Category: Richard’s projects

Cousin time

The Sanchez cousins made a
Ship, turtle, dragon,
Tucson temple, crayon,
“A”, church, and a saguaro.
I am pretty proud of their work. It was a lot of prep work for me, but the class went smoothly. When things got tricky with the grout, my sister Susan helped me finish them.
MMSK together again
Richard and Rob worked hard to get the 4-wheelers ready for some rides this weekend. This one was near Tibble Fork.
The Rosses from Austin came so I baked a cake.

Headlines of Consequence

Pioneer Trek photo by Susan Vaughn
Last summer, as an intern for the illuatrator of this book, Paige watched him paint this cover and helped with some background illustration. It is coming out next week.
Strawberry Pinnacles campout (There were other boys there!)

Connection and progress happen in the undercurrents of the to do lists and during transit between appointments. The on stage, public displays are a pinnacle, not the mountain we have climbed. They don’t call attention to themselves, but tiny, daily actions are life. Today I elevate some of these menial and plain things and dress them up as headlines:

Late night conversation keeps parenting goals on track.

Work at home issues forth connection and order.

Meal preparation: a rock in the fortress of home, every day

She waited weeks for a convenient time to ask family to move furniture.

A child is struggling? Pray with him.

Camping gear is well traveled.

Mother makes another trip to the store for gear and marshmallows.

Reconciliation evident in non-verbal ways

He often works from home at night to balance high demands of employer and others.

To avoid criticizing someone, mother pulls weeds outside.

Foregoing personal hobbies and family time, Scoutmaster pushes on.

Despite past failures, additional attempts are planned for family spirituality.

Dead, maggot-filled animal buried early this morning in the backyard

Stranded motorist helped by a kind stranger

She kept paper for taking notes.

Entire family commits to watching together a movie only one person will enjoy.

They sat down together at the table.

They took the time they needed to make a plan.

He changed the station again and again without hearing frustration from the driver.

Strength to do dishes and laundry is a blessing.

After years of being too busy, mother helps organize son’s collections.

He remembered to text his mom to let her know where he was.

She smiled instead of criticized.

He practiced each day.

He let his brother stick an earbud in his ear to hear a funny song.

They kept praying together.

Home Work

We are moving forward with carpet after nearly seven years in the house. I guess this means we are staying, although we saw a lot more of our families when we lived out of state. Living close to family means we’re everyday relatives, not destination relatives. In fact, we went to St George this weekend and neither we nor anyone else took a single photo. I’m a little sad that I don’t have pictures of the missionary, his pretty mom now out of the hospital, the cousins, the aunts and uncles, and the grandparents who gathered to celebrate his service. We are still treated like destination relatives, but our stays are shorter. I love being present for the big and little things for the extended family, and there are some very sweet memories that I will treasure from this trip that do not require photographs to recall.

May has been its usual busy self. Richard was away from home all but one weekend, I think. The sprinkler system has been down, but the rain has compensated very well. My new church calling has stressed me out, but with each “first” and introduction, I see that things will be fine. The boys have stayed up late. We have still not planted the tomatoes. I don’t remember the last time I mopped the floor. But sometime this summer, there will be soft new carpet in the house, and I have a pretty new plant. The woman at the store who cares for the plants was a little sad that I took it home instead of her. I kind of want to name the plant Shiela. Wait. Did I just share that online?

The crash

Summer is Richard’s favorite season. He lives it fully and then crashes. This was the day after scout camp. Adventurous, fun, uncomplaining, and dedicated are words that describe him. Our dog knows who the best human is in the house.

Pinewood Derby 2017

Mark and Richard worked very hard on this final car for the Ross family pit crew. They decided that they would be happy no matter the outcome. Their goal was to design a car that looked awesome. When the car got 4th place, it was a nice ending for a great time together.

Last car

The kitchen is the workshop for the last pinewood derby car. It’s my contribution to the process that I look away and not see the mess, but the building of a little man.

One sweet detail from this car is that Timothy arranged to cut it out for Mark in his school woodshop.

The unveiling will happen in a few days. Until then, imagine flames, shiny ebony, and a red dome… All of this, and speed. Thursday is the big day.