The first hail of the year

It was really soft hail, more of a flaky consistency than ice, but still great fun.

I was busy practicing putting curlers in when we looked outside and discovered the hail, thus the curly hair or curlers. Doesn't she look like a granny.I love this one, he was so freezing. But look at his brother with no coat or shoes on!

Family photo

Preston Temple

We were privileged to attend the Preston Temple last week end. We flew out on Thursday and came back on Saturday (23rd-25th). I am so, so, so grateful for the temple, and also for those who helped me to get there (you know who you are, thank you, and I love you both for making it possible for me, you may never know how much that meant to me.) And to those who were a comfort and support when I needed it. And of course thanks to Pete for having the kids while I was away, I love you.

This is a dear sister in our ward who was going to the temple for her first time. What a special experience to share with her.And this is all 8 of us. It was a stake temple trip, but these are the sisters from our ward who all traveled together.

Running a Charity Shop?

Pete came into the lounge when we were busy getting one suite in and the old ones out. He just laughed at the sight. We had just gotten the green ones and were getting rid of the others. (not the two cream lazy boys though) And it has all been free! Thank you to everyone who has thrown their old couches our way.

How to shower with a cast on your arm

Not very glamorous, but there it is.

And perhaps a slight resemblance to Hellboy?

Look at our talented grain

You all know the story of the little red hen and the grains of wheat. Where the friends kept on saying they wouldn't help until the bread was made and then they wanted to eat some.

Well Corbin was a fantastic grain of wheat! He is the one on the right. He was great, just what a grain of wheat should be ;-)

A Sunday walk

We went for a walk with Donovan's family on Sunday through the forest behind their house. We came upon this tree that had fallen over in a strong wind. Most of the roots were over a rock shelf and had no chance of embedding properly. Look how big the tree got though, it looked strong and healthy, but with a strong wind the true strength of it was proved.

A healthy winter soup

Delicious!

The children at the park

Ever go to the park with your family and notice that your wife is having more fun than the kids?

The seesaw:
This spinning roundabout type thing that spun really fast:
And then her favourite for the day, the dish she is sitting in spins around, what fun she had:
Oh, yes. I was there too (Gill dresses me, not literally you understand, but she buys my clothes.)

Pancakes sponsored by...

Just thought I'd catch you all up on what I do for a living these days - I told you about the online debt collecting system www.getting-paid.com previously.

I've got my finger in a few other pies as well. Finding clients is the overall banner for most of our (Peter Carruthers and I) efforts. It's at www.findingclients.co.uk

A while ago I built some software called the System Building Tool it's at www.nomore247.com

I've got another few ideas up my sleeve but that's it for now.

Cheers

Pete

Aren't they just beautiful!

Thanks goes to my cousin Jenny for these lovely pancakes. The turkey baster was a great idea and now I know how 'they' get their pancakes all the same size! Okay, almost all the same size. And the vanilla essence really does make all the difference. The kids loved them, and so did I, I had mine with chocolate spread, delicious.

I'm a real wild child

The 'honeymoon'

I knew we were going away somewhere, but I didn't know where. I was so surprised when Pete told me we were off to Dublin! I was excited the whole way there. I have wanted to go to Dublin for the whole time we have lived here, and now I have.

We stayed in the Belvedere Hotel. When we got there we went for a walk around the fair city. We walked along the banks of the Liffey, it is a beautiful wide river running through Dublin City.

In the morning it was out and about to see all of the different shops. We had a traditional Dublin breakfast (although I must admit it was just a normal English breakfast) but still very tasty. And Pete is sure he tore a calf muscle shopping :) He says he can walk for miles no problem, but shopping is another kind of fitness all together. We both had a great time in Dublin. And a very big thanks to Donovan and Eva who had our kids for the night. They had a good time too, dinner, movies the works. Thanks guys.

A day in the life of a wedding accessory

The 10th started like any other day. I got up 3 hours before dawn to finish my work on the farm and make Gillian a nice cup of tea in bed and run her a bath.

I then made breakfast for the family and did a paper route which I do to earn extra money to pay for wedding shoes and flowers. After the paper route I took a cold shower (Gillian had used all the heat getting ready for her big day).

After dressing I got to take photos of Gill and then hold her arm while she had more photos taken. I think I might have accidentally been included in one or two.

It's tough being an accessory to a beautiful bride.


disclaimer: there may be a few exaggerations in this post

I don't just sit around the house in pajamas all day

Contrary to popular opinion I actually do some work some of the time. I've just launched an online debt chasing system. It automatically reminds clients of their outstanding invoices by sending them an email message every few days.

The response has been great so far with 51 people signing up in the first couple of days. One of the guys who used the test version told me it freed up a full time staff member to do more profitable work instead of phoning or emailing to chase outstanding money.

If you're interested it's at http://www.getting-paid.com

Cheers

Pete

Happy Anniversary to us. Part 3

We had to make this small so that it would load up, hope it's okay.

Happy anniversary to us. Part 2

And here is me 'walking out'



Then we went to the town hall and had some pictures taken. We haven't gotten the photos back yet, they are being put onto a CD for us. But here are some of the ones we took on our mobile phones and the camera at home:
Pete bought me a new ring. It is a plain D shape white gold band. And I love it, what am I saying, I chose it. The other two are my original wedding bands, one for the wedding and one for the sealing. After having the photos taken we came home and made a video. We wanted to share with each other some special thoughts and feelings about the last 10 years. And we made the video so that you can share this moment with us too. Which brings us to the next post....

Happy Anniversary to us. Part 1

These posts will all be separate so that the loading is easier.

We have been married now for 10 years. So because it is the big 10 we decided to do something bigger than would normally be done.

I went out charity shopping and found this wedding dress which was my size and style. I sewed the blueish purple beads on because your 10th anniversary is blue sapphire. Then I bought these shoes for £9.99 I thought they would do just fine for the day.

Then I made my own bouquet - the first one I have ever done. I wanted to have some of the flowers in my hair, so I sewed the small purple flowers onto a piece of elastic that I had sewed into a circle, like a hair band.

I must tell you I had a great time doing all of this! Here is me 'walking in'



To be continued...

Tag, I'm it today

Well I am feeling a lot more in the mood to be playing tag lately. I was tagged by my cousin Jenny and this tag is seven random facts about yourself. I don't know anyone else to tag that hasn't already done some of their own tagging, so I'm not passing it on, but here goes:

1) I like to do my own laundry, if you offer to help, I might let you, but it will make me cringe all the time I see you hanging or folding things differently. I have gotten over rehanging or refolding though, I am overcoming my OCD tendencies!

2) I love to make up stories out loud when no one else is listening. I do different voices and the whole dialog and everything! I hope no one ever catches me doing it, but I don't mind admitting it. I make up the most wonderful and amazing stories, sometimes I even get myself laughing or crying because I get so into them.

3) I love looking for bargains, charity shops are great and I love sales at clothing stores. There is nothing more satisfying than bringing home a few items of clothes for half the price of what one of them would have cost at normal price.

4) I beat Jenny on the marriage one (not that it is a competition) I was 19 when I got married and also had to get my dad to sign a form allowing Pete to take me as his wife.

5) I love to listen to the rain on the roof window in our room while I am falling asleep. Actually I love to listen to the rain anytime.

6) I love to go to the temple, If I had more money I would go a lot more often. To stand in the house of the Lord and know that He has been there is something very special to me. I envy those who live closer.

7) I am doing exactly what I always wanted to do in life. (now how many people can say that!) When the question was asked at school: What do you want to be when you grow up? I always thought that I wanted to be a wife and a mother. What a privilege that I have this opportunity.

And that's it, my seven random facts.

Giant's Ring

This Sunday as we were going to the 17:00-19:00 session of conference (our time) we had the whole day to do something. We looked in our trusty book: 101 things to see and do in Belfast, and found Giant's Ring.

It was a 20min. drive away and sounded interesting, and had no entry fee, so, wellies on, coats on and off we went.

Scholars believe it is around 4 000 years old. It is the largest ceremonial enclosure in Ireland. A circular earth embankment up to 12 feet in height encloses an arena about 590 feet in diameter, with five gaps around the edge. A megalithic chamber, consisting of five uprights supporting a large capstone, stands in the middle of the circle.