I've Been Waiting For a Miracle

I wanted to blog about my weekend on Monday, but I got distracted by laundry and I really can't remember what else.  Then Tuesday, I cleaned my kitchen even though I caught Zach's cold.  It desperately needed it.  Just ask my mom.  She was having a compulsive fit when she stopped by with Ben trying not to start cleaning.  It's all better now, Mom.  No worries.  Then Wednesday, I had to get ready for my Stampin' Up! workshop.  I hadn't even made the projects yet.  I knew what we were going to do, I just hadn't made it yet.  Holy crap, though.  I was dying all day.  I just wanted to lay in bed and do nothing.  As the day wore I on, I knew that I either needed to cancel or pray and I would never cancel on my hostess.  Unless I was puking.  So through the power of prayer, I somehow managed to get through without coughing all over everyone.  Pretty much a miracle.  Today, I'm still sick.  Zach is still sick (he's going back to school tomorrow because I'm just tired of him being around), and Kurtis is home sick.  But that's his own fault because he still kisses me when I'm sick even though I tell him it's a bad idea.
Want to see what we made at the workshop?

Pretty cute, right?  Oh, you lift up the poppies and underneath are some post-it notes.  What a cute way to dress those up if you're like me and you leave them out on your counter.  I was thinking about starting a new blog just for my workshop projects and I can teach you how to do them.  What do you think?  Good idea, or no?

Alright.  Now that I am done showing off, let me tell you what we did on Saturday.  We had to get up early because Zach had a soccer game at 8.  I'm not very good at that, so I missed it.  Kaleb's game was at 9, though, so he and I stayed home and walked to his game.  Dad and the other boys showed up later, after Zach's game in a different part of town.  Here's a shot of Kaleb kicking the ball.

Unfortunately, the ball isn't in the picture.  But I love it when he goes after it!

After the game, we went up to Brigham City.  Kurtis and I went to lunch (it's a Saturday thing we like to do now that the kids can take care of themselves).  Then we went to the church to borrow some tables and chairs for Ben's welcome home party.  I was supposed to go to my 15 year high school reunion, but by the time we were done with the chairs, it was pretty much over.  Ah, well.  There's always the 20th.  Instead, I helped my dad prepare out dutch oven BBQ chicken dinner, and started the coals burning.  I like fire.

It's hard to photograph, though.  This shot turned out pretty well.

After dinner, we went to Peach Days!  Brigham City always has a celebration the weekend after Labor Day weekend to celebrate the peach harvest.  A lot of the farms have been sold off, but we still have this tradition any way.  There's a carnival and rides and my kids didn't want to go!  What is wrong with them?

 The Brigham City sign with the temple in the background.

 The kids got to go on two rides.  They chose this one. 

 It does this, and they got to go around and around the track more times than I thought they would. :)

Even though this picture is blurry, I still love it.  Look at his happy face!

 Kaleb saw this ride and wanted to go on it.  I was all like, "Whaaaat?" But then Kurtis insisted that Zach, Riley, Kaleb and I go on it.  Zach and Riley wanted to go on the Ferris wheel, but the line was so long, Kurtis  put his foot down.  You get in there and there are no restraints.  You just lay against the slanted wall and it spins you around and around.  I thought it was fun until I got a little motion sickness at the end.

I asked the boys if they liked it when they got out.  There was a resounding "NO!" that came from all of them pretty much in unison.

Sunday was Ben's big day and he had to speak in church about his mission.  It was a really good talk.  One of the things he said was, "I was always wet.  I was either sweaty, it was raining, or I was baptizing people." Ha ha.  That's awesome.  I would hate that.  But I bet you get used to it.  When he got off the plane, he said, "It's really dry here."  After, we had food, family and friends over to my mom's house and celebrated his return.

 I made this sign and took it over to my mom's on the 4th for when Ben got home on the 5th.  Jeremy, Grandma Sharp, and I hung it up, and then I went home so that I could be home before the boys got home from school.  About half an hour later, my mom called to tell me the wind was blowing it too much and the "E" in the word Elder had gone missing.  I made a new one, and they picked it up when I went to the airport with them.

 They hung it up inside instead.  I used the colors of the Brazil flag for the letters, and decorated it with stars because there are stars on the Brazilian flag.  The stars on the flag are the constellations that were in the sky the night they gained their independence, but I didn't try to get that fancy with them.  It says, "Welcome home Elder Sharp!" in Portuguese.  Yes, grammar police.  I know I forgot the comma.  It's bugging me, too.

 Some of Ben's friends.

 More of Ben's friends.

Food, family, and Ben hugging a cute girl.

 While Ben was in Brazil, he slept in a hammock.  This one was made for him by a lady he went to church with.  She did the crochet work.  The other side says "REAL Salt Lake".  But I forgot to take a picture of it.

 The man of the hour!  We're so glad he's home. :)

Missionaries are weird.