earthly father, Heavenly Father

i don't know if i've put this one up before, but it's a good one!  i've been thinking all day.  someone at work today said something that made me realize that she doesn't  think we (mormons) are Christians.  HOW can this be disputed so much!  it is our title, the centre of our whole belief system.  i have decided that those who think that way- simply know nothing whatsoever about us.  it is something they heard along the way i guess.
anyhow, i love mormon messages...and this one about fathers is a good reminder about the purpose of life.

the perfect TV day

yup, these all happened today.  it was great!!!  we are working on the last season of Merlin...third season of downton and i can't remember what season of doctor who.  maybe 7??  good clean fun!

this and that

here is a picture from our stay in Utah which i think is honestly a bit sad.   hahaha...but true!!!  this is just the way it is now.  i was probably on my iPad also!!

 CLASSIC AYDEN post-nosebleed

 and here is Ayden doing his home-ec sewing.  he did awesome really!!

 not sure what's going on here...anyways....

 yikes, we've had snowstorms almost every weekend lately.  not this last one though...just lots of WIND.  yuck.

 Ben went to comicon in Calgary yesterday.  he was dressed as the 11th doc from dr.  who.  during one of the seasons Matt Smith wears a fez and bow tie.  I ordered Ben a fez for his bday...straight from Turkey!  but i gave it to him early when he announced how he wanted to dress up.  He was still a bit swollen from his wisdom tooth adventures, and wasn't able to eat much...but he went and had fun.  He drove too.

Tessa and I went out for girl-shopping yesterday.  it was fun and tiring too.  we got lots done!!
Today Pete went up to Jasper for some meetings.  I usually go with him to these things...but couldn't work it out this year.  It seems so hard to do, now that we're short someone at work.  Plus, working out Tessa's schedule isn't always easy either.  Not to mention i wasn't sure i was up for another car ride since Utah.

missed on Easter

playing games...

 Ben getting ready to open his eggs from Michaela.  It was an answer to his balloon question about grad.  all the eggs had their guts blown out, and little notes slipped into them- and he had to match the questions to the answers.  it was really cute!

 EASTER treats!!!

o the joys

this last week was "fun".  found out i had a cracked molar...all the way to the roots.  it had to come out. it is in the back.  i have a wisdom tooth behind it just starting to grow in, so it may not matter that it's out too much.  i was not excited based on my last tooth extraction experience.  that was tuesday.  i took it pretty easy all week but teeth issues are pretty upsetting for me.

BUT...tomorrow Ben has to have 3 wisdom teeth out.  feeling pretty bad for him, but it will be fine.  he's tough and will manage just fine.  

ssooooo...not the best couple weeks for teeth around here....

we have to take a picture of Ben...and i think that's about it.  most everything is ready to send his papers in.

yesterday it snowed.  again.  a LOT.  tons.  same as last weekend.  when the snow all melted away friday and yesterday it felt so nice!!!  i think 5 minutes later it started snowing.  getting old!  we should be used to it.  but it still gets old.  however, i don't think anyone anywhere in the world appreciates spring as much as southern albertans!!!

in church today we sat in front of the sick family.  you know the ones- they cough and sneeze against the back of your head for an hour.  as a germaphobe...i struggle against getting up and going out in the hall.  yuck.  

now for a bit of rambling.  it makes me sad when i feel a bit of anger or resentment coming from people...because they struggle with something that they assume we know nothing about.  for example:  there are 2 people in our ward i know of -  their kids are not making correct choices...and have gone pretty astray...i know they look at us like we think we're better than they are.  i am no better than anyone else- i just happened to luck out with the great kids i got.  everyone is free to make their own choices...regardless of how they were brought up.  i have spoken to both of these women...and in both cases they blame leaders and teachers and other people- trying to deal with why their kids have wandered.  but i feel bad when i see them watching me- or us- and the looks they can give.  one of them said to me once, " so and so has such a perfect life- how could she ever understand mine?"  so i can only assume that she thinks the same thing about me.  anyhow, i noticed it today...i feel badly...but i am unsure what to do about it.  i can't apologize for my kids, or pretend they have all kinds of bad points just to make these people feel better.  nobody is perfect, and everyone has struggles of some kind.  just wish everyone understood that.  rambling done.

TIME OUT!!!

Guess what i did this weekend?  THIS
those are the presenters and musical performers that were here in Lethbridge.  it was amazing...LOVED IT!!  Plus friday night i got to hear Chris Williams AND Brad Wilcox.  i LOVE Brad's atonement book...he has a second one that is brand new that i also grabbed yesterday.  and let's not forget Jenny Oaks Baker...wow, she is crazy-good on the violin!
basically, this week was crazy.  i got home from Utah on sunday tired and VERY sore.  my back didn't like me much after that special drive.  THEN...i had to work monday and tuesday all day!  we are still short people at the library.  after getting home at 6- it was dinner, stretching- pilates- hot tubs.  anything to help the pain.
wednesday, i took ben to the dentist...and afterwards i broke a tooth.  nice.  i will be getting that extracted this coming week.  yay, can't wait for a week of more pain.  then, i went to work that day too.  and then next two days.
by they time i got to friday night, there was nothing i wanted to do LESS...than to drive myself to Leth and go out for the evening!  but...i'm so glad i did.  got home late, got up early saturday, and went back for a full day of awesomeness.  (went with Lily which was fun!)
hopefully they do it again in Leth soon...it was great!!!
right now it's snowing quite a bit...
ben has to have his wisdom teeth out in a week.  yeesh.
tessa's neck is really bothering her...
ayden wore a bow tie today to church...it looked awesome...

adventures in Utah

we had a fun little trip.  conference was fantastic...we all loved being there.  we waited awhile, but it was okay.  it would have been worse to be one of the last-minute-er's.  the talks were great!  walking around temple square was fun.  it has been about 7 years since we did it last- so it was nice to be able to do that again.
we saw all the family- which was really fun.  saw them all three days...Tracey had a pizza party at her house which was awesome.
we did quite a bit of shopping- but found we couldn't' buy much.  we didn't get the cargo box for the vehicle, so we had to squash in a bit for the drive home.
we ate.  i'm glad i don't live there actually- it would be way too easy to eat out!  and shop!  but it was fun to do those things for a few days.
the boondocks was fun.  we took Cody.  the kids played hard at the arcade.  Ben played the big claw the first time and won a huge panther.  so funny!
on the saturday we were looking for a place to eat before conference and lucked-out by getting in to "the rooftop" buffet which is in the top of the Joseph Smith building.  so awesome!  great views and an amazing buffet.  glad we did that!

truth

this makes me laugh every time i see it.  

i hope to blog about our Easter trip to Utah...but life has been a little crazy since we got home.  yes, i admit it.  it isn't always the case, but it is this week.  i still need to put stuff away from the trip!  updates coming soon...

catch the wave

more about conference coming soon...

off we go

...and...we're off.  tomorrow.  we are anxiously awaiting our conference session- and crossing our fingers that the tabernacle choir will be there!! 

we will be shopping, eating, visiting...should be a great break.