Overview

The whirlwind is gone and the aftermath is cleaned up. Everything is back to where it was before and I am starting to relax. I would go for my walk today but it is sleeting outside. When I use the term sleet, I am referring to the British definition of the word which is what I grew up using- a mixture of rain and snow. It is like slush falling from the sky. Today's version of sleet has a little more snow that rain since the ground is white. Not the best weather for a three mile walk, but I might just find an umbrella and make myself go anyways because I need to get back on track and the fresh air would be good for me. Meanwhile I will continue to procrastinate on the walk issue and get this blog post up before March is over.

I will post one or two photos from each day. Each of these days could really be a post of there own, but that is what happens when you stop blogging for 10 days. You learn a lesson. Next time I would really like to just post a quick update with photos every few days. We'll see if that happens or not.

On Monday I got my hair cut. I have before photos but haven't taken an after photo yet. I will try and remember to take one soon and post it for you because I know you care about stuff like that. (not)

These little darlings are David, Esther and Luke from over here. I babysat them here on Monday evening while I finished cleaning my house from top to bottom, hanging artwork, doing laundry, moving the decorations around my house and baking. They are good kids, so yes I really could keep doing those things while looking after them at the same time!

"I'm a man with a pretty necklace" he stated as he posed for this photo wearing sparkly gold beads. I can imagine his mothers face is a little pink as she reads this. :)

She is wearing my mother in laws old sunglasses upside down. I love playing dress up!

Hello there Little D!

On Tuesday I was sitting in my car at the Abbotsford, BC airport at 8:32 am when my sister's airplane flew across the sky right in front of me. Excuse the dirty windshield. I was quite relieved to see her plane land because a lady with a neon yellow vest and a mini clipboard had been following me around. The airport no longer has free parking so I was changing parking spots every 10 minutes as I waited for my sister. I probably burned more gas than the parking fee would have cost, but I didn't have any change and refused to use a credit card in those silly machines that take forever before they actually charge your card.

Once my sister and I were finally on our way into the USA we decided to go straight to the Seattle Premium Outlets. We shopped there for a while and then made our way to Ross Dress for Less and Famous Footwear in Burlington, Ross Dress for Less in Bellingham as well as Bellis Fair Mall before heading home. Once we were home we piled all our bags on top of the washer and dryer. After eight hours of shopping, this is what we had. One notable fact is that my sister bought five pairs of shoes, which she posted about here.

Wednesday was food preparation day. This is Drooler's mommy mixing up a massive recipe of carrot cake. That full bowl is the wet ingredients, she is working on the dry ingredients bowl and later, there was another huge bowl of the carrots and other things that were mixed in. What a crazy job. They turned out great though! I hope she forgives me for posting a photo of herself wearing one of those lovely hair nets. LeAnne has a bunch more photos she is going to email me, so check back for some more beauties. We all went over food handling safety in the form of a quick course on Lord's day afternoon, so there was a lot more hair net wearing, hand washing and general kitchen tidiness and safety.

Drooler trying out the car seat that will someday hold his baby sister. I got it for free from my neighbor. I have no clue where the blanket came from, but he sure liked it.

PC wanted in on the fun. Tickle Tickle!!!

On Thursday the Mr. picked my parents up at the airport while Kim and I slept in made 12 dozen cookies for conference. Once they were at the house we had brunch and then went to Fairhaven for the afternoon. I love Fairhaven. I have been there many times, but this was the first time I saw the photo booth and the statue.

This is Kim. There were supposed to be a few photos of me with the statue as well, but for some reason I can't find them.

Why anyone would cover up brick with stucco I'll never know! I am glad the brick is showing it's face once again. It is so beautiful.

Daffodils are showing their blooms all over the place now. I actually have one little mini daff blooming in my front yard, but the mini ones don't last long. I can't wait for the tulips! Maybe this year we will be able to make it to the Tulip Festival.

This building in Fairhaven had beautiful old light fixtures.

This is Rupert. I fell in love with him while loitering in our favorite toy store. We always spend quite a bit of time in this store. There is always one employee out on the floor playing with toys, and that is part of their job description. The fun part about it is that you are introduced to a lot of fun new toys, or reminded about fun ones from your past. Mom secretly bought the flying squirrel puppet and squished him in her purse for me. She brought him out later while we were in the car and I was so excited. He is adorable and looks pretty freaky with his beady eyes and real looking fur. Mom helped us name him Rupert and now I have a feeling he is somewhat of my mascot and might just wind up in lots of places in the future. Currently he has a home proudly displayed on top of my bookshelf with a pile of books and some bird houses. He always has a pose like he is about to karate chop something, which I think is hilarious.

Thursday night was the official start of the conference. Supper was served and there was a prayer meeting after.

Drooler sitting in Emma's car seat, holding Emma. He loves babies.

Look at all the kids! There was a crazy amount of kids at the conference and it was so much fun. It was freezing outside, so you can imagine how many more are inside the building running around in the warmth.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were wonderful. In the reading meetings we took up the Upper Room Ministry in John 13 and 14. It was really good to go over these things again and the ministry is so incredibly practical. I hope that each one came away with something. I know I did. I plan to listen to some of the meetings over again, especially the moments I missed here and there. There were words spoken from many different brothers and each one had a word that touched my heart. I seemed to really need the spiritual food that this conference fed me, so it was very enjoyable. Speaking about food :) once again the ladies here did their own catering for the seven meals during the conference. I must say that I was very impressed with the planning and carrying out of the meals. Thank you for all your hard work D and Aunt K. Your organizational skills in the kitchen blow me away. Thanks to everyone else that worked hard in the kitchen as well as in other areas during the conference to help it run smoothly.

Kathy, Margaret, LeAnne, Myeisha, Kimberley and Gwynne. I think I butchered spellings, but you get the point. I love to see young people at conferences and it brings back a lot of memories for me. Conferences were my favorite when I was in YP.

Princess' babies. This was my first time to see the new baby. He is just 1 month old! Such a snuggler and so adorable.

I got to hold Little A while Phi had some help from mommy.


My dear friend Kasia took this photo of Little A and me. Thanks Kasia!

Ok, excuse me while I go a little baby crazy as usual. Doesn't he make a cute little cabbage patch?

Good morning! Did my flash bother you?


Sunday night Phone Guy, Princess, Phi and Little A came to spend the night and Little A had his first introductionary taste of XBox 360. See him down there all nestled in between the guys?

On Monday* The Mr., my dad and Phone Guy played a couple rounds of disc golf at Cornwall Park. Kim was still in BC with her friends. Mom and I spent the time shopping at Ross, and then they came and picked us up and dropped us off at Bellis Fair mall Kohls. I highly suggest Kohls because so far both times I have been there, I have bought all my items at 70-90% off. This time I got two shirts for $6.70. I especially like the brand Sonoma.

On Tuesday we went to Mt. Baker and found some amazing snow in the Canyon but that is going to be a separate post, because judging from the size of this post, most of you would not like it if I uploaded another 7 photos to add to it! My sister and parents flew out Wednesday morning and I miss them now. (Come back soon!)

*edit: I forgot to add that while we were sitting and eating breakfast on Monday, we recieved a call from my cousin Amy in Idaho. She explained to me that her brother Rob was in Blaine of all places! He was on his way to see a friend on the Island, as well as my Uncle and Aunt who live there, and broke down. We went and picked him up so he could have a warm place to rest for the day, as he had been driving through the night. He ended up getting rid of his car and Amy's hubby Casey came all the way from Idaho (10 hours) to pick him up, turn around and drive straight back. Not so cool for Rob or Casey, but cool for me because it had been quite a while since I had seen Rob and I got to meet Casey for the first time.