Two Hour Church

Today was the first Sunday of two-hour church.  What a strange feeling!  Fast and Testimony meeting was a great way to start a new year.  There were a lot of people missing though, so the chapel felt a bit empty.  We didn't get to see many people either because once Sacrament ended, we had to help the kids find their new classrooms and then get to Sunday School.  The rooms were packed.  I took Holly's baby for her so she could do Primary stuff.  Heidi did good for the first half of the lesson and then got tired and fussy, so I took her out.  The class time that I did get was good.  It was weird not to start the class with a prayer though.  It will just take some time to adjust.  Then all of a sudden, church was done!  I felt like I needed to hang out in the hallways to see a few people and say hi since there wasn't another chance!

We had a super relaxed afternoon and just grazed for lunch.  The kids attempted to clean their rooms for a bit, although we heard lots of "Sunday is a day of rest!" "We shouldn't be doing any work!" (from Ben).  He mostly layed on his bed and complained, so I wasn't too worried about him 'working' on Sunday!  We played a few games and I read a bit.  I got dinner going in the Instant Pot and then my parents came over for dinner again.  We had a pork roast. 

Once my parents left, I sat down with the kids and went through Matthew 1 and Luke 1 for our Come, Follow Me scripture assignment this week.  Lennard was on the phone with his sister and Dad for most of it, but we wanted to go through it before bedtime.  They did so good!  I was impressed with their understanding and it made me stretch a bit to find ways to explain things so that they'd understand it.  Things like being 'espoused' and Joseph wanting to put Mary away 'privily' so that she wouldn't be stoned.  The kids were shocked that people would do that!  The kids filled out a sheet with all the different answers and we put it up in the dining room so that we can review it during the week.  It felt like a really good start to the year.  I hope we can keep it up!

After the kids were finally in bed, instead of holing up in our bedroom (which we got in the habit of doing when Emma was struggling with her anxiety), Lennard and I were able to hang out in the living room and chat.  I read for a while.  Then we went to bed together... not one of us staying up later than the other (that happens far too often).  It was the perfect day!