What a rush

I had a very busy week in preparation for leaving for a very busy week, so here's a look back at my fun life:

Joe's parents came into town to visit! We thoroughly enjoyed their company, and by "we" I mean "the kids" because Joe and I mostly took advantage of them! Whoops. They graciously watched their grandchildren for a small fee of hugs and kisses while Joe and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary! Out to dinner at Red Lobster, then to the movies to see Star Trek. Funny how dinner and a movie is kind of a typical date when you're dating, not imaginative or unique, but when you're married with 4 kids it is the MECCA of getting out. A quiet meal that I don't have to prepare or clean up after? A movie that won't be interrupted by requests for water, bad dreams, or nightly feedings? YES PLEASE! So we loved it. And we loved having company. Thanks, Debbie and John!

My parents came to visit! Yep, two sets of grandparents in one week. We were busy. They came with a purpose, though, to watch grandkids while Kari, Jonathan, Joe and I did the Big Dog Brag mud run - 5K with 20 obstacles. Maybe we should have started with a plain ol' 5K, no obstacles.  Or maybe we should have practiced some obstacles so we'd be good at those, then jog the 5K. Or maybe we should have gotten in shape AT ALL prior to attempting this. But we didn't. What we DID do was run a little, walk a lot, and laugh even more - it was terribly hard for us wimps and terribly fun at the same time. We'll probably have amnesia and do it again next year!

Before, team Orange Crush

After, the stragglers of team Orange Crush, showing off our muddy shoes. There's about 2 solid inches of mud there.

I also hosted a small piano recital for my 4 students and I (I haven't mentioned I started teaching piano lessons. There. I mentioned it), and the kids all did SO WELL! It was fun to be on the other side of the piano. I also played a few pieces and after I shook off the nerves I had a nice time myself. I decided (dummy that I am) to attempt to tackle Chopin's "Fantasie-Impromptu" and wanted a reason to force myself to practice. I'd say it was more of a sack than a head-on tackle, but I tried. I sounded absolutely nothing like this:

I also didn't wear that dress.

After the very fun visit, date, piano recital, and mud run, I decided I needed more to do so I hopped on a place with Ethan and headed to Utah to visit my old bud Rachel Sollis! I've missed her dearly since she up and left me 2-1/2 years ago, so now seemed like the perfect time to go, what with Joe's great work schedule and me not minding if he went a little crazy with 3 kids to himself for 5 days. He survived, and I had a blast! Which of those is more important, I'm not sure.

Not my kids, but I think I made some new best friends!

 This one is mine.

Finally, this happened previously but I've yet to mention it here in the blog world, Joe got a new ride. We Mormons don't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea; we don't use tobacco or do drugs; we don't wear tank tops or short shorts or revealing clothing; we don't swear (okay, sometimes we swear) or take the Lord's name in vain.... but we CAN RIDE MOTORCYLES.

The End