In Which Nephi Looks Sad

We have a magnetic book of Book of Mormon characters. Grant and I were looking at them and talking about the different characters. He picked up Nephi and said that he looked sad. I asked him why he was sad. Grant said, “I think someone stomped on his foot.” I think I’ve missed that verse in the scriptures.

The little boy that also lives here with us, Stephen, turned 8 a few weeks ago. So Saturday morning he was baptized. He had a bunch of family in town for the event. So we helped get meals ready for lots of people and get rooms set up for them to sleep in. It was busy, but a very nice weekend.

Today, my parents and Grandma Lael stopped by for lunch on their way home. They spent the weekend in Nauvoo, IL, and we were only a little bit out of the way. We had a nice lunch and a short visit. I didn’t tell Jackson or Grant that they were coming. But I did tell them that there was a surprise after church. I gave them clues if they obeyed while we were getting ready for church. It worked great and they were very excited to see their grandparents.

In Which Jackson Starts Kindergarten

Monday morning, bright and early we dragged Jackson out of bed for his first day of kindergarten. He had a great day. The highlights were a scavenger hunt around the school building and going to Spanish class. Our biggest fear of Kindergarten was having to get him out of bed and out the door before 9 a.m. But by the end of the week he was waking up naturally around 7:30—so we’re good to go.

Brian’s brother and sister-in-law, Glenn and Tessa, stopped in for a brief visit. I told Grant they were coming and asked if he remembered them. He seemed a little unsure, so we broke out his family picture book and I showed him pictures. He went around the rest of the day showing everyone who was coming. He even made sure to show Tessa the picture when she arrived. They will be back for a longer visit this week and we can’t wait.

Wednesday night I snuck out to dinner at the Olive Garden for book club with the ward. We read, Eat, Pray, Love; it was a pretty good book (it had some language issues) but dinner was excellent.

Thursday evening, my good friend from college, Anne visited us. She has been working a lot in Missouri. She was here for the night and will be back again in a few weeks. We had a great visit. It seemed like I had just seen her yesterday, when it reality it had been 4 years. Hopefully, living in a more central location and near a real airport will allow me to see friends and family more often.

The boys have been playing a ton of chess lately. Grant has been trying to join in. He, obviously, doesn’t understand the game, but he gets the capturing part. After you move a piece, he captures it on the next move, regardless of the rules. He will also announce after a few moves, “Let’s play again” as if he gets that there are still pieces left on the board when the game ends.

In Which Jackson Is the 47th Kindergartener

This week was spent unpacking and getting all settled in. We are about done, with just a few things left to hang up on the walls.

Monday we took Jackson to check out his new school and get him registered. Apparently, he was the 47th kindergartener and so they had to open up a new section (they had two and apparently 23 is the limit). So they scrambled around and he is in morning kindergarten with a friend from his church class. They had to build a pod-type classroom for them, too. We got a tour of the building and the high Olathe property taxes are definitely going towards education. The facilities are very impressive and it seems that Jackson will have some great opportunities. Thursday night we attended the ice cream social where he was able to meet his teacher. School starts tomorrow morning and he's very excited.

Brian spent many hours this week being trained to be a writing center tutor. Much of it was boring and not all that helpful, but at least he got paid for it.

Tuesday the boys and I went to a free farm for a playgroup. It's set up like a zoo, but has mostly farm animals. They had a good time checking all the animals out. Jackson kept getting impatient with the slow pace we were taking and he kept trying to wander ahead of us. Unfortunately, he was successful one time. He said he was going to go down a slide that you go up into a barn to get there but he never came down. So somehow he managed to sneak away without me seeing. After about 10 minutes of looking around, I found him near the entrance. He was a little shaken up and wanted to go home. That was fine by me because it was really hot and humid. Grant seemed a little overheated and began to throw a lovely tantrum. Despite being born in Florida he doesn't know how to manage heat well.

Grant keeps saying that he wants to go home, meaning back to Marquette. He said the other day that he misses his friends and he continues to pray for his little friend Kate everytime he has the chance. Besides those little moments, the boys seem to be adjusting.

Jackson and Brian have been playing chess a lot. Jackson has figured out how all the different pieces move and is starting to strategize. They've been having a great time.

In Which the Tires Remain Inflated Eventually

What a week! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent packing. A few friends of mine offered to watch the boys for us, so we were able to get most everything packed. We had lots of people come help us Wednesday evening as we loaded up the UHaul. Unfortunately, we misjudged on the truck size and had a few leftover items scattered on our lawn. Thursday morning we packed up the van the best we could and donated a few random items to friends, a nearby thrift store and our garbage pile. Most of the items were not a big deal to get rid of, but I'm sad we had to leave behind our bike trailer--not that I used it too often, but I had great plans . . .

One morning while we were busy packing, Brian got a phone call from a community college a few miles away from his parents. They offered him an adjunct teaching position. He will teach 2 freshman English classes, it's only part time, but hey it's something! His plan is to teach those two classes, try to build up our photo business, and maybe adjunct at another school.

We set off around 1pm on Thursday for Kansas. Brian was in the Uhaul and I had the boys in the van. After about 45 minutes, the tire pressure light came on in the van. The front passenger tire was a little low. Brian pumped it up and we set off. After a little while it came on again. Fortunately, Brian was on the phone with a friend of ours who knows cars. He sent us to the gas station to buy this foamy stuff that would fill in any small holes in the tire. This seemed to fix the problem and we made it to our hotel in Dubuque only a few hours behind schedule. Friday morning we set off bright and early only to see the tire pressure light on again. We bought more foamy stuff and managed to make it within 2 miles of Brian's parent's before the light came on again. Whew.

Church was good Sunday. Grant went straight to nursery without any problems and Jackson said that there were 5 boys in his class. He's been the only boy in his age group for most of his nursery/primary career, so it will be a good change.

We're sweating in the Kansas humidity and I already miss Lake Superior, but other than that we're adjusting.