Oh, Happy Day

Today has been a really great day.

We started it by taking our kids to participate in a ward service project on the grounds of the Seattle Temple. I'm not sure how much we really helped, especially since I spent a good chunk of time feeding Tanner in the car. But, more important than what we actually did was teaching our kids that's just what we do. I'm so glad we went.

Later in the day, as we were in between a few activities, one of our neighbors showed up, offering to give us a nice, barely used tricycle. Ryan has been her home teacher for a few months now, in spite of the fact that she hasn't attended church since we moved into the ward 2 years ago. Apparently, she's prepping for a garage sale and didn't want an "insulting" offer on the beautiful trike. She said she'd rather give it away to someone who she knew would enjoy it. Clayton has certainly already been enjoying it! He went out to ride it and didn't even want to come in for dinner tonight. I feel like it's such a perfect blessing right now, as I was just starting the process of finding a trike or Big Wheel for Clayton.

Finally, as you can see from the button in my sidebar, my inlaws are currently serving a mission. They were called to the Baltic Mission--which is where I served my mission! I was THRILLED because it meant we could go visit them AND I could finally show Ryan where I served. A few months in, they were reassigned to serve in the Bulgaria, Sofia mission. I was a little bummed, but looked forward to visiting them in yet another part of the world that I hadn't yet seen. Since then, Ryan and I have been talking about the trip we intended to take next summer and wondering if the trip would be worth the money, since Bulgaria really hasn't been on our bucket list. In addition, Carissa's roommate, Hillary, is living in Lithuania this summer. Since I'm reading Hil's blog on a near-daily basis, (and talking to her occasionally when she and Carissa skype), I have been feeling a little homesick for those places that are so close to my heart. So, in skyping with my inlaws tonight, we discussed the option of meeting them in the Baltics at the end of their mission and touring the area together. Of course, we would be going during a less-desirable, (read: colder), time of year--but I suppose in the grand scheme of things, that's really not going to matter. The thought that I may still get to go back to the Baltics makes me so happy!

For all of the craziness of today, (grumpy kids, almost being rear-ended, lots of errands), these few small events sure made it a great day!