Happy Half birthday!! (on Sept.20/2012)

I just LOVE this little girl!! She is such a sweet, funny, spunky little girl. I love the way her arms and legs have rolls upon rolls of skin. I love the way she smiles and the way her eyes glow when she does. I love the way she has brought our family together in a way that no one else ever has or could. Elliot has so much love for her, and I never thought I would ever see him be so nice to anyone like he is to her. He sure has calmed down in the last couple of months and I am sure it is because of her.
At times I feel defeated, having 4 children is not an easy task, but when I look at Lydia I am reminded why we have 4 children and I couldn't imagine life without her. She is truly a blessing.

I love this age. A couple of weeks before she turned 6 months old she started getting up on her knees and rocking back and forth, like she was about to just take off. I just pick her up and sit her down on the ground and she is happy as can be. She doesn't know how to get out of sitting, and I'm not sure she cares to as she is so happy just sitting there with toys, laughing and chatting away.

 Ready to go home from the hospital, less than 4 hours old

It's hard to believe that my little bity 5lb 11oz baby has turned into such a plump 6 month old.

I am so thankful for my best friend Alysha who has taken photos of all my children for their major milestones. It is such a blessing to have these stages documented. These are some of my favorites from Lydia's 6 month photo shoot with Alysha.

First Day of School - Sept 3, 2012

It was the moment I had been waiting for since we moved here, both my kids being excited about starting school. While I knew I wasn't ready for them to leave me, I also knew it was going to be a good year. Both of them are in great classes with fantastic teachers. Donovan knew one boy who was in his class and thankfully his mom and I have become friends so they were comfortable around each other when school started. Clara is so lucky to have all but one of her best friends in her class, including our neighbor and a lot of girls from her dance class.
Both of them were put in split classes this year. Donovan is in a 1/2 split which I think will be a great challenge for him. He needs to be challenged and so I am relieved that he will see that this year.
Clara is in a 3/4 split, which is also good for her. She strives to be challenged and being in this class will help her be successful, I'm sure of it. Of course, only if she can keep herself applied, having so many friends in her class may become her biggest challenge.

She is so grown up, I can't believe she's in grade 3 already.

Donovan wanted a mohawk and of course his hair is way too long for that, so I spiked it for him. I know it isn't his best look, but it made him happy.

I am so grateful for these two kids. They are such a delight to be around and help me so much. I am thankful that they are both well above their grade level in many areas of their academics. I know they are both going to be very successful in life and I can't even take credit for that. They just naturally came by their talents and it makes me so happy that they both enjoy learning and reading and challenging themselves. I am thankful that Clara has made some amazing friends here and that Donovan makes friends so easily. He has such a bright personality and other kids just seem to gravitate towards him. I love these two so much and hope that I can continue to provide them with the support they need to become successful and happy in life. I often wonder if I have taught them enough and then I remember, they are both so smart and so driven that anything I haven't taught them, they will figure out all on their own.

Block Party - August 4, 2012

This was the first year we were around for our street's annual block party. It was a lot of fun for everyone. I feel so fortunate to live in such a great town with such great people. The block party was technically part of our summer, but I thought it deserved it's own post. I just love living here, I know I said it already, and it won't be the last time I say it. We have met some wonderful people, made some great friends and really enjoy our ward. It was tough moving here and I remember fighting back my own tears as I watched Clara cry about how she missed her friends on a daily basis, but I am so grateful we ended up in this town.

The block party started with a bike parade and my sister in law, Stacey, who grew up in a small town, gave us some great ideas for our kids. I wasn't sure how much people put into the bike parade, but it turns out, our neighbors really go all out for it. Lucky for us, we had a baby to use for our contribution to the parade which may have slightly given us unfair advantage. We had Clara dress up as a zoo keeper with a sign on her bike saying "Kearl zoo" and we attached the wagon to her bike. We built a cage over the wagon and dressed Lydia up as a zebra and Elliot as a giraffe and put them inside. We had Donovan on a tricycle trailing the others with a sign on the back saying, "Don't feed the animals". The kids won the bike parade and got a trophy filled with candy for it.

The kids with the trophy and one of our neighbors, Donovan's good friend.

There was a magician, water balloon fight, street hockey, a few minute to win it type activities and lots of great food. Donovan won a donut eating contest. Whoever got their donut off the string first one. I'm pretty sure Donovan did it with one bite. He was done long before anyone else was, and he won his own trophy filled with candy. We got told by a few people that no one family has one two events before. Guess they haven't met any Kearls before!!

Elliot wanting to be like his big brother and play some street hockey in between outfit changes.

What a great day we had and I look forward to enjoying it again next year. 

Summer 2012

I have so much to catch up on now that I have finished our London trip posts. Summer this year was SO much fun. We had a beautiful summer with incredible weather and it was full of family time. These are the moments I know we won't get to live again, so I am happy we have the summer to spend time with our kids.
We were fortunate enough to purchase a timeshare in Fairmont last year that offers us a chance to use it once a year in the summer or at Christmas. I look forward to the many years to come that we will spend as a family here. Jeff grew up visiting Fairmont with his family, so it is a wonderful tradition to pass on to our children. We were double lucky to have 2 chances to visit this year because Jeff's parents take the family every other year, and this was the year. Unfortunately, they weren't able to join us of course.

Our first trip was the week of Canada day. We had a great time with my parents and even my brother and his wife came for a few days. It was great to share this time with them. We spent most of days swimming in the indoor pool as it wasn't quite hot enough for the outdoor pool yet, but that didn't matter. We had so much fun. Jeff even took the kids to visit his sisters place nearby and she took them out on their boat. They had a blast!! On our drive home we passed 2 bears! I think I have seen a bear twice in my life, so it was neat to see 2 bears at one time.

 Elliot was not a fan of the water

 We had a summer of zoo visits, Calaway park trips, a couple of trips to Butterfield Acres, we spent a few days in Cardston and of course got some good old Stampeding in.

 I had never seen the 'end' of a rainbow before, this was really neat to see. It's actually a double rainbow and we saw both ends of both rainbows, right across the street from us. 

 Of course the rainbows followed a terrible hail storm that caused of $6000 in damage to our truck. 

 Gotta get some good old quad riding in at some time, right? 

In the fighter copter at the Stampede

We spend our second week in Fairmont sharing a unit with Stacey and her kids. Brad and Jenn were also there at the same time as us. It was fun for the kids to spend some time together. I'm so grateful that our kids have so many cousins to spend time with and share memories like this with. This week in Fairmont the weather was a lot nicer, so we spent a lot more time at the outdoor pool. It's a little bit of a challenge with Lydia and Elliot, so most of the week, one of us stayed back with them while the other went swimming. I'm excited for them to grow and enjoy Fairmont like our older kids do. We also did swimming lessons this week at the hot springs. The kids really enjoyed it. They experienced jumping off the diving board for the first time, which was a highlight of their week.

Elliot warmed up to swimming by our second trip to Fairmont

We finished off our summer by spending it in Montana. My parents recently purchased a timeshare there. I wasn't sure what we were getting into by driving so far for a vacation in an apartment building. I sure was pleasantly surprised! It may have been an apartment condo, but it was just as big or bigger than our house! It was a 3 bedroom apartment, with 4 bathrooms, a huge kitchen and a great patio. There was an outdoor pool and an indoor pool, but the indoor was closed for maintenance. Thankfully the weather was perfect and we enjoyed being outside. Jeff wasn't able to take the week off, but he surprised me and got a few days off to spend with us. I got to shop a lot in Kalispell, which was wonderful. I LOVE groceries in the states. I stocked up on all the goodies and packed my truck completely full for the drive home. I don't think anything else would have fit in the back.

Good old tether ball 

I wasn't ready for summer to be over, but all good things come to an end. We found out who the kids teachers were upon our return, and we got ready for school to start. I am definitely excited for summer again next year. I just love summer. I love the weather. I love the time I get to spend with my kids. I love that Jeff's parents will be back next summer, so we get to spend time with them as well.

Last Day

Our last day is not a fun one to write about, simply because it's the last day we got to spend in England with the people we love. 

We ended up sleeping in, which wasn't a great thing to do since we didn't pack before we went to bed and we didn't have time to waste. Oops. Secretly, I wouldn't have been too upset if we missed our flight, but it really would have been a big mess to deal with, and a very expensive mistake.

Myrna helped us throw everything in our suitcases and load up the van. I took a couple of last minute pictures of where we were staying and the beauty surrounding us and we headed to the airport. 

Where we stayed that last two nights.

This was the view from our window

George dropped us off, and we said our goodbye. There wasn't anywhere for him to park, so he went and circled around while Myrna walked us to our check in. In all the chaos of the taxis and other people and their crazy driving, saying goodbye to George was a very quick goodbye. I'm slightly thankful for that because there wasn't enough time for it to really sink in that it was going to be 9 or 10 months until we saw him again.

We went it and checked in for our flight. Thankfully it was very fast because we got priority check in (thanks to travelling with an infant). I was worried about the weight of our suitcases, but we barely scraped by. It's the worst feeling to me, anticipating arriving at the airport with a suitcase they won't check without charging you a hefty overage fee. 

We walked to the security checkpoint where we had to say our final goodbye. Let me tell you this, it was so hard saying goodbye to George and Myrna when they left for their mission, but it was so much harder saying goodbye a second time. It shouldn't have been as hard as it was, because we all know we will see each other again, but it was. I know people go longer not seeing the ones they love all the time, and I just don't know how they do it. I could say all the tears were because I was tired, but it would be a lie. It was a hard goodbye. It was an emotional time in the airport while we waited to start boarding our plane. It was fun to shop a little, since there were quite a few stores that were tax free once through security. Believe it or not, it was a significant difference in price. 

Our flight home was uneventful. Lydia got her bed attached to the wall again, I am glad we paid an extra $100 to reserve our seats and there was another couple with a baby who was hoping to get those seats. Too bad for them, guess they should have paid the extra money before we did. 

Jeff and Lydia had a little snooze together on the plane

I can say the best thing about the day was coming home to our wonderful children. I sure missed them. Seeing their grandma and grandpa, travelling to Disneyland Paris, visiting a real castle, and so many other things made me think of them and got me thinking about how much they would enjoy what we were doing. I am grateful for our niece who was willing to come up from Lethbridge to fill in for us for the week. I am thankful for all the people who helped her out so we could take this trip. I was very excited to give the children the things we bought for them. We had written them postcards for every day we were there and saw something they would have enjoyed. I hadn't gotten around to mailing them while we were there, so I mailed one every day after we got back. They were excited to get them in the mail.

This truly was a trip of a lifetime. I can't say that we won't ever go back to England or Paris, because if you had asked me a year ago if I would have found myself there, I would have said no, so who knows if and when we will ever go back. Honestly, I still check almost every day for a good deal to travel there again, will it happen, probably not, but I can dream. I can say it was a one time opportunity, to travel across the ocean to visit family while they serve so selflessly for our church, and to introduce them to our new baby while she was still so little. That will never happen again simply because she has already changed so much, the experience could never be repeated, we don't get those precious moments of a new baby back. I am so thankful I was given this opportunity and they are memories I will hold so near and dear to my heart forever. 

This is what made the trip worth it

Day 6

I am ashamed that it has taken me this long to talk about a trip that happened many months ago, but I need to stick to my commitment and finish writing about it before I move on to other things. So much has happened since this trip, but I just don't want to forget how special and exciting this trip was, so I need to write about it.

Today Myrna volunteered to watch Lydia for the day so Jeff and I could head into downtown London. While we call this our London trip, and George and Myrna were called to the London South mission, and serve at the London temple, we were not all that close to London itself. So it was definitely a full day to take to see the sights. We saw it as a win win for all of us. We got to tour without Lydia and the stroller, and because George and Myrna could not get the day off to tour with us, it worked out that Myrna got to spend the day with Lydia anyways.

We got to the train station  in the morning as we had a lot to pack in to a little bit of time. Thankfully we were well educated on the train system by now, so that part was a breeze. We made sure to wait until after the early morning rush so we weren't steam rolled at the train station again. After our 40 minute or so train ride, we arrived. I have to say, while riding the train, you always hear the name of the station upon arrival followed by "Mind the Gap". It seems like such a funny saying, but I figured it was just one of those words or sayings that UK people say and no one thinks twice about it. Well, I was sure happy to see magnets and post cards and T-shirts and many other types of souvenirs in the shops all saying Mind The Gap. It made me feel better to know that it wasn't just me that noticed the common saying. I could probably write a short list of words used there that are not used often here, but this one definitely stuck out the most to me.

When we arrived at the station in London it was POURING rain. We knew that we wanted to take a hop on hop off bus tour, but I sure did not want to go outside in the pouring rain to find one. So we wasted time wandering around trying to avoid the rain and still trying to find a bus. We were not successful. Finally the rain stopped and all of a sudden vendors appeared from everywhere. I hate paying more than I have to for things, and I knew what the price for the buses online were, and all the vendors were charging quite a bit more. So we wasted time while I complained and refused to pay their ridiculous prices (probably really only $5 difference), until I got over myself and found what we figured was the best deal there. It's one of those issues I have that I really need to conquer. Thankfully Jeff is SO good about it and just accepts it.

We finally made it on a bus. It was so neat to be on a real London double decker bus! We drove through downtown as we were shown many different sights. I noticed a lot of Starbucks, just like home, they were on every corner it seemed. We passed JK Rowlings home, which was neat to see. (Was it really her home? We don't really know, but the bus driver said it was).

JK Rowlings home

I enjoyed taking in the sights. Again, it just felt so surreal. So many things I have only seen in movies that I was living and seeing for myself. Like their taxis. I know, something so simple, but they are so different than our taxis. We saw a few different police vehicles. At least I think they were police of some sort. They were some fancy vehicles and the people driving them were dressed very nicely, but the sirens were going and they were driving extremely fast.

One of their taxis

We drove past Westminster Abbey which was way bigger then I imagined it being. I couldn't help but think of Clara as we passed it since she was so fascinated by the royal wedding.

Westminster Abbey

We continued on past the parliament building and the clock tower with Big Ben (which has since been renamed). We saw the London Eye, which really did look out of place. I mean any Ferris wheel in the middle of a city is weird, but a city with so much history and such old buildings, and then you see this random Ferris wheel. As you enter the side where the London Eye is, you start to realize that many of your surroundings are very different and much more modern. I can't say for sure what all we saw, I was too busy being in awe of such a different surrounding. I do know that we made a stop at the Tower of London and wanted to go in so bad, but we were just too cheap. Later we figured out we actually had a coupon in our hands for 50% off admission because we took the train, but we unfortunately we did not realize in time.

Our bus guide called this old meets new. A view of Big Ben tower through the London Eye

We got off the bus and took a short boat tour. We went under the London Bridge, which you think would be a nice bridge, but it's not, just a plain boring old bridge. The cool bridge was actually the Tower Bridge.

You would think this was the London Bridge. It's not. It's the Tower Bridge.

This is the London Bridge

This is Shakespeares Globe. It's actually a reconstruction of the original Globe Theatre.

Love these underground signs.

Somehow we found our way to the coolest shopping district called Regent Street. It was so busy, but so neat. Our bus driver told us as we were getting off that London has been doing the New York thing long before New York even existed. Honestly, I had no idea that this place existed, which may come as a surprise since I always scope out shopping, but this trip did not involve shopping, so I was too busy scoping out other things. I can't say I was disappointed to end up shopping after all. I can say I knew about the toy store Hamley's and I was SO excited to visit it. It was huge, and overwhelming and full of marketing pitches, but it was neat to see. Even if we did get sucked into purchasing some random toy that never gets used.

From Regent Street we ended up taking a very long walk to Buckingham Palace. The queen was there so it was not open to the public, but it was really neat to see regardless. We watched a vehicle enter the gated lot and as it did all the guards started marching back and forth. It's fascinating to me that some one could stand there all day without moving and I couldn't help but wonder if it is a relief to them to be able to move their muscles even if only for a moment.

Couldn't leave without a photo of the phone booth.

From here we walked back to the train station, stopping along the way for some crepes. I know, wrong country, but they were good anyways. I had been complaining to Jeff for a while that my feet were killing me, but he was so good and just listened instead of getting mad at me for being a baby. It can be confusing trying to figure out which platform your train will be stopping at since there are SO many trains running through the station every day. Basically you sit and watch a screen until your station shows up and tells you what platform and arrival time. It's a bit of organized chaos.

We arrived back to our home station and George picked us up again. He was a fabulous taxi driver for this trip, the roads were way to scary for me to drive or even have Jeff drive on. We went back to our room and got ready for dinner. Thankfully Lydia behaved herself for Myrna. We couldn't have her acting bad because it was our last day and there was no time to redeem herself. Before dinner I wanted to walk around the temple and take some pictures. I had no idea there was so much land surrounding this temple. It was amazing. Simply stunning. It was so green and so well manicured. What a beautiful setting and I am so grateful that I got to experience it.

It was a sad evening for me knowing we were leaving in the morning, it didn't feel like we had enough time. It was so fun to have evenings to spend with Jeff's parents, but I wish we had more of those evenings. We stayed up chatting and even attempted skypeing with the kids. Of course it had to be our last night there that we attempted this. Oops. At least we did it and the kids can't hold it against us.