Friday, August 29, 2008

Hotdog Derby Spectators

I have just finished a session of dumpster diving. Nothing beats sorting through mushy bits of strawberry and used diapers, looking for the list that chronicles the noteworthy events of the past week. Alas, my hands are empty, besides some residue that should come off with a good scrub. What this means for you: less reading, and less information. Maybe it’s a tender mercy. God loves you.

Ryan’s schedule is back to the mix of work, school, exercise and homework. He only had one class last week because school started on a Thursday. He needed a break from school on Friday so we tore up the scene at the Spaulding’s apartment with a rousing round of “The Celestial Companions Game.”

On Saturday we went to the Royals game. Neither Ryan nor I had been to a professional baseball game before. We had only seen the likes of the “Bees” and the “Raptors,” until now. The best part of the game was the “hotdog derby.” Dressing people up in oversized hot dog outfits and making them run a race is funnier than it sounds.

The game itself didn’t hold my attention long, even with the reggaeton intro for each of the batters. The Royals didn’t break their losing streak. They made their seventh loss in a row a perfect one, they left no doubts who was the better team. They didn’t score a run the entire game. They should have let the running hotdogs play.

The Moody’s (Ryan will be in Brother Moody’s class next semester) surprised us with an invitation to dinner Sunday night, and a carillon concert by the second ward’s very own Elizabeth Egbert Berghout. The pizza was great as was the conversation. Five year old Emma informed me that she has two friends, maybe three and that she is excessively strong. She just started kindergarten and her favorite subject so far is P.E. “That’s gym,” she informed me.

Maybe my education at Weber State University was incomplete, because until Sunday afternoon I had no idea what a carillon was. It turns out, the bells that play in a bell tower are an instrument and it is called a carillon. The official university carillonneur is a member of our ward. One of her duties as carillonneur is to give concerts every Sunday and Wednesday. She took us up to the top of the bell tower, no elevator mind you, and let us play the bells. We rang the biggest bell four times and fooled people into thinking it was only four o’clock. People more likely thought the bell tower was broken by the time we stopped attempting to play a song.

I was finally given a visiting teaching assignment. I’ll be learning ASL, or trying to anyway, because I’m visiting a girl that is deaf. I have a lot in common with her and her two daughters. The Little Mermaid is our favorite Disney movie. I’m sure we’ll get along famously.

I’m also visiting a lady that just had back surgery a month ago and owns a two ton vacuum. I’ll be pushing that vacuum around her house until she has recovered enough to do it by herself. Her doctor just gave her the Okay to start bending down if she does it carefully. I think I’ll be helping for a while, but that’s fine. She’s a great conversationalist and she loves holding Bella.

My companion is a delightful girl named Megan. Her son Asher is one year old and is Bella’s first little friend. He likes to hold her hand and rock her in her car seat. They’ve had a lot of time to get to know each other this week.

We love you all, and hope you have had a great week!

Love Ryan, Cecilia and Isabella

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