a few surprises

Monday afternoon, the doorbell rang.  I was in our bedroom and saw a cute girl running to a big blue pick-up truck, hop in and it drove away.  We knew that this probably meant an invitation for Quayd to the upcoming Sadie Hawkins Dance.  I called his name and he took forever to come upstairs because he'd laid down for a nap.  By the time he came upstairs, we were all five at the door waiting for him to read the invite.  

 
And with the note were two rocks... one was so heavy that Doug literally could not lift it.  It's still on our front doorstep.  The other was a small hand size rock.  The large rock had painted on it, "No" and the small rock said, "Yes".  The note had a bag of Pop Rocks attached to it and was taped to our front door.  VERY CUTE!  We'll be answering her tonight with a YES! in a fun way.  Quayd was excited, but very sleepy!

Grace is still trying to decide what to do about Sadies. She'd like to ask a certain someone but she needs to find out about work schedules and such.  We'll see what happens!

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Last night, Doug, Carol and I went to see "The Walk".  Oh. MY. WORD!!!!  This movie!  It's absolutely IN.CRED.IBLE!!!!  A MUST SEE at the Big Screen and if possible, in 3-D!  WOWSWER!!!!!!  We hadn't heard much about it, but it's about the french man who attempted to walk across the World Trade Center Twin Towers as they were just being completed in the 70s.  This movie is fascinating!!!  I still don't understand anyone being that driven about something that could possibly end his life, but Oh MY!  It was so good!  There were several times in the movie that our stomachs turned and you, literally, are on the edge of your seat for half the movie!  It's amazing.

HOWEVER, I must say this.  I was broken-hearted, for most of the movie, knowing that the towers are no longer there and why.  Having been to Ground Zero last fall, touring the museum there, was a life-changing experience.  It brought, to me, a reverence that could not have been imagined before witnessing it first hand.  So, it was a very emotional movie.  I broke down and bawled when we got home, just thinking about 9-11.  And the movie has only one line in it that alludes to would happen in the future, but, it's there... that heartache is not something that we can or should ever forget.  VERY emotional evening!  See the movie!

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Liza has been called to serve as the Primary Chorister in her ward.  She's very excited about this new calling!  She's never done any musical calling in all her years, so this is a fresh new challenge for her!  She's very happy!  If anyone has any fabulous primary tips, please, please email me!  Thanks!  I'm feeling a "need" to take my Cricut and a ton of paper down and spend a few days building her some "tools" for teaching music.  I'm overdue for a visit with my girls anyway, right!?

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On Quayd's birthday, ironically, two of my lunch bunch lady friends lost one of their parents...Jeana's mom and Lynne's dad. Yesterday, I attended the funeral of Jeana's mom, who I've known almost twenty years, since serving in the Relief Society Presidency with Jeana.  She was a sweet, kind and simple woman.  Her funeral was very much like her - simple.  There was poetry and music and each of her children sang or spoke, telling tender stories of lessons they'd learned from their mother.  The granddaughters and greats sang "I am a Child of God" at the end.  It was beautiful.  I came away feeling thankful to have known Sister Alder and reminded that life doesn't need to be complicated and over the top all of the time!  There's much to be said about enjoying the simplicity in life too.  It was a sweet hour.  I love funerals, mostly because I love the reminders that there are so many family members waiting for us on the other side of the veil... as Doug calls it... "when we graduate."

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Today, as most people are aware, is the day that Marty McFly went "Back to the Future" in 1985.  That's so amazing to think that I was a married woman with little kids when the movies first came out.  Now, those kids have kids!  2015 seemed sooooooo far away!  We watched a marathon of all three Back to the Future movies on Saturday... watching, stopping the movies, talking about it and laughing to think that these things seemed so foreign back then and most of them are today...just the norm in our lifestyles.  They were pretty accurate!  The cellphone really seems to be the biggest "futuristic" call... it's changed our lives!  FUN!  GOOD TIMES!

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One other thing that I wanted to make sure to record was that much of the weekend, I was receiving many photos of Zaylee's weekend from her Mom.  Zaylee called me on Wednesday and said, "Gram!  GRAM!!  GUESS WHERE I'M GOING!!?!?"  Amy had picked her up early from school.  Zaylee asked, "Where are we going, Mom?"  (Zaylee's used to being picked up for meetings and such... but no more!  HAPPINESS!)  Anyway, Amy said, "Disneyland."  Zaylee said, "No, really, where are we going?"  "Disneyland."  "No, REALLY?  Where?"  "DISNEYLAND!!!"  "REALLY!  REALLY!?!?!?!?"  She was sooooooo excited!  Amy took her three little ones straight to the airport, calling me on the way, and they were off to see Mickey!  She had a blast!  I loved the pix.  We are so so happy for Zaylee's wonderful little life!

 

LOVE that toothless smile!

 

Of all the pix that Amy sent me over the weekend, this was my favorite.  In every pic with her brothers, she is holding their hand, hugging them, touching them.  They are all so close!  This little "brown" boy, like Zaylee, is only 9 days apart in age.  She says he's her "twin".  She is so blessed to be in this family and she's never been happier!  It shows in that smile!

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That just reminded me that I never posted the rest of our fall break, Day 3!  Tomorrow!  I was so worried about getting Quayd's birthday interview and we had so much fun with the YSA on Monday, that I never got back to the weekend... and it was awesome!  Tomorrow.  It's a happy day when there's so much good happening in life that I don't have time to blog about it! 

LIFE IS GOOD!