Weekend Update

This week Dave had another four-day weekend and would you believe it, we were actually really productive. There was cleaning, organizing, rearranging, and GMAT studying (getting down to the wire - Dave is taking it at the end of the month). I am quite happy, actually OVER THE MOON to have finally got rid of the hard-water stains in our bath tub that were so gross (I thought they were permanent, but a kind of pumice stone from the cleaning section did the trick). And the living room is much more cozy with its new TV stand and chest - a thrift store find that we reupholstered it ourselves! 

We got to play a little too. Thrifting is fun! Our hunt this week yielded some great Halloween costumes, pictures of which will come at Halloween. We almost got Riley a Little Orphan Annie costume, but we want our costumes to coordinate with each other so that would make Dave and I... her dead parents? Meh - no thanks.

 Isn't she cute? And Joe! Such a rock star.

Riley's favorite game: Running into things/people with a blanket over her head. I think she appreciates the element of danger. Uh oh.

Friday night, Andrea and Em came down for dinner and to babysit for us, bless them. Dave and I first went to my soccer game and then to the Haunted Forest. IT WAS SO FUN! I highly recommend it. There were "wacky shack" hallways and animatronic werewolves and all kinds of surprises that made me shriek like a little girl.

Because they send you through about 8 at a time, Dave and I found ourselves on a group date with a bunch of middle-schoolers. We traveled in a cloud of Axe body spray (what the kids are wearing these days, apparently) and thoroughly enjoyed their conversation:

 "If your shoes catch on fire, stomp like this."
"Dude, that girl has called me seven times since we've been in here."
"Oh my GOSH, I like, LOVE pink, you have NO idea." 

It was awesome and we got along really well, actually. Must be our evolved social skills. Oh, and someone asked if they were ours! THAT was weird. I guess in the dark we look like we could have 15 year-old kids.

Here's our actual kids, during the General Conference break today:

Riley sometimes does a "Chris Farley face" now. I love her so much.

Our beautiful, sleepy man, whose eyes, by the way, are looking hazle'ish.

 Riley, trying on her dad's shoes (she couldn't lift her feet so she just stands in them) and resting on a gap in the fence she likes that is just her size. If you are thinking, "Holy cow she is growing right up," you are correct. She is kind and funny and smart, and sometimes annoyed and grumpy, but life is always an adventure with her around.  

About that general conference, haven't the talks been amazing? And the big change - missionaries can now serve as early as 18 for boys, 19 for girls! Our little buddies from the haunted forest could be missionaries in three years! Elder Uchtdorf's talk is my favorite so far - his words about living in the moment really resonated with me. He talked about missing out on moments and people, and regretting it.  

"Life is not something that should only be appreciated and rejoiced in retrospect." 

After his inspiring words, I resolved to not take the people in my life for granted, and to try harder to cultivate the relationships that are everything, and to be present in the moment - not texting when I'm with people and doing LESS multitasking when I'm playing with my kids are two changes that came to mind.

* General Conference from today is already online: to watch today's recorded talks or to watch the sessions live tomorrow, click here.

Here are a couple fuzzy cell phone pictures from when Andrea came to visit a few weeks ago. We walked up to bridal veil falls and fed the fish and waded in the icy water. Also, you can kind of see it here - Andrea and Riley have the EXACT same hair color and similar cuts - its' cute.