Raising Flowers and Skids

Coming home…

Posted on June 11, 2022 by Leah

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:)

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.

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!

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!

Next up – wedding prep!

Rachael’s Shower

Posted on May 18, 2022 by Leah

This past weekend was Rachael’s shower.

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!)

Happy Birthday Zandra and Ilyah

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Leah

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!

Love you and miss you!!!

This was my 40’s

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Leah

I had posted this on my facebook and instagram, but I’d say summing up my 40’s deserves a blog post:)

The 40’s have been good to me..

This is the last day of my 40’s.And I’m celebrating!

Personally I learned, laughed, progressed, improved, studied, taught, shared, cried, struggled, dared, failed, fought, empathized, disciplined, embraced, succeeded, loved ❤️.

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:

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!!

LCS Mastermind

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Leah

It has been a quick minute since I have posted!

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:

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!)

Happy 19th Josh!

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Leah

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.

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

xoxox

Mom

Zandra and Ilyah’s wedding

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Leah

Zandra and Ilyah made the decision that they wanted to do a small wedding on their own in Hawaii!

While the original date was at the beginning of January, their officiant got Covid, so they had to do something really small and social distanced. So in a small park in Hawaii, they said their official “I’do’s”.

They had a more formal ceremony a couple of weeks later on the beach with some friends they said their vows and we got a zoom link to watch. We were in Denmark at the time, so woke up at 2am to watch! It was beautiful and she of course looked gorgeous!

Here are a few of the pictures she sent us – a beautiful couple in a beautiful location!

They plan on doing a wedding for family and friends a home at a later date tbd ….

We wish them so much love and happiness! Welcome to the family Ilyah!

Zermatt Day 2

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Leah

Every hotel we have stayed at has included breakfast. Some are better than others. While we like this hotel (called the Matterhorn Inn) but the breakfast is meh…

We headed into Zermatt with big plans to go up not he cogwheel train to see the Matterhorn, and then cut over to what they call Matterhorn Glacier Park (called the peak to peak pass). Unfortunately, they said the winds were too strong and we could not go up to the park:(

I was truly disappointed:((

We headed up on “the Gornergrat” – which takes you from the village all the way up to 3100m above sea level where you get incredible views of the Matterhorn.

The ride was pretty great.

Up at the top – the views were also pretty incredible!

We walked around and soaked it all in.

We decided to do some hiking down the mountain.

We took the train back down one stop where the hiking trails started.

We had some fun heading down. At times it was slippy! I ended up having to go on my butt sometimes!

When we hit the next station, we hopped back on the train.

Josh was tired (late night last night) so decided to head back to the hotel. We decided to get off the next stop and continue hiking down.

What a mistake that was.

The path was super super slippy – with a sharp drop on the side and it was super narrow. My boots were not the best for this either – so I had to get on my butt and slide and then crawl. When we saw it was not getting better – and I was truly nervous, we decided to abandon ship and try to head back up to the main path. But there was no way to get there except try to climb up through the snow up a steep hill. The snow was deep. The incline was steep and we tried to crawl up. We had to change route partway to find an easier route.

We eventually made it back to the path – completely exhausted and soaked!

I saw a sign that said that the area we had climbed up was where the animals climb, lol.

We took the train down another stop and decided to try hiking again.

The path looked OK – so we attempted it.

Grrr. It was not great! I had to toboggan down on my bum again!

We finally came to a really nice, clear, easy path and were able to walk down the rest of the mountain into Zermatt.

I tell you I was relieved when we got to the town! My body was pretty achey!

We stopped for a snack – a crepe from a cute little crepe shop.

We took the train shuttle back to tasche where Josh was having a snooze and we chilled before heading back to Zermatt for dinner.

We ate in a cute Swiss place and Josh and I had racklette (last Swiss food item on my list!) Rob had a rosti (another Swiss food that I had a couple of nights ago). Josh headed back to see his buddy again for the last night and Rob and I stayed to have some dessert:)

It was a perfect meal to end our trip!

Zermatt is the cutest little town! Definitely a place we would like to return to (and potentially ski – although it is so intimidating bcs it is so so huge!!)

The next day we took the train back to Zurich – and went right to the airport. Smartest thing we did was to stay in the airport hotel bcs we had so much paperwork to do -especially to get Josh ready for his 4 months of travel.

We left the next morning at the crack of dawn and mid morning Josh flew to Paris to meet his buddy to start their adventure.

It was an awesome trip!

Zermatt – Day one

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Leah

Zermatt is not an easy place to get to.

We had two connections to make and it was quite busy so it was a bit of a pain.

Josh wanted to go to this destination, lol.

But again, the ride was beautiful!

I made a new friend at the hotel, lol. We stayed juts outside of Zermatt in a small town called Tasch. Tasch is the last place you can bring your car (No cars in Zermatt) so it is popular place to stay and you just take the 12 min train int Zermatt using our Swiss pass.

One of Josh’s really good friends just arrived in Zermatt a few days ago for a ski program and we found out that where he is staying was a 4 min walk – really nice for Josh. We had plans to have dinner with him – it was his birthday so Josh planned to spend the evening with him too.

We headed into Zermatt by the shuttle train that runs back and forth throughout the day – super easy.

We walked around the town and then found a place for lunch.

Lots of watch stores!

After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel and chilled for a bit. Josh went to hang with his friend and we agreed to meet up at the restaurant.

Back to the hotel and saw the stunning sunrise:

We went back into Zermatt and found my favourite chocolate place to get my favourite truffles (the same truffles that Bro Bill made growing up and would give us a bag every year – they were my favourite!) and then headed to the restaurant.

Josh met up with his friend and we went for dinner.

The restaurant was called “Say Cheese” – haha. They had a tad bit of attitude too. We had cheese fondue, followed by chocolate fondue. I won’t tell how much the water cost us – but it was astronomical!! (I guess they did not understand that we wanted the “tap water” as opposed to the $17 bottle of still water. ) Prices in Switzerland are insane!!

We had a nice meal – and then Josh and his friend went off to celebrate his friend’s birthday with all his ski program friends.

Josh clearly had a good time bcs he got home really late:)

But he still had to be up early for some adventures in Zermatt…

(The nicest McDonald’s in Europe – possibly??)

Paragliding and Cruising in Interlaken

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Leah

While yesterday was a low-key day, we decided to pack things in today!

First up, paragliding!

I don’t know what made me want to do it, but I did.

Josh was a little iffy. He researched the death rate – 1 in 1000?!??! (I’m not so sure about this – he might have been exaggerating to dissuade me).

But he then read that the safest place to do it was Switzerland, so he was in.

Interlaken Paragliding was right next to our hotel, so we walked over mid morning and they gave us some gear…

We headed up the mountain to the starting point.

It was super foggy so we had to wait for the clouds to clear.

Once they cleared, we were off!

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Here are tons of photos of this incredible experience! I was surprisingly calm! Both Josh and Rob were pretty nervous at first but then got into it.

Rob went first:

Then me:

It was pretty amazing!

And finally Josh (we were all up there together but we just took off one at a time. The pictures Josh has of one paraglider up ahead is me:))

I loved Josh’s photos the best!

We decided to have a chill afternoon and went on a boat cruise on the Thun Lake (Interlaken – means between two lakes so we went on one of the lakes). It was so pretty.