The Pleasures of a Grandson

I began Isaiah's visit with us with some concerns.  What foods would he like best?  What activities would excite him? Will his driving practice be enough? Will he be happy here?  He is easy though, so it didn't take long to just incorporate him into our lives.  I will miss him when he goes home.  He turns 16 this coming week so we decided to give him a mini-celebration this past week.   He chose the meal and dessert, and the birthday gift.  We did our best to spoil him, including enjoying the latest Hobbit movie together.


Isaiah's birthday celebration.  That's homemade chocolate pudding with whipping cream, his request.

Layne, Isaiah and I drove to Normandy Park, in Washington, on Wednesday.  Eight hours is about two hours more than I like but it was pleasant enough.  The guys drove; first Isaiah, then Layne.  We arrived about dinner time and enjoyed the embrace of Chris and Jessica's busy family.  The three kids seem to be doing very well.  They are all brilliant.  OK, so some of this is a grandma thing, but they are all pretty impressive students.  All seem to want to connect with us.  I'm so grateful that all of the grandchildren, so far, have kept their interest in a relationship with us.  Even the older ones.  That is a great blessing.

Wednesday I helped Jessica teach an art lesson in Peyton's class.  What fun.  As I watch my daughter Jessica I am struck by how much I seem to have in common with her.  She seems more like me than I have previously thought.  She is not interested in the gospel, which continues to make me sad, but her heart is pure.  She continues to love her used book store, which appears to be breaking even but doesn't offer much above that.  Still, she loves it and the collection of books it brings to her.  I must say it is the cutest and most inviting bookstore I have been in.  Really.

Wednesday night happened to be a special one on her bookstore street in Burien.  It offered an "Art Walk".  Local artists displayed their works in many of the stores, and included special treats and sometimes free activities.  It so happened that Seattle, the city of clouded skies and rain, offered us only warm sunshine during our short visit.  So walking the streets of Burien that night was especially pleasant.

I so love this Gendreau family.  Our visit was very short, but I think so worth the doing.  Isaiah seemed to enjoy the exchange with cousins and seeing a little of Seattle life.  We began our journey home Friday morning.  All went well until we missed a turnoff and wound up over an hour out of our way.  So it took some 10 plus hours to get home instead of the usual 8.  It was a longer journey than planned for sure.  But we made it safely home and I guess that is the important thing.

                                             The outside of Jessica's bookstore.

   Layne, lost in a book, inside the bookstore.

             Granddaughter Gemma, looking beautiful with her braces off.

                                                         Isaiah in the bookstore.