Cousins

We got to have my nephew Hayes come stay with us for a couple of days while his mom and dad ran in a relay race.  It was so fun to have him...he was a delight!  The older girls doted on him, and Daphne loved having a buddy around that was just her size.  Hayes was like the boy version of Daphne, only he was a lot more easy going.  When we would go places they would run around with each other laughing at their own inside jokes.  People would smile and often mistake them for twins!  There is something special about a cousin...an instant friend for life!

Color the Skies

  Last month we got the whole family up early one Saturday morning to go watch several hot air balloons launched before our eyes.  It was part of an event for the area's children's hospital.  Although its never fun to pull a two-year-old out of bed before 6, it was well worth the lack of sleep and potential fussiness for all of the oooos and aahhs, and fun that was had by all.  Aaron vividly remembers going to a similar event as a young child and being amazed by the whole process. So he really loved this experience of witnessing his own children wowed by the very thing that he so fondly remembers.

Little Miss 600

Last month Grace was recognized during an assembly at her school for receiving a perfect score (600) on the math portion of the STAR test (the standardized test given to California public-school students every year.)  She was the only student at her school to earn a perfect score, so when they called her up on stage to present her with a "600" t-shirt she felt pretty incredible!  She was amazed that the whole school was cheering for her.  Afterwards she said, "It was like I was famous or something!"  and wanted me to call her "Miss 600."  I had to have a little talk with her on the way home about humility, because after the assembly she was going up to people and asking if they would like to shake her hand because she was now famous!  Luckily the fame has worn off and she's back to being just Grace.