Sept. 28-Oct. 5
Somehow, I missed a week and as I’ve said before, I can recall facts from college biology with greater clarity than the events of a week before. But there were a couple of notable things, including James and Kenny working in Grandpa Skip’s garage shop to make some items to meet James’s cub scout electives. They made a door stop, a recipe holder and some kind of clamp. I wasn’t there, but I heard it was super fun and saw the photographic evidence:
Sunday was a wonderful fast and testimony meeting. Sometimes I kind of cringe inside when I know it’s going to be testimony day because you never know when people are going to say something totally inappropriate. But last Sunday was pretty great. There were two baby blessings and some non-member friends and other investigators checking out the church or supporting family. The testimonies were sweet, about forever families and the Savior. We had the Schumanns over for dinner. James kept their daughter, two-year-old Emily, company while we enjoyed our new traditional Sunday meal of a teriyaki crock pot roast and grilled corn on the cob. Oh, and we made some tasty, Weight Watchers friendly basmati rice. Jen is one of the friends who has helped me edit my manuscript. And news in that corner, by the way….a big LDS publisher emailed me to let me know that my manuscript passed the first level of review and they want to take it further. Cool!
Monday was James’s birthday so Grandma Joan watched Grant so Kenny and I could take James to Disneyland. He really wanted to wear a mohawk so we said okay since it was his birthday. We had fun going on whatever rides he wanted in whatever order he wanted and he was deliriously happy because he got to buy dinner at Disneyland and we kept up our annual tradition of letting him choose a birthday present. The Star Trader gift shop at the end of the Star Tours ride has a make-you-own-light-saber dealie and that’s what he wanted. He had a ball putting it together, picking out his colors and his sounds. He kept taking it apart just so he could put it back together again.
James's mowhawk
And his light saber:
Tuesday was Cub Scout pack night. Since Kenny and I are Cub leaders now, it was our first time running the show since we inherited it from the previous leaders, the Baaks. It was a little unnerving but it seemed to go okay. And James advanced to Bear rank so that was fun to see. He’s starting to get more interested in Cub scouts. I think he’ll have a blast in Boy Scouts.
Wednesday, our friends the Curfews watched the boys so Kenny and I could go see the So You Think You Can Dance tour at the Nokia Theater in L.A. It was so fun! They did all of our favorite dances and it was really cool to see the choreography in person. It’s more intense than on TV and we really enjoyed it.
Thursday was more hijinks with friends at the Neil Diamond concert in the Hollywood Bowl. We ate Quiznos sandwiches and Halloween candy and swayed to the dulcet tones of “Sweet Caroline.” Good times. I love seeing shows at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s such a great venue. Gorgeous weather and pretty setting. You can see the Hollywood sign high up on the hill from the seats.
Friday was our only night at home and we desperately needed it after such a crazy week. Except James and I spent most of the evening looking for items for his birthday party yesterday so we ran to the grocery store (two of them) and the hardware store in search of supplies. Then I made the cake for party. Well, part of it. It was a multi-layered affair (pictures below).
Saturday was birthday party day. We went to a little park near our house, hauling a truckload of donated cardboard and rolls of tapes. He chose a camouflage theme for his fort building party so with Jamie, Nadine, me, Kenny, Grandma and Grandpa, Bob and the twins, Aunt Beth and his two friends Cole and Raven, the boys had a spectacular fort building day. Check out the pictures:
Grant got his own mini-fort:
Today was General Conference and we enjoyed watching the sessions in our pajamas on the sofa. The boys played relatively quietly upstairs and Grant whined all day. We found out after an exhausting day of trying to keep him happy that he’s cutting a top tooth. Grumpy baby! Skip and Joan came over to watch the second session with us because it wasn’t coming in at their house. Then they left and Jill and Bob came to get Cole. The twins ran around and drove the older boys crazy and after visiting for a while, Jill took some pictures of Grant and I think they’re going to be super cute!
Grant and his exhausted Dad:
And another bonus picture of Grant exhausted from playing in his jumper. He fell asleep while jumping!
