Not-So-Lazy Summer Days

Suddenly I have one month left...
One month left to do some deep cleaning and projects and preparation for a new school year.
One month to enjoy late evenings and late mornings and having Dallin home more during the day.
One month to pack in fun family activities and enjoy my oldest son who seems to be gone all of the time during the school year.

I am looking forward to fall.  I always love the Autumn time.  I love the cool weather, the beautiful colors, the school supplies, the excitement about the new schedule.

And we have enjoyed our summer!  How we have enjoyed it!

Dallin has worked just Tuesdays and Wednesdays during his summer session.  It has been perfect!  He has been around more for trips and yard chores and helping me stay consistent with the schedule and I just love it!  I think he likes it, too.  Now he is off completely for a couple of weeks and we are looking forward to some quieter family work and play days at home.

We wrapped up our homeschool year with a co-op mom's retreat.  We made a quilt for one of our expectant mommies and went out to lunch and talked and talked...It was very fun and refreshing to have some uninterrupted conversations and it was great to spend time with some moms who won't be returning to co-op next year. 

Nathan was gone for most of two weeks for Timberline and his Scout Camp.  He had a neat experience with Timberline where the boys he was in charge of didn't seem excited or motivated at all at the beginning of the week.  He was so excited to see their motivation grow and to see them catch the vision and end the week really well!  He and Brandon have also been doing activities with the ward all summer to prepare for a Trek they did to the Manti temple.  We were really torn about having them go since it was the same time as both of our family reunions, but decided they should go to Trek.  I still wonder if I would do that again because I missed them so much at the reunion, but they had an amazing time at Trek. 

They have both been working hard in our yard to begin earning money for their missions.  They have done a huge drainage/landscaping project in the front yard that is still underway and they have continued the huge sanding project on the deck.  We have been really impressed at what they have been able to accomplish with very little coaching or help.  They are becoming such big, strong, hard workers! 

We've been able to do several temple trips with our homeschool friends.  One week we did 30 baptisms from my Dad's family history work.  I've done initiatories on several as well.  It is so exciting to be a part of this great work and to involve these youth in it.  After the temple, I bring the kids to my house and their moms and siblings can come for a couple of hours of play.  We are doing it in lieu of our homeschool park day that has seen smaller and smaller attendance over the years.  I think we all like park day at my house a lot better! 

I got to meet the 7th baby of one of my best best friends just hours after he was born at home and felt so privileged to be there in that sacred space on that special day. It reminded me that I have long felt called to be a midwife or doula someday when I manage to stop having babies of my own. 

Days later, we went to Idaho for Dallin's 20th reunion.  He has been working for many months on plans for the big dinner.  It turned out to be a fantastic success, and I know he is really proud of what he was able to put together.  It was a  little lonely for me.  I know several of his classmates, but I knew they were there to see each other so my brother in law Brady and I walked around and looked at the decorations.  We saw a corner where a few guys were sitting and talking and realized it was the "spouse" corner so we went over to say hi.  I ended up knowing one of the people there from choir in college and it was fun to catch up with him.

Dallin and the boys came home for a couple of days for him to work and then they made a big trip to do a hike down into the Grand Canyon.  It was a great trip for them, and we were happy to be in Idaho with my mom where we could enjoy air conditioning and cousins.  Seems when the cousins get together, they often share one sickness or another and this time was no exception.  We had a fever/sore throat not strep thing and a stomach bug going on at various times among various kids.  I was feeling slightly frazzled by the time Dallin came to pick us up and mentioned how nice it would be to have a week at my mom's without the kids.  He thought it was a great idea!  He took everyone but the baby and went home and I stayed and helped my mom with raspberries and we did sewing projects and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Sullivan got really comfortable with my parents, and wanted Grandpa to take him out to feed the geese and ride on the lawnmower everytime he woke up.  He had some fun times with my nephew Jared who was staying for a couple of days.  It was fun to think that I was Jared's age when Jared was Sullivan's age and how much fun I had with him then. 

We had both Sarajoy's and Ruby's birthdays in Idaho.  4 and 11 both seem like such big jumps!  Sarajoy was sick again this year, so that was sad.  She got a tinkerbell cake from my aunt and cousins and she still wears the rings that came on it. 

It was so fun to spend a few days at my mom's with my Aunt Maurine and her 2 daughters Connie and Debbie.  We grew up being with them every Christmas in Arizona.  Debbie and I have a lot of common interests, so it was great to stay up visiting with her and sharing ideas.  We all wish they all lived closer.  Simon wonders when we will get to go to Connie's house.  She is so great with the kids.

I got home from Idaho in time to welcome my friend Rebecca from Las Vegas and her 8 kids for a couple of days.  She is another one that is just a kindred spirit.  We love just talking and talking and so that's what we did plus a lot of cooking and cleaning up the kitchen!  Dallin was good to just let it happen and he laid low for those days.  I'm pretty sure it might have something to do with staying up too late too many nights in a row, but I got a horrible headache for a couple of days after that.  I guess I'm getting too old for talking into the wee hours, and it doesn't help that Sullivan woke every 30 mins to an hour that last night.

And then the family reunions were upon us and we still hadn't figured out if or how to manage both of them.  When we mapquested the directions from one place to another and saw it was over 4 hours, it seemed best to just stay and enjoy the one we had already paid deposits on.  We were really sad to miss out on being with the Millingtons and will make every effort to keep the reunions on separate weekends from now on!  At Lava Hot Springs with the Porters we enjoyed swimming, floating the river, and a zipline adventure park.  I definitely learned that I have some work to do on staying calm and loving when I am in that situation.  It was anything but relaxing to be constantly cooking, cleaning, getting ready for an adventure or the millions of trips to the bathroom that seemed way too far away!  Not to mention the boo-boos and mosquito bites that needed attention.  But it was definitely worth it to create such great memories for my family and to be with the people that I love so much.  It is amazing that we can all enjoy being together and just love each other even though we all have weaknesses and annoying behaviors.  I love how tolerant and peaceful my family is.

I feel like I could write so much more about each of these things, but there isn't time!  I am happily working along on my spiritual growth through all of these great experiences.  I am learning to accept my trials with gratitude and trying to teach my children to do better than I have done.  We are trying to welcome the Spirit into our lives more frequently.  I am recognizing the whisperings of the Spirit and the presence of angels in my life as I try to purify my behavior and focus more on the Savior.  The constant in that activity is an increasing humility and recognition of how little I know and how far I have to go and how much I really need to be Saved.  I do feel that the Lord is hastening his work and we are in the last days.  I have a growing hope that more and more will be willing to come unto Christ and that I can be a part of that gathering.  I also have a growing sadness and dread for those who choose to be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.  I am left in awe at the beauty of my life and the possibility for joy that is ever present because of the quest for the "brightness of hope"  that will ultimately lead to the "Perfect Day".


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