After having such a busy summer, September seemed a bit uneventful. We all succumbed to the school schedule looking forward to every weekend. However, no matter what schedule we are living, my boys make this life an entertaining one!
Justin's school day begins with a quick hug (at his request, which totally makes my day) as he leaves for the bus and ends with a single serving of his own making. He found a bunch of mug recipes online and experimented until he found the perfect after school single serve brownie.
Nathan and Hyrum get home around 2:45 and quickly do their homework and piano so they can have playtime together. Wrestling on the trampoline is one of their favorites. Well, they start out wrestling and then Hyrum clings to Nathan's back while Nathan spins around trying to get him off and pretty soon they just fall together laughing.
Hyrum's biggest complaint about afternoon school is that he doesn't have Nathan to play with during the mornings but every once in a while LeRoy and Levi are at the house for lunch. Levi and Hyrum can goof off just as much as Nathan and Hyrum can. On one particular lunch break my camera was sitting on the counter so they took turns taking pictures of each other.
They captured some real beauties.
Hyrum has decided that he likes to make his own lunches and after a little bit of practice has determined that he would like to be a chef when he grows up.
Surprisingly, he is quite good at selecting complimentary ingredients which has given him tasty results. This particular day he chose some late blooming raspberries from outside, a little lemon ("not too much so it's not sour"), milk, oatmeal and powdered sugar. He proudly named it Runny Raspberry Oatmeal and shared it with Levi and I.
Even with the school schedule we must do chores. Derek never complains and seems to turn every chore into some sort of fun. Like the time he hauled the food storage items from the van to the basement. He wanted to see how many pounds he could carry at once but wasn't satisfied with only using his hands.
And then there is the time he mowed the lawn and then had the brilliant idea (the kind of brilliant that usually happens when Chris is around) to tie a skateboard to the lawn mower and do laps around the circular drive.
Whether we are on a summer schedule, holiday schedule or school schedule the one thing that remains the same is our love for reading. There is always time to read.
Where we choose to read does change from time to time.
Justin and Hyrum thought Nathan's reading spot looked so comfy that they incorporated it into their own free time.
Nathan is in 2nd grade and Hyrum is in kindergarten. They are both so excited!
We went late to the annual back to school breakfast in our neighborhood. The boys wanted to have crepes instead of fruit and muffins so we ate at home and then met up with everyone else to catch the bus. Kids were busy comparing new backpacks and shoes, discussing teachers and the older kids helped the nervous younger kids get on the bus.
My "big boys"
Derek is a senior and Justin is a freshman. They weren't quite as excited for another years of school.
I twiddled my thumbs during my alone time. After spending every day of the summer with my kids, the empty hours were far more quiet than I was ready for. I was happy to see the bus coming around the corner and thrilled to see the boys running to me already talking about their day.
We sat on the grass together so that I could hear all about it. They love their teachers and the classes!
My days have since filled and my alone time is my work time. Though it was hard to send all of them off to school this year it does feel good to work while they are gone and then shut the door on work to spend the afternoon and evening hearing about their day, helping with homework and focusing on family without splitting my thoughts with what I still need to do in the office.
and I love playing the games with them (seldom a photo of that though).
When things get really quiet it is usually because of the cats, the electronics, or a brief nap.
Hyrum is not usually part of the quiet. He is always the entertainment.
Most of the time he is a superhero but every once in a while he's just some creepy character with bad teeth.
We had one of Justin's moles taken off of his scalp. It was growing little moles on it and it was itchy and irritating so it was time to get rid of - in his words - his "pregnant mole". Even doctors appointments are fun with Justin. The nurse gave him a glove to blow up but that wasn't entertaining enough for him so he put it on and did his best Michael Jackson impression.
I had been honest with him about the pain when he asked if it was going to hurt. I told him is was like getting immunizations done and that it would just be a prick, the mole would go numb and he wouldn't feel them cut it off. He seemed very calm throughout the ordeal, even joking with the nurse and doctor the whole time. On the way out he said, "I think you forgot to take into account my pain tolerance". He wasn't pretending to be tough, it was easy for him. All the joint pain he endures made getting a mole cut off seem as simple as getting a haircut.
Justin did flips and handstands in nearly every place we went this summer:
Throughout the week before Vivien left I became somewhat emotionally numb. I knew she was packing and I knew I would have to drop her off at the airport but I couldn't emotionally acknowledge that. During family pictures and the watermelon party I only focused on the joy of having us all together. By the time Sunday came it was starting to sink in. Still, I kept myself emotionally distant.
We went to church with Vivien joining us one last time. As we all sat there together while Justin gave his talk I was overcome with a great love for this family that supports and encourages one another. After sacrament meeting I thought she would go home with Bret & Erika (Bret had meeting) so that she could finish packing but instead she came to primary with me. For our welcome song (which was more of a goodbye song) the primary sang Nephi's Courage to her. After church Vivien and I went to the temple.
She took some more pictures as we walked around the grounds. It was a beautiful, hot summer day so we stopped in the shade on the north side of the temple and sat in the grass talking and overlooking the whole city. We became so comfortable, and our conversation quite in depth of each other's afterlife perspectives, that we both ended up laying in the grass. It was so peaceful and wonderful to have this time with her.
Later that afternoon we had a neighborhood picnic for one of the ladies moving out so we all went over for desserts and visiting.
And then reality smacked our emotions around. I was taking Vivien to Utah so everyone else said their goodbyes at the house. It was so hard to actually leave! The boys were crying, Vivien was crying, I was crying. Vivien and I didn't really know what to say and probably couldn't have if we knew what to say because tears were so close to the surface. Finally, she climbed in the back and slept to the comfort of her music.
We made a stop to say goodbye to Kate's family and then went on to Kara's to spend the night. We should have gone to bed early because we had to get up so early but it was our last night and we didn't want to go to bed so we watched a movie (I slept through most of it). The next morning we got to the airport in plenty of time, check in went smooth and we hung around in the check in lobby for as long as we dared before the security line started to get really long. I stayed near the line, catching a glimpse of her each time the line looped around my direction. What I really wanted to do was yank her out of the line and take her home. With my phone I captured my last live glimpses of her and then she was gone.
I stayed in the lobby so that we could text until she boarded. I didn't want to be texting while driving and I wanted every last minute with her even if it was only through text. Once she was on the plane I left the airport. Then it all became real and I could hardly see through my tears to drive. We had such a great summer! I love spending time with Vivien and as I drove the four hours home I could already feel the empty spot growing in me. It will forever be there, a holding place in my heart for Vivien. I am so very grateful for email and the international post but it just is not the same as having her hear to hug and laugh with and cry with and be silly with.
Update: Life continues. We email. Her life is busy, my life is busy. One day in November (the 15th to be exact) it really hit me how much I miss her. I ended up really crying it out for the first time since that long ride home from the airport on August 26th. Here is a copy of the email that I sent her:
I was innocently working in my office with one of my playlists going and when this song came on I completely stopped, sat back in my chair, thought of you and cried for a few minutes.
YOU are one of the most important people in my life! There are times when something funny is happening and I can almost hear your laugh mixed in with our laughter. Or, I go to get something out of your room and as soon as I open the door I pause because I'm surprised that it doesn't have your stuff in it anymore. Blogging has been a little hard because it makes me wish you were here so that we could laugh over the pictures and tell our favorite parts of the summer. At least once a week I have an empty feeling when everyone gets home from school or comes to dinner or family prayer and I realize that the empty feeling is because you are not with us. Every time we sing Nephi's Courage in Primary I almost cry. When we sing for FHE I wish you were here to giggle with us at our terrible singing voices.
And then there are silly things like cooking beef or pork and accidentally planning what you will be able to eat because you don't like beef or pork. Or, I have bread go bad because no one else will eat the rye bread with me. Going into town just isn't fun anymore. Broulims is boring. Walmart is lame. For me, Rexburg is just not the same without you.
I hope you know that I love you as one of my own children and as a best friend. You have made my life better! You have made our family better. You are part of our memories and stories and you come up frequently in conversations. We have been very iffy in our emails but it doesn't mean that I'm not thinking about you. You are in my prayers morning and night. I wonder about your studies and travels and friends and wish we had our time at night to chat while the boys are watching boy movies.
Thank you for bringing such joy to my life! This song says everything that I can't (my tears are in the way).
I love you forever!!
♥ Mom
P.S. You don't need to watch the video, it's just random pictures....just close your eyes and listen. The song is from an LDS book (Charly) that was made into a movie. I was so excited when they made the movie a few years ago because it was one of my favorite books as a teenager :D
Just a Heartbeat Away
Jenny Jordan Frogley
Dreams seem so far away
And other times just right around the corner
And I know you're gone but I'm amazed how close you feel
And we both hold on, the love we have is real
I close my eyes
And feel you near
In every dream
In every tear
In every memory
That doesn't fade away
And it feels like forever
Is just a heartbeat away.
Days may come and go
Then suddenly,oh, time won't seem to matter
There's a space between us but love can span the distance
We can reach beyond these walls until I'll be with you
(pictures that I found in a very old email from Kate)
Erika went to Pleasant Grove to spend a week with Mike and Kate before her senior year started. She was having such a good time that her week turned into almost a full month. One of the highlights was camping with Logan and Korben.
Drawing charcoal pictures for the boys....
I love her bare toes in this picture!
It is so typical Erika. No matter where she is, school (church, camping, walking to the bus in the winter)
she never has her shoes on. Those dirty feet are tough as leather.
Months before Vivien came it was decided through chat that we would have a watermelon party while she was here. We didn't need a reason other than we love watermelon and it seemed to be the perfect theme for a summer party. Our party was a great way to wrap up our summer vacation spent with Vivien.
Vivien's only specific request for the party was to have a pinata. Our perfect slice of watermelon was constructed from the recycle bin. Émilie and Vivien glued on all the colorful finishing touches, including the seeds.
The "Cake"
I sent Vivien a picture of a similar "cake" sometime during the winter when I was having a watermelon craving. I told her it would be the cake I would choose for my birthday but my birthday is so far out of watermelon season that it would never happen. With a wonderful summer evening, a watermelon cake and all of my family together I couldn't help but secretly consider this my birthday party. We had a very fruity dinner with grapes, cantaloupe, and many watermelon variations.
The watermelon slushy was just okay but the kids loved its presentation. One round slice of watermelon rice crispy was not near enough for our family. The red velvet centered cake bites were dipped in green chocolate melts, hand brushed with food coloring gel and completely delicious though they tasted nothing like watermelon.
Chimichangas were Vivien's other request but with a slight change. Justin, Vivien and I had Panini grilled chimis instead of the fried ones and we loved them! The others were not convinced. There was a tornado warning that interrupted our dinner as it buzzed loudly on all of our cell phones in unison. We didn't want this to mess up our outdoor plans so we hurried outside and faced the wind head on to continue our fun. The first activity was to pick an item from the kitchen (bowl, big spoon, cup, jar ring, etc) and to balance a water balloon on the item while running as fast as they could to the trampoline, go around it and run back. If they dropped the balloon and it popped they were out, if it didn't pop they could pick it up and continue. We did allow a one finger hold on the top of the balloon since the wind was doing it's best to blow the water balloons away before the kids could even begin.
Derek was the winner. It is quite obvious in Levi's face that he was not happy about this!
When they all got back and Derek thought he was going to be awarded a winner's prize I told the others they could now chase after Derek and throw their water balloons at him. I knew that Nathan and Hyrum would have fun with this game but I did not expect such complete involvement and laughter from my teens and young adults. They were all involved and having real fun. Not one of them showed an eye-rolling, this-is-immature attitude or hesitated when I explained what would happen. This is why I love being with them. They all make life so enjoyable! Our next activity was to beat up the pinata. Without any pinata worthy trees in the yard we used the next best thing: Derek. With his height and a long piece of conduit we had the perfect set up.
Those who wanted to took a turn being blindfolded and attempted to smack the pinata while Derek teased it out of their way.
Our cardboard constructed pinata proved to be sturdy enough to handle the beatings of the younger, female family members. However, with Derek and Justin and their weapons of choice taking a whack at it, it had to give in and spill the contents.
We had Mentos, M&M's, granola bars, fruit snacks, gum and tootsie rolls all over the yard. The sky was dark and ominous, the wind was ferocious, the rain drops a bit inconvenient but none of that stopped our laughter, silliness and fun. We don't need great weather to have a great time together!
I always love looking at the yearly family pictures but getting ready for them stresses me out. I feel an overwhelming pressure to color coordinate clothes without spending any money but using what is already cluttering our closets. This year I was much more interested in playing with my kids instead of coming up with the perfect color scheme or background place for generations to appreciate. When I jokingly suggested that we all wear super hero t-shirts they were excited and started calling dibs on heroes.
My favorite people!
The only comfort that relieves any stress during the scheduling, prepping and taking of the pictures is that my family can be amazingly silly but still keep enough order to have fun pictures taken and our photographer has a fantastic personality that easily brings beautiful smiles and helps us all to be ourselves.
Bret and Erika celebrating their 1st Anniversary
Superheroes in Training
Our best qualities coming through....love, silliness,
and a little bit of rule breaking.
We even had a police officer watching us from across the street. Once he saw Michelle with her camera and all of us lining up for pictures, he drove off. LeRoy, Justin and Bret took that as permission to climb all over the train.
The temperature was just right with a slight breeze blowing through the trees keeping the mosquitoes away.
The water falls were mesmerizing and calming.
There were only a few other people in the area and our day hike through nature was the perfect way to spend the day.
No matter how many times we go to Mesa Falls there seems to be something new to catch our eye. This time the lower falls were the highlight. Nathan, Vivien and I took a little side trip (beyond the fence line) to get a closer look at the lower falls. If we had gone better prepared we would have taken the trail down to the falls but for this day, braving the edge of the rocks was excitement enough.
As we dangled our feet over the edge of a rocky ledge Nathan and I kept exclaiming how amazing our view was.
God is a spectacular artist!
On the way home we stopped at the Warm River Campground. The boys have been camping with the scouts there but I had never been and every time we drive down into the valley after visiting Mesa Falls, I want to stop. It was worth the stop!
We played in the river for a bit, wandered around a couple of the campsites and suddenly, a plan was coming together. We wanted to camp overnight at Warm River not just sleep in the tent in the backyard, as was previously on our list. To our surprise, Vivien was pushing for the idea so we had to do it before she backed out and remembered that we wouldn't be bringing the house bathroom with us. We decided to camp the next night with whoever could come. With LeRoy, Levi, and Derek all working that left Vivien, Justin, Nathan, Hyrum and I.
The next day we packed and planned and our excitement built even more. There were a few sprinkles throughout the day but the skies did not look like they would bring a storm. The Idaho skies can be so deceiving. We started our drive to Warm River and by the time we got to St. Anthony it felt like we were driving through a flash flood. The roads were flooding and the windshield wipers were on full speed and still couldn't keep up. We started to vote on continuing or going home. We decided to at least go see the camp and how the weather was there. The camp hosts on site were so helpful and nice. They had a weather radar map and told us that the storm was supposed to go until midnight but the next night should have clear weather for camping. They let us drive in and look at the sites and we set plans with them to camp the following night, on Friday. On the way home we noticed the face of the storm staring down at us from the clouds.
When we got home we left everything in the van and the next day we went camping.
It was a beautiful day with clear skies and being there hours earlier than we were the day before made for an even better experience, especially with the tent difficulties ahead of us. Our tents are used all summer long by the Scouts and I had no idea they were in such bad condition! Having just been on Trek, setting up and taking down a tent five times in one week, I figured we'd have camp set up quickly and would have plenty of time to play in the water before dinner.
It took us nearly an hour figuring out how to jimmy-rig the broken poles to a near standing position. After we finally had it in a semi-standing position a breeze came through (not even a big enough breeze to consider it windy) and our tent flopped to one side. As I stood there staring at our lopsided mess the thought came to me to put the long table inside the tent. It worked!
With camp set up we were ready for water play. Nathan and Hyrum stayed close to shore with me
while Justin and Vivien floated down the river.
Once everyone had enough of the river we settled at the table to dry off, play games and eat fruit.
It was wonderful to be away from the busy-ness of our usual technology filled life. We loved having time to read in the sunshine, walk along the trail, watch a beaver in the bushes and cook our simple meal over an open fire.
Our only injury was a burn that Hyrum got while trying to take his hot dog off the roasting stick. He grabbed the metal stick close to the end and immediately dropped it. I quickly got it soaking in cold water and he bravely tried to ignore it, wincing only a few times, but we could see that he was holding back tears.
As we were sitting around the fire and the sun was setting I noticed that Nathan hadn't come back from his visit to the bushes (nature call). I called to him but he didn't respond so we all began to look for him. He wasn't in the van, he wasn't by the water, he wasn't in the bushes where we thought he was. I started to feel panic as I stared at the water, offering a pray. We called a few more times and then he came walking out of bushes on the other side of the camp. I tried to push the panic away seeing that he was safe and not wanting to make him feel like he was in trouble. When I asked what he was doing he hovered close to me and in a whisper explained that he went to say a prayer that Hyrum's hand would be okay and that he could sleep and play without it hurting and that our tent wouldn't blow over in the night.
Our night was spent in complete peace. Hyrum slept without any trouble, we were all warm, there was no rain and no wind and our tent stayed up in it's leaning glory.
After our simple breakfast of hot cocoa, warm oatmeal and eggs hard boiled over the fire we rolled up our sleeping backs, took down the tent and packed up our camp. As we began loading up the van Justin volunteered to do it himself while the rest of us went on the nature walk we had intended for the morning. We found a trail that leads from the campground to the lower Mesa Falls. We could see Justin across the river, Nathan and Hryum spent time throwing rocks in the river, Vivien and I reminisced about the past two days and what a fun camp out we'd had. We only went about 20 minutes on the trail and decided to save the full hike for another day.
Our camping trip at Warm River was so much better than sleeping in a tent in the back yard.
