Life is not always how it sounds

Earlier this summer Den's oldest son Kevin, his wife Karina and 
their daughter Kaylee came to see us for a few days. 

One day while out to lunch Kevin told me THE best sandwich is at 
Chick-Fil-A and do you have one of those here in Clovis? I said, 
no, BUT, we are getting one very soon! 

He said, "Oh you will LOVE it!" 

Well here's our Chick-Fil-A so many of us were excited about 
getting in our neighborhood....

I heard from various store clerks near our home there would be one 

going up here, and we would watch it every few days as we'd drive 

by. Then came the day when the sign went up!

Triple A....Chick-Fil-A...what's the difference. Reminds me of 

that old telephone game we would all play in grade school. One 

little change in a sound, and the story was completely different!

And apparently this little change in sound went from clerk to clerk 

and store to store....
because I heard from several sources it would be a Chick-Fil-A. 

I guess the only way we'll get a chicken sandwich 
there is to bring our own!

Some we can't forget

Bob Ellis died. He was the DA for Bill's murder trial.

I remember something unusual.  
During the trial I would see this unknown woman sitting in the 
court room. She came in alone, and left alone. I finally asked our 
court advocate about her one day and she said, "Oh that's Bob Ellis' wife. Whenever Mr. Ellis is in court, she's here too."

After reading in his obituary this week:
"Bob was the master of home improvement projects and was 
the envy of many of his wife's friends, a great "honey-do" guy," 
I realize they are examples of 'what goes around comes around.'

She was there for him, and he was there for her.

Since the trial was 18 years ago, I don't remember any of my many 
conversations with Bob Ellis, but I do remember how kind and 
helpful he was. 

He would call me with updates on our case, and always willing to 
talk when I called him with my multitude of questions. 

Fast forward 18 years later, and I've learned he has passed from this 
world. Something tells me he will be terribly missed. 

Back in that day I hardly read any of the news articles about it. My 
visiting teacher at the time said she was saving them all for me 
should the day come that I change my mind. I remember thinking 
at the time, 'well that's very nice, but I'll never want them.' 

I still have not read them all, but I am thankful to have them should 
our posterity be interested someday. And they have my visiting 
teacher to thank for that! I just think that was such a creative act of 
service.

SIX pictures on my mind lately

1. When McKay first sent me this picture I didn't know why. 

Then he said, "Can't you see Grant?" Then I gasped. 

2. What happened to this girl, I could only dream about. She had 
NO idea she was pregnant until she was 28 weeks along! Wow, she 
got to totally skip that first trimester, and the 2nd one too. 
(This is Kara Vukovich. Her mom, Terri Emler, grew up across the street from us.)

 3.  Just so happened, the missionary to the right here, Dylan Tanner 
Jr, lives in my sister Robin's ward here in Clovis, but he spent the 
last few months of his 2 year Boston mission in McKay and 
McKenna's ward! 

They had him over for dinner several times.

Dylan's father, I might add, was Tyler's 11 year old scout leader 

right after Tyler's Dad died 20 years ago. What a blessing that was.

4. Lunch from leftovers in the fridge:

Leftover salad, lentils, GF pasta, and chicken, 

with honey mustard dressing. SO good. 

5. I spotted this picture in Kirklands recently.
I just wish everyone believed it.

6. Surprised us, 
but this was Cafe Rio last Saturday evening from 5-6pm. 

A few families did trickle in before we left, but seriously I've 
never been there when the place was not packed. 

I even asked one of the waitresses what was going on. She said 
typically early Saturday evenings are very slow like this. I would've 
never guessed. The waitress added, "Now you know the best time 
to come here!"

And now, so do you. 

We put them to work

A friend of mine told me something years ago 
that helped me this past week.

She said when her 2 youngest kids went to Utah to visit their older 
sister and family, she asked her older daughter to give her younger 
siblings some chores to do while there.

I was curious about that at the time.

This info came in so handy this past week as my 8 year old 
grandtwins stayed with us.

I wanted to keep them busy and happy.

And I know that 
all play and no work does not a happy person make. 

I really didn't care if their beds were made, but it was good for 
them, so I asked them to. 

Only one morning did they forget.

All about keeping them busy and happy.

Grandpa taught them how to set up tables for 

our weekly vegetable club.

Sweet Tea folded laundry

Jonas wasn't real thrilled about folding his own laundry. He said, 

"My Mom does that for me at home."

But seriously I saw pride all over his face as he carried 

that same laundry down the hall and put it away.

I may have made up some of the jobs.

And don't think we didn't have plenty of time for fun. We did.

And the interesting thing is after their little jobs I would say, 

"Okay, now you get to have free play."

And they would get so excited!

I was a little concerned before taking them to the 

Primary water party yesterday morning.

What if they got hurt and their parents were called, and of course 

couldn't answer because they are climbing Mt Whitney.

So I asked them to write Grandpa's phone number 

on their arms before they left.

Jonas asked why.

I said, "If Téa breaks her arm 

they need to know who to call."

After a pause in thought, Jonas asked: 

"If Téa breaks her arm, do I have to come home early too?"

Jonas asked me to take a picture of his Dollar Store puzzle he is so proud of

The twins have only been gone an hour, 

and the house feels so empty.

Téa told me before she left, 

"If you miss us, just call us and we'll come back."

But then again, now that their 2 favorite people 

in the whole world have returned, it may be awhile.

The twinses are here

Look who arrived to stay with us for a whole week ....

while their parents climb Mt Whitney, AGAIN.

(the highest mountain in the US, I might add) 

First things first.

Shortly after they arrived I had them unpack  

kind of like one would do after arriving to summer camp

and organize their outfits into the closet 

I then explained that we were all going to my eye appt.

I thought I better warn them it was located at the hospital.

Their eyes got very big, so I assured them all was well, 

that was just where my eye doctor's office was.

Their eyes were still big and looking worried Jonas asked, 

"Will we see any dead people?"

I assured them we would not. 

Glad we got that cleared up.

They were patient little waiters. 

So after my appt we took them to Sweet Tomatoes.

We literally had not been there in years, 

and they did not remember it at all.

They were thrown off by the name.

What child is attracted by "sweet tomatoes?"

But once they began eating, 

Jonas said several times, "I love this place!"

He even said, "I need to tell my Dad about this place!"

I didn't heart to tell him his Dad does NOT like eating here. 

After all that food for lunch, we were not home 15 minutes and Jonas announced, "My appetite is coming back."

Good thing I got the fridge and freezer stocked for our 8 year olds.

It's going to be a great week!

But then again, they've always liked to eat.

Sisterliness

We got to have the 3 grand girl sisters move in with us last week 

while their parents went on a little mini vacation. 

Big sisters come in handy for all sorts of things....

Like, Elora teaching Violet how to make her letters. 

Or putting lotion on Violet's itchy arm.

It became much more competitive outside with the squirt guns!

It's just not in Cami's nature to have a squirt gun fight.

And sometimes it just became too much for Violet 

and she needed to just go inside and practice being a Mom.

and then eat lunch by herself. 

(She told me she needed to get the baby to sleep first.)

Elora has grown up caring for Cami, 

since they are just 2 years apart. 

She is always tender and sweet and patient with her. 

Elora knowing just what to order for Cami's dinner.

I often think of Cami as I read these words hanging in our home.

14 years later and look what she's accomplished

14 years ago we went to Fresno State to watch Erin graduate from 
college. Elora was just 6 months old

And last week, 14 years later....Erin got her Masters. 

Her baby Elora has grown a little 

since the last time her Mom graduated.

Erin's parents led this very special ceremony in her home, 

So personal and quaint and perfect.

Friends and family filled their home.

This wasn't a posed picture of Violet. 

Just happened to catch her getting friendly with the cupcakes.

Lots and lots of sparking apple cider

Elora has not only grown up a little in 14 years, 

but she babysits often for Megan (on the left there).

Megan says Elora is the only babysitter 

who can get all 4 of her kids to bed. 

Yep, Elora can be magical like that.

Congratulations Erin!

We had NO doubt you could do this.