Catching Up

Oh hi there!...have you been wondering where I've been?  I know, it's been far too long since I've posted anything, but that's because life has been happening around here, and that's a good thing, right?  

So...here's the scoop on the past 10 days that I've been away...

General Conference...
I always LOVE Conference weekend and this one was no exception.  I loved every word of every talk and I have a notebook full of thoughts and inspiration to prove it.  I promise to devote more time to some of those talks in the coming weeks, but for now, I'll have to just say that it was a rejuvenating, uplifting, spirit-filled weekend.

bird rehabilitation...

Last Saturday, the kids found a little cardinal in the front yard whose wing was broken.  He was limping around, so they picked him up and hand fed him blueberries and corn and a few sunflower seeds, and then tucked him safely under a bush near the house.  That night, there was a torrential rain storm and the kids all woke up worried sick about that little bird.  McKay rushed outside to see if there were any signs of his little friend, and lo and behold, a little red bird limped out from behind that bush!  Since rain was predicted through the evening, the kids insisted on bringing the bird into the garage for shelter.  And then they talked Craig into wrapping his wing.  And then there were morning walks in the backyard, and a 5lb bag of birdseed was purchased, and his name became Carlos.  He lived with us for the whole week, until Friday morning when he made a miraculous recovery and escaped both the bandages and the backyard.  Hopefully that will be the end of our bird rescuing. 

death of a microwave...

Apparently the lifespan of a microwave is about 13 years.  It's shocking how much you rely on one little appliance.  It's been five whole days and the leftovers are piling up in the fridge because how can anyone eat those things without a microwave! 

a new couch...

I have a great friend who likes to offload her furniture into our house whenever she gets new stuff.  When her family moved into a new house last year, they gave us their dining room set.  And last week, when they got a new sectional, she texted and asked if we still needed a couch upstairs in our playroom...um, as a matter of fact, we did!  I love it.  The kids love it. And I think the space is going to be used a whole lot more now that there's a couch in it.  I think everyone should have a friend like Amy.  

Sofia...
You know our friends, the Rodriguez's (the ones we went on the cruise with?)  Well, their oldest son, Jacob and his wife Natasha have been expecting a baby for awhile...and for about two weeks Natasha was stuck in the hospital on mega bed rest.  Which was horrible for her, but pretty awesome for me because I got to watch their little Sofia for a whole day!!  

We played at the park...

...ate goldfish...

 ...watched Sofia the First...because it's about Sofia!...

 ...and then she snuggled up and took a nap on my shoulder...sigh...I just love her!

BEST. DAY. EVER. 

oh, and Tasha had this beautiful, perfect little baby, Penelope, on Tuesday morning.  

and then there was strep...
Four kids.  All home sick with varying degrees of viruses and strep throat.  Craig out on a camp out for the entire weekend.  Round the clock antibiotics.  That's it.  


PROM...
On Sunday, with less than a week until Mormon Prom (our church's modest version of real Prom) Savannah decided she wasn't going to wait around one minute longer for a boy to ask her.  So she picked the one she wanted, called some friends to help her, and did something bold and courageous.  

And he said YES!  Yay Savannah!

missionary farewells...
Elder Christensen has been in our ward for 9 whole months!  That's forever long for a missionary to serve in one ward, so we knew our transfers with him were numbered.  On Tuesday, Craig drove him to the missionary exchange site.  Who knew they all met in one place?  It was like a giant reunion.  Craig saw all of our previous missionaries and had to get them together for a picture.  Super fun opportunity for Craig to get to say goodbye to one missionary and get to know our new missionary on the way back home.  

Elders Payne, Maldonado, Wilbur, Saenger, and Christensen (Saenger is going home; hence, the cowboy hat.)

It's been an eventful week and a half, and this wasn't even supposed to be my busy week.  Mega-rehearsal coming up tomorrow night for DMCO.  The concert is on the 26th...more on that tomorrow, hopefully.  Friday is Mormon Prom.  Saturday is EFY Express for the two older girls in Weatherford, TX (wherever that is.)  Sunday is EASTER!  And next Tuesday, my in-laws fly in for a week.  phew...

If, for some reason (like all those up there,) I'm not very prompt with the blog updates, thanks in advance for understanding.  :)