Random Thoughts Sunday

Russ has accepted a job! It has been a roller coaster, highs, lows, and thankfully very, very fast. He will be working for a designer in California but in an office downtown. The people (all two of them) seem very nice and we are optimistic this will be a good fit. 

After seeing the canyon over Labor Day I made a goal to go up  once a week until after the height of leaf changing. So far, I've been able to meet my goal and it has reminded me why autumn and living by the mountains feed my soul. Friday the kids didn't have school so we went up with a bunch of friends and walked around a lake. It made all of the stress of my life just melt away.

Nathan has a new favorite game. Hide and Seek. He counts (1,2,3,8,9,10,12,13) and then explodes with excitement as he starts to find you. His joy in finding is almost matched in his joy in hiding. However he doesn't quite understand the concept of not wanting to be found. For him the goal is to be found as soon as possible. He whispers, giggles and laughs as people get nearer and nearer, and is thrilled when, in fact, they find him.

This week I learned that new furnaces cost between $4,000-$5,000 on the lowish end. Guess how I learned that....just guess. It was why I needed that stress-melting hike around the lake.

This weekend I got to spend some one on one time with both Abbie and Savannah. I can't tell you how much fun I had with each of them. Savannah made up a game called, "Do you Remember..." in which you state a memory and the other person says whether or not they remembered it. We had a great time talking about our favorite memories with each other and then  "trick" each other with difficult memories. She claims to remember her birth but then I claimed to remember a random night last summer.

Abbie and I went to the LDS Women's Conference with my mom and sister. Abbie was thrilled to be with the grown ups on this one, and she didn't let that intimidate her one little bit. At dinner she jumped right in the conversation. She alternated cuddling with me and grandma during the conference, (which was edifying) and loved the ice cream afterward. The only challenge of the night is the chocolate covered strawberries  weren't peanut-free, which we learned a little too late. Thankfully, there must not have been a lot of "peanut dust" in the chocolate as all that happened was a lot of throat clearing and a dose of Benadryl was all it took and she was fine.