Fun Weekend

So this past weekend has been pretty darn exciting. You'd think the first thing I'd have done when it was over would be to sit down and write it. But no. The first thing my body did to me after a fun weekend was over was to hunker down and get sick.... AGAIN. I seriously just got over a stupid cold no more than two weeks ago, so the past couple of days I've been sitting miserably at the computer watching stupid youtube videos and crying.

Right now I look something like this:

(By the way, this is not me. I wouldn't have put in the effort to wear makeup.)

I'm just sitting here at the computer with a tissue stuffed up my nose and a jug of orange juice next to me. Hopefully it will pass a little more quickly than the last one.

Anyways, getting back on track. Last Friday, Rachel had her wisdom teeth pulled, and Kyle and I took care of her and made certain she wouldn't do anything drug-crazy for the first night. She recovered relatively quickly, and I almost think she didn't really need us except for the first few hours of her drug-haze. She was hilarious. Not quite as funny as some videos I've seen of people, but she would repeat herself quite often, and on our drive back home, she would keep pulling the visor down to look at herself in the mirror, and she would never remember doing so. I had to keep reminding her to bite down on the gauze instead of chewing it, and every time, I had to explain that if she didn't bite down, the holes would never develop clots and she would keep bleeding for the next couple of hours.

On Saturday night, Hannah, Naomi, and Jarvis came! (Brandon was in Park City for a conference for his job.) Their arrival was heralded by a tired baby and a cranky toddler, but it was sure fun to see them. Kyle and I had a marvelous time distracting one kid while Hannah took care of the other, and I'm sure glad they were able to come.

Sunday, Hannah decided to go up to her old ward in Provo while Kyle and I went to our ward, and we didn't see each other until dinner at Uncle Dale and Aunt Margene's house. We got to see so many people we hadn't seen for ages. While we were there, Dale decided we needed to sit Brandon and Hannah down in the middle of the room while we circled around them and interviewed them. Hannah told me later how awkward it was, but at the time they looked totally at ease and quite talkative. I know they might not have enjoyed it very much, but it was fun to listen about their lives in California and with Brandon's job and an underling researcher.

Monday, we spent the first couple of hours chatting with them and having fun with the kids. I have also officially decided Naomi is the cutest thing in the world first thing in the morning. She was so tired-looking, had bed hair, and still had the sweetest morning smile in the world for me. She makes my heart melt.

They left around noon to have lunch with some friends in Provo, and while they were gone, I got a turkey in the oven (because Kyle and I are cheap, and we only buy turkeys post-Thanksgiving. We had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it, and we wanted our freezer space back). When they did get back, we had to send Hannah right back to Provo to pick up Rachel since our car was not drive-able  and rope Brandon in to help fix our car. More on the car later.

While Hannah was gone and Naomi was outside "helping" the boys, I was inside peeling potatoes and keeping an eye on Jarvis. Those few minutes alone with Jarvis were the most magical moments I had had with any baby, including Naomi. While we were alone, he started fussing and crying, and I had to put the potatoes down to pick him up and carry him around. He calmed down, and when I put him back in his chair, I started talking to him about how special he was, and about how amazing his mother and father were. I also got to telling him about Jesus and the preexistence, and that we knew each other before we came to Earth. The amazing thing about this wasn't that I was bearing my testimony when I hadn't really talked about it in ages; it was that he listened. I know Jarvis is only five months old, but it really seemed as though he was listening to me and agreeing with everything I was saying. It was such a beautiful moment, and when everyone came back in, that moment did not go away. I will treasure it forever. (Hannah, if you're reading this, tell Jarvis how fantastic he is!)

Now, on our car. It started acting up on Saturday and doing all these awful lurches and shudders. As we kept driving it, I was mortally afraid our car would go

and that we would have to buy a new car. As nice as a new car would be, though, we simply cannot afford it right now. I'm the only one in our little family with an income, and it's not much to live on. It won't even cover our rent, but thank goodness for savings, we are surviving. Anyways, it was a lot of stress. Kyle couldn't even pin down what the problem was, and I needed the car to get to orchestra every morning. He gave up on fixing it himself and we took it into Brereton Auto since Kyle's cousin recommended it to us a long time ago and we'd taken it there before. We got it there safely, and they fixed it up in less than thirty minutes and at half the price they quoted to us! It was a marvelous relief, and if there is ever a time we can't fix the car ourselves again, we'll take it to them.

The end. Plus, I'm sick. Have I mentioned?