Sent: 03/5/2017 From
Alicia
Subject: Redwood Shores Westra
Update 3/5/2017
Happy
March! It's hard to say if the month has come in like a lamb or a lion...we had
pretty nice weather earlier in the week, but it was rainy yesterday and today.
We even had a short burst of hail this morning while we were at church! We
could hear it pounding on the roof and one of the men in our Sunday School
class opened an exterior door to investigate, so we even got a glimpse of the
hail coming down.
Monday
morning was the big day for Rella. Calder and I walked her over to the
elementary school with all her gear for Outdoor Ed. The buses hadn't arrived
yet, but most of the parents and students had. Rella went to check into her
classroom while Calder and I guarded her gear and waited for the buses. The
buses arrived and all the parents worked to load their students' gear into the
compartments on the sides. Then the kids all came out and boarded the buses.
The principal talked with each of the buses, then finally they left! Rella was
a little nervous, but nothing worrisome. The rest of our Monday was pretty
standard. Calder had school, I went to an exercise class. Adria had mandolin
and her weekly FaceTime with her best friend Lilly. For dinner we had Shane
grab us smoothies on the way home from work.
I
thought Tuesday would be much less busy than normal since Rella wasn't home,
but it ended up being about the same, maybe even busier than normal in the
afternoon. Two of the YW from our ward (the Schofield twins) have just released
a children's book and had asked me to come take photos and video of their
launch party at a local bookstore. There was a great turnout and it was really
fun to be there. Many people from the ward, people from the community,
teachers, friends, and friends of friends all came to support them. It was fun.
Shane brought Adria over to the launch after he got home from work. Then after
Adria and I got home he went to do a visit for Elders Quorum. So it was a wee
bit crazy.
Wednesday
morning I took Calder to the dentist. His teeth look good, but the dentist
would like us to take Calder to the orthodontist for an evaluation, just to get
an idea of what may need to be done down the road. Calder has a bit of tongue
thrust and cross bite going on, but no cavities! Then Calder and I went to the
ceramics shop to pick up the projects that Calder, Rella, and her friend
Charlotte had made the week before. They look nice! Calder went to school, then
I went to pick Adria up from school (Wednesdays are early out). She usually
just rides the bus home, but we had plans to visit Shane's office and go to
lunch with him since Adria had never been to his office before. Several people
commented on how much Adria looks like Shane. She enjoyed seeing where he
works, especially since she had done a career aptitude test in one of her
classes that morning. We always say that she could really do whatever she wants
to do...this just solidified our theory. Adria had 64 aptitude matches
including political scientist, sociologist, and neuropsychologist (those were
her top 3 matches). I wish she could have printed out or had access to all of
the matches at home...I'm curious what the other 61 were. We had lunch at the
little cafe in one of the buildings near Shane's office. Calder had his
swimming lesson, then we had a more relaxed evening than usual since there wasn't
YW that evening.
Thursday
was another day that I thought I'd get more done than usual in the afternoon,
but Adria came up with a big plan to surprise Rella with a bookshelf in their
room. This is something we've planned to do for a while, so it wasn't completely
out of the blue. Adria, Calder, and I headed to IKEA and picked up a few things
there. Shane was home by the time we got home, so we quickly had dinner, then
the kids and I put together the bookshelf while Shane was on an EQ meeting
call. Their room feels finished now, which is nice. The girls and I have been
working on making it feel cozy for a while, just with a piece here and there
every once in a while. Thursday was the only night we didn't get the kids to
bed on time while Rella was gone.
Friday
morning Calder and I went to the gym. He played in the childcare while I
exercised, then we headed home. Rella was due to get back to the elementary
school sometime in between 12 and 12:30, so we headed over to wait for the
buses again. They actually didn't make it back until closer to 12:45. Rella had
a wonderful time at Outdoor Ed! It's been fun to hear her compare notes with
Adria. We missed our sunshine girl though...it's nice to have her back! After
Adria got home from school we had our big reveal of the improved room, then the
kids and I went to get frozen yogurt. Calder surprised me by getting his own
frozen yogurt (it's a self serve type place) and his own toppings...and he even
got reasonable amounts of each! He's really stepping up some in the independence
department, which is nice. We also went to the store and then on a short bike
ride to the purple park. After Shane got home we had a little movie night.
Saturday
started early with a Youth Temple trip for me and A. We met at the church at
6:45 for breakfast, then headed over to the Oakland Temple. The youth performed
baptisms and the leaders served in the baptistry. I was the towel lady. It was
nice to be in the temple and to feel the spirit there. Shane helped Rella get
ready to sing a musical number for a DUP meeting that was held at our church. I
had also signed her up to help at a girl scout cookie booth from 2-4, so I was
feeling a little frantic when I received an email saying the time had been
changed to 12-2 and could I pick up the cookies, and the cookie leader was
going to be busy all day. The time change was a misunderstanding, so we got
everything worked out. Rella made it back home in plenty of time, then both
girls and I headed over to do the cookie booth. It was us and our friends from
down the road, so we had a good time and sold about half the cookies that our
troop had left. During the booth, my friend (Reham) invited all three of our
kids to play at her house while Shane and I went to a concert that evening. Her
husband walked the kids home at about 8, and we got home around 9:30. Shane and
I met up with another couple from our ward for dinner, then went to the Saint
Michael Trio 10th Anniversary Gala at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City. One of
the members of the trio (the pianist) is in our Stake Presidency, so we had
heard about it from people in the ward. We didn't know much else about the
group...it turns out they are all 3 classically trained musicians with
different day jobs. One is a doctor, one is involved in software, and the
member of our stake presidency is the CEO of a very prominent venture capital
firm in Silicon Valley. So they are not struggling musicians, by any means, but
enjoy making music together. They have just released their 4th album. The
concert was very good and entertaining. I also appreciated that it wasn't
overly long. It was just the right length. Here's a video to give you an
idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BfNQAagfJ0
Sunday
was uneventful. Church for everyone and naps for the parents. I usually avoid
napping, but was feeling pretty run down, so I took one. Hopefully I don't pay
for it by staying awake half the night.
That's
it from here! Have a good week!
Shane,
Alicia, Adria, Rella, and Calder
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