We had a great time at the BYU Vocal Point and Noteworthy Concert at the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center! There were some technical difficulties, but they handled it well and the singing was fantastic! The boys didn't want to go, so we invited our friends, Jay and Ashley Lee and their son, Sebastian.
The boys are looking dapper for the Black Kat Dinner, hosted by Kathleen Jablonski for all the young men and young women from our ward.
October 7, Saturday
I'm so grateful that everything worked out today with Emily
and Audrey and Nathaniel visiting. I'm so grateful I woke up before my alarm
went off at 6:50 AM. Michael had stayed up late so he was still asleep so I
just got ready quietly. I left the house around 8:20 AM. Michael was sound
asleep and Dad was still in Jonny's room with the door closed so I just told
Andrew and Jonny that I was going to run an errand and left. I called Safeway
and they had the cake done already so I picked that up. Then I went to the
airport and I was there just a few minutes before they walked out. I was so
happy to see all of them! I asked if they were hungry and they were so we went
to Panera on Power and Ray. We got the food and they ate it on the way home. I
wasn't exactly sure what to do because I thought maybe we should walk in
through the front door but they thought we should just go in through the
garage. I called Andrew on the way and he said both Dad and Michael were up so
that was good. I had Emily go in first. I was excited and didn't quite know
what to do, but Emily thought that it was a good idea for her to go in first
and I followed her with the video camera. Michael's face was awesome! He looked
completely shocked! He just stared in disbelief with his mouth hanging open.
Andrew immediately reacted. Michael got up and hugged Emily and it took Dad a minute to figure out what was going on. Michael and Andrew had been watching football in the family room and Dad was sitting at the kitchen table so it took him a minute to realize that it was Emily. Jonny and Daniel walked in in complete shock. I gave them a few seconds to let that sink in and then I said are you ready for me to blow your mind? Then I realized Nathaniel and Audrey were still in the laundry room and I needed to get their attention so I snapped my fingers and whispered come on out and they did. I later apologized to them for that because I wished I had thought it through but they thought it was funny and didn't mind. They came out and everybody freaked out. Everybody started giving each other hugs. Dad looked at me and asked, did I know? I had to chuckle at that. At first, he thought that they had driven here. It took them a minute to figure out that I picked them up from the airport. I've kept saying to Emily, “It's a completely brilliant plan!” That's a funny line from Legally Blonde. I looked at Michael and I asked, "Are you surprised?" Daniel was shocked and he said, "You mean you didn't tell Dad?" I told him that the three of them and I were the only ones who knew. Then I told them that they're just here for the day and they go back at 9 PM tonight. It took a little while for the shock to wear off for everybody. Michael was thrilled to have them here and of course Papa was, too. The boys were excited as well.
We hung out and talked for a little while. They immediately
wanted to play Mario Kart. Audrey, Nathaniel, Daniel, and Andrew all played.
Jonny and Emily wanted to play Rummikub and Papa joined in. Then I joined in on
the next game. Then Nathaniel and Audrey took over for my place and played
another game. I think Emily won the first one and then Jonny won the other two.
Eventually, everybody got dressed to go to lunch. I set up the tripod to take
pictures outside and inside.
We went to High Tide Seafood and lunch worked out perfectly. They gave us a big round table for nine people and we had a wonderful meal. I made it a point to tell everyone that I recognize that it wasn't just me who came up with the idea, but it was a prompting I received to make this plan for them to come visit. I knew Dad really wanted to see them all and I wanted to surprise Michael and the boys. Dad didn't understand what I meant at first, and I said I mean it was a prompting from God, and he said, “Well, most things are, aren't they?” I said, "That's true!" We got a few appetizers and everyone seemed happy with their food. Emily and I got enchiladas, Andrew and Daniel got the High Tide burger, Nathaniel got the surf and turf burger, Jonny got shrimp and chips, and Michael and Dad and Audrey all got gumbo. I told Audrey that we wanted to celebrate her birthday but we'd have to do it at home because the restaurant wouldn't hold the cake for me and I didn't want it to melt in the car while we went bowling anyway. And then I told her about how I had wanted to get her Olivia Rodrigo tickets but we weren't able to get them but that I am paying for the tickets that Emily got and the two of them can go together. Then I told Dad that if he wants to go to the Phoenix race he can and he's pretty excited about making that work. Andrew wants to go with him. That works out fine because Daniel got to go last time. I wanted to bring up Disney World before the food came but it came early and so I gave everyone a little time to start eating and then I brought it up. I know Emily was anxious to talk about it. Andrew seemed pretty excited about it. So did Nathaniel and Audrey but they said that Audrey will have to look into it with her job. Dad wants to go with us but he probably won't stay at the condo and instead go home at night but I don't know if that's going to work. Anyway, we had fun talking about our plans and what parks we want to go to.
I thought we were taking our time eating our food and talking but we were pretty much done shortly after 1 PM and the bowling reservation wasn't until 2:30 PM. We paid the bill and people went to the bathroom and we talked a little longer. Then finally we all left and figured we would just go to Main Event see if they could take us early. Thankfully, they could. They had our lanes ready and got us right in. We got our shoes and we each had an hour on our lanes. We had lanes 1, 2, and 3 for an hour each. Lane one was me and Andrew and Daniel, lane two was Michael and Emily and Jonny, and lane three was Dad and Nathaniel and Audrey. I won overall but Dad and Andrew beat me on the second game. We had a great time. Everybody was at least able to play two games and on lanes two and three they got started on their third game before time ran out. They each had an episode of the lane glitching and the guy had to come and fix it. I had asked if he'd add a couple minutes to their time and they did.
Anyway, we had a great time and we gathered all our things and headed home. Everybody kind of chilled for a little bit. Nathaniel and Audrey were pretty tired. Michael and Andrew and Dad were watching some football. Then we all gathered to have Audrey's cake. It was so pretty I hated to put the candles on it but we did and we sang to her and she blew them out.
Then she opened the gifts. I got her a nice pop-up card and
some money. Dad got her some money and a book. Then everyone had some cake. Then
we played some games. Daniel really wanted to play Monopoly but we knew that
wasn't going to work with nine people. First, we played Herd Mentality. Daniel
won two times in a row. Then we played Five Second Rule. Michael and Nathaniel
tied so they had to have a tiebreaker and Michael finally won. Then we switched
over to Jackbox games. We played Trivia Murder Party and Michael won that. Then
we played Quixort. Dad just watched on the Jackbox games. Nathaniel, Audrey,
Andrew and I lost to the others on Quixort. By then it was time to have a
prayer and let everybody have a little something to eat and then it was time to
go to the airport. Jonny and Daniel stayed home and the rest of us rode along.
We said our goodbyes and they headed to security and we went back home. Nobody
cared about watching a movie so I just sat downstairs and played on my phone
while Michael and Dad and Andrew watched some football highlights and part of
the game. Eventually we all started heading to bed.
What an amazing, fantastic day!
October 4, Wednesday
We had a lot going on this morning. Daniel, Andrew and I all left at 7:30 AM. Daniel went to swim practice, I went to tennis, and Andrew went to pick up Dad at the airport. I played tennis and won two sets. I was done by 10 AM and home by about 10:20 AM. Dad and Andrew had just gotten home because they went to Waffle House. Daniel got home shortly after they did. The boys played Aggravation with Dad while I got ready for the day. Daniel won. I made chicken enchiladas for dinner. Daniel went to hang out at Carson's house this afternoon and he ate when he got home. Dad and I watched Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, regular Wheel of Fortune, and the Masked Singer. Then Jonny begged for the downstairs TV so Dad and I played backgammon and everybody else did their own thing.
October 5, Thursday
I had a fun day with Dad and the boys. We left around 10:30 AM for Scottsdale and went to Octane Raceway. Jonny did his junior race first, then Andrew and Daniel did two adult races. Andrew got first place in the first adult race. He did amazing! He was tearing it up. He and Daniel started in 11th and 12th place respectively, but Andrew kept passing people and made it all the way to first.
After Octane Raceway, we went to lunch at Butters Pancakes. Once we got there, there was a table ready for us right then so we got right in. It was a great meal and we had fun.
Dad wanted my help with changing the ringtones for me and Debbie and Ken because we're the ones he texts and calls the most. He was pretty touched when I told him that my ringtone for him was All-American Girl. I played it for him and he got choked up. I told him that reminds me of when he told me that he thought I was going to be a boy and then once he realized I was a girl, he threw out all the boy toys he had bought and never looked back.
Dad took a nap and I did some work on the computer and we mostly hung out. Daniel had swim practice at 6:30 PM. When Dad woke up from his nap, he and Andrew went to Cobblestone car wash to get the car cleaned inside and out. I made pork roast for dinner so we all had some of that. Andrew went to work out and so did I. Once the boys got home, we read through the lesson for the week. Then Michael went to work out. Dad and I watched The Amazing Race. Once he went to bed, I watched The Golden Bachelor. It's been a great fall break so far!
