Mardi Gras!!!

So apparently Galveston has a huge Mardi Gras celebration. Go figure. Of course I, being as naive as ever, had no idea what Mardi Gras really was about, but shoot, if that meant parades and a carnival, bring it on! I actually had to ask a friend specifically what Mardi Gras celebrates. My friend Stephanie stated it perfectly when she blogged "it's basically an excuse to eat, drink, and be merry." Pretty much. Still. . . they had a few fun things that we took Carter to see. Last Saturday I went with a bunch of friends to a firetruck parade the city had. There were tons and tons of firetrucks from the cities around us, all of them blasting their horns and letting their sirens wail. It was LOUD. Carter was excited at first, but as soon as the noise came, he started to cry and wouldn't let me out of his sight. He finally calmed down once he realized they were throwing beads out. That cheered him up. We were able to catch a few, and now we have a nice collection at home for Carter to play with. He mostly likes to rattle them around and hear the noise.

We didn't do much this week. On Sunday I took the YW in my ward to a fireside about 45 min. away. It was about following the Prophet's council of the 6 Be's, and on the way home, the girls and I were discussing how much we loved him. I made the comment that I didn't think he would be around much longer, so of course when I was talking to Libby (my sister) that night and she started getting texts about his passing, shock hit me. I didn't mean it to be right then. I was so sad, of course, but also happy for him. He gets to be back with his wife. In President Hinkley's funeral today, the Presiding Bishopric stated it perfectly when he mentioned that when he first heard the news he had tears of sorrow that shortly turned to tears of joy. I, of course, bawled my eyes out during the funeral. He was a wonderful man/leader/Prophet. You could always just feel his love, whether through his presence or his talks. I will miss him, but as I said, I'm happy. They were mixed tears of sorrow and joy. Does that make sense?

The rest of this week was spent with me and Carter trying to find things to do because Bo had a test on Friday and therefore was gone all day everyday.
After Bo's test on Friday, we got together with some friends who have a little boy a few months younger than Carter, and we went to the Carnival. I was shocked to find Carter crying on the first few. He loved the rides at Lagoon, so this was unexpected. It was cold, so I wonder if that had something to do with it. The poor kid was shivering a ton. He warmed up to the rides eventually though and had a blast. Of course we didn't go on the big slide till the end when we were at the end of our tickets. That was Carter's favorite and all he wanted to do was go on it again. Maybe next time.(The dinosaur picture cracks me up. Carter was crying so the guy said Bo could ride in the back. Obviously Bo could hardly fit. It was so funny.)
So that was it. I'm not being the best blogger and I apologize. Between adjusting to being back, my new calling, and keeping a 2 year old happy, life goes by quickly and I find I haven't blogged for a week! My goal is to do better. Cross your fingers!