Snakes and Alligators

January 2013

Levi and Daymia took Nathan and Hyrum sledding on the ten foot drop behind our house.

Nathan doesn't like his hands to be cold or doing face plants in the snow so he only lasted for about thirty minutes and came inside.  Hyrum, however, can have his fingers purple and freezing off and will not come in so I wasn't surprised when he stayed out for much longer.  I couldn't see them in the back anymore but figured he was fine as long as he was with Levi and Daymia.

When he came back in I got a very dramatic telling of his adventure.  Evidently, he would stand still for a minute, point, and say "that way" and they would go wherever he pointed.  With eyes wide and hands waving in wild expression he told me about the snakes and alligators that were about to eat him when he fell in some deep snow.  After repeating himself several times, warming his fingers up, and a nice cup of hot cocoa he admitted, "we was just attending (pretending)".  

Daymia and her new Christmas camera captured really great pictures of my boys! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Levi is 21!!!!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't know if he would think this was silly but at 7:45 when he got up for work and opened his door he said he was going to originally just use his arm to break it all out of the way.  Instead, he backed up and ran through it.  Good morning and happy birthday!

The day was fairly uneventful.  After a court hearing he was put on probation for a year and most of his friends have moved away so he spends his time working with LeRoy, hanging out with us or spending time with Daymia.  LeRoy and I took Levi and Daymia to Applebees for a birthday lunch where Daymia held up the alcohol menu and gloated "21 and you can't even have any" (due to probation). I love that girl! 

After helping him clean his room the week prior, Daymia had suggested I get Levi a garbage can for his room.  Since not much else was coming to mind I gave him a black garbage can that I pasted a picture of Oscar the Grouch onto with the phrase "Levi's Garbage". 

I also gave him a sticker.  The sticker comes with a past.  When Levi was in about the 4th grade he used to ask me what I would do if....and then he would add the most random, unlikely thing he would (or even could) do.  For example, while driving along the freeway he'd ask, "what would you do if I opened the door right now and got up on top of the van?" or during a bored winter moment, "what would you do if I stuck a pen in that light socket?"  My reply was always the same, "I'd put a stupid sticker on your forehead".  It was a running joke with us for several years and as time went by his "what if's" became even more creative, 007-ish and funny.  Well, in my mind he has spent the last three years doing some pretty stupid things and I figured a 21st birthday was a good time to award the sticker. 

  

I printed it on sticker paper and even gave him extras.  It was good for laughs but more than that I hope 21 will be a new start for him and his stupid moments will be less dangerous for his body, mind, spirit and freedom.