I miss you...

I still cry every once in a while when something reminds me of my sweet boy, Austin. Like how I used to sing while he played guitar. Silently lucidity was our favorite. Thankfully my Christian has learned it and I can love music with him too. Letting go is hard. I can’t wait to sing with him again in a year and a half. Then soon after Christian will leave. I hope I still have a beating heart when all is said and done because it’s so hard to say goodbye to these wonderful humans. 

Ants...

You know how ants collect food for the winter? They work ahead because they know cold is coming. They’re going to be ready. My girls are ants. They spend about 16 hours a week at gymnastics working, working, working. What do they after they come home, eat lunch and have a shower? Work more. They ask me probably 10 times a day “can you watch my routine?” The season starts in 2 months. These two will be ready.

Summer bliss...

Dear Summer, don’t ever leave. The end.

Strength in numbers...

My son Austin recently told me that out if all the things go ghat prepared him to leave home and serve a mission, it was sending him every year to EFY (especially for youth) an amazing program our church offers. Connor and Christian went last week. They came home so different than before they left. Happier? What is it about doing good and being close to god that makes us so happy? I’m grateful they went. They came back realizing they aren’t the only young men in this world that believe what they believe. When you’re singing “We’ll bring the world his truth” with literally hundreds of boys and girls, you know you aren’t alone.

My name is nana...

When I became a grandma it became everything I’d been told it would be and more. I just wasn’t sure what to expect. I still feel like I could have another child (don’t worry, I won’t) but life’s like that, right? Don’t we always feel young in our hearts? I tried really hard to get used to being called grandma. But it felt weird. Then we tried “nan” but my son in law said it sounded like “man” and by golly I don’t want to be a man. So, we went with Nana. And I feel like the most blessed nana alive.

Summer...

This has been a strange Summer. It’s cold out. By cold, I mean 75 degrees most days. I’m a hot weather kind of girl. I want my non air conditioned house to be 77 degrees inside. However, even though we haven’t gone boating or much in the way of water, we’ve done lots of walks/hikes and lots of getting ice cream cones at our local ice cream stand. Can’t ask for much more...

Birthdays...

June as usual brought on lots of birthdays. First Austin, then Scarlett, then Christian. It was our first birthday away from our sweet Austin. And Christian is old enough to drive? I’m scared. Then Scarlett is double digits.  I’m going to be saying goodbye to her in 8 short years. Time to pull out the tissues.