music tour that I thought I had booked on Sunday! Oops!

We quickly went to meet our guide and had a fantastic tour. He took us all around and pointed out all the historical spots – recording studios, cafes, studios. Lots of trivia about David Bowie, Oasis, Sex Pistols, etc.

After our tour, we did a few more touristy walks – to Tower of London, London bridge, tower bridge etc.

That night we headed for dinner to my old friend Shar who moved back to London several years ago. We got to meet her partner and had a great catch up and visit (and meal!).

The next day Sam headed off on his own to visit some friends who were also visiting just outside of London – and Rob and I had the day to ourselves!

We walked around for a bit, had tea and then went and saw Wicked! We ended our day with a yummy dinner at a local Italian restaurant.

Our last day, we decided to head out of the city and rented a car and drove to the White Cliffs of Dover. We hiked along the cliffs – it was gorgeous – but super super windy!!

We grabbed some scones, cream and jam for a snack too:)

After our hike, we headed to Canterbury – visited the Cathedral and then walked around town. We found a cute pub and had some traditional food (pot pies and roast).

On our way back, we stopped at the Arsenal Stadium – Sam’s fave soccer team and then headed back.

Rob and Sam went and played some darts and I headed back to the hotel.

Next stop – Liverpool!