Grandpa(s)!

So I've been pretty worn out this past week, which is why I haven't posted about Dad's visit and William's blessing earlier. But here goes! Dad's visit was short, but awesome. Wililam, normally a very serious and thoughtful looking kid was all grins as soon as he saw his Grandpa! I don't think Dad quite quite believed me about how serious he normally is he was grinning so much (except when I got the camera out, of course)

We hung out Friday with just us and Dad, and then went over to the Rockville for dinner at Gordon Biersche. It's a micro brewery/American cuisine place and it was really really good. They even have their own house brew of root beer. William was pretty chill going out to eat, even though the restaurant was pretty loud. The place was packed to the gills, apparently the Rockville town center has an outdoor concert series on Friday evenings during the summer so there were a lot of people there for that. Seth and I are definitely going to have to go again and there were plenty of restaurants around that area too that I'd love to try. On Saturday Dad got to sleep in. I'm pretty sure it was his first time getting to sleep in in years. He came over late morning, and we put together the charcoal grill I got Seth for Christmas this past year. And by we I mean Dad did most of the work and he occasionally let me put a screw in. :) William sat outside with us in his bouncer having a ball and probably swallowing the bugs. Protein, right? Seth got the lawn mowed and did a bit of grocery shopping for our barbecue extravaganza! Our lawn grows like a weed and coincidentally so do our weeds so it was looking pretty raggy in spite of Seth having already mowed less than a week ago. Anyways, we got the grill together, going, and the cast iron grills seasoned with plenty of time to spare before my inlaws got there. Jody (Seth's sister), Alex, Elsa and Lucy came for the blessing, and we were thrilled to see them. Lucy isn't much older than William is, and they got along just fine!

Seth's Dad arrived a bit later. He'd spent most of the day building a new roof for a member of his branch, but we were glad he could make it! William was thrilled to have both Grandpas there too! At one point Dad was holding him and he looked over at Grandpa Pease and gave him a big smile and then looked over at Grandpa Moore and smiled, happy as a clam.

He still wouldn't let me catch him smiling on camera though. I did get this one the morning Dad arrived though. I came across Seth's maternal Grandfather's things, including his Marines hat. It just matched William's outfit so well...

Grandpa Dulany was a pretty amazing man. He served on the Idaho during WWII, was a very successful lawyer, and liked to take Seth and I to the race track to watch his horses compete. In spite of not being a member of the church he helped pay for Seth's mission and some of Seth's undergrad too. I wish he could have survived to meet William, but he passed away a few years ago. Seth's inheritance from him made it possible for us to put the 20% down payment on the house. Sunday! Mother's Day and William's Blessing Day! I hadn't intentionally planned it like that, but it was pretty special. Dad, Seth's Dad, Alex, Bishop Willis, and our close friend Jake (He, Earta, and their kids came down for the blessing :) ) stood in the circle. I tried to take some notes as soon after the blessing was over to make sure I remembered what was said, but I'm sure I missed a lot of it. William was blessed to know that we love him, and to be able to feel the spirit. He was also blessed to have many choices an to know which choice he should make. Most of all he was blessed to have a special sensitivity to those who came before him, particularly those who share his name. Hearing Seth say that confirmed the feeling I'd been given before he was born that his name should be William and that genealogy and his ancestors with his name would be important to him. I'm so grateful that we were blessed with him, and that Dad and everyone could be here with us for this. We're really looking forward to coming out this July! It's going to be so much fun!