Last night, in my dream, Aaron was a full-time missionary. We were married, but he also had a missionary companion, as missionaries so often do. We were at his parents house down in Texas. He got a phone call that his dad was stranded somewhere, so he and his companion left to go rescue him. While I was at home, awaiting their return, I began making dinner with Rachael Ray, of course. She was showing me how to make her favorite chicken enchilada bake. We mixed in the cream cheese and salsa, and it looked so good that I couldn't wait to taste it, so I grabbed a big spoonful and popped it in. The sauce tasted great, but I had popped a chunk of raw chicken into my mouth, so I spit it out, disgusted. Rachael Ray seemed not to notice my mistake, since she was busily pulling some strange looking things out of the freezer. They resembled Antarctican Birds, but surely I must be mistaken? She layered them in a huge pyramid on a baking dish and poured the chicken enchilada mixture over them. When I asked her what they were, Rachael Ray was suddenly Samoan, and she couldn't remember the word in English. "Are they...penguins?" I asked. "Oh, yes, penguins, yes, yes," she confirmed as she put the concoction in the oven. Hmm, is that a Samoan delicacy? The so-called chicken enchilada bake was almost done, but still no sign of Aaron. It was only supposed to take a few minutes; where could he be? I was getting pretty annoyed that he was so late and hadn't had the courtesy to call, so I gave him a call and it went straight to his voicemail. Just for me, he had recorded a special greeting, telling me where he was. "Some guy gave us these awesome tickets for the football game tonight, and they are second row seats, so we couldn't pass it up! Don't expect us home; we'll be at the game." I was livid! Missionaries are not allowed to go to football games! And especially not on a Sunday, which it was! How could my husband think that this was remotely OK? I tried to calm myself down by convincing myself that he was kidding. It must have been his idea of a good joke to get my goat. Just then, Aaron called me back and sincerely denied that it was a joke. He completely ignored my reminders about it being Sunday, assuring me that if he had asked, he was sure his mission president would have said it was OK, that it was really no big deal. Which, of course, made it a very big deal indeed. At that point, I woke up, still feeling irritated at my sweet husband, who was sleeping innocently beside me.
For some reason, Aaron is almost always a jerk in my dreams. That's why I lovingly tell him when I wake up that I'm so glad he's not the man of my dreams.
Here's Baby Xanta in it at 6 months old!
There are too many kids in this tub.
A huge group of relatives gathered at Aunt Tina's house for Thanksgiving dinner. We were mostly able to just chat with family and enjoy ourselves while cousins and uncles entertained our kiddos. Uncle Ron was a great horse for the kids' one horse open sleigh. It was fun to see the soft "Grandpa" side of Aaron's oldest, tough-guy brother!
Xander and Elodie had so much fun when cousins visited for a whole week! Xander especially loved the nights that they slept over at our house. He was quite the gentleman and let Kendall sleep in his bed while he slept on his floor in a sleeping bag. (Although the fact that he slept on his floor for the five nights after Kendall left seems to indicate that personal interest was a factor in making the noble offer). Elodie bonded especially well with Berkeley, so she asked Berk if she'd sleep in her room on the floor. Berk is such a sweetie; she was happy to comply. Being East Coasters, Kendall and Berkeley woke up rather early in the morning, and my kids were happy to wake up with them and chat and giggle in their beds until the sun came up. They were having so much fun playing all morning that when it was time to go to "preschool" at his friend's house down the street, Xander protested with, "But I don't want to leave my cousins!"
Then more cousins appeared on the scene and Xander was excited to have a boy cousin to be crazy with, especially a cool 8-yr-old who got baptized while they were here. Xander followed Tyler around and they wrestled and jumped off furniture and played goofy games. And Elodie had Eden, who is only 4 months older than her, to play with. I thought of how I got to be great friends with my long-distance cousins through periodic visits and family reunions over the years. We got so close that I roomed with my cousin Rachel during our Freshman and Sophomore years at BYU. (And then we served missions at about the same time, got married within a year of each other, and have had all three of our kids within months of each other. Now that's close!) That could be Elodie and Eden someday! I'm so glad my kids had the chance to bond with their cousins and build the foundations of eternal friendships!
