Inquiring Minds Want to Know ;)

7 yr. old Brookelle was feeling a bit under-the-weather, so she spent the good part of the day lying down in our bed - because she says we have the most comfy bed in the house (AND the fact that there's a T.V. in our room doesn't hurt, either, I bet! ;))
ANYWAY, she was just takin' it easy on our bed.

Then she started rearranging the pillows on our bed and she picked up one of our throw pillows, and looked at it.
Then she looked at it longer.
Then she turned it over and looked at the other side.
Then she wrinkled up her eyebrows and stared at it some more.

This is the pillow that we have on our bed that was in question:

 

FINALLY, she declared, "I don't get it!" 

I, seeing what pillow she was examining, played oblivious (she IS only 7 yrs. old!) and asked, "What?!?  It's a pillow." 
She replied, "I know.  But, I don't get it!"
Me: "It's a pillow with words on it.  Can you read it?"
B:  "Yes.  'Tonight.' (then turns it over) and 'Not Tonight'."  Why's THAT written on a pillow?  What does it mean?" 

At this point, some of her older siblings were in the room witnessing this and they start giggling, and getting a real kick out of the situation.  Then they start saying things like, "You'll find out when you're older" or "You don't need to know yet"....which only makes Brookelle more frustrated. 

Then Brookelle demands/half-whines [in her sickly state], "Tell me what it is!" 
So, then Matt explains, "When the pillow is on the 'Tonight' side, mom wants me to kiss her.  If it's on the 'Not Tonight' side, then I shouldn't kiss mom."
B: "What does it REALLY mean?"
Everyone: "That's what it means!"
B: "I still don't get it.  Because WHY would mom EVER put it on the 'Not Tonight' side?"
Matt: "My sentiments EXACTLY!"  

;)  

A Birthday Away From Home

HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to our favorite missionary!!! 

19 years old!

It is his very first birthday without us.  {So, I'm feeling kinda weird!}

To "celebrate" without him, here's a look back...

1 years old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old

8 years old

9 years old

10 years old

11 years old

12 years old

13 years old

14 years old

15 years old

16 years old

17 years old

18 years old

And TODAY......(the most recent photo I have of him)

He is serving as a full-time missionary for 

The Church of 

JESUS CHRIST 

of Latter-Day Saints 

in the West Virginia Charleston mission.

We have a lot of birthday traditions that I obviously won't be able to do for him this year, so I hope he doesn't mope about missing all of that.  (But, honestly, I don't even remember my own birthday out on my mission!  It might be because it was so long ago ;) OR it might be that it's really not a time when you focus on yourself!??)  

I'm sure he won't even have to worry, he has a WONDERFUL "second family" out there who take such good care of him and are so generous with their time, food, gifts, fun memories they GIVE to him!  

{I'll ALWAYS be so grateful for the Young's and the Heller's!!!} 

I trust he is in good hands! (theirs and Heavenly Father's both!)

Thank goodness for all these other great people who serve, because, there's a high likelihood that he will be transferred tomorrow, and he didn't want to deal with packing up an extra box of birthday stuff I'm sending, so he told me to just mail it to the Mission Home address and then they could forward it to him, whether he stays where he's at or if he gets sent to a new area.  Knowing the USPS, though, and not knowing how quickly mail gets attended to in the Mission Office.......I don't know if he'll get any birthday from home until WELL AFTER his birthday has past!  So anti-climatic. :(

Our Glover Lane Home

After we first moved to our new home [almost] two years ago, I used drive in & out of our neighborhood via the route that would take me by my old home - our "Glover Lane Home" as we call it.

But, not so much anymore.

Because I kinda get sad about what's become of it.

It was purchased by a couple who had no intention of ever making it "their home."  They were only interested in buying an "investment."  Although, they did live in it for a short time to justify the type of loan they got on it, it's mostly been inhabited by renters.

I find myself being protective of our "Glover Lane Home" and I notice the details of things that are "wrecking" it - like they sprayed some yellow foam stuff in all the driveway cracks, and it's oozing out and looks.....SO not good!  But, hey! that same driveway is full of snazzy, new cars; a red truck, a Cadillac, & black sports/luxury cars.  (I'm afraid that's where their regard [& money] goes.)  I cringe when I see all the things that the various renters are letting slide.  Overgrown plants, weeds, dead grass - not that we are champion gardeners by any means - SCREAM out to me, We don't love this house.  And that's sad to me because we did (in fact,  I love it! are the exact words I exclaimed the moment our Realtor let us in to look at it all those years ago) - and I want it to continue to be loved!  Sure, we ultimately outgrew it, and there were things [functionally] that were a nuisance, it didn't meet our needs anymore, that's why we built & moved, but I'm talking more about the HOME we loved.  The HOME which holds our history, memories, & hearts.  How could it not?  We lived there for 11 1/2 years!

My friend & I sometimes walk by it on our morning walks, which we did this week, and like always, I check it out - any signs of love, attention, concern?  I wonder if she notices that she kinda "loses" me in our conversation at that moment we pass it?  It's weird....I KNOW, in my brain, it's my old home, but it's almost like it doesn't even seem like it.  It's changed.  It doesn't look as bright to me anymore.  It's more somber & drab.  (Although, to others not emotionally attached, it may still look the same?)  Our kids have wondered aloud, if we ever drive by, what it looks like on the inside, now.  Kyle, especially, wants to devise a way that he could walk through it again.  The curious part of me also wonders and wants to take a look, but the other part of me doesn't - I might want to keep everything in my mind just the way I remember it!

 {last photo as we drove away in 2012}

The day we moved all our stuff out, we were racing against a deadline and we didn't have a ton of time to get all sentimental and pay tribute to every room & such...AND we were sweating so much, I don't think there was any liquid left in my body to cry.

BUT, I still thought:

How could I let that thing go?  

How can I let go of where all my daughters learned to walk?

They each learned to grab hold of the cabinet knobs & drawer pulls and "play" (read: empty everything out of) with the measuring cups, pots, water bottles, Tupperware containers that were inside.

How could I walk away from that kitchen where I prepared ten thousand meals, my children at my side (read: under my feet)?

My children built a gazillion forts and we had hundreds of Family Home Evenings in our living room.

There was the "time out" corner over on the staircase landing, that fit our time out bench perfectly, we used A LOT! 

There were the stairs where a the children slid down laughing gleefully in sleeping bags or pillow cases.....and where brothers would chase/run from each other making the loudest pounding noise as they barreled down - which then, unfortunately, sometimes ended in a crashing sound as frames were knocked off the wall at the bottom.

We finished the basement, painted every room, remodeled one big bathroom into two separate bathrooms, and replaced all the flooring except for one room in that house while we were there!

There were big dormer window seats where the kids liked to sit upon & hang out.  Kyle split his head open on one of the windowsills.  The boys learned to shoot a basketball pretty darn well in that hoop we once had attached to the house (before the incident), then was replaced with a driveway basketball hoop.

We had 11 Christmases there.  59 Birthdays.  Brought home 3 new babies.  3 Baptisms.  4 Priesthood Ordinations.

    {Miss B's 1st Birthday - May 2009}

That home is where we built our family.

Back in Layton & North Salt Lake & Brigham City where we lived for six years before we moved here is where we were seedlings.  We had just the two boys.  We rented from apartment to apartment, and lived in a "starter home" too far north in Davis County for our liking.  We weren't ready to settle.

But when we got to the "Glover Lane" one, we put down our roots.

And it's filled to the very brim with memories that have made our lives rich and beautiful. 

There will always be a special spot in our hearts for that great home of ours we grew together in.

It's where we became "US."

There's a lot to say about a home and how it molds a family.

I'm so grateful that one that took care of us for so long.

{And, yes!  we love our new home with all our hearts, too.  (In case you were starting to doubt.)  The memories have already started heaping up in this thing.  Our next chapter is going to be amazing, as well.}

So, that's why I feel melancholy when I see the house these days - it appears they don't appreciate it the way I do.  I feel like the renters will just keep moving in & out, then eventually move on and forget about it.  I hope that someday it will be sold to a family who will be able to own it and live in it and love it again.
It just dawned on me that my feelings for our "Glover Lane" home might stem from one of my favorite childhood books, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.

This house went through a period of being loved, then neglected, then loved again.  The ending always made me so happy when the great-great-granddaughter of the man who built the house found it and bought it.  Once again it was lived in and well taken care of.

Maybe that can happen to our "Glover Lane Home" too!  :)

This Weekend:

* Our elementary school aged children invited us to go with them to the annual V. I. P. breakfast at their school.

We "dined" on muffins, bagels, cold cereal, & fruit.

* Matt met me at the Bountiful Temple Friday late afternoon to attend

a session together.

It was nice to be there with him again - due to our schedules,

I have just been going single a lot lately.

* When we came out of the temple, it was pouring rain!

Uh Oh.  Ryan was umpiring at the ball park, and 

the plan was for us to drop him off a car to have

when he got done with his games later in the evening.

The rain forced them to call the games early, and

he was stuck in the rain without a car.

* Matt & I finished our date night by going out to dinner at our "standby", Costa Vida, afterwards.
{It's so convenient now that we have one RIGHT IN Farmington!}

* Saturday morning, my friend/photographer came out to take

Ryan's Sr. pictures.....BUT, it was raining still!

And it was MORNING! = he was NOT a happy camper!

After an hour or so, we called it good and rescheduled

for when it's suppose to be a lot better weather.

(But, then he got to go to work - refereeing soccer IN THE RAIN for 3 hrs!)

* I went to a bridal shower brunch for our Bishop's daughter.

It was really fun visiting with the ladies in attendance and the bride & groom-to-be.

This girl really "has it together" and it was sweet to hear her fiance talk about how amazing she is.

In fact, he told the story about how he's had this certain conversation with her a few times now, asking her: 

Tell me what I even have to bring to the table?  I know I'm good looking, ;) but YOU....

you've already got all these accomplishments, talent, brains, skills, & a whole list of attributes. 

(That's GOOD he's starting out with the proper adulation for the most important woman in his life!) 

Anyway, after his comment, one of the more "mature" ladies there gave a sermon reminded

them that it is Heavenly Father's PLAN for men & women to marry and have their own family!

{THAT'S WHY he's needed}

* In the afternoon, I actually started hanging up pictures and decorations
on the walls of my "new" [20 month old] home!
I finally committed and put holes in my walls - some in the wrong place and had to do over!  {sigh}

* Went to the store and then picked up Little Caesars pizzas on the
way back for dinner.
It's Saturday night, and we are trying to follow Matt's tradition
of his youth: always having pizza on Saturday night.
(Gluten-Free Haylee eats an alternative meal}

* It was our Stake Conference weekend, so we went to the Saturday
evening session, and took Ryan & Kyle since the youth were
invited this time to what is the usual "adult" session.
We had some great speakers including one who told the story of how he
 invited a gang member, in a colorful Sacramento area, to church,
then invited him to hear the missionary discussions, then invited him to be baptized!!
He accepted it all, and actually had to get the FBI involved; be relocated and get a new identity.  WOW!
Afterwards, the parents of Ryan's future prom date approached us and we met & visited with them.

* We went to Roxberry afterwards for smoothies with Kyle (Ryan left the conference early to go "crash" another High School's prom.  It's dumb, I think).
{and then I was CHILLED and couldn't wait to get home in my warm jammies & bed!}

* We got up pretty early on Sunday morning so we could leave
our home at 8:30 a.m. (all church-dress-ready) to drive out to the Conference Center
 in Salt Lake City for our Stake/Regional Conference.

It ended up we got there PLENTY early (in our seats 47 min. before it started),
but it was good, because I like to have a good seat, close & center, so I can SEE!
We didn't know beforehand who would be speaking, but we got to hear gospel messages from
several general authorities & officers of the church, including Elder Neil L. Andersen and his wife - which was really special.
Especially because usually children under the age of 8 are not allowed into events at the Conference Center,
(frequently these live events are being filmed/recorded, so they can't have too much noise)
so it was a real treat for Brookelle & Katelyn to be able to go this time - they'd never been, yet!

* We had my cousin and her family of 6 over for Sunday dinner.
She has three daughters who match up in age with my three girls,
so they got to officially meet and hang out for the first time.
They actually live quite close, but we'd never gotten together.
They are a delightful family.  And we got to pull out our high chair again for their baby!  :)
When it was time for them to go, the girls were hugging and begging
to have them stay, asking when they could be with them again!
And, of course, they tried to pull the "stowaway" trick in their minivan.
We hope to see them some more.

* We wanted to go on a walk in the evening to assist the digestion
of our turkey dinner & brownie sundaes, BUT it started to rain again!
Aaugh!
So, we just stayed inside and put our computers, TVs, & electronics to use.
(That wasn't a wise trade off! hahaha.)

Happy Harvest!

I tried my hand at a REAL garden this year for the first time.  Definition of "REAL?" As in a rectangle-shaped one with multiple rows of plants.  

(Previously, I have planted 1-2 zucchini plants in a flower bed on the edge of our old yard - which I considered not a REAL garden.)

Ryan organized our family - for his Family Life merit badge - back during Spring Break to first, prepare a plot of land in our yard for a garden.  This took half a day, leveling, and getting out the rocks and weeds, and making a "box" around the outer edges with all the leftover boards that were still hanging around our property from the builders 8 months prior.  We really know how to "Live it Up" for Spring Break, don't we?!?  ;)  haha.  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of that day.

Gradually, I planted the various vegetables & fruits (green onions, onions, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, zucchini, and corn) over the next 6 weeks based on when the seed packet suggested.  (Again, I'm a rookie, so I wasn't ever sure I was doing things exactly right....and I might have been tardy on some of my planting times.)
I don't have any photos of the planting process, either.

And since we didn't have a landscaped yard in, yet, we also didn't have any sprinklers, but our kind back door neighbors (the experienced gardners) let us hook a hose up to their garden spout, so we could at least hand water it.

We divided the garden rows up between us, and each person was in charge of weeding their row.  Like Mom was corn, Dad was onions & tomatoes, Kyle was green onions, Katelyn was zucchini, etc.  Let's just say that some rows stayed better weeded than others!  (like the corn!)

I periodically took pictures through the rest of the season.

JUNE 

AUGUST

We picked our first batch of corn and had it for dinner one night!

(Katelyn's face doesn't look so sure!  :)  That's because OUR corn was not a "pretty" as the corn she was used to getting from the farmer's corn field that used to occupy the land where our home now sits.  Again, I'm a rookie.)

SEPTEMBER

I guess the seed packet was NOT kidding when it suggested putting 3-4 feet in between each row of the vine-like plants (canteloupe/watermelon/pumpkins)......well, I didn't have that kind of space, so I didn't.....and the vines all tangled together and cross-germinated, and produced hybrids, maybe?  Rookie mistake, right?!?

Watermelon

Zucchini

Usually people around here have zucchini growing out their ears, but I can count on my hands how many I got, so maybe I did something wrong?  (Again, I'm a rookie!)

Cantaloupe

Pumpkins

In the end, our onions, green onions, and tomatoes never did come up....they just disappeared into thin air!   (Rookie!) Our [experienced gardner] neighbors actually gave us an "extra" tomato plant she had in a pot and helped my girls plant it in our empty tomato row -- but I think it was a little too late in the season - we never got any ripe tomatoes before we lost our warm weather, they just progressed to the green tomato point....maybe I should just say that we were TRYING to grow green tomatoes - ya know, for Fried Green Tomatoes? - and then I won't look so non-professional!
We also transplanted Miss B's sunflower seed she had planted in a cup at preschool - it grew pretty good out there.

LATER

We picked and ate them!

Another sign of a rookie:

Here's the inside of a couple of our watermelons.....I THINK something is wrong!?!  (Rookie!)

OCTOBER

Our "pumpkin patch" experience was really slick this year.....

We just went out to our back yard and got 'em!

And we carved our very own hone-grown pumpkins into Jack-o-Lanterns with our friends/neighbors one evening.....they all got ripped off by the pumpkin patch prices!  SUCKERS!  ;)

But, as beginner's luck would have it.....there were a couple of our pumpkins in the garden that never did turn ORANGE.....they were STILL green towards the middle of October.  (Again, rookie?)

So, instead, with some Pinspiration, I gave them a little "face lift" - just painted them up, so NO ONE would ever know!

{Except all who read this!}

NOVEMBER

And we displayed them on our porch with some of the pulled-up corn stalks from our garden, too!

 Then we yanked everything all out = end of the season.

Due to the way our landscaping [surprisingly and contrary to our plans] turned out, we're doubling the size of our garden next year!

Is that good or bad?!!?

{We'll hopefully get better at this.}