Happenings from March through August 2015

I'm sure few people read our blog these days, but this is more for the journaling of our own family, anyway. SO...here we go with an update!

Delainey Mae turned 5

Bonus Sunday morning picture, taken at the request of our Diva girls

Sicily Anne turned 3

We found out that I have a baby growing in my belly! It was a...surprise...but we're so thankful. Daddy wore a blue tie AND a pink tie to the ultrasound!

AAAAAND...it's baby girl #4! 

We were (are still are) so excited! Ella DID ask why Heavenly Father won't send us a boy, but she has come to terms with things now.

Delainey had her tonsils and adenoids out in May. The recovery was awful! But her sleeping and breathing have improved a ton since the surgery so we feel blessed. This smile was before she knew what she was REALLY getting into...

Her coming out of the anesthesia was the worst part. I thought I was brave enough to be there without my sweetheart, but I was bawling, she was bawling, and I was seconds away from calling him to come rescue me! We made it though!

God continues to bless us with wonderful Homeschooling friends. We really have been so blessed. Two families with girlie bugs!!

Thanks to lots of bonus Southwest Airline points, we were able fly our little family to Utah for Uncle Remi and Aunt Amanda's wedding in June. The girls and I flew to Aunt Kate's in Las Vegas first and had TONS of fun with cousins, and then Daddy flew out a few days later and joined us in Utah. We made so many memories--it was wonderful! Ella and Delainey loved flying on the airplane, but Sicily was NOT a fan. She hated taking off, landing, and the turbulence. She kept yelling, "We're falling!".

Mathieu and I were so thankful we got to attend the Provo temple when Rosie went through!

The sweet couple:

And just some other bonus pictures of our girls:

SO...now we have 2 more weeks until Londyn Rose joins our family outside the womb. She is already very much a part of our family. We talk Baby Londyn all.day.long. The girls draw family pictures with her in them, we already have 6 people in our family according them, we write in Londyn's journal every couple of weeks telling her how excited we are for her to be born, and all our future plans include this little baby. It's all very sweet.

I started a homeschool group in our town that has really taken off, much to my surprise. I'm thankful to be able to meet the needs of some local homeschooling families, but it's WAY more work than I had anticipated. We have 32 participating families in field trips, and about 20 of those families also participate in our weekly co-op classes. It has been great so far, just a ton of work for me.

Mathieu is working so hard for our family, and we both feel an immense amount of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with so much. His hand is in our lives without a doubt. 

We will be moving in a few weeks back to the town where Mathieu grew up and now works. We're buying Grandma Edie's house because she has decided to move to St. George to escape the NY winters and be close to her children and grandchildren who live out there. Our little family is SO sad about it because we're so close with her and Grandpa Gerry! It's bitter sweet for us. Her house is a beautiful house that fits our family well, and we're lucky to be able to think of her every day as we make her house into our home.

Spray Park

My mom and sister took my girls to a new spray park in their town. The girls loved it!

Drugs, Women, and the Devil

I've been noticing something really disturbing lately: Satan has a huge hold on the hearts of those living on the earth. I just saw an article posted on social media about "stars" who died too young. Most were within the last 25 years, within my lifetime. And you know what 8/10 of them died of? Drugs. HARD drugs. It's heartbreaking. It made me feel really thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has steered me in right direction my entire life. Thanks to my parents who were baptized over 35 years ago, I had the privilege of knowing right and wrong, knowing the importance of a relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and DESIRING those things. It's so heart breaking to me that so many lives have been lost to these horrible substances. And the fact that they're SO readily accessible, to even young children, is really disturbing. 

When I was in 10th grade, my baby brother was in Elementary school. He rode his bike passed my high school's "smoker's path"to get to school. A kid offered him a joint when he was in THIRD grade. And the more upsetting part, was that I found out it was one of my friends. And yes, I did tell him off...kind of nicely. And that was in 1995. Twenty years later, and I know things aren't any better. One of the reasons homeschooling was an appealing choice.

Something else that shows Satan's power, is the use of women's bodies to attract people. I was visiting family in Las Vegas last month, and there was a building company that advertised their new housing development on a billboard. And what did they use to advertise? Not a model home, not a cute little family enjoying family time in their new yard...but a WOMAN IN A BIKINI. What the heck does that have to do with their new housing development?! Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You don't get a woman wearing a bikini free with your purchase of a house. But it catches people's eye and keeps the companies name in their minds. 

A restaurant called "Tilted Kilt" opened in Rochester, and they have billboards advertising. What's on the billboard? Three beautiful women (barely) dressed in Scottish plaid. I wrote an email to the corporate office to complain. They aren't trying to sell their amazing food. They're trying to sell women, sex, and pornography. This is the LAST thing I want my 3 perfect little girls to see, and certainly nothing I ever want my HUSBAND to have to look at it. 

God has told us how powerful we can be as women. We are able to work together with God and our husbands to create children, and to raise them and love them. Sadly, the world tells women the opposite. They tell us, "You want to influence people? Then show your boobs". I can't express enough sadness about this.

My point? Instead of encouraging companies, restaurants, stores, groups, etc. to promote the misuse of women and our Divine roles, and in essence giving the Devil a high five, let's stay away from them. Who cares if the restaurant has really good chicken noodle soup...there are a million better recipes out there. Let's empower our children to lead successful lives by using their minds and talents, not their bodies.

January/February Stuff

We have had an awesome 2015 so far! Granny bought our family tickets to Disney On Ice for Christmas, and the girls LOVED it! It was fun to go (despite the 5 degree weather outside walking in and out of the performance). I got to fly to Las Vegas to spend time with some of Mathieu's cousins, which was awesome! I also took Delainey and Ella with me to Maryland to visit my dad and one of my great friends who just had her 4th baby. Also an awesome trip! Mathieu and I celebrated our 7 1/2 yr anniversary, which also happens to be the anniversary of when we met, by watching Ratatouille (the last movie we saw before we were married for ETERNITY) with the girls and eating homemade stuffed crust pizza. Great night with some of the most AWESOME people in the universe. We have also found some great resources in our community for homeschooling. Our children's museum did a trial Butterfly Garden Homeschool Day. It was VERY well put together and the girls loved it. One of the local bowling allies also has 2 days a week where homeschoolers can bowl for only $2/game! At the end of each 10 week session, the kids get a trophy and a pizza party. Win-win-win situation! So all if well here. We're all happy and sometimes we're healthy :)

 Presents from Las Vegas Cousins

Homeschooling and being sick:

Sicily is potty trained! That's why she has all those CCs. I spare nothing when it comes to not having to buy diapers anymore!!!

Sicily has also mastered the art of taking selfies.

More being sick. It's amazing where the kids can fall asleep when they don't feel well.

 Half Anniversary date night:

Homeschool bowling:

January Trips:

Disney on Ice:

Sundays: the day when Daddy spoils Mommy rotten and does every single thing around the house that are Sabbath-worthy. No better man on the earth!