March 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
March 1
We had a young women presidency meeting at my house. I gave Nala her first bath here at our house (she was bathed when we picked her up from the shelter). She did so well! For our young women activity we had a Personal Progress Pizza Party which was SUPER fun! We played Personal Progress Cranium with the For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet. The young women LOVED it and want to play again. Kaylee's friend Elise came again and had fun too!
Pup in the bath.
Getting dry!
Snuggles after bath time.
Nala brought this huge rock in from outside.
Silly Nala.
McKenna reading from the For Strength of Youth pamphlet.
McKenna, Hannah, Bielka & her daughter, Elise, Kaylee, and Julie isn't pictured.
March 2
Nala had her first appointment with the vet! She did so well! She didn't even flinch when she got her shots. She is so friendly and sweet. I babysat Reed tonight!
Spotted some purple flowers in our yard today!
Napping with her tongue out.
Reed is so big! He's 1 now!
Reed is walking!
March 3
James is doing well in Baltimore. I talked with Dad on the phone today and noticed a huge spider! I was the only one around to kill it before Nala ate it!
James and his crew in Baltimore.
Nala looking cute.
Gigantic spider!
March 4
I had lunch with Bielka at her house today. She made delicious lasagna and I brought a salad. Bielka's puppy, Charles, is a 6 month old chihuahua and it was his first time interacting with another dog! He was intimidated by Nala's size since he weighs like 5 lbs and she weighs 15.8 lbs according to the vet. They learned to get along though. Kaylee came home from school and I coached her on her dance technique. She loves dance at 12 years old just like I did!
Charles wasn't sure about Nala's playfulness.
Haha!
She sleeps in the weirdest positions. Behind my head on the couch.
March 5
After a long day with Nala I babysat baby Vinny and talked with James on the phone.
Nala soaking up the sun!
March 6
Had a fun time with Nala getting ready for church today. Sister Bingell from the stake young women girl's camp came to our ward to speak to the young women about girl's camp this summer. It should be fun!
Poor pup is afraid of the hair dryer haha!
She hid under the bed from me.
Sleepy girl.
March 7
I walked Nala to the Davisville library (they LOVE her there) and met up with Kristie and Brooke there. She and I talked for 2 hours. She's a great friend.
Nala after the library.
Don't forget about our cute family dog Paxton!
March 8
Happy Birthday Rex Fairbanks, he is 4 today! I went shopping at Kohls today and got some cute things! The young women had planned to play volleyball tonight but the church carpets were being cleaned so we all met at Bishop Mease's house and watched the LDS Face2Face with popcorn.
Nala playing with her reflection!
March 9
I went to Roger Williams Zoo with Bobbie & her kids, Ashley Miller & baby Harrison, and Jamie and her kids! I babysat Zoe & Logan after the zoo.
We love to see the elephants!
Nala wishes she went to the zoo too!
James sent this photo of Baltimore!
His best childhood friend Dan coincidentally came to Baltimore to do a rotation too! We were all so happy they got to visit!
March 10
I babysat Zoe & Logan again. Nala was playing rough with me today!
She drew blood :(
March 11
I went to book club. I didn't have a chance to read the book but it was called Uprooted. The theme was woodsy and green for St. Patrick's Day. I made homemade guacamole. I'll share the recipe because it was SO good. After book club Nala and I played outside because the weather was so nice!
Sitting at my feet like a faithful pup.
Can you find Nala?
She loves to bite me.
I hold her tongue when she tries.
So she bites my jacket instead.
I distract her with a stick-her favorite.
Posing like a pretty princess pup.
This picture has me laughing so hard I'm crying! Haha.
March 12
I cleaned the house all day and gave Nala a bath. I got ready for James to come home! I went to the stake youth activity where we watched all the youth films that were made from each of the wards and had pizza & an awards show. It was neat to see the other youth films, but I loved our youth's Star Wars film the best! I picked James up from the airport after the activity and loved him to death! Nala was pretty excited to see him too!
"Look, Simba Nala, everything the light touches is our kingdom."--Mufasa from Lion King
New Spring mantle
We wished Brielle a Happy Birthday
We bought Nala a bed that we put in her crate.
He's home! Reunited after a month!
Nala can't go downstairs.
March 13
I gave the young women lesson at church today about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was a great way to get in the Easter Spirit. After church James and I took Nala for her first walk in the wildlife refuge by our house! She was in heaven!!!
She was in stick heaven!!!
Exhausted after her energetic run through the wildlife refuge!
March 14
James starts his Anesthesia/Ultrasound rotation. It is SO nice because he works 7am-3:30pm five days a week and has the weekends off! SUCH a nice change from working so hard in Baltimore last month.
March 15
For our young women activity we held a Leadership Retreat for the young women since they all have new class callings as Laurel, Mia Maid, and Beehive class presidencies. We gave them information about their callings, then we had different stations teaching the lessons from Leading in the Savior's Way. I taught "Creating a Spirit of Unity in the Presidency & Conducting Meetings" and I had fresh veggie cups for them to snack on. Bri taught "Preparing and Using an Agenda in Class Presidency Meetings & Planning Activities with Gospel Purposes in Mind" with chips & queso to enjoy. Bielka taught "Delegating Responsibility and Ensuring Accountability & Keeping Confidences" with fresh fruit and dip for them to snack on. Then we played a game where the leaders took turns conducting both poorly and wonderfully and the girls had to give the leaders a score based on their conducting performances. Then it was the girls' turn to practice conducting and we gave them scores 1-10. The young women with the highest score won a movie theater box of candy! I think the young women had fun at our leadership retreat!
Bri teaching while baby Faye helps and Lexi dishes up some queso!
March 16
I babysat Zoe and Logan today. Nala played with sticks today and LOVED it.
She's actually chewing on the tree branches because she loves sticks!
Found another stick!
March 17
Happy St. Patrick's Day! I have the flu! I babysat the Carbones in the morning.
James studied and Nala helped.
March 18
Still sick with the flu!
March 19
I was still so sick so I couldn't go to the youth temple trip. I was SUPER bummed about this. I was really looking forward to this! Here is a group photo they took and sent to me:
Lexi (Laurel), Kaylee (Beehive, her first time at the temple!), Amber (Laurel), Hannah (Beehive), McKenna (Laurel).
Boston Temple
Hannah, Kaylee, Sister Welles, Lexi, Brother Welles, Brandon, Brother Bentley, McKenna, Amber, Bishop Mease, Ian, Wesley, Sister Stoklosa, Toe (Matthew), Ethan.
March 20
I stayed home from church since I didn't want anyone to catch the flu from me. James went to church and I made meatloaf and cared for Nala. When James came home we took a walk in the wildlife refuge. Nala loved it as usual and took a special interest in the water:
She loves napping in this spot.
March 21
It snowed today! Lucky for me it melted later the same day but Nala was loving it while it lasted!
That puppy snow on her forehead!
Snow on her nose & stick in her mouth.
She loves it!
The pile of branches & vines James took down from our yard makes a great pile of snow sticks for Nala to play with.
"Help mom, I'm stuck!"
"I'll dig my way out."
"Then stick my head into the trees, I smell the land of Narnia."
"Time to go in for a treat!"
March 22
I missed going to the young men/young women combined activity. They played human battleship and I heard it was a hit! I am so tired of having the flu!
March 23
I finally decided to get out of the house and go somewhere. I attended the Relief Society Birthday Activity. The theme was Stand in Holy Places and each woman brought a pair of shoes with special meaning behind them. I brought my sparkly Chelsea flats (the store manufacturer name of the shoe is Chelsea) and shared that I walked the stage in the shoes when I graduated with my degree. We enjoyed delicious food, but I was still feeling sick. One of my friends told me I looked clammy, and I really did not feel like myself. I was relieved to go home and get some rest after that.
March 24
I worked on blogging today! Nala was very patient with me. I'm slowly getting better.
I can't tell if she is feeling patient or impatient.
I guess the video shows she is impatient at this moment.
March 25
Happy Birthday to my amazing brother Peter
&
Happy Birthday to my incredible Father in-law Todd!
I called Peter and took Nala on a walk in the morning and my brother in-law Steven called me with the good news that he and Kate are engaged! I'm so excited for them! After my chat with him, Peter called me back and we talked for a good half hour about his plans for his birthday in Texas. It was great to talk with him! I went to the grocery store and my visiting teacher Susan called to see if she could visit me in a couple hours. I said OF COURSE and she came and we shared a special Easter message. She brought me beautiful tulips! After my visit with her (and Nala calmed down), I continued blogging and then had a phone conversation with my sweet Nana! I felt so popular today with all the phone calls! I spent the evening shopping at Kohls with my sweetheart James. I got some great deals including my new Nikes! I'm still congested but I'm getting better!
Steven & Kate are engaged!
Gorgeous tulips from my visiting teacher.
My new kicks.
March 26
James worked in the yard building a side yard fence for Nala and tearing down vines from our trees! He is pretty sore and got several cuts from his hard work! Nala played outside ALL day now that the fence is secured, and she LOVED it. She was so tired by the end of the day! I made Easter cookies to bring to the General Women's broadcast. A few women met at the church and we watched the broadcast and enjoyed yummy treats and good company. I'm so thankful for the ladies in my ward! They are great! It was wonderful to hear the messages from the General Women's auxiliaries. You can watch/listen to it here! Congested and coughing but less and less!
March 27
Happy Easter!
I felt MUCH better today. I still blow my nose on occasion and have random coughs but over all I feel much better. James and I enjoyed a WONDERFUL day at church with amazing messages about the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection. After church we played with Nala outside (the weather was so nice!) and then we carpooled with the Lehnhof's to enjoy Easter dinner over at the Ferrell's house! They also hosted the Stoklosa family as well. The food was delicious complete with a ham, roasted baby potatoes, asparagus, spring salad, deviled eggs, and homemade Lionhouse rolls with homemade raspberry butter! YUM! We all headed across the street to the Smith's house for an Easter egg hunt for the kids and dessert! The Smith's had the missionaries and the Escobars over for dinner so they were there for dessert too. All these families are in the Narragansett ward with us. We had the Spring confetti bars that I made, Cadbury egg chocolate ice cream cake, and other goodies! James kept calling my Spring Confetti Bars Easter Bunny Poop (it looked colorful and tasted good, not bad), which caught on, so everyone started calling it that! Haha.We definitely had some laughs and loved spending Easter with good friends!
James calls them Easter Bunny Poop
because my bars had rounder looking mini marshmallows.
Happy Easter! Love, The Chapmans
Nala on Easter Sunday looking her best.
The adult group photo at the Smith's house on Easter Sunday.
Elders Stevenson & Koontz, Bobbie & Brian & Livie Lehnhof, Joel Stoklosa, George Escobar, Sarah (a friend of the Escobars), Robin Escobar, Alysa & Matt Smith, Chelsea & James, Travis & Tami Ferrell, Tami's parents.
The true meaning of Easter #Hallelujah
March 28
I went shopping for discounted Easter candy! Nala loved playing outside in the rain and I spent the afternoon preparing things for our young women activity tomorrow. James came home earlier than usual and we took Nala for a walk once the rain let up. He spent the evening studying for Boards while I worked on Personal Progress tracking for the young women. Nala keeps bringing sticks in the house--she loves them!
She found a stick of course.
My favorite all in one tracking sheet for Young Women Personal Progress
March 29
For our young women activity the girls wanted to dye Easter eggs. So we dyed eggs and worked on Personal Progress Faith #5 and Virtue #4. I also made them this cute General Conference Personal Progress Easter Egg Hunt that they can do this weekend!
McKenna, Kaylee, Lexi, Kaylee's little sister Sadie, Amber's friend Nicole, Amber.
They really wanted to dye Easter eggs even though Easter has passed!
Nicole, Amber, Julie, McKenna, Kaylee, Sadie, Lexi.
March 30
Happy Birthday to my awesome brother in-law Jason!
Today I cleaned the house & planned for Nashville!
Vacuuming can be exhausting when you're afraid of it.
March 31
Today was 65 degrees out so Nala loved her walk today! I made Chicken Parmesan Casserole to bring to our friends Justin & Tiffany who just had a baby girl 2 weeks ago. Justin is a 3rd year emergency medicine resident. I also made James' favorite meal, Chicken Tikka Masala, the copycat recipe from Bombay House in Provo! We had the Lehnhofs over for dinner and the kids loved playing with Nala in the back yard!
Nala LOVES when Bobbie pets her. Finn loves Nala.
Remie giggled uncontrollably while Nala chased her!
I love James' cute face. Brian and Livie are having fun too.
I love Livie's adorable smile here!
There's a good smile Brian!
As you can see by my smile, we had a great time with our good friends!
Spring has sprung and April is next!
