It's a Wonderful Life

Last weekend started out with a Friday afternoon run on the treadmill.  Because it was pouring rain, I did the whole thing on the treadmill which really wasn't the smartest thing.  I run very differently on the treadmill than I do on the street, so I was not ready for 10 miles of that.  It gave me shin splints!  Oh well, with the sickness I got last night, I guess I would've taken a break from running this week anyway.   And Friday night, Erik and I saw Gravity.  It was probably tensest little movie I've ever seen, but it's also pretty great! How much do I love date nights with this guy?  A whole ton and then some! Oh yeah and the Alamo had a new fall menu!  I ordered the burrito and was very happy with it :)  So yeah, these are the things that get me really excited in life. Saturday morning was Austin Staker's baptism!  He is such a sweet boy!  I was humbled that they asked me to give the Holy Ghost talk (the...

Last week Erik had a work trip from Monday morning until late Thursday night.  That is definitely not my favorite thing.  With the kids being a little older now, I don't feel like I need the physical help with managing the kids like I have in the past, but we just plain miss him while he's gone!  And by the end of the Thursday night, yeah, I was ready for some bedtime help again :) Tuesday, we had play group at Virginia Farm Market to check out their pumpkin patch.  Anna and Wyatt picked out their pumpkins (I still need to take Jackson somewhere to find his). I could just stare and stare at his face if I could! A little sunny! Rolling, rolling, rolling! Wyatt was having fun with the little maze. On Tuesday night, Jackson had a make up game.  He did a great job! On Wednesday, Anna I went to the mall and we were both enjoying the Christmas displays at Hallmark.  I can't wait until Christmas time!!! A...

So even though this was the 7th (!) General Conference I have experienced here on the east coast, I still have a hard time figuring out how to do our Conference traditions with the later time (basically the traditions are a good breakfast during morning session and a picnic lunch between sessions).  I know, I just need to get over it, and over time this will be become just as normal.  One thing that is kind of nice, is that we have a Saturday morning to get a couple of things done before the first sessions which starts at noon.  Jackson had a soccer game, I ran, and we just straightened up around the house.  A tradition that has worked well for our kids is to get a small art project or coloring book new for the weekend.  This year the kids picked out a new coloring book that they were excited about.  We also have the special words that they can listen for and get a corresponding skittle.  Yup bribing with candy is the name of the game around here :...

The Sunday after camping Jackson woke us up wheezing pretty bad.  His cough had gotten worse-- to the point I thought he should get seen by a doctor.  So while Erik was gone at church, I took ALL THREE KIDS to Urgent Care (I know absolutely crazy!).  I prepped for it by taking a big bag of books and puzzles so the kids wouldn't be tempted to play with the germ infested toys that would be there. It was stressful and boring during the hour or so wait before we were seen.  And guess what?  During that hour Jackson's wheezing actually got better!  Ugh!  The Dr. gave him an antibiotic, but I never even ended up giving it to him.  The whole thing was pretty frustrating.  We had a few sweet moments at home though when I had the kids pick out Friend articles for us to read together.  Seriously the Friend magazine is like the best thing ever!  I also made my first batch of soft pretzels.  They were so delicious and it was pretty muc...

Two weekends ago, we grabbed the chance to go camping.  Jackson had an early dismissal day and his Saturday morning soccer game happened to get canceled so it was the perfect weekend.  However, Jackson ended up getting the cold that kept Wyatt home earlier in the week and stayed home from school on Friday. His high fever that was the worst on Thursday night seemed to be leveled out all day Friday, so we still went and hoped it was a good idea! We went to a great place that we had never gone before.  It was only about 20 minutes away and a beautiful, clean campsite.  Our site was right next to a field which was a perfect place to play around in while Erik got everything set up. We even brought some wheels! Selfies while we were hiding during a game of hide and seek :) We had a great dinner of grilled teriyaki chicken, rolls, potato salad, and garden salad.  Then of course we had to bust out the marshmallows! Yum! ...