Chloe's in the news

Chloe's opera made it into the newpaper. She's even in the big picture at the top of the article. Check it out at:
www.hjnews.townnews.com/news/

Scroll down to August 4th and click on The Children of the Opera

Bear Lake Rocks!

Well, we got back yesterday from a fabulous weekend at our favorite home away from home, Bear Lake. I can't believe how much fun I had! One of Brian's uncles graciously let us use his waverunner so we of course felt obligated to kill ourselves playing with it. My mom and dad brought their trailor up and stayed the weekend with us and we invited our neighbors to come up on Saturday.

I very foolishly forgot sunblock on my shoulders and upper arms so I'm still suffering from a terrible sunburn. It doesn't seem that long ago that I would have been tan in a day or two. Sigh. All my muscles hurt, too. Yesterday my hands were so achy and puffy that I couldn't even get my wedding ring on! Man, I'm getting old, but it was totally worth it!

We haven't downloaded the pictures off the camera yet, but here are some from last year. (Don't feel deprived, they don't really change much from year to year) That giant tree in the background is THE limber pine. It's 5,000 years old. Or something like that.

View from the cabin

Chloe and Graeme hard at work building a sand empire

Kai joins in the empire building

Inside the cabin (this is what happens when we don't pay enough attention to them)

Tomorrow we're off to Cedar City for the annual Rural Summit. Brian gets to spend two days in meetings and the rest of us are forced to lay around the hotel and go swimming and stuff. It's rough, let me tell you.

Oh, What Songs of the Heart

Wow, what a crazy summer it's been so far. Graeme lost a tooth, Kai's starting potty training, Chloe's been in softball and opera camp, we've planted grass and a jungle of weeds, I mean a garden, we've harvested strawberries, spinach, radishes, peas, raspberries, green beans and are anxiously awaiting green peppers, eggplants, cabbage, broccoli, pumpkins, corn and more green beans, we did a paper route for a month, the boys are going to start swimming lessons soon, I've had tremendous success at the gardener's market so I've spent a considerable amount of time cutting, sewing and crocheting and I've been attempting to build an emergency food supply.
I've also mostly managed to keep up with visiting teaching and I got to help hem pants for the temple. And, incidentally, we've managed to keep everyone reasonably healthy, groomed and fed (in that order).
Needless to say, the house isn't the cleanest it's ever been, there are numerous unfinished projects and nobody's ready for school (starts Aug. 21st). But I'm happy.
For those of you who are following my battle with Borderline Personality Disorder, I'm happy to say that I'm currently winning. I've just about finished a book I bought that's teaching me new skills (BPD generally manifests as inappropriate coping skills) and I've been taking an anti-depressant. Deciding to take the medicine was a really tough choice because it's not something I ever wanted to do, but when I started learning new skills I realized how wonderful it was to not be drowning in my own guilt all the time. However, learning these new skills is extremely difficult and takes time so I got some help.
Now I love my life again. I have hard, emotional times still, but I laugh more than I cry and my children are once more endearing and humorous instead of overwhelming. I feel level and in control most of the time. By identifying and accepting what's going on in my crazy head, I can stand up straight and face each new day with hope and joy.
It sounds corny to say it, but I've always had a heart full of music; now that music is good again. As I was choosing the August hymns I came across an old favorite and even though it's talking about meeting with loved ones beyond this life, it really does express the way I'm feeling. Especially the third verse:
Oh, the visions we'll see in that home of the blest,
There's no word, there's no thought can impart,
But our rapture will be all the soul can attest,
In the heavenly songs of the heart;
But our rapture will be in the vision we'll see
Best expressed in the songs of the heart.
(Oh, What Songs of the Heart; hymns no. 286)
I wish I could put into words how much better I'm feeling here in my home of the blest, but I guess my rapture is best expressed in the songs of my heart.

Whew, spring!

Well, I've fallen out of the habit of blogging again. Maybe with the kids out of school I can get back in the habit.
What a crazy spring this has been! I love the cool weather but I'm a little bit concerned about our plants. It's been raining so much I'm afraid they're all going to mold before they can really grow. We finally got a garden in this year and the seeds we planted are growing in spite of the cat's best efforts to dig them all up. We have peas, beans, corn, peppers, eggplants, watermelon, pumpkins and lettuce. We also have raspberry plants that are doing well and strawberry plants that are loaded with berries. In fact, I believe one of the berries should be ripe today. What really cracks me up is our baby peach tree (it was my Mother's Day present last year). It's got peaches growing on it! Of course, we'll have to pull them all off so the tree can put all its energy into growing, but I'm excited that it's at least trying! Our day lilies and iris are also doing really well. Hooray!
Our baby grass is growing, too, but I'm starting to worry about the eyesight of all the people who live in this neighborhood. For some reason the big patch of baby grass in our front yard is screaming for people to walk, ride bikes and drive on it. The only thing I can think is that everyone who goes by our yard needs glasses. Honestly, if it ever actually turns into a lawn I'll be shocked and amazed!
Now the trick is getting it to stop raining long enough to go out and pull weeds.