Monday, April 13, 2015

Goodbyes and Gingham, then Garbage

So we were all together for National Siblings Day on Friday!

I have no proof that we were all together because I didn't take a picture!

Can you believe it!

No picture on the last day I saw my brother before going back to Illinois!

What!

Anyway, you'll just have to believe me.

We had a few hours to be at mom and dad's for some dinner and dessert.

We savored every moment and every bite.

My mom LOVES to cook for us.

It's funny because I almost made a typo there and said, "LIVES."

But that would be true too.

I sometimes think that she lives to cook for us as much as she loves to cook for us. It brings her so much pride. She loves to hear our praises, but more than anything, she just loves seeing her kids all gathered together laughing, talking and sharing memories while enjoying her food. She just loves us.

A lot.

In fact, she was pretty brave when Daniel and his family left, but then when I was getting ready to leave she started crying... not because I was leaving but she just held in the tears until then and also wanted to express how much she loves all of us kids.

I hope my kids know how much I love them, the way I know my mom loves me.

My dad beams with humbled pride (which I know is an oxymoron, but, for him, it fits, really fits) as he watches us all together.

I miss Daniel already.

I have been so spoiled having all my siblings within driving distance for most of our marriage. It's tough to let him go, knowing we won't see him in person for a while.

This time, though, the wait won't be long since they are coming back in July!

I have to say that, of all the visits since they left Utah, this visit was, by far, the best one. It was just so low key and so much fun!

After saying our goodbye's to Daniel and his family and getting our kids home and in bed we asked our friend, Travis, to come sit with the kids while we ran to pick up a used washer and dryer set 30 minutes away.

I found it on KSL, a local classifieds section on the web, and I learned after missing out on a couple decent deals that I better snatch this great deal up even if it was 10 in the evening. I think the couple were happy to get it out of their house as they were moving soon, so he didn't mind at all that we came late. In fact, he even helped us carry it down the stairs 3 floors to get it loaded in our nifty van.

When I saw the washers I felt like how I did when I saw the first iMac ever!

In awe.

I didn't even realize a washer and dryer could be so cool!

I think I have had ours for 11 or 12 years and the washer was low end and the dryer was from a yard sale for $50. So you can imagine my heart flutters when the opened the door to reveal our purchase of the Samsung VRT front loader set that was only 2 years old!

There were angels singing.

OK, it really wasn't that dramatic.

But, I am really excited.

In fact, after Marc and some friends got it all set up and ready to go last night, we started our first load of laundry.

It was like... magic.

You have to say that like Meg Ryan does in Sleepless in Seattle. Not for any particular reason, really, it just makes me think of that scene every time I hear any variance of "like magic." If you don't know what scene I am talking about then I'm afraid these last 4 or 5 lines were a waste of your time.

Anyway, it was fun to watch the clothes rotating around and watching the water come in.

We were actually supposed to leave on a date last night at 7pm but we didn't leave until 8pm because it was a bit of fun watching our fancy new washer wash a big batch of clothes with only a little bit of water.

Hey, I'm a kid, in a 38-year-old's body.

Anyway, before I tell you about our Saturday date night I have to tell you about rehearsal for Mary Poppins.

Guaranteed, rehearsal will always be an UP of my day so I will try to save you from reading that everyday and just let you assume that that is a joy .

It's just dang fun! It just is!

I like to take random selfies and this was one of them with a new friend:

After rehearsal some of us grabbed lunch together to get to know one another a little better.

That was fun!

OK, now back to our date.

After enjoying the look and sound of our new-to-us washer we thought we should leave for our official date. Which ended up being no big deal, but a ton of fun.

We just walked through downtown Provo and checked out some stores and when Restaurant Hopping to sample a few different foods. It was so much fun. We had such a great time and the atmosphere there is just awesome!

At Bruges with Marc's Provo Waffle and me with some amazingly great frites (fries)

Then we checked out this cool place called UnHinged and they had the coolest vintage Barber Shop set up in there store. It was a real classy and trendy store full of cool things. Cool things like the lights pictured below that are made with old bottles and jars for the bulb casings.

They even had a motorcycle for me to get a picture on.

Our last selfie on the street in downtown Provo after our second restaurant adventure.

Today was a non-typical Sunday as we had Baby home sick and Sister home with a sore foot that she had gotten the night before by, what I think was, karate kicking the stair railing post.

The day was just so beautiful so we sat out together in the morning and soaked up the sun.

It was so cute I had to get a picture:




Then we ended the night with dinner on the porch.


Those yellow checked plates were given to us by Marc's mom and they are probably 40-ish years old and I LOVE them. They made our little porch table look just that much cuter.

To end the night we hung out with our friends and neighbors, and neighborhood passersby and had some good laughs about our old washer and dryer sitting on the front lawn.

Amanda and Travis decided to add to our pile that is getting picked up and we placed it neatly on their driveway. We just had to take a picture and Marc just had to be the model.



This is how we roll, people!

0 remarks: