*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday,  I tried to run but too painful still.  I went to the track, and ended up running a bit around the school.  I have to be patient even though it's frustrating.  I could NOT believe I found a penny right on the track!  I found another one one the road.

I made a birthday cake for Bryce, but he ended up getting tickets to a Bee's game and so we cancelled his party at our house and then my Mom threw together a BBQ at her house so I made baked beans for that.   

I enjoyed talking to Sky while I worked in the kitchen.  When I got back from my run, he had washed all my big windows. Inside AND out!  I was so grateful because they really needed it.  He had also power washed the waterfall.  

Looks like he needs to power wash himself!

When Dave got off, we headed to Grammy's.  No boys, just Dave and I.  I have a fun family and we were laughing most of the time. 

dear tuesday,  I headed to my harp lesson.  It was a solo lesson this time and we spent a lot of time on my technique and form.  Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get that down.  After my lesson, I met Dawn in Farmington at Zuppas for lunch. It was yummy!   We had fun catching up!  I love spending time with that woman.  I always come away feeling uplifted.  We talked about her conferences she has been attending and the things she is manifesting in her life.   And check out the cute shirt she is wearing!  Love it!

I then headed to SLC to Lyon and Healy to buy harp strings. I needed them bad!  I can't wait to fix the broken one so I can actually practice normally again.

The chairs in front of Lyon and Healy

On my way back I searched the globe (the northern Utah globe) for Caramel M&M's. They are VERY hard to find and I am dying to try them!  I ended up finding a lot at a Maverick in North Ogden so I bought quite a few.  I have to say, I am a bit let down. They did not live up to my expectations.  I think Milk Duds are better.  So meh.....  BUT... the Strawberry ones, ARE amazing!

When I got home, I started to re-string my harp. HOLY HARP STRINGS, that is hard!  I had no idea it was such a pain!  The main reason it was a pain is because the instructions in my book and the ones on YouTube were completely different. I was getting so frustrated.  Skyler could tell and so he came and rescued me.  He is good at knots (that Eagle Scout rank comes in handy sometimes!) and he taught me a new and much easier way to tie it.  I worked on that thing for much too long! I was so happy for his rescue!  Now if I can remember it for the next time one breaks!  

Taylor was home.  I mumbled something and he asked me if I was still talking to myself.  I kind of laughed and the next thing I know he is playing the sound recording I sent to him accidentally last week!  Oh, I was dying!  It was hilarious, but embarrassing cause I was just talking to myself...about Taylor!  Hah  These boys! However this kid ↓, got a 3.9 GPA!  I am so proud of him because he had some dang hard classes!

I am really unhappy with my phone camera.  It took both these pix and I couldn't even adjust the lighting to make it look normal. I am so sad. If anyone needs a good camera on their phone, it's me!  I take a lot of pix!  Understatement of the year!

These boys!  I went to Taylor's game.  I was beat.  Bryce left for Moab.  

dear wednesday, I got up early and worked on a bunch of stuff including trying to decide on who to give the Tyson Memorial Scholarship to. I have narrowed it down to three.  I ran 5 miles.  Yay!  But the injury is painful and I stopped halfway and did my PT exercises.  Plus I walked part of it.  I did find some treasures from heaven though.  

I was so excited to go to lunch at Maddox today!  Jenniece invited me along with my dear friend Cecelia and the wonderful women who comprise the singing trio Heartbound.  I have been friends with them and loved them for years and years.  I met Debbie way back in my Institute days and I've known Me'Chele for years from AMI. Heartbound are the ones that set up the lunch.  When I walked in the lobby of Maddox the three of them were inside and as I walked up to them, they all started screaming and yelling, "Here comes the Boston Marathon runner!"  They were all excited for me and saying I am the only person they know that has run it. They were possibly more excited than me!  They were all very sweet.  

We had a VERY fun lunch.  It was what I describe as how lunches with friends will be in heaven because everyone was SO kind and positive and listened to whoever was speaking at the time and no one monopolized the conversation and everyone wanted to hear what everyone else had to say instead of talking.  Every word was positive and upbeat.  These are some of the best woman on the planet.  Every single one of them.  Lesa S. was supposed to join us as well, but Gary had surgery and so she didn't feel like she could come that far.  We missed her.... a lot. Her life has changed immensely since his call, but she is still so humble and down to earth.  Jenneice told us some stories about their adventures since the call.  Cecelia and Me'Chele have both served as missionaries and we heard some amazing stories from them as well.  Cecelia is the funnest and brightest and most Christlike person I know.  I have admired her since I met her 26 years ago.  I could go on and on how incredible each of these woman are. They have always been the cream of the crop and I have always felt so inadequate around them but at the same time SO grateful I have been blessed to be able to associate with them.  They have all made me strive to be a better person. I know I will never reach it in this lifetime, but there's hope for the next.  Heartbound gave us all two of their CD's.  FUN!  I REALLY needed this today.  It was uplifting and positive. 

My Boston Marathon photos are up.  Now to decided if I want to order any or not. They are always a huge rip-off, but it IS Boston.  

Taylor came home and studied and then had a game.  It was for the championship. They won the first one and then had to play one more for the title.  They were tired. The other team was fresh.  It started out pretty bad.  But they were able to catch up and then take the lead for most of the rest of the game.  Sadly, they ended up losing by a few points!  It brought back all the years when he played for the high school.  It was intense. I kept telling myself, it's just a city league.  Hah.  He played his heart (and feet) out.  

I had fun with this little cutie and his little bro.  They are in our ward.  He was entertained by selfies.

dear thursday, I ran this morning and stopped by my friendly horses on my route.  This guy is always uber friendly.  A little too much.  I thought he was going to eat my sunglasses (OR bite off my headband!). I tried to get a photo of him when he was right in my face, but didn't succeed.   I did my PT while out.

Today was one of my favorite Homemakers meetings.  It was the favorite things one where everyone shares their faves.  When Beth welcomed everyone she congratulated me on the marathon which I thought was so sweet.  I love that lady.  She is so on top of things and does so much at her age. I hope to be just like her.  We all shared our favorite things. I couldn't really think of much to take this year and so I took the Caramel M&M's and shared them with everyone and I took the Swig cookie mix, fried crispy Jalapenos, and my Drops of Amazon (Pravana) hair stuff.  It was a good meeting as always. 

We had our first night of kickball for the Stake YW Sports.  We had enough to play and it was actually a lot of fun except one leader really hurt her knee.  

I had to run Wallies and as I was coming out a girl handed me a post it note and there was another one on my window.  Something so simple, but so kind and it totally made my day.  I am going to leave them on someone else's car.   

dear friday, I was hoping my run today would feel like normal, but nope. It's still painful.  I am still taking it pretty easy. So frustrating!  I am so slow!  It's like my legs are made of lead.  I don't remember feeling this un-recovered this far out from any of my other full marathons.  They say it's take one day per mile....so I should be fully recovered in 26 days.  I'm on day 18 and so I just need to be more patient! Not my greatest virtue! I usually bounce back in two weeks.  Oh well.  It was worth it!   I ran back to where I did yesterday with the horses and I found a shiny penny on that dirt road. I have ran that road tons of times and never found a coin.  It's so bizarre some of the places I find pennies. I have not run one time in the past several weeks without finding at least one coin.  Thanks Tys!  

I made my Boston Sista's a little Thank You for coming and supporting me at the race.  And as I was heading in to our lunch, I got two texts saying that two of them couldn't come. So I text Kathy to see if she was because if she wasn't I wasn't going to keep driving in and just cancel it and reschedule cause we needed more than three. She never responded so I assumed she forgot and so we cancelled it.  I then got a text and a photo from her saying she was there and waiting.  She still hadn't seen her texts.  hah  Oh well.  

Since I was already in Ogden, I headed to my parents and visited with them.  They were having lunch and invited me to join them.  We had some yummy grilled cheese sandwiches and salads.  We talked for about two and half hours.  It was fun just visiting with them. I told them all about Boston. I love my parents and I am so grateful I still have them!  I do not take that for granted because almost all of my friends have lost at least one parent and most have lost both.  On my way home I got a text from Troy seeing if we were going to dinner with them at El Toro.  I guess Dave had responded we were and I was a bit in the dark but ended up just going straight to the clinic and picking up Dave and then meeting them there.  It was Cinco De Mayo and so we wanted to eat Mexican food. We had a great time.  We were just chatting a bit after we had finished and the waitress came and asked us to leave.  We got kicked out!  LOL  She said they had so many waiting and they needed our table. I get that, but it was kind of abrupt.  

dear saturday, I tried to get in a good run again but it was bad. One of these days I will have it back. Today was not that day.  But I did see some glorious spring blossoms! 

When I was almost home my street was closed off about a block or two up because the city was having Soap Dish Derby. I saw Katie S., and the Huffs and chatted with both of them while we watched. We saw one car wipe out into some oranges cones, but nothing serious.  I watched for quite a while.  It was really fun.

When I got home all the boys were here and just hanging out.  I enjoy it so much when they do that.  It's so fun to watch them.  Brings me joy to see how well they get along.   Taylor is getting ready to head to Hawaii for the summer.  I wish he wasn't going for so long but he is getting a job over there.  I'm going to miss him.  We got some serious wind, rain, and thunder when I was out buying a gift.  The skies were black and the wind was intense.  Sky made us buffalo wings for dinner!  They were so good!  Mmm....  better than Wingers.

Taylor tried to pull a fast one on me by trying to get me to juggle three eggs and when I told him they were raw he tried to trick me into thinking they were hard boiled.  I KNEW they were raw and so I cracked one on the counter to see his reaction.  It was priceless!  I then salt and peppered and we waited to see if Dave would notice it right there on the counter.  It took a bit, but he did.  When he saw it, he did a double take, like "What the?"  Hilarious.

dear sunday, I woke up to thunder and rain!  Love it!  Love the feeling I get from it.  I wonder why?  It must have come with me from heaven because it's been a constant thing through my life.

We headed to Stake Conference.  I LOVE having the perk of a reserved parking place. I feel bad for the young man that has to stand there and wait for us to arrive, but it's pretty cool we don't have to get there 30 minutes early for a parking spot anymore. Hah!  CJ came and sat by us as well.  Him and Taylor leave in the morning for Hawaii for the entire summer.  Dave did a good job.  He spoke about trials and about Mother's Day coming and then talked about his own mother and then he said he was grateful for me because I basically raised the boys single handedly when he was gone up to 120 hours a week at times during med school. He talked about how that it wasn't easy and how I sacrificed doing many things I could have done and accomplished but I gave that up to raise our boys and he gave the credit to me because he wasn't home much during that time. He read some quotes from Elder Holland how no love comes closer to the love Christ has than the selfless love a mother has for her child. I can't even remember now what else he said because I was seriously very uncomfortable. I remember he said something about how now I have time to fulfill some of my dreams and that he is amazed that my "little body" can do so much that he can't even imagine doing. He didn't specifically say anything about Boston, but I guess that is what he meant. It was embarrassing even though I know it was kind and I am grateful. I sat behind Bonnie, and she is one of those rare people in this world that is always just so sweet and kind and reached back and patted my leg. I got to be entertained by her granddaughter. What a hoot. After the meeting, I got a lot of hugs or handshakes, I guess because of what Dave said. I never know what to say because it really is uncomfortable when he does that. A few came and congratulated me on Boston. People are really just so nice. Dave had to go straight to a coordinating council meeting in Logan and so I took a nap. I LOVE Sunday naps!

THIS is what the wind did Sunday evening!

Pretty crazy!  I wouldn't have felt one bit bad if it had taken out the motor home. That thing is an eyesore.

dear random, Dave had to take Bryce's truck one day and I got this shot when he went driving by me when I was at the stop sign. It makes me laugh so hard. He's a bit big for that truck. lol

Spring is so gorgeous!

One of my all time favorite photos of me and my dear friend Dawn. It popped up on my FB Memories.  This chica is one of the brightest spots in my life!  Love her!

This popped up as well. I made this little sign a long time ago and had forgotten about it.
TRUTH RIGHT THERE! Other than I don't "suffer", I ENJOY it!

Food 4 Thought Friday

Welcome to Beacon of Hope's:

Food 4 Thought Friday!

A little feast without the calories!!

Feel free to play along for some yummy fun! I will post a new one each Thursday night. JOIN IN!!!

Food 4 Thought Friday ~ This week's questions:

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*Hey guys, please leave a comment if you played along! THANKS!

Breakfast ~ What is your recent biggest financial disaster?
Lunch ~ How do you deal with things you can't change?

Dinner ~  When things get stressful, what is your go-to for calming yourself?

Midnight Snack ~ What is your current mantra for life?
Recipe for the Week ~ (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for the week?)

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MY ANSWERS
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Breakfast ~ What is your recent biggest financial disaster? This is hard to even put on paper because I am still so upset about it, but when I booked hotels for Boston, I ended booking one that said "free cancellation" on it and they claim I did not....(I did).  When I cancelled it (without knowing that at the time they said I hadn't checked free cancellation) they charged my credit card almost $700 for it and after hours and hours on the phone trying to dispute it, they will not work with me and so we lost almost $700 just like that. We thought our credit card would dispute it for us and they claim they tried (though we never spoke with a human) and then said we had to go through the hotel. Had we known they would leave us hanging, we would have stayed at that hotel while in Boston instead and only been out $400 (long story).  It's a very long detailed story, but bottom line, one tiny little mistake I wasn't even aware of, cost me over $700!!!  I am retiring from being a travel agent!  It's not my thing.  It's very stressful and then something like THIS happens.  I am just sick about it.  SICK!  I tried to save money on that trip and spent HOURS planning it so we could. When I think where we COULD have stayed for an extra $700 it makes my blood curl!  Whatever you do, DO NOT book a hotel with Booking.com!!!  Or stay with the Crowne Plaza in Newton Massachusetts!  Buyer BEWARE!  Oh, and I lost $300 cash a few months ago and never found it. At least with that loss, I hope whoever found it needed it and it didn't just go to pad the pocket of some big corporation!

Lunch ~ How do you deal with things you can't change? I try to find something positive in the situation or find a lesson that was learned even when it's hard to find something. For example, the situation above, the loss of such a large sum of money is hard to swallow when I think of what I COULD have done with that money, so I tell myself at least we didn't lose it in some tragic way (health, accident, natural disaster, robbery, etc) and it makes me feel much better. I have to try to not focus on the other ways it could have been spent......charity, someone in dire need, etc. and then it makes it easier. 

Dinner ~ When things get stressful, what is your go-to for calming yourself?

I go for a run! Or eat chocolate!  But the run is much healthier! 
Midnight Snack ~  What is your current mantra for life? Life is short, so CHERISH the MOMENTS!

Recipe for the Week ~ (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for the week?)

Life is full of things we can't change and that is actually part of life.  In order to not get bogged down with the things we have no control over, accept them, and move on. 

*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!


*I am posting this week before last week's because I am still working on all the pix for my Boston post.  It will be coming soon though!  I am just grateful I finally finished my post on the review of the Boston Marathon!  You can find that here. 

dear monday, it was so nice to not have to go on a run today.  I am enjoying the break immensely!  I am sure it won't be long until I am craving a run, but for now, it's nice to have the time to do something else.  Today was a busy day trying to get back to life after Boston.  I practiced harp, errands, made some visits, and cleaned.  Dave has filled the house with lilacs and I am so in love with that scent!  I can't get enough! 

I am still on such a high from Boston...

...that I signed up for the St. George Marathon in October!!!  I wasn't going to do it this year because I am getting tired of the training and the wear and tear it takes on my body, but after running Boston, I decided I want to run Boston as long as I can!  It was that great!  Now, I just have to BQ again!  I already did last year at STG for 2018, so this year's STG will be for Boston 2019!   There will come a day when I can no longer do this, but today is not that day!  I need to seize it while I can!  Carpe Diem!

dear tuesday, I went to Kaysville for my group harp lesson.  I got there early and so I decided to go to Smiths and as I was checking out, one of the guys who worked there came up to me and asked me if I ran the Boston Marathon year.  I told him that I had and I just got back and he asked me a lot of questions and chatted to me for a long time.  He then said, "Do you mind if I ask what your age is?" I told him and he said he was impressed.  I think he was trying to be polite and not say, he was impressed someone at my age could do that.  Haha  But it was fun having someone talk to me about it because at this point that is all I want to talk about!  lol 

I was a bit frustrated at group harp again because I messed up on the same song I did last time even though I've practiced it a ton.  The recital is coming up in three weeks and so I need to get it down.  I talked to Nanette's sister who ran Boston a few years ago and it was fun hearing her version.  She said she did horrible and wants to go back and redeem herself. I told her I feel the same way...well, I don't feel like I did horrible but I know I can easily cut 20 minutes off my time if the weather cooperates! I did a few errands and then headed home.  Taylor was home and then left on a date to Ogden.  I worked on some RS stuff and then I made dinner and then headed to a RS board meeting. We planned the How to be a 10 Cow Woman meeting at Heather N's house.  This meeting was my idea and so I brought all the stuff and different ideas and we got it planned rather fast.  She gave us a tour of her house after and it is lovely. 

Taylor had a game at 9:00 pm and so I headed over there.  I was the only spectator there. I hope that didn't embarrass him.  hah  But it's so fun to watch him play. 

The selfie showed no one else in the gym but the collage cut it off. 

My Boston Marathon souvenir (leg infection) hasn't been healing too well even after the dose of antibiotics I faithfully took.  It is actually looking worse than before and is still painful.  I am not sure what avenue the doc will take next.  Still baffles me how something like that could happen from chafing, but it appears that is what happened.  

dear wednesday, it was raining - has been all week.  I had an ortho appointment and that went well.  It was fun talking to Clark about Boston.  He said he rarely wears his Boston jacket.  I worry that will happen to me too now that Boston is over, but I am going to try not to let it.  It's a fun conversation piece.  

Rainy days but the spring flowers are so PRETTY!

dear thursday, I had my study group on Revelations this morning. There were only four of us there.  Usually we have about 10.  Caryl amazes me at her knowledge.  

I went to the high school to pick up the applications for Tyson's Memorial Scholarship. There are six this year and I am happy to say that it's going to be tough to pick this year.  I have it down to three...mostly two.  But now I need to get the rest of the fam's feedback.  It's always better to have a hard time deciding rather than not having any that you think deserve it, which has happened.  I need to get them chosen and turned in so they can be recognized on Scholarship night this year. I changed the deadline to an earlier date so that can happen because we have missed it the past few years because the deadline was later and we had no time to get it chosen and awarded and in the program before. 

I practiced the harp and I broke my FIRST STRING!  Ugh!  This means a trip to SLC to buy a new one.  It's the third octave D and so I can't practice very well now.  I can tell a couple more are on the verge of breaking too. 

I went to the stake center for our Stake Spring Sports night.  We played dodge-ball. There was a great turnout and the girls had a lot of fun.  We even let the little spectators play.  Then the leaders played against the girls but we got sorely beat.  It was still fun. 

dear friday, I headed up to Logan in a blizzard!  Yes, it's April 28th and winter has returned.  

I had some birthday shopping to do for Bryce and some music books I needed and so I took Taylor out to lunch and grocery shopping as well.  I picked him up on campus and then we went to his favorite Rumbi Grill and then to Walmart.  He only got some bread and milk because he moves out in a week. He is busy studying for finals right now and had his first one this afternoon.  That kid studies like crazy. He has amazing grades to prove it.  I am proud of him.  He has this crazy idea of going to Hawaii with CJ to work this summer at a Zip-line place that will count for leadership experience on his resume.  They are serious about it even though they have no where to live. Oh, to be young and adventurous again without any responsibilities.  I guess you gotta do it while ya can right?  But I still think they are CRAY CRAY!  

So sad these guys won't be together next year.  One is engaged and the other is going to SLCC.  

I did some shopping and then came home and worked on my blog post on the marathon. Holy cow, I hate being behind on my blog, but seems I always am! I also worked on the Missionary Newsletter.  Dave wasn't feeling well and so no date. I'm trying to decide about running the Dash for the Splash in the morning.  I want to, but not sure if I am recovered enough to race. 

dear saturday, today was Bryce's 26th birthday.   I posted this on Facebook:
.[̲̅̅H̲̅][̲̅̅A̲̅][̲̅̅P̲̅][̲̅̅P̲̅][̲̅̅Y̲̅].ː̗̤̣̀̈̇ː̖́..ː̗̤̣̀̈̇ː̖́.[̲̅̅B̲̅][̲̅̅I̲̅][̲̅̅R̲̅][̲̅̅T̲̅][̲̅̅H̲̅][̲̅̅D̲̅][̲̅̅A̲̅][̲̅̅Y̲̅] to my handsome son Bryce! Seems like yesterday he was chasing the butterflies instead of the soccer ball when he was five. Now he's chasing his dreams and making them come true. What a blessing he has been in our lives. This kid is one of the hardest workers I know and has the most generous soul. He has the kindest heart and would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it without even thinking twice. His sense of humor and adventurous spirit has brightened our lives and kept us on our toes (and knees!). Thank you Bryce for being such an amazing son and a genuinely good person. I am so grateful for your generous, kind and loving heart. No ones heart is as big as yours. Thank you for being there to support me at Boston. That meant the world to me! I feel so blessed to be your mom! I love you bud! ♥ Happy Birthday!

He really is a great kid!  He has plans with his friends and so we are celebrating on Monday.  He did open his presents though.  He bought his stuff and we will pay him back, but we did give him some Real Soccer tickets that he didn't know about.  

It was another cold one today.  I got up and got dressed to run the Dash for the Splash race around the Mantua Dam and then started to worry that it might not be wise.  I won Overall Woman in this race the past two years and I fear that even though I say I will take it easy because I'm not fully recovered, I fear once I get there and start racing, my competitive nature will come out and I will want to defend my title and so I will push it and risk injury.  It is the best race for door prizes and last year I came home with $25 for winning and $25 gift card to Maddox and a bunch of other door prizes, so it was very tempting to go.  But after I did a bit of a jog up my street, I knew I wasn't race ready and I would be risking injury so I decided to not go.  I made the right decision because I did go to the track to do a little running and my PT exercises and I couldn't do either because I was so sore and stiff. I mostly walked and did about a mile or so running.  I did find some coins in the parking lot.  

Yes, that is fresh snow on the mountain!  Why does finding a fork in the road make me laugh?  

The boys had gone to Logan to eat at May Moe's (?) alligator, crayfish, etc.  Sky took Bryce for his birthday and they picked up Taylor.  I guess they loved it and said the alligator tasted like steak with chicken skin.  I'll pass.  They had to stand in line for 30 minutes.  I guess alligator is popular. 

Taylor came home a bit later and it was nice to have everyone home for a bit.  We all sat and chatted about Taylor going to Hawaii this summer and Sky and Bryce both told him their opinions as did Dave and I.  Poor kid. haha  He is determined to go though and so I hope it works out.  My injury was bothering me for the first time in a while (I think because I stretched out a lot while running today) and so Dave was nice enough to rub it for me.  That really helped.  I went out and ran some errands and brought home some Little Caesar's pizzas for everyone.  

dear sunday, I was so happy I didn't have to play the piano or teach today.  Troy and Carol were gone today and so I sat by myself in sacrament.  After the sacrament, Grayson came and sat by me.  How sweet. I am sure Brooke told him to, but that was the sweetest thing. She is one of those amazing people who instinctively knows what to do.  I wish I was more like that.  I just don't think I would have thought to do that.  I would have been fine alone, but it was a nice gesture.  He was adorable. We really had a good time chatting and he was so excited about so many things. Such an enthusiasm for life.   Little boys are just the greatest.   I went to SS and sat by the class.  There were only two girls and me.  We waited for a while for Sister Olsen to show up because she was teaching, but when she walked in she had a very surprised look on her face and asked me if I was teaching today.  I said, "No I thought you were!"  She looked surprised and said, "I thought you were!"  Haha  We all had a good laugh!  Well, apparently it was MY turn!  Since I taught last week, I was thinking it was her turn, but I forgot I had told her I would teach two in a row since I would be gone to Boston for a week.  How did I not remember that?  I worry about myself especially after last week when I didn't realize I was supposed to play the piano!  UGH!  Vacations throw me off!  At least I hope that is what is going on!  But it turned out pretty great because we talked to Kendall and Bailey and then Kafton came late and we did a get to know you day.  I learned a lot about them I didn't know. So it was good.  Sister Olsen wanted me to tell them all about Boston and so I did that as well.  It was kind of fun just chilling with them. They are all great kids and I love teaching them. 

I took this last Sunday when they were solving a puzzle, but since I haven't written that post yet, I am adding it to this one!

After dinner and a nap, we went to Brian's bday party.  They asked me about Boston and I told them about it.  I was attacked by a huge hot flash in the middle of my story telling. I haven't had one for a long time and so it was not a welcome guest.  The joys of womanhood!

dear mckay, his mission president sent us a nice letter and some pix.  Only 67 more days!

dear random, 

This is Rinda.  She is my robot vacuum.  Carson named her.  I actually named it Bob, but he didn't like that name and renamed it to Rinda.  I put Mr. Cat's toy mouse on it and shetook off to clean the house like that.  I started laughing so hard....I almost wet my pants!  Now, if only Mr. Cat would hitch a ride on her. 

Dave put these in my bathroom.  I can't get enough of these!

My friend Shauna sent me this from Maine.  This was the one beach she wanted to take us to, but we ran out of time. 

I found this photo of me and my chocolate buddy Jaida!  Love that girl!

I think he missed me! 

A text I got from Sarah.  Love this little guy to pieces!

dear quotes, 

It's been nice to not have to worry about getting in my long runs!  I get a  break from them until about August!  I am going to enjoy the break!