Sunshine on a cloudy day.

Today is such a gloomy and cloudy day, and I am just looking forward to having my brother and niece come over this evening for our weekly family night.

The past two weeks I have spent the day with Aaron and Jordyn doing some really fun stuff and I am now going to commence with the "Aww..." factor and post pictures from those days:

Two weeks ago, on March 10th we went to UNE's Marine Animal Rehab.

Center, where my friend Emily is a marine biologist. We got to see the porpoises and seals.

We also got to help while Emily gave the sea turtles their shots.

I almost fell into the pool when I was trying to fish out the turtles wearing my big boots!

Aaron held the turtles while they got their meds.

Jordyn and a couple other young visitors got to touch them.

We were SO lucky to be able to see a seal released back into the ocean, too!

(Video is in 2 parts because my camera died in the middle.

The audio is crackly because it was windy.)

Jordyn helped make Emily a thank-you card!

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Last week on March 16th Jordyn requested I join her and Daddy at Chuck E Cheese.

After Chuck E Cheese we also went to Fort Williams

because it was so beautiful outside.

The waves were the most crazy I have ever seen crashing up to the headlight and misting us (which felt great in the warm weather!)

The mist was so crazy it was triggering the (really loud) fog horn!

The kite would not fly (no matter how far and fast Aaron ran)

but we had a ton of fun anyway.

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I love spending time with them so much. My family is great and I am so lucky. :)
My sweet little niece is truly sunshine on a cloudy day, and even brightens up the sunny ones! I am so glad she is a part of my life and I am a part of hers. I can't wait to see her tonight, and have a slumber party with her on Saturday night. I am going to plan some fun stuff to do together and I am sure it will be great!
Love, love,
Aimee

Springtime

So remember when I said I was going to stick with this blog thing? I guess I am a big fibber, but this is me trying.
Yesterday was the first day of spring, and let me tell you, it was gorgeous! I spent a wonderful afternoon with my BFF Kim and her cutie-pie 6 year old daughter. Our "girls day" consisted of picking up Italian sandwiches at Amato's and heading to the Casco Bay ferry terminal for the 2:15 ferry out to Peaks. It was so beautiful the top deck was completely crowded, but we secured a nice spot on the rail where we watched the water and saw the lighthouses, Faith was thrilled. When we got to the island I remembered a little beach "Hadlock Cove" that is near the home of a couple from my ward at church. We walked down to the beach, spread out a blanket and had a nice picnic while Faith threw rocks into the water.

The beach was not as deserted as we'd hoped, but we did make friends with a cute little dog named Rocky (a name which Faith told us must be because he liked rocks so much). After our lunch we searched for seaglass and cool rocks and shells for a little while before we headed back for the 3:45 ferry. It was the perfect amount of time to be there, Faith didn't have time to get bored or exhausted. On the ferry back we were lucky enough to see a little seal right by the wharf, which thrilled Faith to no end, and made us happy too. We went over to the new Coldstone by the mall to cap off our perfect first day of spring with some ice cream! It was lovely.
Today at church we had our Easter program because next week is fast Sunday and the week after (actual Easter) is General Conference. I was the first speaker (in the middle of lots of lovely musical numbers) and I got to speak on the resurrection. There was such a great spirit there. The Bishop also spoke and likened the law of justice to the law of gravity and explained how the atonement was like a parachute, mercy that works within the law of justice, like the parachute is safety that works within the law of gravity. It was great.
There was also an amazing FHE at the Thomas's house in Falmouth this evening too. Brother Thomas shared a slideshow of pictures from a family trip to Jerusalem and told us all about the many places they went and how it strengthened their family and their testimonies of Christ and the Scriptures. He showed us pictures from the garden tomb and a sign on the door that said "He is not here for he is risen" and talked about the significance it had on his testimony of the resurrection, especially in light of his son passing away not long after the trip. There was a great spirit there too, and a few people bore their testimonies.
We played games after and had a great time (I am horrible at "ninja", but I tried), and I made a few new friends, too. Very great Sunday.
And soon I shall be off to bed because I have an early morning driving to Boston for school, and I still need to print my paper so I do not need to get up even earlier!
Love You All!
Aimee