35 weeks - and I think Dodger genuinely appreciated this little seat of his. Haha.
Finding butterflies in the front yard and playing at the park by the library. After this park visit we decided that this would be the best day to have one last lunch date with Ryan before Pierscen started school, so we drove across town and went out to Sadies. We ordered their "small" plate of nachos, which is actually ginormous, and the kids pretty much filled up on tortilla chips with honey.
My 31st birthday rolled around on a Thursday. Pierscen was especially excited to surprise me for breakfast with a chocolate cheesecake that he decorated and yummy crepes. It was delicious! I love these sweet kids and their very thoughtful dad. They are the best!
The rest of the day was pretty normal - taking care of kids, cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc. But even Google knew it was my birthday which was fun, but creepy. I guess that's why you don't give your real info. Haha.
The exciting part of my birthday was that Oma and Opa arrived for a semi-impromptu visit. I say semi because the trip was planned on Sunday for reasons I will get to shortly.
Ryan and the kids had my birthday dinner planned - BBQ pork ribs in the dutch oven, corn and veggies from the garden. It was delicious. And so fun to have Ryan's parents here!
Friday morning we went to the gardens/aquarium. The only time they had been before was the first year we were here for the River of Lights. It's quite a different experience in the summer when it's warm and beautiful! We got a later start than we had hoped because Pierscen had a mandatory back to school thing that morning at 10 am where we had to show up and prove that we were really going to school. We learned that his teacher will be the same one that gave us the tour a few months previous but that she still had 3 weeks of maternity leave left and would return the day our baby was going to be born. In the mean time, his substitute teacher is a lady from our ward. How great is that? Pierscen had a moment or two of shyness, but naturally came right out of his shell and started exploring the classroom. He will do great.
Anyway, the gardens were wonderful. A little hot because we got there later, but still worth going.
And because we were later getting there, that meant we were right on time to see them feed the sharks at the aquarium. That was awesome and very informative. It was cool to watch the scuba divers go around and feed the different fish. Definitely a neat experience. The funny/sad thing was that Pierscen had been wearing a whistle on a lanyard around his neck. When we left the aquarium, the whistle was gone. For three weeks Devry would bring it up, super concerned and say, "We have to go Aquim-mim. Find wheesle. Look in trash." (We did eventually go back and Devry actually totally forgot to look for the precious whistle. I think we finally convinced her it really is gone now.)
Saturday was a busy day. We had a baby shower for me and my friend who just recently moved out of our ward named Sara. We have some truly amazing, crafty, talented women who all came together to make this special. I volunteered to host it at my own house, which I know is not common, but it gave me motivation to get things really cleaned up - something that I wanted to happen before baby came anyway. We had a wonderful time. I am grateful for our friends and our amazing ward for making this possible and for still throwing this baby "sprinkles" to help us get diapers and wipes. It makes a huge difference!
One of the funny things that came from this was that Devry was convinced that all of the stuff we were given was hers - naturally. Even though we explained that it was for baby brother, it was hard to argue with her when she tried on a 6-9 month onesie and it fit like a glove. Hahaha! Oh my tiny children! So she went to bed wearing it. When she woke up she finally agreed that it was "too small" and took it off. It was pretty funny.
Sunday was the big day - the REAL reason that his parents made the trip down last minute. (A lot of people wondered why they would make the trip when they were planning on coming back a month later to help with the baby, but it all made sense after church...)
Ryan was called as the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric! The week previous we were asked to meet with a member of the stake presidency just before church. We had absolutely no idea why. Ryan's guess/worry was being called as a seminary teacher. HA! Instead, we were told that the current Bishopric had been serving for a little over 5 years and there was going to be a change and that Ryan was being called as 2nd Counselor. I wish I could have captured Ryan's face at that moment. Totally blind sided. The colored drained and he just sat there. Definitely overwhelmed. In that moment I felt much the same - seeing as we were going to have a baby in 3 weeks and our other two were totally crazy. For a fly on the wall, this is what was happening:
I had to split Devry and Pierscen up and put them on opposite sides of me. Pierscen slouched back in the chair, threw his hands in the air and said, "Ahhh! What's happening?!" as he melted off the chair into a puddle on the ground. Devry at different times was jumping on the chair singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and the next moment laying upside down with her feet up the air. My mind ran from option to option, wishing one second that we had asked someone to watch the kids, to wishing our kids were perfectly reverent, to just laughing inside because at least the kids were painting a completely honest picture of what the next few years will be like for me as I "single mom" things. Yes, I was overwhelmed, but I know it was nothing compared to what Ryan was likely feeling. But putting all that aside, I had a very strong, peaceful feeling that this was right and that this is exactly what the Lord wanted for Ryan and our family. And how awesome is that? Yes, in many ways, we felt like we were "too young" for this, but I couldn't help but feel grateful that Ryan is able, willing, and worthy to serve in this capacity.
We were told that being set apart has to be done by a member of the stake presidency, but that being ordained to High Priest can be done by someone else, aka, his dad, if he wanted to. So Ryan contacted his dad, who later told us he teared up when he heard. Very cool moment for them both. So his parents immediately went to work rearranging their schedule so that they could come. And that's the real reason they were here.
After Sacrament meeting, the new Bishopric and families met in the High Council Room to be set apart. (In hindsight we should have sent the kids to class, but we thought it would be cool for them to be there. Oh well.) That was a very special experience. The Lord gives us so much strength, wisdom and power to do His work. He will sustain and uplift those He calls. He is totally aware of us, our needs, and our abilities.
Yes, this will be challenging. Ryan will be gone a lot during the week and especially on Sundays, but it will all be okay. We have wonderful friends who will help us and I know it will all be fine. I am so grateful for the love and support of our family and our ward. I am grateful for the gift of prayer and faith.
It was so wonderful to have Oma and Opa there for the weekend and to be able to participate in something so special. It was a fun, and exhausting... as evidenced by Devry passing out at dinner and sleeping so hard we were able to clean up all of dinner without her evening moving.
Here's to new adventures!
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