I took him out one night to look at the stars. Music was playing – so obviously we danced.
And I told him that the stars shone for him.
And wherever we were in our lives, we would always be united through the stars.
“Star light, star bright” became a regular thing in our house (and still is to this day) 🌟 .
When Zach’s dad and I divorced, things were sometimes a little rough – routines were messed up and bedtimes were a little tough – so often I’d let him stay up a little bit longer and we would dance to “Yellow” by Coldplay.
When he was 16, we saw Coldplay in concert 💛 .
So choosing a song to dance with him at his wedding was a no brainer – it had to be Yellow.
I got super emotional when it first started…
He’ll always be my little boy who the stars shine for.
I’m just so grateful he found a beautiful woman who loves the moon and the stars as much as he does – and now the stars shine for them.
And, as Zach pointed out to me during our dance, next week we will be in Mexico as a family – where the stars tradition all began – full circle 🌟 .
I normally have an abundance of photos but it was so busy and so many people to talk to that I only got a few snaps here and there. I did get some cute video too – but I am counting on the professionals to have captured it all!
But many photos were taken in my heart… but here are the ones I had on my phone (and Rob’s )
Following the ceremony – which was beautiful – their vows in particular brought me to tears – a mix of funny and loving – we headed back to the tent area where the giant (12 foot!) charcuterie board was – filled with all the meats, cheeses, veggies etc. that everyone helped cut up the day before! Rachael had actually made the 12 foot board – it was amazing! I didn’t get a shot of it filled – I hope someone did though !
Everyone got to snack a bit and socialize while the families took all their photos with the bride and groom. Hoping we got some good family shots!
We then headed to the tent – where the wind had cooled down and they were able to take down the walls again.
They introduced the wedding party:
We had 3 different types of salads for dinner, plus some hummus and pita. The main meal was schwarma poutine – a bit unconventional for a wedding but so Zach and Rachael – and it was a hit. They also had cake and cheesecake for dessert (plus a dessert table and Ice cream that came out later on). Everyone was stuffed! It was all so good!
There were speeches by all 4 sets of parents:) And then from the maid of honour (her cousin Madelyn ) and Josh (best man). Josh’s speech was awesome!! I got a nice recording of it:) Zach and Rachael also spoke. In the middle of speeches the sun was setting and we couldn’t miss the light – so everyone got up and headed down to the lake to watch the sunset.
We headed back to finish the speeches and then the party started!
Zach and Rachael had their first dance to Turning Page. They invited all the couples to join them half way through. The final dance they dance to was Thousand Yeas – so they captured both “their songs”.
The Rachael and her Dad danced (I cant’ remember the name of the song – will have to ask her!) and they mid way asked all the daughters and dads to join them.
Zach and I danced to Yellow (I’ll do a separate post to share the story behind that) and then the Moms and sons joined in halfway through .
The DJ did a great job of getting everyone up and dancing!!
Later in the evening – Rachael’s dad rode in on an Ice cream bicycle and Zach and Rachael fed each other ice cream and threw ice cream bars and fudgisciles out into the crowd. It was super cute! Rachael threw ice cream sandwiches instead of the bouquet! The dessert table came out too with tons of treats for everyone.
Overall it was a beautiful night – everyone had some much fun. A few people told me it was the funnest wedding they had ever been to!
They had a grand send off with sparklers (again I have more video than photos!)
They headed to a hotel neat the Toronto LDS temple as the religious ceremony (the temple sealing) was early the next morning…
I am slowly making my way through the wedding – making it easier for myself by dividing it all up!
I went to get my hair done in the morning, while the boys all went tot Zach’s Dad’s house where Grandad was giving haircuts:)
They returned home and we had a nice breakfast joined by my brother, sister in law and niece. My nephew was also in the wedding party. The boys quickly got ready and headed out.
Of course I had to get a traditional stand on the porch picture (but forgot to get one with me and Zach on the front porch – things were busy…)
The boys all heading out to Cambridge (the wedding was held on Rachael’s Mom’s property)
ob and I followed shortly after:
When we arrived, the photographer was starting to shoot photos of the boys. Rachael’s sister was the main photographer, but they had hired a second one as well and she did an awesome job with the boys. can’t wait to see some of them. It started raining so made it a bit tricky but it then cleared up…
Everything looked gorgeous!
Rachael and the girls arrived to finish getting dressed:
They continued photos of boys and then they did the first look photos, and then wedding party photos and then just bride and groom photos. They tried to get as many done before the wedding.
Guests started arriving and there was a little bit of fun while waiting…
There were some joyous reunions!
Just missing Zandra from this picture! Although they have not seen each other in several years it was as if time stood still and they were little again!
Getting ready for the ceremony…shame my eyes are closed but it’s the only photo like this one:)
And waiting for the ceremony to begin (it got a bit delayed bcs the wind picked up and was knocking over all the table settings in the tent so they asked people to come help put the walls up on the tent (they removed them later that evening when the wind simmered down…)
They asked for no photos at the ceremony so the photographers don’t have hundreds of iPhones being held up in every photo… but the mother of the bride rebelled and took a few and passed them on (I wish I had too lol – but only bcs I haven’t seen the photographer’ s photos yet – I ‘m sure I will appreciate having no iPhones obstructing the view)… but here is a sneak peak shhhh…
Zach and his friends (in addition to Josh) headed out to Rachael’s Mom’s home where the wedding was to be held on the Wednesday. I think they did some Turing and hiking in Hamilton before heading over to start wedding set up. They stayed the night there as more prep was needed on Thursday!
Rob, me, Gabe and Shannon headed out on Tuesday to help out. Gabe and Shannon were both working so were trying to get all their work done at the same time!
I have to say, I was impressed with how much support Zach and Rachael got from their friends! There was a lot of set up, flower arrangements, food prep and decorations and every one chipped in to help!
Here are some snaps of the day:
There were a few bumps along the way with set up – trying to get the community center so we could have real bathrooms was quite a drama (they did rent port a potties but ….), missing napkins, silverware, plates… but it all got sorted. At the end of the day, the boys all headed back to our house and the girls went to their AirBNB for the night.
Josh and Gabe had planned a nice bachelor for Zach and they went out for dinner then played pool, the went to a bar to shoot some darts.
The girls had a fun bachelorette party for Rachael and I stole this off Instagram:
In anticipation of Zach and Rachael’s wedding , we had a busy airport day – with Gabe and Shannon arriving in the morning and Josh in the evening.
Gabe finished up his first year in law school and they packed their bags to leave Florida – with a new adventure ahead of them! They headed to Denver to see her family and then flew to us! They are both working virtually so it is fun that they are able to stay for a nice chunk of time with us!
They were pretty tired:)
Reggie getting in on the nap action!
Josh finished up his travel adventures and safely arrived home! We left him in a hotel room in Switzerland and he made his way throughout Europe covering cities in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Portugal , Spain, Greece and Thailand. Thailand!??! Yep. After using up the 90day visa in Europe he flew with a friend to Thailand where they met up with another friend and had an amazing time there for a month! We pick him up at the airport and he came home for a long hot shower – and we threw his laundry in right away for a big wash! He has so many stories to tell – many of which I am sure I am not privy to lol!
Love that they came into our room early morning. Josh had a long layover in Tokyo so got us a bunch of flavoured Kit Kats!
Zandra unfortunately could not make the wedding since she is waiting for her green card to be processed after getting married in January. We are definitely sad that she is not here for the wedding (or our big family vacay after it either).
It was so nice to have everyone home – it definitely throws off the more calm routine Rob and I have been in having only Sam home, but it was nice to hear so much laughter and feel the energy!
We headed to church and stayed for the lunch
Zach and Rachael’s friends from Utah and Alberta started pouring in on the Sunday – we had a full house! They were awesome guests! (I don’t think I got pics of them all here though – but lots from the wedding prep and wedding itself). They toured around – Niagara Falls, then every inch of Toronto (including a Blue Jays game) and then Hamlton. A whirlwind but comprehensive tour!
Rachael and Zach got back a couple of weeks ago and they have been working on the wedding plans. It is coming up soon!
There wasn’t much time to hold multiple showers so we just did one; I joined her mom, step mom and two sisters in hosting. One of their good family friends graciously hosted at her house as It was the most central.
Everyone helped with food – we had a “brunch style”. Her sister (who is also a photographer and essentially a wedding planner!) did a whole bunch of fun games.
Here are some of the snaps (her sister took a ton more and I’ll post when I get them!)
Yes, yes I’m cheating a bit by only writing one post lol.
But their birthdays are 2 days apart and we don’t know Ilyah too well yet – so I am going for the two for one!
And with my family growing so rapidly I am giving myself complete permission to change things up as needed bcs it is hard to keep up with everything! So all the birthday posts may be a bit different as I experiment!
So – a combo birthday post it is – for now!
We met Ilyah this past Christmas, a couple of weeks before Zandra married him. It was fun to finally meet him in person.
Ilyah is full of interests and curiosity! He loves to learn and to share his knowledge. He has so many different passions. He is keen to join in the family fun- even doing a mean karaoke!! He loves to plan and has lots of ambitions for their future
He also is attentive to Zandra and she is his number one!
Which is great – bcs there is a reason she is his number one bcs she is pretty awesome!
We miss having her sunny personality around but love to see her thrive with her schooling and Hawaiian life.
Zandra is also filled with many interests and curiosity!
She still loves all things beauty and is so passionate about animals – they even have adopted a cat!!
She wants to be a teacher and I can see her thriving in that – with her compassionate spirit and desire to help.
And we can’t forget her creative side – she brings a creative flair to everything she does – art, writing, singing… she has some serious talent!
Oh so fun to be so young and in love – leading your best life!
Wishing them both very happy birthdays! Lots of sunshine, beach, yummy food and cake and love all around!
On average I spent 13000 hours in therapy/coaching sessions with my clients , spent about 5000 hours driving to clients (which means about 3000 hours listening to podcasts 😀), more than 1000 hours watching kids soccer games⚽️, cooked at least 2500 dinners (and then packed well over 1000 lunches), did close to 2000 loads of laundry, went for a run or walk in the neighborhood over 2400 hundred times, thousands of family nights, thousands of texts, hundreds of late night conversations, ate sushi over 500 times, baked hundreds of treats, wrote hundreds of blog posts, took thousands of photos, recorded 70 podcast episodes, attended 11 graduations, bought 3 properties, started 3 side businesses, 2 formal life coaching certifications (plus 3 others), 1 mission completed, 3 university drop offs, 2 weddings (1 in person, 1 virtual), 1 dog…and a million hours of worry, anxiety, pride, peace, and excitement. And of course sleep – thousands of hours of glorious sleep 😴 Oh, and 0 times colouring my hair🤷🏼♀️.
We travelled to✈️Caribbean, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Germany (multiple times), Austria, Italy, France, Czech Republic, South Africa, Vietnam, Cambodia, Norway, Morocco, Mexico, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Switzerland, and of course, North America (Outerbanks, South Carolina, WashingtonDC, Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, Colorado, Florida, New York, Chicago, Texas, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec). 🌎
The days are long, the years are short. We overestimate what we can do in the short term and underestimate the long term.
I look back on my 40’s and feel kind of bittersweet. Nostalgic of times past, excited for times future, and appreciative for times present. And in shock that they are over!! .What I’m most grateful for are the hundreds of thin moments, thousands of tender mercies, thousands of hugs & kisses, millions of I love you’s…
Let’s go 50 ! I’ve got big plans for you 😀
Some snaps of the weekend celebration with Rob:
And the actual day:
(Sam had been on earlier )
The celebration will continue as we are going with the whole family (minus Zandra and Ilyah who have just started the green card process) to Mexico in June! So exciting to be able to spend some amazing family time in the sunshine and just relax and have fun! Will be posting about it all of course!!
It seems that I am posting less about the “everyday” and more about the “bigger’.
It really is about timing thought. Since starting my coaching business, I have found that my insta gram, Facebook and podcast have taken over – but I still like to check in here for my personal stuff.
This past week I feel like I hit a milestone. I shared some it on my instagram… And I’ll just reshare part of it here too (an expanded version haha)
5 years ago in March, on a long drive in Cambodia on a family trip , I googled, “how to be a better mom – LDS” (road trips used to be pretty stressful with my brood 😂😂). Up popped Jody Moore’s podcast. I started to listen – loved what she was saying and was led to The Life Coach School and fell in love with that.
At the time, I was looking at spicing up my professional life. Although I had been certified as a life coach a few years earlier (to help broaden my SLP toolkit), I was tempted to enroll in the LCS coach training – but I also had the desire to do something different.
So I did. I started a small travel business. Leah Davidson Travel
The learning curve was steep, but it was fun and different. I learned so much – about being in a business that requires promotion, marketing, sales, copy writing, websites, accounting etc. It’s amazing what goes into a business.
I still continued seeing my SLP clients but my heart was tugging – to do life coaching.
How could I now though? I’d started this other business – I couldn’t switch!! I loved the travel business but truth be told, it wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be! I love to travel but it’s not the same planning for others , lol.
But the push to change – to do life coaching – was relentless .
I ignored it.
Then an old SLP client reached out wanting help. We decided to meet up after I came back from my vacation.
We never met up. He took his own life before I got back.
I took it hard. But I took it as a sign. I needed to follow my heart. I also wanted to broaden my reach to whom I serve.
And so I signed up for certification at The Life Coach School! It was scary – it was a full commitment – financial, time, heart and soul.
The timing ended up being impeccable, bcs within several weeks into training, I desperately needed the tools I was learning as we navigated some very difficult times in our family. (This was right at the time Zach left for his mission to Tahiti).
The tools that I learned changed everything for me forever.
And along the way in my coaching journey, I have grown so much. In knowledge and personally.
I’ve also met some pretty great people. Clients, mentors, teachers and fellow coaches. And of course, all virtual given the timing (I certified March 2020).
So it was pretty surreal that this past week I am headed to Austin, Texas for a Mastermind- where I had the incredible privilege of meeting some of these people I now love- to be in the room with so many I respect, admire and look up to. And to learn!
Who knew all the long and twisty paths I would walk on in the past 5 years! I can’t wait to see what the next 5 hold!
Needless to say, the conference was incredible. Better than I could ever have imagined !
The speakers were inspiration, the energy was high, and the people were – my people!
It was a definite high. But, also exhausting lol!
Here are some of my fave pictures from the conference:
Terrible angle of me – but I love these women!!Me and my mentor/teacher MollyAnother amazing memtor and teacher AimeeSome of my “Small group” friends Exploring Austin on a morning walk with my roommate and friend, LauraHere we go!
Some amazing speakers! I got to meet so many people (including some of my fave coaches)
And more friends:
It was an incredible experience.
I am so glad that I took that leap – and followed my heart! I need to do more of that!!
The conference ended with Rob joining me to visit some family and friends in Houston (we had a great weekend!)
This is officially the first birthday I’m not with this guy.
Funny the things you think of as a mom 😂
I think of all the younger years…
^^^ (He’s changed bit since he was 12 and we went to Spain for soccer!)
But I’m so grateful to have spent 11 days of intense time a couple of weeks ago on “the 16trip”.
Even though he turns 19 today, lol 😂
19 years ago he came into this world and became my baby Josh (or “baby dosh” as 18 month old Zach called him).
And he is forever my baby, even though he towers me at 6’2.
And is spreading his wings and flying. I do love to watch him soar.
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Even though it’s bittersweet:) Because these days are kind of gone:
Although being mugged in Paris last week and needing a wee bit of help from me was kind of nice too:) (Shameful I know!)
Here are 10 things I love most about Josh:
He is the best hugger and gives them to me freely
He is independent and wants to do things for himself
He is smart – knows a lot of stuff about a lot of things
He is fun to travel with – with us and I’m sure will be a blast with his friends too!
He has a great sense of humor and is super funny
He loves his anime. New thing since Covid, but he enjoys it!
He is a very loyal friend and a good brother
He is sensitive – has a compassion and empathy underneath his chill exterior
He is resourceful – this last week has shown me that
He loves his family – despite him being aloof at times, and independent, when his siblings are around, he’s there.
I miss having him around when he’s gone, but I am so glad that he was able to head to Europe to travel with friends for the next few months. I love that he has the travel bug and the adventurous spirit!
Godspeed on your travels, miss you lots, love you more, forever my Barbaloot, Happy 19th Josh
