.Flat Stanley

I got a letter in the mail this week from my eight year old nephew in Utah--Jeremy.

He sent me Flat Stanley to check out Canada and report back to him what he did here.



I think Flat Stanley looks a lot like Jeremy.

he is such a sweet kid!

Because of this, I felt it was very important that he had a lot of fun during his stay in Canada.

He made some new friends

Played basketball with our seminary kids

Played in the fog outside

We watched some movies with him

He got to ride in the front seat of our car (sorry Air)

Maybe if Flat Stanley had enough fun, my sister Gwen will send me the actual kid (Jeremy) next time??


Here's hoping!


.

.Thanksgiving

Because our harvest in Canada comes earlier than it does in the States, we celebrate Thanksgiving a whole month ahead. On the second Monday in October (a few days ago). We don't celebrate because of Columbus and the Indians... but because of some guy who discovered Canada... and also because we have a lot to be thankful for here too!

So now that all of your questions are answered as to why Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving. I'll tell you how it was!



On Sunday, after church, we headed down to Air's parent's house for the great feeding! I brought my homemade corn bread so that we could enjoy all of the yummy food without feeling too guilty for not contributing to the meal. So it was an awesome, guilt free, Thanksgiving feast!

At dinner we go around the table and tell what we are grateful for. Air said that he is grateful that his family moved closer to us. I said I am grateful for my calling.

We have so much to be grateful for!

Pie, glorious pie!

After dinner we played a silly game ("You know you're a redneck if...") and we all talked all night.
Some friends of Air's parents, the Dunne family from Ireland, stayed the weekend too! It was a big, fun sleepover party!


Breakfast on Thanksgiving morning was awesome too...

the Dunne's little girl Hannah and Air's sister Tiana

We really wanted to go to a corn maze... but of course it snowed constantly.


So we did some shopping instead

for Halloween costumes!

Air and his sister Tara... freaky right!??

Notice Air's Mom and me in the background of this one? We had loads of funness thinking of costumes.

There is a lot of fun to be had at Value Village this time of year.

.

.first snow

Its snowing in Edmonton today.



I'm not ready yet...

This is what we saw when we got out of seminary this morning:


I just have one question. What ever happened to Autumn!?
Give me back my beautiful yellow, orange and red leaves and yellow grass!
Nothing should be white yet! Not yet!!



At least not until Halloween is over!

Which, by the way, I am incredibly excited for! ...And because of my excitement, you get to enjoy my favorite Halloween movie of all time: Garfield's Halloween Adventure!!!!
{it is SO awesome that I can post this whole movie on here!}

You might want to gather the family around for this one! It's pretty lengthy (25min)... ENJOY!

.On having family nearby

I was right when I said that we'd be spending a lot more time with Air's family now that they live about 20 minutes away!


I'm right a lot though, so that's no surprise :)


When I think about the past year that we've been living up here in Edmonton with no family nearby I can remember many many weekends of just Air and I hanging out alone. That was really fun and all, but it's also nice to be around other people now and then too!
People other than Air's single guy friends!
Luckily the fam moved up here just before I became a complete hermit! But it was a pretty close call!

This is the lovely view out our apartment window... Yep! It's a window well full of weeds...

We celebrated Tam's Birthday with them!

I guess the only birthday present they get in their family is getting thrown around?

We've been hanging out around their beautiful new home

Watching movies on their huge new tv

Air and the guys worked on the deck in the back yard

While us girls unpacked the garage

We got to play with the cousins and their cute little puppies!

Awwwww.....

We watched Sunday's General Conference with the whole family!

{As far as conference goes..... WOW! Is it just me or does conference get more and more powerful and motivating every time? My favorite was Elder Bednar's talk... I'll probably talk about that later}

And we've been eating some REALLY yummy meals prepared by these two lovely women:
Air's Mom, and her Mom (our Grandma for those mathematically challenged)

We've been having so much fun seeing them every weekend, and some weekdays too! Our family is so awesome, I love them to pieces!

Family. Isn't it about time?

that was a super cheesy joke
.

.General

Conference

Word on the street is that we get to hear from the Prophet and Apostles this weekend. I'm gonna be loving every minute of it here at home with my cute hubby!


I sure hope my seminary kids take some time to watch a session... or four... or maybe even five?
I don't want to get my hopes up too high though!





One of the best experiences of my lifetime was when I went to a youth fireside at the Conference Center back in 2000. The Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley gave the most glorious talk I ever remember hearing at that age.

Although the talk was really amazing, the experience I'm talking about happened after the talk was over. As I was wandering out of the building with a group of young women from my ward, I remember stopping and looking at a water fountain. I read the words carved into the stone:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

I stared at these words for as long as I could. An incredible feeling poured over me and made me tingle from head to toe. And that feeling came along with a resounding message in my mind. That this church that I belong to is true. A huge smile came over my face and I remember feeling complete peace and happiness in that moment. So much that my heart hurt. I couldn't believe that I was given that assurance without even asking for it.

Some blessings come when we don't expect them to.



I hope that someone else will see that stone in Salt Lake City this weekend and feel what I felt when I was standing right there nine years ago.


I hope for a lot of things.