Happy Valentine's Day! (Expanded)

Roses are red
Violets are blue,
Balloons make me happy
And walruses do too.

Here was Rus' Valentine. I won't show you the inside. But just know that the sideburn mustache was drawn per his request (as opposed to a handle bar 'stache or something else). Don't ask where the mustached-walrus theme came from. I don't know. But I loved drawing them.

I greeted Marianne in her bed this morning with a red helium balloon. It made for instant-happiness. She squeezed it so hard I was worried it would pop.

We had pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, like I'm sure 95% of the rest of the US did. I don't know why I feel the urge to always start the kids out on something sweet for Valentine's day, because they always wind up eating just under two tons of candy and sweets at school.

Then I went to work making and baking and pretty much ensuring that I would hate my kitchen by dinnertime.

I did.

I was super close to just ordering pizza, but I "put on my big girl panties" and just fried up that chicken like I had originally planned. We had chicken and broccoli for dinner. That was it. We all wanted to save room for homeade angel food cake and strawberries and chocolate sauce.

We fondued.

It was delicious.

It might have tasted better if I hadn't already eaten a half dozen of my brother's truffle cookies that he mailed me. He is awesome. The cookies were really small, fyi.

In addition to Rus' card, I also sent a mustached walrus to my dad. His poem read:

If roses are red

And violets are blue,

Who has the cooler 'stache,

The walrus or YOU?

 

Yesterday he texted me my poem. It said,

Roses are red,

In north Virginia as in ABQ.

What a wonderful friend you are

Flying to see Lindsey be as happy as you.

(I am flying to her wedding soon, hooray!)

I texted him back:

Yay thank you! Did you get yours yet?

Dad: No (sad face) how did you send it?

Me: Pigeon

Dad: Oh yah, thanks, I just washed it off my truck, what a load! If I'd known it was from you...

Me: Did you READ it first? It had a great punchline.

 

I am still laughing.

 

Last week Bekah, Beau, Jacob and I made Valentines. Bekah's were owls with a heart that said, "Valentine, you're a hoot". They were really cute and fun, especially the ones for the boys, which she gave "crazy eyes."

 Beau and Jacob made bug jar valentines that said, "Valentine, you make me go BUGGY." We hot glued plastic bugs to the paper jars. Here is Beau practicing his names. He's getting so big.

Hooray for a happy Valentine's day! (Tyler and Lindsey, my one with you is still my favorite).

Betty Jo Aves

Yesterday I attended the funeral for Rus' great aunt Betty. She was his mom's aunt, and while I had met her on a few different occasions, I never really knew anything about her. Rus' mom is a convert to the church, so her extended family is not LDS. The funeral was held at the Methodist church, a beautiful building with devoted patrons and clergy. It seemed that the pastors knew her very well and that she had devoted many hours of service to her church community. I was so impressed that the sermons were so well tailored to the kind of person Aunt Betty was, someone (I learned), who majored in geology and loved to pull off on the side of the road and chip off a piece of rock "thousands of years in the making" just to see what it was made of...someone who was a weaver and spinner and dyer of wool and also a weaver of many close and intimate relationships. I learned that she had a very strong sense of community and was always looking to bring her family and friends together. I learned that while she was opinionated, she was also able to graciously confront or correct someone, and that friends found they could trust her because she was very open and not afraid to speak her mind. Most of all I learned that I really missed out on knowing an adventurous, vibrant woman who could have taught me so much. I took away two things from her funeral, first that I should always have something in my purse to work on in case I get stuck somewhere (a habit of hers I would like to adopt), and second that I should never under-value the potential of a friendship with someone, especially someone who is younger or older than me.
I hope to never learn to like another person at their funeral!