The Calgary Temple!

We finally made it to the Calgary Temple Open House last night, and it was a wonderful experience!  I just find it so neat that there is a beautiful temple right here in our city, and that this is the temple that Lee and I will be going through on a regular basis.  What a beautiful building it was, and it felt amazing to be inside it.  Jocelyn was kind enough to watch Scarlett and Griffin while we just took Mason and Dakota through.  We knew Scarlett would be impossible at this age, and Griffin would probably be a little disruptive and so we thought it best to leave him as well.  (Actually the main reason was because some of Lee's friends from work were going to come with us and we wanted it to be the best experience possible for them, but they ended up cancelling out at the last minute).  My favorite thing that came out of the night was a comment that Mason made after the moment of silence in the Celestial room.  He said "I feel like I'm going to happy cry".  Obviously he was feeling the spirit, and I was so touched by that.  He recognized what it was, and in his bedtime prayer he also thanked Heavenly Father that we could feel the spirit in the temple.  So sweet.  It makes me so happy that my children can have opportunities even at this age, to feel the spirit and build their testimonies.  And it sure proves the authenticity of the temple.  What a great place to be.
I sure wish I had a picture of us outside of it, but it was quite dark outside and we didn't have our good camera, plus we were already running really late to pick up the younger kids!  But here's a beautiful picture I found online of what it looked like all lit up at night!

Dakota's Birthday Party

I finally got around to giving Dakota a birthday party with her friends.  We kind of wanted to wait until "Brave" was in the cheap theatres so we could take them there, plus I wasn't really up to throwing a big party much sooner than this!  So it worked out perfectly.  I made the easiest cake ever (I just got an edible print out cake topper off Ebay), picked up the girls from school (I only let her invite 6 plus Holli) and brought them to our house for cake and presents.  Dakota got a lot of "Brave" stuff.  We all kind of think of it as "her movie" since she looks so much like her, so that was obviously the theme of the party!  The girls had  a lot of fun, and we only had to put up with the chaos for a short time before we took them to the theatre, bought them all treats and enjoyed the show!  Pretty simple but she loved it!

And here is a picture to gross you out of Lee's leg / ankle that he injured in basketball a couple of weeks ago.  He actually got hit in the calf - which is quite swollen, but now it's all drained down to his foot and made some beautiful colors!

Little Monkey!!

It looks like Scarlett will be taking after Griffin in the "Mischief" category... unfortunately.... although I have to admit, it is good for a laugh now and then!  Today Scarlett got into the big bag of flour in my pantry, while I was trying to actually be a good Mom and do a Thanksgiving craft with the other kids!  I guess that's what happens when I ignore her!  She came over to me all coated in white powdery stuff that had made a nice paste in the areas where it mixed with her drool!  How lovely!  Well, she sure was proud of herself!!  She paraded around with her best smile while I took some pictures and couldn't help but laugh.  I LOVE these pictures of her, they show her personality as best as still photos can!!  What a MONKEY!!

  

Birthdays!

   I'm a little behind on my blogging - you'd think I'd have lots of time with being out of commission with my surgery and stuff, but I'm actually still finding myself quite busy.  Catching up on computer stuff, my mending / sewing, organizing cupboards and closets, Lee's paperwork, and random things around the house.  And I'm actually feeling pretty good now and able to do most stuff, except for lifting Scarlett and other heavy things!  It's been a long recovery though - it's been almost 4 weeks and I'm still quite swollen and sore.  But thankfully I'm out of the worst of it and feeling pretty much myself again!
   It was my birthday a week or so ago, and we had to drive down to Ashley Lake that day so that Lee could install new cabinets at the cabin - so most of the day it didn't really feel like a birthday, but there were at least some nice moments in the morning!  Lee was sweet - I woke up to his special homemade omelettes, complete with pineapple and orange juice and a bouquet of flowers.  The cutest part was that he had stayed up really late after I went to bed so that he could pick up all the ingredients at the grocery store, and then he cooked bacon, sausages, and cut up peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and the meat all into tiny little pieces.  There was TONS of it, and it must have taken him hours!  Very sweet.  I love thoughtful things on my birthday better than just buying me a gift!  My Mom also brought me a little cake and a gift, so that was very nice too!
   While we were down at Ashley Lake it was also Dakota's birthday, and I still wanted to make the day feel special for her, so it involved some planning ahead of time!  My Mom and I decorated the house with streamers and balloons while she was sleeping, planned a few games and a candy hunt to entertain the kids, and bought her a cake and presents to open while we were there.  She had a great day and felt special indeed!  Here's a few pics of my birthday girl!!  The Big 7!!  One of the games we brought was for them to have wars with "Silly String", so they had fun spraying each other and running around!  I kinda forgot how messy it would be to clean up, but oh well!