Miss Hannah Banana...

Well I finally got to meet my niece Hannah today. She's pretty dang cute if I do say so myself, however I may be a bit biased :) After some serious finageling I was finally able to get a hold of Catherine and we agreed to meet up in Victoria park for a bit and I could come meet Hannah and Catherine (and her brother Chris, his wife Ann Marie and thier daughter Hailey). It was all some good times until the thunder storm hit. Thankfully Chris had some Umbrellas in his car and we took shelter until the worst of it passed. Hannah and Hailey were adorable and fun to watch, and it was good to actually sit down and talk with my soon to be sister in Law :)

Here's miss Hannah sitting under the Umbrella. She looks a lot like my dad in this picture. Catherine and I were joking that it's due to the lack of hair... Oh well...mom said none of us ever had any hair either until we were over a year.

This one might just be my favorite! We're both smiling (I couldn't seem to get any where Hannah would smile when the camera was actually taking pictures)

This is Catherine, Chris, Ann Marie, Hailey and Hannah. All Huddled under Umbrellas due to the Thunderstorm. Actually the rain felt really nice! :)

This is what Hannah looks like if you sing Skinamirrinkidink. (Really not sure how you spell that one...you know, "I love in the morning and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening and underneath the moon...") It's her favorite song. She laughs everytime!

Wall of Shame...

Well I have to admit I really don't have anything fun and exciting to post for this week. It's been pretty uneventful I do have to say. No Roadtrips, or really any trips at all. Get up, go to work and go home. That's been my week.





I did however get an exciting piece of mail Today. My friend Jamie (yes I'm sure some of you know her) is getting married and she thoughtfully sent me a wedding invitation. I LOVE getting wedding invitations. It may seem weird as I really am not a fan of wedding receptions (all I have to say is anyone who's still single can probably relate) however I just LOVE wedding invitations. I don't know what it is about them. I love looking at all the different styles and types even if I can't go. That being said, my roomate and I have a board that we've affectionally named the wall of shame. (We're just Jealous.) After I put up Jamies wedding invitation I took a picture so that you could all see.

This particular board is about two seasons old...meaning invites from 2007 and 2008. The invites are 3 deep :) Everytime one of us gets a new wedding invitation we excitedly pin it to the board. And we ALWAYS notice when a new one goes up :) So yep, that's it. My news for the week. So if you're reading this and getting married, I would love an invite. Even if you don't really want me there :)

Palmyra Fun

Well this weekend was our annual trip down to Palmyra New York. There's just something exciting about going to another country, even if it's just an hour and a half away and everything pretty much remains the same. We decided that it would be cool to rent a car, that way we would be able to dictate where we go and when and we could have the added benefit of a really cool car :)

So we left Friday at Noonish and headed on down to the border...where thankfully we had no issues. I had nightmares of the last trip when I rented a car and took it over the border, but thankfully when you say you're heading to a church pageant they don't ask too many questions. We made a stop at Target (Which I absolutely love and wish would come to Canada) and then headed on down to Palmyra.

The Pageant was just as cool as it always is, and then we had to go meet the rest of our group so that we could head over to the YSA dance at the Palmyra stake center. So we`re just standing there waiting and these two guys come over and ask if we`re YSA, to make a long story short they end up being from California, working in Long Island and my dear room mate offers them a ride to the dance. Yep, that's right we literally picked up some random California guys. Thankfully they were pretty cool. I wish I had of taken a picture, but well...they were random guys :)

The Dance was pretty good...lots of people there (many of them HCP cast members that had snuck out) and then we had to head out to the camp we were staying at. Just for all of you out there who may have to plan some YSA activity in the future...do not pick a camp site an hour away from where your dance ends. Especially if no ones ever been there and it`s 2 in the morning, and if there`s anyone that has to get up at 6:30 to go to the temple the next morning...we got lost, and I went to bed at 4:30. Good times.

The next morning I was lucky enough to be able to do a session at the Palmyra Temple. It was BEAUTIFUL! There`s something really special about going to the temple in the place where it all began. (Just as a side note, if you ever go...try and get more then 2 hours of sleep the night before.) I absolutely love the temple, and I`m extremely grateful for the chance I had to go. There`s even a clear window that looks out over the Sacred Grove!

After the Temple we hit up the Sacred Grove. I have to admit it`s pretty much my favorite place to go in Palmyra. (Well, after the temple). It`s good to go see the frame house, and the log house, and the printing press, but nothing beats the grove. I absolutely love the feeling of peace you get sitting in there. I didn`t want to leave. I could have cheerfully stayed there all day!

After the Sacred Grove we headed over to Everyone`s favorite eatery the Chill `N Grill. If you`ve never been there you seriously need to go. Really good food at a really good price. It`s most definitely worth the trip. After we ate we visited the bookshop and then it was time to head on home. For pretty much the LONGEST trip ever. It was 6 hours and it felt like 12. I have no idea why it passed so slowly but there you have it.

I just want to end this post by saying that I`m so thankful for the opportunity I had to go to Palmyra. It`s such a testimony boost! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and I know that the Sacred Grove is where Joseph saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is true and I`m so thankful to have the Gospel in my life. Miracles can and do exist and I`m grateful to experience them.

Sunfest=Sunburn

So this weekend was Sunfest, which is pretty much the best festival of the Summer here in London. It's kinda like the buskers in Halifax...only without the Buskers. Ok, so that's actually a bad comparison, however it's pretty much the only thing I can think of to compare it to. There's Amazing food from all different cuisines (You can get everything from Poutine to Goat), as many vendors as you could possibly cram into one park, and my favorite...free mini-concerts from musicians from all over. Seriously, the have something for everyone! My favorite group by far, from this years Sunfest has to be Le Vent Du Nord. LOVED THEM! It was a french group with a Celtic type sound. Very East Cost :) You should all go listen to them on youtube or Itunes. Thats them at the top in the pictures.

So as every fair skinned person will realize Sunfest also invariably turns to Sunburn. It never matters that I have sunscreen on. I Burn. This year my burn even went so far as to cause my face to swell. Very attractive I must tell you. I didn't go to church today it's that pretty! And even better, I burned just in time to be peeling for next weekend's trip to Palmyra. How amazing is that!

You can kinda see the burn in this picture...however this was still during the day...you know the stage before you start glowing. And somehow it just doesn't look as painful here :)

Anyway I've included some random Sunfest shots from this year...It was some Seriously good times. Next weekend is the annual trip to the Hill Cumorah Pageant. SOOOOOO excited. Nothing beats a good Palmyra trip. Even if I've already seen things dozens of times :) I'll keep you updated on the good times to come!