Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Beans!  We just got back from our 10 day trip to the Tri-Cities.  It was a whole lot of fun but we are so glad to be back in our own beds.

It is always nice to go home because we have an array of free babysitters that are always around.  Here is Tommy with Aunty Riley.

Elsy learned how to grease the bread pans while Grandma was making bread and rolls for the festivities.  Lets just say she was very generous with the Crisco and I am sure my mom had no problem getting that bread out. ;)

As many of you may know my dad is way into hunting... and so are his kids! A few years back he added a "Man Cave" onto the house with vaulted ceilings so that he could start showing off the game he has hunted.  My mom jokingly says the man cave saved their marriage because prior to this home addition Dad had put an elk head in my mom's brand new kitchen.  Needless to say the man cave was built very quickly haha!  But I actually have noticed my mom has been doing a lot better supporting my dad in his hobby.  She really couldn't have cared less for hunting and as the years have come my dad has spent more and more time and money on this hobby.  I am proud of her for excitedly coming down to see the new deer head he just hung up this weekend, even though I know she really would rather it go in the garbage.  I am still learning from my parent's example.  They are so good about vocalizing their feelings for each other to us kids as well as are great compromisers.

Getting a deer or elk head mounted takes close to a year to complete because of the tanning processes.  My dad got three back from the taxidermist this week (two of which are shown:  the two on either side of the painting - the left is my brother Carl's and the right is my Dads.  Also the far right buck is mine from when I was 19 and the two elk shown are my sister Sharee's and my Dad's.)  We spent some time downstairs rearranging all the heads and antlers to fit.

Logan and I got to go on a date together one evening.  I was sad because I had gotten it all set up to go on a bike ride by the river and then it was just so windy and cold and it snowed the day before so we both chickened out.  Instead we went to the Country Mercantile where they sell all kinds of home made salsas, jams, candy, chocolates, and breads.  They also do caned goods, butters, juices, etc.  I love it there because there are so many samples!  Logan got a big jug of peach cider.  It was perfect because it looked just like Bean's Apple Cider from Fantastic Mr. Fox.  We called it liquid gold and Logan drank it straight out of the jar.... but later we labeled it Donkey Urine with a piece of paper so that my brother Carl would stop drinking it when we stored it in the fridge.

When I was little my dad's side of the family, the Volmers, would hike Flat Top every Thanksgiving morning.  This year was the first time in a long time that we did it.  Elsy and her cousin Ezra took up the rear... by a lot... and finally turned around to go play at the park instead after going up about an eighth of the way.  Elsy and Ezra, or BooBoo as everyone fondly calls him, were inseparable all week.  My sister Leisha said he would walk around the house in the morning saying "Elsy please!" until they came over to play.  They chased each other, fought each other, laughed with each other, and cried with each other.  We wish we lived closer to play every day.

Grandma picture!  Elsy was so cold by this point that she kind of had a melt down.  When we got in the car Elsy and BooBoo just sat there thawing without making a sound. 

Tommy slept through the Flat Top excursion.  When I came home I found both my favorite guys cuddling on the couch.  Tommy got his second bottom front tooth to pop through this week so we came home with two new teeth!  He got a nasty cold and was pretty miserable the night before Thanksgiving.  He cried and cried and was up until almost 1am until I finally realized his throat was hurting and gave him some pain medicine.  I really wish kids came with manuals before they could talk.  He fell asleep 10 minutes after I gave him the meds.  However, a half hour later Elsy woke up and coughed so hard that she threw up everywhere.  And then kept throwing up I think because it grossed her out.  She was definitely not stomach sick.  She had also been trying to get over a terrible cough.  It was a long night for Logan and I but we somehow survived.  I always say that but then forget that it was also a long night for my kids... and they were probably sad they didn't get to sleep much either.

We were short on high chairs for the week so my Grandma Merkley let us borrow one.  I loved having them all lined up for meals.

Every year my Grandma Volmer reserves the Stake Center and we play lots of games and have our dinner and a talent show.  This year was no exception.  Here we are playing Parlez Vous Francais.   I usually pride myself in winning or getting in the top five but this year I sadly got out pretty quick.  I blame it on having Elsy on my lap and the fact that we used tiny blocks instead of the customary shoes.:P

They said we fed 80 people!  It was so delicious.  My mom was sad because they ran out of turkey before she got some.  However, the next day, Friday, we had ANOTHER Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family, the Merkley's.  She was in charge of cooking two turkeys so we got plenty.  She let me cook one of them.  Last year I cooked my first turkey and I wanted to practice again.

Voila!  I thought it turned out really pretty.  I got the recipe from here.  It was stuffed with onions, lemons, parsley, and garlic and had a fresh butter rub. 

As I read up on how to cook a turkey I noticed everyone decorated the plates they presented the turkey on so I tried it out.  We carved our turkey in advance but still... I had fun decorating my plate.  My mom injected her turkey with some juicy yumminess.  I thought they both turned out rather superb and tastey.

Logan carved my turkey for me.

Tommy was pretty jittery when we first came to town, especially around my dad but he finally warmed up to him and sat on his lap for a really long time at the church.  He usually never sits on anyone's lap, even mine.  I blamed it on him being sick.  He learned how to stand on his own this week and it has been fun watching him let go of things and stand with his little arms sticking straight out and his little hands wiggling.  He will yell happily to get our attention and is just so proud of himself.  Maybe he will be walking by Christmas?

Elsy ate two rolls and a few bites of ham.  Tommy ate rolls, olives, and ham.  Whatever.

Another highlight of the trip was my cousin Mindy gave Logan, Elsy, and I haircuts!  I usually cut Logan's hair and was so happy to see him actually have a good looking haircut for once!  It was Elsy's first hair cut and she was pretty nervous to have to wear the "black blanket" but my aunt Amy gave her a sucker and she was done in like 5 minutes.  It was so nice of Mindy to do all three of our hairs right before her bridal shower.  She is getting married in a few weeks to a fellow named Rob and we couldn't be more excited for her.  Because, I know, marriage rocks.

My sister Leisha threw the bridal shower with the help of Merilee, Mindy's sister.  Leisha is the best decorator around.  She did it all in pinks and golds.  I loved the bows she made so much I paid her to let me keep some to put above Elsy's bed in her room. :) She seriously needs to set up an Etsy shop.  She is an amazing artist and a wonderful crafter.  I look up to her so much... and not just for her craftiness.  She is a great mother.  Every time I see her I just love how much she talks and laughs with her kids.  I'll be trying to stuff my kid in their car seat as fast as I can and then I see Leisha over doing the exact same thing but laughing and tickling and making her kids smile through the whole process.  

One of the evenings we were there Elsy was watching Barbie: Life In the Dreamhouse.  I heard my mom laughing hysterically as she watched it with Elsy. My dad loves to watch The Three Stooges and all of us kids like to just watch my dad while he watches them because his laughing is so entertaining.  This was comparable to that.  It was awesome.  And to her credit, that show really is funny.

If you know my sisters and I (and my mom!) we all love to shop so we did a lot of Black Friday shopping... and just shopping on a lot of the other days too. ;)  On our last day together we went to the mall to go see Santa.  We stopped in a few stores and it was so fun to see Elsy catching the holiday magic of the season.  Her eyes were sparkling as she raced around showing me snowmen, Christmas trees, and lights.  At one point she wrapped her arms around my neck and said "I yove you mommy!" (She can't say her "L"s). She does that when she is having fun and I was so happy that she was happy.

I was proud of Elsy because she sat right on Santa's lap and told him she wanted a bike (luckly Logan and I had gone Black Friday shopping bright and early and had already gotten her a trike!  So excited!).  BooBoo was a little more nervous but warmed right up when he told Santa he was Chewbaca for Halloween.

They got candy canes and Minion hats and were happy happy happy.

We left early this morning to beat the post-holiday traffic.  When we got home our furnace wouldn't start.  Luckily I have a persistent husband who spent many hours out there looking up information on the internet and videos.  The furnace is now heating our house and we will sleep comfortably tonight!  While we were gone I also think Tommy got a lot more mischievous... either that or he forgot all the rules when we came back.  I found him happily unrolling the toilet paper and he turned our living room into a pig sty in seconds.  He is to funny.  I love his little head hugs (he just leans his head in until it hits yours) and his huge smile (that now has teeth!).  Elsy was also happy to be back and promptly had us put her princess dress on.  I think she missed that the most.

Elsy is so stinkin' cute and she sucks up everything she hears.  I explained to her, briefly, what modesty was recently.  Now every time Logan or I try to get her dressed she says "No! Stop!  At's immodest!!"  The other day Tommy grabbed her shirt and it came up a little bit.  "Ahhh!  Thomas! don't take my clothes off!  At's immodest!" she says.  I think I am going to have to explain it better...  She has also discovered the art of asking different parents for the same thing.  A common phrase in our house now is "Dad says 'Yes'!!"  Yikes.  Another incident we had the other day was when my hairy legs brought her to tears.  I was working out and had her sit on my lap after while I was getting her dressed.  She started complaining and fidgeting and said my legs were to pokey.  When she began to cry about it I realized that I need to maybe start shaving more often... maybe.

We are so excited to start off the Christmas season now.  We decorated the house tonight and are getting our tree tomorrow.  Elsy keeps saying "Merry Christmas Kay-ya!" to me.  I don't know why she has to use my real name for that.  Tommy got excited about the Christmas balls and I am worried about what the state of our Christmas tree will be after he discovers it.  Elsy is so enchanted with Santa and I am trying to think of ways to help her see the real reason for the season.  Christmas time is always so busy but it is also so special.  It will take work this year to slow down enough to feel the real Spirit of Christmas but the best things in life always take work.  Wish us luck!

Hunting Week!

I have had so much fun this week!  I just love it when we get to come home for the weekend and spend time with my family.  We went to visit on Thursday afternoon which meant a lot of getting things done before we left.

Logan and I somehow got on the ward Christmas party committee again and ended up being in charge of the program again.  I spent a lot of time this week working on the script and running it by Logan for various drafts.  He has been really busy lately with his startup so I promised him if we were doing the program I would help out a lot.  It is all written now but we need to get people to agree to be in the program now... which is in like 2 weeks...

Logan and I spend a lot of time on the floor with our kids.  Tom just loves crawling all over us.  He has been particularly interested in my teeth as of late and loves to try and fit all his fingers into my mouth.   Yesterday he finally cut his first tooth, which he has been working on for quite some time.  He has spent the day with his tongue half out so he can feel it. He also has been pulling all my hair out.  Luckily I have a hair cut scheduled for this week because if I didn't I might consider shaving my head.  It hurts quite a lot as he has an iron grip.

On Wednesday we had Activity Days.  Last year I helped teach a pie cooking class for a Relief Society activity and we each made our own pie-in-a-jar.  It was so fun and tasty, and so incredibly easy, I thought we could do it with the activity day girls in preparation for Thanksgiving.  We talked with them about gratitude and then had them trace their hands on some cute scrapbook paper.  They wrote the things they were grateful for on the fingers and then we each made our own pie-in-a-jar.  I made a tone of pie crust and spent the day making an apple pie and my first pumpkin pie for the dessert that evening.  To make a pie jar you simply make it the same way you would a regular pie, only in an 8 oz jar.  And cook it for maybe 5-10 minutes less.  Super tasty and just the right size for one.

It has rained and rained and rained and rained! where we live.  It has really been quite depressing for me.  I was so happy when I got a letter in the mail from my family.  They had drawn a bunch of suns for us with a note that said something like "here is some sun to brighten your rainy days".  We promptly hung the sunshine in our kitchen.

On Tuesday there was a mighty storm.  Strong winds accompanied the pounding and pouring rain.  Our power went out around 2:30, as did most of the power in our area.  It was fine until it started to get dark.  I pulled out our flashlights (which we didn't have a whole lot of) and we waited patiently for Logan to come home to turn on the generator.  I let Elsy play on the iPad which made her super happy and then I handed Tom a red headlamp light to play with.  Tom was a little nervous about the dark.  Logan got stuck in terrible traffic and said he watched a tree blow over into the opposite lane.  I was so glad when he got safely home.  As he was making his way to the garage the power came on!  Yay!  I teased Logan that he didn't have to experience any of the outage but we were so grateful it came back.  Many people in the area didn't have power for quite a while and we were only out of it for three hours.

The next day was bright and clear in the morning.  By the time we went out for our walk the clouds had rolled back in but we still enjoyed ourselves.

We saw a woodpecker and a dog and lots of other birds.  Elsy is so hilarious and I love spending down time with her.  Thomas was content to chew on his sunglasses the whole time and hardly made a peep.

Elsy got sick again this week.  The poor girl always seems to catch the bugs.  It was a slight cold with a runny nose.  The worst part though was her cough.  She was up several nights in a row just coughing and coughing for hours.  So sad.

I stayed up really late on Wednesday night cleaning our house before we left.  The son of the people whose house we are sitting was coming to stay at the house while we were out of town.  They told us we didn't need to do any extra cleaning... but really, would you leave your house messy or would you clean it?  I totally cleaned it! ;)  Logan came home late from a meeting and was like, why are you vacuuming at 11pm? Its not that big a deal to come home to a clean house from vacation.  But then I reminded him who was coming and he was like "Oh yes, clean!" and then he cleaned his office... aka he pushed everything on his desk into one side instead of all over. :P

We hit the road a little after lunch time.  The kids are always so good for us in the car, we have been so blessed that way.

On Friday morning my dad took Logan and I out hunting.  I had a special late season buck permit in the Hooper area.  I didn't get a monster by any means but I had so much fun.  I have shot lots of does but this is my second buck.

It was fun having Logan there.  He had never been there when I actually shot something.  He brought his camera and took video.  He said something to the effect of he wanted to shoot something too haha.  Here is the video he pieced together that tells about our hunt.  

I love love love hunting, not just for the actual hunting sport but just being out in the beauty of the earth is just always so breathtaking.  We got up at 4:30am so we were able to watch the sunrise.  We saw so many does and lots of little bucks.  Deer are one of my favorite animals because they are just so majestic to me.  I love how dainty they are but also so big and strong looking at the same time.  I also love the time to hang out with my dad.  He probably gets tired of listening to me talk but I always enjoy it because he has so much wisdom and its always a good time to hear it.

This year I forgot my hunting pants and ended up having to wear my skinny jeans with my big hiking boots... as well as my little brothers hunting sweatshirt which was a little short.  It was quite the fashion statement.  Perfect for our first hunting video. 

Logan helped my dad skin and de-bone the deer.  It was so freezing outside!  We got a little lost on the way home because my dad wanted to drive through another hunting area that had just opened for the season and it was really foggy.  Even though I shot my buck at 7:15am we got home at 11.  My mom was so kind to watch the kids for us and they were so good.

We had a wonderful weekend at my parents house.  Elsy loves playing with her cousin Ezra.  Here they are sitting in some sleeping bags.  Ezra chases Elsy constantly and I just love hearing them hold conversations.  I really don't know how they understand each other.

It was nice to get to go to Sunday School and Relief Society this week.  I usually am playing piano in Primary so I don't usually go to the other adult classes for church.  I have a lot of fun playing in primary but it is nice sometimes to get some adult content. ;)  

This week I read a General Conference talk titled "What Lack I Yet?" by Elder Larry R. Lawrence.  He said "If we are humble and teachable, the Holy Ghost will prompt us to improve and lead us home, but we need to ask the Lord for directions along the way."  I had recently asked the Lord about what I needed to work on and I was surprised when my thoughts were directed to selfishness and how I needed to be less selfish.  I hadn't thought that I am a very selfish person, but the more I thought about it the more I realized the little ways in my life that I was being selfish and I saw how I needed to improve.  For example, I always am in a hurry and am constantly telling myself to slow down.  But I started wondering why was I always in a hurry?  And I realized it was because I have things that I would rather be doing for me and I therefore make my children rush and when they don't rush I often get cranky.  Another way I have been being selfish is in my love of talking.  Anybody knows I love to talk.  I could talk allllllll day. Haha!  But I have been realizing lately that in my love for talking I have been neglecting other peoples needs to share their opinions or experiences.  By being selfish in this way I have been neglecting opportunities to become a better friend.  There are many other areas of my life that I have realized where I have been selfish and that I need to improve.  I loved church today because I felt like I was able to be reminded to put others first.  My favorite was a scripture that was shared.  I decided I would try and memorize it this week and make it an attribute to work on: "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." James 1:19-20  If I am slowing down to listen to Logan, my friends, and even my children I will be able to hear and understand them better.  I will be able to learn to love them even more.  I am excited to work on this, but also a little nervous to fail.  I feel like I have worked on this before and while I often do good for a while, I end up back where I started.  But its like good ole Daniel Tiger says, "Keep trying!  And you'll get be-e-tter!!" ;)

Transitions To Winter

All the trees in my backyard no longer have leaves, we wear coats wherever we go, and it has been raining for like a week straight.  I had my first cup of hot coco and my car warned me there was a chance of ice on the road. I would say its almost winter time here in Western Washington!

  For Family Home Evening Logan lit the gas fireplace again (we kept it off over the summer).  He turned the lights down low and read us all "You Are Special" by Max Lucado.  It was really cozy and we could all feel the Spirit.

This week when I checked the weather I noticed that the next 8 days had a rain cloud on them.  I looked out the window and it was slightly sunny outside so I decided we needed to take advantage of the sun before it left.  We went to Anderson Park to swing and ride the seesaw.  We were all pretty pink nosed by the end but it was worth it because it really was the end of the sunshine for a while.

We spent the rest of our week in boots.  These are thigh high boots Elsy decided to try out.

I always say Elsy is the biggest sass.  And she really is.  On Sunday I asked one of the nursery leaders to answer me honestly if Elsy hit the other kids.  There was a little pause and then she said that Elsy had pulled a chunk out of another girls hair... and may have also kicked the leader. Aye yi yi!  Where does she learn this stuff?  But besides her possessive and selfish nature (which really is the definition of any child her age) she can also manage to be sweet beyond reason.  My favorite thing she does is if I let her do something she wants or if I am playing with her and she is feeling happy she will stop everything she is doing and give me a great big, little Elsy hug.  She has the biggest smile and the softest heart.  Tonight I gave Logan a zurburt and he derided to give me one.  As he was trying to wrestle me down and as I was screaming in protest Elsy just began sobbing and saying "Mommy!  Mommy!"  It took a long time to convince her I was fine.

I recently read Elsy the story of the Three Little Pigs.  I noticed on Netflix they had the old Disney version so I had her watch it yesterday.  Ever since she has been singing "Whose afraid of the big bad wolf?  the big bad wolf?  the big bad wolf?" only she adds a LOT of big bad wolf repeats.  At the dinner table Logan couldn't get her to stop and it was pretty hilarious.  She just loves to sing and recently has been singing "As z-I ha looooove youuu" (As I Have Loved You) over and over again... no not the whole song, jus that first line over and over again.  We also walked through the Christmas section in Target, at Elsy's request, and she began singing "Siiiiiiiiilent Niiiiiiiiight" as she looked at all the lights.  I recently started pulling her bangs back in pony tails to keep them out of her face.  I love seeing her eyebrows and her forehead now as she makes her cute little expressions.

When we drive places I often read to Elsy if Logan is driving (we keep a stack of library board books in the car).  I get car sick pretty easily though so often I will say, "Sorry Elsy I can't read because I'm car sick."  She has taken this to be the excuse to use whenever she doesn't want to do something.  If the prayer is to long she interrupts and says, "Mom I getting car sick!"  She has used it in several other instances as well.  She is a hoot and I am loving this time of her life.

I just love how these two interact (okay half the time Elsy is taking everything away from Tommy and he's sad because he has no toys).  They are always making each other laugh at the dinner table.  Elsy does peekaboo to Tommy.  However, a lot of the time she sits with her hands over her eyes so long that he loses interest.  Sometimes they put their heads into each other's tummies and just giggle.  A while back I held both Elsy and Tommy as I was waking somewhere. It was a hefty load but I hugged them both and said "I have my two babies!!"  Often now when I'm carrying Tommy Elsy will say "mommy you carry your two babies?" Holding her arms up for me to carry her too.  I am just not the strongest person in the world so I don't do it very often but I still love that she asks.

I can't believe how big Thomas is getting.  He is so so long!  And he is oh so fast!  He will be across the room, I'll open the fridge, and by the time I'm closing it there he will be trying to climb in.  He is so attached to Logan it's unvelievable.  He follows Logan all around the house and when Logan stops he climbs his leg.  When Logan gets home from work Tommy races over waiting for a hug.  It's the sweetest.  He loves climbing all our legs and has even tried Elsy, although it makes her wobble to much.  He stands outside my shower and pounds on the glass until I get out and won't leave me alone in the bathroom. If I leave him for a split second in the grocery cart I will turn to see him practically laying down with his arms reaching as far as they can to grab whatever is in the isle.  He has discovered toilet paper and threw a toy in the toilet this week.  I don't think Elsy ever did that.  My biggest frustration with him these days is getting him dressed.  It is like trying to wrestle an ostrich into a sweater.  And changing his diaper is a nightmare if he went #2.  The boy just wants to move!

We were watching home videos the other day and one came on of Elsy quietly sitting in the Bumbo quietly chewing on a sippy cup.  You hear my voice say "Elsy is trying to figure out the sippy cup!" all sweetly.  I was watching this video from the kitchen and I turned to look at Tommy who was at that time sitting in the high chair.  He too was trying to learn how to use a sippy cup at that same moment... only water was EVERYWHERE and he had the cup and was banging it as hard as he could on the table until he dropped it.  It was a hilarious contrast for me to see them that way.

We got to go to an exciting event this week!  When we moved to Redmond I was given two wonderful visiting teachers.  One of them was Jen Boyer.  Here is her story in a quick nutshell.  Jen has two biological daughters and two adopted sons from DRC Congo.  When I met her it had been a year since she had adopted her two sons and yet the boys were still stuck in Congo where they were being refused exit letters by the Congolese government.  This was true for over 1,000 children in DRC Congo.  Nine months ago the youngest of the two boys became very sick with malaria and Jen made the heartwrenching decision to go live in DRC with the two boys until they would be issued exit letters.  Jen's husband stayed stateside with the girls.  What a terrible terrible situation.  Well, finally after THREE YEARS the boys were issued exit letters and Jen and the two boys were finally able to come home.  Since our friends were staying with the family to help watch the kids while the father was at work and we spent lots of time in their basement we decided to go with the group that welcomed them home at the airport.  What a wonderful reunion it was!  The whole family had only been together once before this occasion and it was so fun to see.  There are still about 1,000 children still stuck in DRC where they are legally adopted by parents outside the country but are not being permitted to leave the country.  While we are so grateful for the Boyer family we are so sad for the many who are still waiting on the Congolese government.

I think my calling is to fight the battle of children sleeping.  There are times when my children rock at sleeping.  But other times, quite frankly they suck at it.  (Right now I currently hear Elsy's bedroom door creaking open... I expect to see her in a moment with some excuse as to why she is not asleep.)  I usually rock Tommy to sleep for his naps but this week I decided it was the end of that.  He has done really well... really well as in not crying a ton.  But he does just play and play for quite a long time.  He bangs on the blinds, pulls down the baby monitor, and talks and yells for fun. 

 Elsy on the other hand is giving us a run for our money.  She has always been an absolutely amazing sleeper.  She would NEVER leave her bed until I came in to get her and she slept all night long.  Then one day she woke up, came into our room in the morning and climbed into bed.  So sweet!  we said.  She is darling! we thought.  We snuggled her and kissed her, giggled and laughed.  And that was the end of her staying in bed. :(  After that she started coming in to wake me up earlier and earlier.  I do not want to wake up at 5:30!  So I bought an OK To Wake clock... it turns green when its okay for kiddos to come out of bed in the mornings.  At first she was terrified of it but then later it seemed to work wonderfully.... until she began waking up at 3am and started waiting for the clock to turn green in the middle of the night.  In frustration she would come wake me up... over and over and over.  After several nights of being up with her for 2+ hours I realized what the problem was.  I took the clock out and that very night she slept like a champ.  But now our problem is her coming out of bed after we put her in at night.  She is really pushing her limits but we are trying to stay firm!  Learn from our mistake... just never let them crawl into your bed the first time.  Just never. 

Because of all the rain we decided to go to McDonald's on Friday for lunch.  They have an indoor playland.  It was really great to get our wiggles out.  Elsy kind of has a phobia of tube slides since once she got stuck and I had to go get her and the next time she went in feet first and somehow came out head first.  But luckily I got her to go down with Tommy and I.  There was a group of girls shrieking the whole time we were there.  After a while of sitting silently and listening Tom decided to join in and loved screaming at the top of his lungs.

Logan and I were able to go on a date on Friday night and do a little pre-season Christmas shopping together.  We went to Panera and just had the most marvelous time having deep, good conversation with zero interruption.   Logan has been really busy lately with his start up.  It is amazing to see how hard of a worker he is.  He balances his day job, helping me with the kids and chores, his calling as scout leader, his start up, and he makes e-learning courses on the side.  He has some super dad powers.  Panera is our comfort food place and all the rainy weather had us in a cozy mood.  I had the best time with my best friend.