Santa

This year, for the first time, Santa was an entire family affair. Matching jammies for all, and we even brought the dog! Can you even see Milo?!

A Christmas Cantata Miracle

My widow's mite

Kayley going rogue

Hark no more

*Above are the notes that I made two years ago so I could post and not forget about this experience. Below are my remembrances of the evening's performance.*

This year at the Christmas Cantata I played the flute, I played a solo of Carol of the Bells and I was asked to play the piano part that goes along with the organ part of the congregational hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. 

I worked so so so hard on Carol of the Bells, and I was so pleased with my performance. It was a hard piece and felt a little bit above my abilities but I worked so hard and I had my best performance ever during the concert and I felt so very blessed.

The flute part that went with the choir was lovely, not difficult and I got to sound amazing. So that was fun.

Hark the Herald... this was what I couldn't do. I hadn't practiced it very much and it sounded bad. I bashed away at the octaves but they just sounded bad, bad, bad. I wasn't sure what was going to happen in the performance, but I hoped for the best.

When it came time to perform, Kayley and I were supposed to start together before the congregation came in. I had a big part to play and Kayley's part at the beginning was a chord or two? I can't totally remember, but it wasn't much. What happened next was my Christmas miracle. Kayley played the regular introduction and my part couldn't be played, it was just cut into oblivion and the congregation sang the song, I played the piano part sort of and we got through it and no one was the wiser. 

After the performance I told Kayley, as she started to apologize, that she was my Christmas miracle. I couldn't play it, I didn't have time to figure it out, and it just didn't matter, at all. And my effort, my widow's mite was enough and the parts where I needed to shine I did, and the spirit was felt by all who were in attendance that night and I am so thankful for music, and for the spirit, and for my happy miracle!

The Primary Presentation

The primary presentation! Public speaking at church is not something that comes easily to Fiona. She wants it to. She loves the idea of speaking, but when it comes right down to it, her nervousness/anxiety takes over. 

This year she chose to speak about prayer. She wrote almost her whole talk by herself - Ken and I gave a little bit of input. I'll include the words of her talk at the bottom. 

She was so excited and she was geared up for it to be smooth and amazing, but I was nervous that her anxiety would get the best of her. She loves the idea of talking and she wants to do it so badly. I was hoping that it would go as smoothly as she wanted it to, but she froze. Or rather, she was standing there, and then she wasn't, she had dropped to the ground beside the podium. I just knew that I needed to go to her, to stand beside her and help her get through, so I did. I stood there with my hand on her back, bearing her up, standing there with her so she didn't feel alone. She gave her talk and everyone in the congregation had a deeply spiritual experience. My simple act of kindness to my sweet distressed child reminded them of their Savior, who stands beside them bearing them up during difficulty.

Below is an excerpt of the email I sent out to the Relief Society tonight, and Fiona's talk. I'm grateful to be a Mom. I'm grateful for my sweet Fiona and her willing heart, and I'm deeply grateful to my Savior and the way He has held me up during my calling as Relief Society president and as a Mom and just all the things.

Relief Society Email:
There were so many kind comments about my Fiona, thank you to all of you who took the time to talk to me. I passed on the words of encouragement. I wanted to share this from Fiona, she told me that a few people told her they were proud of her for doing something she didn't want to do, but she said "Mom, I did want to do it." Her nerves, her anxiety, whatever you want to call it, can really make her crazy. She was so frustrated on Sunday that it was so difficult for her to do something that she thought should be so easy, and is so seemingly easy for so many. I was proud of her for not running out of the chapel. I was so thankful that she leaned on me for support, that she let me help her through her tough time. And I'll tell you, at the pulpit, with her leaning bodily against me, I felt so thankful for a Savior who bears me up when I need it. I'm thankful for the opportunities we have to support each other, I feel the bond and strength of our sisterhood. It also made me think of how we have to let God help us through tough things. I was grateful Fiona let me help her.

Thank you to all of the leaders in our primary! Thank you to Linda, Gayle G., Dubraiicka, Josephine, Marilyn, Robin and Gail U. (And if I missed anyone, oof, I'm sorry!) Thanks for loving our kids and thank you for serving them, the ward, and your Savior.

Fiona's Talk:

Primary Presentation Talk - 2023

 Hello I'm here to talk about prayer. I'm going to share a story from the friend magazine .This story is called Rosi’s prayer, and it's based on a true story Rosi was experiencing racism at her school, and people were teasing her about it. When she got home from school she told her mom about it and went up stairs and she saw her little statue of Jesus on her bookshelf. And she remembered that when you pray Jesus can help. So she prayed that people in her class would stop being mean. After Rosi prayed she felt like a blanket was being wrapped around her,and decided to help other people that they were being mean to and become friends with them. I love the stories in the friend they make my faith and testimony strengthened times nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine. And sometimes when I'm sad I like to pray about it. To me if i had a million people praying to me at once it would feel like getting a million notifications on a phone or tablet.

Matthew chapter 7 verse 7 says : Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

This scripture means you can ask Heavenly Father for what you need. A prayer is a knock at the door. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. He wants to answer our prayers and he does answer our prayers. I don't know how Heavenly Father hears and answers all of our prayers. But I know Heavenly Father helps us by us helping each other. I've been saying my own prayers for about two or three months now. And it makes me feel good inside and I can't go to sleep without saying prayers. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Temple Closing

From a letter to Marcus:

Our temple closed this weekend for nine months for some renovations. So we had a busy temple weekend. Ken took Kate and Alice Friday night and we went the next day. We did an endowment session and we attended a sealing. It was lovely.

Friday, October 20 - at the baptistry

Saturday, October 21 - a session and a sealing with ken

**What I didn't know when I sent the above email is that it would be the last time that we would be in the temple for a lot longer than nine months. I didn't know that the temple would be rededicated by President Holland on March 23, 2025. I didn't know that there would be an open house. 

I sent the above email to Marcus on October 26, 2023. I wish I'd written a little more.

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.