first day

It feels like order has returned to the universe. The children have resumed school. I spent the day cleaning out cupboards and enjoying the sounds of two small boys playing without bossy big kids around. I caught up with friends. I read my scriptures unrushed. I felt less overwhelmed in my crazy house.

Cooper is excited to be the BMOC as a 5th grader now that the 6th graders have moved to the middle school. He is planning on running for ASB president, is excited to be back in band playing the trumpet and is happy to be back with his friends.
For her first day, Eliza insisted on a side-braid and ponytail hairstyle very reminiscent of my junior high days. Her transition seems smooth and she came right home to record her day in her journal.

Wilson walked into the house today with, drum roll please, an official football helmet. He is still obsessed with football but also briefly mentioned blowing things up in science class. He seems confident and happy, for now.

Max asked no less than 587 times if tomorrow is school. Then he asked another 345 times if he gets to go to school right after breakfast, or will it be a long time. He is a very excited kindergartener.
Marcos is content playing with his trucks, reading his train book and eating entire packs of gum that he rummaged from my purse.

Tonight Tony gave back to school blessings. Marcos was promised a joyous temperment and a strong growing body. Maxwell was blessed with curiosity and an ability to overcome anxiety and face his fears. Tony got a little emotional when he blessed Max with the knowledge and testimony that Heavenly Father sent him to this family. Eliza was blessed with inner strength and ability to perceive the needs of others and recognize those who need a friend. They will be blessed with her smile. Additionally her mind will learn as she reads regularly and she will be able to focus with her ears and mind to understand new concepts. She was blessed with increaded confidence.

Both Tony and Cooper had moist eyes following his blessing. He was promised strength of body and spirit as well as insight into the needs of others and an ability to be a true friend. Heavenly Father told Cooper if he works on patience and controlling his temper, his spiritual growth will not be hindered and that he will be a great orator and peacemaker. Cooper was blessed with the knowledge that Heavenly Father has specifically placed him in our family as a second son behind Wilson for a purpose and that he will both teach and learn from his big brother. He was promised an increased desire to study the scriptures and that he will gain a testimony and know the Savior.

Heavenly Father promised Wilson that he will have an increased ability to organize himself and focus on what's important. He will have increased strength to fight and recognize the adversary through priesthood, prayer and things learned in our family. He will receive the sword of the spirit to defend himself from the adversary who want to keep him from going on a mission. Satan knows this is his chance while his testimony is growing, to prevent him from growing into a mighty servant of the Lord. Finally Wilson was told he will have an easy ability to speak with friends about the gospel. Tony concluded with, "the Lord needs you on his team."

Words are inadequate to express how blessed I feel to be married to a man worthy to speak on behalf of God to my children.

august summary

House Update

The house is coming along. The dry-wallers are here making a lot of dust, but with actual walls the upstairs semi-resembles a livable domicile. I am starting to allow myself the smallest glimmer of hope that our household may someday be under control. I have learned a tremendous amount about construction and have much greater empathy for those who have undergone remodeling projects. And, most importantly, Cameron and I are still speaking.

Boat Update

The boat broke. Cameron (boat mechanic wannabe) fixed it. We took it to the youth activity. It broke again. Cameron (boat mechanic apprentice) fixed it again. Cameron took it to the lake. The boat was still broken. Cameron fixed it a third time (boat mechanic). The verdict is still out as to whether or not it will run. The saddest part of the story is that we have to sell the boat to pay for the remodel. This was a painful and difficult decision for me. I still have to repeat the words over and over, "It's just a boat." We are not selling the memories or good times on the boat. We've been mighty blessed to have it.

Anniversary

It's been 17 years. He drives me crazy, I make him nuts. We are really in love. What more can I say?

Silverwood

We took the kids to Silverwood on Thursday with the free tickets they had earned at school. I was dreading it like crazy, but it turned out to be a lovely day. The weather was perfect, the crowds were manageable and the Kolbs joined us. Cooper has turned into such a daredevil. It amazes me and I'm proud of him for conquering his fears. He also dropped $5.00 on the rigged carnival games and I had to bite my tongue off not to lecture him about wasted money. Eliza spent the day sleepwalking. We'd given her some allergy medication and it made her so sleepy she was like a walking zombie. Max loved the helicopter and Marcos was a really good sport all day. Tony loves roller coasters as much as I hate them. My kids are so lucky to have such a fun Dad.









Summer Failures

I officially failed at several things this summer: the yard, the garden and crafts with Eliza. I wish I could use the house remodel as an excuse but I'm just a loser doodeyhead in these areas. Eliza did make this darling doll with basically no help from me.

Last Friday Eliza and I spent a lovely night playing "Ghost in the Graveyard Can't Catch Me!" at the Dickersons. The moon and stars were out, the combines were harvesting on the hill and the night was warm. We live in a magical place. I hope Eliza remembers that night as happily as I will.

the pool

The St John Pool is straight out of a 1950s movie and the best part of summer, second only to the boat. Here is our pictorial tribute to the pool as this is it's final week.

hooray for 5

At this point in child rearing I freely admit that if you are the five year old, you are my favorite. There is something purely magical about this age and Maxwell Jonathan is where it's at.

Max's big day consisted of taking cupcakes to the park while I had a primary presidency meeting. Then we squeezed a birthday dinner in between cub scouts and YM activities and tried to stretch his tiny 8 inch cake between 7 people. No party, no balloons, no big celebration. I suck. Thankfully he was excited with his new snorkel gear and can't wait to buy a lego clone trooper set with his birthday money. At the end of the day his nightime prayers went like this: "Dear Heavenly Father, it's good to be five. Thanks for my toys and my family. Amen." It was the sweetest prayer for a kid who kind of got the shaft on his special day.

Max was really mad at me the other day and yelled that he wasn't going to be black anymore; he was going to paint himself white. I told him I already had white boys. "Then I'll paint myself RED!" he yelled in defiance. Then he called me "poopie people" for added emphasis.

Today he was so proud of himself when he said, "I let Eliza borrow my snorkel gear WITHOUT my permission!" I was teasing him a little today and told him I couldn't let him go to kindergarten because I would have no one to play with. "Who will I play with when Marcos is taking a nap?" Without missing a beat he replied, "Mom, you are going to have to just work instead." In actuality, I am going to miss him when he goes to school and not just because he is such a good brother to Marcos.

Of all my my kids Max has seemed to need me the most. That neediness has forged an interesting bond between us, different from the other kids. I think I need him as much as he needs me. He is my boy, my special, one and only black boy.

family reunions-what summer is all about

Our three straight weeks of family reunions have finally come to a sad end. They were unequivocally the best part of summer 09 (except for our 4th of July camping trip with Workmans which pretty much feels like a family reunion). I'll hit the highlights of each one so when the children read this blog they will know how lucky they are to have such great families.

The Lughesworth Family Reunion

For at least 8 years we have met the Hainsworths and Hughes at the Hainsworth family cabin for a weekend of complete indulgence. Because we think alike on daily activities, food, discipline and most importantly, skiing, the whole weekend flows like a slalom ski through the mirror reflection of a still lake. Every morning we had everyone on the lake by 10:00, breakfasted and sun-screened. Everyone took their turn skiing or wakeboarding and had some great success. Eliza was very nervous but got up on two. Max made good attempts and "cursed his fear" by repeating, "our family does hard things, our family does hard things," through broken sobs. Cooper and Wilson, thanks to the barefoot boom, both got up on one ski and really had fun trying. We'd break for lunch then fit the adults in.

My highlight was the adult-only ski on the river to celebrate Andrea's birthday. The water was glass, the ski was stable and the boat had NO WAKE. While the guys skied, Betsy and I swam across the river and back and nearly died of hypothermia. The next night the adults slipped away again and indulged in the desserts at Gooeys. We already had about a million pictures and spent the evening enjoying the day all over again. The next day we skied, cleaned up and ended our wonderful weekend with pizza and a session at Laser Quest. The kids loved it and won't let me live down the fact that I got dead last. I always end the same way: can't wait for the Beach.

Rippy Family Cousin Ski Camp








The second annual Cousin Ski Camp was hosted this year by Cam and Jill. We camped at Camp Nay-bor-lee on the Spokane River and despite it's really corny name, it was awesome; kithen, bathrooms, showers, awesome. We had a few setbacks that might have discouraged whimpier people, but not us. Dustin's boat had a faulty impeller so we lost a boat before we ever started. The Lundberg boat was working but ended up on a strange journey down the wrong river for several hours. Poor Jeff and Wilson saw more river views than they care to remember.

The water was so warm and still that all the adults took turns skiing, with the exception of Kimberly who is as beautifully pregnant as anyone I've ever seen. Our second night, a group of us went out rather late to ski and got disoriented (lost). We were on Cam's boat which does not have lights so we spent a long time driving up and down the river trying to figure out which side our camp was on. Finally we asked some people on a house boat with a map and they pointed the way. We were fully prepared to stay the night on the river and did a fair amount of praying. It was still worth the awesome ski.

Jill did such a great job on the food, the weather was perfect and the cousins were completely compatible. It was so nice to have Tyler and Chelsea here and to get a Beck fix. His sweetness cannot be exaggerated. Another highlight for me was getting a glimpse of Evan's great spunk. He got up his first time on two skies and showed great spunk when he told his mom to "do it yourself, you lazy butt" when she asked him to take a diaper to the trash. Mean Tyler and Chelsea gave him a time out but I enjoyed his sass immensely.

A highlight of cousin ski camp was the shower Evalie hosted for Kimberly's baby. We manicured our toes, drew pictures of the baby and decorated cupcakes with all things pink. Eliza has suggested Rose Diamond as a possible name for the baby, but I still prefer Opal.

Cameron, the inventor of games, organized dock frisbee, wherein there was a lot of leaping off the dock to catch the frisbee mid-air. Wilson got to play with the grownups and felt like the cat's pajamas.

Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing their posterity get along so well and their posterity enjoyed seeing Mom and Dad get along so well. It was really a wonderful weekend. Next year we are aiming for t-shirts.

The Lundberg Family Reunion




What looked to all passengers on the plane like a traveling circus was just the Lundbergs headed to Utah for their reunion. Despite my grumbling over the cost, The straight flight from Spokane to Salt Lake was a great blessing. It allowed us to spend a whole evening catching with our friends the Footes whom we met in Medical School. Our family size, houses, incomes and friendship have increased with time. We found Steve and Rita to be as warm and humble as ever and we loved getting to know their kids. It was a great way to begin a vacation.

We stayed the night with Deb and Rand (we never miss a chance for Debbie's famous granola). Tony, Rand and the kids spent the morning touring the BYU football mecca and came home pumped up for the 09 season. We caravanned down to Duck Creek just in time for dinner and an outdoor movie. Thursday we hiked and fished and four wheeled. Eliza couldn't have been happier surrounded by all her girl cousins. Our family Kareoke was hilarious and to everyone's surprise, Cooper beat Grandma for the gold medal in the pool tournament. No Lundberg reunion is complete without card games, but I had to stifle a laugh when I came downstairs at midnight to discover Wilson and Cooper and their cousins playing glow-in- the-dark poker for piles of goldfish. It was a good conversation starter about the prophet's views on games of chance.

A lot of sharing and listening went on this weekend as we spent time together and it was a blessing to see Russ and Pam so strong in the face of adversity. They are living testimonies of the fruits of The Atonement.

We ended our vacation by causing bleeding ulcers for Dad, Lori, Russ and Debbie. It was a close shave getting on the flight back home, but on the plus side, we didn't have to wait in the airport at all. For the record, it is possible to get from Lori and Blake's cabin to Salt Lake City in 4 hours, including a pit stop. It was a perfect ending to our family reunion marathon.