My Birthday

Last week/weekend we celebrated my birthday -- woo woo!

My birthday was pretty good.  Hannah behaved well, and so did Emily (the little girl that I watch part time).  Hannah and I slept in, and while she ate breakfast I made dinner and put it in the crock pot (gott love the crock pot).

When Emily came over we loaded up in the car and went to a play group at the church.  Hannah and Emily were the only ones running around in the gym for a while and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

I couldn't help but take a picture of Hannah's hair.  It looked too cute.

After play group we came home, and the kids took naps while I talked on the phone with friends and family.  One of my favorite parts of my day was talking to my good high school friend, Janna.  We talk on our birthdays every year!  I'm so glad we keep in touch.

I later opened birthday cards and presents.  You can never go wrong with the green gift of money, in my opinion.  I think my favorite gift is the dustbuster that Nathan got me. I wanted something that I could quickly access to clean up all the crumbs kids leave on my kitchen/dinning room floors.  You know you are a mom when the first gift you ask for your birthday is a dustbuster.

Over the weekend, Nathan took me out and we did some shopping.  We ended up eating and unplanned dinner at Panera (the power was out at our house so I couldn't heat up our food).  It was nice to eat a dinner with just the two of us.

Thank you to all who gave such generous gifts, and took the time out of your day to call me.  It truly meant a lot.  All in all, it was a great birthday.

Dustbuster picture courtesy of Google images

Harrisburg

We went to Harrisburg, PA towards the end of March, and toured the State Capital.

I was watching our neighbors kids for the day (it was their spring break and both of their parents were working).  With 3 kids all by myself and being cooped up in this house for the last few months, I really wanted to do something and get out of the house, but I didn't want to do it alone.  So, Nathan took off Wednesday March 27th and came with us on our little excursion (he worked on a Saturday in March so to compensate Penn State told Nathan to take off another day instead).

Around 8:30 am the neighbor kids came over, and we all loaded up in the van and drove to Harrisburg (1.5 hours away).  It was an easy, pleasant drive.  We followed the Susquehannah River pretty much the entire time.  That is one really big river!

Unfortunately, the weather was very chilly so we did not take any pictures of us outside the Capital (I managed to snap the photo above just was I was getting in the car).  We did take a few pictures inside though.

Picture of the Rotunda

When we arrived, there was a middle school choir that sang in the Rotunda.  They sang several songs, but my favorite was the Star Spangled Banner (it was their opening number).

Harrison knows one of the Senators so we went to go see his office.  The Senator's son attends Harrison's elementary school.  Hannah also enjoyed visiting the Senator's office.

Here is a picture of the House of Representatives room.

One of the chandeliers in the House of Representatives room.  In order to change the light bulbs, workers have to build scaffolding around the chandelier, and then one person crawls inside of it and changes all of the light bulbs.  In this room alone there are over 1100 light bulbs, and they get changed once every two years.  Crazy.

The less crowded Senate chamber.

The Judicial wing of the Capital.

I thought this was pretty neat.

And here is a picture of a high school choir singing in the Rotunda.  They were PHENOMENAL!

And here we are on our way home.  Claire and Harrison watched a movie while Hannah took a little nap.

Pool results

Horrible!

Nathan -- 36.67%
Rachel -- 33.33%

Conference was hard for Nathan and I this time around.  Hannah did not take her nap on both afternoons, which made listening to conference quite challenging.

Luckily, we had great weather this weekend so we went on LOTS OF WALKS!  It got into the 60s today!  It was great.  We cracked open a few windows to let some fresh air in.  Finally, spring has come.

Song pool

Below are our general conference song lists.

New comers click here.

If you would like to watch, or learn more about General Conference, click here.


Rachel's list

1. #1       The Morning Breaks
2. #3       Now Let Us Rejoice
3. #5       High on a Mountain Top
4. #6       Redeemer of Israel
5. #19     We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet
6. #23     We Ever Prayer for Thee
7. #26     Joseph Smith's First Prayer
8. #27     Praise to the Man
9. #30     Come, Come Ye Saints
10. #41     Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise
11. #44     Beautiful Zion, Built Above
12. #58     Come, Ye Children of the Lord
13. #66     Rejoice, the Lord is King
14. #67     Glory to God on High
15. #72     Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
16. #81     Press, Forward Saints
17. #83     Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah
18. #85     How Firm a Foundation
19. #97     Lead Kindly Light
20. #98     I Need Thee Every Hour
21. #136   I Know That My Redeemer Lives
22. #156   Sing We Now at Parting
23. #249   Called to Serve
24. #264   Hark, All Ye Nations
25. #270   I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go
26. #301   I Am a Child of God
27. #323   Rise Up, O Men of God
28. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
29. Consider the Lillies
30. My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

Nathan's list

1. #1       The Morning Breaks
2. #3       Now Let Us Rejoice
3. #5       High on a Mountain Top
4. #6       Redeemer of Israel
5. #19     We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet
6. #23     We Ever Pray for Thee
7. #26     Joseph Smith's First Prayer
8. #27     Praise to the Man
9. #30     Come, Come Ye Saints
10. #58     Come, Ye Children of the Lord
11. #64     On This Day of Joy and Gladness
12. #66     Rejoice, the Lord is King
13. #67     Glory to God on High
14. #70     Sing Praise to Him
15. #72     Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
16. #81     Press Forward Saints
17. #83     Guide us, O Thou Great Jehovah
18. #85     How Firm a Foundation
19. #97     Lead Kindly Light
20. #98     I Need Thee Every Hour
21. #136   I Know That My Redeemer Lives
22. #141   Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee
23. #156   Sing We Now at Parting
24. #220   Lord, I Would Follow Thee
25. #249   Called to Serve
26. #264   Hark, All Ye Nations
27. #270   I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go
28. #301   I am a Child of God
29. #323   Rise Up, O Men of God
30. My Heavenly Father Loves Me (Children's Songbook)

General Conference picture courtesy of lds.org