Thursday, February 17, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PHIL!!!



Its been so long since I've done an update and there is much to tell, but today is not the day for such a lengthy post...today is a happy celebration! 37 years ago today the love of my life was born!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL, LOVING, KIND, GORGEOUS HUSBAND!!!

Phil, I hope this birthday is wonderful for you! You are my one true love and I'm so lucky to be your wife!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Christmas, Boxing Day & New Years!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our wonderful friends and family! I just got back this week from a nice long trip up to Canada and it was so nice to see everyone there! Phil and I had a wonderful first Christmas together. Right after I flew into Ontario, Phil picked me up and took me driving around to see all the beautiful Christmas lights. We spent Christmas Eve alone at home, sharing gifts and watching the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Broadcast. Phil gave me some very thoughtful gifts, the best of which was the YELLOW Kitchenaide I've wanted for years! You are the best baby! Love you soooo much! Christmas Day we headed over to Nicole's to spend Christmas with the girls. They got a lot of fun stuff...must have been very good this year! I got some great stuff from them too....LOVE the Lego Harry Potter game! I've had my eye on that for awhile! Boxing Day we attended church then headed off to the family Boxing Day party! I've been looking at pictures of the annual "stairs" photos on Phil's Facebook for a year now and it was nice to be a part of it this time around! (nice and squishy that is haha) The dinner was so yummy and Phil and I had a good time playing Settlers with Serena and Ron while the girls rocked out in the living room with karaoke! Monday Phil and I had a day to ourselves and we worked on getting more of the house clean and in order, mostly working on the kitchen so I could spend the evening breaking in the Kitchenaide with a batch of coconut chocolate cookie sticks! Tuesday it was off to pick up the girls and we took them to the science center. They had a pretty cool exhibit about mythical creatures that I loved. We had a lot of fun, but boy was it a freezing day! The rest of the week was lost in the wonderful bliss of laziness that I so desperately needed! Work, especially in December, had been so crazy and stressful, having a few days to just veg in jamies with my family was so much fun. We had MarioKart battles and played Guitar Hero, watched movies and slept in every day....Heaven I tell you! Haha On Friday we headed off to Watertown with Chloe and Abrianna to spend New Years weekend with my brother James and his family. We rang in the New Year with banging pots and pans and fancy glasses of gingerale. Other highlights of the weekend were playing Settlers, James teaching Phil to toss pizza like a pro, a wonderful church meeting on Sunday and getting to spend time with my sweet niece and nephews. The kids all get along great and that makes me so happy!



Sunday was the sad, dreaded and emotional goodbye. I know everyone around me was probably sick to death of me bursting into tears. I get so sad and low when I know the departure time is upon us. I just hate so much being apart from everyone and coming back to CT where I feel so very alone...and of course, being away from Phil is especially difficult. But I know its only temporary so since my return I've tried to be really positive. I have a couple job leads in Ontario and if those don't pan out, James and Martha have generously offered to have me camp out at their home for a few months until immigration is finished so that Phil and I can be a lot closer to each other. After a lot of contemplation of this offer I've decided it will be best for us so I'll be headed that way in just a couple months if the Canada job prospects don't turn out. Say some prayers for us! We really really can not wait for this long distance stuff to be over! Thanks to all the friends and family that made this such a fun holiday season and a very big and special thanks with all my love to my wonderful Phil who made our first Christmas together so perfect. XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Immigration Update!



Everyone asks Phil and I constantly how things are going with immigration and when I'll be up in Canada permanently....its an excellent question and believe me, we wish we had the answer! Immigration has been one major pain in the behind and seriously confusing. Most of the times people have asked we've had nothing to report because we've been sitting around waiting for this or that...its all very time consuming and sitting around doing nothing and having nothing to report was getting pretty frustrating. But today we actually DO have some things to report and its making me feel really positive that we're heading in the right direction and that the destination really is in sight!

First off...today I finally got the copy of our marriage certificate. This little piece of paper couldn't be requested until 10 weeks after our marriage and it is needed for immigration and for changing my name on all my documents so that when I apply for residency it will be in the correct name. Sooo glad that it is finally in my possession...now tomorrow I can go get my Driver's licence change and can start the process of getting my other documents switched as well. That and my medical exam are the last steps before we can submit our paperwork for permanent residency! (YAY!)

Also with my marriage certificate came some pictures that Chloe and Abrianna drew for me! So cute and gave me such big smiles! Thanks girls! XOXOXOX Love you!



(Its sort of hard to tell in the photo...they each drew me a picture from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets of Harry in the flying car!)

The second bit of immigration related news is really exciting! Last time I was in Canada we were recommended to try this nanny agency in Ontario. I gave them a call, not expecting too much since I had been VERY disappointed in what I'd found in the agencies I'd already spoken to months back. However, this agency sounded great and seemed very excited to work with me. Over the last couple weeks I've been getting information together for them and today they informed me that a family who lives very close to Phil's house is very interested in me! If I could get a job offer in Canada I'd be able to apply for a work visa which is significantly faster than applying for residency...I could be in Canada permanently in a matter of just a couple months rather than 6+ months! I haven't spoken with the family yet but I'm told they want to meet with me while I'm in Canada over Christmas....say some prayers and keep fingers crossed for us! We're really hoping it works out that I find a job and will be there very soon!

Other stuff going on with us these days...I'll be going up to Canada for Christmas from the 23rd through New Years! Can't wait! Only 9 days to go!

Phil is singing in a special Christmas choir at church next Sunday which I'm sure will be awesome. Bummed I won't be there but hopefully next year we'll be singing in it together!

For New Years we're planning to head to James and Martha's which will be a ton of fun!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! Lots of love to you all!
XOXOXOX

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Thanksgiving Weekend #2



Last weekend was US Thanksgiving and we got to spend it with my brother James and his family. Phil, Chloe and Abrianna drove down to James's house while I drove up (nice that they're literally right in the middle of the two of us!) The kids all got along great and had a blast and we had tons of fun cooking and relaxing and all being together.

Chloe helped me cut, core and peel the apples...





Martha taught Phil how to make deviled eggs...


This year I am so thankful for my wonderful husband!


After our Thanksgiving dinner we all drove back to Bowmanville where I got to spend the rest of the weekend. Friday while Phil was at work I spent time with Alishea going to a movie. Friday night Phil took us all to see Harry Potter (Finally! Yay!) which was wonderful. Saturday morning we slept in and enjoyed a family breakfast together then got ready and headed out into the snow to help deliever Santa Boxes!








That was so much fun! Saturday evening we had the sister missionaries over for dinner (Pot roast and apple pie...yum yum!) The evening ended with movies and I found myself sandwiched between my sweetheart and Chloe all cuddled up together....Life doesn't get much better! Sunday was church and the lameness of goodbye...can't wait to be back for Christmas!

Monday, November 22, 2010

A Visit To Santa

Tonight Phil took Chloe and Abrianna to visit Santa...They're so cute!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

More of Awesome Alishea!

Alishea did another round this week for the KX96 Contest...she did awesome!




Monday, November 15, 2010

Busy Kids

The girls have had a lot of fun things to report this week. On Thursday Alishea participated in a singing competition and did a great job. I wish I could have been there to cheer her on but Phil made sure to record it so I wouldn't totally miss out:





On Sunday both our wards had the annual Primary programs. As a CTR teacher I participated in the program in my ward while up in Bowmanville Chloe and Abrianna were in the program in Phil's ward. I'm so glad they're enjoying going to to church and hope they had a lot of fun singing in the program.

It's been hard missing out on all this stuff. I really wish I'd been able to be there to see Alishea sing and during church as I watched the primary kids sing and do their speaking parts all I could think about was how I should be in Canada watching our kids instead. Its so hard being part of a family but not being there to really BE a part of it. But the good news is that there's only 9 days till we'll all be together at James and Martha's for Thanksgiving and then I'll get to spend a few days in Canada. Its been too long apart this time...but just 9 more days...