Happy Birthday, Bud! March 2, 2020
Our monthly Sunday dinner with Grandma Donna and Grandpa Mike ended with a little surprise for Graham (his birthday wasn't even until the next day!)
They were all downstairs watching, The Fighting Preacher, when I came down with a song and fire.
Monday, March 2, 2020 - GRAHAM turns THIRTEEN!
Graham is pretty good at guessing what his wrapped gifts are, but he was stumped by the mysterious black bag.
He loves to build model ships and is good at the detail they require. I thought I was giving him the ship from the battle at Midway but he said I gave him a model of the current U.S.S. Enterprise. He's always learnin' me. It'll do!
Ski Day!
Back in December, we grabbed a bag of chips and went over to welcome a new couple who had recently moved into the neighborhood. The sweet wife, originally from Thailand, would have given us the shirt off of her back had we complimented her on it. She left for a second and came back with four ski passes (she works at Deer Valley). She then pointed to us and said, "Next year you come back and I give you SEASON passes." Her husband piped up, "Whoa now, that's a little generous..."
Well, here it was March, and we still had not used those passes. SO, we let Graham and Callie play hooky from school and took them skiing! It was the first time for both of them. It felt like the first time for me since it's been twenty years. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time on the magic carpet;)
The day ended with a family dinner of meatloaf and taters, and then watching Midway downstairs. While I made dinner, Graham opened the rest of his gifts, "Whoa, legos?" He hasn't paid much attention to Lego's as of late so maybe the lego set was really more for my benefit. It made me happy to see him putting it together. He might be a teenager, but he's still my little boy.
His PE class started swimming that very week. He needed new swim-trunks anyway, so I got him some American flag trunks. His studies of WWII have made him very patriotic. He has two flags at the end of his bed. He said, "I just love waking up and seeing those."
I love waking up and seeing HIM. I am most curious to see where his intense mind takes him in life. I'm proud to be an American, and proud to be Graham's momma.
Start Spreading the News...
Ava had flown to New York City that very morning with her broadcasting class. She had been looking forward to this trip like crazy. Her teacher had them on a tight schedule, but she managed some time to meet-up with Katrina right in Times Square!
It looks like Binnie has made it in New York too!
Ava found her passion for broadcasting in high school. STING TV baby!
Wasatch Back Track
Grayson has taken longer to find something that interests him.
I was so excited that Grayson decided to do track this year! It was new to him, and a whole new group of kids. He felt like everyone there already knew each other. He was good about being happy with his own progress instead of comparing himself to others, "This is brand new to me so I'm going to be slower," he explained. One day he was so impressed with himself for running the whole time, and even keeping up with the group. Then he learned that was just the warm-up!
I was just so happy to have him involved in something! I went to the parent meeting and took a picture of the schedule so I could remember when and where he needed to be. It looks like a big commitment!
Mi Amiga
I attended the sweet funeral for Glen Waldron, my dear friend's dad who passed away in his 80's (little did we know it was the last time -for a while anyway- that people could even gather for such an event). Anne-Marie sent me this photo recently of us at a church gathering. We were probably about 14-years-old. Time is a funny thing. I saw my old neighbors and Young Women leaders at the funeral. My family would know them all on a first-name basis: Sally, Sydney, Jeanie, Margaret, Sue, Kay, Evelyn. My parents were also there and we ate Los Hermano's in Lindon afterward. I guess I felt like eating somewhere that I would have eaten when I was 14. That place is getting pretty run down. My lace collar isn't the only thing that needs to go.
Another baby Grayson
I got two baby shower invitations in the mail. They were both for the same day AND time. What are the odds? Of course, I chose family! I picked up my mom on Saturday, March 7th. First, we dropped Graham and Tyson at the movies. Callie decided to come to the shower in Spanish Fork with us. She was as tall as Becca, the mother-to-be!
My Aunt Suzy had outdone herself! The cake, the cookies, the nibbles, all wonderful. Almost too pretty to eat!
I said, almost...
It was nice to see my mom and siblings interact. On the way home, my mom said, "I am so glad I went! Suzy had gone to so much work."
After dropping off my mom in Lindon, Callie wanted to see the neighborhood where I grew up. I saw that my old elementary school is celebrating 40 years. That means the school was pretty much brand new when I started there in '81. Didn't know that! "Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nighthawks!... (sung to the tune of Bonanza) "...Nighthawks is our name!"
I am guessing that JR Smith in Heber City was built around that same time.
And here I am, still going to elementary. I suppose it's been nearly twenty years since I began teaching Meet the Masters at JR Smith. In March, I taught in Callie's class for the very last time.
I remember teaching all of these projects through the years.
For this month's project, the students could draw either a cat or a dog (you'll notice that Callie drew Poe).
One of the kids asked me, "Can I give my dog laser eyes?" By giving him the okay, all of the boy's dogs had laser eyes.
In looking closely at this picture, I couldn't believe how good the girl's drawing on the far right is. I need to get a note to her.
Also at JR Smith, I have been enjoying my Thursday Spanish class taught by Callie's teacher, Maestra Zegarra. There are some other moms and teachers that meet after school at 4 pm. We have a good speed going that we are all comfortable with. Some random older ladies showed up one Thursday in March. No one knew who they were with, but they sure had a lot of questions...I think all of our hearts were sinking a little bit to know that our precious hour was going to be spent explaining things we all learned on day one. However, little did we know that would be the last time we would meet...
WE INTERRUPT YOU NOW FOR A COVID BREAK...INDEFINITELY
Friday the 13th!!!
