Crazy Week

This past week has been crazy. My wife's sister-in-law passed away, so she went out to Utah to visit with family and attend the funeral. Before that, though, we had Easter activities galore -- eggs to color, egg hunts to attend, mass quantities of chocolate to consume -- you know, the good stuff. My wife also had the art show she was running for the stake, and preparations for her trip to make. After church on Sunday, we headed for the airport where we left her, very unsure of herself, to face a flight on her own (she did marvelously). This left me home with the kids, playing Mr. Mom for three whole days.

Following this ordeal, I can proudly announce that all my children are still alive. We spent most of our time doing the usual kind of stuff -- homework, shopping, playing. To be honest, we really had a good time. Did we get everything done on the list my wife left for us to do? Nope. But did we have a good time together and bond? Yep. Even the arguments were kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, there's nothing like a mother in the home, and we are all glad to have her back.

My youngest son was very upset when his mother left on the airplane. He kept saying over and over again how he wanted to go with her, and that she was flying over our house in the "space shuttle." It was quite funny. She did come home on Wednesday, though, and after that we frantically put the house back together in preparation for her parents to arrive. They were supposed to come Easter weekend, but with the funeral, it didn't work out.

So the past several days we've been enjoying our time with the grandparents. Sometimes having family over can be a very difficult challenge -- it often feels like all we do is go from preparing one meal to preparing for the next. This time, however, we hardly noticed any burden -- it went well and we all had a good time.

This is probably the last time my kids will see them for nearly two years. They are putting in their papers to serve a mission, and expect to be gone on that for a year and a half. It will be great to find out where they go, and they are setting a very good example for my children to follow.

The good thing about being a "senior" missionary couple is that they can make phone calls, email, and even travel when they want. This means that we won't really be disconnected for all that time -- our weekly phone calls will continue -- but it does mean that they won't be there when we go to Utah to see the rest of the family. Really weird. Weirdest of all, however, is how old my children will be when they get back. Our youngest will be in kindergarten, my daughter will have been baptized, and my oldest ... a mighty eleven-year-old! Wow.

Anyway, this post isn't exactly coherent, but it's a good data dump for the week. Later!