This week was.....exhausting.

I apologize for not posting on the blog as much as usual. I think I post updates on my facebook so much that it almost feels like I'm blogging...it's just so easy to when it's right there on your phone. I will try better though.

So.....recap of the week.

Monday - I went to the ER. Not because of any emergency, but because I don't have a doctor yet, and I was having a little problem, and I was advised to go to the ER, because otherwise I wouldn't be seen for weeks. And, of course, when I got in the ER, they treated me like I was dumb, and didn't know what I was talking about, and shouldn't have gone to the ER in the first place. So, overall, a VERY pointless experience.

Tuesday - Still a little flustered from Monday. Maddie is sick. Did get to watch Biggest Loser though. :) Also I forgot to go to an appointment I had made for that day. Frustrating.

Wednesday - Excited because an old friend from San Antonio, Elise Cannon, came to visit!! She had a business meeting in Philly, and she came down from Connecticut, and stayed the night at our house! Had another little visitor...we really like having people visit us, so I won't go into detail on that one. :)

Thursday - We went and saw the Liberty Bell with Elise!!

Very fun! Very interesting piece of history. We didn't get much time to look at everything around the Bell, because it all closed. But that's ok. It was really great to catch up and talk to an old friend though. Kinda made me miss San Antonio. We also went to Gino's, a popular place to get Philly cheesesteaks.

Thanks for visiting Elise!

Friday - Bad day....remember how I said Maddie was sick? She actually got sick the previous Friday. It finally passed on to me. Regardless, Friday night is date night, so we dropped Hallee off at date group and took Maddie with us to dinner and to walk around the mall. While we were at dinner though, I got a phone call from my dad...my grandma (my mom's mom) had just passed away. And we are sitting in the middle of Applebees. And I was pretty close to Grandma Redd back when I lived in Texas. She used to take me shopping almost every time we would go up to visit her. And my mom used to take me and my friends to her house to spend the night when I was little, even though she lived in Austin, 1 1/2 hour drive away. It was just fun to be there. I remember lots of Christmases and Thanksgivings spent at their house. I am really going to miss her. Even though I haven't seen her much since I moved away, I always knew she cared and loved us, and the memories have always been there. And so that's what I have left of her. A few weeks ago when I found out she was sick with cancer, I sent her a card expressing my love and appreciation for her. And just last week they told her that she had 3 months to live, but it cut short to 3 days. I am so glad I sent that card when I did, because if I hadn't, she may not have ever known how I feel about her as my grandma.....

ok, so back at Applebees...it was a pretty emotional phone call, and needless to say, slightly embarrassing crying in front of lots of people. So...then we get home for the night, and I feel kinda dizzy, slightly nauseous, hot/cold at the same time. So I went to bed.

Saturday - Megan gets the Flu. Sweet. Good thing it's on a Saturday so Kyle can watch the kids. It's one of those, my whole body hurts, my skin is burning but I am freezing, congested, dizzy types of the flu.

Sunday - Maddie gets worse, Kyle starts to get sick, Megan is on the uphill.

Today - Hallee, after staying healthy and strong through all of this, starting to get a fever....sad day. I am doing ok now, so I can do my motherly/wifely duties again. Now it's my job to get everyone else better by the time Grandma Baillio (my mom) comes on Thursday!

What a week.

It would have been 100% rotten if it hadn't been highlighted by a fun visit from a friend!

Let's pray this week goes better.

D.C. Temple Trip

I had one of the best days yesterday. Our ward had a temple trip to the Washington D.C. Temple. I have always wanted to go to the D.C. Temple so I was very excited for this trip. I hadn't been to a temple in a while and I forgot how rejuvenating it is. There is power in temple attendance and I didn't realize what a significant difference it can make in my life until the end of the day.
Going to the temple is always better when shared with my beautiful wife. She is the most gorgeous person I know, inside and out. Here are some more stunning pics.

After the session we met up with Brad and Celeste, who were watching our girls. I got to play with Hallee and Brooklyn on the Temple lawn before we left. We found a grasshopper and Hallee was not shy.

Since we were in D.C. we figured we might as well take advantage of it and we went to the Mall. We went to a couple of the Smithsonian Museums while we were there, the American History and Natural History museums. Megan had her eye on the Hope Diamond in the Natural History Museum. While walking in between the museums we passed some street performers. I gave Hallee a dollar to give to one of them who was playing "drums"--he was using paint buckets and a shopping cart for his symbol. This is Hallee playing along with him.

I had a blast with the family, but mostly because I had blast with Hallee. We had so much fun in the museums and her excitement for the exhibits was contagious. At one of the exhibits there were mannequins and one had his mouth open showing his teeth. I went up to him and pretended he bit me. My partner in crime had my back. Hallee went up to him and said with a scowl, "Don't bite," as she smacked him. What a friend. As we were walking back to the car I said, "Hallee I had such a fun day with you. Thank you." She looked up at me and said, "You're welcome daddy." The fact that I'm here "daddy" makes me the happiest man in the world.

When we were leaving the Mall the sun was setting and it was a picturesque ending to a great day. On the ride back to Brad and Celeste's home I realized how attending the Temple had the power to change me. This whole week I have been hating myself for how hard I am on Hallee. I keep recommitting to have more patience with her the next day but sure enough I would fail day after day. I expected more than I should of from a two-year old and I didn't have the power to change this on my own, even though I desperately wanted to. But two hours at the Temple changed me and I felt more deserving when I heard the sweat little voice call me "daddy."