Nice Day

I had no idea my post on Thursday sounded so 'whiny'. I didn't mean it to be so when I started getting encouraging comments I went back and reread the post and rolled my eyes at myself. Thanks for the great comments though, it spurred me to post again so that post can move on down the line.

Today my amazing sister Jill and niece Madi came over for hair appointments. Did I mention they live 3 hours away? Yeah, they drive over here anyway and while I would not be offended at all if they found a person in their neck of the woods (for real), I love that they come here! We never lack in conversation and always have something to laugh about, it's awesome. Without her knowing it, she inspired me to deal with how I was feeling about myself (and all my weight gain) last fall and that's when I joined Weight Watchers. She's been a quiet example to me and I've felt better than I have in a long time. She's more than doubled the amount I've lost and I am SO proud of her. I just love her. And plus, isn't she looking hot?!

Rewinding a couple days now that I have the photos. This week the kids were out of school Mon-Wed (Thurs also for kinder) for conferences. I normally don't complain too much about laid back days but it seemed like too many days with spring break right around the corner. I didn't plan much and thought the kids wouldn't mind just killing time on their bikes and scooter.

We have a neighbor family on our street that are in our ward and our kids love their kids. They have 4 just the opposite of ours, oldest boy then 3 girls. Nathan and Dane both have a sister in their class at school too. On Monday she called and offered to take the kids on a hike. I felt really guilty having her take my 3 older ones and her 4 but she kept saying she didn't mind. For the record, I would have gone if Reed hadn't been napping but he was long gone so I let the others go.

The kids had so much fun with their friends. Notice Dane with the oldest boy, he thinks he's, 'really cool and funny'. And Kathryn especially likes tending to the two 'little girls'. They log some serious hours playing together each week. Every day after school even if they can only fit in 15 minutes and Saturdays as long as both families are around. It's been one of the best parts of the move for me; getting to see them make friends that live so close and watch them put together their neighborhood clubhouse. All the innocent fun, unstructured times kids should have. It's adorable and a tender mercy I'm really grateful for!

I couldn't believe it when she sent me these photos, this was a real hike! Especially with 7 kids and the oldest one only 10. She's a champ! I cleaned out the garage the whole time they were gone and got much more done without them here. I thanked her over and over for taking them on such a fun outing and for wearing them out enough to have an early bedtime. Definitely a nice Monday.