Girls' Night Out

Last night the “Law Wives Society” had our monthly recipe group. Basically it is 12 LDS women getting together to eat and chat for hours – it is wonderful! Each of us is assigned a course of the meal, which we bring along with our recipe to share. Our assignments rotate each month, along with who will host the dinner. Every month I look forward to getting together with these amazing women who make me feel so welcome and comfortable. We share stories, talk about the good and bad of pregnancy, motherhood, having a spouse in law school, politics, hobbies, food, the gospel and on and on. There is something special about being able to share your testimony, your struggles and your accomplishments with friends. It is also almost therapeutic to be able to get out of the house and be with other women. Nate is so supportive and gladly accepts a “special date” with the girls so that I can get out of the house. He always tells me to stay as long as I want and I always tell him I won’t be too long and then end up staying till 10pm or later. I have a wonderful husband! In short, I am so grateful for this amazing group of women who have become some of my greatest friends. They have truly helped me survive my side of the law school experience. I love them!

Valentine's Adventures

This Valentine’s Day was a little different than in past years. To start, Makenna and Sage both got sick. Of course, minus the fact that they had on & off fevers and runny noses, you would never guess they weren’t feeling well. A reluctant trip to the doctors office yesterday confirmed their illnesses…both girls had ear infections in both ears. Poor kids! I am just so glad that we went in early this time instead of waiting a week. The girls have been troopers and have been smiling through it all (although not eating which is crazy for those two!). They couldn’t wait to go to the doctors, sat patiently while being examined and Sage even opened her mouth wide the whole time her throat was being looked at. The doctor said it was the first time she’s ever seen a child so young do that! She was very cooperative. Then of course they got their coveted stickers and antibiotics that they can’t wait to take every day. For some reason, my girls LOVE medicine – Kenna frequently says she’s not feeling well in hopes of getting some, even when she’s perfectly healthy. (I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but at least all the medicine is up VERY high!)

It happened to be pouring rain on our trip to get the antibiotics at the pharmacy and we got SOAKED! It was one of those drenching rains that goes through every layer of your clothing in about 10 seconds. When we got home we looked like we had showered in our clothes. I quickly stripped the girls and got them into pajamas. Then we picked up Nate from school and the girls got to give him the special “Valentime” they made for him. He doesn’t get home till around 8 on Mondays so we put the girls to bed and enjoyed a late dinner together – simple, but quiet!

Although the actual Valentine’s Day ended up being a little unusual, last Friday we got to really celebrate it! We got together with some of our great friends and had a fantastic dinner. Melissa arranged a babysitter for all 5 of our kids, so we dropped them off and then headed to the Belton’s for a feast lovingly prepared by our husbands. I’m not kidding when I say it was more gourmet than most restaurants. Nate made a shrimp appetizer and Zupa Toscana soup (from Olive Garden), Bryce made homemade chicken cordon bleu and a Caesar salad and Ryan made score cake for dessert. It was delicious. We ate and talked for 2 ½ hours without any interruption. It was a great night!

Three very wet girls!

In Kenna's words: "Happy Valentimes Daddy!"

Our Valentine celebration with our friends

(Ryan & Chelsea Belton, Nate & I, Melissa & Bryce Huff)

Our little duck!

Tonight Nate gave Kenna his hat to wear while we were in the car. After looking at it she said, "There's an ABC on daddy's hat!". Nate said, "Yep, it's an 'O' for Oregon". She immediately replied, "No, it's an O for 'Go Ducks'!" We were very proud! :)

Other recent funnies from Kenna:
*I was outside of the bathroom while she was sitting on the potty with her play-phone in hand. I heard her say "I'll call you after I get the kids down for a nap 'cuz I'd love to chat! Okay love you, bye!" (Wow, does she really listen that much!)
*After getting shampooed in the tub, she very seriously stated "Mom, this isn't a good plan after all!"
*In her prayer at dinner: "Bless that the whole world will make good plans." (very thoughtful!)
*On our way to pick up Nate to head to dinner: "Mom, my tummy says 'I'm not hungry, I'm healthy so I just need to go to daddy's school.' I swear."
*On our hike the other day, she also randomly decided that we needed two dogs and the girl would be named Nelly (I don't know where she got that, we've never said that name in her life!) and the boy would be Clifford. We thought she'd forget about it, but here 3 days later she's telling me "Nelly and Clifford will lick my face and Sage will take care of them".