We didn't have to take Hazel. One of us could have skipped out. But, we were asked to be there, both of us. She has a hard time being reverent for an hour, let alone two. There weren't a lot of people there, certainly not all that had been asked to attend. We sat in the back, where we hoped we wouldn't distract. The meeting was long, Seth walked with Hazel in the hall when she got too antsy. We were there.
The meeting ended and a sweet man from our church came up to me, shook my hand, looked into my eyes and told me he was glad we'd brought Hazel. He was glad she was there so that both of us could be there, right there, where we needed to be. He kept a firm grip on my hand while he once again thanked us. I fought back tears.
It was the nicest thing someone's said to me since being called to be the Primary President. It's a struggle. It's overwhelming. I'm not the only one, I know that. My struggles are minor when compared to those around me. But for that brief moment it was nice to know someone recognized that Yes. It's hard, but we're doing our best.
Right words. Right moment.
I give her hugs.
I am even trying to teach her to crawl.
Mom and Dad told me what Little Baby is going to be, and I'm super excited...but I'm not telling!
I can't wait for the end of April!
I'm in love.
Sitting on the deck, staring at this:
Then, of course, we needed to spend a day or two sight-seeing...
Oh, not just seeing Hazel become a teenager, I meant the Wright Brothers Museum:
And Roanoke, the Lost Colony...where apparently the original settlers were apparently extremely small people, as they thought this little "fort" would protect them:
We drove (on the beach) to Cape Hatteras ...that water is wild...and windy!
We took a real-life ferry (I've never been on one in a car), to Ocracoke Isalnd and had a tasty lunch. I resisted telling all of my pirate jokes when I found out Blackbeard hung out in the area.
And what better way to celebrate a UTAH victory, then learning to play drums with cousin E (thank you ESPN for televising the last 5 minutes...we, on the East Coast, greatly appreciated it):
Did I mention it was the perfect place to just hang out?
And, of course, play a little more at the beach:
We'll be back...promise.
(thanks big sister for letting me steal this picture)
Cute Mollie took time out to entertain Hazel, bless her heart.
The sibs- I am pretty sure that Dougie is staring at Mollie while he's stuck dancing with his nerdy, big sister.
As you can see in the top-left corner, Hazel was totally into ring-around-the-rosies!
The reception was awesome, so much fun to hang out with the sisters and visit with old friends and family.
Caution: Child in pictures appears much calmer than reality.
Hazel and Seth were good sports, but eventually Hazel was done and searching for something more exciting.
We also know that we'll be out of town more in the next month and a half than we'll be in town.
Hazel was a lot of help at un-decorating the tree. She was taking the ornaments off faster than we were putting them on. As a result, there are no ornaments on the bottom 2 feet of the tree. Oh well! We're all about compromise!