First of all, congratulations Naomi and Dave on your first house! I just wrote Naomi a gushing email, but I have to say again how much I LOVE their new house. When I think back on our first house... well, let's just say that Naomi and Dave have found a gem.
This past week was our last week of summer vacation. I thought I was going to be able to really focus on school, getting my lesson's outlined and my books in order. But I thought wrong. I did get all of my books reorganized in my schoolroom, which was much needed, but somehow every single day was filled with other pressing things, and other not so pressing things but necessary things like music lessons and practicing and chores. I had a couple of seminary meetings that lasted several hours each, which were productive, but still I did not make the progress for school that I wanted to make. But, it's OK. I don't have to have all of my ducks in a row before school starts. Maybe it's better to start off a little slower anyway. After all, in most schools the first week is about getting to know the teachers, getting an introduction on what the class is going to be about, maybe doing some review.
The biggest news of the week was Brigham's and Joseph's birthday on Thursday! The night before they went to the church to be interviewed by the Bishop for their priesthood ordination on Sunday. They went with their suits and ties on, ready to answer any question the Bishop had about D&C section 84. :-) They did great. On Thursday morning, all the boys were up really, really early. Mosey was just as excited as they were. We have a little tradition of counting down until their actual birth time, when they are "officially" the next year old. It works out because they were born at 7:23 and 7:28 AM Utah time, which corresponds to 8:23 and 8:28 AM here. After that it was birthday breakfast which meant Golden Crisp for Joseph and HEB chocolate filled squares for Brigham. Brigham went for taste, and Joseph went for sheer sugar content. Seriously. He chose the cereal with the highest grams of sugar per grams of serving. Oh, well. :-) They had a pretty good day, I think. I didn't make them do any practicing at all. In the evening we had a party with some friends who came over for swimming, pizza, and the first Percy Jackson movie, to get ready for the 2nd which has just come out. It was a fun night, even if it did start positively pouring rain almost as soon as the kids got into the pool. :-) It didn't seem to deter the kids.
Yesterday we continued the celebration by going to see the 2nd Percy Jackson movie (better than the first), and going out to eat. I have to record the restaurant decision making process for posterity. I told Brigham and Joseph they needed to decide together. I threw out a bunch of suggestions, but every one that Brigham wanted, Joseph said he did not want. Brigham said he didn't mind going to Carinos (Joseph's first choice), but since Joseph hadn't shown any willingness to compromise at all, he wasn't going to agree to Carinos. Oh, man... Finally Joseph agreed that Cheesecake Factory was acceptable. As soon as he said that, Brigham said, "Ok, we can go to Carinos. I just wanted to make Joseph agree with something else!" I'm not even sure what I can say to comment on this. It isn't easy being a twin sometimes.
I think Brigham and Joseph got some good presents. They got wonderful compasses from Grandma Frandsen, a blow-dart gun from one of their friends (yes, really-- it is very cool, but dangerous. I told them the first time a dart is aimed ANYWHERE but at the archery target in our garage, the dart gun gets put away for a very long time), and cash from some other friends. Ben and I got them some camping backpacks they can use for scouts. When I asked Brigham what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he wanted to go backpacking! Sadly, there aren't too many super awesome places to backpack around here... :-) They also got a good deal from us for buying their own school computers-- we will pay half of whatever they choose. And then Joseph got a really nice pair of star gazing binoculars with a tripod and astronomy book, and Brigham got an IOU for his own violin, which he was completely thrilled about. So, it was a *big* birthday for them-- much bigger than we usually do, but 12 years old is a big birthday, after all.
Today was a busy day! Brigham and Joseph officially graduated from primary and went up on the stand to recite their favorite articles of faith-- Brigham chose #13, and Joseph #8, which I think says a lot about their personalities right there. I had to speak in church along with the other seminary teachers in our ward, which meant I was up on the stand, so I didn't even get to sit by my boys on their last Sunday before their Sacrament duties take them away from me forever... As far as my talk went, I was told we would have 6-10 minutes each, so I woke up early this morning and prepared a talk-- a good one, I think, based around several scripture mastery verses we will be studying this year. But I was 3rd on the program, and the first speaker took a little extra time (it was really a wonderful talk, so I'm not resentful), and the 2nd speaker took a little extra time, and so by the time it was my turn, there were only a very few minutes for me and Kandis. So I was glad this wasn't a talk I had spent many hours on during the week. :-) Then during the 3rd hour, Brigham and Joseph were ordained. Ben gave a sweet blessing to each boy, and I tried not to cry as I watched them go into Priesthood for the first time. I am so proud of my boys, and it is exciting to see them growing up, but I really can't think too hard about it. How do parents stand their children growing up?? After church we went home and immediately got to work getting the house ready for our back-to-seminary meeting at 4:00. Most of our seminary students came with their parents, and I hope it was a good meeting. Seminary officially starts on Tuesday morning, bright and early at 5:40 AM!!!! I better be receiving some serious blessings, that's all I can say. :-) Finally, a half hour after that meeting ended, we all headed over to the bishop's house for a new member meet and greet, not getting home until nearly 8:00 PM. Phew! I am tired. I decided to give up on doing any more school prep for tomorrow...
So, that was our week. I still have not had time to edit any pictures from our trip, and at this point with school and seminary starting, I'm wondering if I ever will...
Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful last week of August!
Love,
Gabrielle
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