Raising Flowers and Skids

Beaching and Lunenberg, NS

Posted on September 4, 2018 by Leah

It was a beautiful day so we decided to head out early to catch some rays!

We first headed to Queensland Beach – recommended by my friend (who gave us lots of tips for our itinerary!).

We spent several hours there. The kids swam (I went in as far as I could!) and the boys played their standard beach games. They also went on a long walk for some “bro time”. Zandra and I talked and then walked with Rob. I definitely think we snoozed a bit too!

We headed to the super cute and quaint town of Lunenberg.

We had a great lobster bun lunch at the “Fish Shack” .

We walked around the town.

We then headed to another beach, recommended by a local (who I knew years ago from church, and she happens to live around here) called Bayswater.

It was so nice!

The boys played more of their “beach baseball” and swam, while we read and napped again (common theme!).

We chose to be super simple for dinner and lounged at home.

Off to PEI tomorrow (yes, it’s another whirlwind trip we are taking – we seem to like those!)

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Leah

We started the day off picking up a few groceries and having some breakfast. We have a pretty sweet location with the VRBO 3 bedroom apartment we rented, so it took no time at all before we were starting our little walking tour of the day!

We decided to start with the Citadel. Rob had worked at Fort Henry all through his Queens years, and we joked how they were his glory days- so a trip to this Fort was a must.

After we toured the fort for a while, we headed down to the waterfront. It is super cute!

We made our way to Pier 21 and spent some time in the immigration museum there.

We got to explore and learn about where my mom and her family arrived on the Empress of France from England on a cold winter day in January 1948. We saw a pic of the boat and got some more details.

After Pier 21, we headed back along the waterfront and made our way to a restaurant called “Bluenose II” and had there lobster feast dinner.

I have to say, it’s super fun traveling with these teens. We are constantly laughing and joking. Sure, they fight, and we (read: they) get on each other’s (read: my) nerves, but generally, they love each other and enjoy being together!

We headed back for an afternoon siesta. Zach and Zandra are diligently doing their ACT studying so like having some down time. We like to nap:))

We decided to head out to Peggy’s Cove for sunset.

Wow.

Spectacular sunset. Spectacular location.

Loved the little fishing town (we said it reminded us of Norway and the boys said the houses looked like those in Greenland).

I loved the sunset. I love watching the sunsets with my guys. I told them when I die, they can always go and watch the sunset and sunrise and I will be there – at that thin place in that thin moment (I know, I’m morbid like that to have that conversation!!)

Love this pic of these two:

We had a casual dinner at a taco place – except they were out of fish (and shrimp) tacos – (and pretty much everything as we found out they were going out of business!)

We ended the day by making some yummy chocolate chip cookies:)

Beautiful day!

Road Trip Out East Begins!!

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Leah

We are finally taking our long awaited vacation! (Insert eye roll here. Yes, I know we travel all the time!)

What I mean, is we finally have all 5 of our kiddos with us and they are ALL coming!

It’s been a couple of years since we’ve travelled all together, and between relationships blossoming, and next year kids university bound or missions starting (in the LDS church, kids have the opportunity to serve a 2 year mission and Zach wants to do that, leaving next summer), this is likely our last chance to be just the 7, and our last chance for several years to be together at all! I can’t talk much about this though because I will cry. These kids growing and leaving are making it difficult for me to breathe.

Anyhow.

Instead of our usual Outerbanks (I kind of feel like I’m cheating on my beloved Outerbanks – but we will be back!!) we decided to explore some of our own country. Shame on us for not having done it sooner! So, we planned out a road trip out east hitting up Halifax, PEI and a stopover in the Bay of Fundy (Hopewell Rocks).

Josh had an afternoon soccer game (which turned out ok because both Zach and Zandra had the world’s longest double date going – complete with helping clean our house!!! (More on that later:))

Needless to say, we had a late start. Lots of catch up sleep time for some (teens go to bed waaayyy too late).

We headed to Montreal where we got a late evening poutine (of course – you can’t set foot into Quebec without having a poutine. I think it’s even one of those weird Quebec laws?! Haha).

We then had a quick visit with my Mom and sister and invaded her home to sleep!

We were up early and hit the road by 6. I love getting an early start! We had 12 hours drive time to kill, so everyone slept for a while. Rob is such a trooper. Never complains that’s he’s awake driving. Occasionally he wakes me to point out some beauty. I love that he takes it all in and appreciates nature.

Like every long road trip we take, I try to have a variety of things to keep us all entertained. Music and movies are obvious, but for years I’ve also done “Family Vacation Trivia” and this year they even reminded me to make sure I’m ready for it (start the traditions early!!) I go through my travel journal and find questions I can ask (where did we stay, what did we do, who did what, what funny thing happened etc). There’s a candy in it for the right answer. It’s a great way to keep our memories alive!!

This year I decided I’d read them a book too. A couple of weeks ago, Gabe’s girlfriend, Shannon sent me a text and suggested a book that she LOVED, called “Model Mormon” by Rosemary Card. Trusting her recommendation, I bought it.

I absolutely loved it.

I know many of you aren’t Mormon who read this blog, but the second half of the title says it all for me : “Fighting for Self-Worth on the Runway and As An Independent Woman.”

I decided it was a must read for Zandra too and then we’d discuss it together (and Shannon too!). But as I was thinking about it, and sharing everything with Rob about it, I thought “why is this a must read for only girls?”

I want to raise men who understand the challenges women face: their mothers, (their step mothers!), their sisters, their wives, their daughters, their female friends etc. It is my responsibility as their Mom (and Stepmom) to try to teach them as much as I can about being a good man, an equal partner, an advocate for all.

I want to make sure I’m not raising jerks.

I am raising my boys as LDS too, and I know over the years Mormons have had a bad rap about women and equality issues (some things misunderstood, some misconstrued, but some are sadly true – similar to the challenges we see in greater society too); but not in my home (nor the home in which I was raised). My boys can be part of the generation that changes that perception and lives the reality that they have seen modeled in our home of equal partnership and respect.

I knew reading any book was going to be a big ask. I decided to make it a bit fun. I downloaded a little amplification app, plugged my phone into the car stereo system and voila! I had a little microphone to read into! Serious business this reading. They thought it was hilarious that I could now make announcements in the car! And it helps save my voice….

I can’t say the boys were overly thrilled with the reading choice, but as we read it together, it spurred on so many conversations, questions, perspectives, and discussions. It was awesome!!!! I can’t wait to continue reading it (we got more than 1/2 way on this first leg of our trip). It truly is a must read for boys too and I’m glad that we have this book to spark conversations that all humans should be having!

We stopped for lunch at this cute little French fry hut:

The kids watched a movie, snoozed some more, and we finally made it into Halifax, Nova Scotia.

We checked into our apartment, argued about who is sleeping where, ordered some pizza and chilled, ready to explore Halifax!

Love the start to this adventure!

YLC 2018

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Leah

One of my favourite things to do with my kids every year is to attend Youth Leadership Conference.It’s a yearly conference put on by our church for youth ages 14-18 at the University of Waterloo. I volunteer as a “house leader”, meaning I’m in charge of 8-10 girls. Each “house” is paired up with another girl house and 2 boy houses. This makes up a “branch”. Josh was in my branch this year so it was fun to be with him. We were often paired with Zandra’s branch, so I loved being able to see her here and there.Zach (and Rachael – she is leaving for France in 2 weeks to be an au paire so the two are joined at the hip right now!!) seemed to be around a lot too so I got to see them frequently too!It’s completely exhausting with a go-go-go schedule. It’s 4 days long and it includes 4 key note speakers, 6 workshops, 1 sports afternoon, 1 service project, morning and night devotionals with your house and branch, 1 talent show, 1 opening dance, 1 formal dance, and 1 testimony meeting. There’s tons of walking to different events where the kids (600 in total) pair up to walk with each other to get to know each other.This doesn’t include all meal times, and of course staying up late to talk to your amazing roommate (I totally lucked out with an amazing kindred spirit!!).

At the end, I am completely exhausted.

But also so recharged and energized. This year felt particularly good and I noted my kids came out of it changed.

I feel so blessed that they get to attend this each year. At the end of each keynote, we all sing a song called “EFY Medley” which usually has me bawling and with goosebumps, and confirmation that this is the place for my teens. This part is my fave part when all the boys stand and I happened to have the perfect view of my boys this time: Here are some highlights:

Josh volunteered in one workshop and won top answer for Family feud:Zandra helped out my roommate’s son, who has some special needs, take some notes:Sports day was fun for some, despite being rained out:Meet our friend Alex ; we told him he’d debut on the blog with this picture! Can you tell they all got rained on?! :The first dance is always a hit. Had to try to capture Josh in a conga line:And the service project is always an amazing experience (Zandra wasn’t in my group unfortunately, but the boys were):The boys in the branch always find a fun way to ask the girls in the branch to the dance. This is Josh’s group (my group) asking:And of course, the formal dance:

My group (Josh’s too):

And the most beautiful kids:

With dates:

I got more with these two since they are more permanent dates 🙂

My little squad (best house leaders!):

I loved my roommate’s son:

At the dance:

These two won an award for best couple (they got soaked in the rain):

At the end of the conference, everyone wants the farewell pics:

Meet Grace. She was in my house two years ago and I have a thing for her. Love this girl!:

We have these same pics of these two 4 years in a row (I should pull them out to do a side by side to see how much they’ve grown!)

I take my kids home in the car with me (they come to conference in a bus, but by the end, the bus is less appealing!) It’s one of my favourite drive homes ever as we debrief over everything we learned, share our COWS (crush of the week; mine was definitely my roommate’s son), share funny stories and life changing inspirational moments. It’s awesome.

My kids rock. Just saying.

There’s nothing greater than being surrounded by 600 youth – and 150 adult leaders who take time out of their busy lives to volunteer – as they try to become better people through learning, service, inspiration and fun.

What happens in Vegas, Stays In Vegas

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Leah

The following weekend, Rob and I took a little trip out to Las Vegas.

Let’s just say it was a work trip that I will share more about very soon, but wanted to get the pics up so I don’t fall behind!

We had a great time, eating delicious steak at Mon Ami Gabi and strolling around.

It was an extravagant weekend as we were at a conference. It was also a weekend of clarity for me too.

Here’s some snaps of the weekend. Of course, let’s start with some food:

And now, scenarios and a few selfies:

One night the guy asked if we are celebrating anything special. It is 10 years this year, so yeah….

And a sneak peek at why we were there:

I had a good chuckle at the sign they asked me to hold:

Loved hearing from this guy. He’s so amazing! (Simon Sinek):

Crazy party we went to. So over the top, but fun! Met some nice people:

More to come on all this, but a fun weekend!

Weekend in Montreal

Posted on August 19, 2018 by Leah

We have had a busy few weeks, heading away almost every few weekend. All the kids were with their other parents a few weekends in a row, so we were flying solo.

Rob and I had a great time at with our friend’s and neighbour’s cottage one weekend, but don’t have one picture to show for it?!? We had a fun time with them and got to know some other neighbours who were there as well.

The following weekend, we headed up to Montreal and spent a bit of time with with my Mom and sis and had a lovely lunch. I guess we were hungry bcs the only pic I got was this:

Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, but I guess I took no other pics? What’s wrong with me?

We also went and checked out Sarah’s new digs! Amazing!! She has moved to an apartment with two people; one girl she actually went to elementary school with! They seem like the best roommates ever for her and we loved meeting them and loved her place. So proud of that girl. She has come such a long way over the past couple of years! She is filled with courage and determination. Such an example to us all. Way to go, Sarah!

(You suck Leah. No pics either. As I write this, I’m committing to up my game. I miss over the top picture taking me. I have a few posts to write before our family vacay that may be short on pics, but I’m glad I’ve learned my lesson before the trip).

Anyhow, you rock, Sarah.

We then headed out to Robert and Tarina’s cottage, for an awesome (but short) visit! We spent the remainder of the weekend eating, laughing, talking and catching up. It was so so good. Both Tarina and I are getting ready to launch businesses shortly (hence my sporadic posting and forgetfulness of things – just due to overwhelm!) so it was nice to share the stress, but also to decompress.

The 9 hour drive back wasn’t too enjoyable, but let’s just focus on the fun while we were there:

Life can not be lived to the fullest without my poutine. And a steamie. Ok, a cheeseburger helps too (don’t worry, I didn’t it eat ALL myself).

And the only pics we (and I should say, Rob; thank goodness for him. Another reason I married him) were on our sunset boat ride (it can represent the other boat rides, dock talks, amazing meals, walk/run through forests that we did!)

We stopped talking long enough to take these:

See when you get to our age, it takes a lot of photos to try to get one everyone (meaning: Tarina and me ) are happy with. We decide we definitely look younger with sunglasses on.

After trying to pose, it’s back to talking. Gosh I am animated. I guess I thought it was funnier than she did?!?

It was actually a crazy long boat ride so we were did nap and rest on part of it (while listening to the “Beautiful Songs Playlist” by Zach):

Awesome weekend! We packed it all in and loved every minute! Love sharing our lives with these guys. We’ve been through so many stages of life together (amazingly only our children have gotten older?!?! Not us!). They are great partners through the ages and stages. Love them so much.

Quote of the Week

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Leah

Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force, but through persistence.

Ovid

I love how it always happens that I come across a quote that is exactly what I need to hear at that exact time!

Water has always amazed me. The power of a drop of water. The majestic ocean is simply made up of drops. Many, many drops, mind you, but drops.

I love the ocean and when I am at the ocean always think about how it can be the calmest sea, or be in a violent rage. You can float and gently head out to sea, or you can be tossed and turned and dragged under by the riptides. It’s pretty amazing, I think.

A drop of water can be nothing, and not even quench your thirst. But when drops constantly accumulate, they can turn into a large body water. When water consistently drips, it can become one of the worst tortures. Or, as the quote says, it can make dramatic changes, even in stone. A drop is so powerful.

I love to set goals, and I love the idea of setting goals. But sometimes the long term goal is just too much, especially when it is a big one. Sometimes even short term goals are too much! I find myself more and more making goals, and then just putting them aside temporarily and getting to work on the tiny step that is in front of me that will lead in that direction.

I remind myself of the greatness of that tiny drop of water when applied consistently. That drop is just like my small step or small action. I remind myself that all that matters is that small step I am taking in the direction that I want to go. I don’t have to run, or race, or do it all now. I just need to keep going.

Keep dripping in the same spot. Over and over, and eventually, great changes will occur!

The Food Tour

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Leah

When we were in Utah for my niece’s wedding back in May, I talked a lot with my younger niece, Ellen, about her favorite places to eat. I told her when I was back in the summer, we would hit up a few of those places together.

She’s a foodie like me. Lol.

So, we decided it would be fun to do a food tour!

We selected a few of her favorite restaurants and went around and sampled some of their items!

I tried to get pictures of each place, but sometimes we forgot.

First we went for a smoothie at Roxberry but I didn’t get a pic:(

But we did try some very yummy samples (a few too many, lol) at Nothing Bundt Cakes.

A few days later, we decided to get serious about our food.

We hit Del Taco for some yummy tacos:

Chick-Fil-A for chicken nuggets and a super yummy frosted lemonade.

We needed to sweeten things up so headed to Fro Yo:

We took a mini break and shopped a little bit for other things (including a little bed for Winter, the guinea pig) and then headed to Costa Vida for a burrito:

We finished off our day with a little Swig:

So fun!

The next day we decided to do a little burger comparison in our food tour.

Tanner (my nephew), swears by the Del Taco burger so off we went again:

It did not disappoint!

We then headed to Culver’s:Their’s was pretty tasty too!

We decided we needed a change of taste, so went to a different ice cream place, Roll With It Creamery:

We needed a bit of a break, so waited for the boys to finish camp to do In-n-Out Burger:

The best part of the food tour? Spending time with this gal. She is as awesome as awesome can be! Now to get her to Toronto where we can do a food tour here!

Quote of the Week

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Leah

Rejection is God’s Protection

Everyone hates rejection.

I know I certainly do.

And the fear of rejection can stop us from doing so many things – or even from getting started on trying to do something.

So when I heard this quote, there was some very reassuring about it.

The idea that when I am rejected, it means I am being looked after. That maybe being rejected is not an awful thing, but something that I should be grateful for.

The idea that maybe the future I have all planned out is not always the best one for me. I’ve certainly learned that over the years….

But I love how it turns something negative like rejection, into almost something beautiful.

I find it very encouraging to get out there and try, and if I’m rejected, no worries! Someone greater was simply looking out for me!

(It also reminded me of the quote we had a couple of years ago that said “Success is built on the pillars of failure.”

Doesn’t that quote want to make you run out and fail? )

Here’s to failure and rejection and the wonderful success and protection that they lead to!

Temple Hopping

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Leah

On the Sunday, the boys and I decided to get out and do some temple hopping.

We only have one temple around here, but often when we travel we try to go see the temple in that location.

Pretty cool that there are so many temples close by. We managed to get pics at each one. Too bad we couldn’t get right on the grounds but it was still nice walking around the gates:

We started with Oquirrh:

Then we hit our special Jordan River (Rob and I were sealed there):