Hello 2024
Friday was lovely though. Josh and I went with Matt and Michelle to the temple and it was a wonderful day. The drive was fun and being in the temple was wonderful and then we went and un-decorated our stake Christmas tree at the visitor's center. We even had time to stop for milkshakes on the way home and still made it in time to pick Lily up from tap. It was a great day all around.
Saturday we were back to dance and both boys had basketball games. It was also the stake youth activity so Josh drove Curtis up after his game and hung out for a bit then came home since both kids had a ride home. They both had so much fun and Curtis even asked a girl to dance! I was shocked. I really thought he would end up in the game room and be anti-social but he danced and I was very proud of him. While they were gone Brandon invited Eli and Ethan over to play and Emma had Delaney over and it was a fun, younger-kid kind of night with them just playing.
Sunday we slept in and enjoyed being back to afternoon church! Church was good and then pretty much right after Lily and I went up to the White Plains building and met Josh there so that she could receive her patriarchal blessing. I was so excited because the only one I've ever heard before was my own so I was looking forward to the experience again. It was simple and sweet and just what Lily needed to hear. She was emotional about it on the way home and I'm excited for her to get the written copy in the mail soon. It was special and I've been reading mine again and I'm just so grateful for all that I was told and especially the feeling of Heavenly Father speaking just to you; it is so beautiful.
Then it was Brandon's birthday! His actual birthday was Wednesday but it was such a busy day we had his special dinner and presents and ice cream cake Tuesday night (incidentally I had already signed up to have the sister missionaries over that night so they joined in the fun with us). Then Wednesday morning I took him and Emma out for bagels and smoothies at Panera before school and he took cupcakes to his basketball practice that night. He's such a good, sweet boy. He is easy going and fun to be around and he gets along with everyone. He brings a great spirit of peace and calm to our home and love and I'm so grateful for him. It was a low-key birthday celebration but he was happy and hopefully felt loved.
Saturday was a busy day. Lily had dance and then I had to play for and Josh had to conduct a baptism. I have played the piano at a lot of baptisms and it is nice to be there and support our ward members. Then we picked Lily up and then Josh took Lily and Brandon to his game while I took Emma and Curtis to his game. Brandon had a good game and even took his first shot, although he missed. Curtis's team played Max and Quintin's team so we had friends there and Michelle's crew came too so it was super fun. Curtis played really well and I was bummed that Josh and I had to leave early. He needed to go to a senior service missionary conference at the temple visitor's center and wives were invited so I went with him because Michelle offered to take our kids for the evening. It was nice to spend some time together and the conference was informative. It was also nice to just be with great people and hear wonderful testimonies of service and sacrifice. They served dinner too and it was pretty good and we met a cool couple who serve in the temple and live on Kent Island. Every Saturday night in January has church activities and that is just kind of our life right now. I love the gospel and the church and appreciate opportunities to serve but it will be nice to be able to go out on a real date in February. :) The kids had so much fun with their friends and Josh was thrilled to have my company while he fulfilled his church responsibilities so everyone was happy.
Sunday was a challenging day for me but yesterday we went on a family adventure to celebrate Brandon's birthday. We took Eli and Ethan with us and went to the Air and Space Museum annex in Virginia. We haven't been there in 10 years so it was time to go back and we had fun. We walked around for about 2.5 hours and especially enjoyed seeing the space shuttle, the Concord, and the X-1 (first plane to fly super sonic by Chuck Yeager at Edwards). The Enola Gay is there and that history is interesting and there were lots of helicopters and military aircraft, including the SR-71 which is a cool plane. The boys had fun running up and down the stairs and riding the elevator too and Lily especially liked the observation deck where you can see planes coming in to land at Dulles. It was snowing so that made it even prettier if not very clear. The weather was getting kind of gross but we drove into Arlington and went to Cafe Rio for an early dinner. Brandon loves their horchata so it was a special birthday treat for him but we all loved it and were happy to eat there. Then it was kind of a long drive home because of the snow and we had to drop the boys off at home so it took awhile but we made it with no problems. We were thrilled to find out we had a delay so we got in our pjs and watched Fixer to Fabulous. Then Josh and I watched the Bills game and it was pretty exciting. Also in good news is that Josh was on jury duty all last week and this week and hasn't had to go in because there haven't been any cases. Just three more days and then he will have that worry done.
Happy birthday to sweet Brandon!
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