Happy Birthday

It was my birthday....Spencer and the kids helped me celebrate in style. I got some lovely gifts...Evan colored a picture that he was particularly proud of, Megan spent many hours making me a book, Spencer got me some new shoes, a watch and a yoga headstander. To top it off they decorated the house with balloons and streamers and we all wore lei's while I opened the gifts. I decided to change things up with a new cake request. For years probably 8 years I've requested the skor dessert cake, but finally got sick of it. So Spencer bought me a Chinese cake....a light cake with fruit chunks in the middle and fancy fruit on the top with a whipcream type icing. Yummy! I turned the big 31 this year, but two things will always make me feel better....#1 I'll always be younger than my sister Jen and #2 I'll always be younger than Spencer!

New Recipe

I've put up a new recipe on the side. We are trying to eat less meat....so this salad is a new favorite. It would be perfect for a ward potluck or picnic. Instead of brown basmati rice I used Quinoa (a new favorite ancient grain; that is super healthy). The original recipe I think would feed more like 6 people and I would cut down on the amount of juice from the mandarin oranges.

Enjoy!

Back in Business

Our van was in the shop getting repaired....and I accidentally forgot the camera inside...so we have been without pictures to download and put up....here's what's been happening over the last month....

Megan started grade 2 and Evan is in preschool. Yahoo.... so I'm officially the chauffeur and I've volunteered to be the recycle lady at Evan's preschool. I'm not currently as involved in Megan's school this year....but hope to pick that back up once Aaron is a little older. Being involved in your children's education by volunteering in any aspect and going to the PTA meetings makes a huge difference.

We took a weekend in Banff so Spencer could run the Melissa's Road Race. He did very well, inspite of the lack of training for the 22K run (1/2 marathon). His time was 1 hour 50 minutes. Way to go! I also did well as I juggled 3 kids outside in the wind while waiting for Spencer to finish. After the race we wandered around the townsite and looked in the stores. We purchased fudge (Megan waited the whole trip just for that). We also went on a hike and let the kids jump on the hotel beds! (just kidding). I love going to the mountains. It was a nice getaway. Next year I told Spencer that we would run the 10K together and have someone watch the kids for the weekend for us.

This is what happens when you leave the camera out....the kids get quite for a moment and then you discover what they have been up to....and check the memory for the candid photos that they took. Does this happen to anyone else?
One day I'll learn. But some of the pic's are pretty funny.

This little guy or should I say "big" guy is now over 2 months old. He is healthy and strong and has such an easy going temperament, a nice change in our house hold. He has just recently started to use his abs to sit up.

Happy Thanksgiving! May your turkey be large and moist, may your sweet potatoes be sweet and may there be a vast variety of desserts and may you not gain a pound! This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love to bundle up and snuggle under sweaters and blankets to stay warm. It is always easier to layer up if your cold....but you can only get so naked to cool you down in the summer months. The kids are back in school, the beautiful fall colors, thanksgiving time, my birthday, Halloween.....it's a wonderful time of year. Enjoy!

Anniversary

Today is the day that Spencer and I got married 9 years ago. Time as sure gone by fast. Spencer and I occasionally have reminisced about all the experiences that we have had and all the things that have happened. Nine years, 3 kids, 2 plus years of additional schooling, 3 jobs, 7 cities to call home....multiple church callings.....the list could go on. The blessings have and continue to be many. Spencer is my best friend, a wonderful husband, an involved father and a hard worker. We make quite the team. Happy Anniversary Spencer...I Love you (and all your funny faces)!

Saying good-bye to an old friend

This happened about a month ago now, but here is the post now anyway.

The first car that Spencer and I bought finally gave up the ghost, so to speak, but it left us under bad circumstances. Spencer had a small fender bender one day on his way to work. All the damage was done to our little car. The front grill was bend and one of the front headlights was broken, but the car was still drivable (it didn't look pretty but it worked).

Unfortunatley the cost of the repairs was more then the the insurance company was willing to pay for (since it was such an old car), so they wrote it off and our car got towed away.

Here is a little history on our beloved car:

We bought it in the spring of 2000

It was a (1990) Toyota Corolla that was 10 years old when we bought it

I had a fender bender that was repaired and better than new

We replaced the cam-shaft, and muffler (a few times)

We could fill it up for about $20 when we first bought it, now days it cost us around $40 and up

We were having some problems with the electrical and our tail lights not to mention that our radio didn't work, the drivers seatbelt was cracked, and the inside door handle was broken.
We drove it back and forth to Indiana twice!

In the end it was Spencer's ride. He took it to work and church, He changed the oil....and once a year he washed it and vacuumed it out. She only had about 235,000Km.

We miss not having our second vehicle (which was actually our first). But we are looking on the brightside of things...our insurance premiums have gone down, registration, and no more paying for the high price of gas. So currently we are saving a bit of money. When the time comes to get another car, it will be another Toyota.....something.

Tasty Summer Fun

This is a homemade ice cream sandwich. If you have never tried one, you should try making them sometime. Super easy, if you don't make the cookies from scratch....you just buy soft chewy cookies and add the ice-cream and then roll in the sprinkles. The kids gave them two thumbs up! It was a good FHE treat idea.

I also made slush. It is pretty sweet stuff and the flavors that I picked aren't my kids favorites, but I like it. It is way better than a slurpee, 'cause it has the fizziness of the pop.

It's a Boy!

After 9 long months the newest member of our family has arrived! He came 4 days early....on Tuesday July 28 at 5:35 am. The labour and delivery went good as to be expected. He was the fastest one yet....he joined the world after only 3.5 hours of labour. The doctor said that he came out sunnyside up....(face up)! He weighed 9lbs 5 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long and his name is Aaron Tyler Ord.

I left the hospital that night at around 9pm. Spencer has been a great help and my mom came to lend a hand for a week too. We had some meals dropped off from the sisters in our ward -- that was a huge help too! The adjustment has been going pretty good. Megan is a fanastic helper and is growing into the role of the oldest sibling very well. She knows that the baby is very demanding on mom's time and energy levels and has had a ton of patience with Evan as well. Evan and Megan both love to hold the baby. Evan still thinks the baby is so funny. He has probably had the hardest adjustment...he is a bit louder and missing his mom. I'll often feed the baby downstairs at around 9pm and watch a little TV and Evan pulls out a blanket and plops down on the floor and falls asleep close to me.

I must say that the more kids I have the more relaxed I am and that I am enjoying my buddy a lot. There is something to be said about slowing down and enjoying being a parent. This kid so far (knock on wood)...has been really good. He doesn't fuss much, he is eating like a champ, and sleeping 3-4.5 hours a night.

The next challenge will be in a few more weeks, when school starts up again....and we have to drop Megan off at school fairly early in the morning. Then by middle of September Evan starts Pre-school (he is so excited!)