I hope they call me on a mission.

The fourth Bruce went out today on his mission. Adam is called to serve in Toronto West. However, Toronto West and East have combined so Adam's mission is changing. So excited for him. I loved my mission. It had a lot of up's and a lot of down's. I learnt the miracle of prayer. How wonderful a testimony is. How human I am. I think I make a better wife because of my mission. Nothing better than seeing someone come to understand that they are Children of God. Hearing someone pray for the first time, or share testimony. I made some wonderful friends. I was thinking of one of my companions, Edmunds and how she was an answer to a pray. I needed a friend on my mission and the Lord sent Edmunds. "The tigers come at night!" Anyway, I also learnt some valuable hard lessons. Some parts of my mission hurt me still. Just like I asked investigators to place their trust and faith in God, I have to as well. I know my brother will be an excellent missionary.

Foster Update

Thank you so much for all the comments! I love hearing from friends and family. We do still have the boys living with us. They are our third and fifth foster kids. One is 13 and the other is 15. One has been with us over a year and the other one going past six months. On the whole we have been blessed with the foster kids we have had in our home. We are able to deal with any issues they have with relative ease. Better cross my fingers that it stays that way.

With all the kids we have had, I sometimes have to laugh at the comments they come out with. One of the boys claimed not to like "calcium cheese", then we got told by another that they HAD to eat every three hours or they would die. So we happily told them, not a problem but we would start getting them up at night every three hours so that they did not die over night. Suddenly three hours seemed silly to them. We had one who instead of what the rest of the class was doing, asked the teacher if they could get a box for another project. When I asked if after collecting the box they had then joined in with the class, I got a, 'I had to then sit and think about the box'. 55 minutes apparently of thinking about a box!

Then we have had our scary moments with the kids. The, 'how did you seriously think you would get away with that moments'. Then we have had wonderful moments as well. Had thank you cards from some of the kids, notes from the parents of the kids telling us how much we have meant and how we have helped the family. One of my boys made me a lovely bouquet of flowers for Mothers Day out of cookies which was tasty.

Fostering has really opened my eyes to how wonderful and freeing the gospel is! The Word of Wisdom not only protects the person obeying it but it takes away consequences for our children. I know Eloise was not harmed while in my tummy with anything that I took in. Gospel teaches the importance of families. I love praying with my husband and Eloise at night. It's a great way of letting Heavenly Father know how special we see each other as we thank him for the blessing of being a family.
Eloise and I have been on lots of adventures! Its fun to see things through a childs eyes. We occasionally let Dayton join us. We have done the zoo, Eloise was captivated with the butterflies.
That was an adventure with Dayton. Can't wait for the penguins to come. My favourite animal. Think thats why Dayton insisted in being one.

We went to the park for Mom and Tots with the church. Eloise stayed in her buggy while I made lots of friends.We have had lots of family things to go to. Eloise recently got to meet her great aunts. My aunt from America came over and so we hosted a family gathering. Also did some family photos which are now proudly hanging on my wall. We have had lots of opportunities to hang out with Uncle Adam as he is leaving next month to go on his mission. Going to miss my little brother. Eloise always gives him a HUGE smile when he comes in the house. Eloise loved feeding the ducks! Lots of smiles and chatting from her that night.

Life just couldn't get more perfect. :)

Mummy and Daddy and Eloise makes three

We disappeared! So much has happened as well. I am a HUGE blog stalker. I love to read other peoples but find no time to write my own.

My biggest news! I finally became a Mum. Dayton and I had tried for sooooo long. I was so frustrated thinking this could be the month only to discover it was not the month. I tried to be really excited as everyone around me seemed to announce their happy news. I began to understand why the Bible covers strong woman with a desire to have a family struggling to conceive. It helped to remind me that every child is a gift from God and that I had to learn to be like these woman and be happy with the blessings that God has given me. So Dayton and I went on holiday and we decided that we would concentrate on our blessings. So we made the decision that we would be fantastic at being an aunt and uncle. We would go on great holidays and I would start going to the gym so that I would look great on all the beaches we were going to visit.

So after a month of the gym I started feeling tired! What happened to all those happy endorphins? I asked Dayton to give me a blessing and as he was given me it we both felt impressed that I was pregnant but we were to scared from being disappointed in the past. I had decided to go and visit my Mum. On the way I said to Heavenly Father, I need a sign before I do any tests. I sat down on my Mum's couch ready for a good gossip, when she looked at me and said, "You look tired. Are you pregnant?" My sign! I phoned Dayton and told him to get the tests. Left my Mum's early and rushed home. Couldn't wait till the morning to do the test so without Dayton knowing did the test right away. Shouted him in and we both looked at the positive result - in shock! We climbed into bed that night speechless, think we prayed and I cried the whole way through it. Next morning I phoned my Mum and before I could even tell her she told me. :)

I had a wonderful pregnancy, apart from the swollen ankles! I didn't get any cravings, apart from the convenient one's when I wanted Dayton to get me stuff. On the Friday before my baby was born, after work, I went for a check up. The doctor told me that unless I did something crazy like have my waters break I would be back next week for an appointment! Well I did something crazy. I had an awful cough. At 4am I woke up ready to cough and the waters broke. I'll be honest I didn't find labour hard! Dayton and I watched movies in the hospital. I decided to go for the epidural just because the nurse kept offering me it. After three attempts we all decided I was one of those people that epidurals don't work on. Until Sunday morning when a lovely English doctor came in and asked if he could try another epidural. I said OK! After that I didn't feel a thing. Got to the pushing point. Pushed for two hours and then was told that my baby was not dropping and her heart beat was going up. So c-section was mentioned. :(

Dayton scrubbed up, I was wheeled in. Suddenly my English doctor was pulling the sheets down and lifting my head up and I could see my baby coming out of me! Instant love! She didn't cry at first as she was in distress so she kept Dayton and I waiting but when we heard that joyous sound, I think that was when I cried. They made sure I was the first to hold her. Dayton and I had decided from early on to call her Eloise. We both loved the name. Elliott came from Dayton's family. Its his Mom's maiden name and its also his middle name. So Eloise Elliott English joined our family January 23rd, 2011.

The boys have landed.

So its official. Dayton and I are foster parents. We have Kolby and Austin living with us full-time now. So big changes in the English house. I have now been over run by boys. One of my favourite times with the boys is Family Home Evening. The boys love my drawings, which are seriously bad, but they love to see the Bible stories by pictures. Its a competition after the lesson to get to keep my drawings. Only kids would like them. The games are also fun. Tonight we decorated ceramic animal banks. Trying to teach the boys to save money.

Kolby is the chicken, Austin the cow, me the sheep and Dayton is the bull. Fun times! One of my favourite things about the summer was seeing my family. Camellia, JP, Olivia, Jack and bump came to play with us all for three weeks.

We had the kids come and have a sleep over at the house, we went to the beach, we went to the corn maze, we watched a movie outside under the stars, we fed ducks and we laughed!

For Graham, I finally found the Wicksteed Park of Calgary. We went to Calaway Park. My little sister Sophia had never gone to a fairground before so was VERY nervous on the rides. Luckily we had Austin who was also not a daredevil so we let Steph take Kolby on all the fast rides while the nervous people handled the kiddies rides. We lined up for an hour for the Log Ride. Austin was not so keen on going on it but we convinced him he would be ok. So all six of us crammed into the log. That was when he saw that he had to go up. The tears, screams and nerves kicked in and I had to hold him tight and talk to him about how he couldn't get off the ride now, when suddenly we went down, the water came up and so did Austins laughter! In his journal he now claims this was his favourite ride.

So I have discovered that I have sooooo much to write but so little time as Dayton is anxious for some attention. So in other news which I will just gloss over:

Jeannette is pregnant with number 2! Yay! So excited to be an aunt again. She joins Camellia who has her third child being born in December. I should be an aunt again this month when my sister in law, Dayna gives birth. Daytons Dad had a birthday so we went and celebrated with the family, although we are going out this weekend for Beatlemania with him. Dayton and I enjoyed our front row seats at The Lion King! It was absolutely fantastic! We went to Globalfest which is a fireworks competition to music. Think I am drying up.......apart from one last topic! Sod!

Our house is also coming along very nicely. We got sod. Never thought I would get excited about grass but the thought of snow and mud was not appealing to me, so Dayton and I have planted bushes and shrubs to make our garden look pretty. Anyway till next time, take care!

Time Out for Graduating and Moving.

So after years of studying, stressing, debt, essays, exams and trying to balance work and school, Dayton finally graduated! Yay! The bagpipers led him in for the ceremony and his Mom, Dad and I sat and clapped when his name was called out. So happy and proud of him. His parents took us out for lunch to celebrate which was really nice as well. Dayton's Dad has a very dry sense of humour which always makes me laugh so I always enjoy hanging out with him. It's all over, at least I thought it was, but the studying, stressing, debt, essays, exams and trying to combine work and school start again in October as Dayton got accepted into a Masters program in Communication at Royal Roads in Victoria, BC.

Time Out for Woman was in Edmonton this year. So way back in December I was wondering what to get my Mum for a gift when I read the Time Out for Woman email and the Bruce Girl Road Trip was born! The highlight was Sheri Dew. She was incredible. So we all left inspired and enlightened. I seriously love, love, love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I love that its a gospel that encourages you to learn and improve yourself. Told Dayton to get ready for next year as they are planning on doing a Time Out for Couples and that we will be there. :)

So we moved to Silverado. We both are VERY happy with our new home. It has tonnes of windows, so lots of natural light. I love my hard wood floor and the fact that I have lots of room. We had some amazing and fantastic people come and help us move and my favourite comment of the day was one of the Spanish guys say to my Dad, 'How does it feel to have a daughter living the dream?' I really do feel like it is a dream. After so long of living in suitcases, moving around and renting it feels so great to have my own temple here in Canada. We have lots of work to do. Fences, sod and furniture etc... but I am loving working with Dayton at making a place that people love to come to and that Dayton and I can relax in. Very excited for my little visitors Olivia and Jack in August. :)

So all the other exciting things that has happened so far is, I went to my Coldplay concert. It seriously was the best concert I have ever been to! They were amazing. Father's Day was great too, talking to Graham and Fay over in England! I really, really, really can't wait to meet my adorable and very cute nephew Jakob. Anyway got to go and watch America's Got Talent.

Alison in Wonderland

Has it really been two months since we last wrote? Crazy! So much to tell as well. So make sure you are comfortable for the epic entry.

So Dayton and I decided that we needed to get a little more cultured. So I found a great deal on tickets for Alice in Wonderland, the ballet. Neither of us has seen a ballet before so it was going to be a new experience for us both. Although I discovered that Dayton is going to get an experience that he had not quite counted on.

On chatting with a couple of my friends, I mentioned the ballet and how I had picked one that we knew the story too so that we could follow along, when Dayton commented, "We can follow along with the words." We all looked at him to see if he was kidding but alas, he was not. Dayton was not impressed that he would have to watch people speak to us through movement. :)

I made up for the ballet experience when I got us free tickets to see the Flames in a play-off game. Dayton is as crazy about hockey as my brother Graham was about football (soccer). So I was shocked that this was the first time that he had ever gone to see a play off game. I wish I could have gotten him tickets to see his team, the Canucks play, maybe one day........ the Flames won the game.

Dayton and I were best friends before we were married and so its hard sometimes not to include him on nights out. Girls nights ban him from coming out though. When you leave a country behind you not only lose some of the familiar sights and sounds that you are used to but you leave behind friendships that mean the world to you. Facebook helps you keep up to date with their lifes but things do change. I seem to have lucked out and found friends like I had in England only with accents. :0) Good food, good friends and good times!

Well we did it! We have passed the year mark of being married! I felt like a Princess with my Prince on the day that I got married and Dayton has managed to make me feel that way ever since. Dayton is romantic, caring, funny, selfless and very lovable. We decided not to do gifts for each other as we both really wanted to go and see the Lion King and so that was going to be our gift to 'us'. So we got up VERY early and lined up at the theatre for tickets. What a way to start an anniversary, we got front row tickets, saw some great friends at the theatre, got free breakfast and a free Lion King CD. The rest of the day we relaxed before going out for dinner. Now adding anniversaries as another of my favourite celebrating days.

Happy birthday to me! I love Birthdays! Dayton always gets nervous about getting me gifts but he won me over! Got me tickets to go and see Snow Patrol and Coldplay. On the countdown to the concert now. So I had a lot of birthday wishes and cards and gifts and appreciated each one! Thank you!

April is always the month that I seem to reflect on what is important to me and how I can improve, maybe because its Easter and its the month that I realise that I have been given so much. Dayton and I have been looking after Amanda's foster children on occasional weekends. In April we got the chance to have them for a full week. We survived. They are two very sweet boys who bring us a lot of noise, chaos, laughter and teaching moments. Colby and Austin always make me appreciate parents who are fantastic. I count my parents as my best friends. I know I did and still can rely on them. Families are great! I love my family so much that I moved all the way to Canada to be near them and got the blessing of meeting Dayton and adding to my family. Home to me is where family is. Dayton has a great family as well. Some have made me feel like I am a sister to them and for that I am very grateful. Got to go and celebrate Easter with the English's decorating eggs. Fun!

It was a busy week with the boys. The boys were in day camp and so were slightly tired when they came home but I think one late night and a trip to the zoo managed to exhaust them and us. We took the boys out to my parents for Easter and as always my Mum did a fantastic dinner, yorkshire puddings and all and then we feasted on chocolate. Hmm. I think my favourite moment with the boys was Austin making me a bracelet. I had to wear it everywhere. He was very proud of his efforts

Anyway I had better end my epic tales right now as I have more to write but will need to do it later. Going to encourage my sister to get the blog going now! Surely you must have come up with a title. Fay, my beautiful sis-in-law, we need more Jakob news! Its been a while.

Rankin Valentine

lol! So we wrote this post a while ago and forgot to post it! Whoops! What a great week we have just enjoyed! Alison had a friend who gave us free tickets to go and see the Rankin Family. Alison had never heard of them but accepted the tickets. It was a concert that was being filmed for a DVD so you never know, we may appear on the DVD. It was a fun night with great singing and Irish dancing.

Dayton's sister Amanda gave us a chance to go to Canmore for the romantic weekend for free. Our hotel was fantastic! With us both still suffering from bad backs from the accident it was brilliant to relax in the outdoor hot tub with the snow falling around us. Dayton had sent Alison Cookies by George to Alison's work as a surprise Valentine treat so we had lots of goodies to eat on our weekend. For Valentine's evening, we went out to an English style pub. Made Alison a little homesick but we both enjoyed the fish and chips supper!

Alison and Amanda (Dayton's older, wiser and fantastic sister) also went to see the movie, Shopaholic! Alison has read all the books and loved them but Alison would say that although the movie was cute it was a disappointment if you have read the book. They certainly changed lots of it!