Conference and Competitive Egg Hunting

This morning we ordered the third edition of our blog, "The Hargrave Clan" in hardback cover. It covers from Bennett's second birthday to this last Christmas, and is 86 pages long. We are good writers...excluding the months of November 2011 until about February 2012, during which we focused solely on survival. I am back and re-motivated now though, and I have about fifteen minutes before the second session of Sunday afternoon Conference starts. So Let's see how much I can write before then.

This week was birthday week at our house. Mattie turned 31 on Tuesday, and Bennett-Boo turned 3 yesterday. However, since Matt was still in San Antonio Tuesday, and Conference and Priesthood sessions took over pretty much all of yesterday, neither one of these birthday boys have had their parties yet. We are planning on doing a semi-combined party sometime this coming week. Probably just with a few friends and some cake and party hats (we HAVE to have party hats) but still something to make it feel official. You know us, never celebrate on the actual day.

Matt got home from his Hospital Administration course Friday afternoon and we are all SO happy! Bennett ran out to meet him as soon as he got out of his truck, and just kept saying, "I am so happy my friend Daddy is home! I missed you! I am so happy!" It was pretty cute and just about melted my heart. Matt and Bennett have a special bond. Since then they have spent a lot of time together playing with his trains, his color blocks (he got more for his birthday), and doing "man things" in the garage. I have spent a lot of time enjoying the fact that I am no longer Bennett's only source of entertainment. And, of course, I am also very happy that Matt is home. I sort of like him.

Yesterday before conference started we went to an Easter egg hunt at the park, although I use the term "hunt" loosely. It was more like a, dash-to-the-pile-of-30-eggs-spread-out-in-front-of-you-and-pick-them-up hunt, but Bennett was still very into it. We got there one minute too late to participate in the 0-3 age group category though, so we blended in with the 4-7 age group (they said it was OK). However, this meant Bennett went from the top of the food chain to the bottom, so I felt the need to help him out a little. I wasn't allowed to actually touch any of the eggs, but by George I sure helped Bennett get to those eggs faster than any other largely pregnant mother out there. Thanks to my expert coaching, Bennett got quite the haul and a good feel for the competitive nature of Easter egg hunting. We are serious about our eggs.

After the "hunt" we headed over to the Wal-Mart gardening section and picked up a plethora of vegetables for our garden, which we planted between conference sessions. This year we will have the usual tomatoes, green beans, peas, yellow squash, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, jalapeno peppers, and carrots. But we are also trying our hand at jack-o-lantern pumpkins, okra, and strawberries (at Bennett's request). Hopefully everything turns out yummy. Matt is happy as a clam to be back in his beloved garden after last year where all he saw grow was sand. Gardening is Matt's zen. Bennett and I are happy to get to eat whatever Matt grows.

Last night Matt went to Priesthood session and Bennett and I went to a friends house with a bunch of other women and children and ate great food, frosted sugar cookies, and talked until it was time for our kids to be in bed. We are so lucky to have so many friends here who are always up for trips to the park, bike rides, walks, movie nights, dinner parties, craft projects, playgroups, library Story Time, etc. There is rarely a day we don't see at least one of our friends, which keeps us very busy and very happy.

Well, I can hear conference starting, so I guess I'll leave you with a picture of the Easter Egg hunt. If you will notice, my high school running skills came into play as I was literally the first one off the starting line. Bennett was lucky to keep up...