Saturday at home

Where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy. (Psalm 65:8)

Every once in a blue moon I wake up wide awake, ready to conquer the day. Today was such a day where I was up in time to hear the birdsong.

It was a day of no plans. A beautiful tabula rasa to be filled however we like. No scheduled anything makes a very productive day!

We chose: quiet time

Washed loads of sheets from guests and family members who had strep (2) and those who had a throw-up virus (2), plus every washable thing we could find in our purging the house of germs brigade.

We put away VBS things and began to decorate for upcoming parties.

MJ's first Color Run celebrating VBS

Some of us worked out, and some of us lazed about.

We played games. We chastised those who take great joy out of cheating at board games. We laughed and argued about the rules. We wonderd why some of us have more fun disrupting the game than playing the game.

We made domino trains and built things with Legos.

I taught them how to soak stamps in bowls of water so that the envelope remains float away, and we did old school stamp-collecting like my father showed me on my tenth birthday.

We read books and watched movies. We were moved to tears by The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a poignant story of the Holocost from a child's perspective.

 

We did mundane chores like cleaning out the hamster cages, and gluing back pieces of molding that had fallen off our cabinetry.

We visited friends and neighbors.

We shopped for groceries and the obscure batteries that run violin tuners.

We ate leftovers.

The girls and I swapped makeovers.

We argued over important stuff like whose instant coffee was in the back of the cupboard, and who was sitting in whose spot. We practiced losing with grace. We made up and apologized for flare-ups of bad attitudes. We chose to share.

We drank tea and popped popcorn.

We made a notebook of healthy recipes...for another day.

We reflected on the many joys a simple day at home together can bring.

 

A summer well-spent

I remember spending many summer days in the bottom of my friend Maria's pool having underwater "tea parties". I remember spending most of my summer hours in Florida splashing about in my grandmother's pool. I am thankful that I can now sit, on occasion, at the bottom of a neighborhood pool with my own kids and have a "tea party" or watch from a lounge chair as they call out categories or Marco Polo. It feels good not to be going somewhere every second.

A time to sing and dance

A time to pray

A time to work on behalf of others: World Changers 2014

http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/06/20/6077615/world-changer-volunteers-finish.html?sp=/100/104/

 

A time to learn to nurture

Introducing: Muffin and Goldie, the family's first hamsters

A time to learn

VBS Week

 

 

 

Back in the saddle again

Sunday was a sweet celebration of the great dad that Andy is. After a good morning in church, Mimi treated us to a Deep South Sunday Dinner. We'll never tire of her "wackenbunkie" mac 'n cheese, hand-patted biscuits, field peas, and fried chicken. I've fried one batch of chicken in my life, and it wasn't too tasty. Thank goodness for moms whose mantra (on special occasion) is "to love you is to feed you"!

In between loads of post-vacation laundry, we watched Chasing Mavericks together on our new couches (where everyone finally has a seat). By a complete stroke of luck, this turned out to be a great inspirational movie on fatherhood and the amazing privilege of being able to walk alongside someone else in his journey. This is a great surfing movie about a teen boy who was mentored by his neighbor to surf waves far beyond his ability. What makes it even better is that it is based on a true story.

My favorite line in the movie is "There are all kinds of sons. Some sons are born to you, and others occur to you."

 

Today, it was back to reality, and the first full-on working day of summer:

the laundry was finished (eight loads), the healthy groceries were bought, the fitness classes were taught, the overdue library books returned, the crumbs swept, and the carpool driven. A went back to work. Packing lists and baseball bags were attended to. Water bottles were filled and wilted plants were coaxed back to life. Lots of small stuff in keeping the wheels rolling. The girls headed off on their mission trip. MJ went to Music camp, and B went to hitting (baseball) camp. There was not much moseying or sashaying.

 

 

The following encouraging video clip found its way to my inbox via iMom this morning. I appreciate their desire to remind moms of their high calling when the open expanse of summer means more organization and intentionality. Here is a (bogus) job interview for an "Operations Manager" (for the job of motherhood) that may make you smile.

http://www.susanme.com/would-you-take-the-worlds-toughest-job/

This quote reminds me, once again, that there is more to (my) life than myself.

From Chasing Mavericks

Images via Pinterest

 

In a scene in the movie where young Jay paddles out to the abyss to console his grieving mentor over the death of his wife, he adds, "then there is the fifth pillar...me"

On this first day of working summer, I am thankful for the people in my life that I can love and share life with, and in return, lean upon. I pray that I will love and serve them well in our journey alongside one another.

 

Day 8, The long road/flight home

Goodbye Alaskan-caught salmon, sugar snap peas, and blueberry bread pudding. We have fallen off the wagon for a delightful week of eating out, and must soon return to home-cook in'. Everyone is going to wonder where the freshly baked cookies are and why there is no milk in the fridge. Maybe it has something to do with the 3:45am start we needed to journey back East, or the five vacation pounds I can feel around my middle!

Andy on his "high horse" Traveler

When years have gone by and the details of this trip have faded, I pray that the memories of traveling West together will be as sweet for my family as they are for me. It was a dream-come-true to be able to see the West together.

 

We used our free sky view app to take this screen shot of the night sky, since the brightness of the full moon eclipsed the stunning Milky Way.

Just before dawn was also beautiful on the way back to Jackson to return the car. (Note to self: always check the center console of a rental to see if we left anything behind!)

Flying the friendly skies. It always awes me to see how beautiful God's creation is. Air travel is tiring, but these few minutes looking over the clouds are breath-taking.

Stop by Kroger to get a few gallons of milk for cereal night. No cookin' for mama at 10pm.

Now a little laundry drama so that we can repackage the girls' suitcases for World Changers on Monday. Goodbye vacation. Next stop, sleepng in our own beds.

 

Day 6, Spotted Horse Ranch

 

Summertime...and the livin' is easy....

Taking time to stop and put my bare feet in the grass.

 

First trip white water rafting... We felt like superheroes in our wetsuits. We loved having an adventure together and were happy to see bald eagles along the riverbanks. Just around the river bend....

 

 

What visibility?

Experiencing firsthand the phrase "eat my dust" on the road to Tetons National Forest.

Swimming in the natural hot springs that was finished into a concrete pool by the CCC in 1933. I love how our nation got busy being productive during the Great Depression. I love how that American spirit is so evident in this portion of the country.

Davis kids "doin' the (diet Mountain) dew"

 

 

The kids played pick up games of ultimate frisbee, soccer, or tug-of-war in the field between our cabins. Brennan and I tried horseshoes and resolved to practice again at the lake sometime, as we were both very bad at the game.

Someone spotted a bighorn sheep high up in a cleft of a cliff, and we took turns using our friend's spotting scope to view him. We had seen a bighorn sheep furiously crossing the river earlier in the day, and two on the return home, but were unable to catch any with the camera. Using the spotting scope for extending viewing was the next best thing. Our thanks to the Longs for the loan!

At nightfall, we gathered around a campfire for a BBQ, s'mores, painting horseshoes, and a singalong.

We finished the evening watching a terrific lightning storm. We had hoped to see the stars, but it was cloudy and the moon was full. The electrical display was just as fantastic.

 

 

Day 7, Spotted Horse Ranch

Makes me want to burst into Sound of Music tunes

 

Today we took a three hour ride through more gorgeous mountains and meadows. I feel so alive when we are on top of a mountain range with wildflowers all around. I reach over to touch the aspen trees as the quake in the wind. They share the same root system and are truly interconnected. I pray our family will grow like that with the memories we've made and the time we've shared.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it was chow time.

We enjoyed yummy fajitas with frijoles at lunch and the big joke was that since the horses have so much gas on the trails, no one would be able to tell who it was. (We are classy folk, like that.) Somehow this brand of family humor lives on, no matter how many museums and cathedrals we go to.

After lunch, we tried to take jumping shots of our family but someone was always blocked like this:

 

We met with the ranch photographer in our wrinkly mismatched clothes. I am looking forward to seeing if he was able to work any professional magic on the raw subjects that we are. If so, it would feel GREAT to have a family Christmas card photo ready in JUNE!

 

More pool hall training for the boys and iPod lounging for the girls in between rides. More sitting on the porch in rockers for the remaining family members. The senior generation later went into town for some shopping while the kids and I went back out on the trail for a lesson-ride combo. This was a little tricky on the mountain pastures because of all the chizzler (ground squirrel) holes. The kids did their best to make trail horses (that are trained to follow the lead horse) follow someone else's direction, but I think the difficult exercise will make a good family devotion topic when we get home.

Do not be like the horse or mule that will not come to you but must be controlled by bit and bridle!" (Psalm 32:9)

We get it...along with the phrases "hold your horses" and "hold onto your hats!"

An attempt at blog posting by me that lasted all afternoon (no complaints).

Things to do while waiting to upload pictures for a blogpost with only one bar of wi-fi or cell service:

Find a boulder by a river, and listen to the sound of the rushing water.

Notice the temperature difference between the summer sun and the shade beneath a tree.

Watch some white water rafters and a canoeist paddle downstream.

Hold on to your hat when the mountain breeze picks up. Move into the sunshine and think about abandoning the post to go put on some jeans.

Do some planks and tricep dips against the boulder. Wonder with some paranoia if anyone is watching you out the window.

Watch the fluff of cottonwood trees (like dandelion seeds) float in the breeze. Catch the seed pods like bubbles.

Listen to birdsong.

Be amazed by tiny hummingbirds flitting and enormous eagles soaring.

Watch a fierce tiny bird chase a bigger predator bird like nobody's business.

Take a break and go get some lemonade. Come back with lemonade and the chocolate chip cookies you could smell baking out the window. Choose not to log any fitness pal points today...or this week!

Write your favorite memories, and try to remember to add the pictures later.

Curse an enormous ant that crawled up your shorts and bit you (Decide that you should have gone for the jeans earlier).

Be thankful that you have such a nice spot to write, (even if such places rarely come with good wi-fi, and you can't scratch your ant bite in case someone really is watching you out the window!)