A great 24 hours!

Since I am leaving with the boys to go to Ohio in a few days Kyle and I wanted to go on a date before we left. Luckily he wasn't scheduled to work on Friday night which is a first in a long time and he thought about picking up but we realized it was ward temple night and we really wanted to go as we have a goal to go to the temple 18 times this year. So, we booked a babysitter and made the plans. Kyle really did a great job at lunch. The Lord really blessed him to make just as much money as he typically would if he were to work all day. I picked up our babysitter (something else we haven't had to do in a while since mostly the in-laws are home to help but they were out of town). I showed her the basics and we took off. We went to the restaurant that Kyle works at (not the exact building but the same place) mostly because the food is great and we get 50% off. Well, one of the managers there knew Kyle and took care of our whole bill!!!! So, we left a nice tip for the waiter, 20 bucks!! haha...

Of course the temple was amazing! It is so incredible to feel the spirit there and to just feel like your life is back in place and going the way you need to go. There were probably about 8 couples from the ward which was good to see, of course we wish it was more. Then we went home. We paid what we thought was a generous amount for the babysitter. We figured the Lord had blessed us so much everyday, why not share a little more with those around us. I'm sure our babysitter felt like she deserved it though. haha! She told me it was her first experience babysitting a 2 year old and a 1 year old. Joshie really does go through these phases of not wanting to be put down. Apparently he fell of the couch and he wanted he to hold him the whole time after that. Conner just ran around the whole time and said NO to everything she asked. She was like "Where does he get the energy?" haha, I was like "He's 2!!!" The nice thing though was that he walked upstairs around bed time and laid down himself (he didn't get a nap). I mentioned to her Conner might ask to say prayers. So she went up and asked if he wanted to, of course he said no, but as soon as she started to stand he says "prayers, prayers!" so she had to get back down and pray with him. Ha Ha, so if was just a crazy night for this poor 13 year old! So, she deserved the cash, we will see if she ever wants to watch them again!!

Today was great with being able to watch General Conference! It was so humbling and uplifting. I love listening and learning. The kids were really good throughout it too watch was another huge blessing from the Lord. Kyle had to go to work at 3 so he missed the 2nd session. I really felt like the main message was about families. You can tell that the devil is really trying to destroy the family. I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life to help me and guide me in the troubled time.

The weather was beautiful today! As soon as conference was over we went outside. The boys have this play lawn mower thing that pops balls and is really loud so it is an outside toy, but man do they love it! So they were loving being outside. Soon after we went out it was time to eat, so we went back in and Conner threw a fit. Of course in the middle of dinner he was falling asleep. Again, another day with no nap. When I grabbed him though to put him in bed he woke up and wouldn't go so I put him back in his chair and before he took a bite he was already nodding off. It was too funny. After Josh and I were done we woke him up to go back outside. We played in the backyard a bit then Conner found the sidewalk chalk. So we went to the driveway and Conner thought it was so cool. He knows all of his shapes so he kept telling me different shapes to draw so he could color them. Josh just ran around the whole time. There was a point where a little lady bug crawled by. Conner has this book he loves called Creepy Crawlies and it talks about ladybugs so I thought it would be fun to show him one. He was interested in looking but under no circumstances would he touch it. Josh on the other hand couldn't stop grabbing at it. He loved it! Unfortunately after Josh tried stepping on it multiple time he actually squished it in his little fingers....

Josh had a few tumbles on the driveway and now has some scraped up knees, a cut, and bruise on his head and Conner has some scraped knees also. We grabbed the stroller and went on a long walk. But as we were getting started Conner found a dandelion and was like "flower, flower!" So we had to stop and he picked the "flower." He carried that thing for at least an hour tonight! The funniest part was it was just the head, so he was like pinching the bottom of it. About a quarter of the way through Conner wanted out so he could walk. He really did a good job, he walked over a mile right next to the stroller. However, ever dandelion he saw he wanted to pick. He had two hand fulls of weeds and the yellowest fingers. I was so disappointed I didn't have the camera with me. If he didn't pick the "flower" he had to say hi and bye to it. Obviously it took a while to get home. Then right when we were going to turn on our street he just set his piles down and said "bye flowers" haha, I guess he was done with them!

The kids had a bath, we read scriptures, brushed out teeth, prayed, then they laid right down without a problem. Now I have been able to relax and write this blog. It has been a great 24 hours and now to make it perfect Kyle should be walking through the door any minute...