6/5/09- Last Day of Parent-Ed, Graduation, and Family night at the Movies

Friday was the last day of Parent-Ed. For circle time, Miss JoAnn celebrated all the summer birthdays. This included both Abby and Troy. They made a cake on the felt board, we all sang Happy Birthday to them, then they got to pick a prize from the present bus.



Are you loving Troy's cake? He did so well!

The class during story time

Troy was so good listening to the story. He almost never sits there the whole time.

My cute girls

Abby got to wear a graduation cap. She put her name and the year on it with stickers.

Abby's best Parent-ed friend, Aaron

Her other good friend, Natalie

Waiting in line for the march

Miss JoAnn presented them each with a certificate of completion from Parent-ed!

She asked them their full names, how many years in Parent-ed and what school they were going to. Abby was so loud and articulate. I was so proud!

Here are all the graduates: Aaron, Natalie, Koa, Paige, Morgan, Abby, and Max.
I was near tears the whole time. It must be the pregnancy?!

That day was the 7 year anniversary of the day Grant and I met. I'll include the story at the end, read it if you like. Instead of getting a babysitter to celebrate, we decided to take the kids to see a movie. We decided on UP. We bought a huge tub of popcorn and the kids each had their own tray. They all sat in their seats for the majority of the movie, contently eating their popcorn. Troy was really good. But he started getting kind of hyper and laughing and talking. But we never had to take him out. At one point Ashlin started asking to go home, but there was only 20 minutes left in the movie. It was really a great night.

Here's a picture from after the movie. Ashlin sat in her own seat, but this is about what they were like the whole time! After the movie we came home, put the kids to bed, and then shared memories of dating. It was really fun. I sure love my husband and I feel so grateful to have met him 7 years ago. I feel like that was a more important day then our wedding. Because that was the day that everything changed and life became meaningful again. The wedding, kids, jobs, and everything that has followed that day has just been icing on the cake!

Here's the story:

So there was this kid in my BYU ward, Josh. I kinda had a crush on him. We had gone out on a couple of dates and it was all kinda casual. I stopped by his apartment one day and he and his roomies were heading out to softball practice. I enquired about it and they said they were on an intermural team with some guys in the ward. They told me there was a double header the next day. I was super busy with homework, but I planned on going.

Side note: That night I was talking to my cousin, Dan. For whatever reason he brought up dating and marriage. I told him I was happy being single. I was graduating in 2 months and was excited to start work as an L&D nurse and then going back to school to become a Certified Nurse Midwife. I was happy being single. Then he said, "Oh come on, part of you wishes you were dating someone." I hadn't really been thinking about it. But after I got off the phone, I thought, "you know, I don't really want to get married, but it would just be nice to know someone liked me and go out. So, when I said my prayers that night, I asked Heavenly Father for a little male attention. Not a husband, just someone to show some interest so that I felt special.

The next day, June 5th, I heard on the news that Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her home in SLC. Just a little piece of history for you. Anyway, I went to the softball game intending to stay 1 game. I knew everyone on the team, as I lived near them and went to church with them all. However, there was this one boy, playing deep in center field, that I did not recognize. He was wearing blue/black shorts, a red Bakersfield shirt, a baseball cap and glasses. I could tell he had blonde hair, but everything else was covered up. He looked shy. And I've never been a fan of blondes. I asked someone who it was. "That's Grant, he's a friend of Josh's from home." "ooh, a friend of Josh's, huh?" My interest peaked a little bit, but like I said, shy + blonde= not my type.

Anyway, the game was really exciting. We were down by 3 in the top of the last inning. Steve got up to bat and hit a homerun. The next 2 guys got on base. Then, Grant got up and ripped one out of the park, giving us a 4-3 lead! I was jumping up and down!!! Then they were in the field and Grant made this amazing catch to keep the other team from scoring and we WON!! As the guys were coming in from the field, I was still jumping up and down. I ran up to Steve first, "Hey Steve!!! Will you marry me?! You're amazing!!" "Sure Stace! Thanks!" (and then he went and sat with his girlfriend. He obviously knew I was kidding.) Then Grant came walking by. I thought a marriage proposal might be a little much to a guy I had never met, but I still wanted him to know how excited I was about the outcome of the game. So I went up to him and said, "Oh my goodness, will you be my girlfriend? That was so awesome!!!" "Sure, there's no ring on my finger!" was his reply. We both went off chating with different people. Then I saw a family from my home stake. So I went up and talked to them. When I was done, Grant came up to me and asked me how I knew the Callisters. I told him they were from my home stake and then he inquired about some other families in my home stake. "How do YOU know these people?" Turns out he was engaged to a girl I grew up with. He had been in the same ward as her, along with a bunch of other people from her ward (including the Callisters). I told him he was in the dog house as my boyfriend. I know, lame, but it started a little playful flirting.

Despite my busy homework schedule, I decided to stay for the second game. That second game was spent with me pretending to be mad at Grant and Grant trying to get out of the "dog house" by impressing me with his skills on the field. When he wasn't on the field, I would be sitting next to Josh, and he would sit on the other side of him and we would talk around Josh. I asked him what happened with his engagement and he said the break-up was mutual. "uh huh?" Anyway, he made some awesome play and looks to me and says, "So, am I out of the doghouse now?" "Sure". And then I kept yelling things like, "That's my man!" or "Way to go honey!" and other silly things that you would yell if someone actually was your boyfriend.

So the game ended and I said goodbye to all the players, congratulating them on a great couple of games, and giving them all hugs. Grant was at the end of the line. I thought a hug was a little much, so I just shook his hand (chills running up and down my spine) and said, "good game". "thanks". "So, maybe someday you'll have to tell me what REALLY happened between you and your ex." I guess he took that as an invitation and said. "Well sure, can I call you some time?" "Um, I guess so!" So he wrote my phone number down on his hand (noone has EVER asked me for my phone number). "When's a good time to call?" "Well, I'm really busy the next two weeks with this class, so after that would be good... but I'm usually home by 4:30" So the next day, I got home at 4:30, the phone rang at 4:45 and he asked me out for the next day. And that was the start of a beautiful friendship! I guess the moral of the story is, be careful what you pray for. Not only does the Lord give you what you pray for, but then a little bit more!

Additional note: We were walking on Center Street in Provo one day. I pointed to an Italian restaurant, that's no longer there, turned to Grant and said, "I went on a date with Josh there". "I know, I was there!" It turns out June 5th was not the first time I had met Grant. While I was on a date with Josh, he got a call from his brother, Shawn. Something about going to a Stingers game in Salt Lake and they were going to stop by. So in came Shawn and Grant to the restaurant. I chatted with Shawn a little, but Grant just sat at the end of the table practicing his autograph on the paper table cover. 10 minutes later they left. I'm sure Josh introduced me to him, but I was too busy enjoying my date with Josh to pay much attention to Grant!