Adjusting and Belonging

Our church meetings are at 1:00 now. It's been surprisingly hard to adjust to the change. For the past three years church has been at 9:00 (we're the only congregation to meet in our building in Massachusetts). That's pretty much all my kids remember. So 1:00 is different.

Leah wakes up at 7:30am every Sunday and gets herself dressed in her Sunday best: dress, shoes, hair and all. She's always done this. But now she just...waits longer for the actual event. (And maybe looks a little more rumpled for the wait?)

Lainy is the last to get dressed (she likes her pajamas too much), but the first to organize her church bag. She carefully packs her scriptures, a little notebook, some crayons, and always something small for Samuel (usually a car). But once it's packed, she's the one asking for something to do.  "Is it time yet?" she asks  over and over.

Samuel, my reluctant napper, has reached zombie-like state by the time church is over at 4:00. I worry about him in Nursery... he can get loud and aggressive when he's tired.

Brad is usually at the hospital early Sunday morning trying to see his patients so he can make it to Sacrament Meeting. He's made it every week except one, sometimes still wearing his scrubs (they are an unfortunate bright teal color). Our first week in the Albuquerque ward, Brad came in wearing his scrubs and a jacket. After the meeting someone commented on his pants. "That must be the style in Boston!" she said. Brad tried to hide his horror by laughing it off, "Sorry, no. I just came from work!".

For me, even though the mornings are long and the afternoons too short, and even though getting three kids out the door by myself isn't my favorite, church is home. We walk into the chapel to the soft tune of familiar hymns and I take a deep breathe of belonging. It's amazing to me that we can go pretty much anywhere in this world and find a home and a family in the Church. Brad and I have seen it over and over. In Moscow, in Seattle, in Spokane, in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. It's the one constant in our world of change. With our faith in common, friends become family and strange places feel more like home. And, in this desert place, far away from everything familiar, that has been an incredible blessing. Again.


"That the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm." Doctrine and Covenants 115:6

School

Summer was too short. Last week my little girls went to school. Lainy to 3rd grade, a pro at elementary school by now. Leah a brand-new kindergartener. She was excited and nervous and sad and happy - a whole bundle of emotions. I told her it was okay to have all those feelings; I had them too.

But after leaving my little girl in a big classroom for the day, I was mostly just sad. Strains of "Slipping through my fingers" and "Turn around" were floating through my mind. Do you know those old songs?

"School bag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile.
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while.
The feeling that I'm losing her forever.
And without really entering her world.
I'm proud whenever I could share her laughter
That funny little girl..."


"Where are you going, my little one, little one?
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you're two
Turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of the door..."


Am I dramatic, or what? How do parents do it?!

Samuel didn't let me cry for too long. We passed a fire truck on the way home and he was all chatter and bright eyes. And I had a whole new surge of gratitude for my sunshine boy.

 So far school is a success for both girls. They have young, pretty, fun teachers who they already love, and new friendships forming.

Samuel and I are getting used to our new normal. We feel a new sense of freedom that is fun and exciting. At least until 2:30 when we anxiously race to the school to hug and kiss our girls and remember how much we miss them.

Parenting can rip your heart out sometimes. But then it gets put back together in the most beautiful ways.

Happy back to school.

Patriot's Day

If I were to recommend a time to visit Boston, it would be the third week in April. Patriot's Day. There is the Boston Marathon on Monday (A must see! So inspiring!), and a whole bunch of Revolutionary War re-enactments.

This year we went to a battle re-enactment in Lexington, where the first shots of the war were fired on April 19, 1775. Like most of the town squares in Massacusetts, Lexington's original homes from the 1700's are still standing (and occupied!) along with the taverns and old rock walls. It is one of my most favorite things about Massachusetts.

The battle was to be held along an undeveloped park with trees and wooded areas. We picked a spot and watched it all unfold.

First the British solders advanced on the green in their flashy uniforms and tight formation. Then, colonists came running from the tavern and from homes around the park to resist them. There was a moment of tense silence...Then shots were fired, a canon boomed, and the battle began!

The colonists broke off into groups: some of them staying in formation on the green, some of them running to the trees to reform and fire behind coverage. At first the Redcoats outnumbered the colonists, but more and more colonists kept coming to join the battle. They fought their way across the whole park. Two generals on horses organized their strategy from behind the line. The air was full of musket smoke and yells. "Make ready! Fire!" It was seriously awesome.

They fought for about 45 minutes. So cool! At one point a British soldier "died" in front of us, but then we saw him slowly pull out his cell phone and take a selfie. Ha ha! It was determined that the colonists won! Huzzah!

It might have the best thing we've done in Boston so far. Definitely one of my favorites. I have never seen anything like it before. It was so exciting and inspiring. If I think about it too hard, I get choked up. The way this country came to be is truly miraculous. I wish more Americans today could remember that.

Here is something Patrick Henry said as events in Boston turned violent.  I love his words:

"They tell us Sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature has placed in our power...The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat, Sir, let it come!"

To Samuel on His Birthday

Dear Samuel,

Oh, my dear boy. I can't believe you are two! I think I am in denial, because your birthday snuck right up on me!

"Could he be any cuter?" Daddy and I ask each other nearly every day. Your big brown eyes and your cute little voice are downright adorable. You are a charmer, that is for sure. How we love you!

Here are some things about you at two years old:
You LOVE trucks. You can hear a truck approaching from a block away and you run to the window to watch it pass. Your favorite day is garbage day when the big garbage and recycling trucks pass. You yell and wave at the garbage man and he waves back. "Truck" was one of your first words.

You are loud and full of energy at home, but when we go out anywhere, you turn into a shy, quiet boy. My Young Women think you are so cute, but you put your hands over your face when they try to play with you. Nursery has been a struggle. The only day you have stayed the whole time was when the Priesthood took over one week. Obviously you are partial to boys (and your mama). Hopefully you will like Nursery someday!

You like to study with Daddy. You make your way down the stairs to where Brad is and say, "Dada work? By-balls? (eye balls)". You're pretty hard to resist, so you usually end up in Daddy's lap looking at eye balls until you are satisfied.

You love to read books with Lainy and chase Leah around the house. Your sisters love you so much. You are sweet to give them big hugs and kisses when they need them.

We are so happy to have you in our family, my sweet boy. We love you and hope you have the best day!

Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mama

Winter 2015

The girls and I were pretty sad when it was nearly 60 degrees the day after Christmas. "We'd just like one good snowstorm," we said. "Maybe one snow day out of school," said Lainy. Oh, if we only knew!

As you've probably heard, we got much more than we bargained for! This winter in New England has been absolutely unbelievable! After 4 huge snowstorms in as many weeks, each dropping a foot of snow or more, we have been literally buried. The craziest stretch was when we got over 50 inches of snow in one week! This winter has broken every record ever recorded except one: largest amount of snowfall in a single winter. We are two inches shy of that record, which will probably be broken tomorrow with another storm (hopefully the last).

At first we were excited about all the snow. But as the snow drifts on either side of our driveway grew to be much taller than Brad and me, the novelty started to wear off. Our backs and shoulders ached from all the shoveling, and driving anywhere was downright dangerous because the drifts were so high you couldn't see around intersections. We would watch the weather forecast in disbelief each week as another blizzard was announced. All we could do was shake our heads and try to have fun with it.

Our kids have loved all the snow. Our yard has a perfect little sledding hill (which got bigger and bigger with each storm). We made some sweet sledding runs and snow caves, and the girls have loved playing "King of the Mountain" with Brad. He could literally throw them off the hill and they'd just land in soft powder, giggling. Samuel was very timid at first. He would just stand in one spot eating snow. But he has gotten a little more adventurous!

Luckily, Brad has been working in a clinic outside of Boston since January so he didn't have to commute in to the city. (Commuting has been a nightmare for people. The subway is just barely getting back to a normal schedule.) We counted that a huge blessing!

A few crazy facts for you: School kids in Massachusetts didn't have a single full week of school for all of February. They spent more days out of school in February than in! The City of Boston awarded citizens free Red Sox tickets for shoveling out fire hydrants. The MBTA (the subway and commuter rail) was paying volunteers $50 an hour to help shovel off their tracks. Downtown Boston was a mess. There was simply nowhere to put the snow. At one point Boston had snow incinerators brought into the city that were melting 400 tons of snow an hour to try to keep up!

After a few days of warmer weather the snow is starting to melt. Spring is coming! (Just not too fast, please, or every house in MA will flood!)

I guess we're glad to have been here for this unprecedented winter. We have stayed warm and dry. I'm sure it's something we'll be telling our grandkids about someday. "I lived through the Boston winter of 2015!"

Pictures in chronological order (so you can see the progression)

 This last one was taken on Wednesday when we hit 50 degrees for the first time since December. 50 degrees never felt so good!