Gramma's Visit and More!

Two weeks ago, my mom came to visit!  I love my mom so much. She is just the best ever, and when she comes on vacation here to visit us and Ezra it is like a vacation to me because she is so helpful.

She got in late on Saturday night, so we went to Johnny Rockets, a huge treat for us because we almost never eat out, then came home and went to bed early. (My mom was really tired since she flies standby and didn’t make her flight on Friday night so she ended up staying the night in the airport and flying out Saturday.)

Church was wonderful the next day, especially in Young Women’s, my favorite part of each Sunday. And on Monday, I took my mom to the Fruit and Spice Park. It is so fun having her come out so often, because little by little, I feel like she is experiencing so much of Miami. We had a great time there, but we left early because it started downpouring. Since we were in the agricultural part of Miami, we stopped at a couple fruitstands on our way home and bought some big, beautiful, Florida avocados, pink guava, white guava, and passionfruit.

Our tourguide told us that if we put our ears up against the tree, we could hear the water inside it! I could actually hear it! It was really cool.

All the mango trees down in Homestead looked just like this. Full of ripe, heavy fruit.

My mom made us a Thai dinner that night, which of course was absolutely. The next morning, she and I took a walk on the beach, stopped at Target because she wanted to buy Ezra some cute new clothes, and were off to the airport. I was so glad she could come. We had such a good time and it was hard for me to let her go!

We loved that Tanner didn't have to go to school on the Fourth. We went swimming, went to the bishop's house again for the next Brazil game, and watched fireworks on the bridge over the Intercoastal. At the bishop's house, Ezra made another Brazilian friend--Tatiana Alder. She used to be in our ward but is now in the branch since the ward split. She is a lot of fun and it was good to see her. She loves babies, and Ezra loved her.

One fun thing we did last Saturday was chaperone the youth at the temple for baptisms. I've been a Young Women's leader forever, but it was my first time doing it. Can I just say one time more how much I love my Young Women? They are all so sweet and so good and my life couldn't be more enriched or more blessed in any other calling than it is by working with them.

The next day, Ezra looked really charming in his Sunday clothes, especially in his sweet bowtie that my friend Kendra made. I couldn't help but take a bunch of pictures.

This week was Ezra's good friend Naz's last week at church before he moves back to New Jersey to be with his mom.

Church is very exhausting for some of us.

 This week has been so much fun. I haven't taken many pictures, but on Monday, my friend Donna, her neice, Ezra, and I went to the beach and then pool with some of our friends. Ezra ingested about half a cup of sand. We all had a great time. On Tuesday, we went to a birthday pool party, and yesterday, we went to the splashpad with Star and Brock, but as soon as we got there, they kicked everyone out because the weather started looking stormy. It was literally as soon as we all sat down and got wet. Ezra did like his 15 seconds at the splashpad much better this time though so things are looking up. Because we got kicked out, we headed back to Star's apartment and planned the boys' double birthday party (coming up in two weeks--can you believe it? Neither could we!) We've decided to have it at this big sprawling park called Greynold's that I pretty much love. Anyways, while we were planning, the boys played. Ezra loved Brock's blocks and became an expert little tower builder.

Well, it’s official: I’m finally caught up! And I’ve made a goal to do a bi-monthly blog. Once a week is just too much for me. It’s just too hard to keep up, and let’s face it—sometimes a week will go by without being all that entertaining. But once a month seems like too little. My whole purpose in keeping this blog is to keep family up-to-date on their little grandson/great-grandson/nephew/etc., and twelve posts a year is just not enough for that. I know for a fact that certain grandparents have a built-in need to see that charming little face much more often than once a month. So I think that meeting in the middle and posting every two weeks should be just about right.

My next goal is to post around the 15^th and 30^th of every month. I was talking to my very good friend Sheri today, and she told me how much having a set date to post has helped her keep up. It’s worked for Jocelyn as well, so I have high hopes that marking a date will keep me on track. It will ensure that the timing of my posts is predictable, that the content of each post is about the same length, and most importantly, that I don’t feel like such a spaz each time I post. Let’s just say I like organization.

See you at the end of the month!