Random Updates

Okay, it's been a while since I've written something and my thoughts are a little random and scattered this morning. Friday was my 32nd birthday. This is the first birthday that I actually feel a little older, not that I think 32 is old by any means. The best part was that Dean surprised me with new flooring for our kitchen. Let me tell you the story of our kitchen. We moved into our house five years ago. The kitchen had carpet in it and we said that would be the first thing to go. Five years later we still have carpet. We've been talking for months about replacing the Berber carpet with something, anything. Anything would be better than carpet right? The big master plan is to knock out the wall between the kitchen and dining room and to put in hardwood floors in our new space. Well if it's taken us five years to get rid of the carpet who knows how long it will be before we do the big construction job. So back to the beginning. Dean bought me a new Brazilian Cherry laminate floor for the kitchen. I'm so excited for it to be installed I can hardly wait. The one problem is that the cabinets and the floor don't look the best together so my next project will be to refinish the cabinets. Hurray for birthdays! Before and after pictures will be coming soon.

So this story is really random but I thought it was so cute. Eric, Charles and I were driving in the car talking about getting married and how girls take their husbands last name. We were discussing people that we know and what their last names were before they got married. I told him that I was a Valentine then became a Crystal. The conversation moved on for a few more minutes and Eric looked at me with this face like he was trying really hard to remember something then asked, "so your last name used to be Thanksgiving or something?" I started laughing and he quickly corrected himself. Marcie Thanksgiving. Has a nice ring doesn't it?

Sunday was our Primary program in sacrament meeting. Those little children did such a great job. They sang their hearts out and were so cute saying their parts. We as a presidency were a little nervous because the two weeks prior there were so many kids gone. We ended up having about 45 kids. If a child wasn't there the teachers would pick a child to go say their part. It turned out so well. We combined sharing time and singing time and I did an object lesson on the prophet and the importance of watching General Conference to hear what the prophet has to tell us. Then we spread blankets on the floor and watched a movie from the Doctrine and Covenants and ate rice crispy treats. Ruth talked to them about prophets then we played a game. Primary was super fun. Thanks Ruth and Katie for helping me out.

For Grandma Kathy

Katie: "Can I go to grandma's?"
Mom: "No, we can't go to grandma's today."
Katie: "Please, I go to grandma's?"
Mom: "Why do you want to go to grandma's?"
Katie: "For 'cause I need to go to grandma's!"
Katie: "Let's go"

Balloon Glow

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click on image to see larger

Colorado Balloon Classic

This weekend I took Eric and Charles to the Colorado Balloon Classic. It's the largest hot air balloon festival in Colorado. I think I read that it has been going on since 1977. I heard on the news that there are 83 balloons there this year. Every Labor Day weekend there is an early ascension in the morning and the balloon glow in the evening. We missed the early ascension Saturday morning. By the time we arrived there was only one balloon left that was giving rides to kids with disabilities. We were lucky enough to see five parachuters from the Air Force Academy though. The pictures of the sky with trails of white or yellow smoke are the parachuters. We watched the plane circle above us and then saw the five of them jump. Later that evening we went back for the balloon glow. There weren't as many balloons in the evening. It is so awesome to see the balloons at night. We found a booth that sold rubber band shooters. Of course the boys had to have one. Eric brought his birthday money to buy his own. We found a place on the grass without too many people around so they boys could try out their new favorite toys. It wasn't long before we had to move back because there was a balloon being set up right in front of us. They are huge! It was exciting to see them being inflated and then to see them glow in the night sky was amazing. Eric and Charles loved the Energizer Bunny balloon. It was so huge. My picture is a little blurry but you cant tell it's the bunny. If you haven't been before I recommend it, just get there early because parking is a nightmare.

Another Charles-ism

Tonight we had spaghetti for dinner. Eric and Charles said they were starving. Eric was eating his food really fast and was almost finished before any of us were half way through dinner. I said to Eric that he was going to town on his spaghetti. Now, Charles doesn't usually eat much, especially spaghetti but tonight he was eating well. He looked up from his plate and said to me, "I'm almost to town mom". When he had eaten all of his dinner he put his plate in the sink and came back over to me to announce that he "made it to town."

1st Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for Eric and Charles. They were both really excited to get back to school. They each have great teachers. We were thrilled to meet their new teachers and see their classrooms at the open house. Tuesday morning when I was taking their pictures Katie ran over to pose with them (she doesn't miss a photo opportunity). Charles went on a Safari hunt to find Ryan the Lion (the school mascot). He thought that was the coolest thing ever. Eric jumped back in the swing of things like he had never left for summer break. Let's just hope they're both this excited in a month or two.