September Highlights

GOODNESS! What a blur. A literal blur. Here are more than a few highlights from the month that was September.

Thursday September 7th - Suzanne's birthday. And new window day. Kate's windows, Fiona's window, and the window in our bathroom were replaced today. Kate's window has had a crack in it for over a year. The new windows are so nice!

Saturday, September 9th - I'm feeling like a real human again! I went on a walk this morning with Ken and the dog and felt great. (My first real walk was with the dog and Fiona last night and that was great too.)

Sunday, September 10th - Lisa hosted a get together. Jenn was still in town and it was nice to all get together. I didn't think I would go - it was a last minute thing, but I'm feeling great so I joined in with the visiting.

Monday, September 11th - My first day back at school. It was good. It's so weird that I missed the first week of school. My laptop was waiting for me when I got back. (I spilled water on it on the way back from Utah... my screen was replaced.) The note was inside my computer. I might have giggled a little. (Still haven't removed the tiny puffy sticker on my computer.)

Tuesday September 12th - pretty walk with Fiona.

Wednesday, September 13th - pretty walk with Kate.

Thursday, September 14th - Ken got us all ready to go, drove the girls to school, walked the dog and then set off for "Time Out For Men" in Val-de-Bois, Quebec, at John and Janelle's cottage.

Friday September 15th - dinner photos, so Ken will miss us so much. LOL

Saturday September 16th - Walking with Fiona and Milo.

And Kate got her braces off!!!

A fun(?) trip to Walmart with children.

Dinner again, still no Ken - sad face!

Tuesday September 19th - Beautiful sunset pic with Kate.

Wednesday, September 20 - My new phone shirt made by one of my colleagues at school Lindsey Godfrey. I had so much fun wearing this one - so many great conversations with kids and so many "Oh I get it now" comments. My shirt says "Music Literacy Matters"  "I like to eat. I like puppies."

We had a joint Relief Society/Young Women's activity. It was supposed to be a karaoke night - it was more of a sing-a-long, but still lots of fun.

Friday, September 22 - I thought last year was it for Terry Fox, because I didn't realize they still did the Terry Fox walk in high school. So here they are, another year for Ally.

We went out to Boston Pizza with Mom aka Grandma and CJ. It was a bit of a gong show. The girls were all a bit grumpy - it was a Friday night. And Kate's gluten free pasta order was forgotten, and then when it did come it was served with a piece of garlic toast on top that wasn't gf so the whole order had to be made again. Mom had offered to take us out, but then wanted to split the bill, but then we just paid for it, because goodness, we just should already. Life is busy and getting together is tricky.

Saturday, September 23 - I'm always so happy when Ken and I get to go walk at Greenwood on a Saturday morning. I love our Greenwood walks!

We went to Tottenham to see the Tokarev's and this time the four grown-ups and Fiona all went for a walk to see the Fairy Forest. It was so fun and Fiona was so cute.

Fiona has no memory of playing at the Boulevard park. A place we played at so much. She had so much fun playing there for a bit on the way back to the Tokarev's from the fairy forest.

Marisol and Kate.

Alice and Amelie.

Wendy and Michelle.

Wednesday, September 27 - Alice and Fiona took the cutest pics walking home and Alice knows her Mama and sent them to me.

We made tie-dye shirts at our first staff meeting of the year. Mine turned out pretty well. I need to get a better pic of it.

Friday, September 29 - Temple time! The temple is closing in October and it will closed until June. We've got a few more temple visits planned and then we're thinking we'll go to Palmyra over Christmas. I love going to the temple with my sweet Ken. (Who am I kidding, what don't I love doing with my sweet Ken - oh yeah, I know, moving furniture.)

Elder Bates! He's in Buenos Aires now! So cool that he'll be serving in Argentina for two years. I will  always treasure being there in the temple when he received his own endowment this summer. I love my JOEY!!

Saturday, September 30 - I love fall, and Greenwood and Ken. But not in that order.

Getting treats at Choko-Mocko with Kate makes my heart happy and my tummy too!

It's conference weekend and this morning was all about how many errands can we get finished before conference starts. (Ken, Alice and Fiona went to Michael's, Home Sense, Canadian Tire and Bulk Barn) Kate and I went to the shoe store in Markham as well as Whole Foods and Choko-Mocko. We didn't make it home on time and started to listen to conference in the car. There was a part of one of the talks - Robert M. Daines told a story about face blindness. 

You may struggle to see God as a loving Father. You may look heavenward and see not the face of love and mercy but a thicket of rules through which you must wend your way. Perhaps you believe God rules in His heavens, speaks through His prophets, and loves your sister, but you secretly wonder whether He loves you. Perhaps you have felt the iron rod in your hand but not yet felt your Savior’s love to which it leads.

I suspect you know people like this because for a long time, I was someone like this—I was spiritually face-blind.

I thought my life was about following rules and measuring up to abstract standards. I knew God loved you perfectly but didn’t feel it myself. I’m afraid I thought more about getting into heaven than being with my Heavenly Father.

If you, like me, can sometimes only lip-synch but not “sing the song of redeeming love,” what can we do?

The answer, as President Russell M. Nelson reminds us, is always Jesus. And that is very good news.

It was a tender mercy for me to listen to these words and know that Kate was listening too and I hope that she felt the spirit in that moment. She doesn't make room for God's love in her life very often these days, but every so often if it can get in there, I'm grateful. I want her to know how much her Heavenly Parents love her, because they do.

For dinner we decided to go to Chik-fil-A at the Scarborough Town Centre, fast food we can all eat. Alice, Fiona and I ended our sugar challenge with drinks lol. I had a root beer, Alice a milkshake and Fiona lemonade. In the summer my sister suggested that we join her and Anna in September doing a sugar challenge. Alice, Fiona and I rocked it! It was so hard but we did it. I was really proud of us and also really happy to have sugary treats again.