Housekeeping

All of the work and energy and money and thought and stress and worry and hope of the last 6 months finally culminated this week as Pauly checked into the MTC and we closed the sale of the house. It has been an extremely emotional week but as those two things finally came to pass and Paul arrived safely in Cambodia, an enormous amount of weight was taken off my shoulders. I really feel like a new woman. I feel great and am ready to get this move done. Geesh! Sometimes I feel like we've been pulling this band-aid off one hair at a time since November.

I have so much on my mind this morning. Everything I am thinking about could have it's own post but I'm not sure if or when I will be able to post over the next two weeks so I am just going to do a little purge.

The Chickens~ I miss the chickens. We gave them away about two weeks ago. Don't get me wrong, they were never pets but I liked the movement in the chicken yard when I look out the window. I liked that when dinner was prepared I could send them the ends of the carrots, the potato peels, the apple cores and nothing went to waste. I miss the eggs whenever we wanted them. I miss the work it made for our children. Outside of our children and Paul's careers, the chickens have been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable endeavors of our marriage. I will be glad when we can do that again.

The House~ The house is sold. The folks who bought it have a big family and are so excited to move in and have chickens and a grow a garden and cook in the huge kitchen. They think Paul's egg boxes are ingenious. They are right, of course. It feels good leaving the house to people who will appreciate it.

Dan~ Daniel had his farewell party last weekend and went to an end of the year dance on Friday. For his party they hooked three XBoxes together and killed zombies for hours and hours. Honestly, these are the easiest parties to give because I don't have to do anything besides make A LOT of food.

For the dance the theme was '80's characters'. He dressed as Luigi from Mario Bros. He had fun. I promised him $1 for every girl he asked to dance. He made $20.

Dan's band concert was this week too. This is just a Jr. high band, I am always suprised at how good they are. Here's a taste.

The Girls~ The girls have been making nonstop friendship bracelets since their cousin Maude posted this tutorial. Gloria sang When Will My Life Begin, from Tangled at her school talent show. She did a great job. This is one girl who is not afraid of the spotlight.

In other little girl news, Sara is wearing her first grownup 'heels' today to church and we ordered bedding for the girls' new room this week.

Paul~ Paul is in Cambodia. He sent me this picture of a woman weaving silk. I hope he brings me some. I love that he will be landing in Phoenix just two hours before we get there two weeks from today.

Thank you~ Thanks to everyone for the encouraging notes and kind words as we sent our boy off on his mission. It has meant a lot to us.

And Me~ I love my new iPhone. My favorite thing? Depositing a check into my checking account while I sat on a bench at the park; that and Tiny Wings. What a incredible time we live get to live in! Also, I got my haircut.

Isn't it cute? I haven't had it this short since we lived in SLC. The girls are getting their summer cuts this week. Well, I guess that is all for now. Have a great couple of weeks.