My Birthday Week

We got back from Great Wolf Lodge around 7 pm on Friday the 8th.  After we ate some cereal for dinner, we got the kids in bed.  I was so exhausted, that I think I went to bed about 8:30.  It felt great though!  Early the next morning, we went to go see "Thor 2".  Garrett got 4 free tickets through Intel.  Sweet!

The movie started at 9 am--which seemed really early to go see a movie.  I think we got to the theater around 8ish--which is really early for me.  The movie was awesome though.  We took Maggie and her friend, Emma and they both loved it, too.  Later that night, Garrett and I went out to eat at Chevy's (one of my favorite restaurants) with Jim and Georgia.  Right after, those three went to the airport to pick up Savann--Garrett's sister.  She was coming down for doctor appointments and to go with us to Time Out for Women. They got back sort of late, so we visited a little bit before they headed to Yamhill.

The next morning (the 10th), as we got up to get ready for church, one of the kids came in and told us that there was water all over their bathroom floor and that the toilet was clogged.  Garrett went to clean it up, since I was in the shower.  Boy--what a mess!  He soaked up at least 6 towels trying to dry the floor.  And if he wasn't upset enough by that, Maggie came upstairs and told him that there was water dripping from the ceiling onto the table and the floor.  The carpet was soaked!  He had to tear up the carpet to get it started drying.  

Since it was Sunday, we didn't really do anything about it.  But after talking to different people he decided that we needed to call our insurance company on Monday and go from there.  So, we just went about our day--with church and a birthday dinner for me at Jim and Georgia's house.  She went all out and cooked a very delicious meal of bbq ribs, scalloped potatoes, salad, homemade bread, apple butter jam, and a chocolate marshmallow cake.  She's amazing!  Then Maggie and I went to the church for a Bishop's Chat to introduce the youth to family search and how to start working on family history.  It was so exciting--I wish I had more time to work on it.  

Monday the 11th:  Garrett found a good company that specializes in restoring your house after fire, or water damage.  They came around 3 in the afternoon and worked for about 4 hours--determining where the water damage was--lots more damage than we were expecting--then tearing up carpet, carpet pads, walls, ceilings, toilets, vinyl and our wood floor.  It was so hard to see them tearing my house apart.  While they were working, we went out to eat with Jim, Georgia, Savann and the rest of the fam for another birthday dinner for me.  I felt so spoiled!  We went to Vivi's which is a vietnamese restaurant.  (another one of my favorites!)

When we got back, they were finishing up.  They had a fan up in the bathroom, and four or five in the kitchen and family room and even one down in the crawl space.  It was so loud!  And it got very warm in our house.  It got up to 81 degrees--it was so hot!  

The big metal box was pulling the moisture out of the air

The next day was the 12th.  The water expert guy, Shawn came back everyday to check on the "drying out" process.  

Meanwhile, my kids had some fun with the fans.

That night, we were having our Young Women in Excellence night for YW's.  I'm in the presidency and so I was in charge of the decorations.  I had to go early and help set up.  I think it turned out quite lovely.  

 The invitation I made

 Our banner.  It's supposed to be "Young women IN Excellence", but we wanted to focus on how excellent each of the girls were and so we wanted it to be "Young Women OF Excellence".  We had flowers throughout the room to show how each girl was beautiful and unique in her own special way.  

We had one of our Young Women take pictures of each of the girls in our group and then displayed them around the room.  I love how it turned out and I really love each one of these girls.  For part of the program, we had all the YW sing "I am a Child of God".  I watched each of them as they sang and thought about the different characteristics that make each one of them unique.  They sure brought a smile to my face!

 In the back, we had tables set up so that they could each display something they have worked on in personal progress.  At the end, all the guests could walk down the table and talk to each of the YW about what they did.  

The dessert table with our colorful cupcakes.  It was a great evening!

Wed. the 13th:  This was my official birthday, but it was pretty uneventful.  Which was ok, because I felt like we had been celebrating all week!  Garrett left to go out of town in the evening.  We met up at Maggie's soccer tournament before he left to the airport and he gave me some flowers and candy for my birthday.  He felt bad that he had to leave and that he hadn't done more for my birthday.  He had already given me those Halloween paintings, so I assured him that I was fine and that I had a great birthday.  

flowers from my sweet Garrett

Thurs. the 14th:  After I got all the kids off to school, I headed out to Yamhill because Georgia was taking Savann and I to get pedicures for my birthday.  See--the celebrations kept going!!  I haven't had a pedicure in years, but it was really nice and fun to hang out with them without kids, so that we could talk.  Georgia had one done the week before so didn't get one today.  

After, we went out to eat at a yummy Mexican restaurant, with Jim, too.  It was such a pleasant morning and I really enjoyed it!  Garrett got back that night from Vegas. Shawn, the water guy came back to take the fans, but realized there was one spot that still hadn't dried all the way.  So he took all the fans but 2.   

Friday the 15th:  The Kenndy Restoration guys came back to get the last fans!!  Ahh, the quiet!!  It was so nice.  Right as he was leaving, Jim and Georgia and Savann showed up.  Jim was going to stay and babysit until Garrett got home because us ladies and Maggie were headed down to the Convention Center in Portland to go to the Time Out for Women that is put on by Deseret Book.  

There was a session on Friday night from 6:30 until 9:30.  We stopped to eat at 5 Guys Burgers and then got stuck in traffic on the way there.  Georgia got us a hotel room right across the street from the Convention Center where it was being held. We were staying the night, since we didn't want to drive home after it was over and then drive back in the morning too.  So we made a whole weekend thing out of it.  Maggie was going to the Time Out for Girls, in a separate room.  They have pretty much the same speakers--almost, but their messages are geared to the young women.  She loved it!  

The theme this year was "Higher" and the scripture that went a long with it was Isaiah 55:9 which says: 

 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The first speaker was T.C. Christensen.  He is the producer and director of the movies "17 Miracles", "Ephraims's Rescue" and "The Work and the Glory".  Then we heard from Calee Reed who is an awesome singer and a has a really cute personality.Then it was Justin Cash, another singer and finally Heidi Swinton, who wrote President Monson's biography.  It was an awesome, uplifting and spirit filled night.  

We went back to the hotel and hung out a little bit, but then tried to get to bed.  The only bad thing about this place was that the heat never kicked on all night and we froze!!  I guess it was out in the whole building, and they were delivering extra blankets to those that called and complained, but we didn't think to call and complain about it in the middle of the night.  

I slept in a bed with Maggie and that girl is not only dramatic when she's awake, but when she sleeps, too.  When she'd roll over or something--it was a big production--the whole bed would move and I'd bounce and she'd whip over and get hit with an arm or a leg.  So, I didn't sleep very well.  Thinking about that night, I thought of this quote:  "I had to sleep with Minnie Mae and you don't know how she kicks."  ha ha!  

Anyways, we got up early so we could all have time to shower and get ready (the thing started at 9 and they opened the doors at 8:15).  There was a Denny's right across the street from the hotel, so we went there for breakfast.  

The presenters for the day were:  Chris Williams, Jericho Road--who were pretty good.  They were a group of 4 men who sing and they were pretty funny.  The highlight was them doing short clips of songs from famous boy bands.  It was great.  Maggie really enjoyed them, too.  

Jericho Road

Then there was Emily Watts, Brad Wilcox, Jennifer Platt and Emily Freeman.  Most of these are authors, Brad Wilcox teaches at BYU and Garrett and I have taken a class from him.  He's great.  Every speaker was wonderful and presented a great message.  I'm too tired or I would talk about what each of them talked about.  On the way home, we met up with Garrett and Jim and the kids at the Old Spaghetti Factory for a last dinner because Savann was flying home the next day.  

 Savann and the kids.