Finishing Up Spring Break

Saturday Aaron was off to the hospital in the morning and we did chores. My eyes were bloodshot after Allison had a rough night. She ended up sleeping more in the morning. So I got a few things done around the house while she slept.

Aaron did some yard work after he got back from the hospital. That afternoon there was a leadership training meeting. Two of them in fact. One was for all teachers in and the other was for all Young Men's leaders. I still wasn't sure about bringing Allison into large groups, so I stayed home. Aaron and I would have been at separate meetings anyway. He was still on call, so he could have been called away at anytime, but he wasn't.

David came home that afternoon. He had a lot of fun with Kyle and his family. He bought a couple of souvenirs. He had some laundry to do that evening, but at least he didn't have homework!

I don't remember too many details about that afternoon, but that night I was getting the girls ready for a bath while holding Allison. I was sitting on the edge of the tub after turning on the water. Michelle had a messy diaper and she was about to take it off. so I reached over to stop her and heard a "plop". I quickly realized my phone had fallen out of my back pocket and landed in the tub! I pulled it out as quickly as I could and Aaron heard me say "Oh No!" and came up to see what was going on. I tried to pull the case off, but that was difficult to do while holding Allison, so I just gave the phone to Aaron, and he took care of it while I went back to giving the girls a bath.

Aaron put the phone on rice, and we let it sit there for quite a while. It was weird to not have a phone, but I survived! That night the kids wanted a movie night. So the three oldest stayed up to watch one of the Harry Potter movies - Amy's choice.

Sunday Aaron was off to the hospital and meetings. I got the kids ready, and then dropped them off at the church. Then Allison and I hung out at home for a few hours. We napped, played and ate, and then I picked them up. I talked to a few people as they left, and then headed home.

That afternoon was pretty quiet, and we rested, played, talked, made dinner, had FHE and dessert. I also checked my phone, and it still worked - yay!

a selfie to celebrate

and cute sleeping Allison

Spring Break 2018

I would have to say this was the most unusual Spring Break we've ever had. Just before 1:00 am Kristy, David and Seth arrived. I turned off the house alarm, opened the gate, and welcomed them in. I got them set up in Timothy's room, and then went back to bed.

Aaron had left for work early, so he didn't even get to see our guests! I forgot to mention that Timothy had been asked to feed Fred - our friends' dog, while they were out of town for Spring break, so we had been doing that in the morning after breakfast. So Monday morning we had leftover cinnamon rolls for breakfast. David got up and made sure he was packed a ready for Spring break. He was going to OR with Kyle and his family. They had rented a condo at a resort near Bend. I tried to keep the kids quiet so Kristy and David could sleep, which lasted until about 9:00 am.

Seth was excited to play with the kids. I was happy to spend time with Kristy and David. I was glad it was Spring break. We didn't have anywhere to go. I didn't make any plans for Spring break with a 4 week old baby.

Kyle and his parents arrived around 10:00 am to pick up David. We got him loaded up and said goodbye for the week! It was strange not to have David home. After that we mostly just talked and played games. We had lunch, and then I put Michelle down for a nap, knowing if I didn't, she would crash at some point. We played two new games they had brought: Mysterium and Cover Your Assets. They were both fun. We watched the weather carefully and decided it would be safe for them to head home via their normal route. They finally had to leave around 4:00 pm. David took a picture of us before they left.

 I also took some pictures of Allison since she was 4 weeks old that day.

I don't remember much else about that day. We had dinner, and then watched Studio C before heading to bed.

Tuesday morning Aaron headed into work, and after breakfast Timothy, Allison and I went to feed Fred. I took these pictures while Timothy was feeding Fred.

 mid-sneeze - so cute!

I don't remember exactly what kept us busy, but there was lots of games, toys, playing outside, reading, screen time etc. I felt bad that we didn't have anything planned for Spring Break. But really what could I do? I was finally getting around without pain, and catching up on sleep. But I wasn't ready for any adventures, and I still couldn't lift anything heavier than Allison. So we stayed home.

Allison got in some tummy time

 She didn't fuss, but wouldn't keep her head up very far.

She does well keeping her head up when she's at my shoulder though.

I got a jury summons in the mail. I laughed a little. It's the last time I can use the excuse of having a baby at home I need to care for. That's about it for the day. Aaron was home early for dinner, and that night we tried to watch the premier of Random Acts, but we missed it, and it wasn't available on the Roku, yet. So we found an old episode of Studio C.

Wednesday I decided to go shopping with all of the kids. I would need Timothy's help getting things in the cart, so I had to bring them all. It wasn't too bad. After feeding Fred, we drove to Fred Meyer, and I fed Allison. We did our shopping. I had Allison in the wrap and she slept mostly.

Then we drove to Costco. I had mentioned that we might eat there, but it wasn't lunch time, and I wanted to get home before Allison got fussy. So I decided we could get some frozen yogurt to share to eat on the way home. So we got one vanilla and one swirl, and shared them. They were satisfied with that.

Winco was finished, and they were training employees. 8 days until opening day!

 They had the sign on the corner up and running, and a banner saying "Grand Opening April 12th).

 Don't worry, I had Timothy take the pictures.

We got home, and the kids unloaded the Yukon while I nursed Allison. Of course things never get put in the right place when they do that, but I'll take what I can get. Timothy put he pork loin in the freezer even though it was for dinner on Friday. Luckily I noticed soon enough to have him get it out of the freezer to thaw before I needed it.

Aaron was home by 4:00 for our conference call with our financial advisor. Then we came up with something for dinner. I can't remember what though. There was no mutual that night, so we ended up watching episode 1 of Random Acts Season 2. I don't remember what else we did. Amy did so much reading that week. She had asked David if she could read his Hardy Boys series, and he gave her permission, so she ended up reading every one that he had - I think we have 19 of them. She has over 300 AR points. I don't even know what her goal is anymore.

It was fun to get texts from David about the fun things they were doing. Antique stores, and hikes with waterfalls and fun things like that. One day he and Kyle stayed at the condo playing games because his parents wanted to go back to the antique shop, and they didn't want to go. They also went ice skating one night.

Thursday April 5th - Allison turns 1 month old!!

a little smile

Nothing too exciting for Thursday. Amy kept asking if we could stay up and watch a movie, but there just wasn't a good time for it.

Friday was pretty normal. I have these pictures because all of the kids were using banana "phones". Haha!

 The older kids didn't want me to take their picture though.

Aaron came home from work early and took the kids fishing at a nearby pond.

They didn't catch anything though. Aaron was on call again that evening. He doesn't usually work two weekends in a row, but there was a scheduling mix up, and fixing it was more of a headache, so we just left it. Only later did we realize that would mean Aaron would be working 19 days in a row! Granted, on the weekend it was only for a few hours each day, but both of those weekends the hospital ended up being really busy. Oh well. We ended up having pizza for dinner, and then got the kids in bed. Spring break was almost over!

General Conference and Easter Weekend

Aaron was on call Saturday morning. It was a busy weekend for him. Several patients and middle of the night phone calls. He left for the hospital around 7:00 am, and made it back in time to pick up Amy to go to the church for the morning session. Meanwhile the kids found their Easter baskets, I made cheese sauce with eggs on toast for breakfast. We did chores, and got ready for conference.

 Aunt Eva helped fill up their Easter baskets!

 colorful eggs for breakfast!

Aaron picked up Amy and drove to the church. The rest of us enjoyed conference at home. It was amazing to participate in the solemn assembly. It was also exciting to hear about the two new apostles. The kids were mostly well behaved. Michelle was a little noisy and Melanie wasn't paying much attention. However I was able to take notes when I wasn't holding or feeding Allison.

In between sessions we had lunch and we did our Easter Egg hunt. For the first time in a long time I didn't do anything for it. Aaron and David filled the eggs the night before, Aaron hid them, and then just as they were about to find then Allison woke up, so I nursed her while Aaron took pictures of the kids before and during the hunt.

 

I also started the cinnamon rolls for Sunday's breakfast. I got Michelle down for a nap, then we enjoyed the afternoon session. Aaron and Amy went back to the church. It was a little less noisy. I always look forward to the sustaining, and the annual report. However they aren't reading the annual statistical report in the session anymore, just posting it on the website. So I had to wait and look up how many wards, stakes, missionaries, missions, temples etc. I love the numbers! Even more than that I love the messages from Conference!

Allison slept peacefully during the afternoon session in her cradle

Then the boys had a quick dinner before heading to the priesthood session. The girls helped me roll out the cinnamon rolls. Then we ate dinner. It wasn't long after the session started that Aaron texted to say they were dissolving the High Priest Group at the ward level and combining it with Elder's Quorum. That was an exciting change. Meanwhile the girls got baths and showers, and the boys ended up going to Luca's to watch Star Wars. Aaron ended up getting several calls from the after hours service and the hospital. It was a busy call weekend for him. When he got home he helped me frost the cinnamon rolls.

Sunday morning was more of the same. Aaron went in early to see all of the patients, he got home at the beginning of the morning session.

 Allison slept in past 7:15 am!

 We had breakfast and then enjoyed the Sunday morning session.  Allison almost smiled.

 It's more of a smirk

We had lunch in between sessions and then I put Michelle down for a nap. I loved the afternoon session! The next announcement from Pres. Nelson was that Visiting and Home Teaching no longer exist in its current form. We would now just be ministering. I love it! It's kind of the way the visiting teaching program has been working lately, except we were still supposed to report our contacts. Now we are free to visit and contact those we look out for however works for them. There is no deadline, or required in home visit to "count" for a report. It's just watching out for everyone, fellowshipping, and just being a friend.

Then I thought the conference was ending a little early when Pres. Nelson addressed us one more time to announce 7 more temples!!! All of them were exciting. Another in Argentina! India... Yes India!!! Nicaragua - where Brittany is right now!!! The Philippines - so awesome. Layton Utah - yes another in Utah, that will be the 18th in Utah I think - but that means they are doing the work that they have been asked to do! Then Richmond Virginia - close to my family!!! And last, but definitely not least - Russia! who ever thought we'd be getting a temple in Russia in the next 10 years?!!! They said a major city, so I'm guessing either Moscow, or St Petersberg. It was great to end the conference on such a great note!

My three littlest ones!

That evening we had our Easter dinner. We warmed up the ham from the previous week, and made some delicious sides. I forgot to cook the asparagus though. Oh well. It was a great weekend! I got to sleep around 10:30, and then I got a phone call at almost 11 pm. It was my cousin Kristy, so I answered it. They were on they way home from visiting friends but had to turn around because of accidents on the pass had closed the freeway. So rather than get a hotel they asked if they could stay with us. Of course I said yes. I debated where to put them, and decided it would be best for everyone if they took Timothy's room. So I woke up Timothy at 11:00 at night and asked him to sleep on the couch. He was only moderately aware of what was going on. I coaxed him to get a pillow and blanket and walked him up to the couch. He was asleep again within seconds. It's a good thing it was Spring break.