Shopping with Alexa

Sunday, July 06, 2008 We were in Phoenix Thursday, Friday and Saturday. After seeing WALL-E at the theater, we went to the Disney Store nearby; seemingly for hours. While we were in the Disney Store our granddaughter Alexa grabbed two outfits off a rack, holding them by the hangers she stuck one and then the other out towards me and asked, “This one or this one Grandpa?” Gee, I wonder where she learned that line. She’s only two years old.

A day at Cub Scout Camp

Yesterday Corey took Jayden to Cub Scout day camp up Springville Canyon with Jayden’s new friend Artemis. Artemis’ dad drove. Jayden came home with a big grin on his face and enough dirt on his face to match. He couldn’t stop talking about the fun he had. He got nine beads, one for boat racing, one for tying knots, one for another kind of boat race, one for picking up two piles of trash ten pieces each, one for learning about Marco Polo; he chronicled the spice route to China, one for bow and arrow and one for B.B. gun shooting, one for “art scratching”, (rubbing). Actually for one of the boat racings he got a camouflage wrist band. His cub leader gave him an extra bead just because. His dad bought him a pocket knife that has a blade, a fingernail file, tooth pick and tweezers. “Then we went to prayer and that is all that really happened.” He looked so cute in his blue shirt and shorts with beads and badges etc.

Longings

I have been rereading Hugh Nibley’s The Ancient State. In the second section Tenting, Toll and Taxing it brings me some sense of satisfaction in my perpetual feelings…knowing it is human nature i.e. All my life I have had the sense that, no matter where I am or what I am doing, I should be somewhere else and doing something else. For example when I am at home doing one thing I have a very strong urging to get out and go somewhere else and do something different yet when I get to the place I have decided to go to, to appease that urge I get another strong urge go somewhere else, and not necessarily somewhere specific. It seems that this yearning in me is stronger now that I am older though perhaps I don’t remember just how pulling that yearning was in the past, do to the fact that the “hear and now” is overshadowing the past. I am reminded by Nibley that we are strangers here and have an innate longing for a long lost home. Long drives, especially in the mountains to a degree bring an easy to my suffering but only to a degree!

"I went pee pee on the potty - EEEEE

Three or four times in the last couple of days, our two-year-old granddaughter Alexa called from Queen Creek, Arizona; with the assistance of her mother,Niki,and announced with a loud happy voice, “I went pee-pee in the potty” and jabbered on about other stuff, some unintelligible. She has to tell me and “Grandma.” After telling me, she yells out a loud “EEEEE” or however you spell a loud funny yell. She expects me to “EEEEE” back to her. She laughs when I do. It is something I taught her on one of my trips to Arizona to visit them.

crazy lazy hazy daz of summer

Last night Corey, Stacey, Jayden and Bailey came over to eat and swim. Judy bought barbeque on her way home from work. Jayden and Bailey are really getting to be good swimmers jumping and diving off the diving board etc. Jayden is even diving down and touching the bottom in the deepest part of the pool. And just a short time ago Corey and especially Stacey was nervous about letting them take their life vests off. While we were in Las Vegas last week, Stacey and the kids went to Pineview Reservoir for five days and four nights. The kids got to do a lot of things they don’t normally get to do including fishing and cooking and eating over a camp fire. They slept in their other grandparent’s camper and Stacey’s sister Amy and her husband Dirk and their two boys Damian and Hunter were there too. Jayden and Bailey are very close to Damian and Hunter. This morning I went for a two mile walk in lieu of my hour jogging in the pool. I caught up with Raleigh Huntsman and visited with him the last two thirds of the way or so. I may yet do my pool jogging. As we speak, Corey, Jayden and Bailey are here at the house. Corey had to do some work stuff and school work here because his phone and Internet aren’t working at his house, plus he needed to use our scanner.

Moving In to Eagle Mountain

Wednesday, May 07, 2008 At six Sunday morning Niki drove me from her place in Queen Creek, AZ to the airport for a Southwest flight to Albuquerque. Corey picked me up after church and took me back to his place. They, especially Stacey had been packing stuff up for weeks and their whole downstairs was lined with boxes. At eight or so the next morning Corey and I got the Budget rent-a-truck and he and I and four missionaries, loaded it up. At 10:15 we were finished so we took the missionaries to McDonald’s for breakfast after which Corey and Stacey and I went back to their place, I got in the truck and was off. Bailey’s kindergarten class had a going-away party planed for her but because we were ready to go so early, they picked her up early. Stacey brought cupcakes. Bailey told me over and over again about the group hug she got from her classmates. Jayden not only said goodbye to his class but also had to go see Miss Zunigga his kindergarten teacher from two years ago. They are still close friends. She had kept a paper he had drawn and written on back then and had it laminated. She gave it back to him as they were saying their goodbyes. On it was typed…”At 2 o’clock I” … and Jayden filled in the blank …“met a dragon”. Below that, he drew a picture of a dragon. She thought it was special and had kept it. On their drive towards Salt Lake, Jayden got sick and had a fever of 103. They stopped at Wal-Mart in Farmington, New Mexico and got him some Tylenol which helped for a couple of hours but he is still not feeling well and still taking the Tylenol. Knowing where they were and knowing Jayden’s condition, as I was approaching Moab I decided to get two rooms. It was only 7:30 but they were two-two and a half hours behind be. I got two rooms at the Sleep Inn, took at net etc. I called Corey later. They were in Monticello and he thought they would be in Moab in about forty-five minutes. As a side note, one of their two cats was sick and threw up several times along the way. Between that and Jayden they lost a lot of time. Tuesday morning we ate the continental breakfast at the hotel and off we went. Actually I left a few minutes before they did but I expected them to overtake me any minute. They never did. They told me later that Stacey left her cell phone in their room and had to go back to the hotel and get it. That afternoon at 1:00 they met with the general contractor to do a final inspection. I tagged along. I think Stacey was in shock. Bailey was bouncing off the walls literally. They spent the night at Stacey’s parent’s place. Thursday, May 08, 2008 This morning Corey had to go back to the title company and sign some last paperwork. At 1:00 there were able to get their keys and start moving in. Jim showed up as well as Stacey’s parents, Wayne and Ginnie Bingham. I understand that a couple of men from the neighborhood helped as well. They unloaded the first two thirds of the truck in record time and would have done the rest except Dirk, Stacey’s twin sister Amy’s husband had arranged to take Friday off work and they felt guilty not having something for him too do especially after driving all the way from Grantsville. Jim brought all his fancy tools. With them along with his know-how the installing of the blinds, curved shower curtain rods and a wire shelve above the washer and dryer was done in no time. I was amazed. Jayden is still sick. Diane, Austin and Molly came out a little later. Bailey was thrilled to see the kids and after a little while I took Bailey and Molly to two playgrounds nearby. Austin ran and met us at the second one. Friday, May 09, 2008 Dirk and Amy and their two boys Damien and Hunter came in their truck loaded with the washer and dryer which has been stored at Stacey and Amy’s parent’s house for years. Side notes: On the way home Corey mentioned that Stacey told him: “Your Mother!” paused then said “I really love her.” And went on about how nice and how generous she is. Saturday, May 10, 2008 This morning I drove to Corey’s and picked up the Budget rent-a-truck, filled up the tank at the Mobile station on American Fork’s fifth east then turned the truck across the street at the Budget dealership.

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