Mom and Dad's Visit

Alright, the time has come. My vacation is over, I am caught up on my house work (for now), the one week I had to teach sharing time this month is done (did I ever mention that after two years, I was released as primary pianist and was called as the 2ND counselor?), Emma's birthday is over, and I am feeling better and more motivated to do things. I guess I have no more excuses and I need to get myself caught up on all of the MANY happenings of our summer. Be prepared for a lot of travel logs and quick highlights from the last two months. I hope I can remember all of the important things that have happened.

So the first thing I need to blog on, is my parent's visit way back in June. They were so sweet to come and hang out with us for two weeks, even though a lot of time was spent doing things for me, like cooking meals, doing dishes, watching Emma, and doing my laundry, since I was not feeling so great. However, we did manage to do some fun things that are worth sharing.

Of course, since we have season passes we made a day out of going to Sea World. Even though it was soo hot, we had fun going to a number of shows, eating over priced food, feeding the seals, and watching Emma get excited with everything water related. Dad and Michael were even able to go on a ride, while Mom and I watched Emma play in the toddler area.

On another day Mom wanted to go to a SMALL town just south of here called Helena, where she has some family history. It was very small, and not a whole lot to see, but was still cool to visit somewhere, where your family could have lived.

Then of course, how could I resist asking my mom to make a full on German dinner one night, for old time sakes? She was so great about it, she made schnitzel, spaetzel, cucumber salad, potato dumplings, gravy, rotkohl (red cabbage), and to top it off, apple strudel. It was heavenly! We even invited our friends the Mickelsen's over to help us enjoy it. Thank you Mom!

We also managed to get a babysitter for an afternoon and do a double date together. While Brad watched Emma, Mom and Dad, and Michael and I went to Freebirds for lunch (a yummy burrito place) and then saw Kung Fu Panada. I enjoyed it, it was very cute.

And then if my parents hadn't already done enough for me, my mom made Emma this sweet little dress while she was here. It is still a little big, for which we are grateful. That means she can wear it for a little while. :) Why do kids go through clothes so quickly?

All in all it was a wonderful visit. As always it was so hard to see them go. I think I cried all day (hormones don't help, of course.) I am praying so hard that some day soon we can all live closer together. I have had enough of being so far away, and only seeing each other a few weeks out of the year. I couldn't have been blessed with better parents!