Raising Flowers and Skids

Settling in to Oahu and BYU-H

Posted on September 12, 2019 by Leah

The next morning we had Zandra’s move in appointment pretty early. We were up even earlier due to jet lag so went for a walk on the beach.

We headed over to campus and got her all checked into her Hale, got her medical clearance and her student card.

We then went and set up her bank account and got her phone plan! Yah! We stopped for some poke for lunch and headed out to shop! We found everything she needed and then were snacky so went back to Ty’s beach bus.

We had some great waffles on a stick but then found out Ty wasn’t yet back in Hawaii:( We’ll have to meet him the next time!

So, we headed back to Zandra’s Hale. We set up a bunch of things but then left her to unpack more and get comfie.

She called us later to pick her up for dinner. We found some great fish tacos!

She wanted to sleep in her residence bcs one of her four roommates had arrived!

The next day Zandra had an all day international student workshop. Rob and I grabbed a traditional Hawaiian breakfast at a little place around the corner (50 First Dates movie cafe!)

The we hit the beach. It was gorgeous!! We spent the day there!

We had some incredible Açaí bowls for a late lunch.

We napped until Zandra said she was ready. We picked her up and went back to the beach for sunset. Nothing like a Hawaiian sunset!! It was amazing!

Perfect way to end our time with her. We had a really nice dinner and then said our goodbyes.

She was ready and excited to start her time in Hawaii. Third kid safely launched.

Heading to BYU-H

Posted on September 5, 2019 by Leah

It was an early morning flight to Hawaii. We flew through Denver and it went smoothly and quickly. I think we were all pretty tired!

When we arrived in Honolulu, we got a text message that two of our bags had not made it but would arrive later. After some discussion with customer service, and then waiting for our other bags, we found out all our bags had somehow ended up in Chicago and most would fly in later that day. The “most” caused Zandra a bit of a panic since all her tops were in one and bottoms in another! We decided to wait for the flight since it wasn’t that long, and were happily surprised to see all our bags come out!

We set out for Laie where BYU-H is. Such a beautiful drive!

We checked into our little Airbnb – so close to campus and convenient but no a/c and deadly hot!!!! We went to touch the ocean!

Then we went to the temple across the street and walked around. This visitors center has very special meaning for Rob and me so we enjoyed visiting it.

We went to find Zandra’s Residence (Hale) and checked campus out. So nice!

We headed north to hit the food truck park for dinner and had amazing shrimp!!!

There we also saw Ty’s beach bus! Ty was Zach’s HEFY leader in Ecuador a couple of years ago. He had a profound influence on Zach. While in Ecuador he talked about his idea to buy a bus and make a waffle truck… well he did it! It was closed on Sundays though…

It was a long, bit great first day!

The next few days…

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Leah

I arrived home from Utah with a bad cough and cold.

Rob and I were on our own as the little boys were still away and Zandra was with her mom.

We had a quick bite, and then headed to bed super early… but first I watched a video Zach had left for me. He had written everyone letters too and they were awesome! But the video was so fun to watch and I’m sure I will rewatch it over and over!

On Friday (while he’s in the MTC) , it’s his “day off” so he can email and FaceTime home. We chatted a bunch on google hangouts and then video chatted (or whatever it’s called on hangouts!) Had to deal with some logistical stuff, but it was good to see how he’s settling in and happy:) Posted those pics on his mission blog, but here are a few:

He showed me his French and Tahitian missionary tag:

This is his companion, Elder Davis:

And his district (group he is training with). They were divided in two groups – no girls happen to be in his group. These guys are either going to Tahiti or Africa.

He seemed happy:

The little boys returned on Saturday and we heard all about their great trip! The trip leaders had posted a few pics here and there on Facebook.

They got home:

Josh has a soccer game that afternoon, but by the time he got home, he was feeling sick:(

We all went out to dinner for Vietnamese and came home to pack for the next big adventure:

Taking Zandra out to BYU Hawaii!!!!

Two kids leaving in one week is heavy. I had a good cry while folding up laundry….

Heading to the MTC

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Leah

The day arrived. Judy made an awesome breakfast.

Zach said by to his cousin Ellen.

Zach spent a good chunk of the morning talking with Gabe, Shannon and his cousin Abby.

Zach and I went for a walk. I’ll remember that walk forever.

And it was time to get ready.

We loaded up the car. Notice how I have to capture every single step?

Judy took some pictures of us all.

Our intention was to go to the Provo temple grounds for final goodbyes. But leaving late, traffic, and construction caused us to be running behind and stressed Zach out. We just pulled over and hugged and said good bye. We made it quick bcs everyone was jittery. By this point Zach had been saying good byes for 72 hours so was ready!

We pulled into the MTC. They know what they are doing. Just like first day of day care, don’t linger, don’t look back. A hug, a few pictures, another hug and I sent him on his way.

A piece of my heart went with him, but he was good to go.

A missionary who is already at the MTC helped him with his bags and reassured me that he was in good hands.

He didn’t look back, which was the best way to do it.

Gabe, Shannon and I went to BYU bookstore to mail a package to him for that night (although it never got there :(() We went out for lunch (wish I thought to take a picture). After lunch we got an email from Zach – he was good and his nerves disappeared the moment he stepped into the MTC. I’m going to post all his letters and pictures on a blog I created for his mission www.zachfioretahitimission.blogspot.com

A place where I can keep it all together for him.

It was an emotional few days, but I have to say a beautiful few days. As I already mentioned (but bears mentioning again!) : You don’t often get opportunities like this to see such open expressions of love – between friends, family and siblings. Certainly a special blessing.

So grateful for our wonderful family and friends who supported him/ us and understood how important this is to him/us even if they don’t understand it themselves. Your love and support mean the world to us.

The Toronto Good byes

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Leah

On Monday we took a family day.

I was up early with Zach and we finished off packing. So much to pack!

After packing, and a few tears, Zach went for a walk with Josh.

We decided to pick up some Burgers Priest for lunch and headed to the beach for a picnic. We laughed because we made it to the grassy area only and found a nice table and chilled there.

We had some special family time back at home which included Rob giving Zach a painting he painted of the Northern Lights – which Zach had been asking for all year and thought Rob forgot. It was an emotional family time as it was our last “family home evening” – that was a thin moment for us.

The kids hung out with friends that night- and Zach said most of his goodbyes to his good friends (most had to work the next day so could not come to the airport).

All our kids stayed up super late because we had to take Josh and Sam to the church as they were leaving on a bus at 3am to go on a trip with the youth to Nauvoo. We all went to see them off and Zach said goodbyes. Zandra did too since she wouldn’t see these girls until Christmas!

Nothing like a family photo taken at 2:30am:

It was very emotional for the boys to say goodbye. My heart took many more pictures. Zach gave them each a letter too. And his red towel is his “cry towel” which he carried around all day.

Honestly one of the most beautiful parts was watching the boys interact. It’s not very often to see expressions of love as intense as we did – especially at this age. These brothers have special bonds and I feel very blessed that my kids are so close to each other.

We watched the bus pull out, then headed home and crawled back in bed for a few hours and got some sleep.

We did some last minute packing and final conversations when we woke up.

Zach had to be set apart (by way if a special blessing/prayer) as a missionary so he got ready and we headed to the church for that.

This will substitute for his first day of school pic!

Unfortunately the person who was setting him apart had forgotten! We sat and waited and had a few more hugs:

We ended up finally getting in touch with the person and he met us back at home since we had to get ready for the airport.

Again, we had a little family meeting and a very emotional last few words and then he was set apart as Elder Fiore – what he will be called the next two years!

He said good bye to Reggie.

Then loaded the car:

Zach had some friends come to the airport.

I handed out Kleenex.

He said some emotional good byes and we were off.

At the gate, he had a snack, and then he crashed.

I didn’t mind.

His friends sent me a pic to show him; they needed hydration:

On the plane, he wanted back scratches too. Of course, I obliged.

When we arrived, he thought my brother was picking us up… but we hugely surprised him and he was thrilled to be greeted by Gabe and Shannon. Shannon took an awesome video of it – but you can tell on his face how happy he was:

We went to grab some dinner with a couple of cousins.

Then we hung out until late into the night talking. It was a great distraction and so fun to catch up.

Not sure how much sleep I got…

Zach’s Mission Farewell

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Leah

Traditionally the Sunday before someone leaves for a mission, they give what is called a “farewell talk”. There’s a farewell church service and we host a farewell party. So everyone can say, well, “farewell” lol.

It’s a big deal and something that I had thought a lot about over the years. I didn’t know if my kids would serve a mission and it was up to them, but I knew if they did decide to, it would involve a farewell. And that scared me. A formal good bye.

We were blown away by the support we received – from Zach’s friends, to parents of his friends, to our friends, to family. I know summer is a busy time for people so when people delayed going away, came home early, drove long distances; to others bringing over food and more food. People coming to the church service when maybe it was out of their comfort zone, to bringing their little kids over when it was nap time. It truly was an outpouring of love for this milestone of a day.

We woke up early and did some prep for the party:

Before church, we took some pics in our typical spot on our porch:

I made them hug:

With some of his good friends:

At church, the youth sang a beautiful song, with Zandra singing a solo in the song. She sounded angelic. Zach said he could feel the tears well up. When the kids were singing, he got emotional, saying he hadn’t really thought about how much he would miss his siblings…

Then I spoke. Then Zach spoke.

Of course it happened to be a day when we had extra stuff going on in the church service so Zach ran out of time. He was slipped a “times up” note – which had become a little joke now with our family and friends.

We managed to get a couple of pictures outside the church of Zach with his friends (although a bunch of people had left already).

We raced home to get all the food organized.

Reggie wasn’t super happy about the crowds:

Then people started streaming in over the course of several hours. Again, it as amazing to see how loved Zach is and how blessed to be surrounded by such awesome people. Everyone was hanging around in various parts of our house since we don’t exactly have a huge house with a huge entertaining area:

His fave youth leader:

We got a few pictures with his dad and grandparents: They came from Montreal and she brought a bunch of yummy food:

A few more from during the day:

It will be a day I will forever remember.

Pre Mission Photoshoot

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Leah

We wanted o get some pre-mission pictures of Zach.

We decided to go to the Toronto temple grounds to take them.

We hired Rachael’s sister to take them and she did a fantastic job! http://www.lightandlovephoto.com

Her sister did Rachael’s photos as the same time so we got some together. Appropriate since these two have been talking about missions since they met at 14 and 15 (Rachael is going to Thailand on her mission in a few weeks!)

A lot of silly ones

And not so silly

And a few more silly ones:

Gonna miss this kid!

August Moments

Posted on August 24, 2019 by Leah

This has been a crazy month.

A month I had been dreading, but it came anyway.

But because it was a huge month, I wanted to document it a but more thoroughly than usual.

After Collingwood, everyone got back to work. No photos for that, lol.

We went to the temple with Zach which was pretty special.

We were late, so didn’t have much time to take the photos I wanted. But that’s ok because we had a whole photo shoot on temple grounds with Zach in July (will post those pics soon).

The following week Rob had to be in Vegas for work. I was trying to nail down children who needed to pack… but were more interested in hanging out with friends!

Zach headed away the next weekend with friends and had a great time. He has an awesome group of friends.

I did manage to go on a few walks with friends, and take the boys out for Schwarma poutine (trying to have things Zach would not be eating for a while!)

Boy, my babies have seriously grown.

The little boys went to Youth Leadership Conference. I was so sad to not go this year – especially since it was Sam’s first year. However, with Zach’s pending mission departure, it just wasn’t feasible.

I told the boys I’d pay them $20 if they took and sent me pictures. I have no shame. I will bribe my kids for pictures, and time. Lol

They had an amazing time! So blessed to have these types of activities for the kids where they get to learn so much, have fun, and meet a ton of new people! Sam had a great first year!

Meanwhile, I went out for dinner with Zach and his best bud Ian, and Ian’s mom. We had been trying to do this dinner for a while, so happy it finally happened!

Then the big Prep started for Zach’s mission farewell…

Collingwood

Posted on August 11, 2019 by Leah

We decided to take the August long weekend (here is Ontario it’s a long weekend) and get away from the city.

These days, I can only really get my kids together if I isolate them far far away from friends. LOL.

And so we did.

My mom and sister joined us as they wanted to see Zach before his mission and Zandra before BYU Hawaii.

Our good friends and neighbours were so generous and offered us to stay in their beautiful home in Collingwood. We are so blessed to have such kind and awesome friends!

I headed up with my Mom, sis and Josh and Sam earlier and Rob came up later with Zandra and Zach (since they had to work that day).

The first day we headed to Wasaga Beach. The water level was so high though, that there was barely any beach:(

The boys played their usual beach games and we walked a bit and all laid out in the sun too long and got burned.

The next day Rob took the kids to play some tennis and I took my mom and sister into Collingwood to sit by the water.

Later, we went into Blue Mountain village.

We spent the evenings walking around and a few of us went on a hike one night.

These two were always game to go with us. Trying to squeeze as much time with them anyways, so it worked out quite well:

We went on some drives:

Then we totally binged on Friday Night Lights – our vacation show! (I think I took a pic of the screen but I will spare you, lol)

We had some good meals – and the boys loved the leftovers as late night snacks:

Then it was over. The boys drove back with me:

We took some pics of them with Gran and a few extra of Gran and Auntie Di with Zach since they won’t see him again before his mission:

And that was the end of the long weekend…. August is zooming by…

Monthly Snaps of Life

Posted on August 3, 2019 by Leah

So much to capture this summer since it’s the last one… boo hoo… are you tired of hearing that? Or maybe I’m just saying it in my head two thousand times a day ??!!

Zach reconnected this summer to another cutie in the picture (grade 1??) and she sent him it:

Always thinking: this is the last game for Zach… (it was the last day time one. Sigh):

His old coach, Andy, happened to be at the game. Andy coached Zach for years and was a great influence in Zach’s life:

I went to a Brain injury awareness event and the CN Tower was sporting the blue and green for brain injury!

Zandra came with me to the Corey Hart concert. My 13 year old heart dream come true! It was an awesome concert! He’s really a stellar guy!

Some of Rob’s birthday celebrations: walk in Brickworks and lunch, picnic dinner, cake…

And then Father’s Day! Headed to exotic car show:

Exam time:

Schwarma poutine to celebrate high school is DONE

Mission prep throughout the weeks – washing shirts!

Zach went to visit Ti Tia with his friend Leah (this is where they met when they were 1! Ti Tia was like a grandmother to the boys!) I love how she still has pictures of them up! Ti Ti Tony passed away two years ago:(

Random hanging with me :

Amazon comes daily with mission supplies! You’d think with Rob working there, there was a discount! And there is! With one order that was almost $800(?!?) , he got a discount of $1.75!!!! I kid you not!!!

Seminary graduation (all 4 years for Zach and Zandra and year 2 for Josh!) :

Not sure if I posted this one yet – headed out to get ready for prom:

Sam is off to service corps camp!

We took these two out for a high school graduation celebration dinner at the Bier Markt – reminiscent of their 15 trip!

Catching up on sleep

I can’t believe I’m posting some of these pictures… Zach’s room… the plan was/is to pull everything out and divide it into Give away, keep forever, ready to take to BYU, ready to take to mission. But man, is it messy. He’s working hard here …

Random shot he sent me:

Rachael came back from France and we went shopping. These girls liked trying on the silly dresses:

Old and tired: (but I think we look more old and tired than we actually are! lol)

Church back scratches for Zach… for the last time, lol. Boo.

Reggie love

Trying to squeeze in too much summer fun – needs to crash!

Collecting my Christmas present of a long walk …

His Dad is letting him use the Jeep for a good part of the summer :

Walks with Reggie:

My Bff came to town and we had a great night:

Heading to the temple for Zach’s mission prep photoshoot. Rachael is going on a mission to Thailand 3 weeks after Zach so she joined us for some photos (I hired her amazing photographer sister to do Zach’s mission photos). Here are some background photos:

We went to see Toy Story 4 for Zach’s Birthday! The boys grew up in Toy Story!

A little tennis too:

I think this is how josh spends a good part of his summer, lol:

More cleaning/packing. Doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere (but it is…)

Boys went to San Fran with their Dad for the weekend and sent me these:

We found a fish place we like:)

While boys were in San Fran with their Dad, and Sam was in Minnesota with his mom for a soccer tournament, we went to Palmyra to see the pageant with Zandra. We had a great lunch and shop at Sauders and enjoyed the pageant and our sketchy hotel, lol: