Wow, it's been a while

I was quite embarrassed to see how long it's been since I blogged.  Since filling in the near two months that have gone unblogged sounds utterly intimidating, I'll just fill you in on the last week or so.

We're visiting Phoenix right now. The weather is perfect, although for us that feels hot!  I had to turn on the a/c in the car, and everyone's houses feel stuffy. We're going to freeze when we get back to Idaho, though!

We're enjoying the "vacation," visiting friends, family, the zoo, and the children's museum, but the reason for our trip is less enjoyable. We came for Ryan's grandmother's funeral. I have yet to attend a sad funeral, because they've all been for elderly LDS people. The peace the Gospel brings at times like this is so overwhelmingly comforting that, as one relative said, "we mourn not for her, but for us who are left behind."

And then there are the perks. I surprised my bestest friend (don't be offended, I refer to a few people by that term, and it's totally true for each of you) by showing up at church in her (and our old) ward. I've spent just about every spare moment at her new house, which is beautiful! And she has 7 adorable kids who have stopped staring at me like I'm some weirdo and have started treating me like a permanent fixture. I thought it was great when my friend announced that all the neighborhood kids had to leave because it was dinner time, and one of her kids said, "But Jared and his mom don't have to, right?"  And one night Jared said, "Mom, it's so great that your best friends are our best friends!" My kids really get along amazingly well with my friends' kids!

One big downside to our trip is that, besides sharing friends, we also shared the flu. Poor Jared threw up during the funeral, but luckily he'd opted to stay in the Nursery with all the kids. It would have been a sad thing to miss the wonderful stories they told while taking him to the bathroom.
He threw up again later, and Luke surprised us by joining him during the family luncheon. Twice. Everyone in our family got their turn, some worse than others. Poor Luke has only perked up today after five days of playing Limp Luke. At least he was snuggly. We always enjoy Snuggly Luke.

Ryan took the boys to the zoo today, and he's taking them to the children's museum tomorrow. I'm going to pack up so I can spend the evening with my friend (her husband has basketball Thursday nights) before heading home the next day.

Well, that's what we're up to.