WELCOME SUMMER!!!!

 

 

Our strawberry plants seriously produced the most delicious tasting strawberries ever.  And every 3-4 days we would pick handfuls like this.  They were situated in a spot in the yard that gets the hottest sun for several hours each day. It was so nice and the kids especially loved to check for more everyday.

 

One afternoon, we packed up our bikes and drove down to the Muttart area and rode around on all the bike trails down there.  We rode to our old neighbourhood Riverdale and played at the school's playground there.  The school garden had these gorgeous sunflowers they have every year. Ah, the memories. Chloe was just a baby when we lived there.  After Summerside, I think it is the best neighbourhood I've ever lived in.

The Muttart, of course, had gorgeous gardens too.

Olivia says, "Photobomb!"

Chloe found this caterpillar crawling and named it Mr. Fizzbit

And here is Olivia finally mastering the monkey bars

I remember this tree when we lived down there in Riverdale.  It still has it's face!

Sparkling water droplets

 

 We were able to make it out to the Leglisature many times this summer!  Last summer we didn't go once. It is a fun place to go:

Ah I love the bright green grass and full trees of summer time...

A couple of times my kids hauled up the roller coaster toy we have and took it outside for everyone on the street to play with.  That toy is one of the best we have and one we will definitely keep for grandchildren one day!

 

We also got Fort Edmonton passes this year.  We bought them in the spring and we went so many times this summer.  They have a new fair ground and it is so fun for the kiddos.

I have an exact photo of this one below of Izzy and Lily when they were 3 and 1.  They wanted me to re create it.  I will eventually put up the original to compare.  So funny...

 

 

 

 

And of course, there was the BEACH this summer.  I think we went almost every single day.  I am always so grateful we get to live here in Summerside. We would mostly just go alone...my girls play so well together, yay for built in friends.  But there were times we invited friends, the Greigs, the Routledges (poor them they rent in Summerside but their landlord owes like $4000 in payments and so they can't get an access card) the Footes, and several times we had extended family come with us too.  One day we had ALL of Ben's family come and stay for the whole day, and we had the Wickhorsts come once too.  Most of the time though, we would just run into people we knew from church and school. It is funny, last summer I felt like we would never see anyone we knew except for this one family, the Olsens, who it seemed like we saw every time we went haha. This year, I would say 8 times out of 10 we always ran into the Pratts. Lily is good friends with their daughter Tessa and so it was fun for them to always see each other. We ran into the Hatch's a lot too., and the Fullmers. The girls ran into a lot of friends from school. I think too, because this year our kids went to the school here, they know a lot more people that live here, and so that is why it felt like we saw more people there we knew this summer. Anyway, we love Summerside! 

Fun with Abby

Sand angels

Lily and Tessa on the paddle boards

A long time ago I read in the paper about this restaurant called the Bannock Burger that serves hamburgers on bannock.  It had really good reviews and I've always wanted to try it out, but never really had the chance.  Well one day this summer, we were taking Izzy to her first orthodontist appointment, and down the street from it was the Bannock Burger!  So of course we went back later and tried it out.  We give it 2 thumbs up!  It was great!

 

 

And then, a few doors down from that was this bakery I had heard so much about, Duchess Bake Shop. So we went there for dessert.  It is amazing as well!  Izzy has these ortho appointments every six weeks now.....we will have to control ourselves.  When we went in there it was PACKED.  Literally shoulder to shoulder with people.  I ran into 2 people from church and they didn't go there together.  It was everything people raved about and more. We bought a couple things...some macarons and a little cake. 

 

It is furnished and decorated so nice. 

 

Izzy started babysitting this summer!  She has about 2-3 families that use her as a regular.  She is close enough to them that she just walks herself there and back.  Pretty sweet!  Here she is on the way to one of her jobs.  She loved this shirt and wanted me to take a pic of it:

 

 

 

We have enjoyed going to the temple a lot this summer.  The flowers are so pretty there.

My sister texted me this pic one day.  She said these two were side by side on the store shelf.  I love it!

 

 

Also, one evening this summer, I recorded a little journal entry on my iPhone.  I don't want to forget it or lose it, and so I am copying and pasting it onto my blog:

 

Tonight was such a lovely, peaceful summer's evening.  There has been so much tremendous stress in our lives lately. Ben was laid off from Telus. So many emotions have gone through me. Telus has been our bread and butter, our way to live, for as long as we've been a family. I felt grief and in mourning almost, like we lost a part of us. We are feeling a lot more optimistic lately though. Ben is incredible. He is so strong and positive and enthusiastic about the whole thing. He has helped me to see this as an adventure more. A new chapter in our lives. I still worry a little about everything. But I have faith. I really feel like Heavenly Father's hand is in our life. He will help us. Ben will do all he can, and I know Heavenly Father will make up for the rest. Just as He has done so many times in the past for us. I know He knows that we want to serve. That we love Him, His Son, this gospel, others. That we will serve and do our part to build up His kingdom. I know He'll bless us and help us. It's just we need patience, and to dig deep and be extra kind to each other during this time. I need to step back and just let Ben do his thing. Trust that he can do it. We are fasting tomorrow for this. Ben's whole family is too. Tonight was just a lovely night. I swam for a long time in the lake. The beautiful sky and clouds and sun shone down on me and the peaceful trickle sound of the water surrounded me. I felt such peace. Peace about everything. I know now it was Heavenly Father giving me that peace. Peace of mind. I felt the Spirit there. Reminding me of this beautiful earth we have. The many, many blessings I've been given. I know Heavenly Father loves me and loves my children and family. He is mindful of us and will not leave us or forget us.

Update Aug 7, 2014:

Ben's job search has been going so incredibly well. He has had DOZENS of interviews.....companies have really been responding well to his resume. We are so lucky and grateful Telus gave him that severance package. It was 10 months of his earnings. On top of that, he still received 2 paychecks, his vacation time paid out, and the money from the shares he bought into.  Because of all of this, Ben has felt like he has time to really search for the right job and not just take the first thing he can get.  We paid tithing on that huge sum of money, and we really feel like Heavenly Father is blessing us. The scripture about tithing that talks about the windows of heaven opening to you to give you so many blessings you won't have room enough to receive them....we are kind of feeling that now with job offers. He's been offered quite a few jobs only about 1 month into his search. Ben's boiled it down to 2. And really, it's choosing between 2 really good options. He knows it may take time for him to start really earning the commission he has the potential for, but the severance money can supplement us in the meantime while he improves at his new job. These jobs will most likely allow him to earn more than he was earning at Telus. He was basically at his cap in his old job, which was fine, but this is a great opportunity for him to grow and learn some more. He feels like this whole thing is a good opportunity for him in his life. He would never have left Telus any other way. He worked there for 12 1/2 straight years and it was such a security blanket for him and us, he would never have taken the risk to move on voluntarily. He needed this push. Hopefully he will make the right decision about which job to take. We are going to the temple to help him with that.