Courage

In the span of a few weeks my sweet little baby girl turned 5 and started Kindergarten.

It is still a little too much for me to handle.
We did some major contemplation when deciding about school for Ruby and in the end we felt best about sending her to Kindergarten this year.
I still am trying to emotionally accept this, but Ruby has seemed too embrace it whole heartedly and is absolutely loving it.
Before she began school I decided that we should start a new back to school tradition.
Each year we pick a word, a scripture, and a quote for the year.
This year our word is 'COURAGE'.
I originally picked it because Ruby was a little nervous about school but soon realised that it applied more to me that anyone else.
I needed the courage to follow what I felt we were being inspired to do (aka send Ruby to school), the courage to send her to school, the courage to be completely involved in her schooling and to always be her advocate, and the courage to parent her as Justin and I feel we should.
Plus I want her to have the courage to make new friends, to be herself, to choose the right, to remember what she has been taught, to be a good example, to be a friend to all.
We all need courage.
So I thought it was an appropriate word for us this year.
I am amazed how many times it has come up in the last couple of weeks alone.
I chose the scripture found in Joshua 1:9
 'Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.'


And this quote by Thomas S. Monson



So as we embark on this new journey in life I hope that we can have always courage.

Ain't Nothin' But Sunshine and Tea Pots....

While it has been snowing and storming in Calgary we 'Medicine Hatters' (which I am allowed to call myself while we are homeless drifters...wherever we reside at the moment we become.) have really been enjoying the sunshine.
Now, it isn't quite like the bahamas but there is no snow- and let's face it- I'll take that any day.
Remember when I said that Justin was done school- and then I amended it and said that he had to write the last of the boards.  Well he went and did that this weekend, now it seems a little anticlimactic to say- HE IS DONE!  Because I already said that- but HE IS NOW DONE!
He came back from a three day trip which included 38 hours of car time, one ear infection (not his), a snow storm, about 100 deer (his estimation), a board exam, some target shopping (a little jealous) and did I mention a lot of driving in a very short amount of time?
He left at 5am on friday and was back by 7 am on Monday- and they went all the way to PORTLAND.  At least he had Clark to keep him company....
He came back looking a little tired, a little haggard, and a little stressed.  (The relief and joy will come soon)
But now all we have lined up is a bunch of visiting (family and friend), relaxation, travelling, and fun times.
We are still working on Visas but hopefully everything will be worked out soon and we can start planning our move to Ohio....
Ahhhh- let the good times begin.

While Justin was gone we did our best to have fun and enjoy ourselves.  We took a little trip to the downtown core of Medicine Hat and enjoyed some easter egg hunting and some easter bunny spotting.  It was fun!  In fact- everyone should come to the Hat and I can show you all the great sites!  I am sure the Hat was on your list anyway- I mean we do have to World's Largest Tepee....
And to conclude our weekend we painted a teapot.  Grammy's house is full of fun and excitement and cousins (most of the time) and one thing we love about grammy's house are the hot chocolate parties.  Ruby has been asking for a hot chocolate teapot of her own for a while and when I found a white one at winners for $2 I picked it up.  My mom had these porcelain writers that she has kept from when I graduated (10 years ago) and we had made everyone a personalized a mug with school colors- and they were perfect!  Ruby preferred the purple and we have a perfectly personalized tea pot of her very own...



The cousins are headed over today for a sleep over for a few days so we will get our chance to try it out...

A Day To Remember

Today is a day to remember.
A day for all to rejoice- yes that includes you.
Rejoice I Say!
Today was Justin's last day of school.
Dare I say- EVER!!!
All he has is the last set of boards in a week and we are home free.
Nothing but opportunity and student loans lay in front of us....
I must say I am really proud of Justin and all the hard work he has put in.  He works hard both at school and at home.  He is amazing and we really love him......