Levi started high school this year, which also means he started high school Cross Country. Because of his broken toe, he missed the entire summer practice season. But that hasn’t slowed him down any. At his first JV meet he was 3rd on his team to finish and he varsity lettered because he beat 19 minutes. At his next meet he beat the time of the lowest Varsity runner at his school and improved his time by 30 seconds. And at his most recent meet he won the JV race! It is a lot of fun to watch this kid run! He is loving German and Seminary and obviously, running.

This beautiful girl is still sweet, but there’s a little more spice to her personality than there used to be. Sigh. Such is middle school. So far she loves Spanish and math and is experimenting with clothes, hair and makeup. She got braces this last week and has been pretty sore and miserable. But she knows it’s worth it and doesn’t complain too much. She also knows that if she complains I will give here my version of the “Uphill both ways to school” lecture about kids who can’t afford braces.

My back to school project has been cleaning out closets and moving the stuff in every single closet in our house to a different closet in our house. I’m cleaning out files and cupboards and drawers and filling up lots of boxes for Goodwill. We have some empty rooms now and Liberty and Levi are anxiously waiting to claim them. We are going to redo the basement which also means I’m working on remodeling the 3rd bathroom in 2 years. And I have 100 tulip bulbs coming any day now from Holland to plant in my yard for next Spring. Busy Busy! Life is good.

We are entering a new season of life, Rock and I. The season when our kids start to leave the nest. It probably would have been good for my mental health if they had spread it out to avoid the double exodus in one summer, but oh well. People ask me how I’m doing with it. I have good days and bad. I am excited for them and their future, worried too, some. But I’m in a kind of mourning too. I am mourning the loss of a role. Or maybe just the changing of it. I know everyone says “a parent’s job is never done” and “you never stop parenting” and I believe that’s true. But with Reagan and Cade now moved out (details to follow, don’t worry) and Levi in high school and Liberty in 7th grade, I am no longer the mother of young children. From the time I was in high school I have worked with small children. My degree was with small children, my life for the last 18 years has been with and almost solely focused on small children. This blog, has been full of the antics of small children. And now I look at my bookshelves of dusty children’s books and the dusty lego bins and the empty bedrooms and I realize there are no more small children at my house and I mourn for what is past. I am closing a chapter in my life that has been busy and hard and challenging, yes, but full of wonderful memories and sweet chubby faces too. It is truly bittersweet. But enough with the sappy sad stuff, onto the big news.

Reagan

Reagan moved out in July to a house with roommates a few miles away. We teased him that it was time for him to leave the Garden of Eden and strike out on his own, so he found a place and moved in all in about a weekend! When we pulled up to his place to help him move in, we found fencing foils in the garage and a machete stuck in a tree in the backyard. His roommates were gone for a few days and he’d been watching Stranger Things so his first few nights were a little touch and go, but he stuck it out and is learning a lot about life and what he wants and needs in future living situations. 🙂 He is at a decision point in his life and has lots of big ones to make that could take him anywhere, but for now, at least, we still get to have him over for Sunday dinners.

Cade

We took Cade down to BYU at the end of August. He is living in the dorms and rooming with a friend from Boise. He discovered the tunnel singing group his first Sunday there and felt it was a sign he’d come to the right school. lol. Tunnel singing under the walkways to the Marriott Center has been a tradition on Sunday nights since the 80’s-Rock even did it when he lived in the dorms. Cade got a coveted spot in the BYU Men’s Chorus, which I am so excited about! They are my favorite choir, ever! I will be going down to see some of his concerts for sure! He is doing well, likes his classes so far and is learning all about the joys and sorrows of coin operated laundry. 😉

We are so excited to see what they will make of their lives and futures. Our prayers and hopes are with them both in their new grand adventures.

It is often said, and it is true in our case, that the father can always see his sons as the men they will become, but a mother will always see them as the little boys they were. Love you, Reagan Dean and Caderade.

Yes, that was a nod to Olivia Newton John. 🙂

July Happenings

Birthdays!

They had pizza and and presents, cake and ice cream, watched Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken (my favorite!) and then roasted smore’s on top of that!

Liberty and I went to our first girl’s camp! My first as a leader and her first as a camper. I can’t believe we didn’t get any good pictures, but here’s proof she was there as her wild and crazy self.

August Happenings

Our neighbors fixed up their old boat and took Levi with them for the first voyage. He LOVED it.

Levi and Libby spent a fun filled day with Aunt Janie and my cousin Dan’s daughter who was visiting from New York. It was a little crazy to have the tables turned. I was her age when I went to New York to spend time with the cousins I hardly knew. They love spending time on the farm and rode horses, played with the chickens and went swimming in the river. Levi, a lover of Louis Lamour books was truly in heaven and wants to ride horses all the time now.

We managed to get a couple day trips in at the very end of our summer once Rock was more mobile. First was a day in McCall. No summer is complete without a trip to My Father’s Place for the best hamburgers and milkshakes in Idaho. Liberty and Rock and I drove up to meet Cade and Levi, who had done an overnight backpacking trip up past McCall at Loon Lake. Here are some awesome pictures from their trip and ours.

We met up with them for lunch and then drove to one of our favorite spots, Brundage Reservoir.

The next weekend we drove up to Redfish Lake. It was smoky, but the Sawtooths never disappoint. We rode the boat across the lake this time and hiked around the other side. Rock hiked a little ways to this bridge and then found a nice spot to sit and read while we hiked further. We found some beautiful and unforgettable treasures!

And that was our summer-post surgery and broken toe!