I drove the kids up to Utah this weekend. We arrived in Spring Lake just in time for a party for Sarah. These are some of the cousins at the playhouse.
And here are some more in the trees.
Cuties at the girl table
A little cutie with a ball.
Mark is happy, but the zombie-werewolf-pirate game required a serious look.
My Timmy.
Happy birthday, Aunt Sarah!
Little helpers for the trick candles
Such sweet sentiments for Sarah from the nieces and nephews!
It’s good to be here for July 4th celebrations. I am house hunting. Paige is at BYU for a summer camp. Richard’s new job begins next week!
4 generations: Can you recognize me? I'm the bald one.
I’m thankful for the mothers in my life. My mother, who gave me just about everything and my grandmothers who carried faith, traditions, etiquette, and propriety through the generations. I’m glad to have elements of a Victorian woman in my own skill set because it’s kept me out of some trouble.
I’m thankful for the women who have mothered me, even though I was not their own. Some had children of their own to love; others did not. My experience has taught me that they, too are mothers.
I’m not a big fan of Mother’s Day for my own benefit. I don’t want a lot of fuss made about the “sacrifices” of motherhood. Frankly, I’m living the life I always wanted. I don’t need a cake to compensate for my time! I love to being a mother. I always have.
I will be accepting extra hugs and kisses from my children all day today. Happy Mother’s Day!
The Young Men in the ward treated their moms to a Mother’s Day dinner this week. The boys prepared an invitation and were drilled in etiquette in the weeks leading up to the event. We had a lovely meal outdoors overlooking the lake. I noticed that Daniel opened every door, pulled out my chair for me at the table, and prepared my plate before his own. I enjoyed my time with my good looking, dashing and intelligent young man.
Do you keep a treasure box of precious notes? I have a box in my closet filled with sweet gifts and cards from my children. My favorite are the spontaneous, misspelled notes which they obviously created themselves with no editor overstepping the bounds of their devotion.
It seems that only children have the courage to try to put their love into poetry. Should it be this way? Shouldn’t we be braver as we age, matching our growing appreciation with a little bit of sentiment? I believe that mothers’ acts of love help give us the capacity to love others because they are the best messengers to carry a portion of God’s love for us.
Let’s celebrate that, and be courageous in our gestures of gratitude.
It’s Sunday, and that usually means extra church meetings for Richard and me. But today is special because it’s a rare, unscheduled 5th Sunday.
What to do?
I think I’ll take some time and reflect about the week. It was a big week.
The mornings brought seminary, school, visitors, and a trip to Tucson for some scriptures.
The afternoons involved more school, violin teaching, a bike ride with friends, grocery shopping, cleaning, playing with friends, a birthday party, and Piano Guild Auditions.
In the evenings, we had 4 baseball games, 2 practices, 3 ballet classes, one night working with the missionaries, Scout meetings, a Young Women activity, and one night out to dinner to celebrate the end of Piano Guild auditions. We had a youth temple trip all day on Saturday.
What do all of these activities have in common?
They produced a lot of laundry, my magnum opus.
I’ve learned that doing laundry provides a special key to knowledge about my family. As I empty pockets, I discover what is important to my little people. I see who played outside on the grass enough (I don’t hate grass stains. I encourage them.) and who needs to shower more often. I see evidence of baseball feats of skill, ballet workouts, weight training, bicycling (Love those mud stains up the back of the shirts…), and dirt play (which I also encourage). I can’t say that I love doing laundry, but I take pride in doing it and caring for our clothing.
We wear many clothes and play many roles, and it was a happy family reunion on Friday when our schedules eventually collided and we all met at the restaurant to celebrate a year of piano effort. The kids were dressed up in their Sunday best. Mark’s face was probably a bit sticky from birthday party food, I looked a bit bedraggled, and Richard was clad in his work outfit.
After a Saturday evening laundry marathon, the piles of laundry are neatly folded in their baskets and they smell fresh. It was a good week and now I get to enjoy this day of rest.
Last week I had sad news from extended family and weird challenges sprang up around me. I felt heavy and sorrowful. On the other hand, I had good news, too, and there were opportunities for me to serve and feel needed and this made me happy.
Someday when I look back at this time in my life it will be a smudged, incoherent image because of all of the activity, but I will work to see that the good memories will rise up and be more prominent than the bad.
I will remember how Mark’s little drawings cheer me. I will remember the love I feel for the people around me, of the fun times with the Young Women playing black light volleyball and hearing them sing.
I’ll remember how I much I enjoy Richard’s dinners from the grill and chats with him during a baseball game. I’ll think of the way Timothy twirls his hair when he reads to me and how Daniel looks when he’s acting grown up and unselfish. I will remember the way the little ballerinas watch Paige sweep into the dance studio and how she smiles when Richard teases her.
I’ll remember the good people who serve my family in the community, sports, and church.
I will be grateful for a husband who lets me sleep in and remembers to kiss me goodbye every morning.
The difficult things will just serve as a counterpoint, essential in emphasizing the good and forming character, but they won’t take a prominent place on the mantel.
I took Paige and Daniel to Georgetown, Texas for lunch and ice cream at the Courthouse Cafe. It was Grandma Carol’s birthday and we were celebrating, despite the fact that the birthday girl was several states away.
Yesterday Richard and I sat in church and looked up at these two kids sitting on the stand. Paige was giving a talk and Daniel was the Bishop’s messenger for the day. They’re growing up and they still have that happy light in their countenances.
This is what our house looked like last night. I invited the young women and their mothers to come for dinner and an evening of family history research and assistance. We’re getting ready to go to the temple next month and we are trying to prepare some of our ancestors’ names for temple ordinances.
The sister on the right was very helpful and so generous to give up an evening with her family to help us. The young woman is showing an ordinance sheet which she prepared during the evening. The names on the paper are ready for temple work.
As for our family’s work, we found the names we were looking for on census records from 1920 and 1930. Along with an obituary, we have information to lead us to many more of Cerie’s family members. We were so excited that we had Daniel join us and help us to enter some names.
I am learning how much the youth love family history and temple work.
Summer evening + kids + dogs = bliss
These are some of the cousins at the playhouse.
And here are some more in the trees.
Cuties at the girl table
A little cutie with a ball.
Mark is happy, but the zombie-werewolf-pirate game required a serious look.
My Timmy.
Little helpers for the trick candles
Such sweet sentiments for Sarah from the nieces and nephews!
