Happy Thanksgiving

I want to take this time to write what I'm thankful for. Tis the season to express how much I appreciate each of my blessings.

1. I'm thankful that I'm in a loving and healthy marriage and that I can spend eternity with the man of my dreams.
2. I'm thankful for all of the children in the world and the renewed hope they bring, the lessons they can teach us such as to be humble, loving, innocent, peaceful, meek, forgiving and most of all Christ-like. I'm especially thankful for all of my beautiful nephews and nieces... each of them are angels of God and they all have such sweet, beautiful spirits. They are spiritual giants and have taught me a lot.
3. I'm thankful for my family and for the love, support, patience, guidance, acceptance and the joy they bring into my life. I couldn't imagine my journey on earth without each of them.
4. I'm thankful for my health. I'm grateful that I have the education to take care of my body - to eat right, to exercise and to have the Words of Wisdom to know what/what not to consume.
5. I'm thankful for friends. I love and miss my far away friends but I feel so blessed to have wonderful friends here in Vegas.
6. I'm thankful for my education and that I had the opportunity to go to college - not just to be educated but to learn about independence, hard work and responsibility.
7. I'm thankful that Chad is in dental school and that we will be able to provide for our children in the future.
8. I'm thankful that we live in a free country. I'm especially thankful that I had the opportunity to experience 2 of the greatest countries in the world - U.S. and Canada... who could be so lucky to experience both?
9. I'm thankful for the gospel in my life and to have a close relationship with my Saviour and Heavenly Father who guide, direct, and walk with me every day.

I have so much more to be thankful for but these are some of the things I'm most thankful for. I'm also very thankful for you because you are taking the time to read my blog which tells me that you must care about Chad and I.

Have a safe holiday and a very merry Christmas!!!

Introducing...

Benson Cove Boorman!!!


What a sweet little thing! I can't wait to meet my new little nephew!!! I love with him with all my heart. Congrats on another cute baby, sis!

We are the Witches... 5???

My inspiration for the blog title came from "We are the Witches Three" song I learned in grade 3... and I still remember it... well, the first couple of lines anyway. Would you like me to sing it to you? I'm singing it in my head as I type... it's kind of catchy.
ANYHOO, the other Young Women leaders and I went to a Stake Youth dance to chaperon and we thought it would be fun to go as witches. I had such a good time dancing with the youth and seeing thier costumes. Have I ever said how much I love serving with the youth?? I'm sure I have but I thought I'd say it again.
So, I had a very fun Halloween this year. I got to be a witch for 3 consecutive days. There was the youth dance and then we had a ward "trunk or treat" and then a Halloween party with dental students and thier wives. I kind of felt like a kid again and probably had more fun than most kids did this Halloween. What can I say? I know how to party... and cast spells... so watch out!!! (cackle, cackle, cackle!)

Halloween Quilt

I made a Halloween quilt and this is my second quilt ever. This quilt is my first applique quilt. It was so much fun to make! I love quilting. I come by it honestly, my mom makes amazing quilts... she is much better at it than me though! I finished it the day before Halloween so I didn't get much time to display it. We had a bunch of friends over for a Halloween party though so I was able to show it off then. I'll keep it up a little longer before I shove it in a box for a year. Hope you enjoy.

Congratulations Merryl & Darren!

We have a new nephew!!! My older sister just had a baby on Oct 27th. His name is Benson (I'm not sure if he has a middle name yet). He weighs 8 pounds & 2 ounces. He is very healthy and apparently very cute but that doesn't surprise me. I'm still waiting for a picture but I'll post one as soon as I get one. I wish I was there for my sister but she did great and the delivery went good. I will get to see him at Christmas so that will be my greatest Christmas present. Congrats Merrily & Darren... you guys are great parents and I can't wait to see Brooklyn & Dawson (and you guys, of course). Love, Mandy & Chad

Halloween 2007

I have a folder in my pictures on my computer that I have labelled "Dental School Year 1". I was reflecting on the first year of dental school and came across pictures from a Halloween party I had with my Beehives last year. I thought I'd post them seeing as how I didn't have a blog then. I love serving in Young Women's! They are such beautiful girls in every way and I'm proud that I can help to lead these young women into being righteous and dynamic women who will one day be the leaders of the church and great examples to the world. I love them all so much and look forward to many more great experiences from serving in Young Women's!

Mr Olympia

I'm finding it more and more difficult to keep up with this blog thing. It gets old after a while but more importantly, it is nice to keep a "journal" of our experiences in Las Vegas. And it is definitely that... an experience, a great adventure that never seems to get dull. So I'm going to be brutally honest, I haven't looked at many of your blogs for a while but I will sit down one day and read blogs that I need to catch up on.
A friend of ours has a brother who got us tickets to Mr Olympia for half the price so on Chad's birthday, that's one of the fun things we decided to do.
It was really exciting because I've always wanted to go to an Olympia show. At the tender age of 18 I became a gym rat and lifted religiously for 7 years. If I didn't lift weights 6 days a week I felt like I was cheating. Sufficeth to say, the only time I'd miss a day at the gym is if I had to attend a wedding or something (very) important. Needless to say, I was pretty buff and in great shape. Because of my transformed body and my passion for working out, I decided to compete in a Miss Fitness competition. Ability: this demonstrates strength, flexibility, and a variety of gymnastics moves in a dance routine which is choreographed. I had the gymnastics advantage from being and competing in gymnastics for 9 years. Physique: the judges will judge you on symmetry and muscle tone/definition. This requires you to have a certain amount of muscle and only be at about 5% body weight... not very much! Have you ever tried dieting to lose weight? Multiply how that felt by about 20 times and you'll know what it's like to train and diet for a bodybuilding/fitness show. I was in karate and kickboxing, went as far as I could go in kickboxing and still never felt as much discipline needed to prepare for the fitness show... mostly because the dieting was so strict. A "down to a science" percentage of complex and fibrous carbs, protien and good fats. When I say fats, I'm talking about 4 grams of fat. That's about how much there is in a tablespoon of salad dressing. Anyway, I think you catch my drift on how difficult it is to prepare for a show. I'm sure you're asking why anybody would want to do that to themselves. All I can say is it is one of those things you'd have to experience before you could understand why anybody does it. There are no words to explain it. Fitness is not to be confused with bodybuilding even though you need to bodybuild to go into a fitness show. I in no way support the use of steroids. Many people who enter bodybuilding shows use them but that's why I loved the world of fitness (which are combined with bodybuilding shows).
Here's the showdown with the top 6

I was a little surprised that Chad wanted to go to the Olympia show. After all, it was his idea. In response to my question why he wanted to go, he said "I want to see what your past is all about and to know more about the things you were interested in". I thought it was sweet for him to acknowledge my past experinces and interests. Would I ever train for a fitness show again? I would love to but it's not a good idea when you're trying to get pregnant. Especially being that low with the body fat percentage... not gonna happen! Although I have known of girls to compete after 8 months of having a baby! It is possible! My focus right now is to just be healthy, have a well-balanced diet and to continue to work-out at the gym... not necessarily for 6 days a week though!
Here's a picture of the fitness girls

P.S. I'm sure none of you know who Jay Cutler is but he is a celebrity in the bodybuilding world and featured on almost every bodybuilding magazine. He's won Mr Olympia twice consecutively but unfortunately didn't win this time around. Anyway, he was who I was cheering for at the show. Only because I met him at Whole Foods last spring. It was neat... he was standing behind me in line. I noticed him while I was paying for my groceries and had to ask him if he was who I thought he was. He said yes and asked me about my gym/lifting experience. I shook his hand and told him to make sure he wins. Like I said, unfortunately that didn't happen but at least I got to shake the hand of a Mr Olympia winner. Here is a picture of him. Schwarzenegger's got nothing on him... not right now anyway, lol.

Happy Birthday Chad!

A 28 year old man now... that's how old I was when we got married and that seems like so long ago! Apparently, women live 5 years longer than men though so technically we are tied. So really, that makes me 28... I'll take that.
Anyway, I hope you have a great birthday Chad and know that I love you with all my heart. You are my best friend and I couldn't imagine being married to anyone other than you. Dental school has been tough but it has made us grow even stonger together. We're built on a foundation that nothing can shake. I love you Chad. You're doing great in school and I'm glad I'm on this adventure with you!

P.S. I see that you only left a few pieces of birthday cake. I know I did a good job making it but you don't have to eat the whole thing in one day!

I know Canada's behind but this is ridiculous!

Okay okay, my patience is waning. I know several of you look at my blog but don't have a blog of your own for me to enjoy. I don't have ONE family or friend member from Canada who owns a blog! I feel like I'm writing blogs without getting any pleasure from being able to read ANY OF YOURS! Yes, I'm asking you all to start a blog!!! How else can I get "reports" of how you are all doing way up north?? I would write this blog anyway for Chad and I to look back on and for folks south of the border but it would be great to know how the heck y'all are doing! Phone calls just don't do it... I need pictures... and stories! I never thought this blogging thing would affect me but apparently it has. It's evil that way... so maybe you shouldn't start one. Like my attempt at reverse psychology? Tee hee. Anyway, I think you've caught my drift. I miss you guys and you are all making it worse for me, fyi. P.S. If you know me well, you'll know I'm kidding. There is, however, some truth to it ;)

San Diego, here we come!

I seem to be a little late when creating my blogs lately but, better late than never.
At the end of August, Chad, Sadie (my niece) and I went to San Diego with Chad's parents, Gary & Michelle and his aunt, uncle and cousin, Dwight, Sheri and Rachelle. We had week-long passes to Sea World, the Wild Animal Park, and the San Diego Zoo. We spent a day at each park... except for Sea World which was a major hit for us younger people so Chad, Sadie, Rachelle and I all went to that park on 2 separate occasions. We also spent the day at Oceanside's beach where we swam in the huge waves which knocked us around and filled our sinuses with salt water. I could taste the ocean for about 2 days after but it was fun body surfing. We stayed in a condo near Escondido which isn't too far from San Diego.


I love this picture!>>>

The first day, we went to Sea World. We all went on a ride called the Adventure of Atlantis and got soaked from head to toe! I don't have any pics of us looking like drowned rats but here are some pics of Sea World.













Chad and Sadie on another "soak-you" ride.

On the second day, we went to the Wild Animal Park. It was very neat to see the animals in thier natural habitats. It started out as a conservation for wild animals who are endangered and they turned it into a park where the public can go. They use the money from admissions for medical care, research, etc. I'm not a very big fan of seeing animals penned-up in a cage or a tank so it was nice to see that these animals had lots of room.






The third day, we went to the San Diego Zoo. There was a baby giraffe that had been born only a few weeks before we got there. He was so cute!
Here's a picture of Sadie and Rachelle... we're going over the zoo!

Here's Chad with the elephants... Chad got a little sun burned the day before. We played golf at the resort during the hottest part of the day and got "some" sun.

Sadie and I getting our feet massaged. We've been doing a lot of walking the past few days... it felt sooo good!

Oh, doesn't she make such a cute, little giraffe??

The fourth day, we went to Sea World again and the rest went and hung out at the beach, etc. Before we went to Sea World, we hung out at the beach with the adults for a little while... yes, I do still think of myself as a kid. I will never grow up.



The last day, we went to the beach at Oceanside. Sadie, Chad and I swam in the waves for an hour or so and Michelle joined us a while later. Chad, Sadie and I walked along the beach, in the waves for quite a ways. We had fun writing messages in the sand, laughing, making fun of each other, joking around and singing silly songs that we learned from Sea World. It was a nice end to a great trip! We can't wait to do it again!

Bonne Fete a moi!

In other words, happy birthday to me. I need to use my french whenever I think of it because I'm getting rusty at it. Anyway, last month, August 23rd, it was my birthday. It seemed like I got to celebrate my birthday for the whole month of August because of different places and people I got to see during that time. I got back from Canada on August 8th so I got to celebrate my birthday with family and friends in Canada and then with Chad when I got home and then again with Chad's family at the end of August!
I started feeling horrible from a cold when I got back from Canada but Chad was all dressed up and wanted to take me to a nice Hawaiian grill restaurant after he picked me up from the airport. I was rather slobbish looking and dressed in sweats but he had planned to go out so we did. It was a precursor to what was to come at home. Chad did it again. He is such a romantic guy. After dinner, I arrived home to a house full of balloons.

I followed the rose petal covered stairs and came to our bedroom which he had looking so nice. There were a dozen roses on my night table and gifts and rose petals on the bed.


He got me the book "Breaking Dawn", which I've read and all I can say is WOW! I love the "Twilight" series! He got me a gift certificate to my favourite store, Express Fashion, etc. He bought me my own key lime pie (which he later ate half of) and then he took great care of me until I got better - which lasted for more than a week! It gets very monotonous sitting on the couch and watching t.v. all day but I was too tired to even read. I got through most of the MonsterQuests (DVR is great!). I'm so grateful for my husband. He is my best friend.

Houseboating on Shuswap Lake, BC

I left my poor husband for a few weeks while he finished up his last couple of weeks of school and studied for finals. My mom, Sadie and I went on a houseboat trip on the Shuswap Lake in British Columbia with some family friends of ours. There were 17 people but it was a gigantic boat so it was definitely not crowded. It had 3 levels with lots to do on each level. It sleeps 24 people so like I said, we had plenty of room! It was fully equipped with full size appliances in the kitchen. There was also a washing machine & dryer, satellite t.v., fireplace and the list goes on. It was definitely the most relaxing vacation. I would say it was the best vacation I've been on (excluding Hawaii) but Chad wasn't with me so I'll go with the most relaxing. I highly recommend it to anyone and it's something you definitely have to do before you can't do it anymore. Chad and I are already planning the next trip even though it may not be for a few years yet.

As you can see by the map this lake is huge! It actually joins onto other lakes that aren't shown. It joins onto the Okanagon which is another huge lake... much bigger than the Shuswap!
Every night we would dock on a beach and stay there for the night. For a few of the days we would cruise around the lake and stop in the middle of it and swim. We also took the motor boat and cruised around the coast and looked at the nice homes one day. There were tubes and a wake board that we had fun on and also kayaks that someone brought. I got a nice tan from lounging on the top deck and reading. There was a hot tub, bar and tv on the top deck so a lot of the fun happened up there. Not to mention, the view of the lake was amazing from there! Oh, I almost forgot... there were slides that went off the back of the boat so we had a blast on those!

I got an early birthday because we celebrated birthdays of those who were born in August - out of 17 people there were 5 of us who were all born in August! The ladies who organized it took a trip to the floating store in the middle of the lake and got us souvenirs. I got a sailboat charm for my cell phone!
I could go on and on and on about fun things we did, cool things we saw and the great experiences we had but I'll leave it to your imagination and let you experience it for yourselves because like many things, words and pictures can't do it justice! In the meantime, enjoy the slide show and maybe we'll see you on the water, mateys!!! Just a suggestion... start with picture "1" because they are in order.

Sickened

I just got back from Alberta and B.C. (British Columbia). I was there for 2 weeks enjoying a houseboat trip on the Shuswap lake in B.C. for a week and then had lots of fun in AB for a week with my family. Unfortunately I contracted a cold virus yesterday while I was there (my last day there though thankfully) and have brought it home to Vegas! I don't usually get sick but almost every time I go to Canada I bring a Canadian virus back to share with the Americans. Anyway, I have lots of fun stuff to blog about but I'm not sure when I will feel better so it may not be for a few more days. So this time I actually have an excuse for not being efficient with my new blogs. I'll try to stay home as much as possible so I don't infect anyone but I can't guarantee anything... especially when Chad is going to school everyday and taking my virus there with him.

Thank You

I would like to thank everyone who partook in the fast for Chad and I this Sunday. Your faith and prayers are very much appreciated. May Heavenly Father bless each one of you for your very kind and selfless efforts. I feel the love of Christ and Heavenly Father so strong and feel richly blessed by so many things in my life. I feel so graciously blessed with mine and Chad's families. To be graced with heavenly children is very important to me. It is the single most thing I desire - to have a role as a mother - to know that I am a special heavenly daughter to contribute much in these latter days and also to bring forth spirits into the world. I look forward to bearing a child soon. I can't help but to think of how special the spirits waiting for Chad and I are that it is taking time for them to come forth into this world. It is giving me a great opportunity to prepare myself to be an amazing mother and teacher of the gospel to them so that they will be fortified against evil, as quoted from my patriarchal blessing. I'm grateful for the faith of you all. Being compassionate for others and knowing of their needs is a great way to bring a family together and I'm glad that this opportunity came to be so that I may feel of your love and prayers. I hope that I'm always aware of the needs you may have. Thank you very much and I love you all. Love, Chad & Mandy

Four Generations

First of all, I would like to say Happy Birthday to my grandma who recently turned 82. In this picture are four generations of my family. From left to right - my grandma, my mom, me and my niece. From 12 - 82 years of age. My grandma is a wonderful lady. She has so many great stories to tell. She is a genius with the bible and knows it better than anyone I know and loves to discuss it. My mom says that I got my "God gene" from my grandma so I guess that means that we are spiritual. Hopefully I got her physical genes too because she is still very healthy with no major health problems. She still works out at the gym and is always on the go whether it's taking some sort of belly dancing class, gardening in her bathing suit (gotta get those sun rays) or painting a picture. She's a very talented artist and a vibrant person who has a passion for life. She makes me laugh because she's so different from the typical grandma.
My grandma was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her dad was born and raised in Newfoundland, Canada and her mom was born and raised in New York, New York, USA. Her dad was a self-made multi-millionaire who owned his own company called the Magor Car Company http://www.signaturepress.com/magor.html & http://www.signaturepress.com/mgrrev.html. He was very prominent and a well known man in Montreal. My mom has endless newspaper clippings of my great grandpa from always being involved in the community and giving his time and efforts to various causes. My grandma tells us stories of the mansion that she and her family lived in and how the girls couldn't leave their house without gloves on (meaning they always dressed up). Her family was voted the best dressed family in Montreal. Grandma was set to have lunch with the queen of England when she turned 16(called a Coming-Out Party) which was a formality among the very wealthy. Sadly, she didn't end up meeting with the queen because of occurrences with the war so she met with the Governor General instead (still good enough for me!). The mansion she lived in has recently been turned into a dormitory for a university. I have yet to visit Montreal and go see her old mansion... what an amazing experience that will be! Not to mention, I love old buildings and architecture so I'm very excited to see it!
This is a picture of my grandma when she was younger...