2.24.08

In some ways it has been really nice to not have church until 1pm. This way, we have a lot of time to just spend together Sunday morning. The boys play with their toys, I can read or write on our blog, and Steph can make her wonderful wheat bread – it’s great. And today is supposed to be the warmest for about the last 2 weeks. It will be the first time that the temperatures get above freezing. The sun is out and it looks really pretty outside.

Yesterday we went to Chicago with Peter and Cynthia Hedgecock to go to the temple. We wanted to go in order to think about the rank list that we will be submitting this next week for dermatology and transitional year residencies. We have our list of preferences and just wanted to see if any changes came to mind. We both felt that we should keep the list as we have it. Now comes the waiting game and trusting in the Lord that we will end up where He wants us. We will find out on March 20th where we will be spending the next 4 years.

Steph has a whole stack of family names that need their work done and we were able to get about 50 initiatories completed during the morning with the help of other people in the temple. The Hedgecocks took the boys to Chuck E Cheese to play while we were inside, which they loved, and then we took them to Costco. We had to pick up some wipes and the boys got to try all the foods they always have out on Saturdays. Kolby actually refers to Costco as the “treat store.”

After finishing at the temple we stopped at Ikea to look around. We had been told it was relatively close and I had never been to one before, so we thought it would be fun to go. The place is enormous. The boys really liked the kids section where they played in a tent and on some egg chairs. We were all pretty tired when we got home last night. We were able to get the house cleaned up after dinner and get everything ready for Sunday. This month has been nice for me to be able to help clean up some of the clutter that has built up over the last few years, especially with getting all the piles cleared up off the floor in our bedroom.

Steph got some nice frames for pictures of the boys (her Christmas gift from me that she waited to get until we returned from our trip). We hung those up in our front room Friday afternoon and they look really nice. Friday night we had a birthday party for Eli. His birthday was the end of January, but since we were gone we didn’t do a party. We had a “Thomas the Train” theme and let the kids play with all the trains and tracks. It was another excuse for us to get together with friends.

Thursday night was Eli’s night out with Stephanie. He had some birthday money from Grandma Faun and Grandma Bradshaw so they went to Toys R Us and he chose a doctor kit and the movie, A Bugs Life.

Wednesday night it was my turn to go watch Kolby and Eli at their swim lessons. They both are so good in the water. Kolby is tall enough to touch the bottom, so after his class he was jumping from the side into the water, which Steph said he was doing for the first time. And Eli loves to play on the steps and do bobs. And Steph already mentioned about the crazy police incident from later on that night. That gave us quite the adrenaline rush.

Monday night for family home evening we taught the boys about the plan of salvation. Kolby has been asking a lot lately about what happens after we die, so we thought it would be good to tell them. I used a paper and drew some circles to represent our pre-earth life with Heavenly Father and Jesus; our life here on earth where we are supposed to CTR (Choose the Right); life in the spirit world after we die, where we are waiting to be resurrected; and then life after the judgment and resurrection, where we can either end up in the Celestial, Terrestrial, or Telestial Kingdoms or Hell, and how we want to end up in the Celestial Kingdom where Heavenly Father and Jesus live. I’m not sure how much of it all they understood, but they seemed to like it. For the activity we had them practice writing their names.

This week we decided to get the exhaust system fixed on our blue car so it can pass emissions. We found a mechanic that we really like and who seems pretty honest about his work. He had to replace the catalytic converter, some tubing, and the air filter, and he even took it back to the emissions center and got it passed for us. We hope that if we can keep up with maintenance on that car then it will last us for a few more years.

Well I better go get ready for church. We have to go a little early today because I am singing with the choir. We are going to have Kyle and Tracy Jensen over for a delicious salmon dinner – they are one of the families I home teach.