Random Stuff

We had a great week with mom and dad Kesler. Phil and dad put in all new sinks throughout our house! (believe me, we NEEDED them!) They look so nice. (I'll post pictures below). In a wonderful, surprising little twist, we learned while doing this that the disgusting wallpaper in our master bath would just peel right off. It took us, literally, fifteen minutes to remove the paper (and I have lived with that stuff for 2 years in fear of how hard it would be to take it down!). We also got to go visit dad's cousin near Montgomery. It was fun to travel to a new place in our state and Rick and Carolyn (the cousins) are really nice people. Who knows, maybe we'll run into them in the temple. A benefit of having them here is that dad was able to assist in setting Phil apart as the 1st Counselor in our Branch Presidency. He was called just before he flew to Utah and then sustained en absentia (he was on an airplane flying home from a crazy VM weekend in Cache Valley).

Sunday (May 27) was a most momentous day! Eden turned one! She was so cute. I let her open a present before church because it was a dress. She didn't really understand tissue paper, but once I removed the paper and she saw her new dress in the bag she became very excited and (of course) exclaimed, "priitee!" She was such a good girl during church (of course she was thrilled to have Grandpa K there - he is one of her favorite people). I thought she might have a problem seeing Phil (on the stand) but not being able to go to him but she was fine (probably because of grandpa - we'll see how this week goes). She went with grandpa to the High Priest group and he said she sat there with great reverence and was a "perfect baby." (Phil is over the YW - lucky him - so he joined me in there.) When we got home we had dinner and, of course, cake. She examined the cupcake and stuck her finger in the frosting. She kept looking over at me as if to say, "is this really ok with you? " Finally she was convinced that she wasn't going to get a "no-no" and she had a blast eating some of the cake and smearing the rest of it all over herself. She didn't really understand unwrapping presents but she sure enjoyed playing with them after they were unwrapped. It was a fun, low-key, first birthday.

Yesterday Eden had her one-year check up. She is 29 inches (50%) and 18 lbs (small for her height but the doctor said she looks healthy and that "fat isn't a good indicator of health!"). She is a "perfect baby" according to her doctor. He always offers to buy her from us (he probably says that to all the parents). Thinking she was over the weight limit (20 lbs) we had turned her carseat forward on her birthday. I guess we need to turn it back. Oh well.

I'm doing well. We had a really good activity last night at YWs. It was on Divine Nature. You know how you plan something, put a lot of work into it, and then wonder if anyone will show and if they do, if they will have an enriching experience? Well, I spent a fair amount of time on this and started to feel cynical yesterday afternoon that it wouldn't be well attended or appreciated. It was so nice to hear from a few of the girls that they really appreciated it. One mother has even contacted me and shared that her daughter couldn't quit talking about it. Yippee!!! We had a fairly good turn out too! I just have to remember that there will always be valleys and peaks and to appreciate these highs. I teach this Sunday so now my focus switches to that lesson. I think it will be fun to have Phil be the counselor over YW. He already helps me tons so he knows the program and appreciates the purpose.

Our irises are finally starting to bloom (about 2 weeks after the others in the neighborhood). I planted some basil seeds in a little pot and have put it in our kitchen bay window. I have two tiny sprouts. This is a major accomplishment for me - nothing like green on my thumb! I love fresh basil so I hope this works out. It may be the extent of my "garden" this year. :)

Well, this post has been longer than I expected so I'll end now.