Category: Home

Innocence on September 11th

photo taken just days before September 11, 2001

Somehow it’s therapeutic to retell where we were when terrible events happened. I was home in Austin, Texas with little Paige and Daniel and a neighbor baby on the morning of September 11, 2001. As the news spread, another neighbor left her babies with me as she ran to the school to pick up her daughter. I gathered the five innocents on the little toddler bed in our school room and turned off the television that replayed events too terrible for them to see. I was grateful that our home was a safe haven for the children who were in my care that day. That evening I put on my Cub Scout uniform and spent time with the Cub Scouts, talking and listening, numb and sad, but feeling the pride of that American flag on the uniform. I have always felt grateful that I was surrounded by innocent children on that day.

 

Snippets

We have some lovely grapes in the backyard which the kids have enjoyed eating.

Richard has a new lawn edger.

All of the kids are registered for school. Yes, this was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I know it’s the right thing to do, but I’m not talking about it, so please don’t ask.

Most of the boxes are unpacked, but we don’t have many pictures hung.

My favorite parts of our house are the kitchen, mudroom, backyard, and the basement library.

We have had different neighbors stop by nearly every single night to bring us goodies to welcome us.

Daniel is part of a thriving scout troop and Deacon’s quorum.

When you walk out of Paige’s school, three temples are in view.

Yesterday Paige and I filled two five-gallon buckets with therapeutic weeds.

ALL people want to talk about here is education. They ask our name and then they ask the names of our children’s teachers. Pretty much. I think it’s a good sign that the community is so invested in their schools.

I discovered someone with whom I can quote Shakespeare.

The neighbors said that a general authority lived in this house 10 years ago.

Our closets are improving, thanks to help from my parents and Joe.

Life is much easier with good shopping nearby.

I love the evenings here.

I am very grateful to be here. The timing was perfect for our family.

Daniel starts school tomorrow. The rest of the kids begin on Monday.

If you wonder what we are doing, we are either playing in the backyard, playing with boxes and styrofoam, organizing, or eating goodies from the neighbors.

 

We celebrated our girl and our house

We enjoyed some family time to celebrate Paige’s Sweet 16. Everyone signed a book for Paige and she received many thoughtful gifts. We filled the house with people who love her. Aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, parents, and grandparents were all there to cheer as she reached this milestone.

For entertainment, we gave house tours and the girl cousins tried on Paige’s ballet costumes. The boy cousins played in the moving boxes.

Paige’s license will be delayed a bit because of our move, but at least somebody can drive around in our yard. These are some of Paige’s cousins. Too cute.

Reflection

Moving is like birth and death, full of mourning and celebration, vulnerability and sentiment. Our life story has been replayed in the packing and unpacking of objects, pictures, and books. Our furniture has been on parade into and out of a moving truck. Our family has been watched as we made our exit from our desert home, neighbors lining the street to wave teary goodbyes. In our new neighborhood, we have been watched through the windows of curious neighbors and welcomed from driveways and across church pews.

I’ve handled objects I haven’t touched in years. My babies’ blankets, old photographs, and high school yearbooks tell pieces of our story. The textbooks from eleven years of homeschooling tell a bittersweet story from which I am walking away (gradually). My dusty violin case scolds me for the neglect I promised I would never allow. My Texas years, evidenced in seminary teacher manuals and church books remind me of another part of my life which I hope to awaken in our new place.

Our Texas years were times of expansion in ideas, friendships, and in family members. Our Arizona years were a time of retreat; they were a time for our family to focus on one another. I’m grateful for each home and every experience. I come back to Utah ready to watch our family grow into who we need to be here.

Have you ever adopted a theme song for an important time in your life? This has been my theme song during this past month of transition in our lives.

01 – Home

I’ll share photos soon.

Projects

Mornings are the time for work in the garage and errands. Afternoons are the time for quiet projects.

Two of my recent projects are dish towel goodbye gifts and new fabric on the kitchen chairs. I enlisted the kids to help me with the chair disassembling, cutting, and cushion testing (Mark).

I pulled out my embroidery machine to do the towels and made this card with our new address and tucked it neatly into each towel. I can’t wait to deliver these. It will feel a little bit like Christmas.

A List

Mark and Timothy’s room

This week…

we sold our house.

we signed 6,000 documents.

we endured our third week in a different state than Richard.

we reupholstered the kitchen chairs.

we watered our new flowers and watched them die anyway.

Richard got his first paycheck from his new job.

we took down many things from the walls. One little friend came over and told us our house sure looked plain.

we have some family visiting us!

Next week…

we hope the buyers still want our house.

we will be with Richard!

A House, the Frog Pond, and Sparklers

We had a great Independence Day.

The sellers accepted the offer we made on their house in Utah. Here is a sneak peak of what it looks like. I’ll post more pictures when it’s really ours.

We went to the annual Troop 54 breakfast and visited with old friends. We went to the parade, Spring Lake, looked at new lambs, ate fried cookie dough and cheesecake, participated in Tank Wars, and watched the fireworks from Fox field with a pile of little kids.

Here are some photos of the kids playing at the frog pond at Spring Lake.

Daniel has a mouse in that container. Mark’s smile is so charming.

Daniel is showing everyone the mouse they caught.

My sister’s kids are so cute.

Grandpa and his namesake enjoy some time in the shade. It was hot!

It was such a fun family day. It makes me happy that we will live so close to our people. My kids love their cousins.

Home life

Lately, life’s been a list of tasks, most of them involving boxes, tools, and paint. I’ve appreciated so many kind gestures from friends, from meals to spontaneous trips to the movies for my kids, flowers, phone calls, and books.

Thanks for checking on us. I appreciate the moral support I receive from you who read this little blog.

 

Hobby Room

We had free cable television in the home we rented 7 years ago. I spent a lot of time watching home improvement and cooking shows. Some of my favorite shows were about how to stage a house to sell it.

I scoffed at some of the inexpensive things that people were told to do, such as throw a white sheet over the kitchen table so it looked extra clean, or change the light bulbs to be clear or simply hide all counter top appliances from view.

But then I remembered why I fell in love with our house plan. In the model there was was the hobby room with a wall of shelves and a table in the center. And that room chanted in my head, “Buy me!” There were other good features in the house, but the dream of a hobby room was a big factor in my “yes” vote on the house.

This week I have been staging photos of our house for the time when we decide to sell. Even after we move, I want people to be able to visualize themselves in a hobby room like mine. Of course, my hobbies are not crafty. They’re educational. I took down most evidence of that so it looks more universal.

Goodbye, hobby room. Don’t worry, I won’t do a post about every room in the house, although it might be funny to see what poetic things I could say about that marvelous coat closet in our entry.

I just need one person to think it’s great and they can buy our house and pursue their dreams. It’s been a great room for us, although it NEVER looked this good when in use.