Pioneers, In-Laws, and Jesus Water

This past weekend was a lot of fun, really stressful, and crazy busy! The fun came from lots of family, lots of food, and one of my favorite holidays. The stress came from my social awkwardness around my in-laws. The busy-ness came from trying to fit way too many events into four little days.

Our weekend started on Thursday with a trip to the Pioneer Village with Ross's sister Melissa, her four fun kiddies (seriously, Melissa- I love your kids!) and Ross's parents. I love the Pioneer Village, but I hadn't been there since I got married, so it was fun to see all of the new additions. Ross and I were (and still are) fighting some nasty colds, and I had woken up (after 3 hours of sleep due to Ross McSnoresALot) with a pinched nerve in my shoulder which prevented me from lifting anything or moving at all without sharp pains running down my arm and making my fingers numb. I fear that pain coupled with my crippling fear of dissappointing Ross's family made me less than agreeable for the first half of the day. Sorry! It was fun, but kind of hot and very scatterbrained. Let's just say that I still need to get used to the 'laid back' style of the Goodmans. This is kind of hard for my OCDish-Ultra-Organized-List-Centered-and-Schedule-Oriented little heart to handle. Wasting time is a huge pet peeve of mine, but Ross (and his family since I assume that is where he adopted this philosophy) says that any time anywhere can be quality time if you have the right people and the right attitude. I agree with him, I do! I just have a lot of habits that prevent me from jumping right into that mind-set.

Anyway, my favorite part of the day had to be the peacocks! I love peacocks! The Village rescued them from being put down, and they were amazing! I also thoroughly enjoyed the sweet lady who told the story of Marjorie Pay Hinckley's family in the Pay cabin. The Piece'de'resitance was (and always is) the pink house of Brigham Young. I don't know why I am so enamored with it- but I could spend hours there looking at all of the pictures and old artifacts. There is such a sense of history there- plus it is pink! (I kept all of those exclamation points single Britt!)

After a final ride on the train, we headed home (much later than I had wanted to) and tried to hurry throuh the rush-hour traffic to get to our house before all of Ross's siblings (except Gena- we missed you!!) got to our house for dinner. We didn't make it. Clay and Stephanie got there as we pulled up, so they got to hang out while I got, everything ready (it had all been cooked the day before- thank goodness). Then, I showed them just what a terrible hostess I am by running upstairs and taking a quick shower to get all of the sweat, dust, and baby-related liquids off of me. I was still hurting a lot and really didn't want the whole night to be ruined by my sour attitude, so I took one of my C-Section pain pills. It helped a lot!! (those doubled points were totally warranted, Britt- for reals!)

Dinner was fun, and crowded, (and totally stressful for me!). I tried so hard to be more than a wall flower, and I kind of succeeded. . . I was more of a couch cushion this time. I am, and always have been painfully shy. It is horrible. I hate talking to new people, and I am TERRIBLE at small talk. I am awkward, and I blush at the drop of a hat, and I always feel like I am being judged. I know that after four years of marriage I should be more comfortable with his family, but the truth is we really don't see them very often. This means that not only am I true to my shy nature around them, but I feel guilty about it, which just makes it that much harder to open my mouth, and, well, you see where this is going. I don't think any of his siblings really know me very well at all, and I fully take all of the blame for that. I am a bad sister-in-law, and I know it- but I do feel bad about it. Does that count for anything?

After we celebrated Lucy (8) and Max's (1) birthdays with some really fantastic cake that Melissa provided, and after the kids had all run off their sugar-induced energy, the siblings all left, and we got to have some one-on-one time with Grant and Judy. Well, I guess I should say that Ross had some good quality time with his parents while I bathed Emma and put her down to bed. They stayed with us that night and made themselves the first over-night guests in our new house. Ross was really happy to get to talk with them. He really misses them.

The next morning (the 4th) we were all up and out early to see my niece (It still totally weirds me out that I am an aunt now) Lucy get baptized. She came out from Nevada with her parents to get baptized so that more family could be there, and we were so happy that she did. She is the first cousin on Ross's side to take the plunge, and it went really well. She was so cute with her little white dress and had some pretty white ribbon braided into her hair. She seemed to be really nervous about being the center of attention, but she sure set a wonderful example for all of her little cousins to follow. I tried explaining to Emma what was happening by showing her pictures of Jesus getting baptized. She gleaned enough from my explanations to call the font "Jesus water."

After the baptism and some refreshments, Ross and I said goodbye to his family and headed into Provo to commence the Jones half of the weekend- post to come!