Musings on a Tuesday night

5 years from now, Rhiannon will be 21 and Wade will be 18.

It takes my breath away to think about the change that is ahead, but it also motivates me to enjoy all of my time with them while they're home, all of it, the slow times, the fast times, the busy-busy and the "Hey, Mom, come play table tennis with me" times.   Trying to be less "helicopter parent" and more "cutter of apron strings" is a work in progress, too.  No matter what, I hope Rhiannon and Wade feel our love for them!

We've been playing a lot of table tennis the past week, thanks to Wade.  He brought it down when Rhiannon was gone on her college tour last week, and the game has stayed set up unless we're eating at that table, ha-ha!  5 minutes here, 5 minutes there, he gets all of us to play with him at one time or another.  It's fun!  The dogs are getting used to our playing, too and know not to touch that ping pong ball.

Speaking of college tours, Rhiannon had the time of her life on that trip!  She visited 8 campuses in 3 days, got by on little sleep, had a blast with her roommates (friends from school that she got to pick), and came back super energized to get high school DONE and move on to the next chapter of her life.  She loved the University of San Diego, a private Catholic university--the only drawback is its v-e-r-y steep tuition cost.  In the next 3 months she will take the ACT and SAT and an AP exam and sign up for senior-year classes and figure out her top 4-6 college picks and visit a few more campuses over Spring Break on our family trip and and and and....  It's not hard to understand how she can feel a little stressed out sometimes!  We are excited for her and proud!  Oh, and that drivers license is finally just around the corner.  She has one more instructor lesson and then just needs to take the drivers test!

Jason is gone to a stake meeting tonight and has a day trip for work down to Northridge tomorrow.  Work is unbelievably stressful and 0% fun for him lately, but, man, I am so grateful for all that he does to provide for our family.  And he is so good about giving time to the kids and me, too, whether it's a Valentine's date and gorgeous flowers for me or going out of town with Wade to shop for golf clubs or letting his daughter go with him to Bishop two hours away for a Sunday church trip to spend time with her and let her practice her driving on the highway.  He's the best!

In the middle of all my crazy--church stuff and college stuff and work stuff and home stuff....and feeling a little out of control with all of that--I found an unexpected stress reliever--listening to podcasts!  So far I really like Power of Moms and This American Life.  Podcasts are kinda like radio shows, but more like you're sitting down listening to a conversation among friends, without the commercials and I get to pick what I like to listen to.  I download "episodes" to my phone (and then usually delete after), and listen while I'm walking the dogs or cleaning or folding laundry.  I knew I was on to something the other day when I kept trying to find tasks to do because my podcast wasn't over yet (WHAT???  HOW DID THAT HAPPEN! ;) )  I love it!

Father's Day 2016!

We hope Jason enjoyed Father's Day this year!  He got an attempted omelet for breakfast, cookies at church, funny cards from his wife and kids, Facebook sentiments, meatloaf with mashed potatoes followed by key lime pie for dinner, and a Star Wars shirt that the kids enjoyed picking out.  We sure love this guy and appreciate ALL he does for our family!

Jason turns 41!

Jason's birthday this year was a lot quieter than his big 4-0 last year.  It was on a busy Wednesday with the usual drumline/Crossfit/Scouts activities going on, so we had dinner together and then scattered.  Jason grilled and had some veggies, with pineapple for his "birthday cake" this year.  He was super sweet and said he didn't mind if we got pizza in his honor, even though he wasn't eating it.

The one thing we surprised him with was a Blu-ray copy of The Martian, which we hope to watch this weekend sometime.  That brilliant idea came from Wade--yay!

Jason is the foundation and rock in our home--I am so appreciative of all that he does for our family and the way he's constantly surprising us with his humor, smarts, and love!

Rhiannon and I sent a few loves his way on Facebook:

From Rhiannon: Happy birthday to the best dad ever!!!!! ❤ You always crack me up, work super hard and keep surprising me (which I thought would stop happening a long time ago, but it still happens) Love you Dad!!  (He's the one trying to steal the cake)

And here was mine:

I was going to type out a lengthy, sappy, embarrassing love note to this guy and spread it all over Facebook for his birthday. I was going to shower him with praises and extol all his virtues. But that's not how he rolls. So I'll keep it short and sweet and say, "Thank you for taking this selfie with me, even though you hate selfies. And thank you for all that you do for me and the kids--I fall more in love with you every day!"  Happy Birthday a little early, Jason! I love you! XOXOXOXOXOXO

18th Anniversary!

Our 18th anniversary on May 16 this year was a busy day.  Jason was in a golf tournament in the morning, and we hosted a large baptism for 3 Primary kids that afternoon.  As soon as the closing prayer ended, I didn't talk to anyone, just quietly raced upstairs to get ready for my anniversary date with Jason!  We sped away to Inyokern and had a perfect, quiet dinner of yummy Mexican food out at Bernardino's.  It was great to daydream about our 20th coming up!

I love this man.  He works soooooo hard to support our family and provide for us.  He's full of surprises.  He's funny, generous, kind, and patient.  He helps me to be my best!

Love you, babe!!!!