Pool Friends

Savannah has been working as a water safety instructor at the Natatorium since March.  She teaches the Sharks and Minnows who are primarily elementary aged kids, and also an occasional water babies class.  And she loves it!  I think we've all known that she has a skill for leading people, but I don't think she would ever have listed "teaching" as one of her talents.  It turns out, teaching is definitely one of her talents.

During the last week of school, she and McKay were the only two at home one afternoon, so she decided to spend some time with him at our community pool.  She wanted to practice her teaching skills, and he just wanted to swim.  They were there for a couple of hours before we got this text from her...

and these videos...

I can't tell you how much my heart fills with gratitude to know that my kids are friends.  The following day, I had a chance to talk to McKay and he said the exact same thing about Savannah.  "She's so cool, Mommy!"  I don't know what about the swimming experience helped them to see each other a little differently, but I'm so grateful for it.  Whatever it takes to help them discover each other is a great thing.   "...just keep swimming..." - Dory 

Prom

Savannah went to Mormon Prom over the weekend with a cute boy that she asked last week.  Remember this...?

Her date's name is Koa Taggart and his family moved into our ward a few months ago.  Isn't he just the cutest thing?  He's so smart and funny.  He's Hawaiian.  And he happens to have a full ride academic scholarship to OU (yeah, his school choice is unfortunate) where he will be playing Rugby next year.  

Koa picked Savannah up from our house...

And then they met the rest of their group at Watters Creek to take pictures...  

We were so lucky to have one of the boys' moms take all of these amazing group shots.  She is a fantastic photographer.  

After pictures, another one of the boys' parents hosted a fancy dinner at their home, and then all eight kids were off to prom in Frisco.  I can't even say often enough how much I love these kids. This is just a handful of the 20 that Craig and I get to teach every week in Sunday School and they are all just amazing.  I'm so grateful that Savannah has these awesome people to associate with.  She had such a great time and I heard nothing but happy things about the whole prom experience.  Since her plan is to graduate in December, this is potentially the first and last prom she will get to attend, so we were extra grateful that it was a perfect night for her.  

Birthday Surprises

Tomorrow is Savannah's birthday.  

Look what we got her!

Isn't it stunningly beautiful???  I seriously cannot stop looking at this thing, it's so gorgeous!

Not only is it pretty, it's also an acoustic-electric guitar which means it's fitted with a magnetic pickup so you can plug it into an amp and not need a mic.  (That just made me sound super guitar smart, but I'm not.  I just spent a lot of time with the guy at the store.)  It also has a built in tuner.  Holy crap, she's going to love it!

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.  

And I'm ridiculously BAD at keeping secrets.  

AND I have to wait till tomorrow night to give it to her because Craig is in Birmingham.  
Blah...

Don't tell, k?  Thank goodness she never reads my blog.  :)

Homecoming

Craig and Savannah came home last night from their whirlwind Utah trip.  I can't tell you how excited I was to have them back.  It's one thing for Craig to leave on regular business trips, but it's another thing entirely for him to take one of the kids with him on a non-business trip...that lasts for almost a whole week.  (...have I mentioned that we will not be attending any future family gatherings separately?)  I am SO happy that all of my little chickens are back home.  We spent the evening looking at all the pictures from the trip, and filling each other in on all the events of the past week.  Craig and Savannah talked about how big all the cousins have gotten and how beautiful Maddie's wedding was.  We snuggled in front of the TV and watched our new favorite show Whodunnit.  Then the kids played several rounds of Clue until Savannah was finally satisfied with a win.  At 11:30p, we forced them all to go to bed.  And let me tell you...my little heart was overflowing to have a complete family around the table saying family prayer.  

Savannah had quite a lengthy list of things she hoped to do on this Utah trip.  Typically, when we travel there in a pack, we spend most of our time in a very small vicinity, so there isn't a lot of touring taking place.  Since they had more free time, and fewer siblings to accommodate, Savannah took full advantage of Craig's undivided attention, and led him to all of her dream Utah destinations.  

One of the things Savannah most wanted to do was to take a picture in front of every Temple in Utah (she was a little disappointed to find out that a handful of them were way out of the Salt Lake City radius.)

Logan

Brigham City

Bountiful

Mt. Timpanogas

Oquirrh Mountain

Draper

Provo City Center (under construction)

Provo

This one is my favorite in front of the SLC Temple doors. 

Understanding the eternal nature of the Temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the Temple."  - Gary E. Stevenson, April 2009 General Conference

"As we touch the Temple, the Temple will touch us." - President Thomas S. Monson (Jordan River Temple dedication)

I am so grateful for a daughter who longs to be in holy places and who delights in the chance to hop out of the car and take a picture in front of all the Temples in Utah.  I am grateful that she has a vision for her future and the strong desire to achieve her goals.  And I am so grateful for a husband who indulges his daughters.  

The Best Day Ever

Isn't it funny how one person's not-so-great day is another person's Best. Day. Ever??

I drove Craig and Savannah to the airport today to go to his niece's wedding on Thursday.  A few months ago when we were being practical and dividing up our time and vacation budget, it seemed like a great idea to let them go to Utah without the rest of us.  

Today, not so much.  

But...Savannah is thrilled about the trip.  She was so excited to pack her entire bathroom into her ridiculously huge make up case.  She was excited to fly on a plane.  And she is SO excited to be a bridesmaid in her cousin's wedding.  

I dropped them off at the airport and after excessive hugging let them go inside.

Two minutes later I got this text...

She told Craig that this was officially the Best. Day. Ever...and she hadn't even left Dallas.  

I'm so happy that Savannah and Craig are going on a little adventure together.  They almost never do that.  I'm grateful for frequent flyer miles.  And I'm grateful that Mack Brown made Savannah's day.  

I will try to pull myself together tonight and not miss them, not long for my Utah family, not wish that we hadn't been so dang practical in May, and just wait patiently for the report about their trip.  

Wish me luck... 

Sticky Note Adventures

Sometime on Sunday night, when I wasn't really paying attention, Savannah and her BFF asked me if they could get up at 4:00am and decorate their friend's car.  I absent-mindedly said, "Sure!" and then promptly forgot about it until this morning at 4:18 when I received a text from Savannah saying, "We're leaving!"  What???  

It probably wasn't very responsible of me to just let them go out in the middle of the night/morning and "decorate" someone's car.  What exactly does that mean in teenager language anyway??  

Well, at 6:35am I got this text from Savannah...

This is what they meant by "decorating" his car...it used to be red!

Garrett is a football player at the HS, so he gets up and leaves for training at 7:00.  His dad had to take him this morning because his car was not drivable.  :)

I seriously cannot believe the creativity and audacity of my children.  I don't know whether to be shocked or to admire their amazing work.  Who gets up at 4:00am and makes a sticky note masterpiece out of someone's car???  Apparently Savannah and her friend...

shades and 'staches

Now that we have TWO eligible dance attendees in our house, there are even more opportunities for pre dance parties.  Megan started out inviting two friends from school to come to the dance, and by the end of the day, the two of us had turned it into a giant party with pizza and games and photo ops!  Because it's way more fun to go to a dance with a giant group, right?  

My friend, Amy contributed drinks, paper plates and photo props to our little get together and the kids had tons of fun posing for pictures!  And they went right along with the dance theme "shades and 'staches."  Super cute!

Of course, when Savannah heard that there was a pre-dance party, she totally needed to invite a couple of friends, too.  I think they had more fun than the younger kids with the photo props.

I LOVE these kids so much, and I'm so happy that we have the opportunity to hang out with them so often.  They are such a great group, and amazing influences for good on my girls.  Hooray for church dances...and silly mustaches!

Extraction

Oh, how grateful I am for modern medical technology!  Savannah has been complaining for months about how much her wisdom teeth were hurting her, but since I didn't have to have mine taken out until college, I hoped she was just exaggerating and tried to ignore her complaints.  That's not possible for very long.  She's a persistent girl, especially when she's uncomfortable.  And, guess what...when I took her to the oral surgeon, her x-rays showed that she actually did have tiny little wisdom teeth breaking through the gums just enough to cause a considerable amount of pain.  And apparently the average age for wisdom teeth removal is slightly lower than it used to be in 1990, because the dentist wasn't even a little bit shocked that Savannah might needs hers removed at the age of 16.  

Here are the BEFORE and AFTER shots from Savannah's Instagram:

It was definitely an eventful day.  We got to the dentist's office at 8:00am.  They got Savannah right in, and one hour later, after chatting with some lovely moms of other teenage wisdom teeth sufferers, I was called back to the recovery room to check on her.  The nurse escorting me said, "She's very upset, but that's totally normal."  And I walked in to find an inconsolable heap of Savannah sitting in a recliner, shivering under a blanket.  

After today, we're all convinced that oral surgery anesthetics make you turn back into whatever you were at three years old..optimistic, emotional, irrational, joyous, chatty, inquisitive...whatever that three-year-old YOU was, the drugs will find it and conjure it back up.  

Savannah has been slightly obsessed with those YouTube videos of people on their way home from wisdom teeth removal.  It's disturbing, but compelling to watch full grown toddlers.  Here are some of our favorites...

Here is the very short video we got of Savannah...

Do you know what she was like at three years old?  She was bossy, stubborn, easily frustrated, and insistent.  Hmmm...it was like living 1999 all over again for a little while today.

We barely got ANY video footage of her, though, because we were so worried that she was going to try to walk right out the door, or hurl herself off the couch, or rip the gauze from her mouth.  She actually DID do a couple of those things.  

For a little while she was irritated at the nurses, irritated that they put an IV in her arm, irritated about how bright the sun was, irritated that she could only drink smoothies, irritated about the gauze, and irritated that she looked like a walrus.  

About 30 minutes later, the drugs started to wear off and she calmed down...thankfully!  We took the gauze out, she drank part of a strawberry-banana smoothie, and she agreed to settle down with an ice pack a bag of frozen peas on her face.  

After school, a few friends came over to cheer her up with ice cream and flowers.  

 Love these kids so much!

I am SO happy this experience is mostly over.  I'm grateful for good dentists and patient nurses.  I'm grateful that Savannah is no longer three years old.  And I'm grateful that it will be a few more years before anyone else in this family has to have wisdom teeth extracted from their mouths.  We're looking forward to a relaxing weekend filled with movies, mashed potatoes and pain killers.  (well, not all of us will be on the pain killers...)

P.S.  All pictures and videos were downloaded with gleeful, heartfelt permission from Savannah.  

Surprises

When Savannah and Megan were little (Emma was about 6 months old and McKay wasn't even a thought) we surprised them with a trip to Disney World in Orlando.  We lived in Atlanta at the time, and Craig's job required some travel to Florida, so we incorporated a Disney trip into a business trip.  The girls had NO IDEA we were taking them on the trip of their dreams, and they were thrilled when we finally got there.  

A couple of years ago we did something similar on a summer trip to San Antonio.  We had told the kids all month long that Sea World just wasn't going to happen and that we would have to wait until another time to visit Shamu.  And then we pulled into the Sea World parking lot!  Huge surprise!  Huge success!

Craig is a big fan of surprises.   I honestly am not, and would probably never think to surprise my kids with anything.  Besides, I'm terrible at keeping secrets.  

We have another HUGE surprise for them tonight.  They have NO IDEA.  Craig and I have kept this secret for almost 2 whole months, and not only are we about to burst, but we are also about as giddy as we were in November 2000 when we took two little girls to see Minnie Mouse.  I can't tell you where we're taking them because by some crazy twist of fate, today would be the day one of my kids decides to read my blog.  There are no theme parks involved this time.  We're not even traveling outside of Dallas.   But it will be a HUGE, delightful surprise that I'm pretty sure they'll be talking about for years.  

That's it...I can't give you anymore hints!

We'll be back late tonight.  I'll post pictures and details tomorrow morning.  And if you see my kids at school today and you've read this, DON'T TELL THEM!!