Show up Naked with Food. . . a "open door" policy.

This is the name of one my dearest friends BLOG (CLICK HERE). She's amazing and I love her ideas! She is an advocate for marriage and has a very simple idea:

Feed and Take care of your man. I agree wholeheartedly.

When you put your spouse before yourself, you invite him to do likewise.
Lose yourself in the service of your sweetheart:
He'll reciprocate.

Adventures in Paris

Paris Favorites:

• The Old Paris Mansion we stayed in with a wooden elevator for two.

• Smooches under the Effiel Tower while it sparkles glitter in the middle of the night.

• Laughing my head off while Jess maneuvered the best 23 point turn I've ever seen.

Romance and spying together in the French Countryside

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• Bathrooms were a peculiar thing in Paris. And, the Maid that put my make-up bag in the Ba day was even more peculiar, Yuck! I loved the bathrooms in the Le Caroussel Mall *(colorful picture above) beneath the Louvre. You had to pay a Euro but they were super clean and had a souvenir shop full of quirky paper rolls, and toilet seats.

• Loved the Treats! I felt fancy eating them, and a bit of an idiot ordering them. "Parlez-vous anglais?"

• Bakery Treats in the Morning. . afternoon. . . Evening wee hours of the Morn.

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• "Tex-Mex" in France

• The Arc, and the Bridges over the Siene were breathtaking.
• Versailles and London's Portrait Gallery are really fun with headsets.

• The Louvre. . . really fun for people who like ALOT of Art. ;)

• Jason Bourne on the Pont Neuf
  
  
  
  • People come to Paris to Fall in Love, and so I did.
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• Doors, and More Doors! I fell right in Love, I went camera nutty for doors.

Another Glorious door. These people really know how mix color with stone.

• Le Zimmer's Cocoa: A Pari favorite, for sure.
  
  
  
  • Eeek. . . a little more skin than needed, but still probably my favorite thing in Paris aside from late night trips to the Cafe's. There was a vintriliquist, and a real live "talking dog", acrobats, ballet, and the Cancan. Best Broadwayish show I've ever seen!
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  The subway Broke Down in Paris. Just quit running mid-tunnel, lights flickered off and on, then there was lots of French coming from the loud speaker. Lucky for us, there was a young boy on the trail who could translate pretty well for us.
  
• Here we are making our way back through 7 or 8 cars, to get off due to something or someone on the tracks. We don't know which since the French Police were holding up a large sheet so we couldn't see. Kind of eery.
  

To Make a House a Home: A Tribute.

Early in the Spring this year I can remember fervently petitioning help from the Lord to move into a different house. One that would fit our family's needs. At that time we had 2 extra people that we loved dearly living with us and another staying half time, making our small home full with 3 small children and 5 adults coming in and out of the house and needing make shift sleeping arrangments at night. And, at the time we were possibly going to add another, my 17 year old sister, making a total of 9 people in our 3 bedroom house.

If anyone loves a party it's Jess and I, not only were we having fun but, it's fun to be helpful. At the same time our house started to feel like it was magically shrinking. Being disorganized by nature, these circumstances weren't helping me win the war.

I assumed if I was patient, the Lord would provide a miracle and our small house stuffed with a basketball team of people would sell even in a dead market, and we would end up with a roomier home for our family. As per usual, my plan was different than the Lords and I'm so glad it was.

Skip ahead to today, I sat down in our almost finished basement, watching the kids 'Backagon Doggy Show' (right), and felt overwhelmed with joy. Looking back I see how we got here, how a home that started out wrong in so many ways, became just right for our family. Had we of moved at that time we would have left the most wonderful ward we've ever been apart of, we wouldn't be living next door to one of my dearest friends, and we would have left a home that meets the needs of our unique family so well. As I reflect I realize I have fallen in love with all the houses I have lived in, it just takes awhile to make it Home.

Our first married Home was in Huntington Beach, California. It was just like a little cottage enchanted with magic and just a block from the beach, we lived there for our first 3 years, and it's the house I brought my first little baby, Kyanne, home to.

Our second home, and the first one we owned was in Raymond, Alberta, Canada. And, there we got to have a beautiful yard, another new sweet9 baby, Bridge, and could walk to grandma's house. It's the home Bridgey was blessed in, by his dad, grandpa Larsen, and Great Grandpa Bridge, who he's named after.

And, now our sweet home in Calgary. We've been so blessed. Every time I leave one of our homes I cry, and I know when we out grow this home in a few years I will cry again. Homes are sentimental places, that's why I wanted to write this post, as a tribute to these physical dwellings that have provided such wonderful comfort, refuge and joy.

Missing that boy...

It's been 6 long days without my favorite pal. He's been in Hawaii all week, just bumming it. A board, fresh fruit and a rented car and he's been happy as a clam. From the sounds of it he's spent just about 98% of everyday in the waves, no surprise right.

The first few days without him were okay, and the house was uncharacteristically clean because I don't have his cute face distracting me, but the extra laughs and the silver lining to my day is missing. I realize how much more I laugh when he's around, how lighthearted I feel, and how come on weekdays, 4pm rolls around and I start counting down the minutes till he gets home to play with us.




This week I'm counting sleeps, I hate counting sleeps! Aimless post, just wanted to say I'm missing that cute boy, come home already!

*FYI: I just didn't want to go. He tried really hard to get me to come, but it's just too long and far away from my babies, especially on 12 hours notice. But, I'm so glad he got to go, he could use a break about now.