Let the Games Begin

Remember when you were little and your mom bought you new shoes, and you thought they made you run faster and jump higher?  Every once in a while, I'm glad to discover that my sons have some little kid left in them because I think they still believe that their shoes do have some magical powers.  Recently, before the soccer and cross country seasons started, we purchased new cleats for Matt and new spikes for Adam.  They were both focused on their search for the perfect shoe and were thrilled when they arrived in the mail.  As you can see, they are not afraid of color:

In all seriousness, I have to admit that I believe in the power of footwear, too.  When I was in nursing school, I had an experienced nurse give me some good advice for my upcoming career.  The first two points were (1) eat when you get a chance on your shift and (2) use the bathroom when things get slow.  The third piece of advice was to buy good shoes.  My feet would thank me.  Four years into my nursing career, I concur.  And, as a bonus to my kids, I'm more apt to fork out the bucks for decent kicks.

The soccer and cross country seasons have begun, and the shoes must be working.  Matt's team has won two games and tied one.  Their team is remarkably well-conditioned but has been riddled with injuries.  In spite of having lost some key players, they are hanging in there and playing tough.  Matt has played every minute of all three games, and that has been especially fun to watch.

Adam also had his first high school cross country meet yesterday, and he had a good little race.  He's been running hard all summer and earned his way on to the varsity team.  He was sorely disappointed to find out this spring that he wasn't going to be able to run at Mountain View, but I doubt he'd have the chance to run on the varsity squad as a freshman there.  Amazingly enough, he finished fourth out of seven Centennial varsity runners from his team, so he'll get to run varsity again next week.  He also broke 18 minutes for the 5K race, which both pleased and kind of surprised him.  Overall, he finished 22nd, a pretty good showing for a freshman.  

As you can see in the group shot, Adam's certainly not the biggest runner in the race, but he sure doesn't back down from a challenge.

We'll Leave the Light on For You

We were blessed with a couple of visits this past week, both of them very short but awesome nonetheless.  Mike's parents are on their two-week semi-annual break from the temple, and as they did in February, they tried to see EVERYONE in that timespan (all seven children, most of their grandkids, two great-grandchildren, Mike's grandparents, Rexburg friends, and some of Mom Young's sisters.)  We got them from about 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday until 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, and we thoroughly loved having them in our home.  We went to Matt's soccer game together, ate a nice dinner, and enjoyed some relaxed conversation with them.  They bring such a happy spirit with them that it just lifts and builds us whenever we can see them.

Karen, Andrew, and Rachel arrived just before midnight on Friday.  They wanted to see Matt and Adam in their sports events, and this looked like the only chance of the season they would be able to do that.  So, they were here only until about 7:15 this morning (Sunday), but we crammed some good visiting in with them as well.  I can't even describe how happy I feel when all the chicks are back in the nest, even if it's just for a few hours.  "Fulfilled" may be the best word.  I  can't wait to see them again.  (And, yes, we are trying to taint Andrew's loyalties and get him to be a Bronco booster.  I still think he'll still root for BYU when they play Boise State, but maybe he can cheer for Boise State in other games.  What a smart man he is!)

Memory Lane

Mike and I had the chance to go to Provo and Brigham City this last weekend to help Karen and Andrew move.  Talk about a trip down Memory Lane.  Mike and I moved in to our eighth place of residence right around our seventh anniversary.  Due to graduate school, summer internships, new jobs, and new babies, we seemed to find a way to pull up our roots about every year or so, and we became pretty good at vacating one place and setting up a new residence.  (We did have some help from professional movers a couple of times, so I shouldn't complain too loudly.)

In the sixteen years since then, we've moved just once, and that move was less than half a mile away.  In other words, it's been a while since we've dealt with the hassle.  Also, we were considerably younger when we were making all those moves, and we had forgotten what a HUGE task it was.  This is a picture of Mike at about 8:30 on Sunday morning, after we'd worked for most of Friday and all of Saturday.  Good morning, sunshine!  (I woke him when I turned on the camera.)  Given the fact that he usually gets up before 5:00 every morning and that he has been working ridiculously long hours lately, I was so glad he could sleep in.  After all these years, his ability to work so long and so happily still amazes me.

We were blessed to be able to spend a little time with Rachel as well.  She usually works six days a week and only has Fridays off, but she graciously spent the day helping pack and load in Provo.  She has enjoyed her summer working at Aspen Grove, but I am quite sure she is working way too hard.  She has a great attitude about it all--and still a wonderful sense of humor--but I'm her mom.  I worry.

Mike and I do feel blessed that Andrew and Karen had such a cute little place to live in Provo and that they have now found a good place to live in Brigham City.  In Provo they lived in the front half of an older but well-kept home.  The neighborhood was quiet--except for the SWAT team incident (you must read Karen's blog entry about that)--and their ward was welcoming and friendly. 

They've found a nice apartment in Brigham City as well.  We were surprised to have members of their ward practically meet us to open our doors as we pulled up.  Karen and I arrived in the van and were quickly welcomed by one of their neighbors.  When Andrew and Mike drove up in the moving van a while later, we quickly went to eat lunch.  We returned to find several able men and teenage boys there, ready to tote Karen and Andrew's belongings up to their second floor apartment.  I'm not sure I've ever felt so grateful to see a friendly set of strangers.  Seriously, they proved that "many hands make light work."  It was awesome!

The physical act of moving was a real trip down Memory Lane, but watching Karen and Andrew move on to the next phase of their life also brought back a flood of other memories.  I was pleased to see their joy at having one more bedroom in which to spread out.  They also have cheap laundry facilities in the basement of their apartment building.  It's not quite the in-unit set-up they really wanted but close.  Also, on Saturday night Mike and Andrew went to the store to get some light bulbs.  Karen excitedly told me, "I'm going to text Andrew and tell him to pick up some dishwasher detergent."  They are SO excited over such a simple appliance. 

I vividly remember the joy that came with each little upgrade in our lives, but I have to admit that I hadn't felt that type of deep-seated, simple, reflexive gratitude for a long time.  That led me to wonder what other things I take for granted.  It's been fun to spend the last day or two counting my blessings.  They are many, and I've discovered that life becomes sweeter when I take the time to notice all that makes my life simpler and better.

P.S.  A belated "Happy Birthday" to my wonderful mom.  I know she was travelling the Bulgarian countryside on her big day, but I couldn't help but think about her constantly. . . even when we were packing boxes.  Consider yourself hugged, Mom!  Love you like crazy!

The Last of Zion

Today is the day I finish blogging about our family vacation, although I could just stretch it out until we go on the next vacation.  However, since I'm already a bit tired of it, I figure somebody (everybody?) else must be a bit weary of reading about it.  So, just a few more pictures and quickly jotted paragraphs, and I'll be on to other things.  Alas, school is rapidly approaching for the boys, so fall must be closer than we think.  Augghh!! 

Probably my favorite hike we went on was The Narrows.  This was the first water hike I had done, and it was totally fun.  We got to the hike by ambling along a paved path for about a mile.  Then we turned down towards the river and actually got right in the water and started hiking up the canyon.  This first part of the hike was quite pretty, but it was even more beautiful once we got down in the water and were surrounded by gorgeous cliffs and rock formations.

It's kind of a logjam when you first get into the river because everyone, serious hikers on down to casual vacationers, wants to see what this hike is all about.  We went on a Saturday, so it was particularly busy, but once we made it up the river a little, it got a trifle less crowded.  I would love to go on a day when there weren't quite so many people there, but I also wanted to go when everyone could be there.  So, Saturday it was.






The water gets pretty high in some places, but I never had to go completely under.  The boys, however, took every chance they could to immerse, dunk, shower, and otherwise saturate themselves.  They are much more adventurous than I am.  I did get wet to a little above my stomach, but since it was so hot, it actually felt really good. 

We made the unfortunate discovery that such a hike has the potential to give you motion sickness.  We were all motoring along, completely enjoying the trip, and then we stopped for lunch. Rachel said she wasn't feeling well, and I figured her ridiculously busy summer schedule was finally catching up to her.  Mike offered to go back to the trailhead with her while the rest of us headed upstream a little farther.  About ten minutes after they turned back, it suddenly hit me while she wasn't feeling well:  motion sickness.  The same thing happened to me while snorkeling, both in Cancun and in Maui.  Fortunately, Mike said he completely enjoyed the chance to talk to Rachel one-on-one while they waited for us to come back down.  She was feeling MUCH recovered by the time we got back, and she finally believed me when I told her she'd had motion sickness. 

On this hike I also got to see what an avid outdoorsman my son-in-law is.  (Many thanks to him for being willing to take his camera on the hike and get all these shots.  My history of clumsiness prevented me from taking mine.)  Andrew was so good to help us all along, but there were times when I could see that if he were by himself, he would be miles ahead of where we were.  I guess all those summers of working for the forest service have paid off.  It was also fun to see Karen getting out of her comfort zone and becoming more of an outdoorswoman.  They are such a cute married couple.

You can see in our pictures also that we are using hiking poles/ walking sticks.  I think the boys were a little skeptical that they would actually need them along the way, but they are definitely helpful, especially for old folks like me and Mike.  All in all, it was an awesome day of togetherness and enjoying the amazing outdoors.

It was hard to see Rachel and Karen and Andrew leave on Sunday, but once they were gone, we did have the perfect foursome for golf.  Of course, southern Utah in late June can be a little toasty, but we discovered that this is a good thing.  There are some amazing golf courses that have been constructed mainly with the wealthy snowbirds in mind.  Once the heat arrives and those rich snowbirds go back to their summer homes, business drops precipitously.  So do the greens fees.  Mike, Adam, and I took advantage of the summer rates and were able to golf in Hurricane, Utah at an amazingly beautiful, unique (at least to us) course. 

The course was impeccably kept, and I kept wondering how this was possible in the blazing summer heat.  They must have an impressive water bill.  Anyway, we went a couple of times in the early morning, and since we rented carts--this was vacation, after all--we were able to enjoy eighteen holes both times without contracting heat stroke.  The scenery was downright distracting.

My favorite shot of the day was when Matt took an old, scuffed up golf ball and drove it deliberately into the canyon.  It was his best shot of the day because he just reared back and smashed it, without thought of whether it would still be in the fairway.  It made me want to do it, but I refrained.  Maybe next time. . .

Another unique part of our experience was the jackrabbits that were prolific all over the course.  When I first saw one bounding out of the rough, it kind of startled me, and I wondered what kind of critter was going to be joining us.  However, after a while, we got used to the little fellows and thought they were kind of cute.  We definitely don't see these on our golfing excursions in Boise.

I've discovered that I don't play golf any better on a championship course than I do on a municipal course, but I sure had fun.  A bad day on the golf course always beats a good day at work.

It was a wonderful vacation.  I've discovered that while it is fun to go to some exotic places--I do plan to go back to Maui some day--the best part of family vacations is the family. Being away from all the distractions of our daily lives kind of holds the kids and us hostage, in a good way.  Can't wait for the next trip. . . when?  Not soon enough.

P.S.  Happy Birthday, Dad!!  So glad you're my dad!