Rumble thy belly-full!

Justin taught Institute for the last time this academic year. It’s been a great experience for him, though in his vanity he had hoped attendance would be higher than it generally was (perhaps he thought word of the class’s vibrancy and power would spread and attract new students; instead he appears to have driven a few of the old ones away). The bitter-enders who stuck with the class throughout the year—a really wonderful group of faithful and gifted stalwarts—pitched in to thank him tonight with a (very generous) gift card with which to take Lia to dinner at the Olive Garden. This was very moving. So ends an important chapter, one that blessed our senior editor with a deeper immersion in the Book of Mormon than his busy schedule might otherwise have allowed. Brother Durrant asked him to teach again next year, when he plans to teach a class on early Latter-day Saint history and the Doctrine and Covenants. The curious should come in droves.

Julia was really sweet this evening. When Eli offered her a stick during dinner, she replied: “Oh, thank you very much Eli! But I’m eating.” When Justin came home from Institute Julia came out from bed to go to the bathroom. When Justin took her back to bed, he rocked her for a minute, telling her how glad he was that she was his daughter. She whispered into his ear: “Well, I’m so glad you’re Mommy’s husband!” When he thanked her for being a wonderful kid today, she answered, “So have you [been a wonderful kid].” (All of this may have been a set-up for the ensuing request that Justin stay by Julia’s bedside to sing, “Come, come ye Saints”; if so, he took the bait without hesitation)

Eli, on the other hand—whom we adore—did not have the best day of her 755-day life. She did have her moments, though. At dinner, she held out her hands plaintively to Justin and moaned that they were dirty (this came as a surprise to a child who had just dispensed with the use of a fork in dispatching some mashed potatoes and a pork chop). Of a sudden, her face brightened. “I’ll wipe them off myself!” she cried. She slithered out of her high chair, scrambled into the kitchen, and returned immediately with a visage ebullient, beaming, triumphant. She held up her hands in glory. “I wiped them myself!” We cared not to ask upon what.

Also at dinner, Lia made a humorous allusion to the popular satirical blog, “Stuff White People Like.” “We white people like to hide in the bushes”—or some sentiment to that effect—was the punch line. Julia heard “white people” as “wipe people,” and asked: “You like to wipe people’s noses in the bushes? What?!?” Lia, who didn’t understand that Julia misunderstood, was mightily perplexed. Eli started chanting “wipe people” under her breath. It took the manly interposition of our senior editor to clear up the confusion.

In other momentous news, Lia moves ever closer to finishing her dress; all that lacks are the finishing touches on the zipper.