Miss Magoo

Miss Magoo practicing her curtsy

In January Miss Magoo turned 8.  It was a very exciting day for her.  My parents came up for the weekend.  And my sister Lorna & her 2 daughters also came, which was a total surprise to Miss Magoo.  As part of her turning 8 she choose to be baptized.  It was a long awaited day for her.  She had been talking about being baptized ever since her brother was baptized 3 yrs ago!!
She decided to have to her dad baptize her.  We choose to have it on a different day as the stake baptism as I really wanted my parents to be able to be there, so it was just her.
And as much as I wanted her baptism to be special for her, I also wanted it to be short, sweet and no problems. I was slightly stressed as I realized that I had never been to a baptism where the parents weren't married, and I wasn't sure what to expect.  Well it went fabulous!  I think it was probably one of the quickest baptisms that I have been to.  My parent both spoke, Miss Magoo's grandma Lois sang, her dad baptized her, she was confirmed and it was over.  I was so relieved that everything went so smoothly.
But what I was the most pleased about was the feeling of peace that I came away with.  As I sat with my mom on my right and Miss Magoo on my left, I felt peace.  On the other side of Miss Magoo sat her dad, and I thought as it began that I would be emotional, but I wasn't.  I had asked my ex's wife to play the piano, and as I sat and watched her play and looked at my daughter and then at my ex I realized that all was as it should be.  None of ours lives are right now what I had thought they would be, but for me and my kids we are good. We are happy and are mostly adjusted to our new normal life.
In all it was a wonderful day, which is all any parent hopes for their child's special day to be.

New Family Pictures

For Thanksgiving the kids and I spent the weekend in Utah with part of my family.  It was a much needed break from school for all of us.  The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.  I got some time with my parents and my sisters.  And while we were there my very talented niece Maddie took some family pictures for us.  I haven't done Christmas cards in several years and really wanted to do ones this year.  I was absolutely thrilled with how they turned out.

Spring Break

I decided to take advantage of PJ have 10 days off from school for spring break and head to Utah to visit my family. First though we had Mr. Man's older brother's wedding to attend. Once the wedding and reception were over the kids and I headed down to the Provo area. We had a great time. The kids got to play with their cousins, and I got to visit with my siblings. I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters who all live in the Provo area. And even though I was there back in August for a couple of days, I still had missed them. I tried to not over plan our days, but we still had plenty to do.
Monday one of my sisters, a sister-in-law, I and all our kids went bowling. My kids had never been before and had a blast. And then we spent FHE at my older brother's house with most of my siblings that lived in the area along with my nieces, my one niece's husband and cute new baby.
Tuesday I watched my kids play with their younger cousins while my sister and I ate Kneader's sandwiches (so yummy) and sorted legos.
Wednesday my sister-in-law and I took my kids and her 2 youngest to Thanksgiving Point and toured the Dinosaur Museum.
Thursday afternoon the kids and I headed to West Valley to have lunch with some of friends from our old ward. I was great to visit/gossip with them while our kids played. Made me a lot homesick for my old ward. Thursday evening my wonderful brother watched my 2 crazy kids so I could spend the evening with my sisters/sister-in-laws to celebrate my youngest sister's upcoming new arrival. We visited and ate yummy food at California Pizza Kitchen. Then returned to her house to visit some more and eat delicious chocolate cupcakes that I'm sure added a few pounds.
Friday my younger brother and I took his and my kids and went to the BYU Art Museum and then on to the Bean Museum. I'm sure all that walking burned off at least a little of the food from the night before. And then Friday night we drove up to West Jordan to visit a dear friend and her family. She made a yummy dinner and we got to visit for a while before I had to head back to my parents. On the drive back to Payson all I could think was how was I going to talk Mr. Man in to moving back to Utah, even though I know that is so not going to happen.
Saturday was supposed to be the day the we returned home, but my kids decided that they needed one more day with their cousins. During our visit we stayed upstairs at my parents house. They are currently in Russia on a mission so we missed getting to see them. My younger brother and his family live downstairs taking care of my parents house for them. It was lovely having them there. I got to know my 3 cute little nieces so much better and enjoyed getting all the loves that they were willing to share. And Miss Magoo loved having a cousins right downstairs to play with. So Miss Magoo wasn't exactly ready to leave her new found cousins. And PJ just wasn't looking forward to the drive back home. Later Saturday afternoon we go a nice surprise when my older sister and 3 of her kids showed up for a visit and dinner. I loved getting to spend time with my sisters ( love my brothers too, but there is just something about sisters) it was so great to get to sit and talk to them in person not just through a phone. And to actually spend time with 3 of my sisters at once was fabulous.

And then on the drive home we got to enjoy a nice spring snow storm. No, really I enjoyed the blowing snow (*note sarcasm*). And if I knew the name of the driver in the little green pick-up I'd send him a nice thank you note. He was driving so steadily through it I figured he knew what he was doing and I just followed him through most of the storm. It was strangely calming having that truck in front of me while I was dealing with the HEAVILY blowing snow and the other crazy drivers.
When we got home it was to a cleanish house, laundry done, dishes done, and fresh cookies waiting for us on the counter, and of course Mr. Man I missed him most of all. I am so HAPPY to be home.