Some other April Randoms

Courtyard Hike @ Foothill Park:

 

 I've loved working with all of these sweet kiddos and great families this year!

 

Giants Game--4th row!!!: 

You'll notice that my mouth is hanging open in all of these photos--and I would like to tell you that it was not staged at all! James got tickets from one of his professors (who used to own the Giants, no big deal!) and they were on the 4th row above the Giants dugout. It was incredible! Oh, and PS--they delivered our food to our seats. Unreal!

 

 Crazy T: 

He finished his dinosaur. He was a paleontologist (maybe the cutest word he can say) and dug up all the bones and then put this bad boy together.

This is how he came down from naptime last week. I wish you could have seen it! He had a cape and a medal on, star glasses under his spiderman mask and then a santa hat on top. It was hilarious!!!

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Riding a Bike

We were at Ashley Mae's house and T picked up a little courtyard bullet bike and confidently said, "Hey Mom, I'm gonna ride this two-wheeler."

 

I should have known better than to doubt, this kid can move mountains people. This is the kid who at 2-years-old stood up in the bath and said, "I'm potty-training now," and sure as heck was potty-trained without so much as a reminder from me. Once this kid says he can do something, he can do it. But doubt I did. Albeit silently. Out loud I said, "Great idea T, let's see."

 

And all of a sudden, right before my eyes, my firstborn was riding a real bicycle. I was shocked and elated. There was no need for me to chase him, or help him balance, or do anything for heaven sake. That independent little chap just started riding, and I stood there clapping, cheering, tearing up and making everyone and their brother come watch him roll. And I mean everyone!

 

When we got home he asked his Daddy to take the training wheels off of his big bike and again, confidently rode off into the sunset without so much as a look in my direction (except to see what all my clapping and jumping was about!) My heart would swell everytime he'd round the corner of our courtyard and I could once again hear his "Woo-hoo! Yee-haw! Yessssss!"

 

I took a video of the whole thing (in between taking 500 pictures) and I smile as big as the moon hearing T say, "This is the best thing I've ever done!" You're amazing Talmage Scott. You're amazing! 

 

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San Jose Discovery Museum

Last week was my turn to plan our Joy School activity and I scheduled a field trip to the San Jose Discovery Museum. It was so much fun, and you have no idea how relieved I was not to have to plan a craft (I so wish I was craftier!) We welcomed friends and neighbors and there ended up being 36 of us on this adventure which was so fun because there was always a familiar face in every room. What a blast!

 

Evie and Anthony cracking up at the floating balls! This is near the entrance and was a huge hit with all of the kids.

 The boys in bubble-land.

 The splash zone was by far T and Evie's favorite place. They got so wet and had so much fun!

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His Birthday

April 13th was Jim's 27th birthday! Since I'm a year older than him, the rule is that he's never allowed to complain about his age--although I did hear a few grumps about how old he's getting! I just can't believe what a baby he is. Seriously, he's made really good use of those 27 years!!! We started the day with donuts from a local bakery he's wanted to try.

Evie and I had spent the night at the ER, so we were all moving pretty slow in the morning (Everett slept until 9). While he was asleep, Talmage and I went back and forth listing all the things we love about Daddy. It was adorable and so fun! (My favorite answers from T were that he loves that Daddy makes him breakfast in the morning and that he loves how Daddy loves his eyebrows!)

We were lucky to have Papa and GG still visiting for Jim's birthday. Everett loved to sit on GG's lap and read stories, and I thought it was hilarious that Evie's head is double the size of his Grandma's! Our sweet little bobble-head ;)

That morning Talmage was able to attend a soccer camp taught by the Stanford Women's soccer team. It was so fun to watch T and his friends run around and play.

 

Talmage and Franklin were wearing matching shirts from another soccer camp they attended. I caught this picture of the two of them playing freeze tag--couldn't be cuter!  

 

This is T's super serious face as he tackles the obstacle course!

After lunch and presents Papa and GG headed back to Sac, the boys napped, Jim did some homework (not even a break for his birthday!) and I headed to Costco to get the cake he's been coveting for years...literally!

 

That evening we had a little BBQ potluck with some of our courtyard friends. Of course the kids thought eating on a blanket in the courtyard was just about the coolest thing ever. We really need to do this potluck thing more often!

Andrew's birthday is a few days after Jim's so we decided to sing to both of them. Luckily they didn't have to do a join candle blow out, the wind took care of it!

 Most of the party-peeps! A few friend's left earlier so aren't in the pics...we wish they were!

 As if the day wasn't full and fun enough, we got the boys in jammies and caught the BYU vs. Stanford volleyball game. BYU won, and we were pleased (albeit conflicted). Happy birthday James! We love you!

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The Hobbling Unicorn

The night before Daddy's birthday, Everett took a big spill off of a chair in the kitchen. You know those moments that replay in slow motion in your mind--well, this is unfortunately now one of mine. He hit the counter pretty hard (and got a killer unicorn bump on his noggin) and sobbed in my arms for at least 40 minutes. I just thought he was tired and emotional but he didn't stop crying, and then he wouldn't let me put him down, and then I realized he could put absolutely no pressure on his right leg. At all! We watched him for a few hours and when it wasn't improving we took him to the ER. Luckily it wasn't broken, but there was a lot of fluid around his knee-cap and so at 1 am we were finally sent home with directions to carry him whenever he wants. Basically, Evie's dreams have come true and for the last 10 days he's been in my arms (or hobbling!) Hopefully he'll be 100% soon.

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Symposium

After a year's worth of preparation, the Symposium that James planned for Stanford's Journal of International Law was absolutely marvelous. There were experts in cyber security, international law, computer programming and the media attending from all over the world and the dialogue was fascinating. I found a babysitter for T and Evie so that I could attend both Thursday and Friday's events and to say I am proud just doesn't do it justice. My husband is remarkable.

 

Thursday night was the keynote address given by Dr. Hamadoun Toure, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union for the UN. After the speech, we went to dinner at Tamarine (my favorite place to eat in the history of the world--I promise you, it's that good!)

 

 

Mike Montgomery from CalInnovates (who funded the Symposium), Dr. Toure and James

 

Dr. Toure, Me and James

On Thursday James had arranged three panels focusing on cybersecurity. The room was packed with Silicon Valley's finest and it was such a great day.

The Clayson's and the Big Wig's came to support James and it was so great to have them.

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Sunday Stroll

I made homemade cinnamon rolls and brought the boys a plate to share (with rolls for me and James as well). I went into the house to grab something and looked out to see two very cute little superheroes licking the frosting off of every last roll! Needless to say, I let them finish those off and I got myself a fresh one!

We took a walk after both Sunday Conference Sessions and Everett had his DD (blanket), doggie and sippy cup tucked into the pack. He kept asking where things were and then would pat the pack and say, "In pack. In pack."

 

We took our typical Sunday stroll around the Memorial Church. We stopped on the lawn to throw a frisbee and allow Evie some time to run around. Before we knew it a Chinese tour bus stopped in front of the church and we were swarmed by camera-yielding Asians! They all thought Everett was adorable and kept stopping to photograph him. I love that in the picture above it looks like he's saying, "No pictures please!" or maybe he's waving to his fans!

The Hoover Tower is a landmark that the boys know and love. It symbolizes home for them (and me) and I think it is so beautiful. I really like Stanford...why can't we stay forever?

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