Busy Month of May

May 24 email to my brother, Elder Logan Hayden:
Well, it's been quite a week. Our laptop got a virus, a motorcyclist ran into Jake in our good car (and luckily didn't die, though he could have), and after spending all day Saturday planting our garden with Alisha we woke up to a surprise blanket of snow this morning. I doubt if we'll have anything that has survived except the carrots, radishes, and peas. I'm waiting for Jake to come back home from work to give me the car key that he accidentally took with him so I can take our car over to a place to be fixed. I guess when it rains, it pours, right? :) Luckily none of it is really that big of a deal.

On the positive side, Grant knows the last word of each line (and a few in between) for Popcorn Popping, I Am a Child of God, "Here is the chapel" hand game, and various others. His favorite, though, is still Circle of Life. Oh, and he's not screaming quite as much when we lay him down for naps and bedtime. It's amazing how much less stressed I am without having to listen to that for three hours a day! This Sunday I think I will go to nursery with him to test it out before the first week of June (that's when he's going to start going, even though it's a month early, because of the teaching assignments Jake and I have on Sundays during the month).  He is happy and content if he can eat sugar or salt, push the vacuum/broom/mop, clean with wet washcloths (maybe I should call him Cinderello), play in a bubble bath, dig in the dirt, draw with sidewalk chalk, or slide and swing.

Jake and I are just trying to keep our heads above water with all of the events of early summer, mostly revolving around mission and wedding events. He's doing pretty well in his Spanish class, and he's always in demand at work (he has done a lot of book cover designs and is also the #2 guy over editing).

Well, Grant is screaming at me since I took his pen away. He doesn't understand the concept of consequences for breaking rules, but maybe if I keep at it one day he will (when he's twenty).

May 30 email to Elder Hayden
Things have been busy with wedding and mission preparations for Jake's siblings. We spent a (sleepless) night at Camp Williams with his family (thanks to Grant for screaming half of the time), and then we went to Boondocks together Saturday morning. Grant is quite the mini-golfing pro--he helped me get a hole in one. We also stopped at the zoo to see what we missed last time. Zoos (and everything else) are so much better when you can re-visit them through your child's eyes!


He's crying to type to "Oga," so here's his message to you for the week. I'm sure it is filled with wit and wisdom:

hhhhghhgggggfsssssjkjh   bhbjhhgf


Mom drove all the way down to Sandy from Idaho just to watch Grant for two hours while we went through the temple. We are very lucky to have a mother that not only loves her children, but also who loves and understands the importance of the temple. When Jake's grandma heard what Mom had done, she came up to me and said, "So, your mom drove all the way down here so you could come to the temple? That is so lucky!  Well, you know, she's the lucky one because she gets to watch that little man of yours." She loves Grant. Thanks again, Mom!