Relaxin' around Halifax

Tuesday we headed for a beach south of Halifax about half an hour away.  It was the first sandy beach we came across.  There are 3 beaches right there close by and one is supposed to be a nude beach.  We were hoping the weather would be too cold for any of that going on.

We were pretty much the only people here and the weather was not that warm, and -- the water was FREEZING!!!  Sticking my feet in it was all I had a desire to do.

Jeff's mom got a little bit hungry and thought the seaweed sounded like a good treat.

After that, we headed back down to the harbour in Halifax.  We took the public transit boat across the harbour to Dartmouth, stayed there for about 15 minutes and got back on the boat to come back to Halifax.  FYI -- If any of you plan on coming to Halifax, you would probably want to stay on the Halifax side of the bay, sorry to all of you Dartmouth lovers, it really was not that exciting.

That's a picture of the boat we took across the bay.

Eating on the pier, it was kind of cold, but the atmosphere is fabulous.

That evening, the Smith's invited us over for dinner.  Jeff went out on splits with Jeff when Jeff was on his mission (follow that?).  Jeff, Chantelle, Eli, Daniel, Eden and Thomas (if I remember the name of the other son, I will add it).  Eden's shirt was a classic that I just might buy if I find it, it reads: "Canada is pretty much awesome."

One thing I have noticed about Nova Scotia is that life here in general is so laid back and easy going.  They make everything so simple.  I probably won't change many of the things I do, but I sure do want to re-evaluate my life and try to reduce and simplify.  Life does not need to be so complicated.

South Coast

Monday we headed down south to get sucked into all the tourist traps along that coast.  And to everyones great surprise, we were suckers for all of that stuff and we were not alone.

The first stop was to Peggy's Cove lighthouse.  This is one of the most photographed lighthouse in the world.  It is not open to take tours through it, but it is absolutely beautiful.

We were finished there when we were bombarded with at least 6 HUGE bus loads of "suckers" like the rest of us.  I went in to use the "washroom" and there was no one in there, and when I came out, the rush came and the line went down the hall and out the door.  CRAZY BUSY!!!!

Just a cute little fishing picture spot we liked in Peggy's Cove.

Down the road a few miles we came across this cute lake.  Holy manoley how high can you count????  There are just about that many lakes and islands and lobster traps and fishing boats and trees and colorful houses and leisurely people and I can't even name all of it.

Another view of the lake, look at the calm water, that was only a fleeting moment in time, at least that calm.

More boats and another lake.

Isn't this just a picture of heaven???  OK, so maybe not us, but the scenery.

I just have show you all my home in Chester.  In the background is a very cute home with a wrap around porch on it's own island and boat dock.  Isn't it cute????  This is where I want to live.  I LOVED it.

Mohone Bay and the 3 Churches.

Lunnenberg at the harbor.

Pretty much the same thing.

A tall ship that had just docked that morning.  This ship totally reminded us of some pirate kind of ship or something like that.  It was way cool.

Jeff's mom had to hold on to his dad to keep him by her for the picture.

I just liked this shop with Jeff and his Dad looking on at Blue Rocks.

TTFN.

10 Years ago today

Let's see what happened 10 years ago:

• We were Oh-So-Ever POOR
• Living in the basement of my in-laws
• We were driving 2 very beaterish cars
• I was trying to get my bachelors, going to Weber State University
• Jeff, teaching seminary part time, trying to get hired on with CES
• Did I say we were poor and had no money?
• We were just finding out how to be parents with a 14 month old baby boy
• Oh, yeah, I was in the hospital, being induced to have our 2nd child, who was so anxious to come that the doctor had to literally push her head inside of me until he was ready to deliver her.

And -- we have been anxious ever since --

Anxious to:

• Hold her
• Love her
• Help her
• Teach her
• Baby her at times
• And perhaps, just to be her parents!!!!

We LOVE you Sarah, we are thinking of you on this very special day.  Even though we are thousands of miles apart, we hope you can feel our love this day.  Enjoy your "Grandma" time.  These will be special memories for you.

Sackville Ward

We went to church today.  What a wonderful experience that was.  Jeff served in this area at the end of his mission.  Several of the members remembered him and he was asked in Sacrament meeting to bear his testimony, he thought he got out of doing stuff like that, not so easy buster.  Shortly after he sat down, another lady came up to him and asked if he would honor them in accompanying the intermediate hymn, "The Spirit of God".  It was an honor to see the kind of missionary he was, committed, loyal, strong, and most of all, obedient.  I am so grateful for the gospel in our lives and the way it brings people together.  One of my very favorite things to do on vacations is going to their local church and experience the beauty of the gospel together with those who we don't even know.  There was a little bit of sadness in our hearts hearing about a few of the families Jeff wanted to see most.  They were not at church and after inquiring about them, we found out some of them have decided to not be involved with the church anymore.  After thinking about it for a while, I have concluded that I have it so easy where I live.  Life is so different here, or possibly anywhere outside of Utah for that matter, where there are so few members and life in general makes it too easy to become lax in your way of thinking.  I am a sheltered woman!!!  I am good with that.

We did have the privilege of spending the better part of the afternoon and evening with this wonderful family, the Evans, in their home.  George and Roberta, and their children, David, Caleb, and Hannah.  Now that is a picture of strength.  They have 2 other children, but they have moved out.  This cute little family live quite far out, in the most beautiful setting you could imagine.  One neighbor you could see and even they were not that close to them, surrounded only by the trees and hills and lakes of Nova Scotia.  If you ever have wondered what being self-sufficient would be like, try spending some time with them.  They built their own log home, they have a garden the size of our home, and they are completely prepared to live without power for an extended period of time.  She home schools her children and they LOVE it.  I don't think I have ever thought that would be fun to do, but they made me think about it positively for a little more than a split second, and then I was quickly snapped back into reality, NO THANKS!

Roberts, Hannah & Caleb

Roberta & George

A day of reflection, a day of devotion, a day of love.  A BEAUTIFUL DAY IT WAS!!!!

Hello Halifax!!!!

We may not be doing a day by day itinerary, but because time has permitted it, I will show off some of what we have been up to today!!!

Jeff's parents have this wonderful tradition of taking their kids back to their missions and experiencing a little bit of the mission without the proselytizing.  And, because I was lucky enough to marry into this family, I get to experience this as well.  

Jeff served his mission in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada -- way back when -- maybe 16 or 17 years ago.  Not to date us at all.

Anyway, we flew here yesterday and got in late last night.  After we checked in, we all felt a little hungry so we walked around the corner to Subway to get a sandwich.  Between here and there, we saw what a night life is really all about, holy cow have I been sheltered!!!  Then, as we were trying to go to bed, we could hear the music until really late (or should I say early) at night.  This morning, we woke up and ate the continental breakfast, which was fabulous if I might say so, then headed out to see Halifax.

The first thing we noticed were all of these really cool dolphins painted in a variety of ways.

There are a ton of these "Tall Ships" that dock right here.  They say that Halifax is the 2nd largest sea port in size and largest in the world in volume of water.  Just a cool fact that you all can impress your friends with, except me of course :-)

Jeff is a little constipated, oh wait -- did I just say that?  Sorry, he was just trying to be really strong.

Next we went to the Citadel, which is a fortress built by the British back in 1700's.  Everyday at noon they shoot a cannon to tell the citizens of Halifax that is is officially 12:00 pm.  This is a picture of the two men shooting the cannon and the power from the cannon dispersing.

At the Citadel, Jeff couldn't fit through any of the doorways.  We later found out that it was because the smaller doorways are to keep the enemies who are shooting at them have a smaller target.  I guess it makes sense, but Jeff almost got very injured on most of the concrete doorways.

We had a little accident with our form of transportation, so we just chained it up to a post and left it there.  OK, so that's not ours, we just thought it was kind of funny and a little bit not funny for the real owner of this poor little bicycle.  I'm sure they were not laughing when they found it.

Later, we decided to find the new temple that was dedicated a couple of years ago or so.  It is very, very, very small, but extremely beautiful.  The saints here are very lucky to have this temple here.  We hope to do a session next week sometime.

To end the day, we headed to the pier and ate at Murphy's.  I got the lobster which was very good.  The problem is, it takes a lot of energy to get just a little bit of food.  I guess that's when the saying comes true, good things come to those who wait, or something like that.

I am very excited to many more days of seeing new things and experiencing new places.  This is a once in a lifetime experience for Jeff and I, we are so grateful for this opportunity.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to Mom and Dad Kendall!!!!!

Johnson Family Reunion

Leslie had the pleasure of planning our wonderful family reunion this year and she did awesome!!!!  We stayed in these way cute cabins in Marysvale (a very small town just south of Richfield) that had showers, refrigerators, microwaves, and toaster!!!  Yup, all the amenities that are essential when camping.

The main reason she chose this place is because of all the ATV trails that are right there.  There's my cute sister, Sherilyn, who took Bella and Bryn on a ride with her.

And my adorable niece, Katelyn, who had Ali on the back of her 4-wheeler.

Don't they look so cute???

Now this picture is the Johnson family to a tee!!!  Are we red necks or what???  There is my totally awesome Dad who is Mr. Safety himself, NOT!!!

Hayley and Sarah

Here were the winners of finding the Golden Nuggets.  Now they were some HUGE pieces of gold.  Too bad they weren't real.

We hiked to this waterfall, don't remember the name of it though.

The morning we left, we had our annual "Johnson Olympics"

Push-ups

A foot race that my kids were pretty much last in most of the races that took any effort, but they were smiling this year at least.

Unfortunately, this is where my camera decided it was full and had no more room for pictures, but some of the other events were frisbee toss, hop-skip-&-roll, hula-hoop, and I can't really remember what else we did.  The kids usually have a really good time and everyone ends up with some kind of a reward.

Science Camp

I know I am extremely behind times here, but back in July, my niece, Linsey, came and taught a Science Camp at our home for a week.  We had some of the kids friends come over and they learned all about science stuff (don't ask me what all they learned).

Here they were making electricity and creating their own light bulbs.

Kinda cool if you ask me.

Here is the thing-a-ma-bob that shocks people.  It was the funniest thing, the kids would touch it and get shocked, it would hurt them, and then what would they do????  Go get shocked again only to be hurt again and then complain some more and then start over again.

They seemed to be quick learners.

Sarah and Faith showing how their hair stood on end.