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.

Another chance at a dance date

Erik finally succumbed to our pleadings and is headed to Homecoming, his first actual dance. The lucky girl got a pizza delivered to her door with Erik dressed in his pizza delivery uniform from Hometown Pizza. Oh, did we have fun concocting how he would ask her.

What's happening in my yard
Our peaches are sooooooo close to being fully ripe. My dad tried to pawn some of his off on me last week and I had to decline. We are overloaded this year. The fruity peach smell in our little orchard is simply divine. I've picked them as they've fallen and picked a few off the trees to make peach pie filling, dried peaches, peach cobbler, and fruit leather, but the majority are going to ripen this week I believe.

These are the days of . . . 
*Cooler fall temperatures that allow me the luxury of leaving windows open at night. Ash simply doesn't appreciate it and complains most mornings about it being too cold. I don't know . . . 68 or 69 doesn't seem terribly cool when I know it's going to warm up during the day.

*Lake Point Days race. Alex begged me to sign him up for a race at the beginning of the summer. I hesitated, not knowing if we'd be around for Lake Point Days since it fell over our traditional Ferron Peach Days weekend. He ran well and loved it.

Erik smack-talked Nate all year, telling him how he was going to beat him. Erik ran well, but didn't come close to Nate who gave it his all at the end to come in 2nd.

I can't believe this is the same kid from 7 years ago. I think his form has improved a little.

Nate actually had time to walk back a 100 yards and run with Erik when he came around the corner.

Ash also took home a medal for being the only teenage girl to race, even though she's not even 12 yet.

*Early morning orchestra. Thankfully, we are only driving to the jr. high two times a week instead of three.

*Football games have taken over our life again. It's kind of like school. I love it when they start. They seem to signal the beginning sweater and soup weather. But, man do I celebrate the Superbowl because it means the death of football for another season, and I couldn't be happier.

Blessings

Blessing #1:
Nate turned 14 the end of July, but with so many family things going on, there just didn't seem to be a good time to have him ordained to the office of a teacher. And I was not liking the idea of pulling grandparents away from their busy schedules. One Sunday Brother Willis, his deacon adviser, approached us about about it and planted in my mind the idea that Erik could ordain him. This was a thought I had not even entertained since I did not know a young man in the office of a priest could do such a thing.

I talked it over with Nate and Erik and both were open to the idea, although Erik was extremely nervous about performing such a priesthood function. I approached the bishop and the ordination took place during our monthly home teaching visit in his office. He counseled Erik on the wording and how he knew what things to say in a blessing that often accompany such ordinations. Bishop Steinagel then left it up to him whether or not he would like to also give Nate a blessing at the end, which Erik was brave enough to do.

I believe there is nothing more humbling or terrifying than being the mouthpiece for the Lord. What a tender morning as the palpable spirit of God filled that room. It was a beautiful experience for all of us present and I can say with all sincerity that God our Father was pleased.

Blessing #2:
Later that same day, I sat in that same office as my Laurel presidency was set apart to perform their functions. Kiersten had been called as the secretary, and the bishop gave her such a beautiful blessing, affirming things to her that he could not have possibly known. But God knew and knew what Kiersten needed to hear.

The Holy Ghost is real and powerful and performs his functions through an all-knowing God.

Blessing #3:
Back in May a talk was given on patriarchal blessings which reminded Nate that he wanted to get his. Erik was moved enough by this same talk to also piggyback Nate and get theirs together. Our summer was so incredibly busy that an appointment with Patriarch Oscarson was set for August 21, the day before the start of school.

What a joy it was to accompany these two brothers to receive guidance and wisdom and direction through another mouthpiece of the Lord set apart for such service. For me, it was a unique circumstance to have two blessings given together, but individually, much like Esau and Jacob. I'm sure they don't remember a tenth of what was given but I do know the Lord knows them individually by what was pronounced to each boy through our great patriarch.

Patriarchal blessings are like a beautiful letter from our heavenly home. It's not a crystal ball describing what will happen in our future lives, but more like a road map describing the blessings awaiting should we stick to the path and knowledge of our divine characteristics. I also received mine on a hot August Sabbath in 1992, 24 years ago. What a treasure it has been and I guess also a kind of treasure map as things that didn't mean anything to me 24 years ago are now making sense. I continue to read mine often.

I am forever grateful for men and young men who are worthy to hold God's power to bless my family. My God is a god of miracles and love and uses the priesthood channel to direct that love and those tender mercies through worthy men on this earth.

First lost tooth

Alex informed us last night that he had a loose tooth. A very loose tooth which did not make it through the night.

We searched the bed and nothing. The only other alternative is down the hatch (we didn't tell him it might be swimming in his stomach). Ty and I kind of mourned this day: it signaled that our baby is moving quickly into that young boy stage. Soon after he was born and during our home build, I remember many days of just wanting to sit and hold him because I knew it would go so quickly.

Erik must have had the same thought.

Before leaving for his first day of a whole day of first grade, Alex quickly wrote a note to the tooth fairy and put it under his pillow.

Ah, the tooth fairy. He's quite an unreliable fellow at our home. I sure hope he doesn't disappoint tonight.

What's going on in my yard
Apples. My apples are ripe and ready for eating. I've already dried some and made applesauce and apple crisp. I'm hoping to make some apple pie filling this week. We were also smart enough to cover our trees with netting and so far the birds have left them alone. Hallelujah!

These are the days of . . . 
*boating activities with the youth

*nesting; it seems every fall when the kids go back to school I find myself cleaning, organizing, dejunking; boy does it feel good to regroup after all the summer festivities

*difficult planned conversations gone awry

First day of school

This year school began on a Monday much to the dismay of my children. But come what may and love it.

Years ago I remember a woman from my Stansbury ward detailing the cost of having 3 kids in high school at the same time. I made a mental note and realized that many years down the road I would be in the same boat.

And here I am with a senior, junior, and freshman. Ah, this was Kiersten's LAST first day of school picture. I see many more LAST things to come this year.

The idea of a free education is so foreign to me right now. If it's not the school needing money than its the kids fundraising at my door for all their various clubs. It only cost me $850 to get my three into school. It could have been much worse if Drivers Ed were part of the equation.

As my neighbor and I were walking the other day, we discussed the public school system in our country and both are of the consensus that organized sports should have no place in education other than a PE class. But we both know that will never fly. Too much emphasis on trophies and not enough on education.

Ash is 6th grade. Swim big fishy. And Alex is 1st grade. Swim faster than the big fishy. Somehow I never imagined this day would come where all my kids would be in school for the entire day. I'm loving the quiet mornings.

And this morning I finished a book titiled Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman. Make sure you get that P in there because another of my most favorite authors is Emily Freeman whose writing style and genre is very similar although I doubt they even know the other exists.

You want a little taste of what I've been reading this week. Well, here ya go:

It’s easy to fight for a cause when the stake are high – freedom, rights, life or death. It’s way harder to fight for moments, to fight to see meaning on a Tuesday afternoon around the homework table. Because at the end of it you don’t have anything to show for it beyond a kid who has finished math worksheet and let’s be honest, who cares much about that? Yet if the world gives it such attention, maybe we need to crane our necks away from the cities of the world and force our attention to the benches in our own front yards. I don’t mean we have to create meaning and elevate each moment to the level of The Most Important Thing Ever. The truth is, the moments may be boring. In the scope of life, they may not have much impact on the course of things or the decisions we make. But learning to live well in ordinary time isn’t a call to elevate moments; it’s a call to draw close to Christ.

Kind of goes along with our school theme for this post. Another little phrase I'm gonna borrow from her and add to this blog is "These are the days . . . ". I've been ending my blog with Good Things going on in our live at the moment, a kind of gratitude list. Well, I imagine this could very well incorporate that and many more things, more of the ordinary, day-to-day stuff that I tend to forget about.

What's going on in my yard

Well, about the only thing really blooming right now are these volunteer sunflowers. I'm knowledgeable enough to know in the spring what they are and not pull them. You can't get anything much better than this that requires absolutely no water and no maintenance.

These are the days of . . . 

*little boys who are so excited for school and who tell their mom how important it is to go to "back to school" night even though she was not planning on going (she went . . . for him). ALEX

*a daughter who is so diligent and committed to her cross country team that she gets up early to run, runs during her Running for Life class, runs after school for practice, and cools down at night with a 2 mile run. Okay maybe she is just crazy. KIERSTEN

*having a child (ASHLYN) remind you of the tradition you started many years ago of giving each child a candy gram for the morning of the first day of school and you realize it's Sunday night and school starts in t minus 8 hours. Yep, this mom came through albeit it was more at t PLUS 8 hours.

Racing with a prayer

I completed my 7th half marathon and Kiersten and Nate both have two under their belts with the completion of the Crandall Canyon Half.

This was a harder race than the others due to a lack of training. I did get a couple of long runs in but not enough mileage. This summer was jammed packed with so many events that I just didn't have the time to devote. I'm so glad I didn't sign up for that marathon I was thinking about earlier this year.

Kiersten and Nate froze while we waited for the bus to pick us up

and transport us to the top of Huntington Canyon which was beautiful. We were dropped off by Electric Lake where a mist of clouds hung around the mountains. After we all boarded the bus, the race director offered a prayer. That was so impressive and something that has never happened before. I was touched by that simple gesture.

I also got reacquainted with a childhood friend at the race start but that's the last I saw of her. With only around 25 competitors you were bound to run a majority of it by yourself which I did. With no one to keep my eye on, I lagged quite a bit.

Nate took 2nd overall. I overheard a comment as he was exiting the porta-potty at the start. Some lady looked at him and said, "That kid's gonna beat us all." Kiersten did pretty well herself.

These two have improved a great deal in endurance and speed and were BOTH invited to HARC -- High Altitude Running Camp, a camp sponsored by their coaches. It is invitation only and in years past not many freshmen have been included. Kiersten was super excited to have Nate join her in this adventure. They camped in Big Cottonwood Canyon for 4 days and ran, Ran, RAN . . . mostly uphill twice a day.

I have never had to push or cajole them into running the miles they do. It is something they've wanted for themselves and they get up and do it.

School doesn't start until Monday and already we've had two cross country races. Settlement Canyon was a disappointment to both but the Highland Invitational was a success. Nate smashed his old time, coming in at 19:04. 

Kiersten also PR'd by about 40 seconds and was the first JV to cross the finish line from our school.


What's happening in my yard
I didn't get around to harvesting my artichoke and was pleasantly surprised to see a stunning lavender flower atop it one morning. It looks like the petal below it is about ready to flower also.

Good things
ripening apple tree
apple crisp
heck, anything apple in the fall

Number 2's big week

The deal was Erik had to get his eagle scout before he got his license.

1. All the paperwork got turned in this week and now we're just waiting.

2. That elusive license finally became his. He's been driving by himself for a little bit. It's just nice to finally be legal.

3. Hometown Pizza called for an interview and hired him on the spot. He had applied at Del Taco and even got a couple of interviews but due to manager changes and miscommunication, he never heard back from them. Pizza really is where his heart is though, not tacos. Part of me has been okay with him not having a "real" job. He's got a fantastic ACT score and great grades and can currently get a scholarship to USU. I'm just hoping this job won't interfere with school.

What's happening my my yard

Yes. More trees. I really thought we were done as in we've run out of room. But there seems to be more than enough space for more. We are planting another crab apple to match one we already have in the front and another Winter King Hawthorne for the front. The crab apple is a clump variety which Tyler is a sucker for. 

Good things
2 year old niece
coconut vanilla Pepsi (actually this is great thing; one of my weaknesses)
hard running camps that stretch my kids