Fun with Cheech and Mom

Charity surprised us for Hazel’s baptism.  And boy was it an awesome surprise.  I just walked in the door from a photo shoot and there she was.  In real life!  We had no clue she was coming but I have to say I had wished lots and lots that she could.  She and Hazel are kindred souls.  They just get each other.  If I ever need help understanding Hazel I ask Charity and she’s always spot on.  It was so great to have her there.  And, I really appreciated her help with that crazy weekend.  We had a lot going on and it was so nice to have some extra hands and support.  As soon as she got there I snatched her up to go to run some errands to get ready for the baptism.  We ate samples at Costco and bought apples at Brooksby Farms.  It was so fun to have some company doing those tasks that I really didn’t want to do on a Saturday.

Once we got some work done we took the kids to jump in leaves in the cemetery.  It was on fire with autumn colors.  The kids had a great time with Chi Chi who is much more youthful and energetic at leaf jumping than their stodgy old mom.  Peter had an awesome time on his balance bike.  More on his obsession with this later.

Char even watched the kids while Jeff and I went to the temple that afternoon. 

We spent all night cooking away.  Charity in my kitchen = dream come true.  We baked and baked until it was time to go and pick up my mom from the airport.  My mom didn’t know Charity was going to be there either, so we nearly peed our pants thinking of ways to make the surprise awesome.  The wig did the trick.  Our mom was a little scared of this weird person who kept bumping into her.  She even dashed to get into the car to try and avoid ‘him.’  I had to invent an excuse to get her back out of the car so that she could realize who it was.  Oh, good times. We stayed up too late talking and then got up to our big day.  Not only was it Hazel’s baptism, but Jeff was also getting sustained as Bishop of our congregation that day during our regular services (they weren’t planned to happen on the same day, just sort of worked out that way….maybe more on that later).

After church we carved out some time before the baptism to do a little reading:

and go on a little walk through the cemetery.  It was a perfect Sunday afternoon.  I love how peace just envelopes you when you walk into those cemetery gates.   And I love being there with a sister and mom who love the beauty of it all at least as much as I do.

On Monday we set out for a typically Eyre woman ambitious day.  My mom watched the kids so that Char and I could go have breakfast on Charles St at her favorite (and mine too) breakfast place, the Paramount.  Yes, it was delicious.  And then we spent an hour our so walking around downtown.  It was therapy for me, falling in love again with Boston on such a perfect fall day.  I needed that since we just decided to make this our home for quite a while longer since Jeff is now Bishop.  And it was therapeutic to be with my dear sister-friend.  Oh, there’s nothing like a sister friend. We walked through the Boston public library enjoying the art and beauty of that place.  I want to take one of their free tours one day. Then  my mom and kids picked us up on Newbury street and we headed out to our Alma Mater, Wellesley College.  It’s always good to go there with Charity and love it with her.  Oh, how I want Hazel or Em to go there one day.  I just have such fond feelings flood in when I step onto that campus.  And last we went all the way north to the Crane Estate.  It’s one of my favorite places on earth and I knew Charity would love it.  So we had to go.  We met up with Eva, my Bulgarian sister, for a little while and it was glorious.  Everything is wonderful with Eva around.  She and Charity are both lovers of life.  Peter was obsessed with his belly that day.  I love how these three women like to pose.

Oh, what a time we had.  Thanks Char for coming all that way!