Summer Hannah

Summer Hannah
Originally uploaded by inneri

Is there really anything more fun than splashing one's chacoed red toed feet in a mountain river in July?

Try it and find something better, I dare you.

These Days

Hello Family,

Our days go by as days with little people do--in baby steps. Much of the work of the day involves getting up and ready and going down and cleaning up, buckling and unbuckling in the merciless heat (tomorrow we are expecting over 100 sweltering degrees). I remember these formless days with rays of loveliness, and a background of tiredness from when Ariel and her sisters were very young and we lived not far from here. Andrew and Ariel make them all seem a good dream. There is almost nothing that doesn't draw out my camera with their little family. Sometimes Abe is having a hard time, or we are just too hot, or the diaper is overloaded and a blowout is changed on a pad behind a large pillar on the street in downtown D.C. No photos of those times,but they are precious, too. Here is a glimpse of our last few days at Highview Terrace.

New babies call for photo shoots, but such propping and changing efforts are always rewarded.Abe is temperamentally well-suited to his big brother role, really. He is so attentive to Ben, almost always in a kind way. He readily expresses his love to everyone.
Everyone was so glad when Daddy came home Monday night. Glad as they could be!That was the night we played with Uncle Neil and his girlsies for FHE. Maddie and Emma gave the lesson and shared thoughts from their camp. I was so happy to talk to Maddie, and thought how much Laurel would love to have been there with her and Emma. Maddie gave me some hope when she said that she is looking seriously at BYU for linguitics! Catherine picked right up on her role as big sister to Abraham, which he enjoyed. Maddie, Emma and I are almost looking eye to eye. Finally--some beautiful, TALL relatives! Kristina and Winston are in Hawaii, so we probably missed them more than they missed us.

It was very, very good to see my brother. He spent some time talking to Dad (Grumpy), who was in the hospital that day.Abe and I spend a lot of time together when Mama's with Baby Ben. One hot afternoon we went again to see the vegetable garden at the end of the walk. We saw an almost dead bee, some blue dragonflies, a big bus and a helicopter. We sang all verses of "Oh What do you do in the Summertime" at least three times. But the outing was not complete without his suddenly playing alligator. The need to do it just came over him right when we had to get home because we had left without his hat.I don't see Abe in the night. He goes in to Mama and Daddy and Baby Ben when he gets lonely, but in the mornings, sometimes after Daddy leaves, the two of us have breakfast together. His Espana soccer shirt from Babba is one of his favorite jammie tops. One evening Abe headed to time out for some infraction. He usually goes willingly, even happily to time out, but then comes back out, fully repentant in a matter of seconds, sweetly proclaiming, "I'm sowwwy." On this occasion to allow more repentance time, Andrew quickly locked the door to Abe's bedroom, and then realized his mistake. After trying the usual credit card and screwdriver tricks to open the door, he lovingly coached Abe in the art of turning the button in the doorknob. And guess what?

It worked!Playgroup with Ariel and Abe's new friends was fun. Abe went "awound and awound" on the merry-go-round.But we couldn't stay very long because it was very hot for Baby Ben.Ariel has always been up for an adventure, and she is no different at all as the mother of two very young children. So we set off for their local Costco for the first time when Ben was six days old. PG County has some real dead zones, judging by their candidates for local office.The next day when we were shopping at Giant, Abe wanted to touch the car to see if it was hot. He's a good safety watchdog. The answer, of course, was yes. Usually it is too hot to touch.So we still stay indoors, where Ben is happiest. Only one soul on earth can always comfort him, and she is not inclined to let him go. He is a very happy baby. We seldom get to hear him cry, unless Ariel leaves to take a shower.
When Abe wakes up, it's his turn to be with Mama.Wednesday night we took our most ambitious outing to that date and headed over to Strathmore, right in our old neighborhood, for one of the legendary free concerts. I half expected Ariel to jump off the cow blanket onto the grass and start to boogie, as she did 20 years ago whenever we went there.But she stayed with her babe. After we had finished our picnic, Abe took my hand and said, "Let's wun awound!" That was all it took! We wan awound the expansive lawn and wolled down the hill! The grass here is scatchy and alive with little bitey bugs, as you may remember! Still worth it.We had just missed the clowns as we were coming in, but found a couple going out. Abe is Andrew's perfect sidekick. The two have such fun together! Though it was late and everyone was tired, Andrew and Ariel insisted on taking me to see our old house on Oldfield Drive. Of course, I cried, overwhelmed with memories of Craig and our little girls there. I have the freshest recollection of calling Ariel in to get on a few more clothes before she waited for Rachel to come home from kindergarten! I remember bringing our own new baby Hannah Rose up those steps to her sisters, picnics and school days and bedtimes and a hundred other moments on that walkway and in the house and in the backyard of the place now missing the climbable dogwood tree. I saw where Craig built our French drain alongside the house. It was in that little home that the tape of Ariel and Rachel was recorded by my best friend Cindy Sorensen just following a recording of her nephew, little Andrew Marshall. As I stood on the steps, all of time had so little meaning for me and family had so much. Fireflies still glimmered in the backyard.

As Requested

Pictures of NONNA!!

I will always come back

Last night I was watching the Utah Education Network (I think for the first time) while I was cleaning. There was a half hour show on marriage that had some useful tips. If anyone is interested, I can do a follow up post on what I learned about gender differences :). On the show, they discussed 4 messages you should constantly be giving your spouse, and the last one was "I will keep coming back to you." One common piece of advice for a healthy marriage is for one person to go on a walk when a discussion becomes heated. Sometimes we may need a little time apart from our family. However, they need to know that regardless of any tension or disagreement we may have, and even in the heat of the moment, we want to and will come back.

This idea first hit home to me a little less than a year ago when I left our apartment on the pretense of getting gas. I actually intended to stop at Hobby Lobby, by the gas station, to frame a picture for Micah for his birthday. Micah called me while I was in Hobby Lobby to ask if I was coming back. I explained that there was a sale there (true) and I had wanted to check it out. It took quite the comedy of errors to get the picture framed, and Micah called me a few more times to ask, "Are you coming back?" I knew he was in a hurry to complete the homework he was then working on, and wondered why he was eager for me to come home. Then a song I hadn't thought of in many years came to mind: "My Mommy Comes Back" from Baby Songs. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj-G5k9Pb7g&feature=related . This is the chorus: “My mommy comes back, she always comes back, she always comes back to get me. My mommy comes back, she always comes back; she never would forget me.” I remembered how scared I was in Kindergarten that Mom would leave me at school and never come to pick me up, because of the Madeline books about a boarding school. My teacher would read notes to me every day that went something like this: "Dear Rachel, I love you. I hope you have a good day at school. I will come at 3:00 to pick you up. Love, Mom." I realized that even though Micah didn’t need me home while I was at Hobby Lobby, that we never outgrow the desire for constant affirmation that the people we love are coming back soon, and that they will always come back.

This exchange with Micah gave me an understanding that the promise to return is at the core of the gospel. While we were going through the Oquirr Mountain Temple open house with Malas' family, Magalai asked several questions about the Savior. After he gained a basic understand of who He was and of His atonement, Magalai asked, "Is Jesus coming back?" I assured him that the Savior would come again. Our hope and faith rest in this promise. The recount of Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden leads me to consider how difficult it must have been for us to leave the presence of God, and the Lord surely promised us as He did Adam and Eve that He would not leave us alone. He provided a means whereby we could come back to His presence, and in the meantime, sent the first and second comforters to abide with us. We need the constant assurance of the Spirit that the Lord is still with us, that He will never forget us. We in turn recommit each Sunday that we will always remember Him, and our love for Him and desire to return is the only motive that can lead us back into His presence. To repent is to turn away from our own path and desires and turn back towards the Lord, allowing Him to lead us home.

We all feel the call in our hearts to come back to our loved ones in this life and beyond the grave. Here are some words from two songs on BYU's Road Home CD; I have several other favorite songs on the CD pertinent to the subject that I'll refrain from copying, so if you have time to listen to the whole thing, do!

Homeward Bound:

"Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.

Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.

If you find it’s me you're missing, if you’re hoping I’ll return.
To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning, and in the road I’ll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end.

And the path I’ll be retracing when I’m homeward bound again."

Words by Michael Dennis Brown:

Tell me where is the road I can call my own,
That I left, that I lost, so long ago?
All these years I have wandered, oh, when will I know
There's a way, there's a road that will lead me home.

After wind, after rain, when the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream in the gold of day,
Through the air there's a calling from far away,
There's a voice I can hear that will lead me home.

"Rise up, follow me, come away," is the call,
With the love in your heart as the only song;
There is no such beauty as where you belong,
Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.

At Home with Ben

"Daddy-o" has gone to work this Monday morning, and the little boys and Mama are back in bed. Everyone is sleepy, even though last night was the best night yet. Abraham stayed in his own bed all night long, which was a big thing to do. He has been a little sick with a runny nose and a cough, and four monkeys in the queen-sized bed is a lot!

Benjamin is awakening day by day, his body and spirit unfolding in their new arrangement. Despite appearances in the photo, he is not pudgy, only beautiful!
Yesterday morning after a rough night, Abe and I took off to the temple grounds to play and wander so that Mama, Daddy and "Benjum" could rest. As I headed down Stoneybrook in the sultry Sunday morning and saw the golden spires of our temple and our red brick Kensington Ward building, my heart surged with joy at my homecoming, especially my coming home to a temple.

Abe and I saw only one or two people as we played around the temple, which is closed for another week, but we saw some butterflies, chipmunks, and I saw two small deer. Abe tossed the "Little Woody" from Ben's birthday cake up and down the stairs and played with sticks on the nature trail. I enjoyed the quiet moments very much.
Here are other highlights from the past few days here at Highview Terrace:
Abraham has learned that new brothers need adjustments.
The nurse came to check Mama and Benjamin. Ben looked perfect; weight 7 lbs. 2 oz., but soon to rise with Mama's constant home-cooked meals. Ariel is doing very well, too.
Andrew works around the clock, and had some really bad nights lately. He's exhausted, but maybe last night's better sleep will help him stay awake at work. When Andrew is awake, he's game on. His time off work provided lots of boy bonding opportunities. He and Abe went to see Toy Story 3 again in the theater with Uncle Joe and Aunt Melissa.
Abe and I played Caps for Sale one muggy morning. It doesn't take long to get sweaty and gritty in the 90 plus degree eastern heat. Abe and Ariel took a shower together after he came home all sandy from the temple nature trail.
The College Park Ward acting bishop gave Andrew permission to administer the sacrament at home, so we had a sweet late afternoon service.
The subject of the adult talks was angels. Abe talked about Adam and Eve and the fruit, and Jesus making the world.
We hated to miss Kit's homecoming talk and seeing all the family at Cousin's Sunday yesterday, especially the musical numbers. But as you can see, we are having a very good time here. Thanks for all the messages of love and support. If you sisters, grandparents or anyone else have not had a chance to talk with Ariel, give her a call!