February 21, 2010

February 21, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Our lives are starting to feel normal again after all the snow and school/work closings. Monday found me still in Utah enjoying a “Clark Sister’s” weekend. We were having a great time. We spent the day visiting; we did a little shopping and even got to visit with my sister E. The time went too quickly, and before we knew it was time to pack and get things together.

The next morning half of the women were gone on an early flight. J and I spent some time with Annie and Orva. J loved the dog at the house. It was a pretty big dog, but J didn’t mind at all when then dog would smell him and give him kisses. Later that morning my sister E picked me up and we went to breakfast with my brother Skate. We went to Magleby’s Fresh, and it was delicious! After breakfast I dropped off Skate at his classes. I then ran a few errands and then went back and picked him up and he drove J and me to the airport. Everything went really well, and we made good time, got all checked in etc. The flights went really well. The best part was that J slept nearly the whole way from Las Vegas to DC. It was such a great early birthday present. When I landed in DC it was near midnight and so a friend picked me up from the airport so that M wouldn’t have to bring the kids. It felt good to be home and in my own bed.

J really couldn’t get enough of Skate.

Wednesday morning was a return to almost normal. B-man had a one hour delay on school. Even with the delay I almost didn’t wake up in time to get him to the bus! I spent the morning working on unpacking and getting some laundry started. I also spent the time looking around the house for surprises from M. Once again he was very busy while I was gone. He not only cleaned the house, but he also had recessed lighting put in, re-caulked our bathtub, and a bunch of other little projects. The recessed lighting is on our main floor, and it makes such a difference! I can read in there now! That night M tricked me. He told me to be ready to go to dinner after the boys were in bed, but actually it was some of my friends that kidnapped me and took me to dinner for my birthday. It was a fun night with delicious food. The day went much too quickly, I’m so glad we like to stretch out birthdays around here.

Thursday was more laundry and organizing of things around the house. We hit the grocery store too to stock up on some needed things. I stopped by a friend’s house to pass the afternoon a little faster too. Thursday night I went to my first swimming class. I was a little nervous. I know how to swim, but I’m looking for a little help with my stroke and breathing. Turns out I am not as good of a swimmer in real life as I am in my head. Most of the class was bits of a controlled drown. I am not the worst in the class though. One brave woman is such a bad swimmer that it is painful to watch the teacher work with her. My friend is taking the class with me, and it was fun to have a friend there to eliminate some of the awkwardness.

Friday was a relaxing day. We used one of my birthday coupons for dinner. B-man thought it was great. After dinner M went to help one of our friend’s moves. He was there for several hours, but was grateful for the large crew that the home owner had recruited on his own to make the move go faster. We have a new appreciation for people that organize their move.

Saturday was a very busy day. It started with two things at the same time. My basketball game and B-man’s Primary party. I went alone to the basketball game, and M took B-man to the party. After playing a very fun game I then drove and picked up B-man from the party. We came home and were able to relax for a while. B-man and M ran a few errands together while J and I stayed at home. Later that afternoon the pace of the day picked up again. We took B-man to his first indoor soccer class. It was mostly a lot of running, and some dribbling with a soccer ball thrown in, but he loved it! It was a crack-up to watch him run with so much intensity. Immediately after the class we went to his school carnival. I have very fond memories of the carnival at my elementary school growing up. It was the highlight of the year. This one seemed was too crowded (it was indoor, ours was outside) but I think B-man liked it. Everything took longer than we thought it would, and so we ended up in a panic to get rid of our tickets and get home so that M could make it to a baptism. We did take a try at the cake walk. It was a tradition in our family growing up. We were thrilled when B-man won on our first try! We hurried home from the carnival and M hurried to go the baptism. I then worked on getting B-man and J ready for bed, while also getting myself ready for a Valentine’s party. It was a crazy hour, but somehow it all came together. I did have to leave the house a mess, but oh well, there are worse things. For the party we were supposed to dress as a celebrity couple, and after much debate we went as Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. The party was fun and we were happy to win third place in the couple competition. After a fun night we headed home and collapsed into bed.

Here we are in costume. I look a little more like Elvira then Demi.

Today has been a great day. M had meetings in the morning and came home to report that next week I wouldn’t have to give a lesson because there was going to be a special meeting to announce new boundary changes. Church went really well, except for a wiggly J. M was surprised to find out (only minutes before) that he needed to give the lesson in EQ because the teacher had disappeared from church. Thankfully J held it together during his lesson and played on the floor. Seriously a small miracle. After church we came home and got immediately to work on dinner. It was a new recipe that turned out delicious. It was also easy which makes it a plus.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J