I had a bit of an ah-ha moment the other day. The kids and I drive Dan to and from work every day. Transitioning from grad school, we are just trying to gain our foundation and a second car is one of the things that has been put on the back burner. Most mornings I wake up from a dead sleep to get in the car to take him. We pull the kids out of bed in their jammies and with their blankets. Anyhow, I believe it was Monday, I was driving home after dropping him off. I checked the temperature. It was 57 degrees and gorgeous. First we pass by the temple, and a field with cows. Elijah points out the sprinklers every day and says hello to the cows. When we pass the temple, the boys sing, "I love to See the Temple." It makes me smile every time. Elijah also says hello to Moroni on top of the temple and points to his trumpet. We pass through miles and miles of farms before entering our little community. We were driving down the road, the kids were singing to Simon and Garfunkel at the top of their lungs. (Li-li-li-CHHHHH!) We sing the Boxer, "ELIJAH-LIJ! CHHHH!" If you know the song, you can see how the kids think it says Elijah's name. As we passed through the farms, we were naming the crops: corn, onions, alfalfa, hay, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, etc. When we first moved here, I couldn't get over how bizarre it all seemed to be in the middle of farms and yet on that morning, I felt a deep sense of gratitude for my life, for my beautiful, innocent children, for Dan's job, for our surroundings and for our new beginning in this land that still feels so far from home. I don't know why this particular moment hit me, but it did. I love that I am a mom, that I am blessed to stay home and raise my children and I am also grateful for the time we get to spend as a family each morning. I was also telling Dan today that I have felt more in tune to the Spirit since we moved here than I have felt in a long time. There aren't any distractions. The children and I are together all day. We spend most of our time outside and go to the park for lunch daily. The TV is off and most of the time, though the children do talk a lot, I have time to think. Life is simple, but it is good.
Last night Dan volunteered at the soup kitchen and the kids and I got take out and went to the park to picnic and play. When we got home, we went on a nice, long walk and set up the tent in the living room. This morning we picked up our Bountiful Basket (food co-op) For just over $20, I came home with a HUGE basket of produce. (an assortment of fruit, veggies and a mexican mix with peppers, onions, cilantro, tomatillos, etc.) It is like Christmas every time we pick it up, you never know what you are going to get. We lounged, napped and then went to the lake for a bit and then to our Stake Pioneer Day Celebration. Tonight, Dan slipped away to go see Harry Potter.
Again, I apologize if this is more of a journal posting than a fun one. Thank you all for tuning into our blog and keeping up with our family. They are growing and I love recording our lives sharing it with so many of you who live far away! Have a great week!
Friday night means camping out in the living room. The kids get to stay up late and watch a movie. Elijah REALLY gets a kick out of it, but has yet to settle down enough to actually fall asleep. Last night we watched Tangled! Then on Saturdays, the kids wake up to Dan's waffles and eggs. I live for the weekends these days!
Noelle "helped" me sew her a new skirt yesterday and then today we had fun shopping for a shirt and sweater to go with it for church!
Can you say ,"brothers?"
My birthday was on the 10th. I turned 30!!! We celebrated with cupcakes from Coldstone. They were AMAZING! I was wonderful having my birthday fall on a weekend with Dan home.
Our fun dad! Always the life of the party!
CHEESE!!!!
The ice cream cupcakes were a little cold!
Daisy is really growing and has turned into quite a mellow dog already. We will have her for a few more weeks and have found a good home for her. Our time for a puppy will come when our children are a bit older!
The kids spend their days in our backyard. They can dig in the dirt all day!
4 comments:
Sounds so serene-driving through the fields singing and being so carefree! Can't wait to see you guys in a couple of weeks. Elijah's smile is just as cute and sweet as ever :-)
Yes, can't wait to see you all! Cute post, Tam!
I told Jer after visiting I could get used to the slow paced life in a smaller place. Glad you got to have that ah hah moment!
Oops, I'm signed in as Liesel - this is Emily!!
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