Category: Family Time

Eagle Court of Honor

On Sunday evening at the Spencer cabin, we held Daniel’s Eagle Court of Honor during our family reunion. Thanks to Richard J. and Sarah, we have some great photos from the evening. We were surrounded by family, friends, and special guests, but we were also in a sacred setting. The cabin and mountains, with more than 100 years of family memories, added to the feelings of the evening. Daniel earned his Eagle a long time ago, but the court of honor felt intimidating to do, so we delayed. I’m so glad we decided to do it in this setting before he leaves on his mission.

No

I read a book recently about the power of Christian hospitality. Our homes, our time, and our stuff, is not our own, the author asserts. And we need to get over the idea that our homes need to be perfect to invite people into our lives. We need to move from entertaining to being hospitable. This is how we show a life of faith to others and have the greatest influence. Some of these thoughts will frame the way I will be more free with my time, my home, and my self, but I have only felt terrible this week when I have held myself to a standard I can’t live right now. I am better than I used to be about sensitivity to people and requests, and I have a greater tolerance for social demands now than even a year ago. However, in this coming month of a high adventure trip and scout camp back-to-back (alone); and during this month of final missionary preparations and errands (stretched); and during the last collection of minutes with our son Daniel living with us (sacred), people may be disappointed in my inability to do it all. I have said no, and I will continue to say no occasionally.

Shasta Lake

When we drove into this resort by the lake, we knew we had found a popular destination. This campground was packed with RVs, close together, but each site still managed to have trees. Families and friends took adjacent sites and gathered for dinner. There were basketball and volleyball games each night, and lots of laughter and play, late into the night. Children on bikes yelled, “Safety patrol!” as they policed the curvy dirt roads, reminding campers to follow the rules. Each building, from the laundry and bathrooms to the small ice cream and novelties shop, wore scraps of their original coats of paint, probably applied during the 1960’s. This felt like history, and with all of the gatherings around us, I think generations of families have been coming here for years. An especially large gathering was beside our campsite, and I noticed they prayed before eating dinner. This made me feel so at home.

The boys and Richard will probably say that this was their favorite part of the trip. We rented a boat, skis, and a tube and spent a lot of time on the lake. The weather was perfect. We were warm for the first time on the trip. We stopped for ice cream and shakes on the last night and shared ping pong paddles and a ball with a gang of little boys.

When we planned this trip, we wanted the lake experience to be like my memories of Clear Lake. While we didn’t stay at Clear Lake and rent an old cabin, this really did provide a similar feeling. I made sure to buy comic books ahead of time for the kids to read.

Best memories: Mark on the tube, Daniel and Timothy getting up on skis, Richard skiing, all the boys on the tube together, ice cream at the shop, tubing hair

Menu: roasted hot dogs, pigs in a blanket, deli sandwiches, grapes, oranges, pasta salad, baked beans, pop tarts instead when the free pancakes were actually not free.

Things we are so glad we brought: a toaster oven for cookies, biscuits, toast, and pigs in a blanket; plastic drawers for toiletries, sunblock, first aid, etc.; drying racks for towels; audio books; our own life jackets; extra blankets; twine; DUCT TAPE

 

Humboldt Redwoods

We took so many pictures in the redwoods, but with each capture, we grew to understand that the secrets of the forest cannot be taken. The photos are hardly representative of what we saw. I think the redwoods evoke a feeling apart from any other, so the day we took a walk through the trees was a true highlight of our trip.

Nice things: few tourists and nice families, Avenue of the Giants road, playing in the river

Surprise: Someone placed small toy figures in crevices of the bark of trees on the hike and Mark found five of them. This is something we want to do for others on a future nature hike.

RV Park: this was our nicest campground, but we kind of panicked when the bathrooms were closed for a long, long, long time. They had a nice gift shop and delivered ice to our site. There was a pond and living turtle and fish inside the gift shop. We were the only pop-up trailer in a park full of big RVs. There were many toy breed dogs traveling in RVs.

Menu: stew and biscuits, fresh chocolate chip cookies, lots of oranges, PBJ sandwiches, a restaurant called Peppers

Half Moon Bay

We arrived at Half Moon Bay after dark on a Sunday night. We set up quickly and fell asleep to the sound of waves. It was so dark, we couldn’t know how close we were to the water, and looked forward to the morning to reveal where we had landed.

In the morning, the beach was ours to claim, cold and beautiful, and we did claim it, most of us in a commando crawl on the sand to stay warm and out of the wind. Mark, of course, took on the waves with little boy zeal in a longer, leaner version of himself than the last time he was at the beach. I knew I was watching some of the last of his childhood as he moved to attack the waves with kicks and leaps. He will be more reserved next time. I will brace myself for that.

Two favorite memories from this leg if the trip: an eclectic and well-stocked used bookstore and an old fashioned diner.

Good surprises from Half Moon Bay: a new friend at the campground named Dave, flowers everywhere along the path to the beach, Daniel’s videos of Mark, and we became faster at folding up the pop-up trailer each time.

Menu: chicken salad on pitas, breakfast burritos, pizza, diner food, roasted hot dogs, and cinnamon sugar doughies by Mark and Richard

Essentials: jackets, heater, books, magazines

Favorite conversation: at Grandma Ruth’s house about “The List” of things she is not supposed to eat anymore.

 

 

Coasts

We are on an epic road trip through northern California with a pop-up trailer. Paige is settled in Manhattan. Richard has seen both coasts this week. It’s a new time for all of us, and the person I see in the mirror and photos seems different. It could be new experiences, age, cares, and possibly the camping hair.

 

 

Joyful Celebration

 

Most of us will never know what it is like to lead the class procession at graduation and give the valedictory speech, but I can say that being Daniel’s mother this evening felt pretty great. I felt distant among all the conversations and congratulations with friends, I think because I was busy finding dedicated places in my heart for all that this evening meant to me. Now, late at night, I am going through pictures, alternately smiling to myself and drying tears.

Tonight was one of the last nights it will be possible to have all of our children together for a few years. Paige left for New York tonight, accompanied by Richard, and she’ll come back just in time to say goodbye to Daniel before he leaves on his mission.

On my shelf in the kitchen, I just placed a sign that says “Gather,” but I keep thinking that the more fitting word for us this summer is “Fly.”

 

Gratitude in May

I am able to keep windows open all day lately, and the sounds of the breeze swirling our great cottonwood trees and the fresh air somehow dispel the busy feelings and replace them with grateful feelings. Consistently, I feel grateful for trees and green and warmer air.

May 7-13

  • grilled hamburgers and a lovely salad
  • clean sheets and bathrooms
  • Elder Kearon’s devotional
  • time to read on Tuesday
  • my neighbor was able to come over and hear her daughter perform a violin piece
  • Taste of Home chicken pot pie
  • passport work finished
  • the quilting ladies
  • the trees we had to cut down: Thank you for the beauty.
  • productive days
  • a quilt for Morgan
  • our bishop’s miraculous recovery
  • piano duets played by our sons
  • Mother’s Day magnets from Daniel

May 14-20

  • Paige’s Mother’s Day card
  • open windows and fresh air
  • Charlene Kettle
  • Excedrin
  • Sunday evening walk with Richard
  • 2 days outdoors at a tournament
  • NYC tickets ready
  • Mediterranean salad at Wendy’s
  • Mark is twelve.
  • Sunday night gathering of my boys on the bed to talk to me
  • Mark singing in the choir
  • Mark playing Uptown Funk and Indiana Jones on the trumpet
  • Tim’s jazz band recordings from Richard
  • passport arrived
  • dinner from my counselors when I was sick