Sunday with the Indiana Calls

Sunday began with a few cartoons for Ali and Kaitlyn until a grown up woke up. (The grown ups who stayed up packing until the wee hours got to sleep in this morning.) After breakfast, Kaitlyn and Max enjoyed a game of Twister. Then Mom and Max fixed Ali's and Kaitlyn's hair while they worked on the Disney Princess subtraction cards that Grandma brought.




About an hour before church was to begin (at 1 p.m.) we had family home evening/morning, following the family tradition since Nathan is typically gone from early Monday morning until late Thursday night. It was Kate's turn to conduct so she began, "Hi. My name is Kaitlyn and I'll be conducting this morning...." Ali led us in the opening songs, including "Hinges" and "Popcorn Popping," and Grandma said the opening prayer. Then Megan (and Max) told us a story from the Friend about a grumpy girl who learned it was more fun to be happy and obedient.





The activity (lead by Nathan) was web camming with Uncle Craig and Grandpa.


Kate showed them the picture of Michelle talking with Kate and Ali on her wedding day. When Kate's friend saw the picture on their fridge earlier this week, she exclaimed, "Did you go to Disneyland?!" No, but Michelle did look like a princess!


Ali showed them her loose front tooth and said if they were really quiet, they could hear it when she wiggled it, which she did and Grandpa said he heard it!


Kaitlyn and Ali watch Grandpa sing "If you chance to meet a frown..."


Before we left for church, Grandma took some family pictures. Max is holding his favorite toy (Megan's old phone) and Kate is getting ready to wear her new Sunday shoes.


Megan was released from teaching the Sunbeams last week and called to teach the 16-17-year-olds. She was ready for their first question ("Did you bring a treat?!") with Reese's peanut butter cups. She said the lesson went well, even though she had two classes instead of just one. We're not surprised the youth have already figured out she's going to be a great teacher!

I asked Nathan and Megan what they were most looking forward to about their trip. Megan said, "Sleeping in and not having to cook or clean up!" Nathan said, "Sleeping in and eating as much as we want to!" They're planning two excursions: riding dolphins (Megan's childhood dream) and exploring Tulum (based on Nathan's fond memories of our family trip). Sounds like they're going to have a fabulous time!

Megan and Nathan left on their trip at about 7:15 this evening shortly after putting Max down. Kate had asked me several times if I could check to see if I had brought them any more little gifts, and I said that I would check after Mom and Dad left. She also asked for ice cream, and I replied we could have some after Mom and Dad left. When their ride came to pick them up and Megan called out, "They're here!" Kate said, "YES!!!" After a quick demo of their Power Wheels driving expertise for the other couple, Ali and Kaitlyn merrily wished their parents good-bye and raced inside for some icecream and surprise gifts: Disney princess pens and a Winne-the-Pooh shapes workbook for Kaitlyn and a High School musical pen and "mad libs" book for Ali. (The 99 Cent store is a great resource.)


After working through several pages of the workbook, we took some crazy pictures, played Rummy Cube, had a treat after they got their PJs on (a Grandma tradition), then had prayer scripture prayer, a couple of stories, brushing teeth, and finally to bed! (Stalling? Do you really think so?!)

Tytan's First Football Game

It was no secret that Tytan was looking forward to the big game between 20th ranked BYU and 3rd ranked Oklahoma. You could see the guarded optimism in his eyes during his daily workout as the sweat glistened on his supple toned physique.


Even though he did not say much it was evident that the game was on his mind, so he tried to quell his nerves by taking a dip in his Olympic training pool.


At last the day arrived and he said to his Dad as they were swimming together, "We can beat them, can't we Dad? I mean, even though they have the Heisman winner, we have a good team too, right?"



Although Bryan tried to reassure him, Ty was still anxious and uncertain. He knew that this game was so important in building confidence and setting precedent for the entire season. "When you are in the non-BCS conferences, you can't even stub your toe if you want any respect from the rest of the nation," he mused.


During the game his real emotions began to show. Just when the BYU defense had shut down the potent Oklahoma attack, the special teams botched the punt return turning it over and Ty grimaced in dismay. After a missed a field goal due to a penalty and re-kick, he muttered to himself, "That's a rotten way to start the game," while trying to rein in his disappointment. He was fearful that BYU might snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as they had on other occasions.


Even so, the stingy BYU defense was really doing a number on the touted Oklahoma running game and the only Sooner success came through the air thanks to their quarterback, Sam Bradford. A few plays later and BYU was again threatening, although BYU was not effective running the ball either. Max Hall (named after Ty's cousin Max Call) was finding his tight end, Dennis Pitta, just enough to move the ball down the field. When BYU fumbled on the Sooner 2 yard line and the ball was recovered in the end zone, Ty was stoic and philosophical. "There is still plenty of time left." he thought, but he was not sure if he believed that or not.


Then BYU recovered a Sooner fumble a few plays later and his anticipation began to build. When Max Hall hit his receiver, Andrew George, in the end zone on the right side for a TD, he almost jumped out of his seat with excitement. By half time Oklahoma held only a slim three point lead at 10 to BYU's 7; so there was hope that the second half would see some better results.

Ty knew that he needed to save his energy and suggested that his Dad might do the same, so they forced themselves to catch a few Zs.



The second half was a nail biter. BYU got close but Oklahoma tacked on another field goal so the score was Sooners 13, BYU 7, and time was slipping away. Recognizing that Max was not finding anyone open on the outside because of the superb play by the Oklahoma corners, Ty mentioned to his Dad that BYU needed to look for openings in the interior seams. Not sure if it was telepathy or just great minds thinking alike, Ty noticed that Coach Bronco Mendenhall began that attack and the ball moved down the field with the precision passing of Max Hall. Ty couldn't stand to look when it was 4th down and 3 to go and BYU did not have enough time to come back if they did not convert.



He thought, "By moving quickly to the line of scrimmage and changing the cadence of the count, BYU just might be able to sneak a quick pass through the Sooner secondary." Sure enough, that is exactly what Bronco thought as well and it worked to perfection. He heard the cheers, and began to think this could really happen. BYU could actually pull this one off. It might even be a good start to a new season. He wouldn't let himself get too elated, but there was no doubt that it was a possibility. He dived to the floor as BYU tried running it in from the two, but even with his empathetic support, the ball had not budged.


Calmly, he considered the situation. "They need to send Pitta to the front of the end zone for a pass decoy and then throw it to Jacobson. He has been quiet all night." When to his amazement, that is just what BYU did and it worked--TD! BYU was ahead with only three minutes to go.

A few minutes later when Oklahoma missed a field goal, there was nothing to suppress a BYU victory if they could just "take a knee" for three consecutive downs. They did it! The game was over! BYU won 14 to 13! It was everything he had hoped. He hardly knew what to say. "Did you see that, Mom? They did it! I had my doubts, but they actually did it! Aren't you excited?"



After the cheering died down and he had a chance to analyze the stats, he thought, "Maybe I'll just have a drink with my Dad . . .


and then go see what Grandma and Grandpa are up to."

Saturday Family Time

First thing this morning, Kaitlyn disappeared into the garage. Nathan called out to her, "Whatcha doing, Kate?"
"Workin' out!"

After her workout, Kate and I walked around the block with Max in the stroller. Then Max and I walked around the neighborhood while Ali rode her bike along side.

Mid morning the whole family headed over to the bowling alley. Kaitlyn and Ali are amazing bowlers! Nathan and Megan tag teamed bowling and chasing Max around the game arcade. Nathan came in first, Megan second; Ali beat me, and I beat Kaitlyn :).

We hurried home from bowling to get ready for the baptism of Ali's friend, Susan May. Kaitlyn was thrilled because Megan let her wear one of her new preschool dresses. Megan stayed home while Max took a nap and she typed up a fabulous detailed schedule and contact list for me to refer to while they're gone.



I'm beginning to realize that one of my biggest challenges when Nathan and Megan are gone will be saying "No" to these charmers. Case in point: Max is perfecting his persuasion skills with "Hi Gapa. Paco!" (Translation: Hi Grandma. Popsicle!) Who could resist this face?! Max hasn't quite grasped "Please," but he knows all about "Thank you," and says it often.



Nathan took the kids to Independence Park while I fixed dinner and Megan ran errands. We enjoyed a rousing game of Boggle while waiting for Megan to return. Ali and I beat Nathan and Kaitlyn on the final round. For the record, I couldn't have done it without Ali--her score was one point higher than mine! I was amazed that Kaitlyn found several two letter words as well. Objectively speaking, all our grandchildren are genuises.


This evening we watched the BYU game with Nathan's and Megan's backdoor neighbors, Amy and Todd Moore. Ali and Kaitlyn were allowed to stay up until the end of the first half. This was my first experience with DVR and I loved that we could fast forward through all the commercials...until 15 seconds before the winning touchdown, that is, when the recording timer ran out and Nathan had to scramble to get back to the game...just after the touchdown. So we had to wait until the highlights after the game to see it. But it was a great game and fun to watch with Nathan and Megan who are so thoroughly into it at the top of their lungs. Go Cougars!

Lunch at school and a field trip

This morning I had breakfast with Kaitlyn and Max, who decided to be ultra proper and eat his doughnut with a fork. (Nathan's traditional homecoming treat last night was a dozen Krispy Kremes.) Ali had already gone off to school.

Max did have a little spill, but much more contained than yesterday. And for the rest of the day, he did really well.


After breakfast it was time for the beating of a lifetime and silly kisses.





Later Max pretended to give Kaitlyn a ride in the truck.


We surprised Ali by joining her for lunch at school.








Max and Kaitlyn suited up for some heavy duty work.



While Ali was at school and Max was sleeping, Megan, Kaitlyn and I went on a field trip to the zoo. Kate enjoyed the dolphin show and the playground the most. My favorite was the East African Gaboon viper.





Ali did a great job sweeping up after dinner. Then she and Kaitlyn tackled their enormous closet while Max took his baby for a walk in Ali's tap shoes. Kate is showing off her new clothes for preschool.





We finished off the day with Prayer Scripture Prayer. Because it was so late, we each recited an Article of Faith instead, then Nathan told the girls the story of Noah. Kaitlyn repeated the 4th and Ali the 9th Article of Faith. "Impressive!" as Kaitlyn loves to say.