Not me (yet) but my partner in crime officially went up and over the hill right on Father's Day.  We had almost a complete set of our children here to celebrate.

A gift like nothing else. 

That $4 worth of tiny squirt guns? 

Priceless.

Working on the new teen car with his favorite brother-in-law to be who can fix just about anything.

There was a lot of food, a lot of noise, a lot of doubled over and tears rolling down your face laughing. There were more serious talks about life, love, money, faith, fears, and careers. We don't have all the answers but we can listen and can share an awful lot of ways we personally know how to screw up. We can put our heads together to tackle big challenges. We can pray over the things we can't seem to figure out. So we did.  We do. We consider ourselves so lucky to hear what is on their hearts.

As our friends' children are entering teen and young adulthood they have questions. How did you….?  What do you do if…..? How?  

The short answer is only by the grace of God. One thing that rings truer as time goes by is that we have very little by way of formula or guarantees but we have them.  We have us.  Love does cover a multitude of sins – theirs, ours, and those whose stories overlap with ours.  For that we are grateful every day. 

So this is what Father's Day at 50 looks like here with the people he has spent 30 of those 50 years with, people we love fervently. 

"And above all things have fervent love for one another…."    Peter 4:8

"Do you want to ride along to the meeting? I don't think there's anything to do."   That's how the conversation about this road trip began.  It ended the way it usually does.  Of course we wanted to go and of course there is something to do.  There is ALWAYS something cool to do on the road and Cedar City was no exception. 

A few days ago we had friends from England visit. They were asking if those white patches on the mountains could still be snow.  Yes, is the answer and we drove right up to the top to see it.  It's a little chilly at 10,000ft but the views were incredible.  We were surprised by a little marmot before we left. Per Wild About Utah that is indeed the treat we thought it was.  (virtual field trip to hear the marmot story here and the whistle here) 

Southern Utah, where you can watch a fiery sunset and have a snowball fight in the same spot in June. So much fun. 

* disclaimer: despite the illusion due to the angle of the camera, the railings are quite far from the actual edge of the canyon wall.  There is a wide margin of level ground all around the overlook railing. In the marmot image the railing is still further to the right.  Bottom line, I'm the biggest worry wort mom ever.  Zero danger there.  : ) 

Summer kicked off for us with a hike high above Causey Reservoir. This was a new-to-us trail.  It's rated moderate and is an undulating (read: uphill both ways) path with a good balance of shade and views.  Incredible views. The upper fields were in bloom with some flowers we haven't seen on other trails. 

There were a lot of us but not too terribly much other foot traffic, even on a holiday weekend.  As you can see, despite being religious about my daily workout I am still lagging behind even the 7yo.  Yes.  It does at least afford me some wide angle shots of this incredible place and my people in it. 

We have another runner in the family.  It's still not me. This time it's not long distance either, but track. It's been a lot of fun to watch his events.  It's like a three ring circus in a good way.  Something is happening both on the track and inside the field at any given time.

I wasn't a big sports fan or participant in school but I have come to really value what it offers our kids.  More than competition and teamwork, which are also great, it is fresh air, lots of tiring exercise, time away from screens.  It fits in well with our "just go outside" outlook. Stressed?  Go outside awhile.  Run it off.  Get a change of scenery.  Most things look better afterwards. 

Some afternoon fun with their friends. Maybe it works, maybe not. So far they have loved watching the seeds sprout at least.  I will be watching a patch in the yard since the dog walked through and upended one tray.  We may or may not see some runaway zinnias this summer. : ) 

"Give the children an opportunity to make a garden.  Let them grow what they will.  It matters less that they grow good plants than that they try for themselves."

– Liberty Hyde Bailey

"Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously by placing love of duty above my inclinations; to gratefully and joyously deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God, to work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work; above all, with purity of intention and unselfishness, having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I have to render of time lost, talents unused, good not done, and vain complacency in success, so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O patriarch St. Joseph! This shall be my motto for life and eternity."

– St Joseph the Worker Prayer

When I read this prayer for the feast day today it painted such a convicting picture of how to apply ourselves to our daily work, whether at home or away. It is arguably even more essential to approach work done at home and for our family with those virtues as our guide. 

Here's to a peaceful, productive week!

When I walked to the driveway the other day the boys mentioned, "Bat."  

"What?" I said.  

"There's a bat stuck in the tree." For whatever reason the first thing that came to mind was they had thrown a baseball bat into the tree and it got tangled someplace.  Not that they play baseball. I didn't say it was a logical thought, just that first one.  Anyway it wasn't a ball bat but rather a real little brown/black bat sleeping soundly smack on the side of the tree trunk at about chest height. 

I ran through my limited repertoire of bat facts which includes the part that seeing them behave out of character during the daytime is often a sign of a sick bat and could spell trouble.  Rabies alert went off in my head, except that he was doing appropriate daytime bat stuff, namely sleeping.  

After a quick check with my favorite biologist, we decided to leave him alone and see what happened after dark. It seems they can get disrupted and displaced and sometimes fall back asleep in unlikely spots. Amazingly he slept straight through the noise of the boys' game of horse which could normally wake the dead. His little side fluttered ever so faintly so we knew he was alive though not budging.  Finally one of the times I walked out he had up and flown away and was not spotted again. 

I'm a little slow on the draw with travel documenting. It was such good luck that our trip to Washington State coincided with tulip season. To be honest, we had no idea there were bulb farms there until days before we arrived. Another blessed coincidence is that our friends from Germany are now living nearby and joined us for an afternoon touring Roozengaarde farms. 

The land was level and fertile, so similar to our English fen lands.  The weather was warm and breezy making for a perfectly beautiful day. 

"God arranges everything for us, so that we need have no more fear or trouble and may be quite sure that all things will come right in the end."

Heidi

It has been a couple weeks of challenges that hit like a spray of pellets. Separate issues to sort through with  friends and relatives in crisis along with the big and little decisions that must be made daily in a large household.  While we could begin to troubleshoot and make a plan of action for some of those things, others have not been so clear cut.  There are layers to peel away to get to the bottom some things and all you can do is be patient and think as clearly as you can each baby step along the way. 

We have just a few more pages and Heidi's story will be finished. (We always have to make a date to savor that very last chapter of a read-aloud together.)  There have been so many beautiful passages.  The other day Heidi was reflecting about her fervent prayers in Frankfurt and her despair when day after day, week after week, they went unanswered.  That despair was contrasted with the utter joy she was feeling at the end of the story when so many unexpected blessings showered down upon them all.  Those blessings were only possible because of the terrible pain that had come before. Had the relief come any sooner, the blessing would have been lost. 

It is the wait that tries us though, the worry, the wondering, our absolute certainty at times that it's all going awry. Her words come back to me reply:

“We must pray to God everyday to show we don't forget that all gifts come from Him. But if some wishes remain unfulfilled we must show our confidence in Him, for He knows best.” 

It all comes right in the end.  In the meantime we relish all the good and beautiful things sprinkled generously in between the trials. In fact the greater the trials, the more crucial it is to discipline yourself to find joy. So that is why you see cupcakes and sunshine over here even though there are some much bigger things unfolding at the same time.  This is how we show our confidence. 

Cupcakes, that is.  What happens homeschoolers grow up and become college anatomy lab instructors? They treat their students to thematic cupcakes at the end of the semester of course. Extra credit question on the final was to identify the organs in your dessert.   That's heart and brain fwiw, though they ended up getting credit for suggesting intestines given the pink tint versus gray.