sunshine is good for a mama's soul

If you don't know this by now, we live in a mountain ski town, which is awesome.  We trade the luxury of many outdoor activities for a very long winter.  In fact, our school district has the latest spring break that I know of.

Road trip!!! The big guys are hiding in the back seat.

Knowing how brutal the season of Spring is on our mental state, we have been looking forward to a trip south over spring break where the heat can permeate our pores and give us enough hope to last us until mid June, which is when we can safely count on the end of snow until Autumn arrives in September.

One of the perks of my husband's dizzying travel schedule for work is that he is platinum or diamond status when it comes to airline and hotel points.  Let's just say we fully dipped into that pool of points and are enjoying a beautiful villa for the week.

Lake Meade prior to crossing the Hoover Dam at sunset

We have cherished our week together.  I have particularly enjoyed the breakfast buffet every morning.  Our kiddos are getting used to filling their bellies with delicious food, and I immediately enjoyed the break from making it, serving it, and cleaning it up. ;-)

Free breakfast is one of the biggest values we get from a hotel stay.

Each of our children is so unique from the others.  Our eldest has always had his own streak of creativity.  When he was little, we lovingly called him "Dumpster Diver" because he was often found recycling trash into new inventions.  This morning he transformed his folded breakfast napkin into a boat.  A friend referred to this as "Napkingami" - sounds about as unique as my boy is.

Napkingami

If I've noticed anything on this trip it is the fact that WE are noticeable.  We have not gone anywhere together without someone approaching us or making a passing comment about our family.  Just a few examples:

• An 80 year old grandfather from New Jersey practically sat down with us at breakfast one morning to tell us how wonderful our family is and inquire more about us.  He told us all about his children and grandchildren and the part we loved was how he called them all "my (name)" when referring to them.  "My Logan, he is a great lacrosse player.  We go to all his games."  It was precious and we decided to mirror that when we are blessed to be grandparents.
• A man seated at the table next to us finished his breakfast and got up to leave, but not before coming over to tell me how he could tell how much we have invested in our children's training.  He noticed their good behavior immediately (phew!) and briefly told me his qualifications of being an educator for 37 years.  I took his compliments and put them in my "encouragement for the bad days" mental box.
• The hotel manager, a finely dressed African-American man who is just as charming as the day is long, sought us out as we were walking through the lobby.  He struck up a conversation and generously interacted with our children throughout the conversation.  He then showered all five of them with full sized Kit Kat candybars.  Now he is surely never to be forgotten!
• The head valet noticed by the boys' clothing choices that we are a traveling Chicago Bears fan club. He likes the Monsters of the Midway too and was over the top impressed that Lucas loves Robbie Gould the best.  He also noticed their Kit Kats and has a daily game of stopping them and begging them to gift him with their candy.
• A middle aged mom from D.C., away on her own for a "mental health" weekend, noticed our brood and struck up a conversation about adoption.  She was so charmed by Joya that she asked about everything from the paperwork process, to the emotional adjustment of our daughter.  She finished by saying that she is going home to talk to her husband about it.  Who knows, maybe another orphan will have a forever family just from that poolside conversation.

"I wike da fwim fwim!"

Beyond building us up as parents, these conversations have really made me pay closer attention to who we are representing as a family.  If our very presence makes people wonder what makes us so "generous and selfless" that we would adopt a orphan with medical needs, or purposefully train our children to be a blessing to others then I want to carry that conversation to point to God who is so generous and loving towards us.  I want our children to know the reason we put others first is because Jesus did that for us.  I want our constant picture to be one of gratitude.

"Mom!  Watch me!"

My Vacation Loves:

Poolside snuggle time.

• I love the freedom to throw bedtimes out the window.
• I love piling up in one bed to read a chapter book aloud to my big kiddos.
• I love that the big boys can be so helpful to carry the pool bag and push the stroller.
• I love that my husband pushed me out the door to get a pedicure.
• I love that our eight year old son loves to make us all laugh with things like, "Hey Dad, nice muscles.  Where did you buy them?"
• I love that we can start drinking margaritas any time of the day that we want to.
• I love that my husband likes to do most of the driving.
• I love the free breakfast buffet.
• I love croissants with jam (so do my thighs).
• I love that my husband brings me coffee before my feet hit the floor in the morning.
• I love that my twelve year old son likes to spend two hours at the thrift store with me looking for treasures.
• I love stocking up on cheap wine from Costco (no liquor in Utah Costco)
• I love that the wonderful housekeeping staff insist on washing our dirty dishes in addition to cleaning our room.
• I love that one particular waitress at the restaurant requested to serve our table because she loved our kiddos so much.
• I love that our kids enjoy playing with each other.

memory lane

The effort to tag along on my man's business trip for a few days has proved worth every frustration.  We flew from Salt Lake City to Ft. Myers, Florida yesterday and although we had to leave at an ungodly hour of the morning, we were both giddy upon arriving at our last city we called home.

Nearly three years after we were married, we jumped at the opportunity to relocate from Buffalo, New York to the gulf coast of Florida.  Our years in Ft. Myers marked our biggest life change, as this is the place where our first child was born.  Two became three and we discovered how much we loved being parents.

So much so, that we added another, and another, and another, and another.....

Before heading to our hotel, we drove past the apartment complex where we lived for the first year here with our two dogs, which were our only babies for that season.  We pointed out the neighborhoods we used to walk our dogs through and how we would dream of buying a house comparable to the ones we passed.

And then we laughed at how life has changed in nearly 14 years.

We made a special trip over to our house that was home for the rest of our time here.  It sits at a great location, very near the water on a little cul-de-sac off a historic road.  We expected it to have undergone major renovations since we sold it when we moved to Utah in 2002.

We two became three in this house.

Not so.  With the exception of the very large motorhome being stored in the driveway, it looks very much the same.  A new roof, a little paint, and a tree taken out were the only changes we could pick out.  We laughed at our happy memories in this house and pointed out where we sat for one of our Christmas card pictures.  We awed at how blessed we were to live in a great spot in Florida and then move to a very different, but equally great spot in Utah.

Brendan doesn’t remember living in that house, but I will never forget decorating his nursery, bringing him home from the hospital, giving him his first bath in the kitchen sink, and our early morning nursings in the quiet living room.

The best part about living here is that we made some wonderful, life-long friendships.  We moved here practically as newlyweds, and it didn’t take longer than an hour in a local church’s Sunday school class to become befriended by some of the finest people we know to this day, and that we still call friends over a decade later.

We are excited to reconnect face to face with these fine folks in the next couple of days.  I have no doubt that the easy laughter and genuine interest in each other’s lives will surface immediately when we are together.  I consider that a gift and I will not take it for granted.

So, we miss our kiddos and surely we will be excited to see them again on Sunday.  But until then, I’m going to soak up the sun, sleep, and silence.  I will enjoy the alone time with my beloved and our uninterrupted conversations, walks on the beach, soaks in the hot tub, and naps without consideration for any parental responsibilities.

I’m going to indulge my introvert nature and recharge my mommy-battery so that I return excited for the messy and wonderful life we live.

little wild horses

I often think about the fact that my kids have no concept of how exceptional their surroundings are.  They climb mountains, ski down them, visit national parks (often), and have been exposed to some of the most unique back country wilderness that I have seen in my life - all before my eldest even finishes elementary school.

Heck, our views on our walk to the bus stop would stop any flat-landers in their tracks.

Our visit to southern Utah this spring was no exception.  Amidst all the hiking memories we have created as a family, Little Wild Horse Canyon stands out easily as my favorite.

As much as I really enjoy writing stories, this time the pictures are really worth a thousand words.

My men are already talking about hiking this one again.

my tenth mother's day

A decade of Mother's Days?  Really?

My man has come a long way.  Ten years ago on my very first Mother's Day as a mom, I held my sweet little six week old baby in my arms, all bleary eyed and lacking sleep.  I was excited to receive whatever sentimental treasure my Beloved had carefully chosen for me out of immeasurable gratitude for birthing, nourishing, and caring for his son.

The blank stare accompanied by a, "What? You're not MY mother!" was not quite what I had in mind.

If anything, he is a quick study, because that was the one and only time that has happened in a decade.  I'm sure my hormonal tears told him all he needed to know.

He's going to love me for telling that story.  Anyhoo. 

This year, we escaped the land of eternal winter to soak up some heat in Moab (again).

We enjoyed an adventurous weekend of camping and hiking and eating and getting red sand in every possible crack and crevice.

Did I mention that it was 90 degrees?  I loved it - even when my deoderant stopped working.  Heck, I even loved it when Kenyon's deoderant stopped working.

The best Mother's Day card came from my sweet eight year-old Sauce.  At the risk of giving him a good reason to put me in a crappy nursing home someday, I am going to share his card here.

The front:

The inside:
  That boy has a way with words, don't you think?

sick-of-winter-fever

Some call it "Spring Fever."  But seeing that winter in the mountains lasts well into May and it doesn't surprise us to see a dusting of snow in early June, we have renamed the fever.

Each April, we get the itch.  South....must....go....south!  It is still winter here, but a four hour drive south to Moab will usually plop us in temperatures in the 70's or 80's.

This year we had a campground reservation, but had to change it to a hotel reservation due to a forecast of unusually chilly nights.  Daytime temps were to be in the mid 60's and that is double the Park City temps where we were blessed with got 12 inches of snow per day that we were away.

I can handle sleeping in the cold.  My big boys can handle sleeping in the cold.  But my littles?  I'm pretty sure they'd be miserable.  And if the littles ain't happy, Mama ain't happy.

And if Mama ain't happy.... well you get the picture.

So, we packed up the new family truckster "Ruby" (Beloved took a new job = no company car = newer used Suburban for Mama = older, kid "loved", very unmanly minivan for my Beloved) for her first road trip.

We've never had a DVD player in any car before.  It wasn't on our want list for a vehicle, but this one came with it.  Can you tell it is their first time?  We don't really sit them four across - we were just testing the headphones.

A couple of movies later, we were in Moab.  Our first adventure was the giant sand dune across from Arches National Park.  A lovely FREE piece of fun that you can just drive up to and play.  Hours of entertainment for four boys, exercise for Mom and Dad, and we (almost) felt like we were at the beach!  I guess we were, but there was no water, just desert.

Next, we saw some of these.  Just as Kenyon was commenting how despicable it is that people carve their names into the rock next to historical art, he looked down to see Rufus finishing letter number three of his name.  Luckily, some sand washed it off, but we were laughing for the rest of the trip about it.

One thing that tends to define us when we hike is that my husband we always tend to push the boys past their limit and into the depths of exhaustion.  Our first day we hiked eight miles.  My Beloved would argue that it made them into the tough hikers that they are today.  I argue that it just makes for a cranky bunch of boys on their way to the car.

The perks of hiking great distances are these:

 

AND there's this view at the "end".

I'm saving the best for last.  Check back for the story of our most fascinating hike ever (picture "127 Hours" but with both arms).

Also, just a teaser - I'll share one of our most humbling parenting moments.

tenting it - WTF?

After enduring a LOOONNNNGGGG wet and cold spring, summer has finally arrived in Utah.  We love to get out into our beautiful wilderness and camp as many weekends before hunting season arrives as we can fit in.

We have been in a small group Bible study with five other couples for nearly five years now.  Cleverly, our comedians gave our group the name, "With The Father," or, "WTF" for short.  Ha ha.

Most of the group joined us about an hour south of our home town for a weekend of camping fun.  And some scenery...  sheesh!

Day one, we explored Bridal Veil Falls.  Or some of us explored the falls and some of us stayed with the little ones and watched the men them explore.

I didn't need to be convinced to hang out with this guy.

We looked up and watched these guys get smaller and smaller.  Can you find four of my men in this picture?

I'm exaggerating.  We had plenty of fun at the bottom.

And bottom.

Squirt and his buddy Bean.  These two have so much fun together:

Back at camp, we enjoyed the fire, the food, and the fun of Father's Day.

 

We split up meal responsibilities between the families, and luckily, the Andersons volunteered for breakfast. 

The Andersons are Texan.  'Nuf said, y'all.  YUM.

Yes, they are all ours!

Day two: we drove up another canyon to visit the Mt. Timpanogos Caves.  The hike was about 1.5 miles each way and a gain of about 1100 feet of elevation.  Sounds tough, but it was paved the entire way.  The kids had no problem at all.

Once at the top, we had a ranger-guided tour through the caves.  Boys plus caves equals fun.  They loved it and even obeyed the "no touch" rule extremely well.

 

 

 

 

This is the stuff I want to spend our free time doing.  These types of places are right at our fingertips out here and even when it is a little further out, the travel time has always proven worthwhile.

Weekends like these make me see clearly why God gave me boys.