A Simple Request

B-man has been after me to invite people over to our house. I have really been trying, but mostly people say no. We have a few neighborhood boys, and I had promised B-man today that we could see if they wanted to play. But after working in the back yard I thought that we might have missed the play date window. Here is our conversation that we had while going in. You have to imagine B-man saying it all in an emotionally distraught voice...

B-man: "Mom please can we invite Connor or Grant to play? I'm lonely!"
Me: "Well you don't have to be lonely, I'm here!"
B-man: "Mom, I need a man! Dad isn't here, and I just need a man!"
Me: "Hmmm, well maybe we can see if anyone is outside..."

Frankly I know a little how he is feeling. Although I don't think the two four year olds that live on our street really qualify as a "man." But we won't get caught up with semantics. Who can blame B-man for missing Mr. M so much. There is definitely a void that I can't fill in the house. Like the ability to wrestle and man handle him without complaining about him hurting me!

This is a gem from September '06 when we were in Provo.

In the end they were both outside and we had a great time.

Informal Poll

We've moved addresses...

So update your readers. We have felt the need to be a little safer with our Internet usage.

So here's the question...
We moved our weekly letter to the blog for most people, unless they specifically wanted to keep getting the email. But now I am not sure I want to keep it on the blog for a variety of reasons.
Do you read the weekly updates, and would you be sad if they were gone?

Please be honest, I'm not asking for pity reasons, I just kind of figure that nobody reads it anyway. And I have other reasons too...
Please also know that I may or may not follow the vote, but I am interested in what the readers have to say...

Incompetence Pays

Trip Down Memory Lane

I am trying to get caught up on B's baby book. I think he might be the most photographed child ever, which makes choosing pictures very difficult! It has been so much fun to look through the pictures that we have and see what he looked like years ago. (Yes I am years behind... don't judge.) This was a video that I found of him doing the actions to "Popcorn Popping." He has always loved music; when he was a tiny baby sometimes it was the only thing that would get him to stop screaming. We would sing to him all the songs that we could think of, and eventually he would calm down. My favorite part of the video is when he talks. It's amazing how quickly you forget things like how they sounded when they were little. It also makes me think how BIG he is now. This was taken in February of 2007, when we were in the Allen's house.

P.S. I don't know how to rotate videos yet. That is a technological thing that is above my capabilities... Don't strain yourselves while watching!

March 22

March 22, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

What a great week we have had here in Virginia. Monday morning I got a phone call from M’s mother, letting me know that there was a possibility that she and Lucy would be able to catch a flight to visit B and me later that day. I was so excited, but I didn’t tell B in case it didn’t work out. I spent the day working on getting the house ready for visitors. I must admit that my house had not been deep cleaned in a while. Especially the guest room accommodations, and so I was hurrying to get it all done. I had just enough time to get it all done before heading to the airport to pick up the women. I had to tell B that we were getting a visitor about two hours before leaving for the airport. He was trying to figure out why I was doing so much instead of playing with him… All during the drive to the airport he begged me to tell him, but I wouldn’t tell him. When we pulled up he was so excited to see Grandma Elna and Aunt Lucy there waiting for us! We drove directly to Costco to get the food that we needed for the week. After dinner we had a quick FHE. B said that he wanted to teach the lesson, so I helped him give a little lesson on King Benjamin. Not surprisingly it is his favorite story from the scriptures. It was so fun to see B trying to give the lesson. We’ll have to work on making it a little easier for him the next time he wants to participate that much. I think having an actual audience helped too.

Tuesday morning was a nice lazy day. B got to go to preschool, and was happy to learn all about St. Patrick’s Day. I had to force him to wear green, but I am sure in a few years he will be reminding me about the green rule. I didn’t really do anything to celebrate, but we did have a lot of fun being together. We had green smoothies and had a lot of fun being together. B liked trying to do yoga with the women. (I was not participating in that little activity.)

Wednesday morning we had a little more of a plan. We got up and going a little earlier and drove into the district. After a little searching (but nothing horrible) we were able to find a great parking space. We ate a fun picnic in the car and then set off for the American History Museum that has been newly reopened on the National Mall. We really let B set the pace for the day. He (for the most part) decided what we saw, and how long we stayed at different exhibits. He had a lot of fun in the hands-on parts of the museum. There were several that involved balls or marbles and building a track. A lot of the kids’ exhibits seemed to be focused on invention and creative thinking. One of the tracks he built was making music by sending marbles down a “musical course.” The museum also had the flag that inspired Francis Scott Keyes to write “The Star Spangled Banner.” That was my favorite thing in the museum. The flag was surprisingly large, and the exhibit was very moving. I loved how quiet and respectful the people were while filing past the flag. By the time we had to go move the car we were all ready to go home. We made a quick stop in the gift shop before heading back to the car. Grandma treated B to a bag of marbles that we had stuffed full! We did have to convince him that he should choose all different marbles instead only one type of marble. Once we got to the car, B got inspired by all the other people enjoying the lovely weather and we had to have a quick game of tossing a Frisbee around. The drive home went well; we made a short shopping stop before heading on to home. At home Lucy and I played more Frisbee with B while Grandma made dinner. Lucy and I could not believe how much energy B still had. We were both completely tired after all the walking around, but B seemed like he had just had a nice long nap! I wish there were a way to bottle all that energy and sell it to people. I am sure it would be successful. After dinner and B was in bed we experimented with cookies and enjoyed stimulating conversation. It has been so great to have people around at night!

Thursday B was up and off to preschool again. While he was at preschool we all worked on a project on the computer. After picking up B we spent the rest of the day packing, figuring out how to deliver odd items to Utah, and just enjoying our last hours together. Early in the afternoon we loaded everything up and headed off to the airport. We were sure sad to see them leave, but we are anxious for the next round of visitors. Luckily I didn’t have any time to mope. I had to come home and immediately start all the preparations for a Demarle “party” I was going to later that day. It was at the home of a woman in our ward. She eating vegan right now, and so the party was slightly more complicated because we were using all of her recipes. At one point while doing spiced nuts in the oven smoke was pouring out at an alarming rate. The sugar/spice mixture had really burnt onto the silpat that we were cooking them on, and the smoke and house alarms were BLARING very loudly. That really doesn’t add to the ambiance, but eventually we got the alarms to shut off and the smoke cleared out of the house. The amazing thing was that all of the burnt on sugar and spices came off the sheet! It was a great advertisement. I was sure it had been ruined, but I didn’t think to take a picture of it before the hostess started cleaning it all up. The party went well (it was small) and then I got everything packed up and headed home. I was so exhausted from all of the fun things happening in one day.

Friday was the slow day. We took things nice and easy. We did run a few errands, but mostly we stayed very close to home. That night there was a Primary party. B took a friend with him, and I hope it was a missionary success. Really all I hope is that B didn’t leave the friend by himself and go have fun without him. I think the boys both had fun, and I know that B had been very excited to wear his pajamas and eat pancakes at the party.

Saturday morning I got up and decided that I needed some good medical help. I’ve had a very pesky rash that has come and gone for the last two months on my legs. This week it came back with a vengeance and when I woke up Saturday it was really bothering me. There is a dermatologist in our ward, and I decided to give him a call. He was very nice about it and let me come over almost right away. He looked at me for a few minutes and then gave me some cream that he had at his house to put on it. I am hoping that it will all be gone very soon. Don’t worry it isn’t catching, and it isn’t harmful to the baby. But it does look horrendous. Huge bright red/purple splotches all over the front of my legs. Apparently it is dry skin gone seriously wrong, and I’ll always have to keep an eye on things to keep it in check, but it won’t be a big deal at all. I was just so glad to know that it wasn’t serious. It looked bad enough that it had to be something horrible. After leaving his home we ran some errands. Later that afternoon we went to Sears to look at dishwashers. Earlier in the week I had been telling Elna how much I hated our dishwasher and couldn’t wait until it died so I could get a new one. Well Thursday after turning on the dishwasher and coming back several minutes later there was some suspicious smoke coming out of it! I was torn between cheering and groaning, but I think the cheers won out. I did eventually get it to work, but obviously it is on its last leg. I want to be prepared. I haven’t used it since then, so it will be interesting to see what happens when I try it next. That night I went to dinner with some friends. It was a girls’ night out, and was a great evening. One of my friends’ husbands was very kind and put B to bed at his house with their children while we were eating. It was so nice to not have to get a sitter.

Today has been a great day, although very busy. We were up and going early to get to James Hancock’s farewell in Arlington. Of course B chose the morning that we had to be up and going to sleep in. We made up for lost time by eating some food in the car. B was a little confused by this change of plans, but he came around eventually. The Sacrament meeting was wonderful. James gave a great talk/testimony and it made me so excited to think about Spencer getting ready to go on a mission. After the Sacrament meeting we went to Marsali’s house to visit with her family. B was shy at first but quickly warmed up to their family. It was so nice to be able to see and catch up with them. Marsali is such a nurturer and was forcing me to lie down and take it easy. B loved chasing their dog and talking with her girls. He loved all the extra attention. After leaving their home we drove to our church. B went to Primary and I got ready for my lesson in Young Women. The lesson went really well, and we even had a parent in the class. The great thing is that the lesson was just what both the mother and the daughter needed! After church B and I made paper airplanes and threw them all over the main level. B’s plane was always cooler than mine. We also looked through his baby book (a new favorite) before heading off to dinner. The doctor’s family in our ward had invited us over for dinner. They are such a wonderful family. I don’t think anyone feels uncomfortable around them. There was another family there for dinner, and it was a great evening. B loved running around with their kids. He is such a character. At one point he dropped his roll on the ground, and then he immediately picked it up and while handing it to me (so he could go play) said “It’s okay, I like dirty food!” in a very excited voice. When we got back home B went straight to bed. This week has been so great, and now I am nervous that next week is going to seem long enough for two!

We love you all!

R, M, and B

Grandma E and Aunt L

We had a fun surprise visit from Grandma E and Aunt L on Monday. I only found out the morning they came that they were coming for sure, so I kept it a secret from B-man. Eventually I had to tell him that I couldn't play with him because I needed to get things done since we were having a visitor come. He begged me to tell him (I never did) who was coming, and he was so happy when we pulled up at the airport and they were waiting for us there! It was so much fun for us to have them here for a few days. The time went WAY too quickly. And I am sure that we are going to wake up tomorrow feeling pretty lonely! We did a lot of visiting. We worked on a few small projects. And we did a lot of experimenting with food and cooking. (With delicious results.)



We also went to the newly reopened American History Museum.
The museum is full of fun things to look at, but since we had a four year old in tow we had to keep it short in places like Julia Child's kitchen, and the exhibit on dresses that have been worn by First Ladies through the years... B-man loved playing with this exhibit. You took different things and experimented with marbles and all the different kinds of sounds that could be made. It was fun for us too. He loved it so much that Grandma treated him to some marbles from the gift shop. He has been carrying at least one around with him for the last 36 hours. We were all exhausted by the time we had to move the car or face a ticket. It was a nice excuse to head home. B-man found the Frisbee in the trunk and we had to throw the Frisbee for a few minutes before heading home. We all wanted to sit around once home, but B-man had enough energy for all of us and we had to play a little more Frisbee at home. I was so happy when he was in bed and I could sit down and not feel guilty.

We both sure love having people come. Consider it an invitation!

March 15, 2009

B-man helping me make the pizza crust. He really likes to help knead the dough.

The cake was as good as it looks. And no I didn't make it... I don't make my own birthday cake.

A little jetski action...

Some sort of a roller coaster ride.

March 15, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Every once in a while I start to loose my motivation for doing these weekly updates. I am in such a funk now. I feel like I never have anything new to say, and that it is just boring and exactly the same thing over and over. Monday’s highlight was that we got to have another ultrasound on the baby. They wanted to double check something that they had seen on the last ultrasound. Everything looked great, and we got some great shots of the baby. He is already measuring big, (like 96%) and I am not sure how I feel about that. I thought having a normal size baby that grew to a giant after he was born was a perfect way to start things off! Maybe he’s an early grower. M got to come with to the ultrasound, and so we had a free afternoon as a family. After picking up B-man we had a fun lunch and then went to run a few errands. One of which was to get some dry ice. When we got home we packed the wheat that we had in bags into buckets with dry ice at the bottom. The process was much faster than we thought it would be. Since we had a bunch left over we took the rest of the dry ice to some friends that we know have a bunch of wheat in bags that needed to be packed. M showed them how to do it, and so we ended up staying for a little while. That night after dinner M taught our FHE lesson. For dessert we celebrated my birthday with a fun cake and ice cream. We love to stretch out birthdays…

Tuesday I was in charge of preschool. It went really well. We were working on the letter “W” and also talking about Handel (and his “Water music”). It’s fun to see how much the kids have progressed since the beginning of the year. That night M visited a few men in his quorum to issue some calls. He now has a secretary which will lighten his work load considerably.

Wednesday after David was dropped off we went to the church and helped to decorate the gym for “New Beginnings”. B and David had a great time playing with the other kids, and after setting up it all looked amazing! The weather was so nice that after leaving the church I took the boys to a big park that was close by. They ran around and had fun until we were all hungry and thirsty. B has been talking about the park ever since. Unfortunately is has been to cold to go back. During the afternoon I got a surprise and was able to listen in through a conference call to my brother opening his mission call. It was so exciting, and we couldn’t be more thrilled for him. That night M stayed late at work to get some things done. B and I had dinner without him, and then he ate when he got home. We overlapped by about twenty minutes, and then I was off to the “New Beginnings” program. The night went really well. It was organized by two of the young women for one of their projects, and although we were a little worried that it would all come together, in the end it went off splendidly. I was amazed at how outgoing and confident the two young women were that we have coming in this year. After the program and a few minutes of visiting with the women, I then rushed home so that M could make it to his Presidency Meeting. It was a very busy, but rewarding night!

Thursday was preschool day again. Nothing too exciting to report. The kids only wanted to play, but who can blame them? The rest of the day was pretty calm. That night M played in a tournament game for ward basketball. The game was ended early because of pushing and had a little other drama too. It was a fun season while it lasted!

Friday I had David. We stayed close to home and didn’t do too much. M got home early that day since he had worked so much earlier in the week. We spent the afternoon running random errands and just enjoying being together. B-man had filled up his bean jar, and originally we had told him that the reward would be to see a movie in the theatre. The only problem is that there is NOTHING in the theatres that is appropriate for a four year old. We were racking our brains trying to figure out an alternative that he would think was just as fun. In the end we gave him the choice of several things, and he chose to go to Chucky Cheese’s. Luckily I thought to look at their website and got some great coupons so it was actually cheap! After David was picked up we headed off to Chucky Cheese’s. B-man was so happy, he was having so much fun, and M and I loved watching him. We did both steal a few tokens to try our hand at “Skee-Ball.” B-man only wanted to do the games where he could drive or shoot something. That meant he was really bad at all of them, but he didn’t even realize that he was doing so poorly. It was great! After several hours of fun we headed home with some leftover tokens. B-man is already asking when we can go back, and has played with the tokens every day. I need to find a good hiding place for them… We had some ice cream when we got home to top off the family party and then B-man went to bed.

Saturday we were so excited to have nothing to do in the morning. We had a very leisurely morning with a tasty breakfast. Once we finished breakfast we started working on a bunch of projects. We got a lot done. We framed and hung artwork, worked on drywall projects, spread mulch in the yard, and a bunch of other little things. It felt good to get so much done from our list, and I love having some new art up in our house! It also means that it is out of the spot where it has been waiting to be hung so I have less clutter! That night we made tasty homemade pizza, and then we babysat for our co-op. It was only one other couple’s children, so the night was pretty easy. After they left M worked on packing for his trip and I worked on my lesson a little before we headed to bed.

Today has been a great day. Our morning went very smoothly. M went a meeting, and while he was gone I finished my lesson. When he got home he finished packing and getting all of his things together. We had a great lunch and then we were off to church. B-man has started asking to walk to Primary by himself. I can’t let a four year old do that yet, so he walked really fast in front of me while I tried to keep up. Periodically he would check over his shoulder to see how far back I was. Do you think it’s possible that I already am embarrassing to him? He is getting so big, and I don’t know how I feel about it! My lesson went well (we even had a nonmember friend there) and then as soon as church was over we rushed to the car to get M to the airport. B-man was so cute and wanted to be helpful so he helped M roll one of his bags into the airport and check it at the counter. I was waiting for him to come back and got a very grumpy officer who told me to keep moving… There was more traffic than we have ever seen at the airport, but M had no trouble getting to his gate in time. B-man and I had a sad drive back to the house. We made a quick but tasty dinner and then I had a moment of, “Well now what?” We filled our time without too much difficulty and then B-man was off to bed.

We hope you all are well. We love you!

R, M, and B-man

B-man Translation Dictionary

Here are some translations of words B-man uses a lot...






Darth Vader= Dark Mater













Hand Sanitizer = Hanitizer












Yesterday = "Last Day"
i.e. "Mom remember last day when we went to the park?"

Tomorrow = "Next Day"
i.e. "Mom who's coming over next day?"

Early Surprise

Yesterday morning I got a surprise from B-man.

We have a new routine in the morning, since he is staying in his bed. The last little while he has been yelling at me from his room when he wakes up. It is usually some strange conversation, and him asking if he can come into my room. Then I try to sleep for as long as I can while he snuggles with me. Once he gets too hungry we head downstairs for breakfast.

Yesterday things were happening just like normal. B-man was yelling to me, and I could hear him moving around. I was still trying to sleep. When he came into my room (and after several attempts for me to listen) he told me that he had made his bed all by himself. Usually we make beds after breakfast, and I help him quite a bit since it is a queen size bed on risers. Well it was obvious he wanted me to see his work. So I stumbled out of bed and shuffled down the hall to his room. To my shock and amazement he had a perfectly made bed! He had even put the "fancy pillow" (sham) on and it was pretty much in the middle. I was so excited that he not only made his own bed without help, but he did it without me asking!!! It's a mother's dream come true!

Sadly, we didn't have a repeat of the same incident today. Although he did make the bed all by himself again. It was just later in the morning at the "usual" time.

Kryptonite

This is how B-man normally looks while swimming...

He is fearless, always charging into the water, wanting to dive deep, and jump far. (He wasn't even four in these pictures yet!) But every superhero has their weakness. Just like Superman and his kryptonite. B-man's is his goggles. If he isn't wearing them, you can forget about any swimming success. He sinks like a stone. My sister E worked with him over the summer to get him to swim without goggles, and it did help, but only a little. He just finished swim lessons. One of the days we didn't have the swim bag with the very important goggles in them. B-man just stood in ankle deep water for several minutes trying to figure out what to do. He dove for rings while keeping his eyes above water. (A benefit of being so tall.) The whole swim lesson he was working so hard on keeping his head above the water that he couldn't do anything else. It is slightly hilarious to watch. I think I might need to invest in a few extra pairs of goggles. We don't want our superhero to turn up missing when we need him most!

March 8, 2009

B-man showing off his snow angel skills and his smoothie mustache...

March 8, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Birthday Scott! The week has been a bit of a blur. Monday we woke up to lots of snow. About six inches of nice soft fluffy snow. We spent the morning sledding, playing, and trying to dig ourselves out. M did head into work, (most of his office didn’t) but he went after the roads had been cleared and our parking lot was plowed. I love snow days! B-man has loved playing in the big piles of snow even as the temperatures have risen. He actually remarked today that he wished there was snow and he likes it better when it is cold. (I think he has the Arctic blood in him…) We had our last week of swimming lessons. B-man loves them so much, and is going to be sad that he can’t go again next week. He passed the level he had been working on. The teacher thought that he might have been squirrely because it wasn’t enough of a challenge for him. It makes sense to me. She was so patient with him, and it was obvious that she has boys of her own at her house. M has had a slightly different schedule this week because he has been going to some training. The training was all on different options available through his job for retirement and estate planning. He thought the training was great and would come home and fill me in on all of the details.

Wednesday night, after watching David I went to Enrichment. The night consisted of women in our ward sharing their conversion stories, and then a small tutorial on how to decorate cakes or cupcakes. The cake decorating came in the spirit of President Uchtdorf’s talk on creating something as women. The night was spiritually uplifting and fun. After the Enrichment I had a meeting with all the Young Women leaders. The meeting was productive, but when we ended we realized it was almost 11:00 p.m!

Preschool has been going well for B-man. When I picked him up on Thursday the kids all did a little dance to Vivaldi’s “Spring”. They were studying the letter “V” and what better than Vivaldi and his violins. B-man kept talking about how Vivaldi is dead. It was a little funny. It’s the first time he has talked about someone who has been dead for such a long time. That night (Thursday) M had “Man Club”. I finished a book that I had been reading.

Friday I was supposed to watch David, but I didn’t have to at the last minute. We didn’t do anything too differently, but the weather was so beautiful that we made sure to play outside as much as possible. That night for our family party we made pizza for dinner, and then watched a movie of B-man's choice.

Saturday was a busy day, filled with lots of great things. First we watched the little boy of a friend so that they could go to the temple; we had a fun breakfast and played. After getting ready we then drove to the temple and met up with the other couple. After swapping kids, we then were able to enjoy going to the temple. The temple was busier than we have seen it in a while. Maybe the warm weather brings people to the temple? When we were leaving the temple we ran into my cousin being a tour guide for some friends of hers that were in town. It was so fun to see her! When we got back we picked up B-man and then took him to a park so that he could ride his bike. The weather was so beautiful, and he ended up riding his bike with another random boy that happened to have his bike there too. We have a bike with no training wheels that we have been working with B-man to ride. But of course he only wants to ride the tiny bike with training wheels. We told him that he could have one more day with the tiny bike (it is seriously like a clown bike on him it is so little). We moved the training wheels up so he couldn’t use them as much and hopefully it will help him the next time he is on the bigger bike. After enjoying the time at the park we came home to feed Benjamin and then change for our date night. We dropped off B-man with our babysitting co-op and then headed off for dinner. The dinner was great, it was good food, but pretty pricey even with our coupon. After dinner we hit a few car dealerships to test drive cars. Unfortunately only one was open. Apparently the dealerships close early on Saturday nights! After picking up B-man and getting him to bed we watched “Eagle Eye” an entertaining but far fetched movie.

Today has been a strange day. The time change makes everything seem a little “off.” The morning went very well. I was able to finish my lesson, and get dinner ready to go in the oven as soon as we got home from church. M was able to come home after his meetings and before church started which was a huge help. Sacrament meeting went well. We implemented a “no snack” rule today, and it went fairly well. We are trying to slowly change some of the things we do in Sacrament meeting with B-man. My lesson was a bit of a disaster. It will be good in the end because it was a good reminder for me about several things. One was to always have a clock. I ended the lesson so awkwardly and with a TON of material still left because I didn’t have enough time. (The fifteen minutes I did have seemed like five.) After church we had a quiet dinner. We invited about five different families over, but they all had plans. We went for a walk around our neighborhood after dinner. One plus of the change is the extra light!

We love you all! We hop you are well!

R, M, and B-man

Government's the solution!

March 1, 2009

B-man typing an email. He gets very intent when he "works" on the computer.

March 1, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a long week. Filled with lots of good things, but I am exhausted just thinking about writing about it. Rest assured we did our normal routine of preschool, swimming, playing, and random errands. Most of the big activities happened during the evening hours. I can only stand to focus on those this week.

Monday – Doctor’s visit. Things look good and are still progressing well.

Tuesday – Visiting teaching marathon during preschool and after swimming. It felt great to get it all done in one day, and with no children! Something I wish could happen every time… That night M went on splits with the missionaries.

Wednesday – Temple trip with the youth. It was a long night, but a fantastic experience. I did find myself wishing that I had used some time in my lesson last week to talk about how to prepare to go to the temple. What to listen to in the car, what to think about or do while waiting, etc… Next time I will know and try to include it in my lesson. We had a very big group, almost all of our youth and over thirty kids there. The temple really only likes to have groups of twenty or less, and it was obvious that some of the workers were distressed by our numbers. There were two women leaders (which were all that was needed) and we were in charge of handing out towels to the young women as they exited the font, and keeping the floor relatively dry. The drive home was quiet, but fast since it was fairly late. We got all the kids home by 11:00 p.m. While I was at the temple M did some home teaching.

Thursday – Preschool orientation meeting for next year. We went to a preschool that is put on by a high school in the area. It is taught by the students in the class. B-man got to explore and play with the toys while the “real” teacher (certified school teacher) answered questions about the program. If we don’t put B-man in Kindergarten this year, we will have him attend this preschool. B-man has been asking since then when he can go to that preschool. We have to keep telling him that it will be after his birthday… That night I had book club. We discussed Peace like a River. It was a great discussion, and a great night. The book left me so conflicted, (I wanted a slightly different ending) but the prose was beautiful, and I loved all the western themes. It made me think of all our family vacations listening to Marty Robbins, and Johnny Cash.

Friday – Made our best homemade pizza ever. Seriously it was so good I still am thinking about it. I can’t wait to try it again. After dinner the Mannewitz family came over for some smoothies and dessert (that they brought). It was a quick visit, but we hadn’t been able to catch up with them for a while, so it was productive even while being so quick.

Saturday – Our busiest day by far!!! M helped a single woman move in our ward. There was a great turn out from other men, and she was only moving downstairs from her current apartment so it went quickly. Afterwards I went to the church with B-man. It was our ward’s week to be in charge of the officiating and score keeping for the basketball games. Sadly the person who was supposed to make sure we all knew about it, and organize the effort didn’t. So instead a few people scrambled to get everything covered. While I was keeping the book at the games with B-man, M drove an hour to the Bishop’s Storehouse. He worked there for four hours during the afternoon. He LOVED the experience and was so happy that he went. He was so impressed with the storehouse and how the program worked. M and I both got home from our “activities” at the same time. We then rushed to get everybody fed, showered, and dressed for the night. We had a party that we were going to that night thrown by some people in the ward. We had planned to make a big night and go to dinner before, but that didn’t really happen. We did get half a cow dropped off by our friends. We had ordered it a while ago, and of course it came on the busiest day. They were kind enough to come and drop it off at our house. I have no idea how long half a cow will last, but it was a lot of meat. It was all packaged and frozen ready for the freezer. It was amazing how well it fit in our little chest freezer that we bought. We did it because our friends told us how much they liked it, the meat is great quality, and the price is amazing. Plus it is from a local source, which I love supporting the local farmers and ranchers. So come visit and we will use a portion of the “fatted calf”… After getting the meat loaded into the freezer our babysitter came over. It was the husband portion of the couple who was babysitting for the co-op. B-man was already in bed, and so it was an easy night for him. We did love that they had offered to have B-man stay at our house; it made it a lot easier for us too. The party was fun, it was a random group of people, but it was fun to get to know the people a little better. When we went out to our car we found that it had been snowing! That is always a fun surprise in VA.

Sunday (Today) – We had a nice lazy morning as a family. It was great to have M back with us in the morning, and after Saturday’s hectic pace it was nice to be able to slow down. Church went well, and M gave his first lesson in Elder’s Quorum. He reported that it had been successful. After church we had some friends over for dinner and then put B-man to bed.

Random B-man thought—He has suddenly started using words that I have no idea where he learned. They are huge words, and he usually uses them correctly. I always mean to write them down, but I always forget, maybe this week I’ll do better. He also has been carrying around a little Spiderman toy that he got yesterday. It has followed him everywhere he has gone, bed, church (Spiderman had to wait in the car), and anywhere else he has gone.

We love you all!

R, M, and B-man