All the Holidays

I'm in charge of a ward service activity tomorrow. We're calling it A Year of Service in a Day and have seven different service options for people to help with, each connected to a different holiday. Cooper and Topher went to help me set up and decorate this afternoon and we ended up staying until nearly 10pm. We did detour to Walmart and Costco in the middle, but still, that's way too long. They were both really helpful and very good sports.

I hope people show up tomorrow.

Peter: Week One in Pictures

For the Strength

Cooper and Phoebe had a fantastic experience at FSY last week! Sophie and I handled Monday drop-off (I drove, she socialized) for our kids and their friends and the other family made the drive to bring them home on Saturday. I took some pictures when we checked them in. As for the week itself, I didn't get many pictures, but the ones I got looked happy.

The hard part about FSY last week? Cooper and Phoebe said goodbye to Peter on Monday morning instead of Wednesday evening. There were big feelings.

Balancing Act

"Mom! Mom! Look! Quick! Look at the broom! Dad said it couldn't do this, but it can! Take a picture, quick!" -Topher, adamant that I document the balancing broom. I want to record this moment because it happened while he was doing his chores, without complaint. Now, that is something to remember.

Delayed Check-In

For those following along at home, the Philadelphia Mission, where Peter is serving, moved their Preparation day (P-day) from Monday to Thursday this week. 

Why is this a big deal? The missionaries can only call home once a week, on their P-day. This is a huge difference from when Bryan served in the late 90s. At that time, missionaries could call home twice per year, on Christmas and Mother's Day. The rest of the year they relied on letters to communicate with their loved ones. The change from twice a year to once a week is relatively new, maybe in the last five years.

The P-day change means that we didn't talk to Peter today, but hopefully we will on Thursday!

Austenland

Tonight my friend and I saw The Complete Works of Jane Austen abridged at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and had a grand time. Once again, it's great being "the theatre friend." 

Fewer People

 Our house was kind of quiet today.

Not silent, and not bad, just quieter than it's been in a while.

That is all.

Called, Again

Tonight something happened that Peter has been hoping for ever since he got his mission call in September.

He switched from a service mission to a teaching mission.

We got the word a few weeks ago that his request to transfer had been approved. We've spent the time since then trying to get him ready. Many errands were run today gathering all the needed items.

And then we drove him down to the mission home this evening and dropped him off.

There were tears, at least from those that were in the van as we drove away.

It was a mixture of happy and sad tears, but mostly joyful.

Semisesquicentennial

Sophie and I started our July 4th by joining our ukulele orchestra for a community performance.

While we were doing that, most of the rest of our family went to a church party. Sophie and I ran over there once our ukulele gig ended and arrived just in time to join a group in singing a few songs, totally unrehearsed. We've sung together before and we sounded pretty darn good.

Later that day we made a quick appearance at a friend's party. I believe Topher ate two hot dogs and all the kids got slushies. It was not a healthy dinner, but it was satisfying.

We finished the night with a different batch of friends for a birthday celebration, for both a person and a country.

Bros

I looked over the other day to see all three boys standing in my bedroom doorway, hugging. So, of course, I took a picture.