a weekend to beat all

On Friday my sister, Katie, was proposed to. She called me the next morning to give me all the happy details. "It looks like we'll have the same anniversary!" was how she broke the news. And sure enough, now that Blake and I have been married for nearly six years, the BYU academic calendar has come full circle. Katie and David (that lucky boy) will be married on April 23rd (the day after they both walk for graduation) in the Salt Lake temple. I am, of course, absolutely thrilled for her -- for them both. I haven't met Dave yet, but I hear nothing but wonderful things about him and how he and Katie are a perfect match for each other.

(Seriously, don't they even look like they belong together?!)

On Saturday morning at 9:43, my brother Riley and his wife, Chelsea, welcomed their baby girl, Chloe Ellen, into the world. She weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and measured 20 inches long (the exact stats as her dad!). Judging by the pictures I've seen, she is adorable, although we're all at a loss in determining where the heck that full head of dark hair came from! Equally adorable is how much her father is in awe of his new daughter (the first granddaughter in the family!...finally. It was high time someone had a girl). "She's so stinking cute!" Riley says. And of course he is absolutely right.


And on Sunday I celebrated my 29th birthday. I wish I could say it was as thrilling as the family news of the two days prior were, but it really wasn't. Mostly it was just a normal Sunday filled with normal Sunday challenges. Blake was away the whole day busy being the bishop, and I came down with a head cold. The boys did both take afternoon naps (of course, trip-home-from-church meltdowns had to happen first), and I made myself a delicious quiche for my traditional birthday dinner. I also received some lovely (and much needed) phone calls from family and friends throughout the day, and those did the trick to cheer me up and make me feel less lonely. Also, there was episode 3 of Downton Abbey to watch after I put the boys to bed, which I'd been looking forward to watching all week.

To make up for the fact that he'd be in meetings all day Sunday, Blake worked hard Saturday night to work in some celebrating. He brought home a chocolate ice cream cake and a beautiful bouquet of tulips (he knew I needed a bit of spring on my kitchen table) and then made me his famous eggs benedict for dinner. The celebrating will continue next Saturday when I get to cash in on my birthday gift of an evening out with Blake to see Mary Poppins on Broadway (thank you, Broadway Week and 2-for-1 tickets). This will be my first Broadway show (I know -- it's about time, right?), and I'm really excited. And, rumor has it, Mary Poppins flies!