Fun At The Beach Memories

Summer Memories

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away

The Boy came home!!!

So...it was a weekwnd of constant teens coming and going. Bry came home and with him came the continual flow of friends. We spent Friday night catching up before the football game ended and the first of freinds arrived around 1AM. To lay in bed and hear once again the laughter flowing up from below as Bry and his friend tried to burn a pizza and watched movies. Just the beginning of a full weekend where he had a chance to touch base with HS friends. To know where he was and hear the voices...life is good! It was a blessing to see him and hear all the stories. The long hours of work on projects! The friends he is making. The upcoming events that he is excited about. He has changed so much and has such an amazing confidence about him! He is the same and yet not really. He has the same strong ideas and beliefs but he has found a voice that was not quite so loud and adament and he is helping to create a club and for him " a whole new world". How proud can a parent be before they may physically explode of pride? To hug him and never let go...What an amazing feeling even if only for a moment. To sit back and watch as he interacts with his sister and becomes a bit paternal even at times. To listen as he talks about ideals and all it involves! A weekend, and yet a lifetime! A moment to fill up with hugs enough to last until the next sighting! It is fun to be a parent even when they live far away and the time shared togethor is brief. Had I ever thought of how first timeshappen at all levels of life? I don't think I ever stopped to imagine how it would be to have a child come home for a visit, for the first time! Why would I? Yet it has happened, and what fun it is!!! The first moments were rough and I wanted to hold on to him and never let him go as I hugged him and through tears explained how much I had missed him. That all passed and the white knuckled fingers released him and I spent the remainder of the weekend truely enjoying the sound of him with friends. Much of that time was in our home and once again our home was filled with Bry and his friends. It really has been quiet with him gone! Brittany has filled the house with friends but they never seem to be quite as loud as Bry and his friends or is it that with the two children the sounds double as they bring home all their friends and with one child gone plus his many friends, it considerably cuts down on the noise level. That, and Brittany has never played her music as loud as her brother! Like father, like son!!! What a wonderful and satisfying weekend! May we all be blessed with the youthful ideas and experiences of our children.
Blessed Be-

Fun In Santa Monica

A Blessing

We were recently honored to share in the birthday celebration of sixty wonderful and at times hard years in the life of a dear friend and an amazing man! We traveled south through beautiful hills and golden colored mountains to arrive in Santa Monica where we spent a lovely evening with many recalling the last sixty years of Leon's life and toasting a man who has lived beautifully. It was a priviledge to be among his family and friends, to hear the stories and share in the laughter as the sun set over the ocean and the dancing filled the ballroom. As the sun rose the following day, we wandered to the beach and walked for hours to end our weekend with all the sights and smells of Santa Monica, Venice Boardwalk, and Muscle Beach. What a fun and unique experience the entire time was. We ended our time in the city at a place just off the beach called ChaCha Chicken to grab an amazing carribean style lunch before we journeyed back through breathtaking mountains! I have come to love the golden color of our coastal mountains and cannot get enough! Just one of the many Blessings we have received since we were asked by Leon to join him and his family in this beautiful area! May you have many more blessings bestowed upon you for all you have given those who have been touched by you and your life over the last sixty years.

The Halls are Empty

It has been several weeks since I could bring myself to sit at this spot and add to this site. Many have said, when will we see any new pics? Are you ever going to tell us how it is? For me,when times are tough, I need to be by myself. This is how I heal. This is how I move on. This is how I have spent the last several weeks, learning to adjust with the new twist in the road called life. How do you prepare for change? This change more than any, you know is coming. You know even before you begin the journey. Even before they are conceived. If you are lucky and I do not necessarily consider this true at this moment and that too is changing but, if you are lucky and you have made it to the point in life where you have had a child and they have made it to the stage where they are ready to move out and begin their own life how do you move on? Why are we not told somewhere along the way, that this will be a huge change and will feel like a major loss? Wouldn't it be fair to sit new parents down and explain, now you have the next 18 years to raise them and enjoy them and then...But nobody ever told me or was I just not listening or perhaps I was tuning them out because then, maybe it would never come to be. Well, it has come to be and it was not a part of parenting I was prepared for. I loved the baby times and the toddler years when they wobbled. The food all over the face and through the hair...I loved the endless soccer practices and the games we sat in sleeping bags with snow falling all around. I was lucky enough to be able to homeschool my children and so those reports, books, tests, experiments were all things I got to share with them and enjoy. The year it was way too cold to go outside to play in the leaves, so we filled bags with leaves and brought them all into the dining room and played for hours! The endless trips to the doctor and the ER. The many gardens we planted and the hours and days we spent putting up all the veggies and fruit from those gardens. The band competitions and the fundraisers once they decided to join public school. The endless teens and the continual trips to get more groceries. The studying colleges and ideas for the future. The dances and award ceremonies. All of these and more. The years have passed and have been leading us to this moment. How did I not know? When you pack up that van and you make one last walk through the empty room...Remaking his bed three times in his dorm room to make it just right! Taking the final walk to the van to say goodbyes and driving away through tears. The drive home is bad, they all told me. But what about the next day and the following week? What about when my alarm goes off for school and I have one less child to rise from those dreams. Why didn't they teach you somewhere along the way how it would feel to see that empty room and close the door for days before entering to clean up the mess? This is the class I should have had. This is the guidance an elder should have given me. When they are gone, there will be pain. It will be real and it will seem to be endless. The calls come and the laughter rings through. The excitement about classes, friends, new adventures and the food fill our daily conversations. The new ideas and goals! The detailed stories. The dreams and the funny situations. The empty room is clean now and I plan to paint it soon. I spend time reading and watching tv in it. I remember when...and I smile. Life goes on. The empty halls that we saw on move-in day are now filled with classmates. Books are open. Parties are going. New frienndships are beginning and new beginnings are occurring for teens all over the world. My son has moved on and I am one of the lucky ones! I loved the time he lived with us and taught us so very much about the world and all it has to give and I am learning to deal with the pain and the loss that seems so permanent and enjoy our new relationship and all he continues to share with me and teach me daily! So...would I do it all again? You bet!!! And if I am lucky, I will be packing up the van and preparing to go through this pain and the loss of this stage of parenting all over in two years when my daughter moves on. And then, I will find my quiet space and take the time to heal that I have this time. And if I am so blessed, I will come out of it as I have this time with a beautiful new beginning and a whole new relationship with yet another amazing teen. May we all take the time to feel our losses so that we can truely love life and all the gifts we are given.
Blessed Be-

Leaving the Nest

This pair has spent their entire summer helping to prepare me for this journey. I have watched in wonder as they have given birth, fed, cared for and then successfully sent not one, but six batches of babies out into the world this season. How did I know that their last babies would be ready to fly and leave the nest within days of my son's same journey. I have spent the last week packing, talking, and hugging this young man who is about to take his first steps out on his own. As I watch today, the young birds have been testing their wings. They keep venturing to the edge and peering over. The parents have been patient all day, trying to coax them out. It is the same within our home. Bry has been spending the summer off with friends and venturing out more than ever in the past. He has been testing his own limits and connecting with those who are headed off on similiar journeys. I have spent the summer remembering the past and dreaming of the future. Where will this take us all? I have known moments of pure joy and those quiet times of mourning the last few months as I have prepared for this upcoming event. In two days, we pack the car and head off to the dorms. My son's new home. I have been priviledged to have had the chance to homeschool my two children and because of this, we have spent many years at home togethor. The house was filled with projects, books, homeschool gatherings and lots of children. When our two decided to start public High School, it was a new beginning for us all. Less time was spent togethor and the evenings were filled catching up on day events around the table which was often times filled with more than just our own teens. Then there was the big move and a new school! Making new friends and refilling our home with a new batch of faces. The children both grew and blossomed with this new change. It became even more important for us to renew those bonds between us during those first few months in our new home. We grew as a family and enjoyed the time we had even though our schedules became quite busy with the kids social life, band, Wayno's new job and my returning to work outside the home. Through it all the wings were being tested and the children were peering out to see just what life was really going to be like once their independence grew. The first one is ready to make the flight out. He has been preparing for this since birth and so, I guess have his father and I. The hardest part of parenting to this point, may be the letting go so they can take that first flight. As I have watched all summer, being there on the fence just in case they need help is good but staying a distance so as not to hinder their progress is the best we can do. I am grateful for the lessons and blessing these two feathered friends have given me over the past several months. I will remember their patience and coaxing ways as we settle in to this new adventure. As for my son, I wish for him the strength and courage to fly and soar into a beautiful new journey. May you bless us all with your future Bryant!

Summer

Summer! What an amazing time. For years, I think I have taken this time of year for granted. Playing with the children. Walking my gardens. Sitting out on the porch talking with Wayno until late into the night. And the house filled with endless children. Nothing has changed over the years. Summer is just an extention of the rest of the year only warmer when you are a family who homeschools. We would still have some lessons, run to activities and spend much of life in the yard. Life goes on and summers continue. For me, however, summers have always been some of my favorite memories. I do not like the cold you see and so even though life continued, it was warm and I was happy to have sun! I love the sun and long summer nights! Music, smells of flowers and candles glowing on the porch! These are some of my favorite things!! As the children decided to return to public once they entered high school years, summers were cherished even more! I missed having them around every day. Yes, my days were filled with errends, pottery and running the children once they were out in the afternoons but it wasn't quite the same. Our lives have changed even more with our move to CA. One main way has been my choice to work within the education field. I have been lucky to find a job which I enjoy to the utmost. I love the students. My boss and supervisor are great! The biggest adjustment however, has been being gone all day! The house is not always clean, the laundry gets behind, and we order out chinese or stop for sushi more than in the past. But life goes on and change is fun. How is it then, that I can now cherish a season even more than ever before! Summer has always been my favorite! I move to an area where it is primarily warm year round. Ok, I do complain a bit during the rainy season because it is not near as warm as I want, but it is warm and sunny most the year! How could I ever cherish summers again like I did in the past? Ahhhh! And then LIFE steps in and gives us ways to not take for granted those things that are so very important to us. My new job has brought me many gifts, but the one that I did not notice, was the fact that summer is here and I am home! Coffee brewed and walks in the gardens. I have spent time working with my plants!!! The house is filled even more than usual with teens galore and it is even cleaner if that is possible with so much activity! Summer smells have changed with our move and now they include new plants and an occasinal trip to the ocean to smell the smells it holds! (This year of course, there is the World Cup as well!) Long talks on the patio with candles glowing and music coming through the speakers and sometimes, from the teens as they now strum the guitars and pound on the drums. The romantic summer nights where Wayno and John would play music on the porch as the children fall asleep has now been handed to the next generation and they do a beautiful job at it. Summer! May I never take you for granted again, and if I do, may a change come my way once again to remind me why you are one of my favorites!

Grandparent time is always special and what better way then Bocce in the backyard! The children loved having both sets of grandparents with us for a week over graduation. Could they be more spoiled?
Time to play video games until the wee hours over the night or morning! Life is good as Bry says when there are no longer dress codes. Forever! He has ventured off to college for a weekend with Wayno and signed up for classes for the Fall as well as made some new friends.

The ocean is our favorite and the children and I were lucky to venrure there once again right after classes ended. We and several other teens and a couple Moms from our church stayed at the ocean for a week and had an amazing time.
Skim boarding in the morning! Walks through little shops! Rock collecting, for me. And a campfire on the beach late one night! What could be better?

Boys being boys! What fun they had crossing rocks and climbing to the top! Watch out for the wave guys!!
Summer! May we all be blessed by our summers and breath deep so the memories take us through until the next summer graces our paths!