A Niece's First Trip to Canada

It was fun to visit my niece and nephew in Montreal.

And, it was fun to visit Grace Church of LaSalle!

Anywhere Little Bear can get some ripsticking in, he's fine.

Here the hubs is helping me with the children during missions conference in Montreal. The kiddos weren't bored - they were mesmerized with the story of missionary great: Amy Carmichael.

Little Bear is like a magnet to little ones - here he is with his youngest BOY cousin.

And, here is our eldest niece - my birthday "twin"!

She was stunned by milk in a bag!

The Missions Conference Theme: Salt and Light. Yes, that's a candle in a pillar of salt...so creative.

I love this sign and the people standing beside it!

Another highlight was taking my niece downtown to the old section of Montreal.

Outside the Notre Dame - yes, the Catholic Church where Celine Dion was married.

I think it was profound for my niece to see that to even get inside the church you had to pay an admission fee. Soooo sad!

Lovely Ladies

Golden Elvis

Worshipping at Church

Pretty Little Princess with her youngest GIRL cousin

The city of Montreal at a glance.

My Version of March Madness

Four Birthdays in ONE week! Here we are celebrating Little Bear's birthday at a smorgesboard. The nephew on the right had his birthday 4 days earlier. The nephew on the left isn't that same week, but 8 days later!

So much fun! Pretty Little Princess and I had a Mother-Daughter Date while Daddy and Little Bear went to a missions conference breakfast.

If there are animals to be found, Pretty Little Princess will find them. She was disappointed I didn't have a rifle on me - as Daddy would have liked this one. hee hee

After celebrating my nephew's birthday March 21, my birthday AND my niece's birthday on March 23, our son's birthday on March 25, and then my other nephew's birthday on April 2, we finished out our March Madness with a weekend trip to Montreal. Pictures to come!

Unforgettable Experience!

One of my students asked if her Great-Uncle CWO Jay Groff could come speak to our class about his World War 2 experience - a resounding YES quickly rolled off of my lips! CWO Groff survived the tragedy at Pearl Harbor!

Here's a picture of his niece, himself and his great-niece.

He even showed us a special shadow box that held a piece of a Japanese airplane that was in his FOOTLOCKER! Some day he'll donate this shadow box to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum.

On Memorial Day, he will again be honored with an award for his bravery and service in WW2. What an inspiring time and a GREAT way to conclude our WW2 unit!

Unforgettable!

A First

Pretty Little Princess and I joined two of our friends for some pedicures.

Now after experiencing this fun, I'm afraid I've started something that will be a bit addicting to Pretty Little Princess!

Such a fun memory-building time!

Ah! The joys of pampering!

Hiking with Daddy

While I was at our church's ladies retreat, Jerad took Little Bear and Pretty Little Princess hiking. The pictures he took - priceless!

Six years old

Next week, he'll be 9!

My family!

Too cute!

Hammin' it up!

Making memories!

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

Today would have been Dr. Seuss' 107th birthday! Can you believe that dear man was rejected by publishers 26 times! Such determination! I'm so glad he didn't give up!

Before I had my 5th grade students write about Dr. Seuss' determination and persistence, I had to show them one of my favorite YouTube videos. It's a video of our son when he was 2 years old and he was impressing his aunt with his recitation of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham. Check it out! You can hear my giggles in the background!

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDY_Z6J5ztA