a mother's growing pains

I’m not sure that I want my boys to grow up.  Is that wrong?

Sure, I look forward to seeing the men they will eventually become.  I have all kinds of questions about their futures … Where will they go to college?  What will they study?  What career path will they choose?  Who will they marry?  Etc., etc.  I know they will be good men, husbands, fathers … because they are good boys, sons, friends.

But, it’s just that I really like who they are now.  They’re at such great ages.  Not too big, not too small.  And, more importantly, they’re still “mine.”  I thoroughly enjoy being with them, listening to their thoughts, jokes, ideas, problems, concerns.

I love all the activity around our house … all the playing, the action.  I don’t always love the wrestling and rough-housing, but I’m sure in time I’ll wish our home was still filled with all that boyish energy.  I love that I (almost) always know exactly where they are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing.  I love that they can go from playing ping pong, to playing the Wii, to playing football together … all in the space of an hour.  And, I especially love that when I sneak into their rooms every night after they’re asleep and lean down to kiss them, I can still smell everything that they were up to that day.  That special scent of a little bit of sweat mixed with a little bit of outdoors … the smell that tells me they played hard that day … just like boys should.  The scent that belongs to boys, and only boys.

Things are good right now.  Yes, our lives are busy and there’s hardly an evening without a practice or a game or a lesson or a meeting of some sort.  But I know over the next few years our lives will get even busier.  Jobs, more friends, dates, more sports … all of these things are a normal part of life, but they are things that will take these great boys away from me.  And I’ll really miss them.

A friend of ours recently received his mission call to a very far away, somewhat dangerous, and quite remote place.  When I heard about his call, I thought to myself, “Boy, I’m so glad my sons aren’t old enough to go on missions yet.  I’d sure be worried if I were his Mom.”  But, the truth is, time passes too quickly, and before I know it, it will be my sons receiving mission calls.  Which I know will be exciting and wonderful and without question the right thing to do, but, still.  I’m their Mom.  And I’m already afraid for them to leave.

After their missions, they’ll be all grown up.  They will be men.  And they’ll have places to go and things to do and people to see.  They’ll go to school and have jobs and girlfriends and eventually wives, and then they’ll have kids of their own.  And, deep down, I know this will all be fantastic and I’ll still love my boys as much as I do now, and I’ll love their wives and their darling kids, too.  But … I’ll miss being able to kiss them every night when they’re sleeping and smell that special sweaty/outdoorsy scent that belongs to boys and only boys.  It seems like it would be so much easier if things could just stay how they are right now.

Although, I must admit that my boys seem to be getting more and more fun to be with the older they get.  I enjoy them more now than I did a few years ago.  I like the conversations we have, the insight they give me, and the outlooks they provide.  So I guess there’s hope.  If this continues, then everything will be just fine and I’ll find new things to cherish about them with each passing year.  But I still really like the way things are now.

lake powell

Every September, we spend a few glorious days at Lake Powell.  Lake Powell happens to be one of my favorite places on earth ... and if you combine that with perfect weather, warm water, and fabulous friends, then I'm one happy girl.  And, even better, my family loves this trip as much as I do.

Here are the stats ... 
- five families
- four boats
- four days
- endless sunshine and smooth water
- hours of waterskiing, wakeboarding, tubing, kneeboarding and cliff-jumping
- plenty of aching muscles after all the afore-mentioned activities
- countless laughs, wipe-outs and memories
- (And usually a blown-out tire or two on the way there or back ... it was the Tates and Grahams this year)

Here's a photo re-cap of our trip ...

Wild tube rides:

Great cliff jumping:

A backflip by Emery:



We all skied to our hearts' content:

Em, Sam and Luke loved kneeboarding:

We celebrated Luke's 8th birthday:

Ben learned how to "surf":

Emery and I learned how to wakeboard:

Emery did some sweet tricks:

I did a sweet faceplant:

But I wasn't the only one who tumbled into that beautiful lake:

Ahhh, what a great trip!

Luke is 8!

Luke turned 8 last Friday.  Now, birthdays are a big deal in general, but turning 8 is a really big deal, because that means Luke will get baptized in a couple of weeks! We're so excited! 

Plus, this was an unforgettable birthday since we were out of town with some of our friends, so we had quite a celebration!  Complete with party hats and doughnuts on the beach.

 

(Yep ... Emery is wearing a sweet party hat while wakeboarding!)

I adore Luke.  And here are, yes, eight reasons why ...

1)  Not only is he my youngest, so he will forever hold the all-important title of "my baby," but he is seriously one of the sweetest boys on the planet.

2)  He has the cutest two front teeth I've ever seen.

3)  He's a total peacemaker.
4)  He's not a picky eater and will try just about anything.  In fact, he actually likes most of the things I make (just not chicken enchiladas)!
5)  He has THE BEST handwriting.  I love to see how perfectly he writes his letters.  Seriously, check this out ...

6)  He's usually a great helper and he'll sometimes ask me if he can do a little work to earn some extra money.

7)  Not only is Luke an awesome student, but he goes the extra mile by drawing pictures on and decorating his spelling tests ...

How cute is that?!
8)  Luke is such a happy kid and so much fun to be around!

Happy Birthday, Luke!  I love you tons and I'm so lucky to be your Mom!!

summer wrap-up

I've pretty much been in denial that summer is actually over.  But the crisp morning air, the buzzing of my alarm clock bright and early every day, and the fact that the house is quiet for a good portion of the day has finally proved to me that, yes, summer is definitely over.  Spongebob and Phineas & Ferb have been silenced and replaced by random news programs to keep me company, and the sound of rowdy boys' footsteps throughout the house has been replaced by the sound of my own footsteps as I try to catch up on all those errands I put off until after school started.

So it's probably time to wrap-up how we spent those fabulous summer days ...

June was consumed by the big move and our trip to Pebble Beach and San Francisco.  Our boys also discovered the local "swimmin' hole" where they spent hours this summer swimming, dangling from the rope swing and fishing with home-made fishing poles.  My boys thought they had died and gone to heaven.

July was filled with days of unpacking, getting settled, and adjusting.  Besides our trip to Sun Valley, we also loved having good friends from Sweden stay with us for a few days.  The Anderssons were delightful and it was so fun to see them again after 14 years!

August brought football practice 5 nights a week (more on that later), so it was harder to squeeze in family time, but we managed to find a few days to relax and re-connect in St. George.  When we go to St. George in the summertime and the temperature is over 100 degrees, we spend most of our time at the pool.  After a while, when the boys get tired of practicing their strokes and playing with all the pool toys, Ben steps in and comes up with some awesome pool games.  This is what he came up with this time ...

Big Daddy's Fishing Hole - Big Daddy {aka Ben} makes a "hole" with a noodle ... the boys {aka the fish} try to jump or dive through the hole as fast as they can before Big Daddy tightens the noodle and catches the fish:

The "catch":

Splash Dogs - A human variation on the competition where dogs try to jump the farthest into a pool of water:

The boys love playing Ben's games and taking part in the competitions.  I love that Ben is the source of endless creative games and ideas.  Plus, it's hilarious to watch.

We also spent a fun day at Lagoon with the Grandma Net and the Mounteers.

Finally, we ended the summer with a bang by going to the Demolition Derby.  We had never been to one before, so we didn't quite know what we were in for.  We loved it!  We'll definitely be regulars from now on because it was so much fun.  There were cars and mud flying everywhere, two cars ended up upside-down, and one even caught on fire!  We felt like total rednecks, but we had a great time!

All this, plus swimming, lacrosse, tennis and piano lessons, golf league, and lots of time spent just "hanging out" made for a busy but very fun summer!