On Grandma Duty

Some grandparents live close to their grandchildren and can see them very often, if not every day. No so with us. Ethan, Ella, & Olivia live in Utah, Milo & Clara live in Arizona, and baby Kessler lives over two hours away in Orange County California. 

Living so far away from our grandchildren has made it somewhat difficult to get to know them well and build a great relationship with them.

When Eric and Nicole asked if I would watch their three kids while they went on a much needed vacation to Hawaii, I jumped at the chance. Being my oldest grandchildren, they are old enough to basically take care of themselves [Ethan is 16, Ella is 14, and Olivia turned 11 while I was there], but they needed an adult in the house to oversee their activities, fix meals, and clean up after them. That's what I did for the week I spent with them.

Seems like a lot happened while I was there - Olivia lost a tooth so I got to play tooth fairy for the first time in about 25 years and Ella got her braces removed so I got to take her to the orthodontist for that momentous occasion. 

Before:

After:

I think she looks great! We went to the Dairy Queen across the street to celebrate. Ella LOVES ice cream!

As part of Livi's birthday gift, I took her to get her first pedicure. It was fun to see how excited she was with the whole process and with her beautiful toenails. So glad I could share that experience with her.

Since it was October and Utah can get cold that time of year, I didn't take any sandals with me. I needed some for the pedicure, so I ended up borrowing Ella's flip flops. Haha!

Ethan hates to get his picture taken, so I had to do a sneak attack to capture him. He was mowing the lawn, so it's not a great picture.

The girl's dance schedule for the week was rather crazy. Good thing Ethan can drive so he could share in the duties of chauffeuring the girls to the dance studio. During the week I was there, they participated in a combined total of 18 classes. Crazy schedule!

As part of her dance schedule, Ella's Dance Company participated in the final performance of "Thriller" at the University of Utah. She had to dress up like a zombie. I thought she looked great!

It was a fun week with the kids, but all good things must come to an end. Livi and Tonks, I'm sure, were very happy when Eric & Nicole returned, but I wasn't actually there when they got back. While Ella participated in Thriller and Ethan watched Livi, I met up with my sisters for our final "sisters retreat" before Jane and Ken left on their mission.

Our "sister's retreat" was a lot of fun. We went out to dinner in Bountiful and then went to Centerville to watch a performance of the musical "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" at the CenterPoint Legacy Theater.

The four of us waiting for the show to start.

I thought the performance was excellent. I love musicals! It was such a wonderful evening with my sisters. I enjoyed every minute of it.