Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Sarah and Sam went on a ten day trip to Turkey and asked if we would watch their kids while they were gone. We jumped at the chance. It is so difficult to travel to Glen Rock that we don’t get to see them and their family very often, so we were thrilled.
They arrived late on Wednesday, February 11. Sarah and Sam wanted to spend a few days together with us so that the kids could get to know us a little better. That was not necessary for Skye but Ezzy is quite shy and she really did need the time to get comfortable with us.Lisa had the week of 2/16 to 2/20 off but she did was supposed to work on the 12th and 13th while Sam and Sarah were here.
Mom took Thursday off work and everyone headed to the beach and LaJolla Shores. I worked all day and met up them at Childrens beach. Friday Mom and I both worked and Sarah and Sam took the kids out to do stuff.Saturday morning we all said goodbye to Sam and Sarah. I was worried the kids would have a meltdown but they were amazing. Even though Sarah warned Ezzy several times that they would be gone a long time, Ezzy assumed they would be back that evening. After a few days of her asking if her parents would be back “that day” I made her a calendar showing the day her family arrived, the day that her parents left, the day that her parents would get on an airplane to come home and the day that they would return home. Every morning we would cross off the day and she never asked again when her parents would be back.We had a pretty busy schedule on Saturday. I worked in my yard until early afternoon and Skye was fascinated with what I was doing.Around the midafternoon we all went to a baptism of a single mother. Ezzy made some very good friends and didn’t want to leave until she learned that her new friend, Charlotte Knaphus, would be at James Hiltons missionary farewell and then we were off. Ezzy had a blast at both the baptism and the farewell.
We all went to church on Sunday and Skye loved the nursery and Ezzy loved her class. She had made friends with one of the girls who was in an older class than her so we sent her off to that class and I sat in the back of the class just to make sure things went smoothly. I didn’t need to worry. Ezzy even shushed a couple of kids we were talking.
The rest of the day on Sunday we just relaxed and enjoyed the kids. The kids decided to turn me into an Andorian. They ended up getting a little aggressive and I ended up with some pretty serious cupping marks. I’m not exactly sure what Lisa and Skye were doing in this picture but they appear to be having fun.On Monday Lisa took the kids to some Play Place in Mira Mesa while I was able to get some work done. It sounds like this was an amazing place and the kids could have spent the whole day there. You can see Ezzy fixing a car in this picture.Come Tuesday both Lisa and Skye were starting to feel a bit under the weather. Even though she was sick, Lisa still took the kids to the zoo. They both kind of crashed that night though.Wednesday was a bit of a recovery day for both Lisa and Skye. She let me work as much as she could but it wasn’t a very productive day for me. It was good to interact with the kids a bit more though.
Pretty much every single day that they were here these kids wanted to make lemonaide. Somedays they wanted it twice. I’m sure I could make a batch of lemonaide in half the time it takes these kids to do it but where is the fun in that?I love that every single grandchild who comes to visit us asks to make lemonaide. It is also fun that the lemon tree has been there since the day we moved in and has had lemons on it pretty much every day since. It has kind of become a symbol of our family.On Thursday Lisa took the kids to the Scripps Ranch Library. She was only planning on being there for their story time but ended up becoming part of a big Chinese New Year celebration. It sounded pretty fascinating.
I took Friday off work and we all went to the Safari Park. It had been raining off and on all week but Saturday was a beautiful day.Saturday morning Lisa and Ezzy made cookies and then since we already had tickets, we headed to the San Diego Zoo.Ezzy’s favorite thing at the Zoo is not an animal but the Sky Train.Ezzy really wanted to see a Cheetah but we were having so much fun that the day got away from us.
We did find this Jaguar sleeping right up next to the window. It looked just like a kitten and you wanted to reach out an pet it.Not Ezzy though. She wasn’t getting anywhere near it.Sunday was stake conference and I had a leadership meeting in the morning at 7:30 and Lisa had a choir practice at 8:45. She brought the kids and I sat with them to save seats. We were worried about them sitting for three hours so I sat next to the Evans. The Evans sign for the deaf people attending conference so I knew I would have support and a front row seat. I took the kids on several walks before conference started at 10:00 but once Charlotte Knaphus showed up to sit with her grandparents, Ezzy was glued to her. They were perfect little angels the entire time. I made cookies for Charlotte and Jacklyn as a thank you.
At one point I fell asleep on the couch and the kids decided to cover me up with pillows. I kind of miss playing with little kids. By that I mean, I lay down and the kids do things to me.For dinner we had a wiener roast. The kids thought it was fun but they were not going near the fire.On Monday Lisa had to go back to work so I was in charge of the kids again. By now both Ezzy and I had seasons passes to the zoo and Ezzy still hadn’t seen the Cheetah so off we went.
Between our trip to the Safari Park and our three trips to the zoo the kids had seen every thing but for some reason we had never managed to find the cheetah. I know that sounds like a lot of trips but the kids loved the animals and each trip was very relaxed and they weren’t our normal trips where we are there when the park opens and didn’t leave when they kick us out. They were fun and relaxed trips.
I was kind of dissappointed when we got to the cheetah enclosure because I couldn’t see one anywhere. Then I spotted him. Can you see him?Here is a close up, does that help? He was just a few feet away from us.Sarah and Sam got home around three in the afternoon and after a good evening of visiting we all went to bed and Sarah and her family headed to the airport early Tuesday morning.
I have always told Lisa that I would have more kids anytime she wanted. That is no longer true. Sarahs kids are about the best behaved kids you could ask for, and there are only two of them but I am exhausted. As they say, there is a reason you have kids when you’re young. I am tired, but what a wonderful time it was to have kids in the home.
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Ancient Greece did not have a name for the color "blue".
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