Sophie

Last Sunday we heard the heart-breaking news that our good friends Sarah and Sergio Sanchez lost their youngest child, Sophie, to a sudden illness. She was 14 months old, healthy and perfect. She got a fever that lasted a few days, so they finally took her to the hospital where she died early Sunday morning after having a seizure. Totally out of the blue.

I was shocked and heart-broken for our friends. I keep looking at Jude and Lance and wondering how I would survive from day to day if something happened to either of them. I cannot imagine the heartache this family is experiencing right now. They are living in California and as a way of sending our love to them, our ward here in Charlottesville put together a book of memories, thoughts, and love for the Sanchez family. I had no idea what to write--what could I say that would help with the pain? Sarah had asked for any memories we had of Sophie or any ways she had touched our lives. Finally, I decided to write a letter to Sophie. This is what I wrote:

 

Sophie Sanchez

Dear Sophie,

I never saw you take your first step. I never heard your first word or even your first laugh. You moved away long before you would know who I was or how your family had helped mine acclimate to a new area full of people we didn’t know, how they became our friends and went out of their way to include us and make us feel welcome. You don’t know me, but I remember you.

I remember when your mother was pregnant with you. I remember watching her sometimes reach down and feel you kick and see her sweet smile. I remember you brother, Ethan, telling all the other kids at preschool that he was going to have another sister and how excited he was. I was pregnant at the same time, Sophie, and your mother and I would sometimes sit around and talk about the aches and pains that came with carrying a child, but also the joys children bring and how excited we were to welcome our little ones into this beautiful world.

I remember after you were born, how small you were. Your mother would carry you around in that baby Bjorn and you looked so dwarfed in it. All we could see were your skinny little legs and precious tiny feet. Your mom would take all the kids to the park and there you were, packed carefully away on your mom’s chest while she pushed one kid on the swing and helped another down a slide. Your mother was my hero and I wanted to be just like her.

I remember before your family moved to California. You had grown into the Bjorn a bit better and we could see your alert little face peeking out at the world around you, taking everything in. I remember the preschool kids would run up and talk to you and try to get you to smile, and then would run over to me or the other parents and tell us what sound you made, or how your face looked. Everyone loved you—your sweet face, your beautiful curly hair, your fair skin.

You don’t know me, Sophie, but I wanted to say “Thank you”. Thank you for reminding me of the important role I have as a mother, to cherish each precious moment I have with my children. Thank you for helping me find the patience to respond to frustrating situations with a smile instead of harsh words that could hurt. Thank you for the wake-up call so I remember to go ride bikes with Lance or play blocks with Jude even when I’m tired or would rather be doing something else. Thank you for reminding me that every day is a gift. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, what joys or heartache, treasures or sorrows. Thank you for helping me realize I need to live each day so when I lay down at night, I can be at peace knowing I am living life to it’s fullest, that I am loving and serving my family.

Finally, thank you, Sophie, for reminding me why I read my scriptures and go to Church and pray even when it’s hard. The Gospel is true—I know it. I know we will meet again. I know your parents will have the opportunity to raise you, to be with you. You will once again be with your brother and sisters, healthy and happy. You are theirs forever, their precious baby Sophie.

Love,

Heather Glass


They are holding a Memorial service this Sunday for their Sophie. Our heart goes out to you, Sarah and Sergio. 

Break-down and a Bridal Shower

Last weekend was a full one. The boys and I played around during the week and then drove up to Ashburn on Thursday so Lance could spend the weekend with his dad. On the way up, about 45 minutes from Scott's house, the Cadillac we are borrowing from the George's parents overheated and we had to pull over. Scott came to pick us up and we all ate an early dinner at Chipotle (Lance's pick) and then he dropped me and Jude off at my mom's house. Fun! 

Seriously, though, we were totally blessed during the break-down by our family. Eric and his buddy Chad drove 45 minutes with a flat-bed tow-truck to pick up the broken-down car, George's dad and Eric are working on our Jetta, and Mom let me borrow her van until our Jetta (the car we traded the Suburban for) is done sometime this week. Eric and George's dad have been working on the Jetta to get it in driving condition for a while now and have been so generous to let us use the Cadillac during the past year. 

So, thanks to our family and Scott, the break-down really wasn't that bad for us and the weekend continued without a hitch. I got to attend a friend's Bridal Shower in Fairfax which was lots of fun! It was held at a nice Italian restaurant and each guest was treated to a full lunch and dessert!  It was fun to see a few people I knew there and meet some new friends as well. Lindsey (the bride-to-be) is engaged to one of George's best friends from college, Matt. They are an awesome couple!

Reading some marriage advice written by those in attendance.

Opening my gift to Lindsey. This is a bad picture of them, but you get the idea.

After the bridal shower, I went back to my mom's house to pick up Jude so we could drive back down to Charlottesville. Amy was there and before I left, I helped her shave my mom's dog Vera. It took much longer than I had expected and was much more difficult than it seemed.

Before. She's a pretty dog, but that hair just keeps shedding and it's all about 3 inches long, so Mom said it had to go.

Me holding Vera still while Amy used her fur trimmers. This was our first attempt at shaving a living creature and it took a while before we really knew what we were doing. Sorry, Vera!

Jude helped out by feeding Vera plant bulbs he found in a pot. Yum?

The end result. Still a little shaggy and some spots need some touching-up, but not too bad. She still looks like her but her fur is much shorter. 

When Jude and I got back to Charlottesville, George and I had some friends over and we played a game called "Pandemic". It's a great game! Basically, all the players have to work together to save the world from disease outbreaks. Because you're working together, if you win, everyone does and if you lose, we all do. 

It was a fun, busy busy weekend and we were glad to be back in Charlottesville ready to start another week.

Bike Master!

Lance is now a biking master! He asks multiple times every day if he can go and ride is bike. Jude thinks it's fun to chase him and Killian (who also just learned how to ride).

These pictures were taken about a week ago. We were up in our parking lot with Killian and Kendall practicing and Lance just took off!

Jude wanted to try, too.

Lance showing off his new skills for his friends.

Lance had a couple weeks head-start, but with help from Jayden and his dad, Killian has more than caught up and they now zoom around together.

So proud!

Getting pointers from DaddyG.

I love that our parking lot is a big circle. The kids go out daily now and make circuits for 30 minutes at a time. A great way to play and get worn out! Hooray for warm weather and playing outside!

Harry Potter

We have a new obsession here at our house:

HARRY POTTER!

I've been trying to get Lance interested in reading (he totally can and will when I force him, he just doesn't want to do it on his own) so I checked out the first Harry Potter book on CD a couple months ago and we started listening to it in the car when we drove. What usually ended up happening was Lance would zone out and start talking about other things while I sat there entranced, listening to the whole thing.

We finally finished it and as a treat, he watched the movie with me and Jason. After that, he decided he wanted to listen to the second book. It went a little bit better than the first, but he still wasn't that interested and got bored really fast. Oh well.

So, the end result? I'm now working my way through all 7 books and Lance has watched the first 4 movies. I don't think we're going to watch the other ones, though, because after the 4th, they get pretty dark.

Last week we had a "movie night" with Lance's friends and they all watched the 4th Harry Potter movie. The day before we had painted "wands" (they were really chopsticks) to prepare.

Jabrien, Killian, and Lance. Kendall came over later and painted her own, and I painted one for Jude so he wouldn't feel left out.

"Expelliarmus!"

They had a great time eating popcorn and watching Harry Potter and trying to cast spells on each other. I'm not sure how much watching really got done, but we had fun and that was the point.

I am currently on the 5th book, the last one I read about 10 years ago. I still have never read the 6th or 7th, but I figured I'd better go back and read the earlier ones before I dive right in to the meat of the story. It's been interesting trying to find time to read. I have a sneaky suspicion I won't be done with the series for a long, long time. :)

General Conference Weekend

As is tradition, our family spent this past weekend up in Northern VA with our families. It was General Conference weekend where for four two-hour sessions we got to listen to the Prophet  and his apostles and other leaders of our Church speak to the world about family, faith, and love. This happens every six months and is a wonderful chance to hear talks from our ordained leaders that encourage us to be better, do better, and increase our faith in Christ.

After Lance's soccer game, we drove to George's parent's house to spend some time with Aunt Colleen and Uncle Dave. I don't think I even have a picture of Aunt Colleen. Uncle Dave is George's dad's brother and he and his wife are awesome. We haven't seen them in over a year, so it was nice to catch up a bit. They were in the process of helping Mom and Dad Glass change out their countertops in the kitchen. Quite the undertaking!

Luckily, Eric was there to help out (Uncle Dave and Eric are cutting out the old counter).

Der and Dad Glass lifting out the stovetop. 

The boys kept busy while we were there. Jude love stuffed animals and whenever he finds one (or anything soft for that matter), he'll put his head down on it and say "ahhhh". So cute!

Lance had a great time playing their Wii. He gets pretty into the games.

We made it over to my mom's house to watch Conference later that afternoon.

Mason and Lance

Chad surprised everyone by renting a car and driving down to spend the weekend with us. It was so good to have him there!

We all thought Mason looked like he could be Chad's baby. What do you think?

Lance wrestling with his "favorite aunt". Aunt Amy had a special gift for Lance--a cool foam airplane she hand-painted for him. He looked at it and said, "I like this better than all my toys!" I wish I had a picture of it. 

[EDIT] Here is a picture we took of it when we got back to Charlottesville. Nice, huh?

After watching the afternoon session of Conference, the guys got together for dinner and then went to the Priesthood session that night while the girls hung out. We all went to Panera Bread for dinner and had a nice time talking and watching the (my) kids be crazy.

Apparently Jude likes cream cheese. He must be mine.

Amy, Mom, Laura, and Mason

Me and my crazy boys.

Our Panera group.

The next day, we went over to my aunt's house in Maryland to watch Conference with them. Everyone brought food and we ended up with a gigantic spread of amazing dishes like homemade 7-layer chip dip, hot wings, enchiladas, fruit and dip, pound cake, deviled eggs... the list could go on and on. Let's just say it wasn't just our souls that were being fed that day!

Lance was off like a shot to enjoy the four dogs, two cats, and a huge backyard. Jude found things he enjoyed, too.

Like Milo.

And Mason.

And Sylvester (the black cat by the car).

And more Sylvester...

The rest of us tried to listen to the speakers (and eat).

Aunt Linda helped entertain the boys. :)

Aunt Linda and Uncle Rob with Jude.

George keeping Jude occupied.

Lance distracting Jason, Kailey, and Chad.

In the time between sessions, Lance got to video-chat with his dad who was in California on a business trip. The best part? He also got to video chat with his California cousins!

Bethany, Kailey, and Jason playing a three-part piece called "Triple Dip".

Jude thought the piano was great fun and wanted to play, too.

So of course they let him. 

Enjoying the food!

 Chad and Mason talking.

We went for a walk by the Potomac river while we waited for the afternoon session of Conference to begin. The weather was quite nice and we had a good time together.

Lance being swung by my cousins.

Jude was exhausted and VERY ready for a nap.

Lance on the shoulders of his "favorite" Uncle Tyler.

Tyler and Lance saw something interesting, so Tyler jumped across to the little island...

If you look closely, they're looking at a deer skeleton. Apparently, Tyler told Lance that a "Sharp tooth" must have killed it and eaten it. Lance believed him 100% and has been telling people he saw a deer skeleton that had been killed by a Sharp tooth. :)

Our group on the walk.

Lance being Lance and finding interesting things to look at.

I like this picture of George.

 

Aunt Linda and Uncle Rob

Chad

Jude didn't make it the whole way. He passed out.

We had a great time with our families! After the last session of Conference, George and I got the boys and drove back to Charlottesville so George could be at the hospital early the next day for his current Neurology rotation. We are all pretty tired from the long, fun weekend we had. On again to normal life!