Thanksgiving!!!

We had our thanksgiving dinner on Saturday in Vermilion. My mother in law had everything ready by the time we got there. It was Yann's first thanksgiving dinner. He ate everything grandma had to offer, turkey, potatoes, gravy and so much more. I am so grateful that my son is such a great eater.

We have been so blessed for the past couple years. A beautiful son, and new baby on its way and so many other blessings. I am grateful for my family and friends. Grateful for the gospel in my life who has blessed me with a deeper understanding of what I need to do in order to live an exemplary life. I am not perfect but the gospel sure guides me so I can better myself every day. I am so grateful for my family back in Tahiti. No matter what, no matter where I am, they remain one of the greatest strength in my life. Life is good!

Pictures from thanksgiving day:

Grandma has the best toys ever! Most of them are old ones

from when daddy was a little boy.

My boys!

Grandma always lets baby "play" on her piano.

After dinner was done we visited with family then came back home. Grandma sent a lot of left overs with us, so we could have a mini left over thanksgiving dinner on Sunday :)))). After conference on sunday, we had lunch then decided to do one of our favorite family thing. I got a bunch of blankets and pillows out of the closets, then put them all on the floor and made a big nest for us to cuddle in. We put a movie on and just snuggled up with our son. Most of the time, the movie is just there for back ground noise. We just enjoy looking at our son playing, and trying to climb "us" so he can get on the couch. It's such a great family fun time for us.

Pictures from our family time:

 The aftermath of a turkey dinner. He just crawled to the pillow,

put his head down and fell asleep while holding his favorite little truck.

 Cute photo taken this morning. Brushing his bottom teeth :).

You got mail!

Here's the post about how we met and so on:

We met in 1999! We were both 20 years old. Marc was a missionary in Tahiti, and I was a brand new investigator. My cousin invited me to a fireside held by the missionaries (including Marc). After the fireside, Marc's companion, a former classmate and childhood friend of mine, came to say hi. He introduced Marc to me. I remember that day as If it was yesterday :). Marc leaned on one of the wall in the Church and I for some reason thought he was shorter than I am. He looked at me and asked me if I knew that there was 63 Bennetts in the phone book in Tahiti, seriously he did. At first, I thought man is that weird or what. Really, who counts names in the phone book... anyway. Our first time meeting each other lasted a whole 10 or 12 minutes. We said good night and went our separate ways.Marc told me later on that he thought I was hot when he first saw me that night, hahaha!!! I seriously wish I had a scanner so I can scan the pics I have from back then.

7 months or so after our first meeting, my cousin came and asked if I could write a little note to go with a present (Hawaiian shirt) she bought for "Elder Bennett" who was going home. He was done his duty and it was time for him to come back to Canada. I agreed to help her, and wrote him a farewell note. My cousin asked me if I could write it because she wasn't really good at writing.

A few weeks later, my cousin came and asked me if I could write a letter this time. She wanted Marc to send her a photo of him wearing the shirt she had bought. Once again I agreed! This is the first of many letters to follow. The beginning of our pen paling and friendship.

Nice as he is, Marc responded to the letter and sent my cousin a photo. As you may have noticed, my cousin had a little crush on Marc :). At first, I was just her writing hand and wrote whatever she wanted me too. Marc knew I was the one doing the writing, and would often asked me a few questions about myself in his letters. We did that for a few months then my cousin moved to another island to work. Somehow, we decided to keep writing to each other.  NO, I DID NOT STEAL HIM FROM MY COUSIN.
By then, we have come to know a lot about one another. I knew about his family, work, school, dating plans and all. Same for him. I shared a lot of things with him that even my closest friends, and family members didn't know. Every time a date wouldn't go through for either one of us, we get a letter in the mail that would just make everything go away. We were faithful at writing our letters months after months. Little by little, I noticed that the tone in Marc's letters was changing. He would in a subtle way "flirt" with me. It was flattering but I never really saw him as a potential date. He was my good friend, my best friend even, since we were sharing a lot about each other like our biggest dreams. I did love him then but just as my best friend. It has been a year now since that first letter. We decided to finally use emails. We still wrote letters, and sent them through the post office but emails were faster. I loved to see Marc's hand-writing and see all the drawings that accompanied each letters and also the photos but with the internet, we sometimes were able to chat :))). More months went by. One day, Marc told me that he was coming to Tahiti to see "some" friends but he didn't know where to stay. I asked my parents, and they said yes. We made all the preparations for his visit. 

December 19, 2001: Marc arrived in Tahiti. We picked him up at the airport really early that morning. You have to know that at this point Marc had prayed and asked Heavenly Father if I was the one for him.
My family was really excited to meet him. For the longest time they called him Bennett because he was an elder, lol. Of course rumors were spread in my family such as "Bennett is coming to marry her" or "they are in love" or "he is her boyfriend", etc etc... I DID my very best to let people know that I WASN'T in love with him and I WASN'T going to marry him either, lol! The same day (after we all had a little rest), we went to my uncle's house then Marc and I walked down town. I bought Marc some lunch, and we decided to eat it at the City hall. The City hall down town is really huge. Lot of people go there for lunch. It's quiet, and it has a beautiful garden with a fish pond :)... we had our lunch then we went on one of the balcony of the city hall that overlooked the city. We talked a lot! At one point during our conversation, our eyes met. The way he was looking at me was telling me a lot about the way he felt. He had the softest, shiniest way of looking at me :). Even today, Marc will look at me the same way he did all those years back. I fell in love with my best friend on that balcony that beautiful day of December. I didn't tell anyone that I was in love. After doing my best to quiet the rumors about us, I didn't want to give my family the satisfaction of telling me "WE KNEW IT"....

December 21, 2001: We started to hold hands secretly without anyone knowing. We walked pretty much every where we wanted. Went to the beach. Had a secret spot where we could hold hands without worrying about anyone from my family knowing :))))

December 23, 2001: We had our first kiss. There's a really funny story there too.

January 01, 2002: Marc proposed, and I didn't really say yes :))))

My family (except for my siblings) still didn't know Marc and I were in love. They all found out about it the day Marc left Tahiti. I gave him a kiss in front of every single members of my family that were there. My dad didn't say anything but my mom didn't really look happy, lol.

After that we kept writing to each other.

A couple months after he left, Marc sent me tickets to come visit him in Canada, and meet his family. And here I was in Canada for the first time in may 2002. I stayed for a whole month and was invited to Marc's brother Matt's wedding. I had a lot of fun. Marc spoiled me, and I got to see and do things I have never done before. Leaving Canada was really hard. We both knew we were meant for each other but we lived so far away. I seriously thought when I left that we were not going to see each other ever again. We would just write then one day one of us will get tired of it.
However, 2 weeks after I came home, Marc gave us a surprised visit. He asked my dad if he could marry me. Isn't he sweet? Although they weren't 100% happy, my parents agreed. They were afraid that I was going to leave them, and move in Canada. It wasn't our plan at first but I did move. I know how hard it was on them but am so grateful that they recognized the love Marc had for me, which led them to give my husband their "benediction". Marc went home to apply for a visa to stay longer, and came back. We planned on getting married in November but that didn't happen.

December 21, 2002: We got married!

A lot had happened after this day.... December is such an AWESOME month :)

January 10th, 2012: Our miracle baby was born :))))

In a couple months we will be celebrating our tenth anniversary. Together, we've gone through many trials from illness to homelessness to religious persecutions and so on. We made it through! Here's to more wonderful years together. I LOVE MY HUSBAND.

Primary and me.

Tonight we had our monthly primary meeting. I really really enjoy and love my calling. Not long after I got baptised, I got called as a primary teacher (in the sunbeams class). I was willing to do the best I can but was so scared to fail. Not only it was my first calling in the church but I have just moved to Canada, so my English was really poor. I went in knowing that this is what my Heavenly Father wanted me to do, and just did my very best to teach my children what I was supposed too. The best thing about this first calling is that the children were so innocent and never judged me when I was making mistakes speaking English to them.

My second calling in the church was in nursery. Yes, still in primary! Back then, we only had two regular children which I got to teach later on when I got called to be a teacher once again. Needless to say that I have served in primary a few times. I have enjoyed each of my callings and is really grateful to now be the secretary in the primary presidency. It is such an eye opening experience for me. I get to see what our presidency sisters have to plan, and all the organising they have to think about.

I truly enjoy serving in the church.

The proposal!

I was watching the movie the proposal recently and couldn't help but laugh and think about the day Marc proposed to me. We always make a joke about the way I responded to his proposal. So here it goes:

It was January 01 2002, Marc came to visit me (well, he told me he came to see some friends but we all knew that was a lie, lol.) in Tahiti, and stayed with my family for 3 weeks.

On new year's eve, we went to my uncle's house to celebrate the new year. We sang, danced and laughed all night long. The party went on until 5 or 6 in the morning. Marc and I talked a lot that night. Before he came we were just good/best friends, and have gotten to know each other mostly through letters and emails. I'll tell the story of how we met and became good friends in another post :).
So, we talked a lot that night and didn't sleep at all. Around 7 or so, we decided to walk down town, and just hang out. We went to the nice "park" like place where the harbor is and started falling asleep on the benches. When we finally woke up, maybe 1 hour later, Marc took me by the hand and sat me on another bench. We were near the ocean. There was a beautiful and big sail boat parked there. It was really a beautiful day and a beautiful place to be at.
So, he sat me on the bench, held my hand, and started going down on his knee. Of course, I knew what he was doing and just let him proposed to me. You know how the rest goes. Tears coming down my cheeks, big hugs and kisses and a loud and cheery yes to end this joyful moment.
Well, that wasn't quite what happened that day. Tears did come down my cheeks but they weren't quite the happy kind of tears people would expect. They were more like freaking out kind of tears. I looked at Marc and just started panicking asking him all kinds of questions like "where are we going to live?" "What about my school?", "What are we going to do for jobs?" etc etc.... I knew he was the one for me, but just had so many questions running through my head that I never actually had time to ever say YES to him until the day we got married which was 11 months and 20 days later.

We always laughed at it every time we think about this moment. I did LOVE Marc then but sure LOVE him even more today.

Taking a break!

I am taking a break from my blog for a short time. My brother has 1 month and 1 week left before he goes home. I want to just soak that whole month in. I will miss him so much. 

First hair cut!

Marc cut baby's hair today. He looks a bit different without his big curls behind his ears. He also has bangs. At first, I couldn't get over the short bangs, lol. He still looks cute though. I kept his hair in a little box that I got as a gift.

Before the hair cut.

You can kind of see the curl behind his ear, and the long bags.

 After the hair cut. No more curls and short bangs.

FAQS!

Here's some FAQS I get asked a lot. They are not in any particular order.

1. How are you feeling? (referring to my pregnancy): I am feeling pretty good. Not much morning sickness going on lately. The pain in my joints haven't been bothering me at all with this pregnancy. 
2. Are you going to find out what you are having?: YES, I am! I don't know how people that don't want to find out do but I can't do that. I like to prepare myself in advance, and be organised accordingly. I don't really like surprises.
3. Is Yann sleeping through the night now?: He has been but for the past week he had some bad nights. I think it's because he has another tooth trying to cut through the gum,
4. Does your baby eat solid foods?: Yes, he does. He has been since he was 3 months old. He eats home made foods and bought ones. He is not picky and eats everything I feed him. He eats real foods for each meals including snacks. He has vegetables and/or meat (chicken, turkey, etc...) for lunch and supper. Eggs and/or cereals for breakfast with fruits. And fruits for snacks. He still gets his formula throughout the day and a really big bottle before he goes to bed at night.
5. Are you going back to work?: No, I am not!
6. Are your parents excited about you having another baby?: Of course they are. Their oldest grandchild is 12 years old. So, they have waited a long time to have more grand babies. Now they have two and next year, they will have 2 more. One from us and one from my older brother and sister in law.
7. When is your due date?: February 28th is my due date but because I am having another C-section, I can choose the date myself and have the baby earlier. NO, I am not choosing Valentine's day to have my baby.
8. Are you able to get some good sleep?: Yes, I've been having really good night sleeps except for the past week. I sleep pretty good on the week ends with Marc taking over the night shifts.
9. How far apart will your children be?: They will be 1 year and 1 month apart. This question always makes me smile, lol.
10. Are your parents coming to see your baby?: No, they are not. My mother hates flying and can't really travel any more because of her health. We were planning to go next spring but with our little baby coming in February, we won't be able too. However, we are talking about going down for Christmas next year. By then Yann will almost be two and the new baby will be 10 months old. I really hope that we can go next year. I cannot wait for my family to meet my babies, and can't wait to just throw Yann in the ocean to teach him how to swim Tahitian way, lol. I'm just kidding, I won't do that or would I? There's so much for Yann to see and do over there.

I don't mind answering questions. 

First Prenatal!

I had my first prenatal appointment today. Our doc was surprised but in the same time was extremely happy for us. He congratulated us, and decided to do a quick ultrasound in his office (well, one of the room at the clinic) to see if baby is okay. He called it a sneak peek before we do the "official" ultrasound on Monday. It was so AMAZING to see our new little baby just moving and jumping in my tummy. I was happy to see my baby on the screen and know that she's really there or he. Marc had the biggest smile on his face just like the one he had when we first saw Yann on the screen. We got to hear the heart beats too.

I was going to tell my doctor about delivering my baby naturally but before I could open my mouth, he told me that I had to do another C-section. Why? He said that if I go into labor, my uterus can rupture and I would have more problems. So, we will be monitoring any signs of labors so I don't have any major complications. I guess the fact that I had a C-section 7 months ago just doesn't help the situation. Here I thought that because I had a caesarean not long ago I could get away with a natural delivery BUT I was wrong. Kinda sucks eh? Anyway! I can't wait to see our little baby on the screen Monday afternoon. Exciting!!!

People tend to give us a smile or giggles when we tell that we are expecting again BUT then they are happy for us. My children will be one year and one month apart just like my older brother and I are. I know that they will get to do a lot of things and have a lot of fun together.  My older brother and I did so much things together because of our age difference. Lot of good funny memories!

First one out!

Yann has his first tooth. The best part is that he didn't have any fever. He drooled a lot but that was about it. It was just today that I saw and felt the tooth in his mouth. It's funny how a little tooth can make you smile as if you have seen the most beautiful thing in the world, haha!

You can't see his little tooth on this pic.

A boy and his truck!

Yesterday, I remembered that someone has given us a toy truck for our son to play with, so I went in his closet and got it out. I gave Yann his new toy and just watched him play with it. He seemed to have liked it.

Later in the evening, Marc decided to play with baby and his new truck. Soon, it was bedtime, so Marc fed baby his milk then tried to rock him to sleep. Baby started fussing. Marc was patiently trying to calm him down when all of sudden, baby reached out his arm, and pulled his truck close to him and fell asleep. We couldn't help smiling and giggling. It was the cutest thing ever. What a boy! Today, after breakfast, we went to the living room for playtime. Guess what toy my little boy decided to play with first? It's so amazing to see him grow and use his free agency. Every day we see him make little decisions on his own. They may not be important decisions but they are his. Going towards something he wants, playing with something he wants or spitting out a food he doesn't like (which doesn't happen often.)

We did eventually take him to his bedroom ;)

Saturday at the fair!

We always go to the fair on Saturday. First, we go and check if grandma has won any prizes for the flowers, crafts, photos or baking she enters every year. Then, we go and buy the freshly squeezed lemonades they have been selling for the past three years. We love lemonades, so we always end up buying at least 3 big cups, lol.

We then just walk around and watch the horse shows, tractor pull, and all that is going on there. My favorite one is the chuck wagon race. This year, I missed it because of the rain. I was watching the women riding their horses when all of a sudden I hear people frantically screaming hail and tornado. Dumb people. Right after that, I see pretty much everyone around me just running like crazy trying to get into the buildings for shelter. I guess people thought there was going to be a huge storm, so they all ran "for their lives". Of course, I did too! I went to look for my brother and brother in law but was having a hard time finding them. Once I found my brother, we waited for the rain to stop, and for Marc to come and pick us up. Fortunately, Marc and baby went home one hour before the rain started. My brother in law found us, so we just went back to grandma's house. The "storm" lasted a couple hours and we were once again back to the fair ground and watched the performers at the grand stand.

To finish the night, we of course watched the fireworks. We stayed over at grandma's and decided to go to church there.

I forgot my camera, so this is the only photo I have of the day. 

Vermilion Fair!!!!

Thursday, July 26 was the opening of the annual Vermilion Fair. It started with the traditional parade. We went to the in laws, dropped off some stuffs and we all walked to our usual spot to watch the parade. Marc and I didn't think we were going to get any candies but we DID! Every time the "candy people" would walk by us, they would stop and tell us how cute baby was, and then we would get sweet candies, haha!!! Of course, I had to taste them. By the end of the parade, we had so much candies that we decided to give them all to the little girl that was seating next to us. She sure enjoyed that.

Once the parade was over, we walked back to grandma and grandpa B for a light snack. Then we headed out to the Vermilion branch annual "after parade potluck". The food was great, and the company too. From there, we went back to grandma's house and watched a movie. We also had supper there before coming back home. It was a GOOD day!!!

 My favorite float this year. Who doesn't like the Beverly Hill billies?!

Yann got himself an even nicer tan while we were camping.

 Potluck time!

 Back to grandma's house!

 Sitting in great grandpa's high chair.

This high chair is almost a 100 years old. Crazy, eh?

Picking raspberries and vegetables.

Wednesday morning, Marc and Yann went out in the garden to pick some raspberries, green beans and peas. First picking of the year. There'll be some more that would need to be picked in the next few days. I just LOVE this time of year when you get to eat the vegetables out of your own garden. It tastes so much better.

We decided to expend the garden next year and

add some raised "flower" beds to grow more vegetables.

 Raspberry bushes. It's small but we always get a lot out of it.

Once all the fruits and vegetables were washed, I blanched all the green beans and put them in freezer bags (and of course froze them). We decided to eat the peas for supper and they were delicious :).

Fresh picked raspberries. Doesn't look like much but so far

we have 3 medium size freezer bags of these.

Peas and green beans.

So far we have 6 medium size freezer bags of green beans.

 Someone likes to chew on pea pods, lol.

 My "workers", hahaha!!!

 Daddy mixed some fresh raspberries in plain Yogurt for baby.

He liked it a lot. Even if it doesn't look like he does on this photo, hahaha!!!

Can't wait for the potatoes!!!

Camping trip and BEAUTIFUL Southern Alberta!!!

Last Thursday, we packed all of our camping gears and headed down to southern Alberta. We left around 6pm and got to Taber before midnight. We pitched our tents at the farm for the night.

Pitching tents at the farm. Baby waiting patiently.

He went to bed as soon as the bed was made :).

On Friday morning, uncle David and his wife invited us for breakfast at Mac Donald's before continuing on to Beaver Mines. We had a nice visit. Uncle D was really happy to meet my brother. They got to speak a little bit of Tahitian. David served his mission in Tahiti some 40 years ago.

From Taber we went to Orton to visit Marc's grandma and aunties. It was their first time meeting our son, and of course my brother. Baby got a few presents from the family. Then we went to Cardston to visit Matt (Marc's older brother), Abigail and their gorgeous daughters. It was also their first time meeting baby and uncle Yann. We had a really nice visit with everyone. From Cardston, we went to Pincher Creek to buy one more sleeping bag, and continued on to Beaver Mines (Castle river bridge to be exact). It was pouring really hard in beaver Mines, so we went back to Pincher Creek and stayed in a motel for the night.

Great grandma with her grandson and great grandson.

 One of the presents baby got from his cousin.

So stinkin cute! I can't wait to see the sock monkey one aunty Abi is making him.

The next morning (Saturday), we packed up again, and were on our way to our camp site at Beaver Mines. It was beautiful out. The weather was just perfect for camping. Once our tents pitched, we went to Castle falls, and Beaver mines lakes. The view is just amazing. Marc and I love going there. It's one of our summer tradition. We decided to "shower" in the river, lol. It was absolutely cold but at least we were clean. Sunday, we had a relaxing day. We decided to go to Lynx Creek. We really liked Lynx Creek. We found some really tasty wild strawberries there. We walked around, and just enjoyed together's company. Sunday night, it started raining, so we were forced to go to bed earlier than expected. Baby is such a GREAT LITTLE CAMPER. He loved being out all day long. Slept for hours at the time and woke up only once. He is such a great traveller too. We were so proud and happy. We got him a really cheap stroller, so it would take less space in our tiny car. Best $10 we ever spent. We took him for walks, and showed him the river, and the lakes. We want him to enjoy being out OUT.

Our camp site.

 On the beach by the river.

 Daddy and his favorite son.

 So cute :)

 He loves his new stroller.

We used it as baby's own camping chair.

 Castle falls!

 The mountains!

 At Beaver Mines Lakes. Sleepy head :)

By Lynx Creek...

...

 ... .

 The tasty wild strawberries.

Monday morning, we packed all our camping gears back in the car, and headed down to Glenwood to visit Marc's grandpa. It was so nice to see him again. He was just in awe when he saw baby, and kept telling us that we had a beautiful baby. Well, all the family members that met him kept saying that. We loved our visit with grandpa. I love this man a lot. Thanks to him, I have learned to hear all the words in a conversation in English and learned to speak it better than I ever did at school. From Glenwood, we went back to Cardston. I stopped at the book store, and grabbed a couple things for baby. We enjoyed some good Chinese food, and went to Matt and Abi's house. We took the girls to the play ground and waited for Matt to come home from work. Then, back in the car again. This time we went to Waterton.

With his cousin.

 Great grandpa with his grandson and great grandson.

Grandpa is 95 years old.

 At the play ground :).

He liked it! 

 With his cousin Alyssa.

 With his cousins Alana, Alora and Alyssa.

Missing in the picture is Aaliyah.

Waterton!!! What a BEAUTIFUL place!!! We just fell in love with the place. My brother loved it too. He said that it was the most beautiful place he has ever been to here in Canada. The little village itself was a beauty. We just LOVED it!!! Matt took us out for supper in the village. BEAUTIFUL is all I can say. We went to Cameron falls, and the Lake Cameron. We got there at night, so we didn't really get to see other things. Marc and Yann are planning to go back for a "brothers" camping trip while baby and I will stay home.

My little family.

 Us and our Yanns :).

 Cameron Falls!

 Lake Cameron!

Tuesday morning, we left Cardston and went back to Taber to see uncle David. We all had lunch at DQ. We visited with uncle D and Sam a little then were on our way home. Once again, baby was just awesome travelling. We got back home around 8pm. It felt good to be away but was so nice to sleep in our own beds.
To avoid puking all over myself in the car, I just ate veggies and sour patch kids. Liked it!

In the car on our way home. I just LOVE him so much <3