Happy birthday Hillary!

There have been several things in my life lately that have been making me think of Hillary.  First of all, having a beautiful, tiny, dark haired baby around the house is reminding me of when Hillary was a newborn.  Today Luke was doing some painting with some art supplies that Hillary got for him during her last visit.  She has picked up this hobby of painting and really has a talent for it.  My sister noticed a painting that Hillary did of the cliffs and was very impressed.  And earlier this week, when going through some boxes I found some pictures of Hillary and my Dad together.  She has been a blessing in our families' life all these years and I love her so much.  We wish her a very happy birthday and can't wait to see her soon!

a couple of pictures of Isla

a few of the many that I hope to take this summer:

Only a few hours old and she found her thumb.

that summer feeling/some good experiences/some good memories

Okay, the fact that I am up late blogging, and I'm not nagging the kids to go to bed, is finally giving me that summer feeling.  I plan on being very productive tomorrow, including helping Julia with her girls as Lester will be getting back to school and work, but I know I can fit in some late nights and late mornings.  That makes me happy.

Saturday Reggie, me, Luke and Addy took a road trip to Sacramento for a friend's daughter's wedding.  These friends are very important to us, in the fact that we have had a lot of similarities in our lives.  We knew John and Marinka when we were all teenagers together.  John and Reggie have similar stories of joining the church when in high school.  We got married within a few years of them and they have 4 girls around the same ages as our 4 girls.  Marinka and I raised our girls on Anne of Green Gables and American Girls, although I have to say that she is a better wife than I am in the fact that she loves the Giants probably as much as John and their girls have turned out to be ultimate Giants fans.  Something about having friends who have made similar life choices, and don't think you are absolutely crazy for the choices you've made, is wonderful.  It also worked out that a couple of our girls have known each other in college in Idaho and Utah.  So it meant a lot ot us to be invited to and attend this wedding.

We left in what we thought was plenty of time for the reception.  We did not anticipate such horrible traffic on a Saturday afternoon.  Addy is a very patient toddler anyway, but thank goodness we had "Despicable Me" on the Ipad to keep her content.  We got to the reception when it was half over.  But it was worth it; and long drives can often lead to pleasant conversation.  As we were driving I was thinking about times in my life where a stressful situation has turned into a wonderful experience and  blessing.  For example, last December there was a day when I was feeling very sad about a situation I couldn't control and a get together I couldn't attend.  But our family decided to head out to the city to find something festive to do and had such a great time.  I truly think that the joy I felt that night was a tender mercy from the Lord.  It is one of my all time favorite Christmas memories (which would have been perfect if Hillary, Andrew & Audrey had been there).

Secondly, if I had a blog in 2006 I would have written about this.  One summer Reggie had a business trip in Utah and said that the kids and I could come along.  I got all excited and then he realized that he would have to drive a big truck with a co-worker, but we could caravan with him in our own mini-van.  I was a little nervous about driving without him, but Julia was a driver by then and Hillary had her permit, and Reggie would be able to help us if we got into trouble, so we decided to go for it.  The trip was going great until we just passed Battle Mountain, Nevada.  All of a sudden the traffic on the highway came to a stop.  We saw a few cars cross over the middle section and head back the other way.  We tried calling Reggie to see if he knew anything about the traffic, as he was a couple of hours ahead of us, but there was no service.  So we sat there for a couple of minutes trying to decide what to do.  We said a prayer, and then still not totally sure if it was a smart thing to do, we crossed over the center divide and headed back to Battle Mountain as well.  It was a crowded mess.  We tried one motel and it was full; they told us there was a fire in the area a few miles ahead of us and the highway would be shut down for the night.  So we hurried over to the other motel and were told we were getting one of the last rooms available in Battle Mountain.  So we had an early dinner, did a lot of swimming, watched this new Disney Channel movie called "High School Musical"and watched the highway from our window.  It was totally shut down as they said, and I kept imagning what it would be like if we were stuck out there, sleeping in our van.  I was so grateful for the guidance we had gotten that night, and I have to say, it turned out to be a very fun, pleasant experience.  By the time we were eating our continental breakfast the next morning the highway was open and we were on our way.  This is the year that Hillary had just graduated high school and wasn't sure what she wanted to do next.  This is the summer that Julia took us on a tour of her school, LDS Business College, which Hillary fell in love with and where she decided to go.  And of course, that turned out to be a wonderful place for her, which included meeting Andrew.

So, stressful situations can turn into wonderful experiences and blessings.  And being stuck in traffic years later can give you the time to think about them and smile about them all over again.

And now that I have outlasted Luke and Samantha, who have on their own decided to go to bed, I guess I will call it a night.

next year, double fireworks

This year our 4th of July was very low key, but very special.  In the morning Reggie's sister hosted a get together at her house with some of Reggie's relatives who were visiting from Hawaii. It was nice to see Reggie sitting around visiting with them, hearing stories about his Dad, and getting more information about his Dad's childhood. 

In the afternoon Reggie and Samantha went to see the movie Malificent while I stayed home and got some things done.  (Luke and I had already seen the movie, and now he was away at scout camp; I was happy to have this time to myself.)  They also had an all american meal of In N Out burgers - Samantha's favorite.  And then when it was dark we headed over to a hill above the beach to watch fireworks.  And finally, our 4th of July would not be complete without watching the Sandlot.

The strange thing about it was that we did not buy or do any fireworks.  With Luke gone I guess we felt "eh" about it.  But the next night the Porter's invited us over for a 5th of July fireworks experience, now that the boys were back.  It was a lot of fun.

  Next year the fireworks need to be our treat.  And, I've decided that I want to buy extra and save them for the 24th of July, which is Pioneer Day.  Even though that is only a Utah state holiday, as I've blogged before, it is very special to me.  I hope to do a little something each day this week to commemorate and celebrate the sacrifices and accomplishments or our ancestors.  We started off by watching this on Neflix:  It's really great. 

beautiful baby girl

Grandaughter #3 was born today.  She is absolutely beautiful!  It is so nice to have them here; we were able to meet her when she was only 5 hours old.  She's got quite a bit of dark hair, taking after her Daddy in that and in being born on his birthday.  Did I say we're so happy they are here?  With Lester going to medical school in the city it just made sense for them to move in for a little while, last July.  It's been a great year and we are looking forward to the time we have left together.

A funny fact about Julia's labor - she was having pretty strong contractions Thursday night but wanted to keep walking around, staying active, hoping that she would be in "real labor" enough to not be sent home once they went in.  So, to stay active, she and Lester did the dishes, thoroughly cleaning the kitchen.  It was great and payed off, as in once she went to the hospital she was able to stay.

Another cool fact is that little Isla was born at the same hospital Julia was born, and the same hospital that I was born.  This reminds me of last summer when Audrey was born at the same hospital where I had Hillary.  And what's even more amazing is that this is the house that we were all brought home to.  I can never thank my parents enough for sharing this house with us.

Here is a song for Julia & Lester that keeps going through my mind tonight:

One more day

Yes, it is mid-July and I have one more day of school - summer school that is.  It's been a little rougher than the regular school year in some ways, but a little easier in others.  Again, I have been blessed with wonderful co-workers.  This world is full of good people.  I see the love and patience and joy they have with these kids and I hope I am living up to that. 

So I get about a month off before the new school year begins.  It will be all about a wedding, a new grandaughter, time with all of our kids, and hopefully some house cleaning and organizing first.  No, hopefully a day or two of sleeping in first.

I also want to acknowledge that I am grateful to my husband who goes to his job day in and day out all year long.  Since he does not work in the schools there is no summer month off, or 2 weeks at Christmas, etc.  I think it would be easy for him to be jealous of me for that.  Yet he tells me and shows me that he appreciates the work I do at home after my day job, all year long, and is happpy when I get to do something fun with our kids. That means so much to me.  I hope that we can continue to be appreciative of each other and happy for each other when we each get some down time or adventures with the kids.  And on the rare occasion that our schedules match and we get some down time together, life is just about perfect.

 

girl's camp

Yesterday Samantha got home after a week at girl's camp.  It is put on through our church for the girls ages 12 through 18.  Consequently this was Samantha's last year.  She got to be a "YCL" which stands for "Youth Camp Leader".  It was a week of hiking, sleeping in tents, campfires, skits, crafts, swimming, sports, making new friends, etc. 

 She had a great time.  How did we ever get so lucky to be with so many people who volunteer their time to make things like this happen for our kids?  Now that Samantha is graduating from this wonderful youth program and becoming an adult, I think she will have a lifetime of giving back and finding ways to do good things for the next generation.

baby watch

As I was preparing a lesson for the teenage girls tomorrow that has to do with their mothers' love for them, I came across these pictures online.  I think they are beautiful and I want to put them on this blog for my Julia, as she is getting close to bringing her second baby into the world, and for my Hillary, who has absolutely loved the first year of her Audrey's life.  I enjoy watching them be mothers.

cursed with a clean beach

Today Luke and I ventured out again for him to do some beach clean-up for scouts.  He only has 2 hours left to complete the requirements for this merit badge.  We wanted some variety so we decided to pick a beach at random on the other side of Devil's Slide.  The beach we picked was not the easiest to get to - we had to climb some stairs to access it.  That is probably why it turned out to be so clean.  We actually had to do some real walking to find little bits of trash.  It was very beautiful - and of course I didn't bring my camera.  But it was definitely a beach to remember.

P.S.  UPDATE - PILAR POINT HARBOR/ Gold Dust Beach

The next day we went out again and drove a little further to Pilar Point Harbor.  We took Addy and Julia with us.  This place is great because, since it is a harbor, the water was very nice and calm.  There were no waves - it was almost like swimming in a lake.  We found a spot where the water from the harbor was going over to the rock pier.  Addy walked in it and sat in it and splashed around.  It was a lot of fun for us all - besides the fact that Luke did find some trash and finished off his beach clean up requirements for scouts.  We were also fascinated by the gold flecks that were all over the sand.  It looked like what people would have found in the gold rush days.  Again, I didn't bring my camera, so I found these pictures online.  It is definitely a great place to go and play.

scout camp

Monday morning Luke left for Boy Scout Camp - at 3:45 am.  Reggie drove him to the church to meet his troop; I was so tired when Luke came to say goodbye I want a do-over.  Even though I helped him pack it didn't dawn on me until I was up for the day that Luke would be gone for a whole week.  It's just not the same around here without him!  He will even be gone over the 4th of July holiday.  I'm sure they have something amazing and patriotic planned.  So I'm sure he's having a great time and worthwhile experiences.  We especially appreciate all of the people giving up a week of vacation and the holiday with their families to put on this camp.