#71 - Jakers and Aria hit milestones - Aug 12, 2012

Sunday. We got up to French Toast that Aria had made for everyone. It was perfect, and she made just enough for everyone and had a few pieces as leftovers. We left the house a little early for church, all 8 of us crammed into the van. We were supposed to sing “Families Can Be Together Forever” today, but we still didn’t have an accompanist. I had called one piano player last night, and texted another, but received no positive responses so far. So when I saw a member of the bishopric and mentioned our problem, he found someone that I didn’t know and asked her to play for us.


She was happy to do it. “Straight through?” she asked. “Yes.” “No problem, then.” And that was it. I procured a couple stools for the younger kids, and then we were set. When it came time to sing, we walked up there and arranged ourselves. Jake immediately started making faces at the congregation. Dad was cracking up, mom was frowning at him and shaking her head. The family in the row behind us was laughing. And then it was time to sing, and he turned it on. He (all of the kids, actually) were awesome. Jake tried when he was forgetting the words, and then he got them and let it out. Everybody was on pitch, stayed in time. It was excellent. I was shocked to hear Christian let it out. He has an amazing, pure voice. I think he feels comfortable in a group setting, although he doesn’t want to solo yet.

It went off without a hitch. We split out for classes. Christian was supposed to give a talk, but he had forgotten his notes at home and so he bailed. My piano playing is getting a little better. Practice certainly helps. I’ve been working through a few songs with left hand accompaniments that are more complicated than I’ll be ready for, so I have simplified it a bit to make it work for me and still provide the bass that a song needs to feel harmonically complete. And the sisters in primary are very forgiving. Nobody shoots me any evil looks, they just let me work on it and try to get better.

Aria was set apart as the Beehive president today as well. It was super cool to be there with her. The next years really will be the last transition for her before she owns her own development. She is a wonderful person. I hope we’ve got enough in us to help her develop to her full potential.

After church, Aria had BYC. Then we went home, had lunch, and relaxed a bit. We went through some boxes in the bedroom to get it in better shape, and we swam and relaxed. I got through a few loads of laundry, burned the rest of the packing materials in the driveway, and took down the shelter blocking the turnaround.

Whew. A good day.  And, to be clear: mom got in the pool, too.  She's just camera-shy.

Jakers is becoming very used to being dunked.  He loves it.

Uno has been the card game of choice so far.  I think games of Uno played
is approaching infinity.