Just keep trying.

Navigator

"Our neighbor's house is north."

Cousin Cookout

Labor Day Weekend, we got together with Ben's brother and his family for a cookout at Nunn's Park in Provo Canyon.  We were surprised that the park was practically empty on a beautiful Saturday evening on a long weekend, but later found out that there was a BYU football game going on at the time, so maybe it wasn't that surprising?  :-)

Ben grilled up some hot dogs and brats, which we enjoyed with chips and veggies.  Then we had Dutch oven peach cobbler and campfire-roasted marshmallows.  The kids had a blast playing too many games for me to remember.  My favorite was Monkeys in the Middle, when Ben and his brother passed a football back and forth over and over again while 6 or 8 kids ran around trying to get the ball from them.  It was great to be outside, to eat and talk and hang out and play.

Cat made a "kite" using a plastic bag, which she planned to wave as a signal when
the cousins arrived, while yelling, "The cousins are coming!  The cousins are coming!"

These are the pictures my SIL took and shared on FB.  (And, no, it doesn't bother me at all that the quality of the pictures from her iPhone rivals that of my DSLR.)

Fifteen Years Ago

This evening I've been thinking about the horrible tragedies of the terrorist attacks fifteen years ago.  I remember vividly being in my Old Testament class, near my dorm at FSU and being told that a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.  I didn't know at the time what a big deal it was, but then I went back to my dorm and saw the events unfolding on the news.  It became the most significant world event in my memory.

I was a freshman in college, having been away from home for just a few weeks.  I was immediately worried for the safety of my country, as well as my personal safety.  I remember having the (irrational) thought process that I was in danger because I was in the capital of the state where the POTUS was at that time (in an elementary school in Sarasota).  I talked to my dad on the phone and he reassured me that I was in no immediate danger, which helped.

Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, so we had plenty of time to sit around and watch the news, which I could only handle so much of.  At one point, I just had to leave the common rooms with the TVs and retreat to my quiet dorm room.

It seemed like American Flags started popping up everywhere, right away.  There were vigils and devotionals on campus, a special prayer meeting in our LDS Singles Ward, and an overall feeling of community and brotherly love that continued to touch me for months after 9/11.

One of the things that stands out to me happened the day after the attacks.  On Wednesdays, all freshmen in the School of Music were required to participate in a seminar in which a professor from a different discipline within the SoM presented each week.  I had been eagerly anticipating the seminar we would have on 9/12, which was to be given by Dr. Michael Bakan, a renowned ethnomusicologist (which is kind of like an anthropologist who studies a culture's music).  But due to the events of the week, Dr. Bakan stood up in the hall where we were assembled on 9/12, and didn't once mention ethnomusicology.  As I recall, he simply told us that there are times when music is a better mode of communication than mere speech.  Then he played "In My Life" by The Beatles.

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

In my life I love you more

Writing about this, the memories and emotions of 9/11 and the period following are suddenly fresh again.  What a horrible series of tragedies, and what a chain of events the day set into motion.

My kids are learning about 9/11 in school, but I hope they'll remember my perspective as part of history as well.

Her Bit of Earth

Cat got the itch to plant some flowers this year and diligently watered her seeds for months.  She planted Larkspur, Blue Bachelor's Buttons, Dwarf Yellow Sunflowers, Cosmos, and Rainbow Zinnias.  We have all enjoyed the lovely little display around the tree in our front yard.

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that

'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow'.” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

“Sometimes since I've been in the garden I've looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places.” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Boys Like Dress-Up Too

Shaun the Sheep Jedi Wizard 

vs

Darth Superhero Firefighter

The Super Speedy Quick Running Club

I decided recently that it makes too much sense for the kids to go running with me for them to not go running with me.  Did you follow that?  They're fast, they enjoy running, they are interested in sports that involve running, and it's a great way for us to spend time together and enjoy a healthy activity.

But they've never been interested.  So, I decided to resort to bribery.  And by bribery, I mean a new family tradition.  It's called Go Running With Mom Then Get a Treat!

As expected, the kids weren't interested until the treat was mentioned.  But once they were on board, Cat and Jack agreed to get up and run with me on Saturday morning.  We went to the Provo River Parkway Trail and I asked them if they wanted to run two miles or three (since we'd completed 3 miles when we ran the Temple to Temple 5k back in July).  They both wanted to start with two miles.  So I turned on my newly-downloaded running app, and off we went.  We didn't push it too much.  Jack would tire out quickly, so after jogging for a minute or two, we would slow down and walk, and so it went until we reached a mile and turned around to jog/walk back to the car.  Imagine how proud we were of ourselves when we realized that we'd completed two miles in about 18 minutes - even with our walking/jogging pace!

The next Saturday, Jack wasn't interested in going with us - treat and all - but Eliza was, so the three of us girls set out to do another two miles.  This time we started at the parking lot for Bridal Veil Falls and stopped for a picture in front of the waterfall.

Once again, we did a combination of walking and jogging, but Eliza actually kept a slightly better pace than Jack, and we made an even better time that day.  Man, we are good! I thought.

It wasn't until later that day that I was looking at the app on my phone and realized that when I'd downloaded it, it was set to metric measurements by default.  So, we'd run two KILOMETERS, not two miles.  Which means we'd gone about 1.25 miles in the time I thought we'd completed two miles.

They'll be in for a bit of a surprise when we actually go the whole two miles next time...