Ode to Heather

Heather has been our nanny for over a year. Yesterday was her last day. Of course she will always be part of the family and is always welcome to be here, but we will miss seeing her every day. She is an amazing woman and has been an enourmous help. We will miss her terribly! I just wanted to say thank you to Heather. I am so happy that I am finally going to be a stay at home mom- but I am very sad to say good-bye. Thank you! Here are some of our favorite moments with Heather.

Heather & Calvin at Cal's b-day party.Heather and Calvin.Almost too close for comfort! Heather and Cal. Heather and Martin

Heather & Martin in Egypt near the Sphynx and the Giza pyramids

Heather and Martin in Israel

Heather and Martin in Martin's room at home.

Heather and Martin at the dinosaur museum

Cal & Heather practicing their swimming lessons.

Heather, Amber, and Martin at the colloseum in Rome.

Heather and Calvin doing their typical camera poses.

Safari Party

Calvin turned 4 years old in May, however since I was in Egypt, we decided to throw him a party on Tuesday. It was a blast! At first everyone came to the door and we had passport control. Heather and Lindsay were at the door and they gave each child their passport (& stamped it with an elephant stamp), safari hat, binoculars, malaria pills (smarties), and a neclace and bracelet from South Africa that the Zulu tribe made. Here is Lindsay at passport control.Then each child got their picture taken. These were put into the passports near the end. Here is Martin for his passport. Every thing the kids did for the party got them a different animal stamp in their passport. My friend Megan Wilcox made an amazing snake cake. Isn't this too cute? It was perfect for Calvin and all his friends!

We played a bunch of games in the backyard. We all got different animals and then they pretended to be those animals. We also played animal bingo. We continued playing until everyone won. They all got wooden carved animals from South Africa. Then the highlight of the party. Reptile Rescue came. They brought a bunch of lizards, snakes, turtles, etc. It was awesome!

Here is Me, Martin, and Heather petting a komodo dragon.

This is my mom holding a snake for Calvin to pet.

Here is me, Calvin and one of his really good buddies Crew holding an albino Bull snake.

This is me and Calvin with an albino python. I had to hold the head for most everyone and then I would wrap the tail around the kids or adults.

Here we are with a ball snake.We then went inside and opened presents, then blew out the candles for Cal's cake. It was really yummy! The last thing we did was under our deck were a bunch of bags hanging that were made to look like coconuts. We had the kids go down and we had a coconut drop. It was really fun. Inside the bag were little snakes, a big wooden snake, squishy frogs, and all sorts of candy that dealt with bugs, snakes, etc. It was fun!

Here is my little explorer (this was his passport photo). I was so proud of him. He was one of the few kids who touched or held every reptile that was brought out. What a fun day. How will I top this birthday for next year?!? Any ideas?

Me & Jen's B-Day

Me & Jen Gale (my friend & neighbor) both had a b-day on Monday. We got together with all our amazing girlfriends and had a fun girls night out! We went downtown to the Gateway and ate dinner at the DODO. We had yummy dinners and even blew out candles. We also got picked up a couple of times by guys. What a great laugh we had!

The picture below shows everyone-(starting from the left) Shannon, Rebecca, me, Sue, Monica, Hailey, Libby, Jen, Marci, Jen, and Lisa. What a fun crew! Everyone lives in my neighborhood (all within about 2 miles from my house) except Rebecca who is Josh's sister. But of course she had to come because it was my birthday and she knows most of the girls anyways! I love where we live! Such fun and amazing women.

On Sunday night (the night before) Josh put together a barbecue with my family and a few friends. It was a lot of fun. We had yummy chicken & steak skewers with a great salad that Rebecca made, grilled pineapple and of course Josh's chocolate cake. It was a really fun night.

Calvin dressed up just for me in his Batman outfit!
My good friend from Korea (who is now a United States citizen) Mikyung came with her little girl Haylie. Martin just loves her!!

All in all it has been a great couple of days! Thanks for everyone who helped me celebrate and thank you for all the happy birthday emails and phone calls! Love to you all!!!

TeePee

I was really glad that the toilet paper roll had only 1/3 left, or there would have really been a mess. Thanks Martin- Calvin and I really enjoyed the laugh!

Spiderman vs. Batman

The imaginations of children are amazing. I love everything that Calvin says to me. I am also excited because he loves to play with his brother Martin. He tells me that he is glad that he finally plays. I am glad too. I think their favorite game is for Calvin to run (with or without capes) and Martin chases him. This brings a lot of laughter (& lots of Martin squeals) to our home.

Here is the latest Calvinism.

(in a funny voice Calvin says) "This walk is very long. I don't want to walk anymore."

(then in a regular voice Calvin says) "Hey did you hear what my legs just told you?"

This to me is a perfect example of Calvin. Boy do I love that kid!

New England Vacation

Last week me, Josh, and the boys all went to New England to visit all of Joshua's family. It was awesome! We had a great time. It started out right with a great meal (of course!) We had our own stir fry night. This was a lot of fun. We all put what we wanted on our plates and Jake (Josh's brother) was kind enough to cook it for us. He didn't even burn mine which I am sure was a huge step for him. It was delicious. Here is a picture of Jessica and Jake cooking away!

Here is a picture of Roger & Kyle. They are getting married September 15th. I feel very blessed to have gotten to know her. She is an amazing and strong women. I am very excited to have her as a sister and look forward to many more fun talks with her!

The whole reason we went out back East was for my beautiful niece's baptism. Her name is Anna. Here is a picture of her and her dad Jake before the baptism. It was such a beautiful ceremony.

Here is Grampy with our boys. They sure love him. We have been thinking of calling Martin "Mahty" from Grampy's cute accent. I love to hear him talk. The kids had so much fun with all their grandparents. They also had a ton of fun with their cousins. They have three cousins. Anna, Isaac, and Abby. The only problem is they all live in New Hampshire. So we don't get to see them very often. Here is all the cute kids together in front of the church at the baptism. Cal misses his cousins so much. He asks to go see them every day that we have been home.

Calvin is of course crying in the picture because he dropped his inch worm. But that isn't unusual because most pictures of him and the cousins he is crying because of some reason. What cuties!!

We loved the hammock in Jake & Britt's backyard. Perfect to hang out in! Both boys loved their big yard!

While we were back East we stayed at Grammy's house. Everyday Calvin asked her if they could make cookies. I think they made cookies and muffins a couple of times while we were there. He loves to cook just like the rest of the Soucy family. I am very glad too because it didn't come from my side of the family! This was fun for him and grammy to hang out together!

Here are the cousins watching tv together. I just couldn't belive how old they are all getting. What big kids they are now!

Here is me and the boys at the beach. We had such a fun day with Grampy and Nana. We went to the beach and then we went and fed all the farm animals. Calvin even fed a goat by himself. I was a very proud mommy!

Here is Nana and Martin, or as I call her my good friend Louise!

Nana & Grampy live in amazing house that was built in the 1850's. Come to think of it almost everyone in the family lives in a house that was built in the early 1800's. They are beautiful homes to visit and the yards are huge. They all back up to thick forests which can be a lot of fun for an exploring boy. This tree swing hangs from a huge tree. It is such a fun place to run around. Grampy has a tractor and the kids loved it especially Marty. He would cry every time he was taken off it. Nana (or Nancy) also creates pottery. Her website is www.impswichpottery.com I love all her stuff. I have it all over my house!

We visited one more beach before going home. The day before we flew home we drove a couple minutes to Hampton Beach. It was chilly but nice. Cal and Martin ran all over the beach and had a lot of fun. We were very sad to go home! I am glad that Roger and Kyle are getting married in September because it gives us another reason to go back and visit this year!

When we were done with the beach we went back to grammy's house. She played the piano with the boys as well as I ballroom danced with the boys all around the room. We had a lot of fun. The boys love music and dancing.

All in all it was probably one of my favorite times going back East. I really miss our family and can't wait to go back to see them!

Egypt & Israel

Well, here I am with my first post in my new blog. I am very excited to try this out. I just recently have been trying out my first stuff with digital scrapbooking and Adobe (hence my pathetic and very busy title up above). I finally gave up after hours of switching things around. This was my first time using Photoshop. I know... it will be changed as soon as I have a few more hours!

I have had a couple of people ask me to post a couple of pics from my last trips so I'll begin with that. In May me and Martin (my little sweetie) spent 3 weeks in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. It was fabulous!!! We also took Heather along for the ride (our wonderful nanny!) I love Egypt. Of course while we were in Cairo we had to see the Pyramids and the Sphynx. I love standing next to these amazing objects.
We also spent the day in Luxor. This is probably my favorite place in Egypt. If anyone goes to Egypt they must go to Luxor. It seems that every direction you look at all times there is something amazing and ancient that was built there. And the hieroglyphics are beautiful and some are brightly colored, despite the age and the elements. The most fun part of the day in Luxor was the fact that our plane broke down and we didn't get back to Cairo until 4:00am. (yeah!) But we survived and still toured Cairo the next day. Even though we were half asleep!!! I always love going to Egypt. I love to read books and if anyone wants a book suggestion to read about the Pharoahs of Egypt and what the carvings mean I would recommend reading "Book of the Dead" by E.A. Wallas Budge as well as a fun book to read is "Who Killed King Tut" by Michael King and a few other authors. He might actually begin doing tours for our company. He is very knowledgable about Egypt.

And then we went to Israel. I love Israel because so many events have taken place in this area. I also love the spiritual feeling I have here! Also I love visiting my good friends in Israel. My Jewish Uncle (who has adopted me into his family) Jospeh Ginat is an amazing man who is a huge inspiration in my life. I always appreciate visiting him. He calls Martin his grandson. It is great because Martin has grandparents in Utah, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Israel. What a lucky kid!
Here is a picture of Martin and Heather in the Dead Sea. He didn't want to be in it. He thought it was too cold. There is also a picture me, Lindsay & Heather at the aqueducts from Ceserea and then here is me and Martin in the Garden of Gethsemane. I can't even describe the feelings that I have in such a place as the Garden of Gethsemane or the Garden Tomb. I walked around the Garden of Gethsemane holding my beautiful sleeping boy and I was filled with many emotions. I can not imagine the sacrifice that was done here for me and for my son. I am so grateful that I can be with my family forever! I am also incredibly grateful for my two little boys.


Here is the Western Wall (or the Wailing Wall as many people call it. We had another guide named Joseph who took Martin up to touch the wall. It is seperated by Men on one side and women on the other. We came here twice. Once when they were doing Bar Mitzvah's and the then we came Friday night to watch them welcome in the Sabbath. I loved to see their singing and dancing and their devotion towards their religion and God. It is difficult to find people who are devoted towards God these days. It seems most people find that they are devoted to mankind or to themselves. What a sad world this has become. People have lost faith and don't believe in miracles of God. They also repress the feelings that God is so wanting to share with his children. Anyways- sorry about my spiritual side coming out. I normally don't talk about that, especially on a blog, but the reason for this tour was to learn more about Jesus and God.

To continue.... One of the highlights of my tour was going to Beit Lehi (or Lehi's Cave). If anyone has read the Book of Mormon then they will know who Lehi is. Because he is in the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Anways this could possible be his cave. In Israel the place is called the Valley of Laman (which is one of Lehi's sons). The Muslims believe that the prophet Lehi taught here about 600 BC. Which happens to be when the Book of Mormon begins with Lehi. (pretty interesting heh??) So, they have been doing excavating here. Dr. Glen Kimber has been heading this up. We are lucky because he is such a good friend to our family. We are the only tour group he allows to go there. By the way I also had some great educators with us as well. Dr. S. Michael Wilcox and Dr. John Lund came with me. So, Glen said that me, John, and Michael could leave the group and go through a tunnel as Elder Hartman Rector was taking the group around to see the excavations. We found this little hole, grabbed flashlights and scooted on our stomachs for about 100 yards. It was exhilerating! It was a tight fit, but we all made it and it was well worth it. It opened up to these huge caverns filled with these little triangles. Inside each of these holes they used to keep doves. There were hundreds of these holes. They would sell the doves to those people going to the temple. They would then sacrifice them. I couldn't get very many pictures down there because it was so dark. But it was a lot of fun. I can't wait until they begin excavating it.

Another fun thing that happened while I was there is that the tomb of Harod the Great was discovered. The picture of me and the man with the turban is the person who discovered the tomb. He is very famous. He has even worked with the Pope on some discoveries. Right now he is dedicating his time with Beit Lehi. It is a very exciting excavation site. We also went up to the Dome of the Rock. Martin ran around the entire time. The entire tour everyone wanted to hold him, kiss him, and take pictures of him. I think his face is on over 100 cell phones. All the locals loved him!!! And also the people on the group loved him as well. We had 90 people in the tour. And let's just say that about half of them became his grandparents as well. He was so loved by everyone it was great!

But I must tell you I missed Calvin very very much!!! I don't know that I can ever leave him for that long again!
Here is a picture of me where "supposedly" Jesus was born in Bethleham. Sad isn't it? He was born in a cave (manger) with animals and now this place is covered in jewels and gold. Not quite the same feeling!

Next stop Jordan- Petra. What a great way to end the trip!! If anyone has seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom this is the huge stone carving that they go into at the end. And it is impressive!!! We began by riding on a horse. Martin was strapped onto my back. Then you go down this narrow passageway. At the very end suddenly you see it. It is huge. I have a picture somewhere of me and Martin and Heather riding camels around it, but Lindsay has the pictures. I'll post it later. Anyways the entire area is just hundreds of carvings. There are amphitheatres, houses, temples, churches all built out of stone. It was quite warm so we only walked around for a few hours. Then I rode the

horses back with Martin passed out on my back. Well, that night we flew to Cairo and the next day we flew home. We got in around midnight and there was my boy Calvin waiting for me. I was so excited to see him. I got a huge hug and also a beautiful flower that he had picked for me. Josh was very excited to see Martin.

Well, that's it for that trip. I just got back from Boston visiting my in-laws. I'll blog that hopefully tomorrow!

If anyone wants to go to Egypt, Israel, or Petra- give me a call!