With today being National Grandparents Day, Topher wanted to use this post to send a special thanks to his grandparents for all they have done for him in the past 11 months.
We sure appreciate everything you all have done for us. Take this as official permission to take some time off and relax. Since we know you are all pretty bad at doing so, Topher wanted to show you how:
Wastin' away in margaritaville
Thanks to all of the grandparents out there!
And just as a quick note, we wanted to note that BYU is doing so well that even the Wal-Marts in Connecticut have started carrying their gear:
We really don't know how this made it to the Willimantic Walmart, but you can bet we bought it.
School has started for Scott once again so Toph and I have had some free time on our hands. We've decided to develop some of our talents :). I discovered Topher's innate desire to cook the other day when I opened the fridge and yours truly came running. The next thing I knew, he was holding a spatula and gathering ingredients into a pile. Everything eventually ended up on the floor, but I thought it would be cool (and really nice for me) if Toph likes to cook someday like his Daddy does :)
I, on the other hand, being a less than notable cook have turned my attention to knitting. Scott's mom has been teaching me to knit and I've discovered that I really enjoy it! A couple of weeks ago I finished my first project, a baby blanket for a friend. I was so proud of myself, and since this is my blog and I can write whatever I want, I think the blanket turned out wonderfully!
Toph and I will be quite a team once we've mastered our new skills :).
Sorry everyone about missing last week. School has started back up and I've found that they tend to get graduate students right in the swing of things. Now I've been using school work as an excuse to keep from doing lots of things, and lots of things as an excuse for not doing school work. Needless to say, I'm simultaneously as stressed and as relaxed as I've been for some time.
Now that that is out of the way, join me on a journey into the not so distant past...
SMOKE FILLS THE ROOM
So, my folks came out to visit us. I thought that it was so that they could come to see Topher, but it turned out that it was so that my mom could further convert Megan into what I
begrudgingly call a "knit-nut."
This is Topher's "Somebody pay attention to me!" stance.
Despite being a little under the weather, Topher warmed up to folks to the point that he smiled at the camera while they held him -- a feat that neither Megan nor I have yet accomplished.
Don't be surprised if this face gets photoshopped into the next few months' family photos.
We decided to make our way up to Massachusetts to take in Lexington, Concord, and Boston.
The National Historic Site visitors center near Concord is actually quite amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone within a reasonable distance.
Topher really got into the spirit of things.
Apparently Topher is a patriot at heart, since he'd allow the tricorn hat to stay on for 1.5 seconds longer than the pirate hat we bought him.
We really didn't know what we were getting into in Concord. Apparently in addition to being the site of the "Shot heard 'round the world," it was home to a gaggle of famous authors and poets. For example Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau are all buried in Concord.
Here we are at Walden Pond. This was the only shot we could get without B.F. Skinner herding his infants around the property in the background.
In addition to taking in the historical sites, we took a moment to visit the grounds of the Boston LDS Temple.
Unfortunately, my dad and Topher had a bit of a falling out in the process.
Fortunately, we have a saying in our family: "Cemeteries cure all ills."
Well, that joke is actually a little deeper than I care to deal with at the moment.
Boston hadn't changed too much since the last time we visited, but this time around we made it to the Bunker Hill monument.
Elevators not included.
Against my better judgement, I agreed to take the 294 stairs to the top.
Here is some good proof that just because I'm smiling, you shouldn't assume I'm okay.
Topher sure showed me up, he didn't even break a sweat going up.
At least he hasn't learned to yell "Mush!" yet.
All and all we had a great time and sure enjoyed having my folks out. And if there is one lasting benefit, it is that Megan no longer needs to resort to sticking head bands on Topher to entertain herself.
At least we'll be able to show this to a fiance someday.
Now in unrelated news (per usual), I secretly think that this is why the Cougars won last night:
We're glad that Topher doesn't startle like he used to because there was a significant amount of shouting, high-fiving, yelling, and cheering going on last night. We're also glad that we don't have any neighbors.
And as a final note to my parents: Topher may be walking, but you're plan has yet to come to fruition:
Kind of reminds you of Bam-Bam from the Flinstones, doesn't it?
