Homecoming for Erik

Life seems to tumble and gather steam at times when I think it should be calm. Tyler had a business trip to Portland and asked me to tag along. At the time the week looked relatively calm. But little by little things began to unexpectedly fill in.

Cross country races. Activity days. A surprise baby shower. Homecoming. Volleyball games.

Last Sunday I finally insisted that Erik take charge of his homecoming group of boys and make some plans because I was headed to Portland for three days and needed to know what role I was to play in the whole affair.

We hosted dinner and one other mom had them over after the dance for dessert. This meant that I was unable to go home for the weekend and help my mom with a surprise baby shower for my sweet sister in law. Choosing between two good things is so much harder than choosing between black and white.

But ah, what a great group. I'm so glad Erik has such good friends with good standards to rub shoulders with. What's ironic is three of these boys used to all be in the same ward in Stansbury: Erik, Mason, and Austin S. And one of the girls also used to live in our old Gordon Lane ward.

The dinner was a success with salad and soup

and Italian sodas and chicken cordon bleu and rolls. One mom also brought cute conversation stones to put on the table to stimulate some conversation when it started to lag and those kids used them. I heard it all from my perch in the kitchen.

And where's Kiersten, you say, in all this Homecoming hoopla?

She and Nate went to Boise for a cross country meet. The races were divided into two different groups for JV girls and the first 20 to cross the finish line got medals. At some point in the race her coach yelled to her that she was number 18 which she held to the end (18th out of about 200). Wow. She has come a long way since she joined this team three years ago.

Many times I ask myself how did I get so lucky to be her mom. She is amazing. This past week she also found out she scored a 34 on her ACT. The girl is headed for good things, including a cross country homecoming in a couple of weeks.

Josh Larsen, a boy on her team and Book Battle nemesis from grade school, asked her.


What's happening in my yard
My pumpkins are just about ready to be picked. This picture is a few weeks old so the color is a lot more green than what they are now.

My tomatoes are also doing well. No more rot blossom. I'm beginning to suspect its how I watered this summer which is probably not enough for raised beds. We are also digging up potatoes -- potatoes I didn't think we had because my plants sprouted up, got leggy, and then killed over. And the raspberries have done well this year. I keep thinking they are done producing only to go out and harvest more. What we don't eat I put in my freezer to make some jam later.

These are the days of . . . 
*Little boys who love their stuffed animals so much they come alive with different voices. Sometimes we have to put George, Alex's monkey, in time out.

*Job changes. Tyler basically got fired from his current position and is having to reapply. He's interviewing for more of a sales job which would mean more travel. Thus we have been looking at buying more of a commuter car.