Rejuvenated

I was blessed with the opportunity this evening to attend the General Relief Society broadcast of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I reveled in the odd experience of being able to listen to an entire meeting without interruption of child supervising. I even took notes! What a welcome freedom to have my hands to myself. :) I felt uplifted and encouraged by all of the speakers. I felt personal inspiration on changes I need to make in my life. I hope that I can put into action those promptings I received while listening to our church leaders. I especially appreciated the loving and poignant words of President Uchtdorf. His talk is one I will listen to and read over and over in years to come. It was encouraging, inspiring, and motivating. I knew he spoke with love for the sisters of the Church and I felt a little spiritual hug while he spoke. One of the final things he reiterated was "happiness is your heritage." I know our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. I've felt that I've been in a bit of a rut recently. In one way, tonight I was kicked out of it. In another way, I felt like a loving Savior figuratively put his arm around my shoulders and pointed down a straight and narrow path, with a smile that was my invitation to follow it. I choose that course because I'm not happy where I am. I know His path is one of happiness. I look forward with enthusiasm for my "new life" that started during the meeting. May we all find that peace the Gospel brings! :)

An Online Find

My mom sent me a link to a website that is all about using food storage in your daily meals. We recently used our last can of Lindon Cannery spaghetti sauce and I'm not sure when we'll buy more, so her recipe today for a homemade sauce sounded really great. Maybe I'll have to try it tomorrow for Sunday dinner. Check out the site at everydayfoodstorage.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Play Date

The boys had a blast today playing at Ollie and Baz's house. We got to say hello to Stitch, Marc and Angi's dog and Sunny's brother, who is recovering from ear surgery. Then the boys spent almost a couple of hours thoroughly enjoying the basement playroom. We had so much fun!

"How many toys can we pull out?"

The boys watched a few minutes of a DVD
while Ang made lunch for everyone.

I just love how well these two get along.
Wish I could have recorded their good-bye hug.
So precious!

Sam was well entertained during the meal.

Thanks for having us over, guys! Can we come back soon? :)

Niko's 3-year pics

I decided to save the $150-$350+ it was going to cost me to have the boys' pictures done for the fall. Since we had such a nice family shoot in May, I figure we can wait until next year to do another family shot. Instead I did the best I could with our little point and shoot, complete with delay and automatic flash settings, and it'll have to do for this round. He's still a cutie! :)

Joyeux Anniversaire, Niko!

We celebrated Niko's birthday a day early. Today he is three! We enjoyed having friends and family celebrate with us last night.

I was pretty pleased with how the cookie cake turned out. Since Niko is such a fan of Woody and McQueen, it was hard to pick which one do use as a theme for his cake. Sunday night, however, I received the inspiration of the race track, so McQueen it was. :) Niko received the McQueen figure from his Tata and Ton ton Jake when we visited them in May. He still loves it, although I sometimes hide it because of the loud noises it makes. It worked well, I think for the "cake". I also tried some recipes I found recently when I was organizing all my recipes. I did some pepper (the green peppers from our garden), basil (from our garden), tomatoe, cheese toothpicks with Italian dressing, and then slices of baguette with cream cheese and "presto pesto" (basil from our garden, italian dressing, parmesean cheese blended together). The "touchdown taco dip" was definitely a favorite. I made two pans in case we had a lot of people and both were gone within the first half hour.





We purchased a "Woody" costume for Niko for Halloween and thought it would be fun to let him wear the hat and holster for his party. He loved it. I don't know if we'll ever be able to pry it away from him. :) (Yes, his clothes are a result of maman letting him dress himself in the morning and then running out of time to change clothes before the party.)

Woody the doll's hat on Sam

Lorie & Emmitt Gardine, Ollie & Baz in back

Niko loving his hat

Ollie, Baz, Emmitt, Marc

Baz (Sebastien)

Baz & Tata Ang

Me holding 6-week-old baby Ruby Gardine -
can't get enough of new babies!!

Ashton & Bran

Ollie helping Niko open his present

Ton ton Brandon being silly with the new hat

Tanner Grow, Sam, Chris, Kayta (behind balloon) :)

Leah Grow & Dresden trying out Niko's new desk

Uncle Davy, Uncle Michael, Ashton, Uncle Phil

Pat & Eric

Stina & Taylor came later, too. Sorry I didn't get a picture!

Thanks, everyone for coming!

Joyeux Anniversaire, Niko! Happy Birthday!

Piano Man

Niko has been a little "piano man" lately. I love how he plays the keys so gently. He's singing "Humblement, Calmement" which is "Reverently, Quietly" from the Primary Children's songbook. Yes, he skips a line, but we still love it. It's pretty much part of the morning routine now. :)

p.s. Niko saw this post and the following one on the computer screen and has now watched them both three times each - completely impressed with himself. :)

This Little Piggy...

I love when these two boys interact. All on his own, Niko is attempting to mimic the rhyme, "This Little Piggy Went To Market." And what lovely toes to play with, wouldn't you agree? :)

p.s. Niko is saying that he wants to "voir" or "see" the video that I was taking. He and Sam watched the video after I was done. So cute again. :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Ollie!

Olivier, my sweet nephew, turned 4 on Saturday. We had a great time at his "Robo" (Robot) Party. :)

Ollie opening his presents. :)

Ollie's cousin, Asher, gave Ollie his favorite game.

A big book from Gigi

Baz had a great time using Ollie's
biggest present as a stepping stool.

A Train book from us - en francais. :)

Ollie's Maman and Papa got Ollie a "Leapster",
which he loved playing with on their trip to
North Carolina this summer.

Can you see the excitement building?

Bigger smile...

"Yea!" smile. :)

Ollie blew out his candles really well.

Asher got to blow them out, too, since his birthday is coming up soon.

Niko was pretty interested, as you can see.

Angi, Baz, Asher, Ollie, Dave (Angi's dad), Pat, Niko

Sam and Papa

Eric, Amy, Adam, Cathy (Angi's mom, behind Adam), Abbey, Ang, Marc

Cathy & Dave (Angi's parents)

Shirina (Adam's wife), Asher, Cathy

Gigi sharing with Sam and Niko

This is the best gateaux (cake) -
martzipan icing, chocolate mousse cream-filled centers.
Mmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for a great party, everyone! Glad we could share it with you!

Boys at home

I love being at home with my boys. Niko still loves his Woody doll and I discovered him reading a book to him in Sam's room the other day. :)

Sam also loves Woody and thankfully,
Niko shares, although reluctantly. :)

This is Sam refusing to look at the camera.

Gotcha!

Kiko and Niko wearing matching shirts.
Niko loves to do and be "comme Papa!" ("just like Papa!")