#BabyChickensDontCluckWhileRunning
I needed a t-shirt for our celebration weekend, but unlike the times were the location is the main focus of our trip, we had a bunch of things to celebrate in just a few short days. So I created a shirt that attempted to encapsulate all the fun in one long hashtag.
#--Mark and Allison are notorious for creating about a million hashtags after anything they post or write. So the t-shirt began with that ;-)
Baby--We were all really here for one reason. Baby Brother was being blessed. And I made the t-shirts a nice blue.
Chickens--We were holding a belated Celebration of the Egg.
Don'Cluck--There is a new movie called A Quiet Place that is seriously intense. We had all been waiting anxiously for its release, and we planned to see it. Well, everyone except Allison and Rebecca ;-)
WhileRunning--Not hard to guess this one. That darn marathon.
And of course, everyone had their names and numbers on the back of the shirt in how they relate to Baby Brother. While the classic green "It's GRAND to be a Kennedy" shirts will always be the originals, these will be good replacements for when those lose their luster.
Celebration of the Egg was fun, but goodness it was cold. Like, the sun was shining so it looked warm, but the wind would pop up, and everything would go flying across the park (along with our accumulated self-warmth). Baby made out like a bandit in the egg considering the Easter Bunny Poppie was accompanying her and basically showing her where every egg was hidden ;-). And once again, the Easter Bunny didn't quite figure out the ratio of gifts. Too many movies this time and not enough Lego BrickHeadz. But everyone did well in the cash department!
Finally, we just left her out of the picture...but Brother was crying by this point ;-)
Ooh, and the movie was excellent. John seemed a little less than impressed with it, but I loved it. All that suspense packed into 90 minutes? Yes please!
And finally, Brother Everett's baby blessing.
We felt like it was a bit of bad news when a special stake conference was planned just a couple of weeks before for the Sunday we would all be there, but it was. But thankfully, Uncle Mike and Aunt Katrina offered up their home. So we went to the stake conference, drove to Mike and Katrina's and spent a lovely afternoon there with family and some of our closest friends.
Well, almost lovely.
Poppie had taken Baby out back to the swing set, and not being the most experienced playground baby, she let go of the swing while Poppie was swinging her. She ended up letting go of the chain, falling backwards with her legs anchoring her to the swing, swinging around the swing and landing flat out on her face. It probably took close to an hour to calm her down from that scary experience, and there was nobody she wanted to comfort her except for Rebecca. So Brother was handed off, and Rebecca comforted Baby and got her to sleep. However, by the time the blessing came around, poor Rebecca's eyes were red and teary from just a whole heck of a lot of stress. There's something really awful about seeing your child hurt. Plus add to it all the social stress of a lot of people. It's just a lot.
So by the time Uncle Mike got home from doing his interview for Fox News, it was time for the blessing. Ethan stood up and explained how they got Everett's name. He mentioned my great-grandfather, James Everett McMillin, but I must admit that I always thought the impetus behind the name was Rebecca. There's a small town near where she grew up named Everett, and she had always liked that name. Having an ancestor with the same name was just lucky, I thought ;-). And Mark. What a sweetie idea from Ethan and Rebecca. Being the sentimental sap that I am, it just couldn't have been more perfect. Ethan was named for his dad's next brother, Michael, and Everett was named for his dad's next brother, Mark. If that isn't the sweetest thing, I don't know what is. And how perfect that his initials will be the same as Ethan's.
Some of the highlights of the blessing Ethan gave Everett:
I needed a t-shirt for our celebration weekend, but unlike the times were the location is the main focus of our trip, we had a bunch of things to celebrate in just a few short days. So I created a shirt that attempted to encapsulate all the fun in one long hashtag.
#--Mark and Allison are notorious for creating about a million hashtags after anything they post or write. So the t-shirt began with that ;-)
Baby--We were all really here for one reason. Baby Brother was being blessed. And I made the t-shirts a nice blue.
Chickens--We were holding a belated Celebration of the Egg.
Don'Cluck--There is a new movie called A Quiet Place that is seriously intense. We had all been waiting anxiously for its release, and we planned to see it. Well, everyone except Allison and Rebecca ;-)
WhileRunning--Not hard to guess this one. That darn marathon.
And of course, everyone had their names and numbers on the back of the shirt in how they relate to Baby Brother. While the classic green "It's GRAND to be a Kennedy" shirts will always be the originals, these will be good replacements for when those lose their luster.
Celebration of the Egg was fun, but goodness it was cold. Like, the sun was shining so it looked warm, but the wind would pop up, and everything would go flying across the park (along with our accumulated self-warmth). Baby made out like a bandit in the egg considering the Easter Bunny Poppie was accompanying her and basically showing her where every egg was hidden ;-). And once again, the Easter Bunny didn't quite figure out the ratio of gifts. Too many movies this time and not enough Lego BrickHeadz. But everyone did well in the cash department!
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| Warming up before the egg hunt. Look at Baby--she's wondering, What the heck? |
 |
| The starting line. |
 |
| Who stands a chance when Poppie is helping a competitor? |
 |
| To the victor go the spoils! |
 |
| Ethan did well.... |
 |
| ...as did Glo! |
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| I just try and be in photos with Glo because she's so dang beautiful ;-) |
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| Poppie and Brother--the beginning of a lifelong friendship <3 |
We wanted to take a family picture, but Baby was having NOTHING to do with it!
Finally, we just left her out of the picture...but Brother was crying by this point ;-)
Ooh, and the movie was excellent. John seemed a little less than impressed with it, but I loved it. All that suspense packed into 90 minutes? Yes please!
And finally, Brother Everett's baby blessing.
We felt like it was a bit of bad news when a special stake conference was planned just a couple of weeks before for the Sunday we would all be there, but it was. But thankfully, Uncle Mike and Aunt Katrina offered up their home. So we went to the stake conference, drove to Mike and Katrina's and spent a lovely afternoon there with family and some of our closest friends.
Well, almost lovely.
Poppie had taken Baby out back to the swing set, and not being the most experienced playground baby, she let go of the swing while Poppie was swinging her. She ended up letting go of the chain, falling backwards with her legs anchoring her to the swing, swinging around the swing and landing flat out on her face. It probably took close to an hour to calm her down from that scary experience, and there was nobody she wanted to comfort her except for Rebecca. So Brother was handed off, and Rebecca comforted Baby and got her to sleep. However, by the time the blessing came around, poor Rebecca's eyes were red and teary from just a whole heck of a lot of stress. There's something really awful about seeing your child hurt. Plus add to it all the social stress of a lot of people. It's just a lot.
So by the time Uncle Mike got home from doing his interview for Fox News, it was time for the blessing. Ethan stood up and explained how they got Everett's name. He mentioned my great-grandfather, James Everett McMillin, but I must admit that I always thought the impetus behind the name was Rebecca. There's a small town near where she grew up named Everett, and she had always liked that name. Having an ancestor with the same name was just lucky, I thought ;-). And Mark. What a sweetie idea from Ethan and Rebecca. Being the sentimental sap that I am, it just couldn't have been more perfect. Ethan was named for his dad's next brother, Michael, and Everett was named for his dad's next brother, Mark. If that isn't the sweetest thing, I don't know what is. And how perfect that his initials will be the same as Ethan's.
Some of the highlights of the blessing Ethan gave Everett:
- Ethan blessed Brother to always have the Spirit to be with him, and know that he can turn to his Heavenly Father; that Heavenly Father is willing and happy to hear his prayers of thanksgiving and asking for things that he needs.
- He blessed him to find those around him (whether they be family or friends) who will support him and help him on his way back to his Father in Heaven.
- He blessed him to search the scriptures and to find counsel there. To serve those around him and teach the precepts of the gospel. To love the people around him even though they may not appear to need his love and to show them his tender heart.
Ethan also mentioned twice how happy we all are that Everett made the decision to come here to earth.
One of the moments that is always the most touching to me is seeing the people supporting our family, especially in the blessing circle. For Everett, there was Ethan, John, Mark, Elder Grimm, Uncle Mike, Uncle Bud and Nathan Mecham.
Yes, good old Elder Grimm, one of our beloved missionaries from Germany, had contacted us, guessing that we were running the marathon. I then told him about the blessing, and it didn't take more than a second for him to ask if he could come. Once again, I'm so thankful for the ties with friends we have made throughout our lives. They sustain us.
After that, we just ate a whole lot of food that Grandma Linda Schriever had made and talked for several hours. It was a beautiful way to end the weekend.
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