Sister Oakley's farewell party, Janet for the weekend, and Sunday at Mom's

It's been fun rest of the week but my how time flies on the weekend when you're having a good time! My week at work ended okay, had a few bumps in the road but nothing that doesn't work out in the end. Sometimes when things go wrong and you know you've done all you can do you just have to turn loose and hope for the best and that's how I've chosen to approach several things right now.

Now on to more positive things - Janet arrived safely on Friday - I picked her up from the Columbia airport about 10:30 PM Friday night and we had so much catching up. After dropping all her bags off at the house we had our "traditional Walmart" trip - at 2 AM! Saturday she and Sister Oakley met with the realtor and looked at houses in the area and today found one she thinks might be "the one." (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!) Mom and Dad and some friends from Ridgeway Ward hosted a farewell get-together for Sister Oakley and it was really nice. There was singing, great food, socializing, and friends doing special tributes to Sister Oakley in appreciation for her hard work, dedication, and service during her 18 - month mission here. What a beautiful lady and a wonderful example she has been to so many. We'll miss her but thrilled that she and Janet will be moving back here mid-July after her visit to England to spend time with her son and family.

Today we had a nice visit and Sunday dinner at Mom and Dad's after Addison started feeling a little better. She has had a time this past month with strep throat and after 2 rounds of antibiotics she began running a high temperature again yesterday. She worked anyway for a few hours last night and came home going straight to bed. This morning at about 6:30 her temp was still around 100.7 so I let her sleep as long as she could. Ethan was home for the weekend and went to church for us today at Ridgeway. (Bless his heart!) Once she felt better we headed to Mom's and enjoyed a great lunch with family and friends and my sweetheart when he woke up. (Joey's on night shift this weekend - poor guy!) It wouldn't be complete without the after lunch ride on the golf cart to see the goats and chickens and I had so much fun with Spencer, Andrew, and Carson on this venture! They are growing up so fast and I love spending time with them!

I hope everyone has a great week and I'm going to try and not get so excited I can't do anything else because "ERIKA WILL BE IN NORTH CAROLINA IN JUST OVER A WEEK!!!!!"

I cAn HaRdLy StAnD iT i'M sO eXcItEd!!!

What a joyous Mother's Day it will be! Also, best of luck to Ethan on his last couple final exams tomorrow and Tuesday - then he will have completed his Sophmore year at FMU - way to go, Ethan! I'm so proud of you, son.

Happy "last few days of April" and I hope May comes in on Thursday bringing tons of smiles and sunshine to everyone around the world. That's what the world needs more of these days - more smiling faces! (P.S. My friend Janet commented on our South Carolina plates - 'Beautiful places - smiling faces' - so let's not let her down when she moves clear across the country to adopt our friendly state as her new home...)