the weekend

So Saturday was Taylor's birthday, and Mom, Doll, Taylor and I (and Bex) went to Boise.  Grayson stayed home to be Zac's "fixit helper."  We headed to the bridal shop where I got my dress and they didn't have one dress with sleeves...crazy, huh?  Especially seeing as how it's getting cooler outside.  Anyway, she tried one dress on but wasn't loving the idea because she'd really already picked out her dress in Utah and was more doing it for our benefit.  So, we headed to the mall.  We tried on some stuff and I was happy to see I fit into a size 6 in one particular dress (my happy moment for the morning) and we thought this dress was $13, so I thought I should get it for the reception and for nice TSFL events, etc.  We went to pay and it was $45.  Even though that's not too much more, I so didn't want to pay it!  I wanted the $13 steal...after all, I'd have to have someone put sleeves or find a shrug or sweater that matched and for $45, I wanted to love it.  So alas, it wasn't meant to be.  (:  And, does anyone else think I have the cutest mom ever?  Seriously!  The mall was quite the happening place and we left there after a while to go to our favorite store:  COSTCO!  I had diaper coupons I needed to use and Taylor & Doll got something to eat while Mom and I shopped.  I sampled {and then bought} these amazing chicken/onion burgers and I totally recommend them.  We got all our stuff and headed back home to get ready for her party.  And, the checker at Costco totally thought we were all four sisters-including mom.  I hope I get that when my kids are older!  She and Talon came over and hung out for a while which was fun and Gray went with Zac to wash Grandma Wendy's car.  By the way, they had quite a fun Daddy/Son day while we were out, but there's a separate post coming on that. (:

After getting some work done, we headed over the the parentals for Taylor's party.  It was a yummy BBQ and we got to meet Talon's mom and sister which was fun.  They were super sweet and I can see why Talon is so awesome. (:  Taylor blew out her candles (with Gray's help) and opened her gifts.  And, she got her ring!  It is beautiful and so Taylor.  I love it.  It fits my finger too, so if it disappears, we'll know where it is!

When we were about to leave Grayson sidled up to Grami and whispered, "I wanna stay here with you."  He kept whispering it and she almost melted and let him have a sleepover, but we talked him into coming home with us because I would miss him too much! Silly kid.

Sunday was a great day.  I had an early morning meeting, so I headed to church and left all three of my boys sleeping.  After our meeting got out (longer than usual), I rushed home to get my boys and had fears of them all still sleeping or needing to get all groomed and ready.  Totally forgot for a second that I'm married to Superman's descendant because of course everyone was ready.  Dressed, washed, changed, brushed, etc.  Thank you babe!  Got to church with minutes to spare for the first time in a long time and very much enjoyed testimony meeting.  I was fasting for a specific and individual purpose and felt like Heavenly Father was aware of me and what I needed to hear all day.  Two especially touching testimonies for me were when Brett Nielsen got up.  Totally teared up and was just grateful that he's okay.   Second was a man who had grown up in our ward and was here visiting.  He said many things that spoke to my heart, but a few of them were:
"Live the Gospel; it works."
"When it's hard to pay your tithing, that's when we need to do it the most."
"When you live the gospel, no matter how low you are, you can rise up to what you need to be and to your potential."

I taught sharing time in primary and it went relatively well.  The Junior primary was kind of all over the place, but they are cute and hopefully they learned something! The Senior primary astound me with their intelligence and knowledge of the gospel, the commandments, and the scriptures.  They participated so well too which makes it nice.  That evening I broke my fast and felt grateful again for Heavenly Father's personal awareness of me as an individual.  We spent the night hanging at my folks and that was enjoyable as usual.  Another late night which is no surprise! (:

Monday was a good day too.  I took Grayson with me to workout and when we got back Zac had Bex bathed & ready for the day.  Zac spent the day being productive doing "Fixit projects" around the house and I accomplished a lot on my to-do list too.  That evening BSU was playing their first game of the season (and probably one of their biggest) and were forcasted to lose it.  But all the true fans knew better, right?!  We headed over to Todd and Amber's for a yummy BBQ and to watch the game.  It was a great one too.  They totally won it and we were so proud of our Bronco's and wished we could have been there.  It was almost as good as the real thing watching it with good friends though!  Grayson and Ella get along pretty dang well and enjoyed each other's company and it was such an enjoyable night.  We didn't stay out too late, but I was still so tired when we got home.  Too many late nights, I guess!  Good way to end our Labor day weekend!