For awhile now we have been anticipating our trip to Colorado, to bring Mom home for the summer. We left for the journey in Mom's car on Thursday and arrived here Friday. Allegra (Audrey's daughter) came with us. She is easy to have around and one of my favorite people. Our drive was pleasant and comfortable. Isn't is wonderful to have a way to travel that moves through space at a pace of our choosing and even offers food and other distractions along the way. All along our trail to Colorado there were gas stations, restaurants and sleeping facilities. No searching was required. I mention this obvious state of things because I found myself comparing our oh so comfortable lives with those of our pioneer forefathers. I never want to take our benefits for granted!

Here you see Mom with a cute smile; anticipating going home perhaps?

Mom did well with the travel. I believe she is excited to be home. As excited as she gets these days. She, as always, is pleasant about everything. Her little house embraced us as we walked in. It was clean and comfortable; like we have been only gone for days instead of months. Our Colorado friends the Palmers have looked out for Mom's place and have done a great job. It is beautiful here, as always. I find Colorado an embracing place.

But for some reason I am once again experiencing my "stress rash". It appears all over my body as I scratch the itch that calls to me, everywhere on me! I have not slept since coming either. This is very unusual for me, usually a master at sleeping under just about any circumstance. Could I be stressed about something? I don't consciously feel worried but I must be. Why must I be such a mystery to myself? What is going on inside of me, really?

Here is Allegra's smile in Mom's dining room. Layne is fresh here from a Sabbath nap. Mom's pasture is in the background.

Moms and Such

Mom laughed with me yesterday morning. I was covering her with a blanket, misjudged a bit, and covered her face. She got such a funny expression on her face as I pulled the blanket down. I got the giggles. As I laughed, so did she! You may be thinking that this is no big deal. But ever since her stroke Mom has not smiled or laughed very much. Her emotions are somewhat flat. But lately she has smiled more often and even laughed on occasion. It presents such a joyful feeling in my heart to see it that I sometimes go out of my way to bring it about.

Our Mother's Day celebration was very nice. All the locals were here and the men did all the work. Their dinner was a combination of all of our womanly requests (there were 6 mothers to deal with) plus Isaiah, whose 12th birthday celebration was also included. Our gatherings usually involve several celebrations as we put a month's worth together into one event. It was much fun and also involved a group Family Home Evening. It was centered around light as Audrey and I decided to provide a family activity that involved making emergency light kits. So Reed gave a lesson on light.

Then I provided an idea that has been on my mind for some time. I have wanted to present our family with a lighthouse picture that could be a symbol of our family. It should contain a lighted house and lighthouse on a hill in stormy seas. I could never find the perfect picture, so decided to take elements from several pictures and make one myself. It is not completely to my liking, but has all the needed elements. So I presented it to the family last Sunday. I told them that we should be like the lighthouse, filled with light and love, and built on the gospel hill for safety from the dangers of the world. We should let our family light shine out to the world, guiding them to safety. I used the parable of building a house on a hill and letting our light shine. Well, it seemed to work OK. I gave each child a picture of the lighthouse and the accompanying scriptures. They seemed to like it and get my idea. I wish I could find a way to better express the vision that I have. I find the idea of the light house so exciting; I think it is the perfect metaphor for a family.

Continued on Sunday May 16, 2010:
I have some great family news: Isaiah is now a priesthood holder! So he and James can now pass the sacrament and function in the priesthood. AND Chase received his mission call Thursday. We all gathered together for the envelope opening, with cameras in hand. The magical moment came as he read the letter from the First Presidency, calling him to serve in the Massachusetts Boston mission! We were all a-chatter then, discussing all the advantages of being in Boston. Chase was hoping not to learn a foreign language, so this suits him. And it will be filled with exposure to various historical monuments of our fight for freedom. It will doubtless be a difficult mission as far as sharing the gospel is concerned. But the challenge will be good for Chase. So, all in all, I believe we are collectively happy about this call!

Layne has been busy making various "fencing in" items for our vegetable garden. We need to protect it from gophers and squirrels underground, raccoons and deer on top of the ground and birds in the air. It would seem that any garden here would need to be enclosed all the way around to survive. Imagine what a challenge this is! But Layne, as always, has a plan. He is enclosing each plant with wire. What a project. We'll see if our tomatoes, squash, peppers and such will actually make it to our table as the summer unfolds.

Today is our last Sunday before taking Mom home to Colorado. She is excited, I think. I'm looking forward to the peace and open days of her home in Cedaredge.

Pictures: Top is our Mother's Day Feast, prepared by the guys. Girls are served first! Next is the lighthouse picture I made for a family metaphor, then comes Chase opening his all important letter from the First Presidency and last, below, is a short movie of Isaiah and the moving ferris wheel he made out of his birthday gift from Ben and Jessica.

Poppy Hill

Our poppies still fill the yard with their happy blooms. It makes the muddy back yard less tiresome. It is raining today, so the poppies are refreshed for another period of time. So successfully have they grown that I think I'll spread them around in other parts of the yard. After killing off so many other kinds of plants it is good to know that some like it here. Mom was returned home from a luncheon this week by a friend who called our place "Poppy Hill". I kind of like that.

Today is Mother's Day. I awoke feeling such gratitude for my own good mother, and for the joy of having my own children. I can see that relationships are the joy or sorrow that make the biggest difference in the quality of life. Nothing is harder than making space for another person in my life. They require a great deal from me if they are to endure. But I see now that sacrifices made for the people in my life are worth making. As time goes by I feel less and less attached to objects and ways of doing. I am more and more willing to give them away for some good purpose that benefits someone I love. But I also feel oddly content to spend long periods of time completely alone. Growing older certainly has modified my mind-set.

Today, after several weeks of quiet, the local family will be here. We will have 25 for dinner. Fortunately, I'm not in charge of the food. The men will do it all. I'm looking forward to it.