Grateful for the important things in life....

I want to express how grateful I am for the influences & feelings that I have felt this last month. A few things have really changed my perspective on life, and I have to say I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. During conference in October I recieved so many answers to questions and worries I have been having for many years. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who opens our minds and hearts and gives us these inspired messages through the apostles & our prophet. I am thankful also for my wonderful Mum & Dad, although they cannot speak to me in person are still teaching me and letting me know the course of my life and how I should live it. I am thankful to the past lessons they have taught, and for those memories that have helped me put myself back on a course of strength & happiness. I am so grateful for the Temple, I cannot even put into words to express how I feel about the Temple, but I am thankful for its renewing effects that I have really needed in my life.

I am thankful as always for the support of my wonderful husband who has done nothing but support me ALWAYS in all my ups and downs and trials. Thank you Travis for everything. I love each of my children so dearly, more than life itself, and its for them that I want to be a better person. I hope they can live their dreams and be all they want to be.

Life is for living and we don't know how much of it we have, so for me I will live each day as if it were my last and enjoy and treasure each moment.

Cheeky Monkeys

I posted a new photo of my 4 cheeky monkeys for our blog title. They are mine and I love them to bits, arent I just a lucky Mommie!!!!!!

10 Years Together !!!!!!!!!!!

This week, Travis & I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. We are making a week of it, with school commitments, we were not able to go away so have split it up over 2 weekends. We love spending whatever time together that we can. We celebrated the 2nd with a dinner at Brewer's Fayre (our usual haunt) & on Friday, after the children's swimming lessons we went to the British Musical Fireworks Championships which is hosted annually here in Southport every year. It was so good, the weather stayed dry - depsite being extremely cold, the kids were well wrapped up in snow pants, coats hats and gloves, and we took lots of blankets. It was such an awesome evening together, and a nice way to celebrate our anniversary. It is the best of the best weekend so all the winners of previous years are battling it out, hence the displays were fantastic. We had a day at the outlets, and then we enjoyed the rest of the weekend listening to General Conference. We are always so lucky that Conference falls on our anniversary weekends. We love listening to our church leaders, and they give us so much great counsel. In between sessions we went to the woods - it was such a beautiful day we couldnt resist the opportunity to get out there! Also we stopped in as a family to visit Grandma Harbon (my mum) who had a seizure for the first time this weekend, and I was desperate to see how she was doing. There was a beanbag in the room and the kids entertained all the oldies in the room with their antics throwing it around, and laughing. Mum was happy, and calm although extremely distant, we were just so glad to spend a bit of time with her. This coming weekend we are off to London, to take care of Katherines US passport renewal at the embassy, and then off to France. We can't wait.

So its been a good month, lots of changes for everyone (except for Jacob & I) the girls have gone back to school. Lauryn is absolutly loving her new grade, and for the first time has a male teacher. He is great, full of energy and is the sports teacher too, so they do alot of active things. So good for the kids. She is enjoying new classes now, with Drama, Music & Spanish being added to her regular curiculum, and she is in the Judo club (much to my surprise she begged to do this) and loving it. She moved up a class in swimming and is now diving in the deep end of the pool! She is progressing well. She loves swimming so much.

Katherine, also loves her new class and teacher. She said she is going to be in Year 2 forever.... :D She has a great group of friends and likes to spend time with. We often meet at the park behind our house after school, us moms can chat and they get to play. She was moved up a class in swimming also and is now in the big pool. Her swimming is fantastic, she has developed great skills very fast and we are really proud of her. We are really glad she has found something she is excelling at, as she isn't really the most sporty of kids, she often gets frustrated with things of that nature. But she loves swimming.

Josh, has had a rough month, he has not liked preschool one bit. Its been hard on him loosing all his friends to 'big school' and he misses them like crazy. He has one friend Rhys, that has also just turned 4, that he loves to play with. He tells me everyday that he and Rhys are the only ones who are 4. He is really proud of that! Josh started his own swimming class this month, he is in the beginners. He has been desperate to start but has had to wait for his 4th birthday. He plays around alot, and likes to kick off with his noodle wrapped around his body when he is suposed to be waiting at the side of the pool!! We often notice his teacher grab Josh's ankle and pull him back LOL!!!! Its very entertaining. He loves it though and its his favourite part of the week. He had a big crash on his scooter, as he rides it so fast and just jumps off the thing to stop (despite being told to slow down etc- I don't think that boys understand the concept of slow!!) he got some nasty injuries to his face. So he has been banned from his scooter for a while, and will be back on when he is wearing a helmet and knee and elbow pads!!

Jacob is walking!!!! Thats our big news of the month. He is still cruising alot, but will now take off unprompted to walk across to something across the room. Its so good to see. He is really funny though because he finds it so hilarious and gets so excited he tries to run!! And then falls flat on his face. Which he finds even more funny. He's such a funny guy.. So cute and I love him so much. Its nice as he changes and becomes more aware of the things we say to him.

Trav is back at school now, and in his 2nd year (3rd year at Liverpool uni). It's going good. He is glad to be back. So we are good, and we are so happy together. I am so thankful I get to be married to my best friend, and that we were able to make the sacred temple covenants to each other all those years ago. I love him with all of my heart.

Travis & I at the Preston Temple

We are celebrating already being together for 10 years, which feels so good to us. We look back and have loved all that life has brought to us over that time, and we are so glad that Heavenly Father directed us to each other. We knew that we were meant to be together quite soon after we met, and I am so thankful to my wonderful Dad who I miss so much, for all his support, for without him - getting together would have been much more of a challange than it was. I can truely say there is nothing better in my life than having Travis as my best friend. I am grateful to him for everything he has given me, most of all for our beautiful treasures (our children). We have learned alot thru the experiences and challanges and good times that have we have been blessed with, and marriage is not always easy, but its certainly worth it to battle thru it and become stronger for it. I can think of nothing better than spending the rest of our lives and eternity together. It might sound really cheesy, but nothing matters more to me in my life than Travis and my children, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ - which, is the only way our forever means something. It was so good to be able to spend time in the Preston Temple that holds so many awesome memories of our beginnings as it was opened and dedicated 10 years ago (May/June 1998). We will always love sharing our anniversary with the Preston England Temple! Thank you my darling for everything xxx

Joshua 4 Today!!

Josh turned 4 today! What big boy! He has been looking forward to his birthday for months. Unfortunantly the weather is nasty, but it's not going to stop him having a good time! He planned his party with his friends from preschool, and wanted it at the Brewer's Fayre restaurant we go to regularly. He invited Zach, Mackenzie & Alfie. He was so excited to wear his new power ranger (urgghhh!!) costume all day! He was excited with his new V Smile computer, but Daddy bought the wrong adaptor, so it doesn't work yet! (Just had to do a rush order from Amazon!!) ooops!

He had a great time with his friends, and they came out of the place sweating from all the running around and wrestling they did! They enjoyed their food, and Josh had his candle on his ice cream and we sang Happy Birthday to him! He loves his presents (TMNT movie & playmobil). He was very good and put up with the girls swimming lessons that we go to on Friday evenings, not a very fun way to celebrate a birthday I know, but the cafe at the Pool has a lovely kids menu, and it was a treat for him to eat something there. He and I had a look around as he is starting his first swimming lesson next Friday, and he wanted to have a good look at his class and teachers. He came to the Chippy with me and we ordered some Fish & Chips to eat together, and then later on in the evening his cousins and Auntie Jen & Uncle Mike came over to have birthday cake and more presents. Josh was really tired by the time the day came to an end, as he sat up late putting his Playmobil toys together he got from the family. After waking up early to see Daddy before work, and going to bed extra late, it was a very long - but fun day. Josh, I love you so much XX

August

The kids with Travis on the route to Stickle Ghyll

Noah & Josh (best friends & cousins)

Amy, Kate & Travis in the storm shelter

Lauryn & Katherine doing the laundry at Dunham Massey

Lauryn & I in the courtyard at Dunham Massey

Summer Holidays!!!!! We had to split this month up since the first half we still had Travis around, and so got lots of days out packed in. We used our National Trust membership to visit Dunham Massey near Manchester, which turned out to be really cool day. The kids loved seeing the deer up close, squirrels, rabbits etc, and the girls got to dress up and try out doing the laundry the victorian way! They loved it. We had a picnic in the grounds and took some family pictures. In the gardens they went on an adventure trail. We drove up to the Lakes and had a day hiking from Wrynose Pass, up to the summit of Crinkle Crags, which Travis and I have been wanting to climb for some time. It was tough on the kids, as the weather was not so good, but we got to use our new storm shelter (courtesy of Trail) and that was awesome. So lovely and warm inside. Jacob was so good considering how cold he got, and we got to really get the benefit of our new baby carrier for Jacob, which this new model has raincover (and wind protection!) we could not have made it that far without it. We are really proud of the kids who made it up all 859m. The beginning of the month we had my brother Pete, his wife Davina and their 2 kids Noah & Maya living with us, in their interim to moving to Austria. We loved having them stay with us, and we were all so sad to see them leave. :(

Travis started working at United Utilities as a Student Engineer, for the rest of the summer until University starts back up in October. He is really enjoying his work and learning so much. He wishes he could just skip the last 2 years of school and just keep on working. He car pools with 3 others from Ainsdale and so that saves on the Gas! The children are so impressed that he gets free hot chocolate and fruit - which we find so funny :) Hopefully all going well they will have him back again.

We had a overnight stay in Langdale at the Bank Holiday weekend, the campsite was a mudbath (from previous rain) and so we got very muddy, especially Josh who was like a magnet to the mud. No matter how hard he tried he always ended up on the ground somehow. However he did not like the shower (clothes and all) he had to have at the end of the day to scrub it all off!! We hiked up Stickle Ghyll part way, which we have done twice before, but the waterfalls were in full force (due to the rain) so it was so beautiful this time around. We had a fun time.

We had alot of fun on Jacob's birthday, he is such a cute baby! We especially love his "funny face"!

School starts back up in a couple days, Lauryn in Year 4, Katherine Year 2, and Josh in his final year of preschool.

Jacob turns 1 Year Old Today!

Jacob turned 1 today, and I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. So much has happened to us, and he sure has made such a difference to my life and the rest of the family. It was a big change for us to now have 4 children, and I have loved everything that has brought, the challanges & the fun times. I feel these experiences have given me new perspectives on being a mother. And I wouldn't change anything about it. I have received alot of comments from other Moms at school, who all think I am the ultimate weirdo for having "so many children" (in the UK it certainly is). We were approached by a guy on the beach whilst waiting for the Tall Ships parade and he commented how lovely it was to see a large family these days. What a lovely compliment for a change! I love each of my children to absolute depths and couldnt imagine my life without any of them in it. Jacob is adored by all his sisters and brother and they don't give him space to breathe sometimes, they shower him with so much love and attention. He may take a little longer to learn to do some things for himself as they never give him chance to!!! But he loves them back and likes to play boy games with Josh, and loves his cuddles from his sisters. He likes to talk to us now, his favorite words are "Mam" "Dad" & "Goh" (Gone). He said "Cake" today when he was ready to eat it :) He loves to crawl and climb the stairs. The other night when we were all watching the Olympics we realised Jacob was missing.... the gate had been left open and he had climbed all the way to the top of the house to the girls room in the loft!! He was happily playing in the middle of their room with their toys!!! I reminised this morning on his birth day, back last year, and though I like to forget the sheer horror of the 2 hours of labor, (without pain relief I will add) I have such fond memories of the two of us hanging out in our room recovering. It was such a special moment for me, to be spending together with him (something that has rarely happened since - just the 2 of us moments) feeding for the first times, cuddles, gazing at him in his crib. Enjoying the quietness of the hospital room. I really felt sad about it and wished I could go back in time and relive it all again. I hope we will get to have lots of great memories this coming year, even though he is Daddy's boy BIG time, we will get lots of time alone together with Travis' job & when he goes back to school. Can't wait my beautiful boy, you are so precious to me!! XXXX

Jacob opening his presents
Jacobs birthday cake!

Summer Placement

Travis has been hired by United Utilities for the summer, and is really excited about it. Its a wonderful opportunity, to be working with the Electrical Engineers. Good luck baby!!

(Photo: taking it easy at Maya's birthday party!!)

Goodbye Pete & Davina

I am feeling really sad that my brother and his wife are leaving for Austria soon, but really glad that they are living with us until then. Josh will miss Noah so much!!!

Lots of love and good luck xxxx

July

This month has seen the kids finish off their school years. Lauryn has had an interesting time in Year 3 and has grown so much. She has learned alot about life & friendships and I hope it has made her stronger for it. She has come along way in her Numeracy challenges, and has enjoyed being part of the small group. She has really liked going Swimming with the class, and just being in the Juniors.

Katherine has had a great time in Year 1. She has a lovely group of friends that she loves spending time with, and although she has complained at times about the 'hard work' of Year 1 (this comes after the year of play she got in Reception!) she has progressed well in her reading and spelling.

Joshua has received a great report from Playgroup, his teachers are really impressed with his recent improvements and his confidence is growing and he is communicating so much with them now.

This month the girls had Sports Days, and did really well. Lauryn had a small Recorder concert during assembly that Travis & I were able to go and watch.

The beginning of July was the annual Ainsdale Show, and Lauryn, Katie & Joshua all put in some great efforts with their entries. Joshua won 1st prize for his model, and 3rd for a painting. Katherine won 1st prize for her Computer art picture of Hallie, and Lauryn won a 2nd prize for her decorated cake, 3rd for her Computer art picture of a Turtle, and a commended for her american sandwich. They were all really pleased. Travis and I were able to put in some community service, as we do every year at the Show. He helped out with the heavy work one night, and I helped the night before hanging artwork.

As soon as school broke up we have been busy, doing lots of fun things. We were able to go to the Tall Ships event in Liverpool, and watch them coming out of the River Mersey. It was a very impressive sight. Even though we had a long wait on the beach at Crosby, and it was a bit breezy, it was a lovely afternoon. That week we also had a day out to Fell Foot Park, a National Trust site on the shore of Lake Windermere. We like to kayak there, and its a good place for the kids to get some practise. Lauryn learnt to back paddle, and showed me her new thing weaving in and out of the rocks. She was alot better at it than I was. We had a fun time (Lauryn & I) in Kiwi 2, going up the river a small way, and then out onto the lake to look at the boats anchored in the water. Katherine & Joshua both got some more practise. Travis had another attempt at Rolling, but he really needs some instruction on this.

We went to the Robin Hood Festival at Edwinstowe in Sherwood Forest. It was an awesome day and a big highlight of the month for us. I had never been to Sherwood Forest before either, so I felt like a big kid myself. There was alot going on in the forest, activities, shows, small camps etc, and we walked to Major Oak, the legend has it was the secret camp of Robin Hood. It is a very impressive tree. In the clearing there was alot going on, and Lauryn & Josh did some archery, and Katherine made a Maid Marian headband, with flowers & ribbons. She really loved that. Jacob liked watching the clowns performing. We also really enjoyed the Bird of Prey Display and the Jousting Tournament, which was very entertaining.

The next day was Travis Intro to Whitewater course at Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham. He has been looking forward to getting some proper instruction for a long time. During the morning he got very frustrated and tired as he was constantly being tipped out of his kayak. The instructor said that because its a playboat (the design on the back tip of the boat) and his weight it was sitting too low in the water and catching the current and he really didnt have a chance. In the afternoon he was given a different boat to try and despite being exhausted he did really well. As with being capsized - comes losing your paddle, something which most times they could retrieve quite quickly. While Travis was doing a run of the slalom course he entered a rapid on the wrong angle, flipped, but because he was in the run of grade 3 rapids it was as much he could do to get himself out. The instructor went after the kayak, and we thought the paddle would be a goner. Half way down the River Trent or something! I was quite anxious as I knew Trav would be since they cost a bomb! Kit is not cheap and so it was quite a worrying few moments, until we discovered a group of Firefighters who were on the course practising their rescue techniques, had caught it and pulled it out. Thanks guys! He had alot of fun, but is tired. His instructor is studying Engineering as well, so it gave them something to talk about. There were only 2 of them getting instructed so Travis did get alot of one on one help.

June

Hey, we have had an awesome time this month together as a family. Its so nice having Travis around so much, and to get away together (a bit further than we usually go) on our Vacation to Cornwall. We had a bit of time travelling, getting stuck behind 2 accidents, so it took 9 hours to get there, and we ended up at a completely different campsite than planned, but it was lovely all the same. We spent our time in Newquay, Perrenporth beach, Lands End, St. Ives, Marazion & St Michaels Mount, Pendennis Castle - Falmouth, Truro, Porthcurno beach & Padstow. We squeezed so much into our time, and we saw alot. Travis enjoyed seeing some new parts of England, and I havent been there since I was 19 so its been a while for me too. The kids loved the surf, Lauryn especially loved body boarding for the first time. She took to it so quickly. She even managed to get her old mother into it :)

The campsite had an outdoor pool, which the kids spent alot of time in. I liked sunbathing. It was somewhere they liked to go in the evening after we got home from our days out. A highlight of the vacation was the Blue Reef Aquarium and seeing the sharks, stingray and the turtle. Travis had a go on the surf at Perrenporth in his kayak, he had alot of fun, and tipped over quite a few times! I loved the harbors and coves - and the beautiful clear blue water of the ocean. I liked Porthcurno beach which was pretty quiet, sheltered from the breeze, and beautiful white sand, tho it was kind of weird, Josh called it the 'Ready brek sand' and it stuck to you. The kids had fun with the legends of Giants at St Michaels Mount, and enjoyed the return ferry ride to the island. We had a great day at Lands End, scared the kids to death in the Last Labyrinth Show with tales of shipwrecks, witches, pirates and giants, and the story of King Arthur. They loved the Doctor Who museum, but were too scared to stand in front of any of the character models! Jacob wasnt bothered by any of it, of course! Jacob liked eating the sand, and riding in the little inflatable yellow raft when he could. We were lucky to get sunshine and blue skies the entire trip.

During half term break, we took the kids to Chester Zoo, and this was Jacobs first time. He wasnt interested in any of the animals :) Josh was glad to see that snakes are in the tanks we have told him about and not able to get out (he is quite plagued by snake nightmares for a while) and we all enjoyed seeing the chimps get fed. It was quite a show! The lions were asleep like usual.

Lauryn was awarded with her 10 metre certificate at her swimming class, and she is really proud of her achievement. She is going to Windermere with the school and I get to go too which I am looking forward too. She also is in a small sports club and they are spending a day at Rock and River, where she will kayak, climb & do some archery. She is so excited for it. She is excited to show them that she already can kayak. We bought Lauryn a new kayak, a Perception Method Jnr. The Dynamo is now in demand by Katie & Josh. She was able to try it out at Fell Foot on Windermere, on Father's Day. With her new specialised childrens kayak paddles, she says its so much better. Travis and Lauryn did get a bit wet when the heavens opened. And paddled over to some trees to sit under. This one will see her thru the teenage years tho, so we know its a good investment.

Katherine had a great school field trip to Croxteth Hall. I loved being able to accompany the class. Its been a long time since I have been able to help out at school, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She has been going to lots of parties, and getting made over, which is her favorite thing anyway. She tried kayaking for the first time this month, and was very determinded despite being a bit nervous and frustrated about it being a struggle the first time. She picked it up quite well, and also enjoyed for a time being towed around by Trav! She progressed in her swimming and was moved up a class. She likes this new class because they play lots of games.

Josh finally broke thru his inhibitions of the bathroom at playgroup, and has lost all his previous hang ups and fears, he is excited for his reward - the "Mack" truck to add to his Disney "Cars" collection. Josh was really desperate to try out the kayaking. He wanted to wear a helmet too - bless. But he shocked us all that despite not being able to brace himself in the kayak, he had alot of control, and did as well as Kate did!

Jacob is doing great. He loves standing up, and has lots to say all the time. He is my little guy and so adorable. He is getting so big though, and I wish he would stop growing! He likes to play games and loves balls. He gets so excited that his whole body will shake :)

Travis passed his exams so he is stoked, and I am so proud, he has worked so hard.

I am still waiting for my results. My life is a bit of a mixed bag, so I won't go into that.

(Pictures : Top to bottom - Amy at Pendennis Castle, Lauryn bodyboarding at Perrenporth beach, Katie running from the waves at Towan Beach - Newquay, Josh loving the beach at Perrenporth, Jacob just smiles everytime you get out the camera!)

May

This month has been a busy one for us. Travis has had his final exams of the year, which have been alot of stress for him. Lauryn and Katherine have been progressing well in their swimming lessons. Lauryn gets the extra practise from school lessons as well once a week which is good for her. I cannot believe how well they are doing. I feel that it was one of the best choices I have made to move them to the Formby Pool. Lauryn dropped out of ballet, which has been a choice she has thought a long time about. I am really sad about it because she has so much talent. She was just not happy in the class. I am thinking that mostly was because she found it hard making friends with the girls, all from other schools than her. And they weren't very friendly either. She is loving her swimming and it has made a big difference to her confidence, she is really motivated for it.
Katherine is doing well in school and progressing well with her reading and spelling! She loves all her friends and is very secure and happy in her school life. Lauryn has a good group of friends but as comes with the age, she is starting to experience alot of "firsts" within the group, and has had to deal with some difficulties already. She does well with it though.
Katherine is going to Croxteth Hall in Liverpool with her class for a day and I am going to help out. She was chosen to take part in a French video being made by Year 6, to send to a French School, which she enjoyed.
Joshua is still going to playgroup 3 mornings a week. He is wanting to go more often but doesnt like using the toilet there, which is causing some problems. I have promised him that if we can sort that out we can review his schedule. He doesnt understand it yet but most his best friends start school this September. He will really feel it when they are gone. He has another year of preschool. He is alot of fun to have around, but full of energy and sometimes has difficulties channeling his feelings. So he gets to enjoy lots of time outs etc! :)
Jacob is growing so fast. He is a nice chunk, for me to cuddle and squeeze. He is now 9 months old and very vocal. He is getting really inquisitive and is now pulling himself up onto things and trying to get himself crawling. He gets into position then doesnt know what to do next and kind of goes splat on the floor, and gets REALLY frustrated! He is starting to call us Mam and Dada which is awesome.
I have dropped my next University class for the summer. I need a break. I am still waiting for my result from my last class. Fingers crossed.
We had a weekend away the beginning of the month in Langdale. Our favourite place. We love it so much. The kids get so excited to go there. All was going well, Jacobs first camping trip. He was loving it. We got some small hikes in, but got rained out on the Sunday afternoon, with a few hours of torrential rain, we had to abandon ship (so to speak) and pack up and come home. We spent a fun day at the Trafford Center in Manchester to compensate! And we all got to see Spiderwick, which the kids had been wanting to see for a while, at the movie theater there. Had a small detour to our favourite Kayak store - Brookbank Canoes, to purchase Lauryn some Gremlin paddles. I cant wait for her to get chance to use them, they will make all the difference. Katherine is excited to start paddling this year, we hope to be able to get her a kayak of her own in June.
The last few weeks we have been busy moving house. Its been a lot of work, as we have redecorated the place as well. Travis has worked hard and I am really grateful for all the sacrifice he puts into this family. He loves us all so much and I cannot even put into words the appreciation and love I feel for him. He is the rock of our family and holds us all together.

(Photos : Jacob and Lauryn,Katie,Josh climbing up Oxendale Beck, Great Langdale)