Dancing with Daffodils

 It's been a week! Josh has been away for work for the last two weeks but he came home last night and it is so wonderful to have him back. Two weeks was kind of a long time but he had a successful trip and made good use of his time. Last week was pretty normal other than him being gone. Piano lessons, band rehearsals, church activities, play rehearsal, basketball, and trip planning. I made copies at school one morning and did a lot of driving back and forth to dance.  Saturday I took Brandon to basketball and Lily to dance and then Brandon and I went to Curtis's game later that afternoon. A cold has been going through our family and so there has been a lot of coughing and stuffy noses so I agreed to let the girls stay home and rest. It wasn't Curtis's best game but he did all right and his team won. That evening I went to the adult session of stake conference and it was wonderful. Our buddy Sam spoke and Sister Flake's talk on the power of covenants was so real and ...

 Monday was a wonderful day. I had so much to do but my mom and dad helped me and it was amazing. Dad offered to go get the oil changed in my van, Mom made Brandon's birthday cake for me, I wrapped presents and did laundry and taught piano. Mom even made most of dinner while I was teaching and I felt so spoiled. We had Brandon's official birthday dinner Monday since the girls have dance Tuesday nights so we had chicken pillows and then Brandon opened his presents. He received a new back pack, LEGOS, a robot book, Lily got him a hat like hers from NYC that he loves and Emma offered to do his Saturday job one week. We got him some scriptures with a case and also some little squishmellows that he was so excited about.  His actual birthday was Tuesday and we sang to him at breakfast and then I took lunch to him at school with a milkshake. They still won't let parents into the cafeteria so I signed him out and he ate in the car with me and my mom. He's such a sweet little gu...

 New Year's day was a bit tough since we switched back to early church and had to get up. I love afternoon church and am trying really hard not to be sad that we have to go in the morning now. But I had promised my kids we would watch Holiday Inn, which is an old movie that I love and it starts and ends on New Year's Eve so we came home from church and watched it. They weren't so sure they could do black and white but they all ended up liking it. Then my parents came and it has been great to have them here. Sunday we just talked and had dinner and then we watched the first half of our family 2023 movie. Josh put all of our videos together and made a movie and so we watched January through April, which was so fun because a lot of it was our CA trip.  Monday we just hung around and played games and watched the Rose Parade (some day I really want to go in person) and relaxed. I felt this weight looming over my head all day knowing it was back to school and real life the next d...