A new Haircut

I've decided to share how great I feel since I got my haircut. I think all that long straight hair was just weighing me down. Everyone I see from the gym to church to my girl guides this evening said how they liked my hair. It's amazing how a simple haircut can change your life for the better. Everything seems easier to face when you feel better about yourself. I remember when I was younger (really young) when my mom or grandma would go to the salon to get their hair styled and curled. We don't do that now - go weekly. If I get there every six weeks I'm lucky. I know how important it is to eat healthy and exercise but I'm also realizing how important it is to keep up the beauty care because it really does add to my whole person. So if you are feeling run down maybe depressed try going to the salon with your girlfriends. I have to thank Rozalie at Salon de Coiffure Rozalie for bringing me back to life. I'll be calling you in a few weeks for an appointment for a new do.

Sorry this picture was the best that I could find of my hair. Notice the nice layers and soft curl all natural of course.

Olivia just loves her new outfit designed and made by her Auntie Cheryl. It's perfect for the warm summer days we are having in Montreal. Don't you love Olivia's new hair style. She looks so sweet.
Here is something else that Olivia thinks is sweet Taffy, the little dog up the street that she checks on Tuesday afternoons. The owners are at work and school and they needed someone to let her out of her crate for a little while. Taffy is very energetic and loves to run in her back yard.

LOOK WHAT I MADE!!!

On Saturday Olivia and I went to Fabricville and she picked out some fabric so I could sew her a little skirt. I got the pattern from a blog called "Crap I've made". I started around 3:30 pm today and finished around 6:30 pm. It turned out so cute and Olivia loves it. I'm so proud of myself. I really love sewing and creating things.


So now I've got the bug and I want to sew some more. I want to make something for William now. He says I should make him a hat. I think he wants me to make him a baseball cap. I'm not that good. I'm going to have to come up with something else. If you have any ideas let me know. Have a great day.

Palmyra, New York

Earlier in July we went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York. It is only about five hours from Montreal so we did it in two days. It was a Youth trip but I came along because I teach seminary and we are doing Church History and the Docrtine and Covenants this year. We visited the Smith Homes, Sacred Grove and also the temple grounds during the day friday. Later that evening we went to the hill to wait for the Pageant to start. Here are some pictures from Friday.



The Smith frame home


Barns and other buildings

Into the Grove we go.

Some of my past and present seminary students.

The temperatures were hot and humid that day so it was cooler walking through the Sacred Grove.

Relaxing at the Temple.




The Hill

We found some seats and then Olivia, William and Dad climbed the hill for a different perspective.

They were hot and exhausted but they made it!!!



The pageant characters mingled with the crowd before the sun went down. The show couldn't start until it was dark. The costumes were awesome.


Olivia and William both enjoyed the show.

Chickpea Tacos

Yes you read that right. I have found this great recipe using a can of Chickpeas that makes a delicious taco filling. First I sauteed onions, celery, and red pepper together. The recipe said green but I had a red one that I need to use up.

Then I added some spices and yummy salsa. You can make it as spicy as you like.

Then you add the can of chickpeas.I mashed them with the potato masher just a little.

Then you can go ahead and put your tacos together and enjoy. if you look below you will see that I have typed out the recipe. I hope you will enjoy them as much as we do.



Kevin Nealon's Chickpea Tacos
1 small onion
1 T. olive oil
1 celery stalk chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 15-19oz canned chickpeas
5-8 T. salsa (I add more)
1/2 tsp. gr. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili pwdr
dash of cayenne
9-10 taco shells
In large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, and green pepper until softened. Add chickpeas, salsa, cumin, and chili powder. Stir and cook until warmed. Mash chickpeas slightly with a fork for better texture. Fill shells evenly with mixture from saute pan. If desired top with any of the following chopped tomatoes, shredded soy or rice cheese, low-fat guacamole, shredded lettuce, hot sauce, or salsa. I added veggie cheese and my homemade soycream.

Olivia's Guitar and Rally Day

Olivia has been saving her money for a while. She checks on two dogs in our neighborhood, Taffy and Riley. At first she wanted to buy a new DS but then she decided on a much better purchase.
A friend in our Church ward, Julie has been teaching Olivia guitar. Olivia had been telling me that she wanted to learn how to play the guitar. Julie was so kind to come over and share her talent with Olivia. Olivia was using her dad's larger guitar but her hands were too small to stretch and reach all the strings and frets. So Olivia decided that instead of the DS she would buy herself a new guitar - her size. She even got to pick the colour - Blue of course.
Olivia is doing great at guitar. She has a great memory for the chords and she is excited to learn from anyone. Even one of our missionaries, Elder Burris showed her how to pluck a primary tune. I think she is going to do great,she even loves to practice.

Another fun happening in Olivia's life was the Girl Guide Rally Day on May 15th. Here's a picture of her and some of the other Guides riding on the Montreal Metro.

This was a special event because it was celebrated in major cities all across Canada that day. Girl Guides is a 100 years old in Canada and we were going to celebrate. I had initially signed Olivia and myself up to attend the rally in Montreal but for some reason it did not get there before the deadline and we were not able to go. Olivia was so disappointed because her best friends Erin and Emily were going and some of the other guides from her unit too. She kept asking me that week "what are we going to do on Saturday? I'm going to be so bored!" Then Sue, (one of the guide leaders) phoned me, so excited, because two of the girls had backed out and we were in. We were so ecstatic!
The Rally was amazing they had all these locations in the city we could visit. We had transit passes and maps. Our girls chose China Town, The Old Port and the Redpath Museum on the McGill Campus. We had so much fun in China Town that we didn't have any time to do the scavenger hunt in the Old Port so we just ate our bag lunch and bought Beaver Tails. We kept running into other groups while we were walking around and travelling to our various destinations. The girls had a paper where they could cross off the groups that they met. We were Campfire #2 but we ran into tent, turtles, foxes and many others from all over Quebec. Sadly I don't have any pictures of us at the Old Port but here are some from the other places.
Taiwan Museum and Temple was so interesting.

Chinese Water Garden!


Redpath Museum - here we were so exhausted but we had all these fun things to find and search for it was a great time.

The final stop was the Ville Marie School. There we met up with lots of Guiders the room was full to the brim with Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders....etc. We had birthday cake, saw a fun fashion show of all the Canadian Guider uniforms and sang some campfire songs. Then it was one final metro ride back to our cars and meeting for pick up with the parents. Our feet may have been sore but our hearts were happy. It was a great day, one that we won't forget for a long time.

William sees the light!!!

William has glasses now. He says "the world has never been clearer". He is nearsighted and we didn't even notice until this year. He kept telling me that he couldn't see things that were farther away then five feet in front of him. Dad finally took him to the optometrist and he got these great glasses. He's so handsome in them - don't you think?

William's Keva planks have arrived so here are a few pictures of what he and Olivia have built with them.


This contraption built by Olivia is called the Cascade.

Tie Dye Cupcakes

Olivia and I made these cute cupcakes yesterday. We wish that our family were here to share in these yummy treats but sadly we live too far away so we shared them with our Homeschooling friends and my Brownie pack.
MY DIET TIP OF THE DAY - BAKE IT! then TAKE IT! out of your house.
I love baking so I can do it now and not feel guilty.
We divided white cake batter evenly between five bowls and added food coloring to make the different colors. I used the four neon colors and then made an orange with red/yellow mix. For just simple grocery store food coloring they really turned our vibrant.

Afer mixing in the colors came the fun part. We dropped some of each color into each paper cupcake. We did it quickly by doing each color one after another. Go Olivia!


Everyone enjoyed them cause they're colorful bright and just oh so cheerful!