Home.

Today we packed up the last few boxes at the Star house.  We have been living in our new home for a few weeks now, but needed one last afternoon to finish the odds and ends that happen at the end of a move.  We got there and got right to work.  I cranked up some good music on my iPhone, and packed up the last little bit.  Jeff and the kids raked all the leaves in the front and back.  After a few hours, we were done.  Jeff and the kids were taking the garbage out and I sat down on the staircase and looked at the empty house.

I remembered a night, nearly twelve years ago, when I sat on the same staircase and looked at the same empty house.  That was the beginning of our story.  Jeff and I were engaged and had closed that morning on the house.  It was the first house we looked at in our house hunting.  We fell in love with it and knew that was where we wanted to start our life together.  The next day we would be moving all my stuff in, and then Jeff would move in after the wedding.  I was meeting him at the house after work that day.  Jeff got stuck in traffic so I sat there on that staircase for quite a while imagining what this house might hold for us.

That moment came back to me today as I sat on the same steps and started to weep.  Our home held so much for us.  The memories, as well as the tears, began to cascade as I thought back to bringing both Mylie and Blake home from the hospital, Christmases, birthdays, first steps, kids learning to ride bikes in the cul de sac, scraped knees, celebrating career success, rocking and nursing my babies, new puppies, visits from family, celebrating with family after our Temple sealing, visits from great-grandparents, movie nights, planting trees, running through the sprinklers, playing in the snow, sitting on the front porch holding hands, backyard BBQs, changing diapers, hosting Thanksgivings, baking cookies, smelling the lilacs, the list went on and on.  I thought about how our home had comforted us during sad times such as when we struggled with infertility, losing my grandma and recently my grandpa, terrible postpartum depression, financial and career woes, suffering a miscarriage, and the ups and downs of everyday life.

Through our entire marriage, our little house in Star has been our constant.  It has provided refuge from the wind, the rain, and the sun.  It has provided refuge from hard days at work and hard days of life.  Within its walls, Jeff, Mylie, Blake and I became a family.  There is a lot of love in that little house.

Jeff and the kids came in and we decided to have one last family prayer at the house.  I won't lie, there were a lot of tears from all of us (except for from Blake - who just kept saying, "What's everyone crying about?!"). In his prayer, Jeff asked that this house would mean as much to whoever buys it as it meant to us.  I hope so.  I hope that little house in Star continues to have a lot of love in it.

The Star house is where our story began, but of course is not where it ends.  Our new home is a wonderful, exciting chapter in our lives and we love it already.  And although I don't foresee bringing any new babies to this house, I do look forward to our kids growing up here, to their friends coming over, to holidays and birthdays.  I look forward to family and friends visiting, to entertaining, and to making new friends in our neighborhood.  I look forward to graduation parties and maybe someday, wedding receptions in the backyard.  I look forward to sitting on the front porch with Jeff, holding hands, talking about our days, and waiting for our grandchildren to come visit.  I look forward to filling this house with love too.

Grandpa Jack

John James "Jack" Ritchie passed away in Idaho Falls on June 30, 2013, a month shy of his 88th birthday. Jack was born on July 30, 1925 to John Coop and Grace Ritchie in Rigby, Idaho. As a teenager, Jack joined the Navy and was stationed at the Farragut Naval Base in northern Idaho and in San Diego. 

After serving his country during WWII, Jack went to work at Montgomery Wards. During that time, Jack met Lois Helen Kearney. They were married in 1944. Jack and Lois had two children, Stephen J. (Ada) and James Craig (Kristine). As a young couple, Jack and Lois enjoyed dancing and socializing with their friends. Jack loved horses and skiing; he spent time doing these activities with his sons.

As a smart and honest businessman, Jack started his own business. Ritchie Tires. He was in business in Idaho Falls for 55 years.  Whenever his grandkids smell tires, they think of him.

Jack and Lois had seven grandchildren:  Joshua Stephen, Stephanie, Frederick Thomas, Benjamin Craig, Courtney, Bailey, and John Migel.  Jack and Lois enjoyed spending time in the summers at Redfish Lake and Heise Hot Springs with their grandchildren. Many years later, Jack bought a home in Alta, Wyoming and the grandchildren enjoyed spending time there with him.

Lois passed away in 1986. The next year Jack reacquainted with an old friend, Mary C. Speece. They were married on November 18, 1989. Mary has been a kind and loving wife to Jack for the last 24 years.

Jack has eight great grandchildren:  Darcy, Maxwell, Mylie, Eliza, Nolan, Blake, Lila, and Sterling. Papa Jack loved being around his great grandchildren and they could always put a smile on his face. He liked having the kids come to his house to visit or taking them to Leo's.

Jack remained active his entire life. He skied until his 80s, most often at Targhee. In fact, when he turned 75 he could ski free at Targhee. He didn't understand how they could offer this without losing so much money. Apparently, he thought that many 75 year olds still skied multiple times a week. He enjoyed hiking, especially in the Jackson and Jenny Lake area and visiting Yellowstone Park.

The family would like to express their gratitude to the staff in the ICU unit at EIRMC for their loving care and kindness. 

The family will receive friends at the downtown Wood's Funeral Home on Tuesday, July 2nd from 7-8:30 pm. A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, July 3rd at 11 am at Rose Hill Cemetery.

April in review!

I've been reading!

Although it is an incredibly busy time of the semester and I have lots of grading to do - I've snuck in some reading time over the last week and read a handful of great books.  That is one advantage to sitting at soccer practice 3 nights a week!

• Silver Linings Playbook (Matthew Quick) - other than I knew there was a movie with Bradley Cooper, I didn't know much else about this book.  I really enjoyed this book and read it quite quickly.  It talked about a man's transition out of a neural health facility.  
• To Have and To Kill (Mary Jane Clark) - a fun mystery.  Quick read, totally enjoyable. 
• Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand) - this one has been on my list for a while, but I have a hard time buying full price books for my Nook since I read so fast.  This one has stayed full price for years.  I finally figured out how to check out library books onto my Nook (happy day!)  It was one of the first books I put on hold.  I finally got to check it out and am so glad I finally got to read it.  What an amazing story of a WWII veteran and the unbelievable challenges he faced.  I highly recommend this book as well.  

Next up (though, probably after a significant amount of grading) are:

• As Always, Jack (Emma Sweeney) - sticking with the WWII theme.
• The Best Man (Kristan Higgins) - she is one of my favorites for fun, romantic, comedic books.
• Daddy's Girl (Lisa Scottoline) - she writes a great series about female attorneys.  This one isn't part of the series, but involves a prison, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it!
• Alan & Naomi (Myron Levoy) - this book was one of my favorites as a child and I still remember how touched I was by it.  It is about a young boy who befriends a girl who was in a Jewish concentration camp.  

I'm so looking forward to summer break and already have planned how the kids and I are going to have reading time EVERY SINGLE DAY! 

Moms of boys ...

Last night at about 12:30 I turned off the light and climbed into bed. Minutes later I heard the pitter-patter of little feet, and then a little body in fleece footie jammies climbed into bed with me. "Blake, you need to sleep in your own bed." I said, though both of us knew I was lacking conviction. "But Momma, I want to snuggle with you." He nestled his head right into my neck and threw his arms around my neck and within seconds his slow and steady breathing let me know he was sound asleep. I hugged him tightly to me and momentarily my heart started aching.

As I whispered "I love you" and kissed the top of his head, I couldn't help but think about the children's book "I Love You Forever." As I thought about it, a silent tear slid down my face as I remembered the sweet story of a mother rocking her son to sleep at night. And how when he grew up she would go to his house and go into his room and pick up his grown up body and hold him and tell him, " I love you forever, I love you for always. As long as you're living my baby you'll be." And as I thought more about the story, my silent tears turned to heart wrenching sobs.

See I know that Mylie will need me her whole life. Girls always need their mothers - for relationship advice, parenting advice, household advice, advice about everything. But someday Blake will grow up and he will meet and marry a wonderful girl and it will become her job to take care of my baby. And this caused my heart wrenching sobs to shake my whole body.

I wanted to wake Jeff up right then in the middle if the night and insist he drive to Melba, wake up his mom, hug her and tell her how much he loves her. I wanted to call my brother and insist that he drive to our parents' house, wake up my mom, and hug her tightly, tell her how much he loves her, and that he still needs her.  I wanted to tell every grown man, who was once a little boy, how much their mothers miss the little boy they once were.  How much they miss being the one that they came to when they were hurt, when they needed a hug, when they needed anything.

By now my sobs woke Blake from his sleep, he sat up, looked at me, and said "You have a bad dream, Mom?" I told him I was fine, and within seconds, he was sound asleep again, snuggled up to me as close as he could be.  I kissed the top of his head again and thought that being the mom to a little boy is a beautiful blessing.

On Marriage ...

I've been thinking a lot about marriage lately.  Perhaps because I feel blessed to be in such a wonderful marriage.  And though it will be years before I give advice on this topic to my own children, I feel like I want to remember some very important thoughts about marriage that I have had recently.  

1. BE KIND.  The world is not always a kind place.  Jeff works with the public everyday and I know that many of those days are not fun.  Our home and our marriage should be a safe place for him.  I truly believe that of all the people in the world, the person we should always be the nicest to is our spouse.  My mom once said, "it is better to be kind than right," and I wholeheartedly believe that.   
2. FRONT & CENTER.  Our family is busy (just like many others).  Our kids are in school and in sports.  In addition to work, Jeff is in grad school, coaches Blake's soccer team, and takes Brazilian Jui-Jitzu classes.  I work full-time, volunteer at the kids' schools, and try to keep up on my hobbies.  When life gets crazy, it is very easy for me to put Jeff on the back burner.  Do you know why?  Because I  know he'll still be there.  Of course that isn't fair.  Although it is easiest to  take for granted the people we love the most, it isn't fair.  Our spouses need to be kept front and center. 
3. LAUGH.  Oh how I love laughing with Jeff.  Everyday we find something to laugh about.  Sometimes it is a Seinfeld or Arrested Development reference.  Oftentimes it is one of our kids.  And I'll admit that we aren't above 7th-grade-boy fart jokes.  But I love laughing with him.  I love that we have about 7219 inside jokes.  I love that sometimes we can tell an entire joke just by making eye contact.  
4. BE A TEAM.  One of my friends recently told me how she loves that Jeff and I are a team.  I thought about it and she is right.  We are a team - a team raising our kids, a team in reaching our goals, a team of us against the world.  There is nothing like having a teammate.  I am glad that I get to be Jeff's teammate.  
5. BE A CHEERLEADER.  I feel so lucky that I have wonderful parents, spectacular siblings, and AMAZ-ing girlfriends.  I know I can talk to them about anything.  And we do.  However, one thing I don't do, and won't do, is talk negatively about my husband to my friends or my family.  My job is to be his biggest cheerleader.  When a football team is struggling on the field, the cheerleaders don't yell insults to the team or start talking to the crowd about how poorly the team is doing.  No, in fact, if the team is struggling, the cheerleaders cheer louder.  So it is with our marriages.  My job is to support Jeff, to build him up, to believe in him.  Just as he does for me.  Being a good spouse is being a cheerleader. 

I feel very lucky that I had a great example of marriage in my parents.  I want Jeff and I to be an example for our kids. 

Our March in review!

We had a wonderful, busy March!