Weekend Review

It was a busy weekend here, as I'm sure it was for all of you. Saturday brought us the best weather of the year -- sunny skies and 68 degrees. I started the morning with a memorial walk for my friend Sharen, who passed away a year ago. I wanted to do something to remember her, so I organized a walk on the bike paths where we trained for our marathon. We had almost 40 people show up. It was nice to be outside on a beautiful day and remember a beautiful friend.

Next up was outside work and and Easter egg hunt. Then we had Hayden's soccer game. After that I went for a 9 mile run. It was awesome! I felt the best I've felt in a long time, and had a nice quick pace. The only bad part about the run was when I passed some hippie fest in the park and had to run through a wall of body odor. Wow. Not pleasant, but one of the hazards of my city.

We went out for a quick dinner and then came home to get ready for Easter, which meant ironing, baking, and cleaning up the house. I almost forgot to put out goodies for the kids from the Easter Amy, because we don't do the Easter Bunny at this house. I just can't keep up with all the mythological figures. Somehow pretending a large bunny comes in our house is just too much for me.

Easter Sunday was nice. We had three families over for dinner and I didn't take one photo. Oops. I especially enjoyed the homemade German chocolate cake my sister brought. Yum. Still running off that one.

Here are some snaps from the weekend. Can't wait for the next one!

From the walk for Sharen -- scooting, walking, talking, snacking. It was a lovely time.

Jillian made an awesome chalk creation to wish everyone Happy Easter! It was too big to fit into one photo.

The girls trying not to peek while the dads hid the eggs.

Kara with a funny chocolate mustache. Post egg hunt, of course.

Kate loved pulling dandelions while the kids hunted.

Not the best photo, but this is all the kids were willing to do. But they are all smiling! Kate was so happy. I couldn't keep her from flapping her arms.

Love this one.

These two were the most matchy-matchy. I made all of the girls bracelets.

Notes: The Thank You edition

Dear Angie,

Thank you for teaching my how to zip my pants properly when we were college roommates. I can't believe I didn't know that after you zip your pants, you need to put the slider down to lock it in place. This has been valuable information. I am now very competent at zipping; and my zipper doesn't fall down anymore, eliminating awkward moments. You taught me many things those years we lived together, but how to zip my pants has been the most useful.


Dear ep,

Thanks for always being there at mile 19 during the Boston Marathon. And organizing awesome outings and activities for all the Boston peeps, like apple picking, maple sugaring, clambakes at the beach, and other such things. I am homesick for my old home in Boston. Have a wonderful Patriot's Day!

Dear Kids,

Thanks for saying "I love you" more than "I hate you." Because two of you said "I hate you" this week and I have to admit, it's stinging a bit. Is this what I have to look forward to in the teenage years? Yikes.

Dear Kyle,

Thank you for being so diligent about the budget. Budgeting together is one of my favorite bonding times. Just don't judge me on all of my purchases, capice? I can't always remember what I bought at Target 6 weeks ago, and the receipts can be cryptic. Just be happy I stay within the budget! You're so handsome when you're doing an excel spreadsheet.

Dear Weather,

Thank you for promising sun this week. Now deliver. Or else.

Dear Family,

Thank you for being such adventurous eaters. The lettuce wraps were pretty good, no? Well, even though some of you thought they weren't great, you didn't complain too much. I hope you like the thai peanut noodles this week! And the paninis. Yum.

Dear Body,

Thank you for responding to my reduced caloric intake by shedding a pound or two. You rock. Only 6 more pounds! You can do it!

Dear Easter Candy,

Thank you for being so patient with me. I'm finally going to buy you this week, but I don't want to over consume. Don't take it personally. I do love you.

Dear Blog Readers,

Thank you for your comments. I read them all and they really do help me out. I am continuing to nurse Kate and am also finding some success in losing weight again. We'll see if I can keep it up!

Stuff

Um, zero comments on the last blog post. Do you think I was lying about Kyle doing the ironing? Am I boring you? Is blogging over and done with (like MySpace)? Do I have to resort to shameless cute baby photos to get comments? Okay, if that's what it takes.

The first three were taken by Hayden. He was playing with Kate in his room and wanted to take pics of her. The last is of her doing one of her favorite activities -- splashing and kicking in the tub. This girl loves water!

Also, I think I have to retract my earlier statements about Scouting. We went to our first pack meeting and it was a lot of fun. And then I bought Hayden all of his Scout gear and he was very excited. So, on second thought, I'm glad he'll have something all his own that he can do with his Dad and me. He's very motivated to earn badges and whatnot. I guess I'll just go with it!

Here's his mini rap about being a cub scout:

And that's about it. Life is churning along at a pace I can hardly keep up with, but each day is peppered with small moments of good stuff. Like reading Easter books to the three oldest kids, even though the oldest two can certainly read to themselves. And kissing cute baby Kate all over her chubby little arms and face, and watching her clap. And taking a Sunday afternoon nap. And a fun date night with cool friends and lots of laughs. Life. Is. Good.

I hope things are good for you too.

Love, Amy

Seek the Good

Today as we were watching General Conference I felt very humbled and blessed. The talks were inspiring and thought-provoking, as usual, and I enjoyed the whole day. I don't think I've heard this much of all four sessions of conference in a long time. It was good weekend. Any weekend with abelskievers is a good weekend! During Elder Scott's talk (a departure from his regular treatise on repentance, he instead spoke about marriage and relationships) I looked over at Kyle and pondered about the man I married. He was in his pajamas, ironing (hey, the ox was in the mire), wearing a silly hat Kara put on his head, and making faces at Kate, who was intently watching him. Yeah, I've got it good. While I was at a camp meeting tonight (did you know I am an assistant stake camp director??), he played a game with the kids where they made disgusting concoctions on top of tortilla chips and dared each other to eat them. Hayden had one with red pepper hummus, red jelly bean, caramel sauce and ham. Again, awesome. I'm kind of sorry I missed out on that one.

When I came home they were all cozied up in the family room, watching something on BYU TV. I love that I can very confidently leave Kyle with all four children and know that the house will not be destroyed when I get home. In fact, he is very good about helping the kids pick up. Many of the talks this weekend inspired me to be a better wife to my great husband. I'm glad I have such an amazing person in my life. Being married to Kyle is good.

Here's a cute snap of us from April 2005, when we took a short cruise to the Bahamas. We haven't changed much since this photo!