2023 :: week 32

Summer Week #12

August 6

Sunday we celebrated Emily's birthday with a lamb roast at my parents' house. Elliott had his baptism interview after church and in the afternoon we dropped off invitations to a few of his school friends.

August 7

The Pink Thunder were back on the pitch for their first practice of the fall season. This fall they practice at the Scheels field #12 at 6:20pm. While she practiced I ran to TurnStyles to look for new pants for the boys.

August 8

Tuesday was a day of fun! Will spent the day with his buddy Porter (and his mom) at World's of Fun. By all accounts they had a great time. The rest of us spent the morning at Wonderscope with Jill, Arthur and Henry. Despite having a Wonderscope pass for a few years when Will & Lauren were young, it was our first visit to the "new" Wonderscope (that opened in 2020). We were able to experience most of the museum  It wasn't all fun and games, we did manage to lose our brand new white Odwala water bottle. Bluejacket, Young's and Stonegate all close this week. We met up with the Throssells at Young's so the kids could jump off the high dives and use the tall slides one last time. Elliott and Kendall had a blast swimming together.

August 9

Wednesday ended up being a hot day for us. The AC stopped working. Again! In the evening we headed back to OPC to meet the kids' teachers. Both kids got the teachers I was hoping they would get. Lauren has been assigned to Mrs. Koerner's 6th grade class, and Elliott has been assigned to Mrs. Jones' 2nd grade class. It was fun seeing friends we haven't seen much or at all over the summer. 

August 10

Kids watching youtube videos, savoring the last days of summer. It is very satisfying to see the kids get along so well. Papa and Nana arrived after dinner to attend Elliott's upcoming baptism festivities.

August 11

Friday we celebrated Elliott turning 8. Elliott is an absolute delight! He is a bundle of joy and has a smile that can melt even the frostiest heart. I am convinced that Elliott might be the world's best hype man, he celebrates any and all positives when he is playing sports. One of his super powers is that he feels genuine excitement for others and gets just as excited when something great happens to a teammate as he does when he when something great happens for him. Every teacher Elliott has ever had has complimented him on how well he gets along with others, and that they can count on him to include difficult classmates. Elliott loves being active! He is the reason we have a rule that you can't throw or dribble or jump in the house before 8am. He wakes up with the sun and enjoys the quiet alone time while he watches sports highlights or Big City Greens. Elliott is a great kid and the heart of our family. 

August 12

Elliott Robert John was baptized by his father on Saturday, August 12th. He was blessed to have both sets of grandparents attend, along with many other family members and friends. Nana gave a talk about baptism, and she used the "3 bears" as an object lesson for how he can remember to bear other's burdens, bear his testimony and bear the name of Christ. She told a sweet story about a time Anthony bore another's burden when he was playing baseball in the fourth grade, and his team won after his friend (the pitcher on the other team) walked in the winning run. Pepaw gave a talk about the Holy Ghost, and he had us reciting various Articles of Faith. After the baptism Papa and Nana treated us to Joe's KC. That evening Anthony and I went to the adult session of stake conference. As usual, the adult session was the best. One of the speakers was my dad, who was asked to talk about developing the attributes of Christ and share some of his experiences since my mom had her stroke. A friend from our ward spoke openly about the regret she feels with how she handled things when her son told her that he was gay.  And though things with her son are still strained, she was very honest and hopeful.