Projects and Things

I am working on keeping up with my blog, so this one will be a shorter entry. Last Friday, we had a carpet lady come and give us a quote and show us samples of carpet for our basement. Having her come really started to make things feel real. We don't know exactly when construction will start, but we are starting to move everything out of the basement. Matthew doesn't have a lot of time, so on Saturday while I was at a baptism, he and Jay went to work clearing stuff out. 

Friday evening we won our last Harry Potter game! We've been working through the expansions and adding the expansions together for several months, and we won! It was a fun game and we had a great time playing together. I love playing cooperative games with Matthew. I'm not great at losing, so I love when we can both win. 

Baptisms are one of my favorite parts of my callings. I love attending them, the Spirit is always so strong and you can see the faith of the little one choosing to follow the Savior. This baptism brought extra feelings for me as he's the oldest in the family followed by three girls. He made me think of Jack, and how much I still rely on Jack for support and help with things and how much I've looked up to him (and still look up to him). This little boy is setting a good example for his sisters, and I hope he continues to! 

When Jack was living with us a couple years ago, he told me if I ever decided to get a new kitchen sink he'd help me install it. For my birthday last year, I opted out of any gifts and asked for money to do things around the house. I made my mantel, bought some fun decor, and still had some money left so I bought a kitchen sink and faucet. Jack and Lindsay came down with the whole crew to help us on Saturday. Matthew had to work, but the kids and Lindsay were awesome helpers with Jay and Hugh while Jack and I worked. Lindsay saved the day by being able to synch up some screws that Jack and I couldn't get. The sink is beautiful, deep, and I love it! The only mishap was Sunday morning I checked for leaks and water was pouring out of the disposal side. I quickly called Jack, and he told me how to tighten it up. Luckily, it was a simple fix and everything is working awesome now! I felt so loved by the Bryce's sacrificing their day to help me. Having a bigger, deeper sink will really be a blessing! I can take Hugh's tray and wash it off without spilling water everywhere - it's amazing! 

Before

After

Saturday evening I spent with Renee and Anastasia. We watched Ever After and chatted. We try to do a night out every couple months, but schedules, sick kids, weather, etc. often causes us to cancel. They are fun ladies and usually we have uplifting conversations, no negative talk, etc. 

Kylee turned 12 this past Sunday! She's officially in young women's, has her ears pierced, and is growing and maturing all the time. She still has a love for life and great energy, which I love! We all gathered at Katey's house to celebrate her birthday. We had a delicious taco salad and crockpot cake. It was a great way to end our fast! It filled my heart seeing all of our family gathered to celebrate Kylee and to be together. Having family close is a huge blessing. The only pic I snagged that night was of Jay and Kade giving hugs goodbye - so cute!

Jay and Kade giving hugs

Monday afternoon I got a call from Mike letting us know Tanner was playing volleyball up in Greeley. Matthew was able to sneak away from work a little early (and then work later at night) to go with us. Jay is getting better at staying on the bleachers, but loved this lady's purse. I was grateful for her kind attitude, and realization he was just curious and wasn't truly trying to steal anything. We enjoyed catching up with Mike and seeing Tanner play. Tanner played great, and men's volleyball just brings a fun and exciting environment. 

Today Matthew got an official offer from Germany! We've been waiting for this day for the past five months! They said we'll be going to Munich from June 1st through August 31st. It's a little slower time for the team there, but it's a very busy time for the team here so it's a blessing for us. We were originally thinking we might be leaving April 1st, which would mean we'd jump from one busy season to Germany, then back to another full busy season. We were willing to do that, although it sounded exhausting. June will be better, it will be summer and Matthew will celebrate his 30th birthday in another country! We feel truly blessed to have this opportunity for our family. When Matthew applied to the program, we saw mountains move for him to get the necessary signatures and the papers filled out in time. It was something that I could never quite forget about, which is often how the Spirit communicates with me. Heavenly Father has been in the details, and continues to be. I am so grateful for His watchful eye over us, and I know He will continue to bless us as we seek to do His will in our lives.

Jay and Hugh continue to be so fun. This first picture is of Jay helping put dishes away. His assignment is always his plates, followed by all the bottles. He does a great job, and I love seeing him learn how to do things. Hugh is a climber, he likes to get onto anything he can! The last picture is of Jay and I going through the car wash. A new car wash opened by us and they're offering free car washes, so we went. Jay was really unsure what he thought about it, but it provided us with some good entertainment when he refused to nap. 

Jay doing the bottles

Hugh looking so handsome on Sunday

Hugh climbing on the rearranged food storage

The car wash!