Day 10: William's Story

One night at bedtime when Andy was two-years-old, I told him that we would go to the park the next day. He was so happy as he anticipated the park outing that I made up a little story for him about a boy I called Willy, I even titled the story "Willy Goes to the Park". After that, Andy frequently would request a "Willy story" and I would make one up for him on a number of different subjects and activities that "Willy" did. Andy still has memories of his custom made stories, and since he has a little boy named William, today I'm going to tell a William story... because I'm certain that Willy's name was really William too.

 William Rides the Train

Once there was a little boy named William who was five-years-old. One day William's Grandma came to his house. They were going to have a Grandma Day together. William had a big smile on his face and said, "hi Grandma" when she arrived. They said good-by to William's mommy and brothers and they drove to the train station. William LOVES trains.

William waited patiently for the train to come. When the train arrived he held Grandma's hand so that he would be safe. William and Grandma climbed the stairs so that they could sit on the top floor of the train. They were high above everything as the train flew down the tracks. They saw houses and animals and cars and even Lagoon. William told Grandma, "that's my Lagoon."

When the train stopped William and Grandma went into the train museum. William had been there before so he led Grandma all around. At the train museum there are real train cars. William climbed up on the different cars. One car was a 2002 Olympics car. Grandma took William's picture there. William's mommy was a volunteer at the 2002 Olympics.

William and Grandma played with a wooden toy train on a wooden track. William knew how to share because he said, "here's your train Grandma" as he placed four train cars in front of her. Grandma and William each led their trains around the track being careful not to have a collision.

 Soon it was time for William and Grandma to go back to the train and return home. When they got home William told Grandma "thank you", and Grandma told William, "thanks for coming with me and showing me the train museum." They had a fun day together.

Play Ball!!!

Saturday was a big day for my grandson William. He got to throw the first pitch at Spring Mobile Ballpark for the Utah Utes baseball game!!! William is a pretty amazing little boy, and as you can see he has a beautiful big smile. I have never mentioned on my blog before that William has autism. The Utes have volunteered at William's school and they invited the families to a baseball game, and William was chosen to throw the first pitch!!! Grandpa (Mike) and I were invited to the event and what a treat we all had. We walked right through the dugout where the players were waiting for the game to start. They high-fived us and were so friendly (and even let me take their pictures). We got to go behind the dugout which is under the "bleachers" and see the batting cages where they practise. When we came back to the dugout Will got to meet the coach. Adam and Zach got to line up in front of the team as the National Anthem was sung. Then William's name was announced and he pitched the ball perfectly... we all cheered!!! We could sit anywhere we wanted to. Grandpa and Adam sat on the front row right behind homeplate. Zach and I went to the right field so that he could catch the foul balls. The Utes are such good players that their foul balls went right over our heads, over the top of the stadium, and probably landed somewhere on 13th south... Zach didn't get any foul balls. We had a great time!!! Thanks to William for sharing his good fortune.

Classics and Favorites: Grandpa Bear and William

Michael just came home from work and the second thing he said was, "you didn't do a classics and favorites today." Oops!!! How did I overlook that. I told him that I hadn't even picked a picture yet. He humbly volunteered to let me post a picture of him... he needed some "kudos". Don't we all some days? Well, I knew just the picture of him I wanted to post, but, while searching for it came across this favorite that was taken while standing in line at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland in 2009. I love little William's smile and his little hand round his Grandpa's neck. I love the look on Michael's face too... "hmmm", you say, "we can't see Mike's face." Well, just look at what you can see, it's plain as day to me... his big smile and the twinkle in his eyes. How can you miss it!?!

Summer Concert and New Hobby #1 Update

Last night was Endless Summer's concert in the park and WOW! what a great turn out. The west end of the park was filled with lawn chairs, blankets and people. I don't think anyone went away disappointed. It was a fabulous performance.



Adam, Zach and Will got in on the performance again with Tambourine Man.

Here is just some of the crowd with a few of our Endless Summer "family" in the foreground.

Alex, Alana and Bob; our cousins.

Tiffany and Mike; our friends.

Andy singing Long, Cool Woman and introducing the band members.

I don't have any pictures of my new hobby yet; but I'm happy to report that I reached my Labor Day goal today... a week early.

Egg Hunt

It was an "egg"citing

"egg"stravaganza

at the "egg"tended

L"egg"er family

Easter egg hunt.

Our sweet baby Jane
Our Prince William Our Miss Avery
Our sweet baby James Our Mason Man Our cute Tanner Our original "whittle guys" Adam and Zach Our Grandpa Bear; doesn't he make a great prop? See the egg in his hood.

Tending The Grandkids

Over the past two weeks we've had some quality time with grandchildren while their parents vacationed. I remember how great it was as a young mom to have a "get-away" without the kids, so I'm always happy when I can do my part in making it possible for my kids to do the same.

I had several highlight moments with the kids, but I have to share just one that I had with Mason who is an avid BYU fan. The two of us were gearing up to kick a soccer ball around the backyard when he said, "Grandma, I'll be the good guy and you be the Utah guy!"

Don't you just love it!?!

Of course, if you know me at all you know I'm a safety freak. So, besides being a good babysitter, I'm a good pray-er. Praying for the children's safety while I am responsible for them, and praying that the parents... get home safely!!!

Family Friday: Featuring My Grandson William

Throughout my life I have known a handful of people that have a smile "that cannot be wiped off their face" that smile is a gift and my grandson William is one of those people. When he looks at me and that beautiful smile breaks out it makes my heart just burst.

William came into the world 7 weeks early on November 26, 2006. I had the privilege of being in the delivery room when he was born, it was truly a miracle and I will be forever grateful that I had that experience. William spent the first 4 weeks of his life in the NICU and was able to come home on Christmas Eve, that was truly the best Christmas present.

As a two-year-old, William is so full of energy and has such a zest for life, it sometimes wears me out just watching him move. He loves to go, go, go....

It is so fun seeing the new things that William learns as he is getting older. His excitement as the "choo-choo" goes by the back of his house, when he sings "e-i-e-i-o", and when I say to him, "one" and he replies, "doo" it is so cute. If we are tending him, as soon as his parents return he looks at us with his big smile and says, "bye". I can only assume that he has just dismissed us.

At a recent family dinner at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Melissa's home, it was fun to watch as William kept coming to get his Grandpa Bear (Mike) by the hand to go play "Wheeeee". Not the "Wii" that everybody else likes to play, this game is different. William sat on the gliding ottoman while Grandpa gave a little push to make it move and then William would jump off while saying, "wheeeee." A few minutes later he came looking for Grandpa, then he led his Grandpa by the hand to the ottoman, and the whole procedure began again.

I shared a "tender moment" with William when he was just a year old. I was staying with the boys at their home one Sunday morning and William was supposed to be napping. He was crying in his bed so I went into his room and picked him up. I went over to the rocking chair where I sat down and began to rock him as I sang primary songs softly into his ear. He just laid his head on my shoulder and listened, but every couple of minutes he would pull away and look at me, smile, and then lay his head back on my shoulder. This went on for several minutes until he fell asleep. I loved those moments that we spent together and I think William did too.

I am so grateful for William, he is one of our precious "Little Guys" and he is loved so much.

William's family: Daddy, Mommy, Adam, Zachary, and William