Poor Drewby teethed the first few days of the break. On the way over he cried hard as we changed altitudes; even Motrin couldn't completely soothe the pain of two big molars cutting through his top gums. After Monday he showed signs of his playful self returning (thankfully) and brightened up as the week wore on.
Once we got into town and had a good night's sleep I headed out to my sister's to meet everyone preparing for Ashleigh's surprise party. I had schemed for a month and a half with Anthon and my other family members to pull this off (arrive in AZ and surprise her with a 26th birthday party), and it WORKED! Here's the video of the big "Surprise!" moment :)
Sydney cracks me up - she knew something was up when we all went quiet and waited for the front door to open. She hid in the bathroom closet until the big "Surprise!" was over :) has always been afraid of Happy Birthday songs, since we first sang it to her! Anyway, that part of the video cracked me up, Pace you did a good job in catching all the fun, memorable moments!
Crazy eyes Anthon :) helped us pull off the surprise!
After the party was over, we played with family all week. Pace worked with his Dad and crammed studies in over a few nights... Believe it or not, this was a pretty chill vacation compared to our normal visits (mostly for the kids' sakes, they needed a schedule similar to real life).Some of the highlights
Disclaimer: I'm 8.5 months pregnant, not the most flattering pose :)
Disclaimer: I'm 8.5 months pregnant, not the most flattering pose :)
And... those are the only pictures, sadly, that I took :( Shame on me!! (Check Ash's blog, she got a sweet camera for her birthday, there's bound to be pictures there) But we swam and swam in my cousin's pool (Michele above) - they heated it!! Wow, so NICE! Drew just smiled the entire time, which was a feat since he had been so sad in pain for so long. Syd loved playing with all her cousins, so did Drew - got to see the Rawlins grandkids almost every day, and spent a lot of time with my family as well. They were all in heaven! And the adults managed to get out one evening for a date night at Macaroni Grill (my favorite). Bummer Ash and Anthon had to skip - she works now part-time, started the VERY week I planned to come see her :( But we still got to hang out, and hooray!! She'll be here in 6 weeks anyway when this baby comes and Paces is up to his eyeballs in yet another semester of finals straddled around the birth of one of his kids :) Poor guy...
So, there it is :) a special trip in my eyes.
Before we left AZ I had Pace give each of us blessings, just in case I went into labor early, so we'd all be prepared for the adjustments that lie ahead, and that we'd have a good time, be healthy, etc. I felt strongly that this would be an edifying, uplifting week. After the first couple days with Drew's teething (bad, he's never been like that before, ever) I thought, "This isn't edifying or uplifting", wondered why then. Sunday's lesson hit me though, about Joseph being sold into Egypt. The teacher added a theme of, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", talked about how hard it must've been for him... Anyway, it made me think about when we are promised great blessings, especially when/if we are expecting spiritual good things to happen, be prepared for adversity. To somewhat quote Brian Regan... "If the Lord tells you you're in for a spiritual experience, buckle up!" Ha :)
...Reminded me of when I gave birth to Drew, I had prayed for weeks that it would be a spiritual experience (don't ever do that :) jk) and it was, but not until after a TREMENDOUS (for me) storm of physical pain and suffering, which really allowed for the spiritual growth?? Anyway, there's my week :) It was wonderful to see you all! The trip back was great, but we're glad to be home safe and sound :) Now on with the semester!
