Why we haven't posted for so long

Well we don't actually have a really good excuse so here have been the highlights for the last several months.

End of July: I survived girls camp! It was a real challenge for me because I wasn't in the same clique with all the rest of the leaders from our ward however I did end up finding a really good friend in one of the other leaders from the ward sharing our camp site. We had a few problems with some of the girls but overall everything went well. I had promised the girls from camp after a night of s'mores that I would throw a chocolate party (really, what was I thinking?) These are the consequences of sleep deprivation.

August: Laura got married! She was a very beautiful bride at that! We also got to see my dad off from his long career in the military. I'm not sure if my mom was ready to cry from being so proud of him or so grateful that he's finally out. As promised I sang the national anthem for his ceremony.

September: Lots of babysitting. A neighbor lady down the street asked me if I could watch her little girls who I had been basically babysitting all summer long. They would come over every day to say hi, pet the kittens and play in my yard while I gardened. The babysitting had to come to an end when I officially got hired with H&R Block and needed to prepare for that. In the mean time I was getting called in on a daily basis for substitute teaching and decided to focus on that for a while until the tax job started full time.

October: Grandma Van Duker and Peppy came for a visit. I was surprised Peppy did so well around all the kittens as he was definitely outnumbered. He was a little timid at first around them but then realized how to gain back control of the situation. He joined the kittens when they got treats and would steal one if he got the chance in retaliation of them stealing his. It was wonderful seeing Grandma. I'm so glad she was able to visit. Also in October, Jeremy and I helped his sister move into her new apartment with her kids. It's in a great location by the new Draper temple and hopefully the last move for her for a while. The kids seem to really like their new place, there are secret hiding places that are great for a game of hide-and-go-seek. Tucker her oldest was telling us all about them when we came over to help her move some of her furniture around and unpack some of her things.

November: Tax classes started! I had class 3 days a week and on my off days would sub in the Davis School District. This kept me pretty busy. Jeremy was busy at the Church offices working on the Cubs team. He was one of the programmers selected to be an on loan developer until the new year. It was a challenge but he successfully met it. We had Thanksgiving down in Lehi with Jeremy's parents. They had a Thanksgiving dinner the day before with his sister but because of work commitments we were unable to attend that one so they invited us on Thanksgiving day. I can't imagine having to host one Thanksgiving dinner much less two! They are amazing. Jeremy wasn't feeling well that weekend nor was I though we later figured out the reason why I wasn't feeling 100%. We pretty much stayed home the rest of the Thanksgiving vacation and watched movies.

December: Concert after Concert. Jeremy and I sang in the Messiah Sing-a-Long Thanksgiving weekend and then followed up the next weekend with Hayden's Creation. We had one week off and then had the Holiday Pops Concert. Chris had come to town by then and between burn out from super long practices, work, pregnancy fatigue, and just the business of the holidays, we were pretty lame hosts or at least I was. Chris got our comp tickets for the concert which also meant prime seating for the concert. One of the perks of volunteering in the Symphony Chorus is we get a voucher to give at any performance we're in. We felt bad Chris didn't have anyone to go with so we tried to make it up to him with dinner at Setebello's which is a certified Naples pizza place in Salt Lake City. We also got to see the lights at Temple square together. It was super crowded but a really nice experience. Last but not least our trip to Washington which I previously posted on. I am so glad that we avoided all snow storms this last trip! It was quite the adventure last year.