What a Time I Had in Connecticutt

It begins with packing. When I arrived the Kahmanns were in the midst of moving to their new home. What a time I had in the kitchen putting things in boxes. There was so much to do in so little time. I arrived on Wednesday and the moving crew was coming on Saturday. Then after everything was packed into the truck, I supervised the Relief Society clean up crew. We had 4 sisters who cleaned the apartment to a white glove test level. It was the gospel in action that day because some of the sisters had driven a 1/2 hour to help.

I found this tutu at Costco and Lily had fun dancing around in it.

Going to church was an event. Lily packed her tummy with Teddy Grahams, Raisins and Animal Crackers while the adults listened. Then it was play time in the nursery. She dressed up as a princess and played with the toys. It was hard for her to leave.

When we got to the new place, I unpacked everything that I had packed and more. Cherie had so much to do to get the new place ready and was taking care of her little Lily on top of it. Boxes were all over the house and so we took them downstairs and filled up Keith's Man Cave with boxes and they were overflowing into the storage room. But in the mean time Lily needed attention. So I took her to Annie's Bounce Barn.

I was amazed at the size that blow up toys can be these days. Lily climbed and played and crawled through the toys and had a great time showing me how she could slide down little slides and then go down the scarey big slides. I thought that she was definitely fearless. The business concept was awesome too. What fun the kids had and there was even a blow up water slide outside because it was hot.

I didn't mention how hot it was until Keith got the air conditioning set up. I haven't been so hot in a long time and became very thankful for Kerry and his insistence that we get air conditioning in our new home. Yes. Kerry became more of a hero after the sweat began pouring down my face as we moved. One day Cherie, I and Lily walked down the street to the YMCA and went swimming to get out of the heat. Lily has a shark life preserver and paddled around the pool with the other kids. I enjoyed doing a few laps while Cherie took her to get a snack. Cherie stayed out the pool because she didn't have a pregnant swimsuit.
Cherie's due date came and went. She became very anxious to have her baby come and was so discouraged because she had hoped to go into labor sooner. Four days later she took castor oil and had a speedy delivery. Sawyer Anthony Kahmann was born on July 22nd at 1:30 AM. We had fun visiting with him in the hospital and getting to know him for the first time. He has a very boyish look to him and a sweet cry. He snorts...which is so cute. And Lily became a big sister.


Keith, I and Lily took a trip to the Aquarium yesterday and enjoyed a respite. Afterwards I treated everyone to McDonald's. And Lily had a Happy Meal...

Sawyer had his first bath at home today. It took 3 people to bathe him. Cherie held the camera. I did the washing and Lily supervised the process. He promptly fell asleep afterwards. What a day.

This was Lily at Home Depot. Cherie and Keith bought a new garbage can with wheels and Lily had to wheel it around the store. She was a big helper when it came to the garbage can. :)

Lily

It's fun to be a Grandmother and especially when you spend time with two-year old Lily. Lily is my greatest fan and I am hers. Yesterday morning she woke up and said, "I just love Grandma!" I just love her also. She carries her little 'babies' up the stairs to play. Her thing now is to have me talk like I'm her baby. Lily likes playing like her babies talk to her. The other morning she brought the babies to 'play' and wanted me to talk for them. Suddenly Daddy baby had to go to time out for hitting his friends. Then when he came back from time out he had to go to time out again for not getting dressed. This time out thing is interesting. When Keith gets home Lily starts to misbehave and so she goes to time out. She sits there for 2 minutes talks about her behavior and then comes to the dinner table. If she refuses to sit in time out she goes to her crib until she complies.

Lily likes to read books too. Whenever she has a transition she likes to read a story. Last night we read a story about having duck feet twice. She brought some books home from the library last night and wanted to read every one. She had a book about ducklings and so had to count all the ducklings in the water. I am amazed that she can count to 11. She has the concept of how many up to 5 down because she counted the ducklings in the water.

Today we went swimming in the pool down the street. Lily has a life preserver that she paddles around in the water in. She can get places in the pool with it. All the little kids had to wear life jackets at the YMCA. I did laps too for a few minutes. So if you come to CT bring your suit so you can go swimming with Lily!

Music, Music, Music

Music lifts my spirits and calms my troubled heart. I love music. In fact I think music is my thing to think when I have a free thinking moment. My favorite music is gospel, soft rock, some jazz, show tunes, classical, and finally my own. Yep. I make my own music when it suits me...on the piano.

I have had trouble lately with my left arm and hand and so I have stopped practicing. I don't know why it hurts when I play but someone suggested I go see a physical therapist who specializes in hands. The problem is my whole arm. If I don't practice, it doesn't hurt, so that is the simple way to solve the problem. I sneak and play sometimes though because I can't stay away from it all the time but I limit how much I get so that my arm and hand don't ache all the time.

One of the memories I have about music is when Kristen, Jenessa, and I were coming home from dropping off Cherie. It was late at night when we drove down the mountain into Pendelton Oregon. I knew that I had to stay awake to get home and I didn't want to stop so we put on Simon and Garfunkle and cruised on home. I have always loved their music and my favorite when I was a teeny bopper was Sounds of Silence. I thought the lyrics were really cool. But, I also like Bridge Over Troubled Water.

There is lots of things that music can do for a person like me. I feel the spirit when I listen to gospel music. I like it when Kerry and I listen to the hymns on Saturday when we go to the temple. Kerry started putting on General Conference tapes when we drive. We have a great spirit in the car when we do. Spiritual music has helped me to understand many gospel concepts better. The lyrics of the hymns are profound and inspiring.

I absolutely love show tunes. When I was in high school I was introduced to a song called "When You Walk Through a Storm". I love the movie too. Lately I have been listening to "Phantom of the Opera". The music can been a little dark but it brings back memories of the time when Kerry took me to the Broadway Show in New York. Another song I like is "Memories" from Cats. I made my own piano arrangement using the melody line. Show tunes are the best and there are many more that I like.

When I get a line of music stuck in my head I keep it there for awhile. Last week I kept singing "How Great Thou Art" over again in my head. Of course, I only sang the first verse and part of the second because those are my favorites.

I was asked to play the organ one time in church and ended up playing for 9 years. I took the children to the church to practice and brought coloring books to entertain them. I'm sure they remember the long hours we spent there. A friend Larry Ensminger said that he wanted to request his favorite song all the time. It was "Drop Kick Me Jesus Through the Goal Post of Life." We always laughed at his antics and I never got the music from him. I'm sure that it would have been an afterthought...after the meeting song. I loved playing Bach and many other classical composers, but Bach was my favorite.