Part Man, Part Sherpa

Our family seems to have many a made for tv moments in our lives. I think part of the reason is that I am a bit on the lazy side of things and that always gets me in trouble. Just the other day, Fernando decided to study at home. He set up all the necessary equipment in our room up on our third floor. I, like usual, was still loafing about the house in bedtime attire, no contacts, and hair/armpits in desperate need of a shower. Tiago tried earnestly to distract Fernando. I eventually made my way upstairs to take Tiago away to a better play place. I found him frustrated outside of our bedroom door. I figured Fernando couldn't wait for me to get Tiago out so he took matters into his own hands. No biggie, I would just quickly shower and be on our way to some adventure. About the third knock and jiggle of the locked door handle, Fernando appears at the bottom of the stairwell. Now if this were a sitcom, there would be a dramatic pause as the camera jumps from my eyes to Fernando's and the canned noise of choice would help move the plot along. Unfortunately, this was our life quite literally since the test Fernando needed to study for was Step 2 of his medical board exams. Even with all our MacGyvering, we could not break the lock. I made a few untimely jokes about clever mice, but Mia was the only one who got excited about that idea. Finally, thirty minutes later, Fernando concocted a intricate plan involving a stolen church ladder. This was like the fourth time that week I had wished we owned a truck. Truckless and braless, we walked as a family the three blocks to the church. Tiago and Mia were loving the family frolic and meandered their way pushing a stroller full of toys and a rumbling lawn mower. Eventually we had the massive ladder and made the reverse trip even more interesting for the passerby. Fernando insisting that I shouldn't try to help, hoisted the ladder over his head. At the half block mark, he asked Mia for a Care Bear to ease the pressure of the ladder. It proved slightly better except for the infernal plastic hearts on the nose and bottom. Once home we extended the ladder to maximum capacity since our room is three stories up.



After several unsuccessful tries to break in, we said a prayer. Inspiration struck and Fernando made his next attempt with a pair of patent leather military dress shoes and our snow scrapper from the car. Miracle. Strange how you always hear those stories of people praying for really "silly" things as compared to world hunger and yet Heavenly Father loves us enough to answer all faithful prayers.