Holey Moley!

It's been a while since I've blogged....what else is new? I can't seem to find time to blog regularly. Sorry about that for anyone who keeps checking and I haven't changed my post.
Matthew's sleepover went well. We had such a good time with him. On Friday night, we met him at Dan's office and we picked him up. He was so jazzed!! Our first stop was Target. He knew what he wanted and where to get it. Luckily they had one! It was the last one on the shelf. He got a Star Wars gun of some sort. I'm sure it has a name, but I have no idea what it is. It comes in several pieces and the gun itself can be configured in various ways. Before we left the parking lot, it was out of the box, batteries inserted, and gun assembled! He played with it ALL the way home and ALL day on Saturday. We were glad to take the gun (not Matthew) home on Saturday so someone else could listed to the "laser" sound of the gun. We went to dinner...pizza, of course, and the home to watch a movie. Matthew chose Kit Kitteredge. It was a cute movie....it's an American Girl movie, but it was good for any audience...not just girls! That night it started to rain...a lot! When we left here on Saturday morning, it was POURING and it rained all the way to Fiddlestix. That's where Matthew wanted to go for his birthday activity. He wanted to use the batting cage, drive a go cart and play miniature golf. We were afraid it wouldn't be possible, so on the way, we started making alternate plans. However, by the time we got the car parked, it had stopped raining. We purchased his wristband and bought a couple of games of miniature golf for me and Mark. We went to the batting cages first. He got 5 tokens to use and each token was supposed to get him 20 pitches. He put in the first token and probably got 300 pitches from it! We mentioned it to the workers, and they said, "Go for it!" It never stopped, but Matthew got really tired swinging the bat! So we let the next family continue on our token. They were still batting the last we saw! The next stop was the go carts. Luckily, it had dried up enough that they let Matthew go on the ride. He was the only one of the race track, which probably wasn't as fun as it could have been if there had been others to "race". The worker got him going and told us he could ride as long as we wanted him to. He took MANY laps and finally asked to stop. Funny. So he got his fill of batting and driving all in one day! Then we played a round of miniature golf. Of course, Matthew won! By that time, it had started raining again, so it was time to go after the round of golf. Then we went to lunch...he chose pizza at Sam's Club. Funny kid! And we headed back to his house to return him home. It was such a fun day....at least for us....and I think for Matthew. Happy Birthday, Matt!
On Sunday, we had our family dinner here. We were celebrating Brian's birthday (which was on the 7th), and he requested burgers and brats. Yum! Then on Monday, Brian and Kamille went with Dad and Aunt Dovetta to Seven Springs to gather some prickley pears. Brian and Kamille have been wanting to learn how to process them and make jelly. So this was their chance. We had their kids while they went. Cactus and kids don't mix well. They were able to pick all they wanted and went back to Dad's to learn how to get the juice from the pears and process it so they could make jelly. They were successful. They came here and picked up the kids and went home to process the rest of the prickley pears. And last Saturday, Kamille made jelly! Yumm! One batch didn't set up too well (a risk of prickley pears), so we had prickley pear syrup. I can hardly wait to make some waffles or pancakes and try it out.
Mark had a job at the arena on Tuesday. It was a NickelBack concert. Don't know a thing about the group, but I went down and met him for dinner around 9 pm. He picked up salads at Shane's Rib Shack and I picked up sodas. We ate in the parking lot near the intersection where he was directing traffic for the evening.
Wednesday morning I went to Erin's and we (along with Hattie and Ellie) went to her friend, Rachel's house, where Rachel and Terri threw a baby sprinkle (small shower) for Erin and another friend, Kari. It sure was fun. Erin's so fortunate to have such good friends who love and support her. They all used to be in the same ward, but due to several ward divisions, they are all in three different wards now. But that doesn't seem to matter....they all look out for and take care of each others' needs.
On Thursday, I went visiting teaching. I got to go with my new partner, Margaret Jackson. She's so fun! We visited Linda and Jenny and then we went to Margaret's house where we waited for our visiting teachers, Eileen and Joyce to come. Margaret and I visit Joyce and Joyce and Eileen visit both me and Margaret. It worked out well.
Friday was Grandparents Day at Abby's and Dallin's school. Mark took off work and we both went to have lunch with the kids. It was fun to see them interacting with their friends and teachers.
I spent Saturday with Jan teaching a Zutter Fun class. Then that night was a multi-stake Laurel/Priest activity at Polar Ice. It didn't start until 9 pm, so it was a LONG day. I got to visit with Erin and several friends that night, so it wasn't too bad.
Sunday morning was Abby's and Dallin's Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. So we headed out their EARLY. They did well both singing and Abby with her speaking part. Then we rushed back to our ward where I taught in Relief Society. Whew! And in the afternoon, all of the kids and grandkids came over for Sunday dinner. We had an easy-cooking meal...rotisserie chicken from Costco, Rice-a-Roni, fresh corn and Brian and the kids made cookies and brought ice cream. We had a great time. Thanks, everyone, for coming!!!
Then on Monday this week, I went to Erin's house about 9:30 am. We spent until after 4:30 cooking, if you can believe it! Erin had planned out several recipes and had all of the ingredients ready and we put together 20+ meals to put in the freezer to feed their family after the baby arrives. It was a very tiring day, but it felt so good to be so productive. By noon, both of us had aching feet, but I think it was worth the work and effort. Poor Hattie and Ellie, though. They felt very neglected that day.
Tuesday this week found us at another school for Grandparents' Day. We had lunch with Matthew and Emma. It was a fun time. I guess when they came home from school, they couldn't stop talking about the fun time they had at lunch with us!
Today I got a haircut, then went to pick up papers from Brian. We stopped by Erin's to drop off a rug that Dad had made for her new baby's room. It turned out to be the perfect colors. It looks so cute in her room. Then Mark and I went junkin' to a couple of places and other than one really sweet Little Golden Book score, we didn't find much today. Boo! Then we came home and I've been grinding wheat. Erin and I are baking bread tomorrow! Does it ever end? I don't think so!!
Oh, I almost forgot. I picked up my new glasses today. I'll have Erin take a picture tomorrow and I'll post it for you, Courtni!!
Have a great rest of the week. I think I need a nap! Just reading what I've been doing makes me tired. And yes, I took some pictures, but they aren't downloaded yet. I'll post them later....maybe. :)