This post is mostly about how awesome Elinor is. It is her 16th birthday, after all. But before I talk about her-- I want to do a shoutout to her amazing dad, and my husband, Abe. With everything happening with Greta being in the hospital this week, he didn't even flinch at the idea of getting Elinor to 5 AM water polo practice on Monday and Tuesday. And I know he hadn't had nearly enough sleep for the previous three nights. If it's important to the kids, it's important to him. That's the kind of dad he is and I am grateful.
But back to Elinor. She started her day with water polo practice and she is pretty excited because she gets to be the goalie for her JV team. You might ask "Why?" Why would anyone want to be the goalie and have really big, hard, yellow balls repeatedly pelted at them over and over again? It is a fair question-- one I, myself, have asked. But actually, it's really awesome that she got this position and I am crazy excited to watch her play.
A couple weeks back Elinor did her roads driving test-- it just so happened that my Uncle Tony was the teacher she was driving with. He's awesome and we don't think he gave her any preferential treatment, but...she did pass with flying colors:)-- even on snowy, icy roads. Welcome to driving in Utah.
It was our plan for me to pick Elinor up after her 1st period class at the high school, and take her straight to the DMV to get her license-- it's fun to get your license ON your birthday!
When everything happened with Greta, it looked like our grand plan might not work out.
But then, as I looked at the logistics of making this week work--without me at home to drive kiddos around--I realized we
absolutely had to get Elinor driving this week, so she could drive herself to all her practices.
Thankfully, my dad came to the hospital Tuesday morning and stayed with Greta for a few hours so I could get away and help Els get that license after all. Hooray!
But the day of birthday goodness wasn't over yet. Not even close.
My big-hearted step-sister and her amazing daughter Lizzie (one of Greta's favorite people) came to the hospital in the evening and stayed with Greta so I could head home with Abe for more birthday surprises.
THIS FAMILY. They are really something. To start with they have an oldest boy-- who has a striking look and personality resemblance to Clark as a little kid. Then they have a slew of darling little girls. Sound familiar? And now another baby boy. I enjoy watching their family because it reminds me of my own about a decade or so ago. But I digress. They brought dinner to our family and a birthday cake and balloons. It was basically a perfect birthday celebration delivered right to our door as we got home from the hospital. Are you kidding me?!?! I will treasure this image of this family at our door for the rest of my life.
I mean, seriously!!! The cake was so beautiful and there were rave reviews of its tastiness. You may recall our family's tradition of hideously decorated birthday cakes and occasional downright disastrous incidents. This cake was way out of our league.... and we liked it:)
My brother Peter (Chip) and Laura and their family and my brother Matt came over for the birthday celebration -- which was nice of them to come. But Peter and Laura had a pretty big birthday surprise in store for Els.
Elinor has been very anxious to get a job, but her water polo and swim schedules were going to be challenging to work around. Peter and Laura are both working full time now and they were in need of some help with housework. The two sides were a match made in teenage-housecleaner-heaven!
For the last month or so, she goes over to their house for a few hours a couple times a week, and cleans while they are at work and kids are in school.
Peter and Laura decided they wanted to get Elinor a little something for her 16th birthday....
Doesn't this only happen in movies and Christmas-time car commercials?!
In her shock and joy she fell into me saying, "Hold me, Mom!"
Elinor saying, "YOU GOT ME A CAR?!?!"
They had a new clutch put into the car (it's a manual transmission) and Abe may drive it for a few weeks to break in the clutch. Then we'll teach Els to drive it and she'll be good to go. Pretty freaking awesome, if you ask me.
Talk about a pretty cool Aunt and Uncle.
Cute little heads out the sunroof.
Singing happy birthday to this gem of a gal.
The day ended with a phone call from her favorite missionary brother from Dallas, Texas. His advice to his gorgeous 16 year-old, driving, dating machine?
Shave your head, rub dirt all over your face, and eat doughnuts for a week.
Happy, happy birthday, Elinor! You bring us so much joy and we love you.
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