Aaron earned his Bear award in Cub Scouts. It's such a thrill to stand up and have him give me those little pins because the proud look on his face is priceless! He has already had his Webelos book out planning what to work on next.
Dad came down for Jake's birthday, and brought me a wonderful present: DIRT!!! I love it! I asked for it for Christmas and I think he thought I was deranged. But our stinky little patch of earth has no dirt, just a couple of inches of poor topsoil and yucky white rock. So it was way too expensive to put in a garden. Dad and Janet not only brought me dirt, they helped me dig out the old concrete dog run and put in the garden. I am tickled pink! I think it will have just enough room to grow ingredients for salsa. Yippee!
Spring Break found us dispersed in different directions. I went South to The Woodlands(Houston area)to a Time Out for Women. It was a wonderful weekend, spent away from the frantic pace of our regular schedule. Teryl and I had some adventures before the seminar started on Friday. We started by just wandering down the highway, tried shopping in Old Spring, and met a lovely lady at the tourist bureau there who recommended we visit the National Museum of Funeral History. I didn't know what to think, she had a huge smile on her face, and seemed absolutely serious that we should go. (was she messing with me?) Well, for lack of a better idea on a cold drizzly day, we went, knowing it would be an adventure we'd never have if we had kids along.
We pulled up to an empty parking lot, and noticed this sign
We took a moment to ponder if the "training institute" part of the sign might have something to do with the empty parking lot. There were some interesting exhibits in the museum, including the funeral bus. Designed to hold the casket, pall bearers and mourners, it was retired after an incident in which the mourners didn't appreciate having the body end up on top of them. Weird.
We also enjoyed a side trip to the Houston Temple, which was closed for maintenance, but we strolled the grounds anyway. They are just lovely, with really nice seating areas outside in the trees.
And after all that, we still got to be uplifted by the Time Out for Women speakers and musicians. Sometimes the insight that other people have into the scriptures just blows me away. I know the whole program is geared to increasing Deseret Books sales, and promoting their authors, but that's fine. I'll bite, buy books and enjoy it. Seems like I learn something from Sheri Dew every time I hear her. What a gift she has!
While I was away, William took the kids to Vicksburg to see his folks. It was part of our not so devious plan to do a makeover on Jake's room without his knowledge. We had to prime the walls before I left, so he knew he was getting painted, but I think he was truly surprised when he came home and it was fixed up with a shark theme. It was kind of strange coming home to a quiet house-notice I didn't say anything about not enjoying it. I had lots of fun painting and playing in his room at all hours of the day and night. I didn't do anything fancy, but he was so excited when he came home it was very worth it. Here's a couple of pics of his new decor:
In Mississippi, the kids had a great time with William's folks. His Uncle Lynn and Aunt Peggy came to visit, and his sister Laura and her husband Ronny were there as well. (sorry, no pics yet, I had the camera)They were spoiled rotten with crawdad boil for dinner, oreo balls for dessert, and Grandma played Triominoes with Aaron for hours. Yes, math based games are Aaron's idea of heaven. Sam loved the crawdads and went on and on about them when she got home. No fair! The boys "taught" Ronny how to play football. They claim he enjoyed it, we hope he won't run the other way next time he sees them coming. Sam managed to meet cute boys in the ward there, who Grandma reported had sudden mysterious needs to borrow sugar, newspapers, and other items that they needed to walk over and get for their parents. Sadly, Will and the kids had to return home Tuesday so William could go back to work. I have to admit, by then I was sick of the quiet house and thrilled to have them back home!
On top of all that, baseball season has begun. The boys are practicing a couple of times a week. That along with Will's new calling in Young Men's means we are home together 1 night a week tops. Glad we were able to slow down and enjoy the end of Spring Break together before the crazy schedules started up again. It's good to have everyone growing up and having great activities, but we sure appreciate quiet family time a lot more these days.
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