February 28, 2010

February 28, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been another busy week. The topic of conversation for the week has been the upcoming ward boundary changes that will be announced next week. M felt like he figured them out pretty soon in the week. M and I feel like we have done a lot of "passing" in the night. We have done a lot of celebrating my birthday this week too. Monday I ran some errands, and then that night we celebrated and had Family Home Evening by going out to dinner. We used my birthday coupon for a free burger at Red Robin. The dinner was great, but we have discovered that J has entered that lovely stage that makes eating at a restaurant painful for the other patrons. He has a shriek on him, and it is not pleasant. We didn't bring enough food for him, but we just ate quickly and then left.

Tuesday was a slower day. I ran a few more errands, and then that evening I had my swimming class. I am taking the class with a friend of mine. We usually stay after for a few minutes and swim more to get some exercise. I am not sure what I did wrong, but I suddenly started feeling very nauseated and dizzy. I think I was swallowing too much water or air. For the next two hours I felt really sick. Thankfully it started to pass later that night, and I was able to sleep it off.

Wednesday was another busy day. I worked on several organizing projects this week. It has felt good to get some things crossed off my list, and to clear out some space in the house. That night I went to a baby shower for a woman in the ward. I meant to only stay for a few minutes, but I ended up staying longer than anticipated. It was a fun party though.

Thursday was another busy day. The days have all sped by very quickly. I made some sugar cookies and frosted them for some of our families that we visit teach or home teach. I also went and visited with one of my friends in her home before delivering the cookies to our families. Later that night I went to swim class. I was very happy that I didn't end the class feeling sick. Instead of staying after to swim extra we left and rinsed off before heading to book club. We discussed The Help. The book is fantastic, and I highly recommend it to anyone that hasn't read it yet. After a lively book club discussion we headed home. The wind that evening and through the night was very fast. If it has been snowing we would have had a blizzard. I was happy that we didn't get any snow, but just wind with the storm.

Friday was another busy day. M was home later than normal in the morning. It was great to have him home. Most of the day was pretty slow. Then in the afternoon M came home and took the boys so that I could go get my haircut. My sisters had all chipped in so that I could get a haircut from someone that knows about curls. I LOVE getting my haircut. Getting my hair washed is my favorite part. It was a really nice salon, and the women working on me were very nice. I really needed a haircut and was so happy to get it done. After the hair cut I checked out a store nearby before heading back home. That night we had pizza for our family dinner, and then I made a cranberry upside down cake so that the boys could make me wishes... It was a great night. B-man wished that I would have a hundred more babies. I don't know about a hundred, but one would be nice! (He's so funny, I've never even mentioned to him about our baby "issues.") That night M went to a guy’s night out. There are a few guys that he and his friends are really trying to get to come to church, so they are hoping that these nights will help.

Saturday was busy too, but we did get to see each other a little. M and B-man left first to help one of our friends move. Seriously all of our friends have moved in the last six months. It is kind of crazy. I went to help do the book at our stake basketball game, but they had enough people so I went home. I then met M to get B-man. He then went shooting with a family friend at a nearby gun range. While he was gone I took the boys to a baptism for a boy in our ward. Baptisms are so wonderful; they have such a sweet spirit there. It was wonderful! Eventually we were all home together that afternoon. It was wonderful to have some time together. While we were together a friend brought over a cake that she had made for my birthday. We had been talking about what moms do for their birthdays with the cake. It was a beautiful delicious cake. We put candles in it and had some more fun with it. That night (there was something every night this week!) I went to the Stake Relief Society meeting. It was a wonderful meeting. I got really inspired to use my time better, and to remember the influence that just one woman can have. Sometimes I forget. We have a general authority living in our stake boundaries, and he shared the story of his grandmother. She was raised as a member in rural Minnesota. There was no organized church there, but maybe a few times a year the missionaries would come and give them the sacrament. His grandmother married a man and then had six children. Her husband was not a member, but using only a hymnal and a copy of the Book of Mormon; she raised her children and taught them the Gospel. Eventually five of the six children were married in the temple, and now one of her children is a general authority. What an inspiring woman. What would become of my children if they didn't have Primary? It was a good reminder that I (M too) am the one in charge of gospel instruction, but in a good inspiring way. Not in an overwhelming way. I'm going to try and do more. After the meeting I went to the home of a woman in our ward for hot chocolate with other women from the ward. We are all mourning the loss of our ward. It has been a great ward. Hopefully our one great ward will turn into three wonderful wards.

Today was the big meeting. We went to the chapel early so that M could help direct traffic. Even trying to be there early we didn't get the "comfy" seats. The meeting went really well, we had the Sacrament and then the changes were announced via video up-link from the Stake. It went really well, and for our family there were no surprises. Nothing much is going to change for us. We are in the same ward, same bishop, and the same callings. There's a chance mine could change, but M will keep his for sure. We stayed after and helped clean up the chairs while visiting with others. After church we had lunch and enjoyed being at home. For dinner we were invited to our friends' house. They were also feeding the missionaries. It was a great dinner, and we were excited to be able to watch the Olympic hockey gold medal game. It was a very exciting game! We came home and put the boys to bed.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

Swim, Bike, Run

I have been 30 for one week. Growing up I thought 30 seemed old. Now I realize how foolish I was to think that. The truth is that I still feel like I am in my early twenties. The only time I get freaked out is when I hear that the freshman class for BYU this year was born in 1992. That is insane.

Here I am on my birthday thinking I was about to go on a date with my hubby.

I am choosing to embrace this new decade of life. I have lots more wrinkles and gray hairs than I thought I would, but I also have a house full of people that love me and that I love too. I also have a goal. (This is all inspired by my brother the wolf.) I am going to do a sprint triathlon in August. It is at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, and it will be a 500 yard swim (open ocean!), 30k bike ride, and a 5k run. All of that is scary to me, but I figure that is a good thing.

Anyone want to join me?

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

February 14, 2010

February 14, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a long, snow filled week.

I spent most of the days cleaning up snow over this week. It helped that the government has been closed most of the week. It was amazing how much snow has been sitting around. B-man has been spending so much of the time outside….

R went to the church on Tuesday morning to have a morning-mutual activity. She brought B-man along with her so that he could run around in an enclosed facility. Later that evening we went to a birthday party where they have a lot of blow-up jumping things. Even the parents were allowed to participate. It was a great way to get out some energy before the next storm hit.

Wednesday was a white-out, blizzard. It was not worth going outside. We could hardly see across to the townhomes behind our home. I spent most of the day talking with Southwest airlines, trying to get R on to the next available flight (after getting bumped because of the weather) and we found the earliest flight available (Saturday afternoon). After a few hours of shoveling in the afternoon we went over to our friends for dinner…driving slowly and carefully.

Thursday I relaxed inside while R went outside to sled with B-man.

I went back to work for a few hours on Friday. I had worked extra hours the week before (trying to make up time, so that while R was in Utah I could spend time with B-man) so I was only in the office for a few hours. B-man went to another birthday party this afternoon and after coming home we had our standard Friday-Pizza party.

J gets some great “bed-head.”

On Saturday R was finally able to get out to Utah. After dropping her off at the airport, B-man and I dropped off a dresser that we were selling on Craigslist. We got back and went sledding with some friends (until she hurt her lip/tooth) and then we started some projects around the house.

After church on Sunday we went over to our friends’ house for a Valentines dinner. It was nice to be able to spend time with other people, even though R had only been gone for one day. I’m sure that B-man was even more excited to be able to spend time with other people than just me.

B-man has been saying, over and over, that it is “so quiet around here.” It’s kind of surprising that he would notice that it so quiet…when he usually is the one making all of the noise.

B-man and I played a lot of games of Stratego while R was gone. B-man liked to make up his own rules about how his people could move across the board, but we enjoyed ourselves.

While the boys were at home I had fun with J at our Clark Sisters’ weekend. Sadly I missed A’s harp recital, but was able to meet up with everyone afterwards. We had a great weekend of visiting, playing Rook and laughing. The time went much too quickly.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

More Snow…

Here are some more snow pictures…

Aren’t these hats adorable?  They are handmade, but not by me, by someone much cooler and craftier.

Here’s M working on the second car.

The neighborhood kids.

J loved being in the snow.  He didn’t seem to mind the gear, cold, or me taking a million pictures.

Here are a few snow perspective pictures.

One of Those Days

About a week ago, I stopped for a minute and looked at my kitchen. It was a disaster to say the least. Here is the recipe for my disaster…

Take a trip to the grocery store.

Add in making a batch of bread.

While bread is rising make lunch. But don’t clean it up. You only have one hand since a baby is in the other hand…

Eventually J took a nap and B-man was distracted enough so that I could attack the mess and get it done. Of course then it was time for dinner.

Perfect Timing

My friend "Show" has perfect timing. We got a mysterious package in the mail on Friday before we left town for the wedding reception. When we opened it up we discovered that it had a book on Star Wars in it. The book is amazing and B-man has not stopped looking at it since. It was the perfect book for the car drive. He looked at it for at least two hours.

Thank you Show!