Everyday Heroes

I'm not going to sugar coat it. Being a parent is hard work. For those of you who are already parents...you know of what I speak. For those of you who are not yet parents...well, you have been warned.

I'm also going to just throw this out there...being a single parent is even harder. I do it all alone. And I am far from a perfect person and a perfect parent. And more times than not, I need help, The Lord is so good to me, and He provides it often, in unexpected ways large and small. And most often, those blessings come through people around me that turn into my heroes for that day,

A few weeks ago, my hero was my daughter Maryn. It was the week after we arrived, and I was exhausted. Besides recovering from a brutal cross country drive, I was back to work full time, organizing a home and trying to be as mentally stable as possible for 4 little hearts and minds who needed that from me at that moment. One night, I was just so tired that I went to bed at 9:15, completely ignoring the untidy kitchen and living room and simply admonishing my kids to remember to go to bed. When I got up in the morning, my sweet, sweet girl had cleaned the entire kitchen. It lifted my spirits immensely.

Today my hero was my aunt. She called me in the early afternoon, concerned about my kids coming home from the first day of school to an empty house. This had never happened to them before. All of their lives I had been able to be home to greet them when they got home; to hear about the good and bad and rejoice in the good moments and offer support and counsel for the bad ones. And this year, I simply couldn't. My new job made it impossible to be there for them in the way I wanted to, and I hated it. She came to my house, and was there when they got home. She took them to a pond to feed ducks and then for shaved ice. I was so grateful for her time, her thoughtfulness and kindness; that she was be there for them when I couldn't.

From left; Conner, Sage (my cousin), Paul, Maryn, Jeneca (Paul's friend) and Ashlyn at the duck pond

This task that has been left to me would be impossible without my everyday heroes. So thankful for them all :)

Bridal Veil Falls

So this is going to be completely out of order, but I'm kind of posting about things that we've been doing in the order we have been doing them, but more along the lines of what I feel like posting about and which pictures I think are coolest.

So a few weeks ago, we decided to take some time to do something new and cool on a Monday night for FHE. We went to "The Creamery" who has some amazing ice cream going on and then took an impromptu trip up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. It was nice to just get out, and walk, and talk and enjoy the beauty of it all.

This is where the old cable car started from. Now its more park-like and less of a tourist stop.

Ashlyn's Baptism

So it's true. I'm blogging again. Shocking I know. But in all fairness, its been a busy month. I went back to Ohio, packed, Ashlyn turned 8 and was baptized, packed some more, said good bye, packed still some more, and then drove 3 days to Utah before trying to settle in. Then Mel and Kirk were here with their 6 kids for a week and a half. So we are just now getting into any kind of groove. And for some reason tonight I have both the time and the energy to blog, which is just kind of weird.

Although so much has happened and I have so much to share, I think we should start with what is the most important.

My baby turned 8. I remember how old I felt when Paul turned 8. Now my youngest is 8, and it just doesn't seem to affect me in the same way. Instead of feeling old or sad that time has passed so quickly, I feel relieved and joyful that my kids are reaching milestones. For us as a family, Ashlyn's baptism represented a few major things in the stages of our family's lives and growth.

First, it's always a great thing to have your child choose baptism. She was excited. She wasn't nervous about the water thing, although she wasn't thrilled about the hands on her head thing. Grandpa talked her into it though and she allowed herself to be confirmed without any fuss. She chose the participants in the program and we received amazing talks from her Aunt Tamra on baptism and her Uncle Kirk on being confirmed. We sang as an entire family "Love is Spoken Here" which was lovely. I sang a song called "Let it Begin" since its my tradition to sing a song at my kid's baptisms I feel is particularly applicable to them. We had so many people we love there with us, and it was truly, truly lovely.

Second, Paul was both old enough and worthy to baptize his sister. In the absence of her father, this seemed a wonderful thing to do. I was so proud of them both.