A while ago I made a comment to Mark that I wished his sister or our sister in law could make me a really pretty birthday day this year for my golden birthday. They’re both very talented and make gorgeous cakes! Mark took my comment as a challenge to make the best cake. He’s never decorated a cake before but he made me a delicious and beautiful three-layer mint Oreo cake. We enjoyed it with my family Sunday evening.
Monday was my golden birthday!! I wasn’t able to do all the things I had hoped but it ended up being a great day! I taught four vipkid lessons. My students were so sweet to wish me a happy birthday. One 8 year old girl drew me a birthday cake and blew out the candles. Another girl played happy birthday on the piano for me. I absolutely adore my students!!
After teaching I dropped Flynn off at my parents house then returned to my apartment. My 19 year old niece, Tanya, met me to run a 5k. I’ve wanted to do a 5k since I started college (9 years ago-eep!!!) but I’ve never made it. I don’t really enjoy running but I’ve never been successful at sports and just wanted to prove to myself that I could do one thing that’s physically hard. I mapped out a 5k course from my apartment to my parents house. Luckily it was all either downhill or flat. Tanya and I had never run together before but we had a really similar pace and we were able to chat and cheer each other on the whole time. It took us 36 minutes which is actually a really good time for us slow pokes! When we got to my parents house they had made a little finish line with crepe paper to run though and had ice water in fancy glasses and “winner” medals. They also made us crepes for breakfast. It was a perfect start to my birthday.
The rest of the day I mostly relaxed at home. I received a lot of messages from friends and family. My mission trainer, Ashley, had crumbl cookies delivered to me as a surprise which was so fun! Another friend gave me a frozen yogurt gift card which I can’t wait to use! My sister sent me a necklace and my parents gave me a glass water bottle (I’ve been wanting one for a while)!
When Mark got home from work he cooked dinner and gave me his presents. I was especially excited about the copies of The Family Proclamation and The Living Christ. A sister in our ward hand writes the titles in a beautiful script. I’ve wanted some for a while but wasn’t expecting them! He ordered custom made frames for them as well but those haven’t arrived yet. Mark also gave me a new dress, an African violet, new measuring cups, and a cute wallet. We spent the evening watching the live action Aladdin and eating crumbl cookies which was perfect.
Mark has been pouring in extra time at work hoping to finish everything by the end of next week. The week was fairly uneventful except for Wednesday when he noticed the truck was leaking a lot of fluid. Luckily he decided to get off the refuge and back in Brigham city where they had to call a tow truck to give them a ride to Logan.
I’ve been busy with my calling this week. Tuesday I met virtually with the bishop and the counselor over primary to discuss options for a primary program and ways to give out the new emblems of belonging. Thursday evening we had our summer primary activity. My presidency and I stood outside the church with ice cream and popsicles. Families drove by and we handed their ice cream to them in a butterfly net. It was so fun and we even got to meet a couple new families. Flynn liked playing in the ice after!
Our Story: The Bell Family 