Of course, numero uno on our list was seeing Quayd! It was so fun to visit with him. Shortly after they left, we saw them walking up the hill to the Stake Center. I'm obsessed, says Zee! But, we are happy for him! So, it's a happy obsession!
ZJ has had her mojo on! She's been creating toys for Zulu. Stuffed animals. She'll say, "I think I'll make a shark." An hour later, she comes up with a shark. No patterns. She makes the pattern, cuts up a shirt and makes a shark. It began with a bone. Now, she's making unicorns. This girl has more talent than I ever dreamed of at her age!
Doug and I finally made it to the World's Greatest Corndog Truck. Right in the middle of yardwork. We stopped and went!We've been looking for it for over a year and finally heard that it's parked permanently on Main St. If anyone would have ever told me that I would eat from a food truck, I'd say, "NEVER!" However, we've heard nothing but rants about this place since before we moved. We were very happy to finally try it and to even return again with Z the next morning for her to try. We met the nicest kid there, Bryce, who served his mission in Georgia. What a nice boy. Visiting with him alone was worth going for. Nice kid. Great corndog... with honey on it! They are HUUUUUUUGE and so so nummy! $5 a piece!
Kayson's homecoming... Miki's big brother, Kayson, returned from El Salvador last week. We attended our old ward to Smithfield for church to hear his report. It was so strange to be there again. There were lots of hugs and lots of "Welcome Home!" but they say, "You can never go back. It's always different." And it was. We love our old friends just as much as ever. But new faces. People move on. We sat in front of Justin and Harli, who bought our home. We visit with them occasionally and felt very comfortable with them. It was wonderful to see Trish and Cheryl and the Durrants, who we still do things with. It was fun to see deacons (12 year old boys) who've grown a foot or two!
Kayson's talk was A.MAZ.ING! He spoke with confidence and wisdom and a very cute El Salvadorian accent. It's always fascinating to me to hear them with their accent when they return from a foriegn country and to hear them "thinking", literally, in their language. Kayson referred to getting an address and called it "direction". To me, that says that this boy worked hard and truly was in tune to what he was doing there, even thinking in the language. He has always been a favorite teen of mine, but WOW, what a man he has become! We couldn't love him more!
I had to get a picture of Miki and Doug. Miki's little cousin, Grace, jumped right into the picture and Miki wasn't sure she liked that, at all. "He's my Grampie!" But, she quickly decided that they could both be in it. I'm so thankful that Mikelle has Grace for a cousin. They are only days apart in age.
We came home from Kayson's brunch and headed straight to our own ward. ZJ spoke in Sacrament Meeting and did a great job. I was a little annoyed with a few of the boys who kept teasing her while she was on the stand and she couldn't stop giggling. To be fifteen, right. She got a little talking to after church... and the boys, they knew that we were not happy with them! Mine and Doug's looks were all that needed to be said!
The highlight of that meeting, aside from Zee's talk, was that the missionaries walked into the chapel! They stood there debating and finally decided to come and sit with our family. A couple spoke, following Zee, are serving full-time missions from their home here in our stake. Quayd leaned over when he sat down and told me how wonderful they were. He'd been in their home this past week. As Sister Salturn began to speak, she complimented the missionaries that we have serving in our ward, including Elder Corbridge, and she went on and on about what a good missionary he's going to be in California "and we just learned this morning that he has extended his mini-mission here in the valley for one more week!" She was delightful and I appreciated knowing that someone else recognized his strengths, as we do! (I will say this... if Quayd growns half as much as Kayson did, he's going to do great!)
Following the meeting, the Elders said goodbye and went to another meeting. I was amazed. "Bye, Mom. Love you." And he was gone. He had work to do! Love it!
I taught my lesson on the Blessings of the Priesthood in Young Womens and we were home, after almost five hours of church through the day. I made a stirfry for dinner for just the girls and Doug and I. He'd been excused from all of his YSA meetings for Kayson's and Zee's meetings. It was lovely to have us all just casually chilling on a Sunday afternoon and evening. The thunderstorm filled our evening. Doug and I have been taking a walk around the block every night for the past few weeks. I miss my long 3.5 mile walks but this is casual and gives us a chance to just talk alone for a minute.
It was a great weekend. This week is much less involved. Grace is leaving for Laurel Training Camp tomorrow. Grace will be gone all week. Quayd is gone all week. So, it's just Zee, Doug and I. We will have to do a few fun things for just the three of us. I've decided that I want to sell my huge oak dining table, which seats 12. I love it when we have company and YSA kids. But, it's huge and takes half of the den. It's too wide to play cards on. We will have company once or twice a month. I think that I want to go smaller. Doug's still not sure and wants me to give it more thought. I may just have him take it to the downstairs family room and bring up the smaller one. For the most part, we are going to only have four people at our table after Quayd leaves. Change is coming. Crazy.
Life is good!
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