THIRTY-EIGHT DAYS OF DROUGHT

Thirty-eight long days. The swings blew silently in the breeze. The grass began to grow in the worn, dirt patches under them. Grandpa was known to shed a tear or two as he worked in the yard and passed the lonely spot.
And then, last Saturday, relief came came flooding through the yard in the form of Audrey, Ethan and Morgan with cries of "High push", and "Grandpa, now me" and , of course, "Mine!!!" What a fun afternoon we had. The temperature was a perfectly sun-filled, yet just-right September day. The kids and Grandpa played outside while I had Noah at the Temple while his parents attended a sealing. Noah was absolutely perfect in the Temple. I imagine he felt quite at home there.
When I returned home, the kids were taking a break in the house for lunch and then we all went outside again. Morgan wanted to swing over and over, but most of her weight is in her tummy and backside and her short little legs just can't compensate very long. Grandpa would hold her on the swing and she would be so happy, but after about two forwards and backs, she would start to slip off. She would be happy to stand there and just hold the swing - until Ethan wanted his turn. Then the chorus of Mine, mine, mine would ring out. Ethan was very good about not fighting with her and let us distract her before taking his turn on the swing. He was the most daring of all - swinging the highest, climbing the highest - in fact, he almost made it into the tree and seemed surprised when we encouraged him. We told him the rule was that when he
could do it on his own, he could climb the tree. And he made some serious progress.

They all got up and sang and danced for us. Ethen has some good dance moves - he looks as though he has watched a lot of soft shoe routines. Morgan didn't want to sing or dance until someone else did and then she would go throw them off of the 'stage' and yell "mine". Then she would perform. She also didn't want her picture taken in her car. She would hide her face below the doors and frown so we wouldn't take it. I had to wait a long time before I could get one.

Later, however, we couldn't take enough pictures.
All of these group pictures were dictated by Morgan. And for nearly every normal shot, there is one with their tongues sticking out! And then she had to see each one.

After all of this hilarity, we went into the house and Audrey and Ethan and I settled on my bed to watch The Muppet Show - There I was, on my bed with a boy and girl - just like old times. I just need to get these grandkids up here more often! Morgan, however, was not content to sit and watch TV. She was determined to sit on the hearth in a little gap between the CD rack and the boxes. She has stood in that spot before, but now the huge exercise bike is on the way and was completely blocking her path. She kept trying to get through and would look at me. I would say no and she would smile and say "peas?" and I would say no. This went on over and over until she went around to other side of the bike and made it onto the hearth. She gave me her biggest smile that said - see? I'm so smart.

And then she ran over to play with grandpa.

We have seen all of the grandkids since Jimmy and Zoe moved away, but this was the first time we had a group here for a long time and they played outside with us and we felt like we got to know them a little better. Knowing Jimmy and Zoe was easy because they were always here. We need more time with all of the others and especially Sam and Holly before they go away for several years. We need to work some time out, right?