Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Cute!
John opened up the Conference edition of the Ensign. He opened up the center-fold of the Prophet and Apostles and said, "Cute!"
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Cosmo
Emma got BYU jammie for Christmas. She pointed to her shirt and said, "It says 'cougars.'" Then she said, "Cougars are a type of Cosmo."
For context my sister has a pug named Cosmo and Emma has a stuffed animal dog that is named Cosmo after the pug.
For context my sister has a pug named Cosmo and Emma has a stuffed animal dog that is named Cosmo after the pug.
Merry Christmas!
We had a wonderful Christmas and Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve I let the kids help me make cinnamon rolls. Emma didn't know what they were. John just wanted to eat the dough because he thought it was bread. The kids love to help dump ingredients into the bowl. They had a great time helping and also destroying what ever was on the counter.
There were a few funny stories from that day. Emma turned to me one day and said, "One of us is bug stuff." I was curious so I asked "which one of us?" She responded, "Probably you since you are taller. I am short stuff." Totally matter-a-factly and then moved on to something else. I am pretty sure that she had no idea what "big stuff" meant.
The other funny thing was that John has been interested toilet paper as most almost 2 year olds are. I caught him in the bathroom pulling the toilet paper off the roll. I grabbed his hands to stop him and his hands were wet! So I looked into the toilet and sure enough there was toilet paper in there. He had been putting toilet paper in the toilet. So we washed hands.
We decided to let Emma watch Cinderella for Christmas Eve. She was beyond excited. All morning she kept asking if it was nap time yet. I cooked while she watched it so I was only half way paying attention. Probably I should have paid closer attention. Turns out that I had forgotten a lot of what is in Cinderella. When it was over I turned it off and instead of seeing a delighted, happy face, I saw a traumatized face. Turns out that the cat at the end tried to eat the mice and that was scary. She didn't like it. I think it will be a while before she asks to see it again.
We missed the ward party where Santa made an appearance. Emma was bummed about that. I didn't realize how sad she was to miss Santa. Santa is a guy from our ward who has an awesome suit and grows his beard out for Christmas. The guy is pretty real looking. I asked his wife one Sunday how the party went. She said they had a great time. I mentioned that Emma was sad to miss Santa. She offered to have Santa stop by on Christmas Eve. So Santa came walking up to our door ringing sleigh bells. Emma was mesmerized. Santa came in and chatted with us about the meaning of Christmas and how some of the symbols of Santa tie back to Christ. He gave the kids a candy cane and some Christmas bead necklaces. We said goodbye and Santa said he would come back later with presents. Emma could hardly speak during the entire visit. I asked Emma what her favorite thing of the day was and she said visiting with Santa. I was surprised that she said that over watching Cinderella. I guess since Cinderella was scary, that shouldn't be too surprising.
The only thing that Emma wanted for Christmas was a gymnastics bar. That is all that she has talked about for months. We looked at some online and they are insanely expensive so Aaron set out to design and make one. Turns out that is a hard thing to do when you don't have any wood working tools. Aaron slaved away in the garage working on the bar. Emma had seen him working on this for the past couple weeks. We were still able to pass it off as "from Santa." Aaron worked all day Christmas Eve and into the night and then into the morning. He got to bed at 3:30am. The bar is supposed to go in our game room upstairs and go from the floor to the ceiling. It was 1/8" too tall so it wouldn't fit in the game room. So he had to put it in our foyer. The gymnastics mat we ordered to go with it was lost in Indianapolis somewhere so we didn't have a mat to go with the bar. So the present wasn't quite as we were hoping for on Christmas morning but Emma still had fun swinging on it. Aaron was exhausted Christmas morning. He had a few cat naps while watching the kids play with their presents. After opening presents and playing with them for a little bit, Aaron asked Emma what was her favorite present. Emma said, "The baby toys [accessories for her baby doll]." Aaron just started laughing. After all that pain to get the bar ready for Christmas.... Emma was happy with a diaper bag and changing pad for her baby. We laughed for quite a bit that morning.
As for Christmas morning, I went upstairs when I woke up to make sure the kids didn't see the presents before we were ready with the camera. They were excited beyond belief to see the dune buggy that Aunt Mary and Uncle Brian got them. It didn't matter that the battery wasn't in the car. They just played in there for a long time. Then they moved to the train sets that Aunt Emily gave them. There was a wooden one and a lego one. They played and played. Finally it dawned on them that there were other presents. So they would open a gift and play with it and when they would loose attention they would open another. We didn't do a huge Christmas because Aunt Mary and Aunt Emily gave them big gifts but it still took them about 2.5 hours to open presents. They were in heaven with all of the toys. They would each take the toy that they were playing with and bring it into the dune buggy and play with it there. Aaron and I just sat there and watched them play. It was quite fun.
John got a fire truck. He kept saying "people trouble!" over and over again when he would play with his truck. I am always amazed at what he understands.
After naps we took the dune buggy for a spin. I had a taste as to what it would be like to teach a teenage to drive. Driving isn't intuitive to Emma. She would run into stuff if we didn't stop her. She can put her foot on the pedal but apparently it isn't intuitive to take your foot off the pedal to stop. We will have to do driving lessons for a while. Poor John's feet can't reach the pedals so he will have to be a passenger for a while. Emma is more than ok to do driving Mr. John.
Oh, for Christmas breakfast we had cinnamon rolls. Emma ate her like a normal person. She really enjoyed the rolls. John, unrolled the roll, and bit off the frosting off the top of the bread. Once the frosting was all gone, he proceeded to eat the cinnamon bread.
There were a few funny stories from that day. Emma turned to me one day and said, "One of us is bug stuff." I was curious so I asked "which one of us?" She responded, "Probably you since you are taller. I am short stuff." Totally matter-a-factly and then moved on to something else. I am pretty sure that she had no idea what "big stuff" meant.
The other funny thing was that John has been interested toilet paper as most almost 2 year olds are. I caught him in the bathroom pulling the toilet paper off the roll. I grabbed his hands to stop him and his hands were wet! So I looked into the toilet and sure enough there was toilet paper in there. He had been putting toilet paper in the toilet. So we washed hands.
We decided to let Emma watch Cinderella for Christmas Eve. She was beyond excited. All morning she kept asking if it was nap time yet. I cooked while she watched it so I was only half way paying attention. Probably I should have paid closer attention. Turns out that I had forgotten a lot of what is in Cinderella. When it was over I turned it off and instead of seeing a delighted, happy face, I saw a traumatized face. Turns out that the cat at the end tried to eat the mice and that was scary. She didn't like it. I think it will be a while before she asks to see it again.
We missed the ward party where Santa made an appearance. Emma was bummed about that. I didn't realize how sad she was to miss Santa. Santa is a guy from our ward who has an awesome suit and grows his beard out for Christmas. The guy is pretty real looking. I asked his wife one Sunday how the party went. She said they had a great time. I mentioned that Emma was sad to miss Santa. She offered to have Santa stop by on Christmas Eve. So Santa came walking up to our door ringing sleigh bells. Emma was mesmerized. Santa came in and chatted with us about the meaning of Christmas and how some of the symbols of Santa tie back to Christ. He gave the kids a candy cane and some Christmas bead necklaces. We said goodbye and Santa said he would come back later with presents. Emma could hardly speak during the entire visit. I asked Emma what her favorite thing of the day was and she said visiting with Santa. I was surprised that she said that over watching Cinderella. I guess since Cinderella was scary, that shouldn't be too surprising.
The only thing that Emma wanted for Christmas was a gymnastics bar. That is all that she has talked about for months. We looked at some online and they are insanely expensive so Aaron set out to design and make one. Turns out that is a hard thing to do when you don't have any wood working tools. Aaron slaved away in the garage working on the bar. Emma had seen him working on this for the past couple weeks. We were still able to pass it off as "from Santa." Aaron worked all day Christmas Eve and into the night and then into the morning. He got to bed at 3:30am. The bar is supposed to go in our game room upstairs and go from the floor to the ceiling. It was 1/8" too tall so it wouldn't fit in the game room. So he had to put it in our foyer. The gymnastics mat we ordered to go with it was lost in Indianapolis somewhere so we didn't have a mat to go with the bar. So the present wasn't quite as we were hoping for on Christmas morning but Emma still had fun swinging on it. Aaron was exhausted Christmas morning. He had a few cat naps while watching the kids play with their presents. After opening presents and playing with them for a little bit, Aaron asked Emma what was her favorite present. Emma said, "The baby toys [accessories for her baby doll]." Aaron just started laughing. After all that pain to get the bar ready for Christmas.... Emma was happy with a diaper bag and changing pad for her baby. We laughed for quite a bit that morning.
As for Christmas morning, I went upstairs when I woke up to make sure the kids didn't see the presents before we were ready with the camera. They were excited beyond belief to see the dune buggy that Aunt Mary and Uncle Brian got them. It didn't matter that the battery wasn't in the car. They just played in there for a long time. Then they moved to the train sets that Aunt Emily gave them. There was a wooden one and a lego one. They played and played. Finally it dawned on them that there were other presents. So they would open a gift and play with it and when they would loose attention they would open another. We didn't do a huge Christmas because Aunt Mary and Aunt Emily gave them big gifts but it still took them about 2.5 hours to open presents. They were in heaven with all of the toys. They would each take the toy that they were playing with and bring it into the dune buggy and play with it there. Aaron and I just sat there and watched them play. It was quite fun.
John got a fire truck. He kept saying "people trouble!" over and over again when he would play with his truck. I am always amazed at what he understands.
After naps we took the dune buggy for a spin. I had a taste as to what it would be like to teach a teenage to drive. Driving isn't intuitive to Emma. She would run into stuff if we didn't stop her. She can put her foot on the pedal but apparently it isn't intuitive to take your foot off the pedal to stop. We will have to do driving lessons for a while. Poor John's feet can't reach the pedals so he will have to be a passenger for a while. Emma is more than ok to do driving Mr. John.
Oh, for Christmas breakfast we had cinnamon rolls. Emma ate her like a normal person. She really enjoyed the rolls. John, unrolled the roll, and bit off the frosting off the top of the bread. Once the frosting was all gone, he proceeded to eat the cinnamon bread.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Thankful
We flew out for Utah the week before Thanksgiving for Nanny's funeral. We dropped the kids off at Grandma Marsha's and Grandpa Keith's house and Aaron and I drove down to Monticello, UT for the funeral. Did I mention that Marsha and Keith were saints? John came down with a nasty cold on the plane ride to Utah. Yup, Marsha and Keith were kind enough to take care of my sick kiddos. Saints I tell you.
On the drive down I "got" to drive in snow. I don't drive in snow because I never learned how. In this case, there wasn't much of a choice. It was snowing pretty bad too. We rolled into Monticello at 2am. It was at that point that Aaron realized that he forgot his white shirt for the funeral and I forgot my coat. We are quite the pair. Good thing we have each other! Friday morning we woke up and Aaron announced that he was going to try and find a store to buy a white shirt. I tried to explain to him that we were in Monticello, UT. Population 1300. He went to the front desk and the lady was more convincing than I was. She told him there wasn't a place to buy a shirt. She did have a white shirt that was left in the lost and found. It happened to be his size and it happened to be ironed. Manna from Heaven. My manna from heaven came in the form of my mom sharing her coat with me. It was very nice of her. She had a long dress winter coat that she wore. While we were there for the weekend, it snowed a foot. It has been a very long time since I have been in a foot of snow.
The funeral was very nice. We got to see family that we haven't seen in years or decades. The funeral was predominately grandkids sharing memories of Nanny. I was the last to go since I was the youngest grandchild present. It was very interesting to me to listen to the memories of the other families because they were very different from the Anderson kids' memories. We grew up in New York and very rarely saw Nanny and Papa. The other grandkids talked about how Nanny was a great influence for them and source of stability and strength. It was then that I realized that Nanny was for each one of us what we needed. Nanny joked around with me. I needed a laugh more than a stabilizing influence in my life because I was blessed with my Mom and Dad. I was impressed that Nanny was able to meet our various needs. I learned some stories. One of my favorites I already knew some of the details, but I learned the rest of the story.
Nanny lived across the street from Buddy her brother. Buddy drove a beat up old pick up truck that he used in his cattle business. Nanny was sick and tired of looking at this old ugly pick up truck parked across the street from her house. She told Buddy on a number of occasions that if he didn't paint that truck, she would paint it with polka dots. Sure enough, she painted it with yellow polka dots and some of them had smiley faces on them. Nanny was in her 70s when this happened. This was not a rascally teenager, this was a rascally senior citizen. This much I knew. What I learned was that Nanny enlisted the help of her niece to do the paining. As it was explained to me by her niece, Nanny was management! Her niece was afraid that they would get in trouble with the law. Nanny told her not to worry and to just keep painting! I was giggling! Nanny was the mastermind and management to the whole plot!
When I was 12 or 13 my friend LeslieAnn Dickens and I were frustrated with a boy in our ward named Alan. I don't remember what the offense was but we decided that we would toilet paper his house and fork his lawn. Nanny was our get away driver.
After Nanny moved to California to her assisted living home she was a bit sad. She complained that the people there had no sense of humor. So one time I came into town from Houston and I toilet papered the outside of her door, in loving memory of our escapades together. I don't know if her neighbors thought it was funny or not, but I enjoyed it.
I would always ask Nanny what trouble she was causing and she would play along and ask me what trouble I was causing. She had a great sense of humor.
Aaron and I got to go to Arches National Park in the snow and look at a few things with my cousins. It was a lot of fun. We also received a tour of Monticello from my mom. It was snowing a lot so the tour was a little difficult to see Monticello since it was covered in snow. Aaron never really got to see the horse head on the mountain. We ate a wagon wheel pizza place and that is the only restaurant that I remember eating at as a kid. We got to see the temple which I hadn't seen yet. And as a very cool experience, we got to stay at Nanny's old house. The guy that they sold it to doesn't live there so he let all of the cousins stay there during the funeral. It was cool to see it again. I remembered the chandelier over the kitchen table. My dad showed me the holes in the wall where my mom's ribbons hung from various awards. We went to the cemetery and it hit me that that was Papa's grave. I hadn't been there since he died 30 years ago.
On Monday we went back to Provo to spend Thanksgiving with the Russells. We had a great time visiting with Keith, Marsha, Kerri, Todd, Dray, Kate, and Elle. We were able to see Regan, Bentley and Annie briefly before they headed up to their family reunion on Michelle's side. Emma and Elle played happily together and Emma was beyond sad to say good bye to her cousins. We went swimming one morning at the Provo Rec Center. They had a cool set up that I probably would have appreciated more if it were summer. John appears to be in my camp as far as warm water goes. He wasn't having too much fun since it was pretty cold. We went to the gymnastics room just about every day. I know I have said this before, but I love that place. That is my favorite thing to do with the kids. They loved it! I want to petition for Keith to keep his access after he retires.
Thanksgiving was delicious! I learned that Marsha holds a secret whole wheat roll recipe that is amazing. Everything was delicious. And, Marsha appeared to put the dinner on without breaking a sweat. Someday, I aspire to being like that. I am guessing it will happen when Emma and John are grown up.
On the drive down I "got" to drive in snow. I don't drive in snow because I never learned how. In this case, there wasn't much of a choice. It was snowing pretty bad too. We rolled into Monticello at 2am. It was at that point that Aaron realized that he forgot his white shirt for the funeral and I forgot my coat. We are quite the pair. Good thing we have each other! Friday morning we woke up and Aaron announced that he was going to try and find a store to buy a white shirt. I tried to explain to him that we were in Monticello, UT. Population 1300. He went to the front desk and the lady was more convincing than I was. She told him there wasn't a place to buy a shirt. She did have a white shirt that was left in the lost and found. It happened to be his size and it happened to be ironed. Manna from Heaven. My manna from heaven came in the form of my mom sharing her coat with me. It was very nice of her. She had a long dress winter coat that she wore. While we were there for the weekend, it snowed a foot. It has been a very long time since I have been in a foot of snow.
The funeral was very nice. We got to see family that we haven't seen in years or decades. The funeral was predominately grandkids sharing memories of Nanny. I was the last to go since I was the youngest grandchild present. It was very interesting to me to listen to the memories of the other families because they were very different from the Anderson kids' memories. We grew up in New York and very rarely saw Nanny and Papa. The other grandkids talked about how Nanny was a great influence for them and source of stability and strength. It was then that I realized that Nanny was for each one of us what we needed. Nanny joked around with me. I needed a laugh more than a stabilizing influence in my life because I was blessed with my Mom and Dad. I was impressed that Nanny was able to meet our various needs. I learned some stories. One of my favorites I already knew some of the details, but I learned the rest of the story.
Nanny lived across the street from Buddy her brother. Buddy drove a beat up old pick up truck that he used in his cattle business. Nanny was sick and tired of looking at this old ugly pick up truck parked across the street from her house. She told Buddy on a number of occasions that if he didn't paint that truck, she would paint it with polka dots. Sure enough, she painted it with yellow polka dots and some of them had smiley faces on them. Nanny was in her 70s when this happened. This was not a rascally teenager, this was a rascally senior citizen. This much I knew. What I learned was that Nanny enlisted the help of her niece to do the paining. As it was explained to me by her niece, Nanny was management! Her niece was afraid that they would get in trouble with the law. Nanny told her not to worry and to just keep painting! I was giggling! Nanny was the mastermind and management to the whole plot!
When I was 12 or 13 my friend LeslieAnn Dickens and I were frustrated with a boy in our ward named Alan. I don't remember what the offense was but we decided that we would toilet paper his house and fork his lawn. Nanny was our get away driver.
After Nanny moved to California to her assisted living home she was a bit sad. She complained that the people there had no sense of humor. So one time I came into town from Houston and I toilet papered the outside of her door, in loving memory of our escapades together. I don't know if her neighbors thought it was funny or not, but I enjoyed it.
I would always ask Nanny what trouble she was causing and she would play along and ask me what trouble I was causing. She had a great sense of humor.
Aaron and I got to go to Arches National Park in the snow and look at a few things with my cousins. It was a lot of fun. We also received a tour of Monticello from my mom. It was snowing a lot so the tour was a little difficult to see Monticello since it was covered in snow. Aaron never really got to see the horse head on the mountain. We ate a wagon wheel pizza place and that is the only restaurant that I remember eating at as a kid. We got to see the temple which I hadn't seen yet. And as a very cool experience, we got to stay at Nanny's old house. The guy that they sold it to doesn't live there so he let all of the cousins stay there during the funeral. It was cool to see it again. I remembered the chandelier over the kitchen table. My dad showed me the holes in the wall where my mom's ribbons hung from various awards. We went to the cemetery and it hit me that that was Papa's grave. I hadn't been there since he died 30 years ago.
Nanny's House
Nanny's Parent's House
Thanksgiving was delicious! I learned that Marsha holds a secret whole wheat roll recipe that is amazing. Everything was delicious. And, Marsha appeared to put the dinner on without breaking a sweat. Someday, I aspire to being like that. I am guessing it will happen when Emma and John are grown up.
Embarrassed
This morning John didn't want to put on pants. This is not unusual. Probably it has something to do with the fact that as an infant he rarely sported such because it is so hot. I felt it was merciful to let him roam the house in a onesie. Emma chased him around the house this morning trying her hardest to persuade him to put on the pants. He refused and kept running away. Finally, she said in an exasperated voice, "Do you want to be embarrassed?"
Reflecting on that question, embarrassed is the last thing John would feel. I have never ever seen him show that emotion. Emma was embarrassed quite easily even as an infant. Not John. He would probably strut outside the house with great pride and show off his pasty white little legs. Emma would probably be embarrassed for him.
Reflecting on that question, embarrassed is the last thing John would feel. I have never ever seen him show that emotion. Emma was embarrassed quite easily even as an infant. Not John. He would probably strut outside the house with great pride and show off his pasty white little legs. Emma would probably be embarrassed for him.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Hatched
Emma told me we needed a new laundry basket. I asked her why. She said it was "hatched." I asked her what that meant. She tried to explain that it was cracked. So I asked her if she meant cracked like how an egg is cracked when a chick hatches out of an egg. She was happy that I understood what she meant. I was giggling inside.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Suspicious
Emma turned to Aaron the other day and out of the blue said, "Dad, I look suspicious."
Yup. Sums it up for both Emma and John. More so John, but Emma has her moments as well.
Yup. Sums it up for both Emma and John. More so John, but Emma has her moments as well.
Your Father
Dear Emma and John-
I want you to know exactly the kind of man your father is. He was talking in his sleep the other night. (This is not unheard of for him.) But what he was saying is also not unheard of for him. He was asking someone if they needed help. The person didn't need help, but your dad let them know that he was there to help him. That sums up your dad.
Love,
Mom
I want you to know exactly the kind of man your father is. He was talking in his sleep the other night. (This is not unheard of for him.) But what he was saying is also not unheard of for him. He was asking someone if they needed help. The person didn't need help, but your dad let them know that he was there to help him. That sums up your dad.
Love,
Mom
Cookie Boy
John asks for cookies for breakfast. And I give them to him. Nope, I was not kidnapped by aliens and given a brain transplant. He calls granola "cookies." But I still feel like a squishy mom when I feed him "cookies" for breakfast. I will let him believe he is eating cookies for breakfast anyway....
John does not call himself "John." He calls himself "Boy." I don't know why. And he insists that he is "Boy."
On a sad note, John learned to say the word tickle. Mostly it comes in the phrase "no tickle." This is heart breaking. John doesn't have a bunch of tickle spots - he is a tickle spot. You tickle him anywhere and he drops to the ground giggling. It is very satisfying.
John does not call himself "John." He calls himself "Boy." I don't know why. And he insists that he is "Boy."
On a sad note, John learned to say the word tickle. Mostly it comes in the phrase "no tickle." This is heart breaking. John doesn't have a bunch of tickle spots - he is a tickle spot. You tickle him anywhere and he drops to the ground giggling. It is very satisfying.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
California
We took a trip to California to visit my family. A good part of the trip was to visit Nanny (my mom's mom). She had a stroke in September and had been declining in health ever since. When we got into town, I went to visit her with my mom. The kids were sick and tire from traveling so we decided to let them stay home and not share anything with Nanny. When I walked into the room and Nanny saw me her face lit up. I don't write that to say that I am wonderful but more that Nanny just loved her family. She was very happy to have a surprise visit from family. We chatted about how much trouble she had been causing in the assisted living home. I told her that I suspected that she had been teaching John how to be rascally. She didn't deny it. We laughed and giggled. She told me about some old pictures in her photo album. The nurses had given estimates of how much longer Nanny would be with us but it didn't seem possible because she had so much life in her that night.
Friday we went to Emily's house and hung out there. My kids think Emily's house is heaven on earth. They had cousins to play with, a dog to chase, and a trampoline. What more could a kid hope for? The girls all went for pedicures and manicures. Emma was in love. She walked out with purple finger nails and pink toes. Aunt Mary is truly Aunt Mary. She also took Emma out for ice cream with sprinkles and whipped cream. Turns out that Emma doesn't like whipped cream??? Go figure. That night Katie was kind enough to watch the kids while Mary, Brian, Emily, Aaron, and I went out for dinner. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. The times that I am most likely to laugh that hard is when we are with my family or Aaron's family and it is just the siblings talking.
On Saturday we went to the beach. It was beautiful out and the kids even went in the ocean. I have a policy that I don't go swimming when it is cooler than 90 degrees outside. And I certainly don't go in the pacific ocean. The kids loved it. John would get knocked down by the waves and think it was hilarious. Emma played in the ocean the longest and John dug in the dirt. He made friends with a little girl who apparently had better sand toys than the ones we brought. He followed her around for quite some time.
On Sunday Aaron, Emma and John went to visit the Kellers in Bakersfield. I wasn't there so I can't report on it but from what I heard, they had a great time playing with cousins and visiting family.
On Monday we went to the beach again and saw some tide pools. It was pretty cool. I learned that I have been lied to my whole life. It turns out that there is no such thing as a starfish. I don't remember what the technical term for them is because I got too hung up on the fact that I had been lied to by a whole lot of elementary school teachers. I do remember that they aren't starfish because they don't have a vertebrae. Emma listened very intently when the guy said not to walk in the water or on any of the plant or animal creatures. In fact she would ask for help to walk carefully on the rocks so I took her hand. What she neglected to mention was that she wanted me to essentially carry her. So as soon as I held her hand, she would lift up her feet and I found myself trying to balance myself while holding Emma in the air by the hand all on slimy rocks in flip flops. We didn't last long on the rocks. The beach was a much better place for us. At this beach, the bathrooms were forever away. I had to go, so I asked Emma if she needed to go with me. She said no. I made the trek alone. As soon as I got back, Emma informed me she had to go bad. Aaron and I consulted with each other and told Emma to pee in the ocean. The look of horror on her face was classic. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to go. At one point I explained that fish pee in the ocean. She was horrified again. Her concern was that someone would step in her pee. She eventually got over it. After the beach, Emma jumped forever on the trampoline. Then after John's naps, Aaron took the kids to the park and played sardines. All of the neighborhood kids came out to play sardines with Aaron and the kids. It was pretty funny. I watched Emma run around after a full day of swimming, jumping and play and was amazed at her energy. She crashed on the way home.
Tuesday we went to visit Nanny because she had taken a turn and wasn't all that responsive. It was good for the kids to be able to see her. Emma watched Nanny. John just ran a muck and then it was evident that he needed to get out before something terrible happened. I was shocked at the difference between Nanny on Thursday and Nanny on Tuesday. She went from animated and joking to constant sleeping.
On Wednesday morning we got a phone call that Nanny was going to leave us soon. So we all went down there. The entire family was there. We sat by her, talked with her and each other. We got to look at pictures and share memories of Nanny and Monticello. The grand kids played together and ran around the halls of the assisted living center. At one point Emma sat by Nanny, patted her hand and told her it was going to be ok. It was very touching. At one point my mom was going to wash Nanny's face and Emma was concerned that it was hurting Nanny and told my mom that was enough. When it came time for Nanny to see her family in Heaven, we were all able to be there by her side. I imagined a very happy reunion on the other side with her family. She was finally released from her body that was failing on poor health. I was happy for her to have that happy moment after months of health struggles after her stroke.
One of the things that has impressed me the most about Nanny was that she didn't want to have kids. She cared for 3 siblings for weeks all by herself when she was 15. That would be hard. However, she did decide to have kids. I am grateful she had my mom. I love my mom. I think she is wonderful. Everyone that meets my mom thinks she is wonderful. So it is universally confirmed that she is awesome. So it was probably hard for Nanny to run a business and raise kids, but my life is blessed because she did. And because she was active in the church, my mom was raised in the church. I looked around the room with all of our family there in Nanny's apartment and saw a bunch of people and generations that have been blessed by the gospel and she had a hand in that. Thank you Nanny. I love you and will miss you.
Friday we went to Emily's house and hung out there. My kids think Emily's house is heaven on earth. They had cousins to play with, a dog to chase, and a trampoline. What more could a kid hope for? The girls all went for pedicures and manicures. Emma was in love. She walked out with purple finger nails and pink toes. Aunt Mary is truly Aunt Mary. She also took Emma out for ice cream with sprinkles and whipped cream. Turns out that Emma doesn't like whipped cream??? Go figure. That night Katie was kind enough to watch the kids while Mary, Brian, Emily, Aaron, and I went out for dinner. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. The times that I am most likely to laugh that hard is when we are with my family or Aaron's family and it is just the siblings talking.
On Saturday we went to the beach. It was beautiful out and the kids even went in the ocean. I have a policy that I don't go swimming when it is cooler than 90 degrees outside. And I certainly don't go in the pacific ocean. The kids loved it. John would get knocked down by the waves and think it was hilarious. Emma played in the ocean the longest and John dug in the dirt. He made friends with a little girl who apparently had better sand toys than the ones we brought. He followed her around for quite some time.
On Sunday Aaron, Emma and John went to visit the Kellers in Bakersfield. I wasn't there so I can't report on it but from what I heard, they had a great time playing with cousins and visiting family.
On Monday we went to the beach again and saw some tide pools. It was pretty cool. I learned that I have been lied to my whole life. It turns out that there is no such thing as a starfish. I don't remember what the technical term for them is because I got too hung up on the fact that I had been lied to by a whole lot of elementary school teachers. I do remember that they aren't starfish because they don't have a vertebrae. Emma listened very intently when the guy said not to walk in the water or on any of the plant or animal creatures. In fact she would ask for help to walk carefully on the rocks so I took her hand. What she neglected to mention was that she wanted me to essentially carry her. So as soon as I held her hand, she would lift up her feet and I found myself trying to balance myself while holding Emma in the air by the hand all on slimy rocks in flip flops. We didn't last long on the rocks. The beach was a much better place for us. At this beach, the bathrooms were forever away. I had to go, so I asked Emma if she needed to go with me. She said no. I made the trek alone. As soon as I got back, Emma informed me she had to go bad. Aaron and I consulted with each other and told Emma to pee in the ocean. The look of horror on her face was classic. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to go. At one point I explained that fish pee in the ocean. She was horrified again. Her concern was that someone would step in her pee. She eventually got over it. After the beach, Emma jumped forever on the trampoline. Then after John's naps, Aaron took the kids to the park and played sardines. All of the neighborhood kids came out to play sardines with Aaron and the kids. It was pretty funny. I watched Emma run around after a full day of swimming, jumping and play and was amazed at her energy. She crashed on the way home.
On Wednesday morning we got a phone call that Nanny was going to leave us soon. So we all went down there. The entire family was there. We sat by her, talked with her and each other. We got to look at pictures and share memories of Nanny and Monticello. The grand kids played together and ran around the halls of the assisted living center. At one point Emma sat by Nanny, patted her hand and told her it was going to be ok. It was very touching. At one point my mom was going to wash Nanny's face and Emma was concerned that it was hurting Nanny and told my mom that was enough. When it came time for Nanny to see her family in Heaven, we were all able to be there by her side. I imagined a very happy reunion on the other side with her family. She was finally released from her body that was failing on poor health. I was happy for her to have that happy moment after months of health struggles after her stroke.
One of the things that has impressed me the most about Nanny was that she didn't want to have kids. She cared for 3 siblings for weeks all by herself when she was 15. That would be hard. However, she did decide to have kids. I am grateful she had my mom. I love my mom. I think she is wonderful. Everyone that meets my mom thinks she is wonderful. So it is universally confirmed that she is awesome. So it was probably hard for Nanny to run a business and raise kids, but my life is blessed because she did. And because she was active in the church, my mom was raised in the church. I looked around the room with all of our family there in Nanny's apartment and saw a bunch of people and generations that have been blessed by the gospel and she had a hand in that. Thank you Nanny. I love you and will miss you.
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