Daily Gratitude - Day 19

Today was the day I was going to get Seth to seminary on time. Every day, it is 7:07 or 7:11 or 7:04 by the time we arrive at the church. Never 7:00. I hate feeling so disrespectful to the seminary teachers that I think those five to ten minutes aren’t important.

We left the house at 6:42 - a miracle these days as the mornings are darker and I’m determined to keep our 6:30 family scripture reading appointment with whomever is present. Seth and I drove down the mountain and as I neared the stoplight where the two highways merge together, I saw the wreck.

Two cars were seriously smashed up. It looked like a head-on collision or something close to it. There aren’t any first responders at the scene yet and I was reminded of Mr. Roger’s quote, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things, my mother would say to me ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”  It’s true.  There were at least a dozen people out of their cars trying to do something to help.

Because of the location of the collision, no cars could really go anywhere and this combined paralysis of traffic in all directions soon developed into a serious traffic jam. There was no way Seth was going to be at Seminary on time. Really, that was no longer the point.

We sat quietly and sadly watching the lights and sirens rush to the scene.  At least six police, two firetrucks and two ambulances were there within 10 minutes of our arrival. As they controlled the scene, the police who weren’t involved in the struggle to get the crumpled car doors to open started to manage the backlog of cars. At 7:04, we finally merged onto the main highway.

I feel like I say the phrase, “Please bless us to travel in safety,” quite often in my prayers. I know I remember to ask for the blessing before I go on a road trip. I also usually remember to be thankful for our safe arrival...again...after a road trip.

But, I spend hours, everyday, traveling. Three miles here.  Eight miles there. I travel through that intersection where the wreck occurred at least four times a day, usually more.

I’ve lived in this house now for four and a half years.  That’s 1643 days....ish. Four times a day means I’ve passed through that intersection about 6,570 times.  I know I haven’t been grateful for the grace that gets me safely through that many times.

However many times I've remembered to give thanks, today, that number has increased.

Oh, What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Have I ever gone this long between blogging? I'm not sure. It's been 6 weeks since my last post and as every new mother knows, 6 weeks is about as long as polite society allows for time off.  So, with trepidation, out of shape thoughts and yet a need to reinsert myself into the world I know, I write.

It's been a great summer. Mostly. I teeter between relishing the freedom of our days and freaking out because, except for the 3 days of Seth's scout camp, I have been with all of my kids all day for over 60 days. Momma needs some alone time! Until that happens, though, I will continue to happily adapt into whatever summer mood the day requires of me.

For instance, June was all about getting things done. New glasses were ordered. Dentists were visited. A few had doctor appointments. Camps, camps and more camps were filled by one or more of my children. A much too large deck was sanded and stained.  We did have some fun when we had the chance to be near family during the cattle drive and when Jay's sister, Kelly, came to Durango with her kids for a week. But, I think of June as the month of "To-Do".




Aunt Maureen came and enjoyed attending Henry's Delacroze music camp up at the college.



It was so fun to see these kids respond so excitedly to music!



Henry thoroughly enjoyed it.



Haircuts was on the to-do!



So was some yearly major dental work for Henry. Ugh.



He had to sleep off the trauma later that day.



This huge baby had his 18 month check up and immunizations.



Henry went to SafetyTown



And got a free helmet.



I mowed the lawn/dirt and got very dirty.




Jay and Seth left for half a week for scout/deacon encampment.



Bye guys!



While the older boys are away, we went to serious Texas for dinner.



And played a bit of mini-golf. Daniel liked to pick his ball up with his hand and put it right in the hole. But, he would never let go of his club.




Major project was sanding and staining the deck. I was so nervous to do this by myself but the rental company totally helped me out when I went in and asked, "Do you have a large machine that will help me sand my deck?" Seth tried to take a turn but that machine was quite a lot to manage.

Almost done!



All the boys helped. Henry got the most...splashy:)



Seth worked on his basketball skills and was quite pleased that he can now palm a ball.



I helped out a friend whose husband needed emergency surgery and got a taste of what having twins is like for a night.  Bedtime was tricky!



So was naptime. Neither one wanted what I wanted, which was them sleeping in their beds!



Jay ran a half-marathon the morning of his birthday. He came in fifth.



Henry helped me make Jay a cake. He really wants to be a chef when he grows up.




Jay's fancy cake:)



It tasted good.



My hair was out of control and I wore it with this bang braid most of June.


When Kelly came, I took her to my favorite park and the kids played in the much too low (drought) creek.



Kelly is such a fun person.



We went to the lake one day and this was as brave as Henry would be - pretending to waterski on the boat.



Jay started working on our new playset.



He had a cute little helper.



It's going to be so nice when it's done!



Cattle drive time.  Henry was all cowboyed up.



Grandma helping out with the littles: Quinn and Daniel.



Grandpa chatting it up with the truck drivers.



My hunky husband getting ready to do the hard work.



We use our kids as a cow fence along a highway. Safety first!



Kelly meant busy with her three helpers!



Vaughn and Patty getting in position.



Here comes the cows!



Jay takes the high line.



Stephanie and kids man the road the cows would like to cross but can't yet.




Mama cows and calves find each other.



Then come the bulls.



Seth was so great with Daniel.



Sam did his part by keeping the cows back by tossing rocks at him. How humane.



Kelly isn't taking any bull from this bull.



Testosterone doing its thing.



More and more cows fill up our little unloading area.



So, it's time to cross the highway and get them to their summer pasture.



Seth refuses to ride a horse so he gallops himself up the road.



The rest of the kids piled into the chute and rode behind the four-wheeler until it ran out of gas.



Delanie gets some more gas and Daniel enjoys the ride.



Jay and Calrk take their boys on a horseback ride.



Little cowboys.



Daniel with his dad.



Sam and his buddy/cousin Matt.



Hey boys...loosen up.



They both enjoyed 4-wheeling.



Favorite picture of the day. A real man does all kinds of work.

July, on the other hand, was all about traveling and playing. For three weeks, we jaunted through Washington State, Montana and Utah and I saw so many lovely people. I had a ball visiting my sister, Jennifer, in the tri-cities. She is such an excellent hostess and her home is enviably calm and inviting. We were there the week of the fourth of July so my brother's family was able to come and visit as well and there was lots of hot, boisterous fun, thanks to the heatwave in the western US (It was 109 degrees one day!). We went to a few movies and visited a couple of pools but her home A/C unit did its job and I was never uncomfortable. In fact, I feel much warmer in my own home when it gets above 85.




Cousin chicken fight.



Jen took Daniel to the more shallow kiddie pool but Daniel kept going under.







Henry went to gymnastics camp one day with cousin Sadie.




Daniel figures out Aunt Jen is a good friend to have.



Jen and I hiked Badger Mountain but forgot to take a picture at the top. It was much harder than it looks. So, we took a picture in the Maverick parking lot as we got our reward sodas instead:)



Henry enjoying a suburban lifestyle. So much cleaner.



Sadie and Henry in front of Jen's pretty wildflowers.



We spent the fourth of July at a friend of Jen's who has a pool. The kids had a blast.



Cute pictre of Daniel.




So much fun lighting sparklers and fireworks in the cul-de-sac.




My vantage point.



Tara actually made the effort to cross the street to get a real shot of what we were all watching. So much fun.



The kids spent a few nights camping in open air in the backyard. The second night didn't go so well as the sprinklers went off in the wee hours of the morning.



There may have been a nerd gun war.



Seth and his muscle shirts. I'm learning to deal with it.


One of three sippy cups gone missing during the trip.


While there, I even got my hair cut by the fabulous Melanie.  She is talented and, best of all, she actually did exactly what I asked her to do with my hair! I don't know why that feat has been nearly impossible for any stylist in my local vicinity to do but, thanks to her talent and patience and follow-up questions, I do know it's possible for me to get a cut and color and not be unhappy.

On my way to Montana, I stopped and stayed with some dear, old friends in Spokane and while I know we are in the place we are for a reason and it allows for so many good things in our lives, I will always miss what might have been had we been able to stay there. We had a great day at the lake together and when I went to my old ward the next day, I was so surprised that so many people remembered and missed my family. Unfortunately, I was really unmotivated to capture many of these fabulous moments with a picture so you'll just have to imagine me sitting in a comfy salon chair in Melanie's laundry room while we caught up on each other's lives and kids (insert picture here) and laughing, philosophizing and eating with the charming Andrea, KariAnn and Melanie B. They were each so kind to put on a full meal for the entire crew! That's right, Melanie did lunch at the lake, KariAnn did dinner and Andrea put on lunch after church for all of us. And I have the smallest family with only 4 kids! They are all so generous and able. (Insert picture here).  Loved Washington State.

Spending a week in my hometown was pure relaxation. Embarrassing as it is to admit, I totally let my Dad do almost all of the meal making (breakfast and lunch always) and cleaning and my Mom do all of the shopping and laundry. You'd think with all of that free time that I would have read a book or two but I happened to start what might possibly be the worst summer book of all time (The Buddah in the Attic) which sucked all reading mojo from my brain. I opened and closed that book about a hundred times and still only skimmed to achieve a "read" status. I did spend most of the time visiting with my wise and thoughtful parents and working on making a book of my parent's recent trip to Egypt, Israel and Jordan. I also happened to be in town for my 20 year high school reunion and, much to my chagrin, I ended up attending one of the evening events after some cajoling and friendly bullying from two high school BFFs. It was mostly fun. Definitely awkward at times. Without a doubt unnecessary in the grand scheme of things but I can understand the draw to return to our high school years. It really is the end of childhood so those memories seem almost sacred. Still, I was mostly just glad to see Jill and Kari but it was nice to see a few other people as well. I also stopped and met Ana for the first time. That was really fun, even if it was quick and possibly weird for our kids. It was nice to put a voice to the woman behind the personality:)




Family home evening with my Dad.  Just a quick overview of the entire Old Testament:)



Seth and me hiked Mt. Helena - my favorite.



But, I really enjoy having discussions with my parents. I learn so much from them.



Out of order picture. Seth at Devil's Kitchen.



I signed Seth, Sam and Henry up for basketball camps the week we were in Helena.  Henry spent three days at my old Elementary school.  No more rubber gym floor!



Sam went for three hours in the morning at my alma mater.



Seth was there in the afternoon. They both thought it was a really good camp but the coaches weren't that interested in them once they realized they were just visiting.



Emily came at the end of the week and so the boys got some cousin time.



Met some of the best girls I know at Staggering Ox. They can get me laughing!



Kari, Me and Jill



After returning home from the reunion. They even had a name tag for me (I didn't RSVP). That's my senior pic. I tried to recreate the pose.



Love the bandshell concerts.



After church. Brendan, Connor and Seth all helped pass the sacrament. I love that they were all ready and worthy to do it.



Me with my favorite boys. They are so much fun to travel around with.



Ana and me in her home.

The third and final week of our summer odyssey took us to Utah. I rented a vacation home in Lehi with my sisters Emily and Jen, and their families and as much fun as several of the days were (Lagoon. Um, that might have been the only completely fun day actually), there is something stressful and anxiety producing about staying in Utah. There are just so many mormons and we all seem to want to do the same things and eat at the same places! The day we went to Provo to visit BYU campus and the bookstore, everywhere we went felt too crowded and visitor hostile. My sister, Maureen, got tickets for all of us (kids too) to attend the Pioneer Day Concert at the Conference Center and I almost had a nervous breakdown just getting there. We thought parking and eating at City Creek would be convenient but apparently so did almost all of the other 20,000 concert goers. I've never seen so many shade shirts under maxi dresses and shirts and ties in the Sbarro Line in my life! When we finally got all  17 of us to the building, I had to have it out with some volunteer grandma who was telling me Henry was too young to attend. I know those poor volunteers are just repeating what they are told but there was no way in hades I was going to say, "Oh...Ok" when the tickets did NOT specify age other than saying no babies on laps. I hope my children felt the spirit during the concert, especially when President Monson walked in right before it started and the whole room got quiet and everyone stood out of respect. I'm pretty sure Henry did not. That volunteer might have had it right as he was being so hard and loud! He finally fell asleep and I was able to actually enjoy the beautiful music, even if the dancing hip hop violinist was a bit odd. I think had she actually been playing something more...um...street, I would have been more understanding of all the frolicking and lacy hair ribbons but it seemed so weird with the MoTab standing right behind her.



Henry bumping cars.



Owen, Sam and Ian.



Lots of pictures of Sadie and Henry because I got them from Jen. The older boys disappeared for most of the day so no pictures of them.




Daniel did NOT like rides. He did like the train to see the animals however.

Seth would like to be this tall. I think it would be awkward and gross but he still dreaming.

Cousins in Legacy Museum.

Brick Oven on a wednesday is not a great idea. They feed missionaries going into the MTC that day for free so it was crowded! But, the rootbeer sure is good.



The older kids all went for the Kong Cone at macey's after visiting the BYU bookstore. That is a lot of icecream!



Em and I at the Mt. Timanogos Temple.



Henry and Owen at Little Heroes Basketball camp. I was not impressed with this camp at all.



They did a service project which took hardly no time at all but they all ended up with one of these bags too so...cool, I guess.



They spent WAY too much time doing this. Sitting around.  You can see our bored boys sitting along the chain wall.



The conference center really is majestic.

I hate that the week gets a bad rap because it was so much fun for the cousins to be together. And, of course, I loved seeing my sisters. I was determined to make it to a temple session at least once on this trip and finally managed to go to a Wednesday night session with Emily. We were quite shocked when we arrived at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and could hardly find a place to park. We figured the place would start to clear out by the time our 7:30 session started but we didn't make the 7:30 session, even though we were dressed and waiting by 7:15 (a challenge when there was only one available locker. Em and I shared). We stood in a long, meandering line in the hallway and finally got to sit in the chapel at 7:30 when that place cleared out. There were quite a lot still behind us and we were in the very back row when we entered the ordinance room. So...here's a shout out to all those faithful Utah Saints. You may crowd us visitors out of Brick Oven, BYU, City Creek and Cafe Zupas but I didn't mind so much at the temple. Woot woot!

Jen followed me back home to Durango and you'd think after two weeks of being together, our kids (and maybe us) would be a little tired of each other's company but our week here had a totally different feel than the other weeks. The kids were happy to play outside, play board games and visit a few Durango tourist traps. My only regret is the money and time spent at Purgatory for the Total Package but one misfire is understandable during a week of fun. The good times at the Melodrama, lake, Western photo session, and triple date more than make up for it.




Getting overpriced candy at Fuzziwigs!



Ziplining at Purgatory. It took them about 15 minutes to gear up and 20 seconds to zip down:)



Sam on the bungee trampoline.



Henry trying to figure out the hamster ball.



Seth and Ansel going to battle in the balls.

Daniel doing his thing:)

The finished playset!  So much fun.



They make mighty fierce gunslingers, don't you think?

I haven't done much this past week. I still have a few finishing touches to do on the deck and would like to get my basement painted but I don't know if it'll all get done before school starts. We are busy with fair and football this week and then...it's the last week of summer break! We are ready. School supplies are all purchased (Henry already has his in his backpack), and fall sports are beginning. I love summer. I do. It just goes so fast!