February 5, 2019

John was gone for most of last week to a training in SanDiego.  Things were fairly calm while he was away.  The kids went to school.  I went to work.  I drove the kids around and we did homework and made valentines boxes in the evenings. And usually by 8:00 I was tired and done and we all went to bed early.  (So that I could watch TV in bed in peace and quiet.)

This summer Owen and Ainsley will go on trek with our stake.  The big kick off fireside was on Sunday night.  I’m excited for Ainsley and Owen to be going this year.  Although it feels strange to be sending them and not going this time.  I’m glad John and I got to experience it last time so I know how to prepare them though! At the fireside the kids were encouraged to start working on finding an ancestor to “trek for”. So on Tuesday afternoon a family history leader from our ward (Sister Knorpp….who is fabulous) came over to help Owen and Ainsley learn to find some names to take to the temple.  Ainsley did a project for her English class last semester on her family history and where she came from.  She has an incredible amount of knowledge about her ancestors, but was lacking knowledge on how to find names to take to the temple.  I think now she is set and ready to go.  Owen was mostly interested in checking a box and having a name to trek for.  Maybe as he gets a little older he’ll start to have more of a desire to be connected to his ancestors.

Thursday night I picked John up from the airport and he wasn’t feeling great. He went to work on Friday and gave his training but by that night he was feeling even worse. I spent Friday night on the phone with the lovely people of sprint haggling over phone prices for nearly 3 hours.  It was horrifying, but in the end I got what I wanted.  That night we gathered up our snow gear as we were planning on driving to McCall for the winter carnival the next morning. The plan was to meet up with my parents who were already up there.  Unfortunately that trip just wasn’t meant to happen.  We got up early and started getting ready.  John felt horrible and so we decided that I would just take the kids. And then at about 7:30 we got a call from my dad telling us that my mom had been sick and throwing up all night and on top of that it had been raining.  The snow sculptures were melting and it was a muddy mess.  We decided against fighting the crowds and the traffic and had a free day at home instead.  We did a few chores that morning and then I took the kids to lunch and the dollar movie to see the Fantastic Beasts movie…finally. And John stayed home and slept.

Saturday night I ate a pear.  Which normally wouldn’t be a huge deal.  Except over the last year I’ve self diagnosed myself with something called oral allergy syndrome.  Basically my body thinks I’m allergic to fruits and nuts that mimic characteristics of a pollen I’m actually allergic to seasonally.  The fruits I have to be careful with are apples, cherries, pears, and occasionally almonds.  But on Saturday night I really wanted a pear.  So I ate one.  Within 5 minutes my lips swelled up to the size of Kansas and they didn’t shrink completely back to normal until Sunday afternoon!  I went to church Sunday morning but I was self conscious and tried to avoid talking to people and to keep my lip tucked in.  It was crazy!  The swelling has  never lasted that long before or gotten that big before!  Next time I think I’ll pass on the pear.  Sad.

We also watched the super bowl with my parents this week.  John stayed home and rested and I took the kids.  I don’t really like the Super Bowl.  I honestly couldn’t care less about it.  But I do have fond memories of my grandma and grandpa Welch coming to watch the super bowl with us when I was growing up.  We would always have hoagie sandwiches and my mom would butter and toast the bread which I loved.  And we would always have Doritos.  Which I loved.  Clearly I loved food as a child!  I wonder what random memories my children will carry with them about seemingly insignificant moments…like the 2019 Super Bowl.

And last but not least a funny story that I remembered about Emmie last week.  Last summer we were camping with the Demars family at Sagehen reservoir.  We like camping there with the Demars because we use them for their kayaks and canoes. Plus we enjoy their company!  One day Emmie was with John and me and we were canoeing across the reservoir.  I’m not sure where Emmie thought we were going but she was clearly disappointed.  Because at one point she looked up and called out slightly agitated, “where the hell are we?!” John and I about died laughing! We never talk like that at home! Somehow that girl has quite a mouth on her!