Monday, August 27, 2012
VACATION 2012!
Our family was very blessed to take a fabulous, massive road trip this summer! The youth of our ward were planning a weekend trip in August to Nauvoo. I've always wanted to visit Nauvoo (apparently I was there with my family as a 2 year old, but I still maintain that doesn't count!) so when they said the trip was open up to anyone in the ward I told Phil we simple MUST go! As Abrianna is in Young Women's she'd be going anyway so we thought it would be fun to go too.
After taking a look at the map, we realized once we get to Nauvoo we're halfway to Utah. I've been dying to go to Utah to visit my family and for Phil to visit and meet friends and family he hasn't been able to yet. So after a bit of pleading to my dear husband (it didn't take too much...he's so good to me!) we decided to add Utah to our itinerary. And so...our massive 2012 Road Trip began!
First stop: Grand Rapids, MI
Phil's friend Angie lives in Michigan so after driving through the night (and trying to sleep in the car at a rest stop for a few hours) we met Angie for breakfast!
Next it was onto Nauvoo, IL
We got to see the final performance for the year of the Nauvoo Pageant, which was amazing!
My favorite part of Nauvoo though was visiting the temple! Phil and I were able to do a session one morning which was fantastic and it was also fun to do pictures outside the temple with the girls. Chloe declared on the steps that she wants to get married in the temple...got a long way to go till then but it sure made us happy to hear her enthusiasm for the idea! It was fun seeing her learn about temples on this trip and be so excited about them.
My other favorite stop was Carthage Jail...really amazing and humbling to be in the place where Joseph Smith was martyred.
After Carthage we were on the road again:
That night we were able to stop in Missouri and see my friend Heidi and her husband Ty who have just moved there. It was so fun to see her and her new home and to finally meet Ty!
After a lovely stay at Hotel Heidi we were off for Utah. It was a VERY long day of driving through Nebraska and Wyoming but we saw a few fun things along the way! Of course, I slept through part of the excitement when we drove past the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile and Phil didn't wake me up! (I know! I was mad!) But we also saw the Tree Rock and Abe Lincoln Monument in Wyoming. I was determined to visit a few silly tourist stops! These were 2 on the list haha
We finally made it to Utah at around 3 am!
We only had a few days in Utah unfortunately but we tried to make the most of it. We met my mom in Salt Lake for lunch then visited Temple Square, the Conference Center, the Jospeph Smith Memorial Building and the Beehive House.
The girls got to spend some quality time with my mom and Jay which was really nice for me. I hate being so far away from my family because they're not able to really get to know Phil and the girls. It was nice that we all got some time together. The girls loves my mom's dog, Sadie too!
Phil was also able to meet my Aunt Nette...
My cousins...
My Grandma Willis...
And a few of my friends...
We joined my friend Karli for an afternoon at the pool:
After fun in Utah it was time for lots more driving back to Toronto! But along the way we opted for one more site seeing opportunity....Mount Rushmore! Living so close to it most of my life I'm surprised I've never gone to see it before (once again...being 2 doesn't count! haha) and Phil was really excited at the idea of seeing it so we made sure our route took us that direction. We had a really fun morning there!
It was a very fun vacation! So glad we got to go! Hopefully we can make the trek out to Utah again sometime when we have more time to spend! Thanks to all the family and friends that made time to see us and room to house us! Love you all!
Birthday Girls!!!
So, as is typical of me, I haven't kept up with this blog at all! But I wanted to give a shout out to our beautiful girls!
Abrianna turned 13 in June!
Alishea turned 18 a few weeks ago
And in a couple months, our little Chloe will be 7!
Can't believe how big they're all getting! I know it must be just crazy insane for Phil and Nicole to see them so grown up! Especially Alishea, can't believe we have an 18 year old! You girls are all so beautiful! We love you so much! XOXOXOXOX Happy Birthday to all three of you!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Seasons in Photos
So one of my goals at the moment is to get back to blogging. Getting settled in Canada this past year and actually being with Phil have both kept me busy and off the internet most of the time but its something I'd really like to start keeping up on again. Ironically, now that I'm here there's a ton to blog about and no time to do it! But I am going to try. My last blog post was back in May...so to start, let's have a recap of Summer, Fall and the start of Winter 2011...in PHOTOS! Cause that's more fun! :)
SUMMER 2011
We celebrated both Abrianna and my birthdays in June:
I had my first Canada Day and then forced Phil to acknowledge the 4th of July by making the always popular flag cake...it was delicious:
We spent time up at the trailer and had lots of fun swimming in the lake:
FALL 2011
In the fall came Alishea and Chloe's birthday's. This was the cake I made for Chloe:
I took the girls to a local farm to pick out pumpkins for the whole family then we all got to carve them...here's how they turned out:
(Abrianna's, Chloe's, Alishea's, Phil's, Amanda's)
Oddly enough in Canada Thanksgiving comes before Halloween...this was my very first turkey and it turned out great:
We had a Halloween party at our house this year and had a lot of fun. Phil and I dressed up as vampires:
We headed down to James and Martha's in New York for US Thanksgiving (Phil and I even braved Black Friday shopping!) Martha made a delicious dinner:
James was sick with the flu (that I unfortunately passed onto their family a few weeks earlier when they came to see us...so sorry guys!) so Phil got the honor of carving:
The big feast:
WINTER 2011 (thus far...)
The holiday season started with The Bowmanville Santa Clause Parade. The parade goes right past our house. I wasn't in Canada for this last year so I was really happy to be there for it this year:
For my gift this year, my mom sent me 3 big boxes full of tree ornaments so I could make our tree gorgeous! My mom is very picky, particular and has impecable taste when it comes to decor and Christmas is no exception. Growing up, our Christmas tree was always breath taking and I really wanted that feel in our home this year. Its hard being away from family and friends back in the states during the holidays, but I'm so happy to have the whole holiday season with Phil and the girls:
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Hope you're all having a very happy holiday season!
XOXOXOXOXOX
SUMMER 2011
We celebrated both Abrianna and my birthdays in June:
I had my first Canada Day and then forced Phil to acknowledge the 4th of July by making the always popular flag cake...it was delicious:
We spent time up at the trailer and had lots of fun swimming in the lake:
FALL 2011
In the fall came Alishea and Chloe's birthday's. This was the cake I made for Chloe:
I took the girls to a local farm to pick out pumpkins for the whole family then we all got to carve them...here's how they turned out:
(Abrianna's, Chloe's, Alishea's, Phil's, Amanda's)
Oddly enough in Canada Thanksgiving comes before Halloween...this was my very first turkey and it turned out great:
We had a Halloween party at our house this year and had a lot of fun. Phil and I dressed up as vampires:
We headed down to James and Martha's in New York for US Thanksgiving (Phil and I even braved Black Friday shopping!) Martha made a delicious dinner:
James was sick with the flu (that I unfortunately passed onto their family a few weeks earlier when they came to see us...so sorry guys!) so Phil got the honor of carving:
The big feast:
WINTER 2011 (thus far...)
The holiday season started with The Bowmanville Santa Clause Parade. The parade goes right past our house. I wasn't in Canada for this last year so I was really happy to be there for it this year:
For my gift this year, my mom sent me 3 big boxes full of tree ornaments so I could make our tree gorgeous! My mom is very picky, particular and has impecable taste when it comes to decor and Christmas is no exception. Growing up, our Christmas tree was always breath taking and I really wanted that feel in our home this year. Its hard being away from family and friends back in the states during the holidays, but I'm so happy to have the whole holiday season with Phil and the girls:
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Hope you're all having a very happy holiday season!
XOXOXOXOXOX
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Long Time No Blog
So its been a long time since I've blogged! Its been a busy couple of months for the MacDonald crew. All three girls are living with us until the end of the school year so we have a very full house, but we're loving the chance to spend so much extra time with them.
Things with my nanny job are going really well. I love the family I work for, they are such great people! I'm so blessed to have found them!
Lately we've become very obsessed with finances. Our favorite pasttime these days is watching Till Debt Do Us Part (Such an awesome show! I think its a Canada only thing, but peeps in the states should check it out online, think they have full episodes on the website. It is fantastic and really makes you want to be smart with your money!).
Our other favorite money related activities are playing Cash Flow and using Calendar Budget (an awesome program designed by some friends in our church used to track your spending and budget). Phil's gotten totally into it!
http://calendarbudget.com/home/
I've been doing a lot of cooking lately. My big thing has been baking. I've really been working hard and learning to bake bread. I've always been terrible at it and thus stopped trying a long time ago, but I decided to be brave a few weeks ago and give it another go....and guess what? I was actually successful! I've made bread dough several times since and each time its come out pretty well. I'm quite proud of myself! Also, I finally learned to make pie crust from scratch. My first attempt was dreadful but my second time around was a lot better....anyone have any good recipes or tips for pie crusts! I'm sure I have a lot I could improve on!
Anyway, that's basically our life in a nutshell...thanks to keeping on track with our budget we don't have much $ to mess around with Hahaha so we're a stay home sort of bunch but I like it that way. When I'm home with my Phil I'm a very happy camper!
This coming weekend is Queen Victoria Day so the kids (and hopefully us at some point too) will be heading up to Phil's mom's trailer for the long weekend. I'm excited for some camping after the long dreary winter...bring on the Summer baby! The trailer is where we got engaged so it always brings back happy memories :) Just hope the mosquitos keep their distance! I'm not ready for THAT part of Summer!
Love to all!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Things with my nanny job are going really well. I love the family I work for, they are such great people! I'm so blessed to have found them!
Lately we've become very obsessed with finances. Our favorite pasttime these days is watching Till Debt Do Us Part (Such an awesome show! I think its a Canada only thing, but peeps in the states should check it out online, think they have full episodes on the website. It is fantastic and really makes you want to be smart with your money!).
Our other favorite money related activities are playing Cash Flow and using Calendar Budget (an awesome program designed by some friends in our church used to track your spending and budget). Phil's gotten totally into it!
http://calendarbudget.com/home/
I've been doing a lot of cooking lately. My big thing has been baking. I've really been working hard and learning to bake bread. I've always been terrible at it and thus stopped trying a long time ago, but I decided to be brave a few weeks ago and give it another go....and guess what? I was actually successful! I've made bread dough several times since and each time its come out pretty well. I'm quite proud of myself! Also, I finally learned to make pie crust from scratch. My first attempt was dreadful but my second time around was a lot better....anyone have any good recipes or tips for pie crusts! I'm sure I have a lot I could improve on!
Anyway, that's basically our life in a nutshell...thanks to keeping on track with our budget we don't have much $ to mess around with Hahaha so we're a stay home sort of bunch but I like it that way. When I'm home with my Phil I'm a very happy camper!
This coming weekend is Queen Victoria Day so the kids (and hopefully us at some point too) will be heading up to Phil's mom's trailer for the long weekend. I'm excited for some camping after the long dreary winter...bring on the Summer baby! The trailer is where we got engaged so it always brings back happy memories :) Just hope the mosquitos keep their distance! I'm not ready for THAT part of Summer!
Love to all!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Saturday, April 2, 2011
A week of trials and blessings
Its been a very eventful, stressful, emotional week of trials and blessings for the MacDonald family.
On Tuesday, a fire started in the basement of Phil's ex-wife, Nicole's apartment. All three of the girls were there at the time. Alishea acted quickly and safely got all three of them out. Due to the smoke damage they've basically lost everything.
We're all so incredibly grateful that our 3 beautiful girls are safe and sound. As Phil says, everything else can be replaced but his girls can't.
As hard a trial as it must be to face losing everything this way, I've been so impressed by Nicole and the positive attitude she's had. I can't imagine facing this sort of trial. So many friends and family have come together to help though. The help and donations they've received have been so generous and we're all very grateful for all of it. Again, our family is being watched over and blessed.
A month or so ago, our truck was damaged and it was determined that it wasn't going to be repaired. Today we were finally able to pick up our new van. Its so good to have and we're very grateful that we were able to find a good vehicle from a good dealer for a good price we could afford.
Due to the fire, we've been busy rearranging things around the house and putting things we don't need into storage to make room for the girls and Nicole so they have the option to stay here as needed. Its been a lot of work but its also a blessing to be getting it all done. While its a terrible reason to have to get things done, it is good to finally be doing it. In the end, I hope our home will have much more order and be a much more relaxing and enjoyable place for all of us.
The next few weeks are a bit of a mystery as we're figuring out logistics and plans for what all happens next. But I know the blessings of our loving Heavenly Father have been pouring out on us through these trials and I know that He will continue to bless us and help us get through it all.
As we've been busy organizing things we've been listening to General Conference and the church programs that have aired between sessions. I've been overcome by the Spirit today as I've listened to the messages and the words of the church leaders. Surrounded by boxes and dust, sorting through chaos, I keep hearing messages that touch my soul and leave me with tears streaming down my face. Messages of hope, messages of truth, messages of love from our Heavenly Father. Messages telling me to hold on, as life feels overwhelming, as our house feels too small, as our life feels unstructured and uncertain and as fears of trials to come swirl through my mind seemingly never-ending....at those moments when I have no idea how we'll handle it all, my loving Father sends His spirit of love and support and comfort to me. I've felt it so strongly today and as I've prayed for help, help has come.
I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father's support and love. I'm so grateful for my husband's love and patience and support of me. I'm so grateful for the girls who bring such joy to our lives. I'm so grateful for my family and friends here and my family and friends far away. We are so blessed. I am so blessed.
On Tuesday, a fire started in the basement of Phil's ex-wife, Nicole's apartment. All three of the girls were there at the time. Alishea acted quickly and safely got all three of them out. Due to the smoke damage they've basically lost everything.
We're all so incredibly grateful that our 3 beautiful girls are safe and sound. As Phil says, everything else can be replaced but his girls can't.
As hard a trial as it must be to face losing everything this way, I've been so impressed by Nicole and the positive attitude she's had. I can't imagine facing this sort of trial. So many friends and family have come together to help though. The help and donations they've received have been so generous and we're all very grateful for all of it. Again, our family is being watched over and blessed.
A month or so ago, our truck was damaged and it was determined that it wasn't going to be repaired. Today we were finally able to pick up our new van. Its so good to have and we're very grateful that we were able to find a good vehicle from a good dealer for a good price we could afford.
Due to the fire, we've been busy rearranging things around the house and putting things we don't need into storage to make room for the girls and Nicole so they have the option to stay here as needed. Its been a lot of work but its also a blessing to be getting it all done. While its a terrible reason to have to get things done, it is good to finally be doing it. In the end, I hope our home will have much more order and be a much more relaxing and enjoyable place for all of us.
The next few weeks are a bit of a mystery as we're figuring out logistics and plans for what all happens next. But I know the blessings of our loving Heavenly Father have been pouring out on us through these trials and I know that He will continue to bless us and help us get through it all.
As we've been busy organizing things we've been listening to General Conference and the church programs that have aired between sessions. I've been overcome by the Spirit today as I've listened to the messages and the words of the church leaders. Surrounded by boxes and dust, sorting through chaos, I keep hearing messages that touch my soul and leave me with tears streaming down my face. Messages of hope, messages of truth, messages of love from our Heavenly Father. Messages telling me to hold on, as life feels overwhelming, as our house feels too small, as our life feels unstructured and uncertain and as fears of trials to come swirl through my mind seemingly never-ending....at those moments when I have no idea how we'll handle it all, my loving Father sends His spirit of love and support and comfort to me. I've felt it so strongly today and as I've prayed for help, help has come.
I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father's support and love. I'm so grateful for my husband's love and patience and support of me. I'm so grateful for the girls who bring such joy to our lives. I'm so grateful for my family and friends here and my family and friends far away. We are so blessed. I am so blessed.
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