Our fun-filled week began with me taking a Health final. I probably should have studied more but it just wasn’t a huge priority. We spent last weekend working in the garden and enjoying being at HOME in between General Conference sessions. I really enjoyed conference, especially from home on our laptop! We love an excuse to do church without getting dressed. But I sure miss the tradition of getting together at Linda Osborne’s for sausage, cinnamon rolls and other great food. It was so nice to feel a confirmation that President Monson is our new prophet.

I have spent most of the week glued to the computer. I have been putting together the details for Chad’s work trip and then our extended stay to Innsbruck, Austria and Germany. The last thing I wanted to do when we got back from our last trip was to leave home again, but I am very excited for the great things we will be seeing this upcoming week. Since we will only be in town for our church callings the next two Sundays and then we will be gone for FIVE I have been working on lesson plans. In one day (a very very long day) I got 7 good lesson plans completed. Wow. Not to mention I had to do translations in English and German for substitutes as well as write out a complete script. I need to start keeping a record of the lessons I do so I can refer to them later for ideas. It is great to know that is done.

Chad and I went to some American friends’ on Friday for a Potluck/Grill/The Office watching party. It was a lot of fun, and food is so much better when other people cook it. One of our friends, Janel, brought Sarah’s peanut-butter cookies. She asked if that was okay with us. We had no complaints we got to eat them and not do the work–plus US peanut-butter is a precious item around here. 🙂

We went out to the temple yesterday and as a special treat to ourselves we even went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Yum! Mexican’s still my favorite, even when it’s made from European ingredients. Elisa is nice to humor me. At the temple I was getting some new clothes from the distribution center. The lady helping us asked if I wanted the Maternity garments. I was so pleasantly embarrassed. Elisa turned red and smiley really fast.

Church went great today, my lesson went without a hitch and I will not have to lead the choir next weekend in sacrament meeting because half the people will be gone. Phew! But Elisa has been preparing for it for months, and that’s just one more reason why it is hard to be a choir director. The highlight today though, was feeling our little girl moving all over the place for the first time. It was SO cool. It just gets more and more real every day. And more and more exciting too. I am really looking forward to being a mom.

By the way, it was our anniversary. We didn’t celebrate with much, but we tried to be nice to each other. 🙂

Elisa’s doctor appointment went well on Tuesday. We got the news that we’re having a

girl!

The official due date is September 10. Everything looks healthy, except for the fact that she was totally hiding. It was really hard to get a good ultrasound. The ultrasound made a lot more sense to the doctor than to me, but I’m taking her word on it. I realized that afternoon that I just expected a boy. That’s just the way it works, isn’t it? 🙂 I was a little shocked and disappointed at first because of that expectation. I think that boys are usually easier to deal with, so we’re getting a hard one. I can’t imagine a better dad for a girl. I think a mom is really important in a girl’s life, but a father teaches a daughter the most important things. I’m really excited! Now we just have to pick a name.

We celebrated with some baby-girl-themed sugar cookies. Cream cheese frosting and strawberries really hit the spot.

• Photos of our party

I had a real day. Elisa is feeling 100% better now. We dug up the dahlias and transplanted them. We went shopping and got a whole bunch of new plants and planters. We ran a few errands. And that was all mostly before noon. I installed a light on the balcony and I got shocked. It turns out that the big switch in the electrical panel is not used to cut the power to the apartment. Oops! Surprise!

Earlier this week I attempted to wean myself off of the medicine. That didn’t go so well. 🙂 So I’m still taking it but I’m feeling better and better every day.

For the first time in a long time, I actually had a desire to cook. We tried some yummy things this week. Including: a new recipe on recipes.parry.org for really easy and really delicious key lime pie. (Thanks Mom and Dad.) I had made macaroni and cheese the same night, which was so rich that I couldn’t eat both it and the pie. So we had to save the pie. The next day I couldn’t resist taking just a taste. But my sliver of a taste turned into a quarter of the pie over the afternoon. 😆 Then today Elisa made fresh hamburger buns, and that was the source of puns all afternoon.

It’s been nice to be back home. We’ve been able to have some really good talks with family. We saw Kindin on video chat right after her second birthday. It will be nice to see everybody. My mind has definitely been occupied with baby stuff. Every time I see a little baby I just do not want to wait any longer for ours. I am really looking forward to finding out whether we are having a boy or a girl. (Elisa doesn’t like to use the word sex in public). 😳 Anyway, my excitement for our baby is multiplying.