Family Home Evening

We are not the best at having Family Home Evening every Monday night. I understand how important it is to set that time aside and spend it together as a family, but we still seem to skip more weeks than we should. We have been putting a conscious effort in to being better at this, and to make it easy and convenient for us, we tend to have FHE while sitting at the dinner table. That way Rory can't run away.

Our Bishop has given us counsel as a ward to memorize all thirteen Articles of Faith this year. Matt and I know all of them but sometimes forget the order. So we have been dedicating FHE as a time to learn about and memorize the Articles of Faith as a family. Today we learned about the 8th Article of Faith, which according to Rory goes something like this:

"We believe the Burger to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.

We also believe the Boogie Moron to be the word of God."

If you are not familiar with our doctrine, it should say "Bible" and "Book of Mormon".

For those of you wondering, NO Rory does not have the Articles of Faith memorized. She was just repeating after Matt, like she does when she prays. I thought it was funny that she pronounced translated correctly but not Bible!

We ended the evening with a family bike ride, well Matt and Rory did. I don't have a bike yet.

 Rory's new helmet.

 First bike ride!

Montana

A couple weeks ago, we went on a spontaneous trip to Kalispell and Whitefish Montana. It was a nice trip, with great weather and lots to do. The boys (Matt and his Dad) went golfing a couple of times and the girls shopped. The shopping was actually pretty disappointing. There wasn't a lot of selection and the shelves were picked clean. Back to school shopping, I guess.

Rory really enjoyed the swimming pool at the hotel and played there as often as possible. She loved going down the slide with her dad and jumping into the pool. I'm glad that she is getting more and more comfortable in the water, especially since we don't spend that much time in it.

Loving swimming!

Rory always plugged her nose at the beginning, but not at the end.

Jumping in the pool.

When we go to Kalispell, we always stop in the park on Sunday afternoon and feed the ducks. Rory was asking about it all weekend and really enjoyed sharing her bread with them (some of it, not all). She also really enjoys the playground in the park as well.

 Giving bread to the ducks.

 Eating the bread.

 Playing in the park.

We also went to whitefish lake and played in the sand. Rory loves playing in the sand!

Burying Daddy in the sand.

Summer Time

I am so behind on blogging it is ridiculous! We have been very busy over the past month and I will try and catch you all up on our many goings on. I have decided to split the post up into a couple of different categories to keep it neat and tidy (unlike my house at the moment!)

The Calgary Stampede:

We have lived in Calgary for three summers now (four is you count the summer we were first married, but that year we were only hear for four months). In all those years we have never once been to the Calgary Stampede. This year I planned to change all of that! Unfortunately we never did actually make it to the stampede grounds and had to give up our tickets to the rodeo finals because they took place on a Sunday! We did however go to the Stampede Parade. It was a chance for Rory to see some horses and cowboys and of course a real live princess. Thats rights we were able to see Princess Catharine as she and Prince William drove by (He was on the other side of the car, so we didn't see him). It was a cold morning, and a long wait, but it was a great time!

 Cheering on the Princess

Watching the cowboys go by.

To this day, Rory is infatuated by cowboys. She is constantly putting things on her her (hats, blankets, scarves etc.) and saying: "Look Mom! I'm a cowboy!"

Summer Fun:

It's been pretty rainy this summer, but when it warms up, it gets hot! Rory and I have had the opportunity to spend most hot days hanging out in our backyard. Rory loves going down her new slip and slide with her dad. Loves it so much she will only do it with him. She will wait all day until he comes home from work, then he runs upstairs and changes into his board shorts and they slip and slide away until dinner is-ready.

Camping Trip with the Hudson:

A couple of weeks ago we had the great fun of going on our first camping trip as a little family of three. Matt and I went a couple of times before Rory was born and I grew up going every summer. This was a special trip because it was Rory's first time and we got to share it with Grandma and Grandpa Hudson and all of Rory's aunties and uncles! We had a great time! Rory still talks about it all the time. She loved sleeping in the tent, eating outside, playing with rocks, chasing wild life (mostly squirrels, not bears), and playing our childhood game of pooh sticks at the bridge. It was a bit cold and rainy at times but we did have one day that was super hot and we got to spend it at Lake Annette (one of my favourite places in Jasper). We enjoyed hiking to a glacier, swimming in the lake and in the community pool, going to church in the little branch in Hinton, and spending time with our family. Rory has been a absolute disaster since we arrived home, because nothing I do is fun enough for her after that awesome time in the mountains!

 On our way to Jasper! Our car was packed!

 Rory being silly.

 Throwing rocks.

 Watching the water through the cracks in the bridge.

 with Papa.

 Our home away from home for 5 days.

 Pretending to sleep.

 Pancakes for breakfast on our last day.

 Rory telling the paparazzi to go away.

 Eating the yummy treat from aunty Lisha.

Hanging at Lake Annette before heading home on the last day.

The Calgary Zoo:

Last Saturday, Matt and I took Rory to the Calgary Zoo. She hadn't been there since her first birthday party. (I know thats really bad of me!) It was a beautiful day. The weather was really nice, but not too hot. We had a great time with Rory.

 Daddy and Rory checking out the baby giraffe.

 Rory with the dwarf crocodile. I like this guy.

 Zebras!! Rory liked these two.

 Matt and Rory with the wallabies. 

 Giving some love.

 Our traditional pose.

 Big enough to go by herself!

 Playing in the park.

 The slide.

 Rory - the caged animal.

 Just cute! Thats all.

 Elephants!

 The second playground. Much more age appropriate.

She was so happy!

So far it has been an awesome summer. We have had so much fun with friends and family and enjoyed some gorgeous weather. We are still loving our house and enjoy the big backyard on hot days (though I can't say Matt enjoys mowing it!) Today we are off to spend the weekend with the Beazer's. (Rory doesn't know yet, I'll surprise her when we get in the car. It's much more bearable that way.) Looking forward to one more glorious month of summer!