Presidents' Day cake

Lincoln needed to drive Keller around in the Cozy Coupe...He has a doll he calls Baby Keller.

Thank you for praying for my dad. He is currently in the Ogden hospital recovering/being watched. They put in (is that the right term?) two stints last night and will insert another in about a month when he gains some strength back. I guess he’s been having pains for a few days, but since he’s often sick they weren’t sure if it was just more of the normal. He went to a USU basketball game the night before, taught Sunday school, and told my mom he was fine. She finally convinced him to go to the ER. The cardiologist says she saved his life, or: “One more hour and she would have been a widow.” He didn’t think it could be two serious as he’s had worse pain. Leave it to my dad to think a heart attack isn’t that big of a deal, even in the midst of it.

So. We’re all relieved, amazed, and grateful. Levi had tons of intuitive and perspicacious questions I wasn’t ready for. Regardless of what happens though, the plan of salvation is real. Death isn’t the end. As Wesley says, it’s like graduation. This is all additionally weird as one of the sisters I visit taught in Walnut Creek ward had a heart attack on Thursday; she didn’t live, even though she’s been doing very well over the last year and is only in her 50s. Sometimes I wonder if we all have an hour glass on us and if I’ll be satisfied when mine declares that time’s up.

The week went, crazily as ever. The boys joined me cleaning the home of a family who moved out of the ward. Bless my good boys. We made a flag cake to celebrate President’s Day since some friends joined us for FHE that night. We even blew out candles and sang (to Lincoln’s delight). Levi ended the night by asking, “Why did Dad marry you?” which I couldn’t answer well enough. Lincoln chimed in with, “I LOVE YOU!” which smoothed everything out.

On Tuesday Keller and Lincoln had well checks. Keller is down to the 50^th percentile as he’s only 15.5 pounds. Lincoln is up to the 10^th percentile from the 5^th. Ah, progress.

Keller rolls and squawks and doesn’t want a binky anymore. He’s discovering the use of his hands. He particularly loves his rattle and silky textures. He bats at the big brothers which they love. And he’s so patient and tolerant. Lincoln sat on him while he was in his swing. He just looked at Lincoln, then me, with an expression of: “As far as I know, I chose this…” He loves outside and sunshine. The doctor says he should be sleeping at least 8 hours in a row at night. Now that he doesn’t have a cold and isn’t dehydrated, etc. etc. etc., I’ve had to pretend bravery and listen to him cry at night. It could be much much worse. He might not be our little bug. I tell myself this while he screams. He used to stop if he heard my voice, but now he knows I won’t immediately pick him up—so he starts screaming harder. Smart kids can be a pain. I love them.

Lincoln’s newest phrase is “Lincoln HAPPY!” This began after conking his head on something (not unusual) then finding his blanket. He took off all my C.S. Lewis books from the shelf, rearranged them, and put them on the shelf again—only backwards. All the while he told himself how Mom was “SO HAPPY!” that he put them on the shelf instead of throwing them across the room (also, not unusual). He was right. He climbed up a tricky playground ladder on his own and often repeats, “By self! By self!” He’s suddenly full of longer sentences like, “What is that up there? Why is that so high?” On Saturday, we cleaned out the gutters and planted our garden. In the compost pile, Wesley found a pecan that had sprouted into a full out darling tree. I called it happy birthday and we planted it in a 5-gallon bucket. Just as I was daydreaming about bringing my little nutty bundle of Texas with us wherever we move, Lincoln pulled off all of the leaves and sat on it. Maybe it will survive anyway.

Levi continues to baffle us with his sense of order and the endless stream of circular “why?” questioning. He loves the word of the day. He thought “interdigitate” was quite entertaining. He rides his bike to the park, fast, wearing my bright red helmet. It doesn’t fit him; he’s concerned about safety and doing what Dad does. (They watched Wes wear his helmet and bike to work every day in Colorado.) After one of our really bad days of the week, I asked what his least favorite part of the day was—we had already listed all the good things—and he responded, “I liked all of today!” Tender forgiving spirit. On the first night that we let Keller cry for 8 hours, he finally settled down around 3:15 a.m. I woke from my doze to soft little voices discussing basketball. I walked in their room to find Levi and Lincoln in matching shorts and shirts. Levi had obviously dressed Lincoln. They played “basketball” with an imaginary ball and try to whisper so we wouldn’t disturb them. I decided to laugh instead of being mad; it seemed more productive. We told stories and sang songs and eventually brought them back to sleep at 5:30. They woke at 6:15. Silly boys. Thankfully, we spent most of Saturday outside in the cool sun.

What an amazing life!