Why Erik's parents are so great

So as you will see in style and content, this is a slight deviation from the normal blog post, but I still have contributing rights, so here goes. My parents came to our home about a month ago. It was a planned visit, but it just so happened that Alec was just getting out of the hospital and everyone was sick, so it was a perfect time for some help at the house. And that is EXACTLY what we got...and more. It was a really amazing weekend. We got more accomplished that weekend than we had since we moved in the house a month prior. My Dad is the kind of guy who when he sees a problem or puzzle, he says, "well, lets fix it". Emily wanted more counter space in the kitchen, so how do you do that and make it match the cabinets and counter tops that already exist? Well you just buy all the parts and put it together! Duh. I consider myself a pretty good problem solver, but not the best at home renovations, at least not big projects. So we went to Home Depot with my credit card and found matching cabinetry, and the tiles that matched the rest. We screwed cabinets to the wall, put the tack board on top and laid the tiles and grout to match. And now it looks like it was there the whole time! So along with the new counter space we installed a new shower head and mirrors in the bathroom, hooked up the waterline correctly to the refrigerator, hung 4 or 5 sets of curtains, rearranged furniture in Reid's room, and hung 7-8 pictures/artwork around the house, mowed the weeds in the back, and figured out how to channel warm air from the furnace back to the kid's room. Mom, bless her soul, went over to the rental we were moving out of and spent like 9 HOURS cleaning! And she was by herself! That is true love. It was a really big nice house, with a lot to clean. So during the weekend, Grandma and Grandpa got plenty of baby goo-goo time, and Erik and Emily got a gift of chores done at the house. So, a long story short, I love my parents and will be forever grateful for weekend visits like that. They helped us immensely.

So why did it take me so long to tell you? Well, first off because we are outnumbered now. I can't see blogs at work, the network has these types of web-sites blocked, so I can't do it at work (I mean, of course I wouldn't do it on government time) and then when I go home its baby duty time and I don't spend much time on the Internet. Anyhow, I also took a picture of the kitchen, but I haven't found time to load it. But we are in Tucson this weekend (Emily will be here all week), and next week I will have some more time.

I feel bad because I'm going to miss my wife and kids all week, but secretly in my head I'm dreaming of all the sleep I'm going to get, and all the little things I'm going to catch up on when the kids are here. And next weekend I was going to go snowboarding, but it is stake conference and I'm having a hard time thinking of dealing with how to explain missing a general authority (stake presidency is being replaced). So I'm thinking of camping by the ocean Friday night, or maybe getting my dirt bike working on Saturday morning, or maybe just going on a mountain bike ride or a hike. It is so fun to think about having just a bit of time to myself. Although by then I'm sure I will be missing everyone so much it won't be that fun (...maybe).

Well, its about dinner time around here...I hope this isn't my only 2009 blog post, but don't be surprised if it is. I've started another class for school, work is getting hectic, my church calling takes some effort...excuses, excuses. Anyways, thanks for listening- Erik