Karate

Kaiya and Teague are lucky enough to be given the opportunity to try many new things.  One of the activities that Teague has been doing for a little while is karate.  This week, Kaiya decided to join the class to see if she might like it too.

It was a lot of fun to watch, and I even participated ... the instructor asked those watching to try to break the students' concentration as they held a still pose.  So we danced around in front of them and made silly faces and noise.  Mostly Kaiya and Teague did pretty good with this.  The deal was that if they smiled or moved they had to do some push ups.  I guess Kaiya didn't think she had done well enough, because she dropped and did the push ups. 

I think Mickel is trying to talk Steph into doing karate as a family ...

Stewart Falls Hike 2012

Last Saturday the Sharps and I went on our second annual hike to Stewart Falls.  First we stopped for lunch at Tarahumara, a Mexican restaurant in Midway.  They have 30+ different kinds of salsa, and some really, really good Mexican food.  But the best thing, in my opinion, is their churros.  YUM!

Then we headed out for our hike, and I was glad to have the opportunity to exercise all those calories off!  There were a few clouds gathering, but we were just grateful for the cooling effect.

Here's a shot of Kaiya's darling new haircut.  Isn't she a doll?

Alas, we were less than a half mile into the hike when we began to feel a few splatters.  We kept going for a bit, but soon the splatters turned to rain ... and then hail.  So we hightailed it down the mountain, trying not to slip on the steep parts.  We were all a bunch of muddy, wet, and cold people by the time we got back to the truck!

Oh well, we'll try again next year!

Another Surprise Birthday Party

Recently it was Sterling's birthday, and Kris planned a surprise party for him.  They went out to do some birthday stuff; in the meantime, we were to gather at their house.  I was supposed to bring the birthday cake, which Kris dropped off at my house the day before.

So, I'm sitting around the day of the party, and who should come to the door ... Sterling!  It was a good thing that for some reason I had placed a couple of Atty's blankets on top of the cake box.  So I don't think Sterling really saw it, but may have been suspicious of the huge box.

I stopped at the store on the way to their house and got some balloons, and then went to get everything ready.  And even though Kris really emphasized the need to be on time - they themselves were late.  Finally I get a text that they're almost there and we "hide" in the kitchen area/dining room.  Just as they are pulling into the garage, someone notices that you can see our shadows on the living room wall.  Now, I don't think I would notice that as I pulled in, but Sterling did.  He said to Kris, "Someone's in our house!" though I think he guessed what was going on by that point. 

Surprise!

It was lots of fun.  Happy birthday, Sterling.

This is Kaiya's piece of cake ... she wanted "the flower" but getting the whole flower translated into one huge piece of cake.  So we compromised by getting a picture of the whole thing, and then cutting it in half to actually eat.  Teague did get the whole sun, which wasn't quite as big.

Stadium of Fire 2012

Steph and Mickel invited me to go with them to the Stadium of Fire on the Fourth of July, which this year featured the Beach Boys.  The last time either Steph or I went to the SOF was in 1992, which interestingly enough also featured the Beach Boys and was the last time that they played here in Utah.  Coincidentally, Mickel also attended that 1992 show. 

The fighter jet flyover - I'm amazed I even got a picture of it!

It was a fantastic show, and the Beach Boys were fabulous!  They have been playing together for 50 years (though they don't have all the original members of course)!  It's pretty hard to find anyone who's done the same job for 50 years, let alone in show business.  Kaiya and Teague waited patiently for them to do "Kokomo" (that's their cruise song), but we all belted out all the songs.  So fun to sing along!  At one point, Kaiya turned to me and said, "Grammie, why do they call them the "Beach Boys"?  They aren't boys!"  They may no longer be boys, but they're still awesome.

Kris and Sterling's New House

After about seven months of bunking with me, Kris and Sterling were finally able to get everything finalized on the their house in Layton, and then quickly (overlap, really) close on their new house in South Jordan.  And though I always appreciate the peace and tidiness of living on my own, I have to say that I miss them so much more than I thought I was going to - especially having all the cuddle time I wanted with Atty.

However, I'm also tickled pink for them.  Their house is brand new, which means they got to pick out everything (and did a fantastic job, I must say), and I love the layout.  It's a rambler with an unfinished basement, so it's plenty roomy now and plenty of room for the future.

Here's a shot of Atty using his own entrance ... um, I mean Dora's entrance.  It was pretty funny to watch him trying to take the dog's dishes out and trying to bring a bucket of dirt in. 

Best of all, it's only about 7-8 minutes away from my house ... and also extremely close to work for both Kris and Sterling.  In short, it's perfect!

Atty's Birthday #2

One of the cool things about Atty is that he does have this whole other family that loves him so much, including his birth mom Kassie and her family.  So it was awesome to get together with them to have another little birthday party for Atty's second birthday.

I didn't think to get a picture of Kassie and her family, so I'll have to try to remember to do that next time we get together. 

An open adoption is a bit of a strange situation, but I guess the way I look at it is that a child can not possibly have too much love in their life.  And anyone else who wants to love Atty is okay in my book.