The Funny Part is at the End of the Post

Unfortunately, this post will not be accompanied by any pictures, but I would like to share with you anyways. We had friends over for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. That is always a lot of fun and then we headed to St. George in the evening.  Friday is Rinar's family Thanksgiving dinner. We surrendered Thursday to spouses' families and it seems to work out really well.  During dinner Rinar presented me with an envelope and in it was a stack of papers with pictures to give me clues to a big surprise he had for me.



He took me to Salt Lake City. And he told me we were leaving in 15 minutes. All of his siblings took the kids for us, plus my good friend Debbie from Atlanta. Then we hit the road. He had rented an SUV for the trip because the roads were treacherous.

And why did he take me there? That's right...to see Utah play their big rivalry game against BYU. We stayed at Jared's hotel, had dinner with my brother and his fiance Leah, and then went to the game the next day. Let me tell you it was cold and I was miserable. Not because of the weather, but because Utah was playing terribly! Ach! Then they came alive in the last quarter and we ended up winning by one point, because we blocked a field goal in the last seconds of the game.

It was GLORIOUS!!!!


We then went to an art exhibit at BYU (ironically) with our old friends from Salt Lake, Brian and Kristen. I had actually seen him at the game and we set it up when we were there. It was an exhibit on Carl Bloch and it was very moving. We got burgers and fries afterward.

The trip was a big success and even though there was a pretty significant snowstorm on the trip home, we were only delayed by about an hour.

***

Now I am back to the grind. In other words, we did a lot of schoolwork today and on a completely unrelated topic to that, I did a lot of yelling today as well.

Eli joined in on the screamfest and I finally banished him to his room for a nap. He told me emphatically, “Eli no nap!” but I was not convinced. I checked on him about 90 minutes later and sure enough he was asleep...sitting on the toilet...half naked...slumped down to the side frozen like a statue. Even when I moved him, he never cracked an eyelid. Mommy knows best.

15 Years

What do you do when you have been officially married for 15 years?

Well, I don't know about you, but today I did my mom stuff: diapers, sick babies, homeschool, grocery shopping, etc.  Rinar stayed home today and he got to help me. He took the boys to their music lessons and helped with the kids. I even had him do geography with Raef and Zach while I went to the store. 

Then we planned to go to dinner tonight. He was going to take me to a nice restaurant. However, my friend Amy had invited me to come to the home birth of baby #5. The baby was overdue and finally I got the call this evening around 5:30.  I was so happy I would be able to come. So Rinar and I did a quick dinner at Cafe Rio and as I was halfway through my chicken tostada her sister called to tell me she was dilated to a 5. I was glad because I knew I would be able to finish my dinner. 

Then we went over there and Rinar waited out in the living room with the kids. Amy was sitting on the toilet and I had no idea how close she was to giving birth. Sure enough, 10 minutes after I got there she calmly (and I really mean that) eased out a baby boy.  Yes, the kid was born on the toilet.  But gravity was a good thing tonight.  It was amazing. I am so grateful I could experience the miracle of birth the natural way and that it wasn't me.  She looked fantastic and the baby is beautiful. He has a lot of hair and a nice loud cry.  The name is yet to be decided.

We talked for a little bit and then went to finish our date at Cheesecake Factory for dessert. Then when we got home I spent some time drawing with Raef.  He is quite the kid.  

So now you know what you do when you celebrate 15 years of marriage.  The good thing is that I will always remember the birth date for Amy and Stan's 5th child, November 24, 2010.

Happy Anniversary Rinar. It feels like a lifetime ago that we were married, and yet it has been in a blink of an eye.  Time really does fly. I am a totally different person than that 19 year-old girl you married. You make me a better person and you are my love for eternity.