Dynamics

The forces at work in family life are incredible. There can be push and pull and everything in between. Our Ben is gone working this summer and will head off to college soon! That leaves things a little different in our home:) No longer do I need to worry about pushing him on to do something good with his time, now Mike has slipped into that role. And Lauren is trying to break the mold of being in the middle--still mostly all about her though:) The house is devoid of that fun laugh and big hugs and we miss him! He is at a BSA summer camp teaching scouts merit badges on the lake such as swimming and sailing. He called the other day and relayed a bit about what he was doing and what he said made his Dad and I so proud. He had a very full week of scouts and about 50 doing sailing which is so many at a time that he and his instructor partner divided them in half because all couldn't sail at the same time. At this particular part of the camp the beach is near the doctor and his/her family that come for the week to volunteer their time and service. Well Ben and his staff were asked to take them out for an afternoon sail amidst this surplus of scout sailors! His staff partner lamented to Ben that they couldn't possibly fit them in to which Ben replied that indeed they could and would fit them in! That's our Ben--the best versions of us shining through! Tim would do for anyone at anytime and I have taught him that nothing is impossible. Those are some pretty powerful forces at work that can pass on attitudes like that.

We are so grateful that he has been able to attend church up in Bemidji and spend part of each weekend with Ken and Shirley and their good family. I was at a Time Out for Women seminar this Spring when I visited with Shirley(my YW leader as a youth:) again and told her Ben would be coming up there and not sure that he could get to church. She told me right away that she would be happy to get him and have them stay with him. What a tender mercy that was and is! He has had wonderful visits with them and he has called to say how much he loves them! That is the most powerful force of all and he is sooo good at loving. It meant so much to him that his grandparents and most of my siblings came out with their families for his graduation.

Ben grad announcement

Honor Ribbons Green Graduation Announcement

Shutterfly graduation party invitations and gift ideas.

View the entire collection of cards.

influence and perspective

The kids are growing up so fast now. I look back now over more time and memories than I have left with them at home. I remember days after school in 6th grade with the oldest boy rocking him still as he struggled with what friends would give the right influence for him. We talked about who he would be and who he wanted to be with. Several years of trying different ones on and now he seems to have found a stability in who he is and who he identifies with. Now he is looking up to young men a few years ahead of him and influenced by their example. I am glad I have helped him meet/associate with these young men(EFY and YM counselors,LDS friends and missionaries). These people have a framework that they are living their lives around that provide positive values and perspective. They are not perfect and the organization they are involved in is not perfect BUT the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and for me that separation is simple and complete. It can be messy but in these difficult times the simple vision I have to teach my kids how to be good people with successful relationships lies there. My daughter will be larger and better than I but I hope she remembers that simple way. She will do great things. She too has found what makes her happy in friendships and clearly sees the influence people can have. Now I see the baby making his way to 6th grade smiling from ear-to-ear as he is invited to play with friends, still navigating the way through influences and I hope I can show him the same or guide him along his own journey. I love seeing the people my kids are becoming and I am so glad to know them. They are my greatest work.

My marathon

I started playing the flute in 9th grade (most started in 6th grade) and I taught myself how to play with some help from my band teacher the summer before. My journal entries from that time are all about what goals I had and playing each day to reach them. Then I played in a flute choir and took a few private lessons in college for a year. I really enjoyed it but didn't have some of the basic skills such as counting mastered very well. So for the past 6 years I have been taking flute lessons again and I have had lofty goals for myself. One was to be able to play a really extensive piece memorized with my teacher playing piano. With recitals in the winter and spring I have probably played a dozen times now in front of an audience in this venue and I can now make it through the entire song, not lose breath and I have memorized a Debussy piece! as well as keep counting to stay together with piano--difficult esp when nervous!!!! This is me playing Prelude to the Afternoon of a faun by Claude Debussy. --minus the middle half due to time constraints for the recital. Enjoy! Now I would like to work on enjoying the audience more but that is a way off I think:)http://www.motionbox.com/videos/d498deb1191be3c35c

Doing

I can usually find no shortage of things to do to keep me busy. Today I am fondly thinking of all the places I have lived and found activities to do in and around. Just the other day I was telling the kids about when I lived at the top of a very long hill in Council Bluffs, Iowa and how my Dad would take a running start in the car to make it up, which I remember taking a few tries to do in the icy winters we had there. In the summer we kids would ride our bikes down the hill, oh so fast, with our legs flying out like we were ready to take off with wings. I actually hit the curb with such speed that I bit through below my lip once. Then when we moved to Bemidji my parents bought us ice skates(I actually have memories of doing this in Iowa too but at parks) and my Dad would flood the front yard and we had our own personal pond. One Christmas we all got Nordic cross-country skiis and we would go on the trails very close to where we lived by the Concordia language village. I have taken these skiis with me wherever I lived after I got married and used them in Pocatello on a golf course that they groomed with trails. Tim got a pair as well and then they went in storage. Not much snow in Seattle close to where we lived and we didn't go and do much in the way of getting out and enjoying it. But we did visit the beach and we had a great walking path and bike trail close to our house there. But the skiis stayed in storage. We moved back to MN and for the first time yesterday I pulled them out of the garage, tried on the old boots and made my way to the park/lake across the street. It was a beautiful day. The conditions were just right. It had snowed a few days ago. February snow is so good for skiing and it was still cold enough to not be sticky. The no-wax glide bottle was frozen (purchased in Pocatello) and after a brief thaw and application to the skiis that had been dug out of the garage cobwebs and brought in the house, I was off! I have been looking forward to this all week. I could just tell it was going to be perfect. I arrived at the edge of the lake, and no one was around except the busy city traffic and freeway nearby. I looked up as I had a feeling I wasn't alone as the birds were all a twitter and this guy/gal Eagle had probably just finished a meal of fish.

Well there is no better greeting than that for a good morning! So off I went and someone else had broken a trail before me so I hopped right on to the frozen ice and skiied around the trail. It didn't go all the way around the lake so I made more trail on the other side. Now it is said that cross-country skiing is one of the best aerobic excersises to do. It doesn't seem like one does much but I was sweating and shedding layers after 20 minutes. Another 30 minutes later and trying to take photos of myself, I headed for home. I had a marvelous time and it is a gray day today so I am going to surround myself with these photos!

ringing in the new year

The boys and I rang in 2010 with our traditional "bubbly" and episodes of Mythbusters on Netflix after a couple rounds of Scrabble Slam! card game--thanks Grandma and Grandpa:)

just for me

A few moments to myself at the end of the year. I made an artichoke ricotta pizza and lemon poppy seed bundt cake--yummm, while watching "Under the Biltmore clock", an American Playhouse movie which is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Myra meets his family". Very good.