A Quick Recap

I've been away from my blog for so long. Life whizzes by. So many pressing issues are on my mind. It's interesting that as children grow up parenting becomes easier, and also more difficult at the same time. My day-to-day tasks are not as consumed with mothering as they were ten years ago, but my mind is more consumed, and my prayers more intense and constant. The dangers they face and the choices they must make are so much more life-altering, and yet they are at the stage where they must deal with those things largely on their own, using their agency, and I must stand back and hope that I've prepared them well enough. And I pray. Did I mention that? I hardly even care to pray about any other issues in my life as long as the Lord answers my prayers for my children, though I realize He's not limited in his benevolence. 

To recap the last month in an abbreviated way:

In a mad rush, Aiden finished Driver's Ed and got his permit. He did his Behind-the-Wheel training in the days before he had to leave for the summer at his dad's. In California, teens have to have a permit for six months before they can get a license, which they can get at age 16. Since he spends the majority of the summer in Arizona, we wanted to get the permit's "clock" started before he left so he can get his license right after his birthday. Also, we wanted him to be able to get a lot of driving practice with his dad over the summer. He's a pretty good driver, that Aiden! Careful and conscientious, the way we like them. 

In the most exciting news, Miss Lyns finished her studies at BYU! She was able to finish her program in only three years because she went in with lots of AP credits and she took 17-19 credits each semester. Her major was Bioinformatics with a minor in Computer Science. She was also chosen by the College of Life Sciences to be the honored student for the Biology department! Graduation will be held in August. In the meantime, she is working at the research lab there on campus and studying to take the GRE. After a gap year of working and traveling to Asia, she hopes to pursue her PhD in human genetics. Wow. So weird to even say that. My daughter is a scientist! I have a whole other post I want to write about this journey, but I had to share these text messages that last day.

That was such an emotional day for me!!

Meanwhile, Aiden is now in Arizona spending time with his dad and brother Dylan. I love when he sends me pictures because I am missing both of them like crazy. And seeing Dylan's face does me so much good. It's been a very difficult few years as Dylan has been working through some serious struggles. I love that kid with an intensity I can't even put to words. I'm glad Aiden can be there with him. Their dad took them on a week long hiking/backpacking adventure to Montana. The pictures were gorgeous! I'm really grateful they are having such rich experiences.

Back here at home, Conor finished up his baseball season, playing for the Angels. This was his first go at a team sport and he did so well! The little guy surprised us with some talent for baseball! He learned so quickly and proved to be a real asset to the team. Aiden and Adam helped with the coaching, which was wonderful support for Conor, who has been selected to play on the All-Stars team for Sunland. Practices for that team began last week.

For Father's Day, I wanted to be sure Adam felt appreciated and loved for all he does for our kids. Despite whatever stress happens to be between us, his heart really comes out with his children. He loves those kids with fierceness, and he's been an important part of my kids' lives as well. To surprise him, I invited his two big kids, Caitlin and Sean, over for dinner. Conor and I had treated him with his favorite breakfast and cards and gifts in the morning. I was preparing his favorite dinner (spaghetti and garlic bread) when there was a knock at the door. He was so happy when he answered it and saw those two standing there! It was a great surprise!

I love these kids, the blonde half of our brood. They have all the best parts of their dad.

Conor loves a chance to play with his big brother.

Adam requested Blueberry Cobbler for dessert. Man, that was a good choice. Conor and I made this one together. We served it with a little vanilla ice cream and it was incredible!

So, now, summer is in full swing. Adam has been out of town working in St. George with his stepbrother on a new project they hope will provide jobs for our families. I'm still working at least three night shifts a week. Conor is a little lonely without Aiden home, but he gets together with some friends, and I have him busy here at home. He loves to have a puzzle going. Our kitty, who also madly misses Aiden, likes it too.

Here's the 500 piece puzzle he finished a few days ago. He already has another one started, and I bought him a new one that should be arriving soon.

Yesterday was our annual piano recital. It was a really different year, with most of the students being first or second year. Most of my older students had to leave because of school commitments or moving away. I miss them so much, but it's fun to have a new cohort to bring up. They all played beautifully, and I think I was more nervous than they were!

This was Conor's second recital. He played "Halftime Show" and "The Entertainer" from memory. He did a really good job, and already wanted another lesson when we got home at almost ten o'clock.

Conor's a cool kid. He has a tendency to want to spend his days watching television or playing video games, but when we drag him away and give him something to work on, the little guy has so many talents and learns so quickly! It's a challenge to keep his mind and body active. I really love the time we can spend together.

That's what we're doing a lot of this summer. Hanging with my little guy. Happy are the days when I don't have to go in to work and we can be together.

Christmas Eve

I woke up early on Christmas Eve, the list of tasks for the day running through my mind. I love the holiday traditions we have established in our family, and I love that my children depend on them, but it is a lot of work to make holidays happen! I had to run to the grocery store to get last-minute additions to our day. We had waited for Lyndsay to be home to do our graham cracker houses, and with my work schedule, that tradition got pushed to Christmas Eve. Also, Lyns requested a turkey dinner, since she missed my food so much at Thanksgiving, and since I was scheduled to work Christmas Day, we plugged our holiday meal into this day as well.

While we worked on food in the kitchen, and carols played in the background, the kids and I got to work on our graham cracker village.

I did a cheater thing this year, and I'm blaming it on Pinterest. I saw someone had posted that they assemble their houses with hot glue since they never eat the crackers anyway, and then decorate with royal icing. This was a year I could definitely use a time saver, so I went with it. One less (at least!) batch of royal icing to make, plus the cost savings involved.

Several hours later, our finished houses!

Aiden's really took the cake this year. It was quite a masterpiece!

Lyns went for a log cabin this year.

Despite the confusion and turmoil in our marriage, I don't want anyone to be lonely for Christmas. I invited Adam to come and spend the holiday with us. His children, Caitilin (home from college) and Sean, came by for a little while to exchange gifts, and we got our traditional family photos in front of the tree. Man, we have so much fun together. Christmas has a way of blurring bad memories, and everything just felt so happy. We sure were missing Dylan though, who wasn't able to be with us.

Love a good laugh fest. And I love these two girls.

We reminisced about when they were little girls sharing a bedroom. Now they are college girls!

Three of our handsome boys.

Lyndsay made the rolls for me, and they were amazing!

Caitlin and Sean had dinner with their mom, so they didn't join us. The work involved in preparation was so worth it! The food was delicious! I'm not sure why Conor looks so glum here, except that he probably just wanted to get down to eating!

I really wanted to drive out to the temple to see the lights and hear the Christmas concert, but the traffic was horrendous, and truth be told, I really was exhausted. Instead, we read our nightly Christmas story together, sang several carols, and Lyndsay read the account of the Savior's birth in Luke 2. We had a family prayer together too, focusing on our gratitude and our wishes for members of our family who were not with us, and struggling.

My friend and visiting teacher, Angela, stopped by to drop off a gift.  We chatted for a bit. She's getting ready to move out of the ward, and a good distance away right after the holidays and I am so sad about that. She has been so good to me and I will really miss her.

Then it was time for yet another tradition: Christmas jammies! Each of the kids opened their gift.

Cozy!

Merry Christmas!

Apple Turkeys, Pajamas, Two Dinners, and Scrubs: The Best of Thanksgiving

Up until the week of Thanksgiving, I wasn't quite sure how I would pull the whole thing off. I was scheduled to work Tuesday night and Thursday night, and Aiden's birthday was Wednesday. This year it was only to be me and the boys for Turkey Day. Lyndsay decided to stay up in Utah to save the gas money and to stay focused on her classes, since she'd be home in a few weeks at the end of term anyway. I knew I'd have to do something, and the boys were looking to me to make it happen. I assured them there would be food.

After I woke up on Wednesday afternoon (having worked Tuesday night), I scrambled to get Aiden's birthday festivities accomplished. (More on that in a separate post.) Once cake was eaten and dinner was cleaned up, I did what Thanksgiving prep I could. That included baking the pies (I only did pumpkin this year), baking the rolls, and laying out the bread for the stuffing. This is a yearly tradition that my mom always did the night before Thanksgiving.

Before going to bed, we lay out the bread (one loaf per pan of stuffing desired). I only made one batch this year.

By morning, it's pretty stale and ready to be torn up by the children. Conor got the job this year.

Then I add the onions and celery that have been sautéed in butter, the herbs, salt and pepper, and enough chicken broth to make it moist. Into the oven it goes. (Or, into the bird, but I didn't do that this year.)

Simple and delicious.

I also only cooked a turkey breast this year. Since it was just the three of us, and we only like the white meat anyway, it made sense.

While the food was cooking, we watched Christmas movies and the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. Then we did our other Thanksgiving tradition dating back to my childhood, and made apple turkeys.

The kids never outgrow it. Poor Lyns missed out.

Dinner was ready around 2pm, which is when we like to eat our big meal. We talked about our blessings and Conor made several toasts, which is his favorite thing to do at meal time. We ate contentedly, even though we were only three. I love these boys and I was not going to miss a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving with them, even if I was missing my other children and feeling stretched thin.

Just the basics this year, but all the good stuff. During dinner, I realized I was still in my pajamas. Oh well. I suppose that was a compromise worth making.

We worked together to get the meal cleaned up, I took a nap for about an hour and a half, then got into the shower and got ready to leave for work.

Thankfully, it was a pretty quiet night on the unit. One of the nurses was kind enough to bring a full Thanksgiving meal for us from Trader Joe's (her husband works there). Around midnight, we carved another turkey and enjoyed another delicious meal.

I love the night shift! I got to eat one turkey dinner in my pajamas and the other in scrubs! That's how to do it!

Really, I count my job and my new friends as some of the biggest and best blessings of this year. I can't believe how lucky I am to love what I do and to truly love all the women I get to work with. Their friendships have been a balm to my soul and a steadying force in my life when other things are rocky. This year, they helped turn me into a real Labor and Delivery nurse, and I am so grateful.

I marvel at how God balances our lives. He cannot prevent the trials and the pain we must experience, but He always makes sure we have hefty doses of blessings. His loving kindness has been so apparent to me this year, once again.