Wed. 2nd--Yep!!
*Grandpa was showing pictures of their mission in Africa even though they had just served in Iceland. There are a lot more animals to see in South Africa!
Only two guests could accompany each bowler and Grandpa Lee was selected to join Jared!
This is the bowling shirt Cooper designed himself and bought months ago. Once he got the notification about delivery, he learned that the shirt was going to show up three days after the tournament. Such a bummer. Imagine our shock when it showed up the day before! Such a sweet blessing for Cooper.
Complete with his name on the back!
Cooper was scheduled to bowl his six games at 11:30, but while he was warming up, officials walked by and announced that bowlers could not participate in the tournament if they were wearing shorts--which was exactly what Cooper was wearing. We had forgotten this requirement from a year and a half ago. Even though Jared and my dad had watched three or four kids bowling in shorts while Cooper waited to warm up, it was clear Cooper wouldn't get a pass on the dress code. Fortunately, the officials were able to reschedule Cooper to bowl at 3pm. In the meantime, the guys went to grab lunch and get Cooper a pair of pants. They later learned that a huge advantage to being assigned to bowl later in the day is that the alley re-oiled the lanes right before the 3pm games which is a major factor in controlling the ball better. A really big deal for serious bowlers! The difference wouldn't even be noticed, let alone appreciated, by a bowler like me!
Bowling in the pandemic!
This is the "after."
*Calvin and Grandma playing "Stack the States."
We loved our little condo for the week!
For dinner, we found a hole-in-the-wall eatery that served Cuban food. Don't blink, you might miss like we did the first time. I also learned that Cuba is only 90 miles away.
There were about five other sets of customers who came to eat while we were there and they all spoke Spanish—or some version of it. Jared said that’s how you know the food is authentic and even used his Spanish to order for us. 
This food was amazing!! We shared the Chicken Milanese (with ham and cheese on top), rice, black beans, tostones (fried green plantains), a tamale with onions, a ham croquette, and a beef empanada. It was all super delicious!
Tues. 8th--We slept in till 8am and hung out at the pool and hot tub for an hour. The views were amazing. We had a late breakfast, talked to the locals about things to do, and booked a reef/wreck half-day fishing charter for Thursday morning. We were excited about that! These are pictures of the pool and surrounding views outside the condo.
Then we set out to find Sombrero Beach right as a strong thunderstorm was blowing in.
After getting a tip from a friend, we drove north to Islamorada Key to feed the tarpon at Robbie's Marina. We weren't sure what to expect, but it is literally just a dock behind a restaurant. Four bucks per bucket. We took our pinfish bait and walked out to the dock and found a handful of people already there. Wanting to see how it worked before starting ourselves, we hung back and watched. There was a teenage girl closest to us and this was what we saw. 
The only catch is that you had to strategically dodge the hungry pelicans to keep them from eating your tarpon food.
I got an unexpected close encounter selfie with a pelican!
The videos of this are, of course, so much better, but the pictures give you an idea. Needless to say, Jared and I both jumped pretty high once those fish came after the food. Those tarpon are HUGE! The tarpon don't have teeth to bite...but still... :) It's a little freaky having a large fish propel itself out of the water toward the fish in your hand!
This is how it all began.
At the tip of another friend, we scouted out a restaurant where we could eat some hogfish, so we tried the Sunset Grille--by the sea.
We started with mozzarella sticks and conch fritters.
Mmm, the hogfish was delicious. It's a type of snapper and very good. It has a mild taste--not fishy at all.
The haul!
A nice couple took our picture while we stood in the warm ocean.
Back at the condo, we tried paddle boarding for the first time.
Jared getting used to his board.
The nice guy who rented our paddle boats was kind enough to take pictures for us as we came back in. Proof that we were both standing on our boards. 
After we paddled around for an hour, Jared returned his board to the dock first. I was a few yards behind him and right as he had one leg on the dock and one leg in the water, I yelled, “Shark!!” Because a 2-3 foot nurse shark swam toward me and went right under my paddleboard!!
It was SO epic! With his back to the water, however, that was the last thing Jared wanted to hear me yell. Haha! It made him jump just a little.
While we waited for our lunch order, I took a picture of the lighthouse that we had paddled near earlier. We also saw a lot of big iguanas on rocks in that area.
Mmm. Lunch! It was outstanding!
We did some souvenir shopping after lunch. This was a mural on the side of a building nearby.
When we got back to the condo, there was another storm brewing.
And I thought the storms in Texas were impressive. It's like the thunder comes through a subwoofer here. Storms are much louder and more intense than back home. You can hear the electric crackle of the lightning. I love it!
A cute little lizard I spied while heading back into the condo.
As we left to go pick up dinner, I followed this guy who was hanging out at the end of the driveway. He crossed the road, walked into the front lawn, and didn’t seem bothered by me at all.
Winner, winner, Cuban sandwich dinner! Sooo good.
Our vessel was the Barracuda.
It took about 30-45 minutes to get to the location our captain had in mind.
Jared's favorite Father's Day gift.
Jared was bound and determined to catch a grouper, so he and I spent most of our time bottom fishing (I learned the bottom was only about 30 feet down), but it was tough all day for that kind of fishing. However, Jared won the prize for feeding the most fish with his bait. 
He was also one of the first to snag a fish—a surgeonfish. Pretty coloring, but we were told not to touch it because of the barb near its tail—it would send us to the ER—hence the name.
We forgot what this fish is called, but it was a keeper.
About halfway through our time, I bailed on the bottom fishing to try my hand at free-lining on the other side of the boat. And I caught three yellowtail snapper. 
There were 13 of us on the boat and I love that the Cap’n said no matter how many fish are caught, at the end of the day we divide it up evenly so everyone gets something. 
While bottom fishing, Jared had something so big on the line that it broke his rod while he was reeling it in. :(
Before we parted ways: Jared, Jenn, first mate—Kimberly, and Captain Claudia—who has been fishing and doing charters since she was 17...41 years ago!
Getting ready to watch the captain fillet our catch.
After we docked and the fish was filleted, Jared and I grabbed our share and headed back to the condo to clean up and then headed to the Turtle Hospital 
for our 3pm tour.
We had no idea there were seven species of sea turtles with five of them indigenous to Florida. And the leatherback!? 
Whoa! That sucker is a beast!!
A model of the loggerhead sea turtle.
A loggerhead that was recently rescued right in Marathon. Even though he only has three flippers, he’ll still be released back into the ocean.
A green sea turtle.
Coming up for air.
The iguanas--the really big guys--were running wild all over the place and quite frankly were just as exciting to me as the turtles. ;)
We eagerly anticipated eating our morning catch at the Lazy Days restaurant.
They served regular rolls and something that tasted very similar to banana bread.
Jared got the chowder and I got the salad.
By then we were pretty full. :) But that fish though. Wow. The "Lazy Days style" is out of this world. The flavors are so indulgent and bright. Absolutely delicious, but there was so much food. We couldn't finish it all.
Beautiful sunset...
I have now been to the southernmost point of the continental US and the northernmost state thanks to my high school days spent in Alaska.
Love these old mansions.
A blackened mahi-mahi sandwich. They make the best fries down here.
Like iguanas in Marathon, roosters and chickens roam freely in Key West. Especially in beach cafes.
The southernmost cafe and beach.
We had to walk out on “an active tarmac” to board the plane and were told to watch for “oncoming traffic.” 
Sun. 13th--My parents were rockstars holding down the fort with early morning seminary and kids in four different schools and four different departure and arrival times. We owe them big time! And I was thrilled that they were still speaking to me and Jared and my children after we got back. Haha! Just kidding. My parents said they were really good and helpful.
They were on the verge of finding some more ancestors.
Success!!
Playing our favorite game: Manipulation with Grandma Lee.
*HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!! They are "Nothing Bundt" the best!!
*Trying to get a picture with the kids. What was I thinking? 
The other significant thing I noticed was Evy's countenance. She radiated the Lord's light from within. She was beautiful before. But now...she is stunning.
I loved the gift of being able to attend the temple during the pandemic.
Sun. 20th--Calvin loves babies. Especially little William Linford in our branch.
*JJ painting a large printed picture of a cat my mom brought for them to do at the beginning of the month.
*I love this statement--especially since I live in the south with many other wonderful Christians.
Tues. 22nd--Cooper has been struggling with sleep for a while. We figured it was normal teenage stuff. While he has a hard time getting to sleep, it's the waking up once he's asleep that's the real problem. He cannot be roused. We've tried shaking him, tickling him, using a megaphone siren, yelling...you can't hardly budge the boy. He's a brick wall...solid. And then on non-school days, he barely wakes up. He'll sleep til 1:30pm if he can. Or, he gets up at the last minute for church, and as soon as we get home, he goes to sleep and sleeps all day. Which makes it worse, but we can't wake him up. So then he's stuck in this horrid cycle. We thought that perhaps once he was treated for his depression, his sleep and waking would improve. Maybe marginally, but not enough to declare that it isn't an issue anymore.
*Kind of ironic...
*Um, yes!
Wed. 23rd--I drove the at-home sleep test equipment back to the hospital first thing that morning. I got a call from the sleep clinic a couple hours later saying that the nose piece came out sometime during the night and they didn't get a read on Cooper. So we would need to do the test again...meaning I had to drive all the way back up to the hospital to get the equipment again and then return it the next morning. *sigh*
Darn those splits.
Cooper's Pepsi Bowling Stats:
Game 1: 198
Game 2: 129
Game 3: 185
Game 4: 182
Game 5: 207
Game 6: 177
Overall average: 179
He ranked 3rd in his division (overtaken for second by some professional bowler's son :).
*I told JJ and Calvin that I wanted them to get their school pictures taken with their "covid hair." It took some doing, but they finally complied. However, as soon as Calvin got his pictures done at school, he wanted his hair trimmed. This is the "before." He was tired of dealing with his long bangs. :)
Sun. 6th--Fast Sunday with our Grandmas and Grandpa.
And it paid off! JJ was winning.
*My friend, Ruth Graham was turning 81 and she was spending an extended stay with her daughter, Lisa, in Florida, so I couldn't swing by to wish her a happy birthday. Instead, I reached out to Lisa through FaceBook to arrange a time to call over FaceTime. We had a wonderful visit.
*I really, really love this thought...like a lot.
*Grandpa teaching JJ a few strategies in Backgammon.
Mon. 7th--I had everything set and prepared for me and Jared to leave for the Austin airport early Monday morning. Fortunately, it was Labor Day so the kids could sleep in and my parents didn't have to worry about getting them to their respective places.
We had just barely driven around the corner, less than four houses away when we got a tire pressure notification on Jared's car. We decided to turn around and see if we could figure out the problem. Sure enough, there was a nail in one of the front tires. This car was undrivable. At least to Austin. We quickly got our luggage and things switched over from the Outlander to the Suburban and exchanged keys with my parents. They would have to take the Outlander to Discount Tire to get it fixed for us later that day. I felt terrible leaving them with a gimpy car. Technically, they could have used Cooper's car, if they needed it. To do that, however, might require a two-hour cleaning of the interior first, but it was still possible.
We were about 25 minutes behind schedule, but not in dire straights yet. I prayed that we wouldn't run into another delay en route to the airport. As we made our way onto the freeway, Jared asked me for his new $700 pair of prescription sunglasses that he had just purchased. I couldn't find them anywhere. We hoped they just hadn't been taken out of the Outlander, but maybe they had fallen in the street or driveway. Between leaving later than I wanted and possibly losing an extremely expensive piece of merchandise, I was a little on edge and didn't say much on our drive to the airport. We found a parking spot without any trouble and check-in was relatively easy as well. Once we got to the gate, I called home to ask my parents if they would start looking for the lost glasses. The kids were up by this point, so they went outside to look for us, but couldn't find anything. We asked them to take a look inside Jared's car. It took two different searches, but to our great relief, the sunglasses were in there. They had slipped onto the floor in the backseat. A black case on a black interior in the dark--I'm not surprised we missed them. At least we knew where they were and I felt like we could relax a bit more.
We were surprised to learn we were on an overbooked flight to North Carolina. We weren't worried about covid, though. We would just stick to ourselves, not eat or drink anything on the flight, avoid the airplane bathrooms, and sanitize our hands like crazy.
Flying into Key West.
Our sporty rental car.
The Key West airport.
Leaving Key West and driving north to Marathon Key about 53 miles.
The Hammocks at Marathon.
The lobby smelled amazing! Like ocean, coconut, and citrus! You can see the ocean through the back doors!
Wed. 9th--This was our water day! We started out at Sombrero Beach soaking up the sun and combing the sand and surf for treasures.
We got there around 9am and had the beach practically all to ourselves.
This was my view looking up from the palm tree I was leaning against. The only negative about the beach and flying to get there is that we didn't have any beach chairs to sit on and really lounge.
Looking for treasures.
As we made our way out into the ocean, Jared said he had watched way too many National Geographic and Shark Week shows when he was younger to freak himself out about sea creatures lurking in the water and hoped that nothing would mistake him and his board as a seal and attack him.
We didn't fall once!
It was SO epic! With his back to the water, however, that was the last thing Jared wanted to hear me yell. Haha! It made him jump just a little. This was the spot where I had the super cool shark sighting! The water is very shallow right there—maybe 18-24 inches deep, tops. Oh, how I wish I had my camera with me.
It was 88 degrees but felt like 102 degrees with the humidity. So we spent some solid time in the pool cooling off after paddleboarding. Once we were cleaned up, we went to the poolside tiki bar and ordered some Mahi Mahi fingers and fries for lunch.
Thurs. 10th--Today’s date marks the peak of hurricane season, but it was a gorgeous day and the first one since Monday that we didn't have thunder and/or a rainstorm. We hit the ocean early in the morning for a half-day reef/wreck fishing charter and were pleased to learn we were being guided by an all-female crew—Claudia, as our captain and Kimberly, our first mate.
Gorgeous, gorgeous day.
There were 13 of us on the boat and I love that the Cap’n said no matter how many fish are caught, at the end of the day we divide it up evenly so everyone gets something. 
Near the end of our allotted fishing time, I climbed up to the top of the boat to get out of the way. Shortly after, Claudia decided to move to a last-minute location. While I was busy steadying myself up there, Claudia shouted at me over the motor and wind, “Take the wheel and steer straight!” Say what? Her words didn’t register and I just sat there. She yelled at me again, nudged me over to her seat, and told me to steer straight ahead. And just like that, Claudia was gone, and I was suddenly in control of the big boat!
Jared reeling one in.
for our 3pm tour. 
Whoa! That sucker is a beast!! 
Fri. 11th--Before heading back to Austin, we drove down to Key West and explored a little of the historic Duval Street.
Sat. 12th--Poor Jared had to work the weekend he got back from his vacation. Kind of lame. But when we planned this trip back in December, he was working the opposite shift so this would have been his weekend off. But since starting in the covid clinic in March, they flipped his schedule. We are just deeply grateful that much-needed vacation came to pass. It was looking a little iffy there a few times in the six months leading up to it.
My dad and Calvin were working on family history together that Sunday after we got home.
Mon. 14th--My parents were getting ready to shove off. Their next stop was Dallas. They were picking up my Aunt Jan and planning to take her back to their house where they would pick up the fifth-wheel trailer and head back to Texas with some stops along the way. My uncle died just over a year ago and my parents thought she'd enjoy getting out of her house (and state for that matter) and seeing some sights. The priority was visiting the John Wayne museum in Monument, Utah. My aunt loves John Wayne and Elvis.
*JJ got to be inside the camper for a little bit. And he felt pretty cool.
*Karcyn dressing up for 80s day at school. :)
*Hahaha. This meme. That cat. We're back from Florida so it's back on keto we go. We "only" gained four pounds. In a week. But it was worth it!!
Sat. 19th--While Jared and I were in Florida, I received a message from a friend of mine, Evy. She was a single sister in our ward while I served as Relief Society president. I really enjoyed her. She was a recently divorced mother of three and sadly, was not in a good place when she came to College Station. She had walls up that were hard to penetrate. Even still, I reached out often and wanted her to know she could rely on me for anything. A year passed and she moved away. Shortly after, she remarried--a nice man who was a music teacher like herself. Even though he wasn't a member of the church, I was really happy for her. Happy that she could learn to love and trust again. And a year later they had a baby girl. Last December Evy sent me a message. It was a picture of her and her husband, Josh, outside the Houston Temple. She said, "I don't think I ever told you....Josh got baptized a few months ago. We went to the temple tonight. Thank you so much for being patient with me. Tonight was a dream come true and I am so grateful to all of you in the College Station ward for your help. Y'all really are the best." I was stunned!! And thrilled for her! What an incredible blessing for her family. Then came her message to me nine months later while I was in Florida: "So I know you're on this fancy, grown-up vacation, but I wanted to let you know that Josh and I finally have a sealing date. I know it's a drive and it's closed for proxy work, but I couldn't not invite you. It's Sept. 19th at 9am. I'd love to see you, but totally understand if it's not possible. I'll never forget my time with you wonderful people in College Station. It helped me grow spiritually more than any other time in my life!!" I wasn't sure if Evy was in San Antonio or not because she used to live there. But even if it was, I would totally make the 7 hour round trip drive to be there. It's not every day you get invited to a live sealing, or a sealing for someone you had special stewardship over...and after they've moved away. When I found out the sealing was at the Houston temple, I told Evy it was a no brainer! I was SO honored and planned to be there, even if it was just to wait for her outside. She responded, "You're the best! And no way you're sitting outside in this humidity. You made the short list!! You're going inside!" I was so pumped!
*It's always hard to see my parents go, but it was easier this time knowing they'd be back around in a couple weeks when they returned Aunt Jan at home in Dallas. They planned to spend another week with us at the end of September, which I was really looking forward to because I didn't get much time with them this go around since I was pretty much gone the entire time.
*Jared and I had a meeting with the middle school psychologist and diagnostician. We are worried about Calvin. He's struggling big time with homework and things that shouldn't be an issue. I spent hours sitting down with him while he worked on homework a few times the two weeks prior and it was egregious. He could not stay on task to save his life. One time he just cried. He couldn't bring himself to do it. And through his tears, he asked me why he's having such a hard time focusing. That was the first time he articulated to us that he was having difficulty focusing. He already had a pile of missing assignments in math and science and it was overwhelming for both of us. Since 5th grade, these behaviors and patterns usually surface in the second semester of the school year. But we were seeing them right out of the gate and I was not going to put either Calvin or myself through this all year long. I contacted the school so we could try and get to the bottom of this. We had already started the ADD paperwork/evaluations with the pediatrician. But we wanted him to have the whole gamut of diagnostic testing done to rule out any other hidden issue. The school was happy to comply and said they'd probably get around to meeting with and testing him the first part of October. In the meantime, we had a mountain of paperwork to fill out and evaluations to do ourselves.
Thurs. 17th--Karcyn had the opportunity to teach part of her seminary lesson the week before. A member of the stake presidency happened to be in the hall that day and overheard her. This note arrived in the mail several days later. It was very sweet.
*Cooper came home from school and had to hurry and change and grab a bite to eat because he had 15 minutes to do all of that before heading back out to Whataburger for his 4:30 to 10:30pm shift. I gave him a sack lunch for dinner and gave him some space. He seemed to be in a bit of a mood, stressed for sure. He left and then stormed back in, slightly panicked. He said he couldn't find his phone. He had it at school but didn't know where it was. He was hoping to have it before going to work, but he was running out of time (and patience) and left without it. I texted Jared about the situation and had him look for the phone using the Find my Friends app. He said if someone else had it, they were on Rock Prairie--and then at Whataburger. Hmm, that seems a little too coincidental since that's the Whataburger location Cooper works at. I told Jared I bet it was in his car somewhere and that I'd go and look for it after dropping Calvin off at baseball practice around 7pm.
The search of Cooper's car should have been fairly quick. Except that he had a mountain of laundry (dirty clothes...shirts, shorts, sweatshirts) and garbage and receipts and dishes scattered everywhere. I spent an hour and a half, in the Whataburger parking lot, sorting through that mess so I could look for a wandering cell phone. Having checked every single nook and cranny of that car, I was certain it was not there. Jared was done with his shift and came over to join me. I told him I could not find it anywhere. And it's not like the phone is small. There are only so many places it could be--now that the car was tidy. That's when I asked, "Are we certain the phone isn't in his pocket?" Jared said surely he would have noticed by now (4 hours later) if it was. Jared looked through the car too and concurred that there was no cell phone there. It was dark and our job was done and Jared needed to pick up Calvin, so he went to the fields and I went home. Cooper texted us shortly after to say that he found his phone! It was in his back pocket.
This was the sunrise that Saturday morning as I made my way down 2154 to Hwy 6 near Navasota. I was really testing myself on how to get to the temple. It had been SO long. Too long.
It felt amazing to be back.
Attending the temple during a pandemic was interesting, to say the least. First of all, we all gathered outside the front doors and we had to wait for them to unlock the doors and let us in, wearing masks, of course. After our temple recommends were verified at the front desk, we were ushered into the waiting room off to the side. There were only 15 of us, including Evy, Josh, and their four kids and I noticed there weren't any of Evy's family there. We received instructions and then the couple of honor left and the children were taken to the children's area. We didn't have to wait long before the rest of us were ushered up to the sealing room. The cherry on top of this already special day was that my stake patriarch, Keith Kuttler, was the sealer. His wife, Kathy, was my former ministering sister when we lived in the CS1 ward and now she teaches Karcyn's seminary class with Karole.
I had never been to a sealing with children who weren't also being sealed. Evy and Josh were sealed first with only the adults present and then their children were brought in. The three older kids from Evy's first marriage were allowed to watch from the side, while their little sister Aria was sealed to Evy and Josh.
It was such an honor and privilege to attend that sealing. First of all, I learned so much. And it was pretty awesome to realize that the Lord authorized His Holy house in Houston to be open JUST for them that day. They were the only sealing taking place. Talk about ministering to the one. Patriarch Kuttler had incredible insights and some symbolism as well about the alter and where it's placed right between the two mirrors of eternity--along our path here in mortality. He talked a little bit about the chandelier and its significance. I cried through most of the things he shared and shed the most tears when Aria was sealed to her parents. It reminded me of when I was sealed to my parents. If only everyone could experience the exquisite joy of witnessing a live sealing of parents and children. I consider myself most fortunate to have not only been in the sealing myself at 19, but to have attended three or four others in my lifetime.
The new eternal family lined up and were able to receive their visitors. I was near the end of the line. I noticed that Evy had been pretty composed, but when I got to her and hugged her, she cried. She was very emotional and said, "Thank you for magnifying your calling. You did a great job." And we wept in each other's arms. But I replied through my ugly cry, "I didn't do anything. This was all you."
And I was a blubbery mess for the rest of the morning. We were led and guided out of the temple as a group and waited outside for the family to join us where we took pictures and then I headed out because I had a stake primary training meeting I needed to call into on my drive back. But before I left and said goodbye to Evy--who knows when we'll see each other again (thank goodness for social media)--she made sure I knew, yet again, that she is so grateful that I didn't give up on her. She said she was in a bad place but I would keep texting her, calling her, and inviting her. And even when she wasn't the most gracious about it, I kept making her feel loved and needed. She said she was very depressed when she moved to CS. They moved to Houston several years ago, but she and her kids talk about their wonderful experience in CS weekly, it seems. That move helped all of them grow. She said, "I am forever going to be grateful for you for magnifying your calling and helping me remember what I already knew was true. The church is wonderful. Our little family can be together forever now because of priesthood power."
This experience was so special because I got to celebrate a part of eternity with Evy and her family. But it was a tender mercy from the Lord to me in another way. He helped me see...many years later...that my ministering efforts did matter and in this case, made a difference to one of my sisters. Even though I had a few sisters get upset at me for reaching out regularly and a couple of them (Evy included) were not very gracious about it. Sometimes we won't know or even see the fruits of those efforts, but they really do touch lives, even though it may seem like you didn't make a difference at all. Ministering efforts done in pure love matter because people matter. Evy and her kids weren't in our ward for long...about a year...and when she left, I missed her, of course, but I also felt like I had failed her because she didn't seem any happier or like anything changed. The greatest lesson reinforced to me was, "Don't ever stop ministering like the Savior. Because you never know how or when the heart will change." It was such a divine privilege to have the knowledge that I played just a tiny fraction of a part in helping someone back on the covenant path.
This is what life is all about...eternal families!
The only sleep doctor (a pulmonologist) in town will only see patients 18 years and older. Cooper was just a month out, so the primary care doc suggested we do an at-home sleep study first while we waited for his birthday, because I'm a cheapskate and didn't want to fork over thousands of dollars for the overnight sleep study that Jake had because I wasn't 100% convinced Cooper needed one. We attempted that at-home sleep test on Sept. 22nd. Jared got Cooper hooked up. It won't show everything, obviously, and definitely not brain waves. But it'll rule certain apneas out which would give our doctor some info to give to the sleep doctor when we take Cooper.
*Calvin was super excited about the brazi bites (Brazilian cheese bread--gluten free of course) that I made for dinner and I guess he needed to capture the moment on camera.
*JJ loved The Mandalorian on Disney+ and invited me to watch season one with him so I'd be ready to watch season two when it came out.
*Feels like it!
*Hough Brothers at their bowling league, sitting back-to-back. It's very convenient for parents, who are coming to watch, when siblings are sharing the same lane or right next to each other.
Sun. 27th--JJ loves babies, too! It was his turn to hold baby William.
Mon. 28th--My parents came back! We were so grateful to our friends, Matt and Leslie Call, who graciously offered their long driveway in the country for my parents to park their rig, while they stayed with us at our house. It's a bonus that Matt and Leslie only live about 7 minutes away. Such a blessing!
*Go figure, the second bag of medical equipment we used for the sleep study didn't work. The batteries were dead. So we had to drive it back and get another kit the next day. Finally, we got it to work. But when they called, they said that the results were "inconclusive." At one point, his oxygen levels dropped into the 80s. Yikes.
Fri. 25th--Jared's 47th birthday! However, he forgot how old he was. :) He was working a twelve-hour shift that day, so we waited to celebrate and I substituted at River Bend.
Sat. 26th--I was scrolling through the national news listings on my FaceBook feed and saw that a man had been attacked by a bull shark on Sept. 21st. The incident occured not just in Marathon, FL, but at Sombrero Beach--right where we were just two weeks before!
*We celebrated Jared's birthday by a special dinner courtesy of Karole. She treated the family to Mas Fajitas. The original restaurant began in Caldwell and they just opened up another one in College Station. Plus, it is a safer bet when you're on keto, as opposed to Olive Garden, for example, where we'd only want pasta. We placed our orders and then Jared picked them up and brought them back to the house. But wow...it was the most underwhelming dinner I've ever had. Jared wasn't impressed either. So disappointing. Especially since it was supposed to be for Jared's birthday. Very little flavor, they forgot to include tortillas for the fajitas, and none of the kids really liked their meal either. We will definitely not be eating there again.
Dad was unhooking the rig from the pick up truck.
*Calvin got a book of crossword puzzles and wanted to work on them with Grandma. She and Grandpa are PROS at crosswords.
Tues. 29th--Jared had the day off, so Mom and Dad treated us to lunch. We took them to Cooper's Pit Bar-B-Que because my mom used to be a Cooper. ;) And it's super good food!
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