Schooltime

I actually shed a tear today as I left three kids with their respective teachers on this first day of school. Wilson was defineatly having some anxiety about fifth grade. He reported that his teacher is, "picky, picky, picky!" Cooper was thrilled that this year he will have potential to earn tootsie rolls daily. He and his friends have every recess planned from now until Christmas. By far the most excited was our kindergartener. She marched right into class where her teacher grabbed her for a hug and said, "let me just look at the whole picture!" Eliza could hardly contain her excitement about having "homework," but duly rolled her eyes and sighed heavily when I told her it was time to get it done. It was much easier to get back into our routine this year, which makes me hopeful that we'll be able to maintain the routine and get to school on time. I'm grateful tht my kids go to a school where everything is familiar, even to first time kindergarteners. I love that everyone knew Eliza on her first day of school. I think the familiarity is a blessing to both Cooper and Wilson as well.

I cleaned like a mad woman today. I don't know why I think I can clean a summer's worth of dirt out of my house in a day, but I gave it a valient effort. I'm not sure how long Max is going to last alone with me. He wandered around aimlessly with his pillow asking to go to"BYU." I later figured out he wanted to go to the football field( BYU is heavily associated with football in this house) so Tony took the kids to play after dinner.

Mom and I had such a nice time on our quick trip to Seattle. She had a doctor's appointment there and it made for a wonderful excuse for a girl's getaway. We ate kosher food at a New York deli, authentic Vietnemese noodle bowls and great Mexican beans and rice. We got some good shopping in and especially had fun in IKEA, where we got good ideas for organizing Mom's new house. We did a fair amount of getting lost, but this gave us plenty to laugh about. I'm so different than my Mom, but wish I were like her in more ways, like her compassion, empathy and especially, her attention to detail.

Thank goodness for one last weekend of summer including a couple of days at the lake. It's been such a great summer, I'm having a hard time transitioning to f\Fall.

15 years

The anniversary of 15 years of marriage to an amazing man quietly passed last week without much celebration. My gift however, was a new canoe, in remembrance of one of our first dates at BYU. I still can't believe I invited Tony on an overnight trip with my canoe class way back in 1991. Last night was a perfectly still evening with just a taste of fall in the air. We took the canoe to Rock Lake and quietly paddled past jumping fish, a family of ducks and diving herons. It was amazing to see the underwater rock cliffs on the periphery of the lake and we enjoyed the most beautiful sunset. I know if Tony had been making the plans we would have been waterskiing on the perfect glass. I guess that is what I love most about my sweetheart; he consistently puts me before himself.  I look forward to many more canoe trips with that man. 

 I took the kids to Steptoe Butte for our annual summer hike. I was so proud of the kids, we made it nearly to the top. About halfway up we discovered that we were being pursued by 20 foot trolls who kept trying to blow us off the mountain. We hurried to the safety of the castlerock then walked right on top of the big black snake that wound around the Butte. Eliza found magical fairy powers that prevented the snake from smelling us and Cooper found the snake's heart near the top and killed it with his pocket knife. Once we had conquered the snake the trolls ran in fear and we chased them down the mountain back to our car where we feasted on cheese and crackers, grapes and lots of cookies. It was a really fun day with the kids. 

New pictures of the baby came today. He weighs 17 lbs at nine months-everything about him is tiny except for those gigantic brown eyes, ojos gigantes.

Heaven

The closest thing to heaven on earth is two weeks in a row of family reunions--without the food preparation! Our family reunions were highlights of our summer. We hosted the Lundberg reunion this year in St John, and it was a great success. The Russ and Pam Lundberg family arrived on Wednesday which gave us a little extra time with them. Everyone else (except Jeremy, Jeffrey, LaRisa and Marcos) arrived on Thursday. The weather was hot, so we headed to the pool before family pictures and yummy roasted turkey dinner. After dinner Grandma and Grandpa Lundberg shared some of their stories from their mission and had everyone in tears. They feel the blessings promised to them when they were set apart are coming to pass. They truly feel surrounded by angels and cited example after example of miracles happening at the Deseret industries. Mom and Dad's hearts are very tender and it is evident in the kind way the treat each other.

Later that evening we headed back to to the pool for our family diving contest. The winner had to be uncle Blake for his incredible frog dive, but Grandma Lundberg got high marks for going off the low and high dive with amazing grace. Even Grandpa Lundberg took a dip. The monogrammed towels were a big hit for all participants. That evening we had popcorn and movie in the "outdoor theatre" on the patio.

Friday we spent at the lake on the boat. It was a little disappointing that first thing the tube cover ripped right off the still inflated tube and the wind was so terrible it made white caps on the river. We made the best of it and had a great time visiting and swimming. Grandma and Grandpa even took a group of kids to the dam to see the fish ladder. They had us all in stitches telling about cousin Tony driving the tourguide nuts with his endless questions. Tony is a very bright boy with loads of curiosity.

We started Saturday with Blake and Lori's famous pancake breakfast. The men all went golfing where Uncle Blake handily beat everyone and a perpetually positive Russ complimented even the worst shots. That afternoon we put together missionary packages for Jeffery and La Risa and went swimming. We were sorry to say Goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Lundberg who had missionary work to do! That evening the older cousins watched the little ones so the adults could go to CoeurdeAlene for dinner and the famous desserts. It was a lovely evening of fabulous food, mountains of ice cream and a romantic walk on the boardwalk.

What a treat to have everyone together for church on Sunday and a final dinner together before saying goodbye. Thankfully we have next year to look forward to when Grandma and Grandpa will host a humanitarian reunion in St George. We are already looking forward to being together.

One of the greatest blessings of being with the Lundberg family is the joy that comes from being surrounding by five very in love married couples. Marital discord just isn't a part of our get togethers and the peace is remarkable. My greatest joy was watching the love and friendship between cousins. Eliza had five "sisters" to play with all weekend and was inseparable. The special friendship between Wilson and Rebekah that has been there since they were very little was equally gratifying.

We were blessed to have an extra day with Deb and Rand and their family, especially since it meant Rand finishing a lot of "honey-do" projects. The kids worked on a scripture story literally all day and performed "Ammon" at FHE evening that night. It was a slight variation from the actual scriptural account but ended beautifully with strong testimonies from each of the kids. We celebrated their performance with unlimited ice cream until even Cooper said he felt sick.

After saying goodbye to Deb and Rand we packed our suitcases and got ready for our next reunion hosted by Tyler and Chelsea in Utah. We broke the trip up by staying the night in Boise and made it to American Fork by lunchtime on Thursday. Tyler and Chelsea surprised us with great reunion t-shirts featuring the famous Rippy volkswagon van. We had family pictures and then headed to Seven Peaks water park where the Shade company treated us to dinner and a fun evening of water slides. Max was a little overstimulated, but everyone else had a great time. We went directly to Solitude ski resort where we tucked very tired kids into cozy beds in Tyler's lovely condos. Tony and I woke up first thing on Friday and had an amazing hike in the mountains. After breakfast we swam at the pool and got ready for the Zoo. It was a very warm day, but we all had a great time seeing the animals and especially enjoyed the bird show. One of the most entertaining moments of the day occurred in the tiger exhibit where a women felt a bee go down her pants and stripped naked standing right next to Tony. Several family members witnessed her doing a most amazing "bee in the pants dance" and were able to perform it for the rest of us later.

That evening after a delicious taco dinner we put the kids to bed ands pent the evening playing a "get to know you" game. A get to know you game with one's siblings is the height of hilarity and tenderness and we relished the opportunity to hear the answers to such questions as: Who is one of your heroes not in this room?, What is a gift or talent that you have been given?, What is an activity you enjoy? It was a particularly special moment when Tyler shared that one of his gifts was that he never remembers having to find a testimony, he just always had one. Cameron, Dustin, Jeff and myself also admitted the same experience. I think Mom and Dad felt very blessed at that moment.

On Saturday we all rode the lift to the top of the mountain and hiked up to a little lake. The guys spent the rest of the morning playing a round of frisbee golf and then we met again at the pool. Again, I loved watching the cousins have such a good time together. Corbin and Kimball are highly entertaining and deliciously mischievous. Eliza and Kate also had a good time together and drove Addy nuts with their "nurturing." We all said goodbye that night and heartily thanked Tyler and Chelsea for a wonderful time together.

We got a call from Tony' sister Debbie late that Saturday night. She had been terribly sick with a bladder infection and then threw her back out. Rand was fishing in Alaska with his brother and Debbie was feeling terrible. We were able to go to Orem on Sunday and Tony popped her back into place. She experienced immediate relief and we were all able to go to church together because of Tony's gift of healing. It was a nice way to end a beautiful weekend.

On the way home we stopped in Oregon at the Lewis and Clark interpretive trail, and later in Walla Walla where Max picked out and rode out the door his new birthday bike. He's a big boy now. We celebrated his official birthday with Workmans at the lake on a perfect summer evening with water as smooth as glass. Of course we had to go back to the sand dunes to play in the lovely soft sand and look for clam shells. Max and Oakley exchanged gifts and were as cute as ever together. We just left the boat at the lake and went back the next afternoon to take the church youth on boat rides. I have become an official driver and can hit the bumps like a pro, but I was happy to see Tony come to take a turn. The church kids are so grateful and fun, it is always a pleasure to be with them.

Yesterday was the Tour de Lentil, the 60 mile bike ride that nearly killed me last year. This year a group of us modified the ride to exclude a couple of the worst hills and cut it down to about 45 miles. We also started 2 1/2 hours earlier, which made for a much cooler ride. It was a beautiful day and ended perfectly when my biking friends came to St John to pick black berries and make home made ice cream. The frozen custard (secret ingredient is rum!) and lemon sorbet were perfect compliments to our standard favorite: lemon-blackberry. The company was as enjoyable as the icec ream.

Just a week and a half until school starts. Two of my kids have their school supplies and new shoes, the other will prepare by the skin of his teeth, as usual. My new family motto is, "To the END." I'm trying hard to help my kids do a task thoroughly-to the end, not just half way. My thoughts are really on Marcos right now. I know as soon as summer ends and I have three kids in school, I will feel his absence even more strongly. My hopes are up for news by the end of August. I will just keep studying my Spanish and bracing myself for the changes that come with having a baby again. Marcos home will be the only thing that could make our near perfect life any happier!