"That's My Eno"

This past weekend I went up to my cousins' house in Sandy, UT to spend time with my cousin Ryan before he leaves on his mission. My Aunt Dena and Uncle Ole were out of town until Sunday morning, but Janae (one of the older sisters) who just moved back from Maryland with her husband Sam and 3 kids: Seara, Elijah, and Enoch was manning the house.


I drove down Thursday after work, hung out with the kids for a few hours, and then drove to Lindon. I met up with Ryan there and we went to Jump On It. Jump On It is a place where they have a lot of trampolines, and you just jump around. One kid got hurt when he flipped and landed on his head, he was taken out on a stretcher and went to the ER. Then I decided I'd follow him back to his house. Well turns out I could have done a better job getting back than he did. He missed the first few exits for the freeway and then construction was blocking one exit, so we took forever to get back. I passed him on the freeway on the way back, but he knew short cuts, so he beat me back.

There was a full house.. And when I say full, I mean full. There were 11 of us. Janae and Same and their 3 kids, Ryan, Liam, and Lissa were there when I arrived on Thursday night. Then Tyler came Friday morning, and his friend from Chile (who is attending school in Oregon) came and stayed with the family friday afternoon. There was our 11 people. And with those 11 people, there were maybe 8 cars (maybe a couple less).


It was so great though. Anyways, I had the time of my life. We didn't do anything that crazy or fun, but just being able to spend time with my family and get to know them all a lot better was really nice. My favorite part of the weekend was taking care of and playing with my first cousin once removed, baby enoch. "That's my Eno." Sometimes I would steal the baby from his 2 year old brother Elijah and he would say, "That's my Eno." My bad. Next time I'll ask before I steal the baby. No, they were great. Janae and Sam were so so great letting me play with their son all weekend. I loved feeding him, playing with him, walking with him, rocking him to sleep, and swimming with him. That baby could not be any cuter, he's as cute as they come.

There was an Elder's Quorum pool party/BBQ Saturday night, and I took little Enoch with me. I fed him watermelon (that is totally our thing now) and beans and peas, and wrapped him up in my big towel and just was thinking this whole time what a cute boy this is.

I had the opportunity of swimming with a baby for the first time. It was kind of scary at first though. I was worried he would get too wet, or slip, or hit his head or drown. But no worries my friends, he lived to tell the tale. He just looked so cute. I somehow got him to wear goggles, and they looked sooo precious. We splashed, and floated, and went down a little slide, and just had fun. I loved every second of it. Janae and Sam kept asking if they could take Enoch so I could swim around, but who in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to hold such a precious child to 'swim around'. No. not I.

So Saturday morning I went to my grandmother's house to visit with her. I never really enjoyed spending time with her because I mean, how much do we have to talk about? I often found her napping as I walked in the room, But I spent probably 8 hours with her, and I just talked with her. I ate breakfast with her, took her on errands/shopping, and took her out to lunch, and just chatted. She even let me do my laundry while I was there. By the end I really just wanted to stay, or at least come back again soon. I had a great time. I really learned to appreciate my family this weekend, and how wonderful being close to them can be. As soon as I can, I am going to go back and visit her. Just walking around with her using my arm to keep balance, going into all the shops, helping her get out her credit card, and handing her receipts. It all seems so simple, but it meant so much to her, and I loved every minute of my time with her.

So what have I been up to this summer? Well, I am not going to school summer, I took classes spring, but summer I am just working. I work for this project called Project SEEL :: Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy. It is partnered with USU through AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is like the peacecorps- I have a year of service contract with them, and can't work, or take more than 6
credits a semester during this year. I work at BYU in the Taylor building (kiddy corner from the Creamery on Ninth) under the Dean and Associate Dean of the McKay School of Education. I am pretty much developing curriculum and programs to help teach kindergarten and preschool students how to read through systematic and engaging ways. Starting in the fall-spring I will go to elementary schools part time to help implement the program and to help teach children how to read through the methods I have developed and strengthened.

And let see, the other weekend it was the 6th Harry Potter movie premiere/release. I went with a group of 30ish people and we all dressed up, only one repeat of costume, and that was because she joined the group the last minute. I got convinced to dress up as Lord Voldemort and so attached are some of my favorite pictures from the evening, or rather the ones that make me look as creepy as they can. Mwahahha.

The best part of the whole night is when I walked in and walked past a couple hundred people in lines waiting, and they all just started applauding as I walked by. Then throughout the night, tons of people took pictures of me or with me. It was awkward and hilarious.


I don't know if i'll ever do that again. But it was way fun. The unfortunate part was that I waited in line 6 hours prior to the film at midnight, and then fell asleep and missed the whole movie. I was so dead tired when it was over (for some odd reason) that I had a girl I know drive my car back for me. They had to drop me off at my apartment. I swear people thought I was drunk... I promise I most definitely was not.


Last Sunday I had the really neat experience to attend a mission president and his wife's homecoming. He was the mission president of the WashingtonD.C. South mission- President and Sister Wixom. They just returned from serving, and they live in Holladay, UT. I knew them briefly, and became friends with an Elder who served there who couldn't make it, and my old hometeacher was called to that mission 6 months ago. Therefore, I went, and I just loved it. The spiritual messages they gave were just so uplifting and incredible. I loved hearing how the
elders and sisters blessed their lives. I spoke with them each briefly after the meeting, and Sister Wixom said some things that I have only shared with one person, all you need to know is that I could feel the love she had for each and every missionary that served with them. She had a love so strong, I don't think I have ever witnessed. It was incredible.

Well, the only other thing I can think of that I've been doing this summer is writing missionaries. I have a 7 page Word document with about half of the addresses, and the rest I either have to track down, or find on faceboook. I have written almost all of them atleast once, and the longest any of them have been out is 6 months. Therefore, I find myself a total victor. Go me.


Anyways, thats all from this teenage drama queen. More confessions to come.

- J