Grant's 16th Birthday

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Grant is 16 today! Happy birthday to our youngest! In a matter of a couple hours, we will have six drivers in this family. 

Sixteen years ago, this guy threw our lives into chaos, kept us on our toes as he walked (and ran) at 10 months old, deprived us of sleep for three solid years, and completed our family in the best possible way. He is kind and servant-hearted, compassionate and passionate, can talk to anyone, and is just a great guy to be around. His older siblings’ friends were always his friends, too, and it’s still that way! He is pursuing God in his life, and I am so proud of him. I’ll keep reminding myself that you’re 16, not 11 like you are in my head. Looking forward to another year with you, Grant! Happy birthday! 

The ice cream cake didn't work out very well.  Grant usually has an outdoor pool party, and the ice cream cake usually melts quickly. This time we didn't take it out of the freezer early enough, and it was impossible to cut through the frozen hot fudge cookie layer. But the bottom of the cake, the part touching the metal pan melted quickly, making a slippery mess. It provided some entertainment for those watching Greg try to cut it and watching my face as he mutilated my pretty cake in his efforts to serve it. 

Everyone was able to make it Grant's party, and it was a happy occasion, cake issues aside. 

Grant had birthday breakfast with Grandpa that morning, and then I took him to Sandy for his DMV appointment to get his license at 10am. It was nice and quick, in and out in less than 10 minutes. He drove me home, and he and Aubrey drove off to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. My heart raced as it usually does the first time one of our new drivers drives off on their own, but I knew Aubrey was with him and would help him, if needed. 

When Grant drove off on his own a week later (we left for Lake Tapps the day after his birthday) to go get his birthday Dutch drink and go to the library, though, I really panicked. My heart raced as I tracked his drive on Life360. I was so anxious! (It might help if I changed his profile pic, so it doesn't look like a 7 year old is driving!) I texted Greg and some friends to pray for him on his first solo drive. I was so relieved when he arrived back at home, safe and sound. Turns out, it's no different with the fourth child than it was with the first! I'll be nervous for a while until he gets more experience driving. My schedule is going to get a whole lot simpler, though, with Grant able to drive!

Desk Goose

I've been fascinated with porch geese ever since discovering them at two different houses in the neighborhood across Chase where I walk. I had told Kari about the first one I saw, and she went on a walk with me to find them one evening. We finally found it, and just as I was taking a photo of it, the home owner walked out and caught me in the act. It led to a lovely conversation the joy her porch goose brings her and others in the neighborhood. Not long after this, I learned that they come in desk size and decided I needed one. I've been ordering outfits and accessories for Petunia (that's the name I decided on for her) and making outfits out of scraps of felt and items I have around the house. I am so excited to bring her to school in a few weeks and will have so much fun changing her outfits for the different seasons and occasions. I can think of a few students who will love it. Others will think I'm crazy and weird, but that's ok. 

July Misc

 

JO's 2026

Day 1: Got up early for game 1. Greg livestreamed all the games, so family and friends could watch from afar. We heard over and over how much the team's family members appreciated getting to watch. The boys started off with a win 8-5! The second game of the day was a win, as well, 9-2, and since we didn't have to play a third game that day, we headed to Laguna and went to One Thousand Steps beach. The kids played in the huge waves for hours. The lifeguards earned their money that afternoon. The 20 foot swells scared me, but the boys had a blast, and the lifeguards were watchful and made sure to keep them out of rip currents and away from rocks, if they drifted too far. The hike back up those steps was a rough one! We met the Petersen's for dinner at Wahoo's Fish Taco, a local restaurant in the Irvine Spectrum Center, a fancy outdoor mall, before heading back to our hotel. We got room with a view of Disney's fireworks, so I watched the fireworks show from our room all four nights. 

Day 2: The day started out a little rough with another early morning game, and an issue with our rental car. The key fob battery died on the way to the game, and so if we turned off the car, we'd be stranded. We dropped Grant off, and Greg kept the car running for me to switch to the drivers seat, and he stayed since he was livestreaming. I drove the car to Enterprise, where the car rental place we called (Alamo) told us we could get our situation resolved, but they didn't open until 8am. I started walking back to the pool (a 25 minute walk) and decided that was a silly plan. I called Greg and asked him to send someone to pick me up. One of the boys' dads came and rescued me and brought me back to the pool--only missed the first couple minutes of the game. They ended up winning that first game; however, Grant only played the first quarter. Turns out the coach didn't realized he forgot to put him back in, so while Grant was a bit upset and confused for a while, he later learned that it was just an oversight and felt better.

A few minutes into game 2 of that day, Grant took a head to the nose and sat our with a bloody nose for the majority of the game. The boys battled, but the other team was tough, and we lost 5-13. Lunch and a milkshake improved morale. We had a few hours to relax before team dinner that night. We walked to a restaurant and were able to all sit together out on the patio. After dinner, we walked to Joe's Italian Ice, which was just a block away from our hotel. It was delicious! The boys enjoyed some swimming back at the hotel pool that night. Can't get enough of the water, I guess!

Day 3: Lost the first game of the day 8-12. It was a close one for most of the game, but they just couldn't pull off the win. We went back to the hotel for the afternoon, and I got some reading in by the pool. The second game of the day was a win that felt like a loss 9-8, just because the boys didn't play as well as they could have. Emotions ran high after each of those games. Sports can be rough sometimes. Food always helps. We ate dinner at Bruxie, where I had the best waffle I've eaten in my life. The restaurant was right next to Chapman University, so we walked the campus and explored a bit. 

Day 4/Last Day: We didn't get the win 8-9, but it was a great game. The boys played hard and ended up 10th out of 48 teams in their division. We were proud of Grant and thankful we got to watch him play his favorite sport at this level. (I was also thankful when we got be free of tose orange vinyl tournament bracelets we had to wear for 4 days!) Our flight left that evening at 6:30pm. I couldn't believe it when I looked over and saw Grant asleep in the seat next to me. He never naps unless he's sick, and I've never seen him sleep on a plane. But he did have a cold to start the week (came back from Mexico sick) and had just played multiple water polo games for four days in a row. He was exhausted and needed the rest! JOs experience number two is in the books, and it was another great time!