an unexpected flower delivery

doug's sisters best friend had her 30th birthday yesterday and being the good prompter that i am, i messaged her to remind her and suggested she send her a bunch of flowers using a local posy delivery service. which she did (you're welcome niques haha)

so imagine my absolute delight when she sent me some the very next day, the exact ones i had been eyeing off on the website when i made a suggestion for her friend! along with the funniest card, in true niques style.

"jade. let it be known once and floral, hands down greatest quote from back to the fuschia 2... doc says to marty... "it's orchids, marty! something gotta be done about orchids!" haha just pollen your leg! hope your daisy gets better and love you a bunch! -ok bloomer."

oh my goodness. i love them - and her, so much. i seriously scored in the sister in law department. what a lovely thing to do. ❤

birthday treats

biggest surprise of my life (well not really, but you know what i mean) when a delivery truck pulled up out the front of our house with a delivery for me! okay, so yes, it is my birthday, but i didn't expect something to come - and especially not what was in the boxes! my beautiful sister in law all the way over in the united states had sent me french treats from the local french patisserie, which happens to be my favourite place to eat - because their stuff is beyond incredible! 

a box of mini treats with macarons and their signature treat...

a box of breakfast pastries with madeleines...

and a birthday cake!

she'd even organised little notes to be on the cake, with "happy birthday birthday doug's wife!" which had doug and i in fits of laughter. when we got married, almost 15 years ago, dougs aunt wrote "dear douglas and new bride" in our wedding card because she couldn't remember my name - and we have laughed about it ever since. still a classic. best bit was when i posted it to my instagram story and the aunts daughter in law knew instantly who had done it. even funnier. apparently she's well known for things like that.

the cake was absolutely incredible and i felt so so very loved today. what a sweet gift!

thank you niques! best gifts. we are going to be full for days on these treats!

and yes - it tasted as good as it looked! 😍

release time

last night we got to be a part of something wonderful, as dominique was released honorably from her missionary service in the new zealand hamilton mission of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. we have watched from afar as our girl has grown and changed, as she has tirelessly served her heavenly father each day and we are so, so proud of her and what she has achieved.

after a meeting with our stake president, family were invited to join in, as she was officially released! i know there are so many wonderful things ahead for her and can't wait to see where life takes her next.

besties reunited! ♥ 

sister kendall is home ❤️

our girl is f-i-n-a-l-l-y home! 18 months done and dusted and she is back home with us. dougs "little" sister dominique (aka sister kendall) arrived back from the hamilton new zealand mission and we are so so happy to have her home. it is all madeline has spoken about for weeks and she has taken great delight in crossing out each number on her "aunty is coming home" calendar. 

we all met at the airport and arrived a little while before she did, just in time for madeline to find herself a good spot to watch for aunty from... ready to rush into her arms when she came through the gate.

us kendall girls reunited again... we are so happy to have her home and cannot wait for the fun to begin! ♥

mothers day 2015

another mothers day has come and gone... and i have to admit, it was not the best... joseph hasn't been well for a few weeks, although as it was originally just a very runny nose, we hadn't taken him to the doctor. on tuesday morning he woke up and coughed and coughed and coughed, so i bundled him off to the doctor, only to have them test him for whooping cough! personally i don't think that's what it is, he isn't terribly ill, even now... but as there has been a few cases in perth recently, they had to check for it. i am feeling pretty blessed that he has been immunised, so if by some crazy chance he has contracted it, it would be an extremely mild case and not potentially dangerous! anyway... because of that, we are on house arrest. :( he can't go anywhere until the results are back - which won't be until tuesday, blergggg. he seems okay and is on antibiotics, so fingers crossed.

so, no church for us today, although doug went (he had a speaking assignment...) which meant i missed out on hearing him speak and hearing my primary children sing, they had practiced and practiced for weeks to sing "i often go walking" to their mums. devastated. 

there was good parts of my day though... i got a gorgeous white cardigan and some lollies from the kidlets...

 i got to facetime with my mum in France, where she is living it up with dad and my brothers family... i am so grateful for her and every little thing she has done for me over the years. some people are insulted when they are told they are turning into their mother... i however take it as a compliment, there is no one i would rather be. she is loving, generous, compassionate, christlike and so so so talented. she is an amazing cook, can sew anything, makes beautiful creations out of old junk and is one heck of a snappy dresser.

mama you are the queen of my heart!

the highlight of my day though, was talking to doug's beautiful sister, serving in the new zealand hamilton mission. she has been been out just 17 days and in the field just 5 days, but as it was mothers day she was entitled to a call home. it was so nice to hear from her and actually get to see her face! i already miss her so much and it was the best to see her!

all in all though, my mothers day was okay... because i got to share it with these two adorable monkeys that i get to call me "mum". how grateful i am to be their mum and for every single day i have already had to spend with them and every one i'm yet to have. even the hard ones when someone is in tears most of the day (and yes, that someone is sometimes me!) i love my babies - and i am so glad to be 

a mum

niques is going on a mission!

oh. my. gosh. it is finally happening!! after over a year of preparing and trying her butt off to get there, niques got her mission call today!

dear sister kendall... you are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, labouring in the hamilton, new zealand mission, reporting to the auckland missionary training centre, april 23rd 2015.

new zealand! how exciting. we are stoked, she is excited... and it's all go go go.

good things come to those who do!

sister-in-law hits twenty-five

happy birthday to my favourite and my best... dominique! you were just a crusty teenager when we met all those years ago but i have been able to watch you grow up and i am so freaking proud of the absolutely awesome person you have become. madeline and joseph are so blessed to have their cool aunty living with us... and doug and i feel blessed each and every day to have you here. thank you today and always, for all you do. love you more than you'll ever know. you're way better than a real sister. xx

i posted this on instagram and facebook for my sister in law this morning. she's twenty-five and i can hardly even get over it. it seems like just yesterday that i met this shy little girl that was my new boyfriends little sister. i've loved her from the beginning with her wicked sense of humour that only got better with age. she's like a real sister, we argue, we joke, she steals my things and i steal them back... and we all play nicely.

 i can hardly believe that she'll be leaving us soon (she arrived the week before maddie turned one) to serve a mission - it's been amazing having her here and i am going to miss her so much. maddie has learnt so much from her (mostly good things thankfully) because she is so clever and so good at whatever she puts her mind and talents to!

i love you niques - have the best birthday yet!