So, (I think I start all my blogs with that, so I might as well keep it up) we have had a super busy week. We always do, it seems. At least in the evenings it's busy. Last night Andy's Grandma got married to Paul Allen (again, not the Microsoft one) in the Temple and then immediately after, had their reception. It was nice.
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Grandma Ellen and new Grandpa Paul. They are so classy. I love them both.
Before the wedding, I went to pick up our favorite babysitter though, and she wasn't home (PANIC). Her little brother answered the door and after I asked for her, he told me (very
manneristicly), "Sorry, she's away from home right now." (or something like that.) Then I said, "Oh, she's
supposed to babysit for us tonight." and he said, "She went to the fair." And then, "Can you wait just a minute?" and went and found his mom. She came up and offered to watch our kids for us (so did this 10 year old little boy), since we had to go right then (5pm-starts at 6pm-
supposed to be there by 5:30pm
EKKK), so I called Andy and told him to get the kids ready and that I would be home in a couple of minutes to pick them up. I drove home and even avoided the major traffic somehow on the busy road by our house and Andy drove them back over. I guess they played with old barbies and ate bagels. I hope they didn't wreak her nice house. It was super nice of her to watch them for us though and we really aren't too mad at our babysitter. She's still our favorite, just next time, I'll
definitely call her earlier in the day (I talked to her about it on Saturday when she babysat, so I figured we were good.)
Back to the wedding, we got there in plenty of time (20 minutes or so. 10 minutes late) to sit and chat (too loudly all the time in the waiting room and then everyone gets
sshhed.) and then went into the sealing room where they were married for time. Since both have already been sealed in the Temple, they were married for the rest of their mortal lives. It was so sweet though. I'm so happy for them. The reception was nice and they had a good program too. The man who introduced them, told the story of how it panned out. Paul told him that since his wife had died that he was really lonely and wondered if he knew of anyone who could be a companion to him. The guy thought it over and told him Ellen. He tried to arrange a meeting at a single adult activity, but she didn't go to that one, so Paul was getting anxious and asked for her number. He called her, but she didn't know who he was, so I think she kinda blew him off. Then, the matchmaker called her and talked Paul up and then when she realized that she did know him and that she liked him, she let him call her. The matchmaker said that the next time he talked to Paul, he told him that he had bought a ring and a house for them to share and so the matchmaker asked him if Ellen knew and he said that she helped him make all the decisions. They are so cute. Check out these pictures. Vincent was asleep when Andy brought him into the reception (he went to pick the kids up because I was supposed to take pictures outside the Temple to help Grandma Ellen) and he was asleep on the table. So cute.
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Little guy asleep on the table.
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This was at the end of the reception. They really had a good time, but we left after 9:30, and they were starting to get crabby. I had awesome hair though! Well, I think so anyway.
Also, I got to see a bunch of people from Burbank who I haven't seen in a while. Sometimes I think I know everyone. Maybe we've lived here too long.
JK. I love it here and I love creating connections with people. One person I saw was a lady that I used to babysit for. She grew up in England, so she seems proper. Her kids were the BEST KIDS EVER! seriously. I used to say that when I had kids, I wanted them to be just like hers. For instance, one time, I was babysitting and before she left, she told the boys to come up from the basement, where they were playing video games, and then came up immediately and then she asked them to sometime before dinner pick a couple of tomatoes out in the garden to go with dinner (like an hour later). They said okay and went back down. Having siblings and knowing how hard it was to obey, I fully expected them to need some coaxing, but instead, they came up like 3 minutes later and ran right out and got them. Other times, I would tell them that it was time for bed and they would run right up the stairs, put pajamas on, brush teeth, and be in their beds before I even checked on them to make sure they were listening. Amazing. Too bad I still don't have awesome kids like that. Maybe Vincent. He hasn't had time to be naughty yet. (the girls aren't normally horrible or anything either; they just don't like to listen.)
Also, on Tuesday, I decided that I wanted something new to wear to the reception, so I packed up the kids and my 30 percent off coupon to Kohl's and off we went. Olivia sat in their carts that have seats in the front and a big bag behind to fill with stuff and Elizabeth pushed her around (not mean though, this time anyway) and Vincent was in the stroller with me. I browsed their awesome (really another awesome, sorry. I love awesome. Maybe I'll use it a few more times too. I like parentheses too obviously) clearance sections. I would pull something off and Elizabeth would be pushing around the racks and check on me to see if I need to put anything in the bag. I filled it up and then we went to try stuff on. I just grabbed a whole bunch of dresses and shirts. The girls would tell me that everything looked cute and pretty (Thanks) and when I said that one was too big, Elizabeth told me that maybe I'll grow into it (Thanks a lot). The girls had little cheap necklaces that the lady at the post office gave them that morning and Olivia's got caught on Vincent's stroller and spilled everywhere. Lucky for me, they were the teeny tiny seed beads. I made the girls clean them all up and put them into a plastic bag and told Olivia that we would make
hers again. I think that they might just go into the garbage though. On the way home from the reception, Elizabeth's broke in the car. Great! So, I ended up with two dresses, eight shirts, and two
polly pocket toys ('cause I'm a sucker for buy a toy, get one half off and kids asked too.) With my 30 percent off coupon, all this was $68 dollars. $8 from the toys, 60 for 10 items of clothing. Awesome! Pretty good shopping day for me. I love good deals! Look at the pictures:
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Here's one of the shirts I bought and it even matches these pants. I'm totally sucking in, you just can't tell. I used my timer on the camera too. I think it works pretty good.
Monday, my friend, Amye, asked me to watch two of her kids while she signed up for college, so they came over and ate lunch with us and played (while I read blogs =) and then she came back and ate too and then we played
Wii Fit (game that has a board with sensors on the floor that helps you exercise and tells you you're obese (Thanks) that a different friend left here on Wednesday for us to borrow. It was fun. Amye took her kids home and Olivia wanted to try it to and just wanted to run the whole time. She wanted me to do that with her and now my calves hurt. bad. Then, my friend,
Janae, who lent the
Wii Fit, called to see if we wanted to play games. I said sure. Her husband has Mondays off, so he came with her and their daughter. We played some Settlers of
Catan with Cities and Knights (we taught them the C and K a couple of weeks ago.) They are only here for the summer and are living with her grandma in our ward. Then, after Andy came home, we went to
McDs for dinner (they have Star Wars toys) and then
Janae and her family came back to play again. I won this time. Yea!
Sunday, Andy had to work, so I
got to take the kids to church by myself. He had to leave before we got up, so I
had to get them ready too. We made it though. The kids were pretty good during church and I really can't complain. I only had to leave once to take Olivia to the bathroom and the lady in front of us held Vincent for me. She offered before the meeting, so I took her up on it. When I came back, he wanted a bottle and she did that too. She's awesome!
When we got home, Andy was there, so I made some lunch for me and feed Vincent some baby food and went to take a nap. Three hours. No interruptions. I love Naps!
After that, we went over to Andy's parent's house for a BBQ with family in town for the wedding. I did the veggie tray. Easy. Andy's sister, Suzie made a dessert that was a banana pudding pie with whipped topping and bananas on top, but the crust was graham cracker with chocolate melted in the bottom so it was hard and
chocolaty and wonderful. Sara made a dessert too. She made brownies with
fudgy topping and peach crisp. It was a yummy BBQ. Then we all visited for a while. Andy had his Uncle Richard from Ohio, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bruce from
Las Vegas, and Aunt Carol and Uncle Roger from
Kennewick. Three more came on Monday. The girls got full of sand out in the garden (which is where the trampoline is) because Elizabeth was throwing it at Olivia. It was all over her and it was hot, so they were sweaty and it stuck to her too. I told Andy not to clean her in the bathtub ('cause it's a pain to clean out so much sand in the bathtub) and to instead hose her down. I left her panties on and the hose had a soft spray and it was so hot. Not torture. Suzie had to hose Dylan off too. Grandma Shirley brought some towels out for them and I got out my emergency bag with fresh clothes.
After we got home, I began my obsession with Olympics lately. I love to watch them and don't like that the announcers nit-pick every little mistake sometimes. I love that they can do the awesome things they do. Especially the ones who are older and can still earn medals. The clock doesn't lie and Phelps. How cool is he. How inspiring and buff and tall and dang fast!
Saturday, we did a dry pack in the afternoon, so
aforementioned babysitter came over and watched our kids for a couple of hours. We only had 50 cans to do this time (so much different
than the 711 cans we had ordered a couple of months ago and had to split the order in two!) Andy and I are in charge, so we go
every time and now we actually have some food storage. I took Elizabeth with me to Kohl's and found a
skort for her, a shirt for Olivia, an outfit for Vincent, and an outfit for one of my friend's babies for (with my 30 percent off coupon that I got to use until it expired) $8. Then, back to home and to dinner at
KFC Taco Bell. Andy really likes their double beef burritos lately. He never used to go there (doesn't like most veggies) so now I get to go all the time. I love Taco Bell. Plus, since we go to that one, we can get corn too and popcorn chicken. YUM! While up there, we stopped in to
Shopko. I found a couple shirts for me at $3.50 each and a shirt for Elizabeth that is Mario's enemies. It matches Andy's a little. Cute.
Friday, Swimming lessons, but before that, we went to the hospital to drop off some copies I made for my grandma, cookies for Grandpa, and a pillow for Grandma. She came and stayed for a little while the previous Wednesday because of a four hour wait between appointments and slept with Elizabeth's flannel pillow with fabric markers on it she made with her preschool friends here for a pajama day. Grandma liked hers and asked where she could get one. I told her I'd make one for her, so I wrote Love on it and put hearts in the corners and polka dots around the edges. Grandma Zora had her operation Friday on her back and is out of surgery now. She had
vertebroplasty (the cement treatment) on two of her vertebrae (L-2 and L-4) where she fractured her back on the 1st of August. She was alert and asking Grandpa questions when I called the hospital. Grandpa said that he thinks the surgery went according to plan and he hopes that it will work. He was so worried about that. We got a call on Saturday asking us to fast and pray for her. I actually did it. I haven't fasted in a long time, with pregnancies, nursing, and plain ole laziness. I think that she's doing better now. Grandpa told me that she has a high tolerance for pain, so when she says she's in pain, she really is in a lot of pain! Elizabeth played with her friend,
Keone across the street, all afternoon, and came home crabby.
Hmm.
Thursay, the 14
th, was swimming lessons, followed by the park to play and eat a little picnic. Elizabeth went over to her friend,
Micha's house afterwards to play for the afternoon. I made lasagna and french bread for dinner with our friends,
Janae and John. We actually ate at 5pm and they ate at 7pm though at our house because the girls and I went to a baptism for a little boy in our ward. The kids kept fighting over the program or something, but they did do a couple of cute things. The Bishop asked "When we get baptized, do we ever do anything bad ever again? Elizabeth said, "
Nnoo." It was cute. Then Olivia kept agreeing with a different talk. The speaker kept asking, Right? So Olivia kept saying, "Yep." What silly girls. Then to our house for more games with
Janae and John.
Wednesday, the 13
th of August, I went Visiting Teaching in the morning. I had to take my kids with me and they have seven girls at their house, so it's the more the merrier anyway, so they went downstairs to play. I went down to get them and they immediately went to the backyard to play. Shoot. So, I waited a minute and then asked them who wanted to be the first in the car. (they are silly and fight over that, but it's a good competition.) They ran right out and got in the car. I like it when they do that. We went and made Grandma's copies at my old print shop and they didn't even charge me, even though Grandma told me that she wouldn't leave them unless she could pay me back.... Then we had our regular game night.
Janae and John came and of course, Nathan and
Robie too.
Janae brought their
Wii Fit, but we didn't play it until after the board game and by then their cute, little girl, Danielle, was too tired to stay up any more. Vincent starts to cry right at the end of games too. What good timing. We liked the
Wii Fit and watched Nathan do some of the funny things on there. Really, we just made fun of the way the trainer talked to us, like, "have you seen
Janae? I haven't seen her in a while." So silly.
Tuesday, swimming, and then I helped my friend with making humanitarian school bags at my house (since I'm the one with 3 kids it's easier to do here) and two other ladies came over (
Janae and an older lady Barbara King.) We took a break in the middle to go across the street to take cookies to the Orton's who live over there. It was Sister Orton's birthday and we got to meet her daughter and her daughter's husband who are living there to help out with Brother Orton for a little while. He has Alzheimer's.
On Tuesday evening, I went over to Shirley's house with Vincent to make a pumpkin with their wood group. She is in charge and often asks me to join them. How sweet. I love to do crafts with her, even though mine are never as cute.
On Monday the 11
th, we babysat Brent and Chris (Andy's cousins-same age as our kids) and took them to swimming lessons with us. Their mom and sister picked them up there. After lunch at home, we went to see my cousin, Danette, in
Hermiston to get some haircuts. We were early (a goal of mine is to always be on time for things) so we stopped in at my uncle's farm store and saw him, my aunt, and two boy cousins. The girls picked out two little animals (a tiger and a horse) and then off to haircuts. Our appointment was at 2pm and we were there until 5pm. Danette cut the girls' hair while I fed Vincent and then deep cleaned and dried my hair while bribing the girls with suckers and then put some color into my hair (
lowlights-just a little more red). I've never had that done before. I did a wash one time, but have never dyed my hair. I guess now I have. Then she straightened my hair too, hence the long appointment. When we pulled into the driveway, Andy pulled in right behind us and he came from Oregon too. It's kinda funny that he didn't pass us on the freeway.
Sunday the 10
th of August, we taught the CTR 5 class (Elizabeth's) and had only three kids there. So many kids were out of town. One of those kids was a visitor. I guess the week before, it was Elizabeth with two teachers all to herself. The kids were good though. We went to dinner at Ransom's again. Yummy. I brought some cookies, but they had raspberry shortcake, so I brought my big container home and then I made more cookies too. Yummy Peanut Butter ones.
I think I'm finally caught up now. Sorry for the super long post. I didn't know I was that far behind. I check everyone
else's everyday, but forget that I do things too.
Oh, and Vincent is 26 inches long and 14 pounds 13 ounces. Kinda little they say. He just has big cheeks, legs, and arms. His tummy is skinny. He's healthy though and loves to eat. I think I've been at this for two hours now. I'd better get some laundry going or something, since Olivia has some trouble down under today. Great......and it's her birthday on Saturday!
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This is my friend, Christy, and her kids- Michelle, Whitley, and Tyler. We like to do things with them. They are so fun!.JPG)
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Olivia is three years old today! She had a little party with some friends and they colored with markers on velvet boxes (from $ Tree), painted with watercolors, and of course had yummy cupcakes. They had a good time together. The little girls decided that they wanted Olivia to open the presents right after the marker coloring though. They couldn't wait any longer. I don't think all of them understood that the presents they brought were for Olivia. Some of them wanted to open it for her..JPG)
The Barbie wouldn't fit in the cake very good because of the ice cream frozen inside. We had to make her lean back too so that the candles wouldn't light the dress on fire..JPG)
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Elizabeth and Olivia were playing outside with their friend, Keone, who is giving them bunny ears. Now they're inside making up some story about Star Wars characters. I can hear them in the Living Room..JPG)
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Tonight we are going to a dinner with the Allen family. Grandma Ellen (Andy's mom's mom) is marrying Paul Allen (not the Microsoft one) this month, so we are doing a get to know each other thing. Sounds like fun to me, especially since I already know most of them because I grew up in Burbank where some of Paul's kids live and where he has lived for 15-20 years..JPG){kind=link}
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