Burying out from under the rubble

Even though my house looks like a landfill, it is so good to be home! We flew in from Providence yesterday morning. We flew US Airways for the first time and they were on time for every leg of our trip, which these days is almost unheard of. Their flight attendants were so kind, bringing my kids extra snacks, blankets, etc...it was just a great trip all around. We got home at 11, ate lunch and decided to try to make a 1:30 sacrament meeting. Which meant a lot of digging through suitcases to find Sunday clothes. Unfortunately those suitcases were still in the hallway! So now it is an obstacle course until I get it all cleaned up today. My trip was a little nutty but still good. We drove to Palmyra with my parents, and my sister and her two kids. Mike's parents flew in to be with us for the pageant as well and it was great to see them. At one point Hunter, my three year old, looked at me and said 'Oh, I get it, I have TWO grandmas and TWO grandpas." Finally seeing them together I guess put it all together for him. During the scene where Christ descends Hunter also randomly yelled " I didn't know Jesus could come here!" It was very cute. After the pageant we got a hotel in New York and the next day we took the kids up to Niagara Falls. I walked the older kids over to Canada and Mike took the younger ones on a boat ride to see the falls up close. I figured while we were close (it took about an hour and a half from Palmyra) we might as well let the kids see this amazing feat of nature! We got back to RI on Thursday and even after driving all night, my mom threw quite an event with her "Camp Grandma". With all the grandkids decked out in matching shirts (embroidered by my friend Melanie), she leads them like a seasoned camp director through activities like crafts, water games, sock wars, grave rubbings at the cemetery, a trip to the candy store and making homemade soft pretzels in the shape of their initials. It's enough to make a mom feel guilty. I told Emily (age 9) that someday I was going to do camp grandma for her kids someday and she said "Well, are you going to be nicer than you are now? Because you make me go to bed and Grandma asks me if I want ice cream at 10 o'clock at night!" So apparently I have some work to do at becoming NICER before I become a grandmother. The good news is that I invited a family over for a barbecue tonight, so I have no choice but to get everything unpacked, clean the house and get the grocery shopping done so we have food to eat when they get here! Sometimes having a deadline is a good thing. Heather