Well first off, the first thing that went outside of my routine as of late was the best unexpected surprise ever. I was downstairs, reading up on some Argentina stuff, and I hear the door open upstairs. Silly me, I just assumed it was West! Then I hear a, "Heeyyooo!" Eegads. (: Christian and Audrey! Ugh, I wanted to cry I was so excited. Ah, and of course, lovely baby Kali came along with them. (: Such a talkative and giggly girl she has come to be. Can't help but Love that family.
They didn't stick around for a super long time, of course, considering we were all gonna be seeing each other again that weekend in Tri-Cities!...
This is the part I get sad about...I simply did NOT take enough pictures. Seriously, how was it possible that I was surrounded by so much family and loved ones (not as many as I'd like, of course. I always am missing my family who is farther away ): ...), and I took almost NO pictures?! Gah. I'm rather disappointed. Any chance I can have a redo? (;
Anywho, here is the exciting news!! Ever since I received my mission call back in November, I've had the chance to go through the temple for the first time. I had been waiting--for various reasons. But I simply just wanted to wait until I was...certain I was ready. While family was all over for the holidays, I slept on the couch and had a lot of extra time to read for some reason. Audrey, Dene', and I had been talking a little bit about temples, in general, earlier that day; the topic made me extra curious, and I delved into any and all resources regarding the temple for the next few days. That was it. I wanted to go. I needed to go...Anywho, a couple interviews and phone calls later, and I was headed to the temple that next weekend! Unfortunately, it was extremely last minute. So not a whole lot of family was able to come with me, but I know they would have been there to support me if they could.
Of the entire week, this is the time I decided to lose my head about taking pictures?! Gah. I'm so sad. I didn't even catch my own picture of the Columbia River Temple. I didn't think to even snap a photo of all those who were there to support me or even a picture of my family playing games. **Sigh** Fail, Shelan. Hopefully I'll remember to catch some more of these at my farewell. For now, be content with this stolen picture of the wonderful temple! :D Haha.
Not even a very good picture. Meh. Whatever! I've certainly learned my lesson. Anywho, the plan was to just drive home after the session and ice cream, but Kenny has this way of convincing practically everyone to stay the night haha. Kerry and Gaylene were fine with it, and so Mom, Dad, Christian, Audrey, West, and I all stayed with the Rhotens and went to church the next day! The "new plans" were to drive home after that. Welllll, silently, I was really hoping to go to the temple again soon. It was such an...awe-filled experience. Different than I expected, but really how much can you "expect" when first going through haha. But I knew there was so much I missed, and I wanted to understand it more. I think it was Dene' or Kenny, I'm not sure, but someone mentioned that it was fine if I wanted to stay a couple more days. They convinced me with: "It's not like you have anything better to do at home anyways!" Haha. Uhhh yeah, kind of a strue story. So my plans were to stay until Tuesday. Go to the temple again early that morning and then head home with Dene'...Except Kerry (by the way: Kerry and Gaylene are Dene's in-laws) mentioned how him and Gaylene were working in the temple Friday night for a few baptism sessions, and he said, "Well you might as well just stay until then and help us out!"
...Really??
OKAY!
It was (is) always so kind of them for always letting me come--often for weeks at a time haha. I always love spending time with them, relaxing, playing games, having time with my nephew, and helping out my preggo sister on occasion haha. Well, so began my wonderful week with the Rhotens! I DID, in fact, get in a few pictures. Thank heavens.
Heading home from one of Jackson's cousin's basketball games, and Jackson needed something to entertain this poor, grumpy, sick kid on the way to the doctor's. Cameras! PERFECT.
"Hi, Bug!"
I went to go pick up Dene' and Jackson from the doctor's, and this poor boy...Infections in both ears. Plus a wicked cough. Needless to say, he hadn't been feeling to well the past few days. Something that he does enjoy and keeps him busy, though?? Like many kids: Making Messes! He's a pro. (; Check out all those cards on the floor and his proud smile! Haha love it.
Something that I really loved? Every night Kenny, Dene', Jackson, and I would read just a few verses from what they call "The Book of Jesus" haha. AKA: The Book of Mormon lol. Jackson did his darndest to read, too. (:
This gal. Her and Trista, mis hermanas. They're both such wonderful Mommas. Of course they're not perfect, but goodness gracious. They are incredible. So much patience and love for their babies. It is impossible to doubt where their hearts lie: within their families. Trista and Dene', amongst others, are two role models for me. Their families are their world, and they get in all the cuddles they can "stand" (;
So attched to his Momma.
All.
The.
Flippin'.
Time.
Sometimes that preggo Momma needs a break from carrying around a 2-year old!
So what did we do during the week?? Not a ton of stuff, which was perfectly dandy with me. I simply enjoyed being around. However, there was an "Open Gym" day at a gymnastics gym here in town! Five bucks per child? DONE...Something funny we noticed about Jackson, though? He's more of an observer than a "Let's Get Out There And PLAY!" kind of child. It was a little odd for me, at first haha. I couldn't help thinking of Brook and Sam or some of the kids I nannied. I was imagining what all they would be doing. Brook, most likely getting to know some new kids, "Hi! I'm Brooklyn, I'm 6. Can I be your friend?" (: I love it. And then Sam...? Playing with either his momma or with Brooklyn, perhaps? Typically him and Brook get along quite well and enjoy playing with each other. Brother-Sister love! And then I was thinking of Austin and Nicky. Oy! Austin would probably be running EVERYWHERE and possibly destroying a thing or two on accident haha. Little Nick would probably be sticking to my side or "observing" like Jackson...Boy did it make me miss all of them...
Anywho! Random Summer moments popping in my head. This is mostly what Jackson did haha. Watched others play. (:
Unlessss we went with him! He didn't like this foam pit the first time Dene' tried helping him in, but once Momma got in, too?! Oh, believe me, he was SO game!
Jumpin' monkeys!
"One, Two, Threeee!"
Haha I really just love this picture.
Such a good sport she is, even if she is 8 months pregnant!
Love it. (:
We got to do some cleaning and finished some laundry. Which, of course, means what? Sock fights?! Haha.
After a great week in Richland and several trips to the temple, Dene', Jackson, and I were ready for a peaceful drive back to good ol' Quincy this morning. (: Who doesn't love to dance and sing with cups, along with country music??
Ahhh. It really was fantastic. And since Dene' is due here pretty soon (6 weeks!!), Gaylene mentioned a little idea of me going and staying for a few weeks (or the whole month of March, she said haha) to help out with the baby and everything. Yayyy!! We shall see about that later on, but oh boy! That would be incredible. (:
I decided to finish off my night by going to the Quincy Jacks LAST wrestling match of the season. Why? Well I love wrestling, for one haha. Two, it was the last one! Three, they were wrestling Chelan (baha). Four, Chelan and Quincy were tied for first in the league! So this match would decide who the league champions were. SO awesome! It was a close match the whole way through until the very end, and we were down by 14 points. Only three more guys were left to wrestle, so we needed at LEAST two of them to pin their guy (if a guy pins his opponent, he earns the highest amount of points: 6. A wrestler earns less points for winning other ways such as a decision/major decision/etc.) The score was 21-35. The first of the three got up, and he won 11-3, which is a major decision, which means he got 4 points! Not too shabby. But we were still down by 10...
A kig from church gets up, and let me tell you. Carter Bushman is a phenomenal wrestler! It was a tough match, but Carter used his "specialty" head&arm and pinned the guy! Closest match!
And then next up was Tonio, and his match was about the same as Carter's! So intense, and once Tonio caught the other guy, we were ALL up on our feet and screaming. PINNED! So great!
It's a WIN for the Quincy Jacks wrestling team!
League Champs! Way to go, boys (:
Okie dokes! That's all for now! I'll continue preparing for the MTC and Argentina in the meantime, and I will be taking off in less than 60 days! So exciting. (: Love you all!
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