09.06.08 Cheer, Cheer for Ol' Notre Dame!

Grant was finally initiated into the Beutler Family properly. He finally got to go to Notre Dame for the pre-game festivities. The good ol' Fighting Irish! Jason, my brother, is currently a student at Notre Dame getting his executive MBA, so he and Kendra have student tickets to all the home games. He was able to get two more tickets, so my dad and Grandpa decided to join them. Both Jaybin and Kinsen have been schooled in the thought of pure Notre Dame school pride, so they arrived dressed from head to toe in Blue and Gold, and very excited. Grant, too, had a blue and gold shirt on, and was thrilled to hold onto his football and walk around the campus, seeing the sites (the golden dome - from the inside!, the Grotto, the chapel, etc), smelling the bratwursts cooking, watching the bagpipe band and throwing their little footballs around. Grant and Kinsen even climbed a tree! AND, treat of all treats, we even got to watch silly college kids getting sick by the sides of trees because of too much partying. Oh boy! Jason's school kindly offers lunch on game days to alumni and their family/friends for free, so we walked over to where he takes classes and got free brats, hamburgers, chicken, delicious cookies and even drinks! Thanks, Jason! What a treat! The kids were all exhausted by the time lunch was over, so mom and I took them back to Grandma and Grandpa Beutler's house for naps. We missed the band and the parade, but three tired kids made for a long day, so we were happy to get them home! They enjoyed being home, as well, and had a ball playing together. They jumped off rocks, played quietly in the basement for hours, and ended the evening with an arousing round of wrestling on the floor. Grant says it best when he runs up to you, puts both hands on your face and squeals, "FUN!" as he turns around to run back to whatever he's doing. What joy he finds in life. It's a precious thing! Leaving was so hard on Grant tonight. He did NOT want to leave Jaybin for any reason. When he realized we were getting ready to go, he ran to Jaybin's side, held his hand and wrapped his arms around Jaybin's entire body, the entire time crying, "Jay-bin!" "Jay-bin!" "Jaaaayyy-binnnn." We heard this lamentation the entire ride back to my parent's house - a 2 hour drive! Grant is enjoying his cousins so much, and it's all we hear about. Literally.