William's CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE 2010

The day after we arrived in California. We went to "California Adventure". It was awesome. We were there with our cousins and Jasmine and Grandma Snyder. All day we went on ride after ride. The weather was perfect and the line ups weren't that bad. Some of my favorite rides were the new Toy Story, California Souring,and Tower of Terror. I also went on the roller coaster "California Screamin" it was intense. There was no slow start your roller car was rocketed from the very beginning. My mom even went on it even though she had her eyes closed most of the way. Olivia, Madison and I went on it twice.





California Adventure and Disney were so incredible because of the detail in all the areas and rides it really is a world of its own. Thank you Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Gary for taking us to these great places and letting us stay at your home and also for introducing me to O'Hanna. You have to go there for me - I miss it sooooo much. I also want to thank my sister Jasmine and Grandma Snyder for this great adventure.

Halloween

So I have a few minutes right now. I do have a zillion things to do but I really want to share these pictures. I can't believe it is already November 11th.
Happy Remembrance Day everyone.
I am grateful for those who have served our country in past wars and for those soldiers who serve today. Olivia, William and I have been studying world history for the last four years and we are now reaching modern times and soon will begin to study WW1. The kids hate war and through our studies they have learned how wars have touched every continent and nation in the world. It seems, us humans can't learn. So I'm just saying thank you especially to the ones who gave their all - their lives.

Let's talk about our Halloween. About two day's before Halloween I had the children carve their pumpkins. It's a tradition in our house that all the kids carve their own. We go online and choose a free pattern from the many sites. Then it's upstairs to the dinning room table to carve. The gross part is cleaning out the pumpkin. I was nice and cleaned out Derek's.


The carving was not easy and took patience and some skill. They have been doing this for a few years now so they are all professionals.

And finally we see that their hard work has paid off. Perfect Pumpkins!

Amazing Pumpkins ready for Halloween night.

Olivia's design

William's creation

Derek remembers Pousse (Puss)
Derek's pattern was the simplest but it was an important one for our family and our neighbors. Their cat Pousse had gone missing and still has not been found. Pousse and Cola were always over at our house trying to get in - especially Pousse. Derek decided to dedicate his pumpkin to the memory of Pousse. The neighbor was touched and later that week brought Derek a beautiful poster of Pousse and it is now on his bedroom wall. We don't have any animals so the kids love to borrow the neighbors or friends. Derek was often called upon to watch the cats when the neighbors went out of town. So he loved that little Pousse.

I hope everyone's Halloween was great. We had a quiet evening and really not very many children were out. Olivia is the only one that went out trick or treating from our family. She was a Hula Dancer with a turtle neck on because it was a bit chilly and hey! we live in Canada. She looked adorable and she was happy. It's funny because Olivia was a hula girl and the next day Jasmine flew to Hawaii (from Victoria) for a week. More on that later. William stayed home and gave out candy to the trick or treaters. Olivia and I went out with the neighbor kids. Brandon, Thomas, and Dayna were adorable in their costumes and eager to collect candy. We just walked around the block and everyone's bag was full. It was windy and cool so we had Hot Chocolate when we came home. Of course the candy was poured out on the floor and sorted into the "I love it pile" and the "I hate it pile". The latter was given to her brothers. So everyone was happy!

Olivia all ready for Trick or Treating

Dayna, Olivia, Brandon, Thomas


We are all so jealous of Jasmine. Hawaii is so beautiful, sunny, warm and it has Cousin Deb!!! She is a blast to be with because she always makes you laugh. Jasmine had an amazing time and I'm sure she is already planning a return trip. I am happy for Jasmine that she is able to travel now and see a little of the world. She's home now so I'm sure we will be able to see her pictures on her facebook page. So that's all for today everyone. It took me too long and now I have to figure out what to have for dinner. I know grandma and Jasmine are having my veggie enchiladas because they phoned for the recipe. Hmm, that sounds like a plan maybe something mexican would be good.

Fun Hair do

A few weeks back I found this great blog about doing girls hair in fun styles. The instructions were great and included awesome photographs. We tried a few of the styles but now Olivia doesn't seem that interested in doing them anymore. I really wanted to practice a little more but she says that she wants to cut her hair now. Oh well, what can you do? Here are a few pictures taken of one of the styles we did.



Isn't she a beauty. It's hard to believe but Olivia will be turning 10 in December.

Stay tuned for the coming Halloween and Pumpkin pictures. I'll be posting them as soon as I get Steve to download the pics from our camera. I so love being able to share these pics with you all. Please leave a comment because the kids love to read them. It lets us know that someone is reading our blog. We love you family!!!!!

Jilleen's Birthday

I had a great birthday yesterday. It was a very busy day starting with chocolate cupcakes at early morning seminary. A big thank you goes to Julianne Chapman who prepared the delicious treats for everyone. Later that morning Merlene and Allison took me out to brunch at Dejeuner. I had a delicious veggie omlette and potatoes and fruit. It is so nice to just be with friends and talk. Allison is getting married soon and before you know it she will be gone to Utah. I cherish the time I spend with friends. This picture is of Merlene and I, Allison took it. Hey! she (Allison) got out of a picture.


After brunch it was home for a few and then off to an orthodontist appointment for Olivia. In the new year Olivia will be getting braces just like her cousin Madison.

Then it was back home to get ready for our Brownie and Girl Guide enrollment that evening. It was so much fun to see all those girl's happy faces. I have eleven Brownies this year - it is so great. Elizabeth Hines is the other Brownie leader and she organized the ceremony for the girls. I love working in this Unit the Brownie and Guide leaders are so layed back. We keep it simple and really try to focus on the girls. They are so positive and happy to be in Brownies it really is a pleasure to work with them. I'm always greeted with "Hi, Happy Owl!!" Here is a picture with me and my Brownies.


It was a big day for Olivia too. She became a Guide. She has been so excited learning her promise and law. Now she can start earning some of the badges in the guide book. She has made some great friends and has had some great times. She especially likes to sing at the closing campfires. The Brownies will often join the Guides at the end of their meeting for singing it is a lovely way to end our meetings.


Olivia and Erin enjoying the Guiding good times.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here's a picture of Stephen and I at our joyous Thanksgiving celebration. We were so happy that we could share it with friends and family. As our family grows smaller - We miss you Jasmine and Hamish!!! - we just keep inviting others in. It's hard to be here in Montreal without any family but we have made some great friends through the church. I wish that we could invite all our friends but our house is just too small. So our guests were the Malo family- Bob and Mary and their children Jenn and Mike. They are a zany bunch and seem to fit well with our family. Our other guests were the Chapman crew- Roger and Julianne and their living at home children Trent and Kirsten. They have just moved into our ward from Minnesota(?). They have traveled all over but their original home is in Utah. Julianne teaches early morning seminary with me. Also we had a bonus guest, Barbara, brought by Jenn but I'm sorry I don't know her last name. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the food because there was turkey and all the trimmings. The dessert was delicious too with pumpkin, banana, and coconut cream pies. We were stuffed. All the families brought things and we created this beautiful Thanksgiving Feast.

Notice the gorgeous centerpiece created by Olivia and mom including place cards. Eat your heart out Martha Stewart.

This was the handsome Young men table. And boy do those boys like to eat!

Catching up with the Macpherson's

It's been a few weeks since I wrote anything on the blog and we have been really busy. We went to a Stake activity that was like an Autumn Carnival. They had lots of fun games and an Apple pie contest,(I came in fourth) and it finished with a potluck lunch including sweet corn that they provided. The pictures don't look that great because of the fluorescent lighting so next time we are going to have to figure out a different setting on the camera. Everyone looks kind of orange - like pumpkins!

Derek was asked to man one of the games.


William loves potlucks!


The following Saturday we went apple picking at Verger Coeur de Pomme with some friends. The apples were amazing,so delicious. I ate three whole apples while we were picking. The day was beautiful so the pictures turned out so lovely. No pumpkins here, except in the field.



Then finally last Saturday Olivia and I went on a Girl Guide Day camp at Wa-Thik-Ane in Morin Heights which is about an hour north of Montreal. Sadly, the weather was rainy but it didn't seem to dampen the girls' spirits. And there were over 200 girls there. I don't have too many pictures of Olivia because I was with my Brownies all day and she is now a Guide. But we were at archery together.


Beautiful autumn colors.

Zombies anyone?

I'm not sure, but for some reason I can't get the link to come up for this Youtube video so if you just go to youtube and type in plants vs zombies music video you'll get to see it. Olivia and William are singing this all the time. That's why I posted them lip singing to it.