A Girls Only Weekend

This was actually at the end of our OMSI visit - can you tell?

Angela loved this "hearing" game.

There is a Da Vinci exhibit at OMSI presently. It was too busy for us to get in, but we found this funny picture place with the Mona Lisa. (o:

Last week, we got the sad news that Halbert's* grandma passed away. She has been suffering for a while now, so it was a blessing for her, but it is still sad to lose her. The same day that we got the news, I found out that my grandpa is not doing well either. (This all also happened right around the same day that Angela had her illness - it was a crazy week.) So we have had our extended family on our minds a lot this last week and a half. We struggled to decide if we should all drive, fly or just send Halbert* to Utah for the funeral. I wanted to be there so bad, but driving for just the weekend sounded insane and flying us all out there would have cost so much. Especially considering that I may need to go out again soon if my grandpa continues to decline. So last Friday, we were sad to say goodbye to Hal* while he went to represent our little family. I hope grandma will know how much we wanted to be there too. I think it worked out for the best, however. Funerals, while good learning opportunities, are not the greatest place to vacation with kids. As soon as Hal* arrived in Utah with his big sis from Washington D.C. - they went to make sure the body looked good and was ready for the next day. One of many things that would have been hard or not good to do with the kids. Halbert got to speak at the funeral and it sounded like it was a very nice reunion with family he hasn't seen in a long time. I really wish I could have seen everyone too. My family enjoyed getting a visit from Hal* on Sunday night and then we got him back home on Monday.

Despite the sad circumstances, I decided to keep busy and try to do fun things with the kids over the weekend to pass the time.

On Friday night, I attended a baby shower for my friend, Heidi! I was so excited to see her as she was visiting from Colorado for the first time since her move. We've been friends for years - since Sarah was a toddler, she was my piano teacher and she's the one who got me into doing our regular posts and now blogging. It was so fun to see her and to see so many good friends from the Quatama ward, who don't live far away, but I don't see often. Oh, by the way, I didn't leave the girls home by themselves, in case you were wondering since Hal* left that day. I called up one of my young women and the girls had a lovely time while I got some grown up girl time. After the shower, Tina and I stopped to get a Jamba Juice (I just HAD to break a $20 so I could pay the babysitter - it was necessary. (o: ) and then Tina watched the girls while I took Tana home. Hey - Tina and Tana! Anyway, that was kind of dorky - moving on... Tina and I ended up hanging out and talking until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, I can't remember. It was so much fun. It's amazing how much we can find to talk about. I remember politics, kids and infomercials for the "Snuggy" were some of the conversations we had! (o: (Has anyone seen that infomercial for the blanket with sleeves? It makes us laugh so hard - it looks like someone dressing up in a Jedi outfit. Kind of dorky - but if you own one, I'd love to try it out - I'm a dork, you know.)

The next day, I took the girls to OMSI (see photos above) and we had a lovely time. It was very busy, so it was a little stressful keeping track of everyone, but I've trained my girls not to wander, so we had a pretty good time. We discovered this whole huge room I didn't even know existed that is similar to the Children's Museum. We'll definitely go back a lot with our family pass. We also picked up a couple little gifts for daddy's birthday at the store. That night, after Sarah and Natalie helped make a lovely dinner of pigs in a blanket, I had the girls all snuggle up on my bed and watch Anastasia while I painted the hall! I wanted to surprise Hal*, so I got ambitious. Our upstairs hall has been bugging me for a long time and I have some cute frames and "Language Art" all ready to put up now that it's done! It took about 3 hours, so I finished up while the girls tried going to sleep. I really hoped to watch "Stranger Than Fiction" which I got from the library, but at midnight after such a busy day, I could not keep my eyes open. Two nights in a row I went to bed so exhausted that I had no energy to be nervous about sleeping alone. That was a good thing. (o:

Sunday was exhausting. I took all the girls to church an hour early to attend a Laurel class presidency meeting. (Hint: don't take your kids to meetings, unless you HAVE to like I did!) And with daylight savings we had even less time in the morning to get ready - especially considering how late we were all up. Sooo, Sarah didn't get her "fancy" day and was a bit sad, but I will make it up this week for her. I was smart and cancelled a previously planned presidency meeting (with my adult presidency) that night. We had a lovely dinner of crepes and talked about how good it would be to have daddy home again.

There's nothing like having your husband gone for a little bit to make you appreciate and love them even more than before. We are so happy to have daddy back and we are glad that the funeral and visit with family went well.