Whew! What a great week!

The entire month of March was so incredibly busy and booked solid that even though everything was good, it is kind of nice to return to our usual levels of crazy! 

The week before last at Church we had the Relief  Society (Adult Women’s Group) Birthday Dinner, which was very fun.  They had different sisters decorate tables in a seasonal theme—I had a “winter” table.  It was fun to see the different personalities and approaches.  My table did turn out really pretty—I had some sheer fabric in a “watery” print in several shades of blue that I used for a tablecloth, then I cut a giant (3 feet across) snowflake with RS themes—a wheat sheaf up the middle, hearts above that, the ornate “RS” letters  from the symbol, and the upper edge was sisters holding a heart between each of them (just the little paper dollies that  “hold hands”) I put a clear plastic tablecloth over it so it wouldn’t snag, and then a funny little centerpiece.  The evening was super nice.

The chicks are growing fast—not as cute as they used to be!  We have a mix of breeds (we just got the “Brown Egg Layer Assortment”)—I don’t know what kinds the yellow chicks (at least 2 breeds, as they are different shades of yellow!) will be, but I know the little black and yellow, that have a little yellow dot on their head like a fingerprint will grow into “barred” hens—black and white stripes.  Very pretty ladies—I am excited.

The kids had their temple trip and LargeBoy got to go to his first OA Fellowship (Order of the Arrow is the Boy Scout’s Honor Society) WITH Grandpa A.  When my Dad was helping us with the kitchen last year, LargeBoy was going on his first OA Fellowship, and Dad mentioned that he had been in the OA as a youth, and had always meant to get around to being active again.  So, for his birthday, I did the legwork to get the needed forms, and paid for his enrollment, and this was their first activity together. 

I went to an all day New Trustees Seminar for the Library.  It was at a really cool Library, and it was very well done—the speakers were all interesting, and I did learn a lot.  I was debating taking SmallDaughter to see “Veggie-Tales Live” that evening, but she was sick all week, and was still not feeling good enough. 

Sunday was Seminary day, and since LargeCousin was on spring break, she got to come to our Sunday Seminary Class with us, and then have a sleepover.  On Monday, I was supposed to be very busy running lots of errands, but it snowed enough that it basically shut everything down—I was SO grateful!  It gave me time to stay home and clean and get things at least partially ready for all the company! 

BigGirl did have her first 4-H meeting in the evening.  LargeCousin and LargeBoy are not doing 4-H this year, as they have too many other things going on.  I don’t mind—I am really proud of how well they have done in the past, and it is their decision what they want to do with their time and energy.  LargeBoy will be spending most of his time finishing up his Eagle project, besides going to the National Scout Jamboree. 

On Tuesday I took LargeCousin into town in the morning and took my inlaws their Birthday loot and ran some of Monday’s errands.  In the afternoon, BigGirl & I went to Yoga and Herb Class—it was on Native herbs and I was very relieved to find that many of the weeds that I have not gotten rid of are actually very beneficial! 

On Wednesday, Sister A’s family arrived and things started to get busy! In the evening we went in to have dinner with Sister M & Sister A’s families at Dad’s house.

Things really picked up on Thursday.  The guy’s picked up the awesome playset that dad had ordered from Lowes, and they got right to work on it.  I am really glad we got the kit, with all the wood pre cut and drilled, because even with that they still had over 2 full days of work to get it done!  It is AWESOME! And it has all of the features that will be great for SmallDaughter for a long time.  There was a huge bunch of cooking—I still have loads of excellent leftovers!  It was noisy, and chaotic, and FABULOUS! We averaged between 35 and 45 people all weekend long!

On friday, we helped the kids dye 5 dozen hard boiled eggs (and by "helped"--we let all the teenagers and college age awesome people "show them how it's done"!)  We had some awesome eggs!  Friday evening, we got LOTS of pizzas and we set up the projector and watched “The Princess Bride”.  It was so fun!  And—as many times as I have seen parts and bits, I haven’t watched the whole movie for years! My Favorite Gentleman got to come home on Friday, but he threw his neck and back out, and was in a lot of pain the whole weekend!

On Saturday, we had the Easter egg hunt.  It was rather cool and blustery—pretty early for a really warm Easter.  In the evening, Sister M, BigGirl, Aunt A, LargeCousin & I went to watch the Young Women's Broadcast .  It was so excellent.  

On Sunday, we filled the first 4 rows in Sacrament Meeting, and we almost doubled the primary!  We had a big dinner at Dad’s and had not one, but 3 different birthday treats (cheesecake for my awesome Brother, a “cake” made entirely of 3 types of ice-cream and toppings for Sister M, and a  Super rich gluten free chocolate “Ex-Girlfriend” Cake for her hubby—who has his birthday the day before hers!).  Sadly, people started to leave after dinner. 

Monday was nice and mellow.  Sister M got stuff packed up and then we went into town.  SmallDaughter FINALLY got to have her horsie riding—the first 2 classes of the season got cancelled for bad weather!  Youngest Brother took Awesome Brother to the airport on his way home, so we got to see them for a little while, then we just hung out with everybody. Grandpa & Grandma took the boys swimming at the Y, but SmallDaughter wasn’t really feeling good, so we didn’t even try to go.   Dear Auntie and her boys left at about 10 pm, so we came home then too. 

SmallDaughter is on spring break this week, which is good because she has spent the last 2 days laying on the couch with a chest cold and fever.  She is starting to feel better, but she is less than impressed with her mom—I have put an onion poultice on her the last 2 nights.  (everybody asks, so I will tell you:  just cut 2 onions into rings, and slice 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, then smash them with a French knife, so the oils are activated, then put them in a pan with either olive or coconut oil on low heat until they start to clarify—you are NOT trying to cook them, and you don’t want them nicely brown and carmelized.  Then, cool them down till they are a comfortable temperature, and apply a thick layer of Vick’s (and I also use a few drops of Tea Tree oil) to the back and chest and rub them in, then cover the chest and the back with the onions and wrap her up snugly in plastic wrap). 

She was not fond of this the first night—but she REALLY hated it the second night when she knew what was coming!  She said “Owie” “No” and “Hot”—which was funny, since it wasn’t any of those things, but she doesn’t have words for “nasty” “slimy” and “gross”!  It is a very interesting fragrance mix—let me tell you!  But it has really helped clear her up. 

We are recovering nicely from all the fun, and I am trying to catch up on all the jobs My Favorite Gentleman needs me to get done for him!  Tomorrow we are going to buy my hive and beekeeping tools, since the bees will be in sometime in the next two weeks!  Yaaay!  I am super excited for them!  And—in perfect timing, next Friday the Local Beekeepers Association is having a “live bee dump” at their monthly meeting.  They will show us exactly how to “dump” our bees into their new home and get it functioning right! I am glad to have so much help and mentoring!

With all the fun we have been having, we have lots of people we love who are going through hard times, and we are still praying for them.  It is always interesting to see how life is such up and downs!  However—I know that these times with the people we love (as noisy, crazy and hectic as they may be!) are the best memories and the real stuff that life is made of!  I am grateful to have a framework for living, so that when our family gets together, it is pure fun—no fights, no screaming or hitting, just love everywhere you look. 

I just want to share some of my Dad’s take on the week:

One of the most remarkable aspects of the whole weekend to me was "the guys".  We had six adolescent and young single adult males ranging in age from 14 to 28.   Not only were they not lost in their own world or electronic gadgets, they were deeply involved in everything.  (The biggest point of contention was who got to hold the baby).  Their major activity was playing with the rug-rats.  In the disengaged society we live in, I find this truly wonderful.  What great fathers these guys will make.