Dancing with Daffodils

 We had a really nice Thanksgiving week. Last Saturday Josh put up our Christmas lights and I did laundry and we cleaned and packed and bought Curtis some new pants and it was a busy, busy day. Then Sunday we went to church and right afterwards we hurried home, changed and packed up the last of our stuff and headed up to Rochester to visit my family. We didn't stop at all and made it in 7 hours 12 minutes, in time to have a late dinner and get to bed.  Monday we slept in and relaxed and then we went to the mall. Since we don't have one around it was fun to just walk around and shop. Josh got a new winter coat, we got Curtis some basketball sneakers, my mom found a few gifts for the kids, they all picked out books at Barnes and Noble and we got Brandon some new shirts. Then we stopped at Abbott's for a healthy custard lunch and that evening my sister and family came for dinner.  Tuesday morning Josh, my dad and I went to the temple. It was a snowy, beautifully cold morning...

 I haven't really felt like writing lately so here are some highlights of the last two weeks.  1. On Veteran's day we went to D.C. It took a lot of effort to have one entirely free day (no school, no work, no church obligations, no sports, no dance, no social plans) but I made it happen. Last minute an elderly man in our ward died and Josh did try to schedule his visit to the family for that day but we compromised and he went in the evening after we had gotten back. We haven't had a family adventure in awhile and it has been 2.5 years since we've been in the city, which is ridiculous, so I said we were going and going we went. We got Wendy's breakfast sandwiches on the way up and rode the metro in. A guy danced for us in between two stops, which Josh loved. He was good, especially his moon walk, but he didn't have a shirt on and was very sweaty so Lily was very uncomfortable and wouldn't even watch the guy. It was hilarious. We started the day at the Natural...

 Our farewell week of October was pretty standard. Laundry, piano lessons, dance, baseball, groceries, working out at the gym, and replacing light bulbs in all the ceiling fans. When I sum up my life like that, I feel pretty lame but I do keep my family alive and get them where they need to be so I suppose I am pretty useful to them at least. I went over to my friend Olivia's house on Thursday to watch her little kids so she could go out and get a haircut. My friend, Jana, used to help me all the time when my kids were little and hers were in school and I was always so grateful so I'm trying to pay it forward. Olivia's kids don't typically like being without a parent but they were both super happy and we read lots of books and it was good. I guess I did also talk to Shelly for two hours one morning. It was so fun to catch up with her and talk to someone who knows me so well; she was making me laugh so hard and I'm excited to see her in May when she comes to visit.  ...