Perfect moments

#1 As you know, for the past year, Rob works almost every weeknight until around midnight. Only, last night Rob called to see if I could get a sitter last minute when the kids were asleep. I was :) and so Rob took a little time off to join me at an outdoor concert of Peter Brienholt by the institute. It was so fun to be surrounded by so many college kids... even more fun to bump into Christina (my brother's sister-in-law). If there is any stage of life I could relive, it would be my college years. I remember walking home from class feeling like I could just burst with happiness. Anyway, I digress... back to my perfect moment. As we lay on a quilt in the night air, listening to good music, I leaned back onto Rob's legs and he quietly just stroked my hair. That was a perfect moment.

#2 My kids have been sick since Saturday, and Bekah can't seem to shake it. So we have been laying low and hanging out today. This afternoon, I lay on the floor, with Bekah snuggled up against me, giggling because I was tickling her. Feeling her soft hair against my face, her warm body snuggled against me, and hearing her giggle with joy was beautiful. Peter Brienholt's "Heartland" was playing in the background, and I suddenly realized what I was hearing... "This heartland is where I belong"... Yes, my home is my heartland, and I am exactly where I belong. Another perfect moment.

It's not about making everything in life right. Life can still be stressful, chaotic, or frustrating. This is about feeling the pleasure of the moment. The moment when everything sings. I call them a "perfect moment" and when they happen, like a butterfly's touch, they always remind me to thank the Heavens that I really do have it so good.

my ode to patience

The other day, a grandma cut me off (practically raced to get in front of me) at the local grocery store. I smiled sweetly and let her go ahead (My kids were playing at the playland. Yes, the grocery store has a playland for kids! Really, who cares how cheap the food is... they have a playland!). As we spent the next 10 min. waiting in line, we ended up talking, and she went on to talk about how she has so much more patience now that she is older.

I hear that all the time from old people... that they have so much more patience now than they did when they had little kids. Yadeeyadaayadda.

Really? Of course you are so patient: you are dealing with kids (that are not yours) for maybe 3 hours! You don't really care so much what they do, because you know that they will be gone and will take all of those bad behaviors they are learning back home with them. Even I am SOO patient with other people's kids.

It's true that I am not the most patient person. And I'm working on that with everything that is in me (and so are my kids). I guess I just wanted to point out that mothers, even those of us counting to 3 (expecting our children to be RUNNING by 3), are still pretty patient people, mostly because our patience is being challenged more than anyone else. It's like a marathon runner who is passed by a sprinter. Come on... you're running a marathon!

So I just wanted to shout out to all those mothers like myself, riddled with the guilt of not being patient enough with our children. I figure that we are facing the Mount Everest of patience. Potty training, temper tantrums, no sleep, bickering, sickness, breaking curfews, etc. When we get to the top and our kids have grown up and left home, it will be all downhill. And then we will feel soo patient.

Hot Date

It's been awhile since we were able to get out on our date alone, so we were looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter movie. After leaving kids with our sitter, we headed to the theater. Unfortunately, the fates were against us. About 3 blocks from the theater (by the homeless shelter... nice), our car completely died. Couldn't even turn on the hazard lights. Long story short, we spent the next hour driving around (thanks to a sweet neighbor who came and picked us up!) getting the car fixed. My favorite memories of the date: the homeless guy who yelled at us to pay him to watch our car. 2nd favorite: sitting in the backseat while my husband and my neighbor, Chris, were in the front together. Hmm... Chris, you can be the second wife. Gosh, I shouldn't even joke about that seeing as I just had to explain to my neighbor that NO, Mormons are not allowed to have more than one wife.

Anyway, it was great to spend the next hour talking with my neighbor while Rob got things worked out. We don't get a whole lot of time to just chat and I sure love her.

So tonight, we are dating at home, watching a movie while our sick kids sleep. Rob is in front of the tv and I'm back on the couch. Hmm.. maybe I'll do something steamy to get his attention... just keeping it real.

the third quarter

So the reunion finished. You would think that the vacation was over. Oh no. Rob had to go to Rhode Island for work. Thursday after the reunion, we drove to Providence, and the next day, while Rob worked at Brown University, I got to take the kids to the Cliff walks, where we enjoyed the ocean views as well as the humongous mansions.

After that, we spent several days with friends in Boston. First we stayed with the Allisons, good friends from Ann Arbor. We enjoyed going to the beach, the Boston Children's Museum, and canoing at a lake near their home. They have a daughter Bekah's age and sons (triplets, actually) Kyle's age, so it was perfect. There was a sand-building competition at the beach, so we built our very own hammer-head shark.

After a great visit with them, we stayed with the Styler's in Belcher Town (nice). We knew them back in Provo, and then when we lived in MI, they lived in Ohio, so we would still get together. It was a blast. The only day it rained on our trip was the day that we decided to walk all over Boston. Of course. It poured the whole time, but with great company, who minds being a little wet? We also figured that with the rain, we were able to see much more of Boston. If it had been nice, chances are we would have spent several hours playing at parks in the Boston commons. As it was, that was not a temptation, so the kids stuck it out on the walking tour along the freedom trail. The rain actually came in handy later, when our friend Bryan, began looking for a bathroom for his daughter. Mmm... too late. We also enjoyed talks, the farming game, and hiking on one of the trails (not the Appalacian, but close).

After a wonderful trip, we got in the car, drove 6 hours to Buffalo, flew to Chicago and then SLC, finally arriving home at 1 am. But, oh, it was fun!

Now for the 4th quarter laundry and groceries!

AMAZING

Oh, and I also love that we actually got a family picture where we all look good. That is truly a miracle... BOTH my kids are looking the same way smiling. Thanks Kacey.

Bassett reunion

Ahh... the Bassett reunion. Can you believe that over 60 people actually come from around the US (and England) to spend a whole week with their extended family. And what is the most amazing part about it is that we all love it! I mean, we LOVE getting together with cousins, in-laws, aunts, uncles, babies of cousins, grandma. Although it is my husband's family, even my family always wants to hear what we did at the Bassett reunion.

This year we went to upstate NY, where we went to Palmyra, saw the Hill Cumorah pageant, toured Niagra Falls, played tons of games, laughed, ate, talked, and of course, took pictures. Here's what I loved about the Bassett reunion: I loved walking around at the Sacred Grove in Palmyra on Sunday. I loved feeling the spirit of everyone's faith in God. I loved playing 3-legged soccer. And the Ninja game. And volleyball. I loved doing the crossword puzzle competition (but only because Manny was on our team). I loved going on Maid of the Mist in Niagra Falls and getting soaked with about 30 other Bassett friends. I loved that Elise rubbed my back for at least 1/2 hour. I loved playing a super-hero for the Bassett movie. I loved watching the kids run around with their other cousins and second-cousins. I loved that everyone was always included... whether it be including a 3 year old in a game with the other adults, or the older adults playing volleyball (and whomping... thanks to an older judge) against a much younger team. I loved watching Rosey play with my kids... and how much they love her for it. I loved picking and eating blackberries. I loved watching Grandma sing and dance to "I like to move it move it." I loved how perfect the 70 degree weather was the whole week. I loved the award ceremony at the end. I loved the beautiful location.

But it is best said by my 4 year old, when she first arrived. "Mom, there are MY FRIENDS!"

So what have I missed?

It's been almost 1 month since I wrote last. Hmm... where to begin. Let's start at the very beginning. Do-re-mi...
- Summer literacy program (which I direct) running smoothly. Have the most AMAZING committee this year. Thank goodness.

- Decided to sell our house. You know what that means. LOTS of work. Retiled bathroom. Restained deck. Cleaned. Packed. De-cluttered. (Remember that Rob is still working over 70 hour weeks, bless his heart, and Kyle did not sleep through the night for 10 nights. Still, on a scale of 1-10, my productivity was at a 14! I'm not going to rate my parenting or patience.)

- My aunt died suddenly in her sleep at the age of 47. What?!? We drove to Vernal for her funeral. I don't even know what to say about it. It still seems sort of unreal. I'll probably start processing it in August when things have slowed down.

- Last week of June, my brothers and their families flew in for my sister's wedding, so we had a lot of fun together. It was like a dream come true watching my kids run around my parents' backyard, playing with their little cousins.

- July 3rd, the actual wedding. Perfect. The wedding was absolutely beautiful in the Salt Lake temple. Then the reception, in typical Miller fashion, was a PARTY! We danced up a storm. Now that all of us siblings are married, we need to come up with another reason to dance like this. Maybe Mom and Dad can have a big fiesta to celebrate their 34th anniversary.

-July 4th. Kaysville parade. Free candy. Water fight. Perfect weather. Doesn't get any better. I seriously get choked up every year at this parade. It just epitomizes all that I love about America. The marching bands, the families, the little kids dancing, the grandparents shoving the little kids out of the way to get the salt-water taffy. Love it.
Later that night, we did our fireworks show complete with patriotic music. Ooo Aah.

-July 5th, Sunday all together (except the honeymooners). I think heaven will be like a Sunday summer afternoon, sitting in my parent's backyard, eating cherries picked from the tree and watching the naked children (covered in cherry juice) running around laughing.

-July 6th, the Miller's Cherry Hill fiesta. My kids actually call the water park "Charity Hill"... I think because we went there with my neighbor Charity 2 years ago. I really think it was amazing that my kids lasted through all of this without major meltdowns. We played hard. It wasn't until we got home late that night that I began to pack for our 2 and 1/2 week trip.

-July 7th, flew to upstate NY, where my old roomie, Cindy Goodwill, picked me & the kids up. We spent 4 days with her family and had tons of fun. Seriously, who can not have a great time with her. She is one of those amazing people who is not only hilarious, but laughs easily. There is nothing like a friend who makes you feel funny. Seriously, I LOVE people who think I'm funny. And, she even put up pictures of me and her in her house, which she swore were already there before I arrived. Rriiighhtt. So I really loved visiting her and her husband and 4 kids. Tim was awesome to let us sit up and talk until 3am. It was almost like college times... except our kids woke up WAY before even our early morning classes.

The only downside of hanging out with nearly perfect people is that afterwards, it reminds you of how little patience you actually have, how poorly you actually eat, and how I seriously need to start working on those new year resolutions. Anyhoo... next episode: the Bassett reunion.