birthday surprises

I have to rave on my hubby a little, I know I have shared tidbits of his romantic side on here before, but his thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze. It reminds me of how lucky I am to have a guy like him in my life! I was in Texas for my birthday, so we weren’t really able to celebrate. However, when I arrived home, not only did I find a spotless house (present enough, I think), but scattered in hiding spots all over the house I found Gerber daisies, with the attached puzzle piece.

I am sorry to report that with all the crazy catch-up from vacation over the next couple days, I wasn’t able to assemble the puzzle…until Friday, that is. This wouldn’t have been a problem, but I had already committed on Thursday night to feed the missionaries that Friday evening. But, this is no surprise, Cody is the romantic, and I am usually unknowingly sabotaging his romancing efforts with my everyday practical life. It works out though, he’s the romantic, I am the realist- we even each other out. And, we rescheduled our date for the next week. :)

Stand in mom

So…I realize I have been an absentee blogger of late, but I have been out of town the last few weeks. My parents went on an impromptu trip to Ireland (!!! I know, right!!!- awesome) and I went down to “babysit”, or rather, chauffeur my younger brother while they were gone. We had a good time, but it made me realize how grateful I am that Rya is only 2; if for no other reason than I still have 12 years reprieve before I have to start taking her to early morning seminary. Nothing against seminary, maybe I am just getting old, but man, waking up at 5:30 am every morning really wiped me out around mid morning. (Respect for all that my mother just continues to grow!)

We did manage to make it down to the beach for a few days of sun and surf. We went with Sterling and Rebecca and Ethan (cutie in the yellow), and Clayton (of course).  It was Rya’s first visit to a Texas beach (we visited one in California, but the weather had us all shivering after an hour or so). The water was warm, the weather was beautiful, and when the kids looked as though they would fall over from exhaustion we had to drag them away. It was a fabulous weekend.

The rest of the time, aside from running Clayton to his countless extracurricular activities, we hung out with Rebecca and Ethan, which both Rya and I enjoyed. But, two weeks as stand in mom for my brother was enough- I will gladly enjoy the simpler pre-teen years we have and just be grateful to my mom for all that she did and still does for me and my siblings.