20 Years

Dear Babies,

Today is the 20th anniversary of the day Daddy and I got married.  Oh, how the days have changed since February 19, 1994.  We didn't know then that we would have all four of you, where life (and jobs) would take us, or how our lives would look in 20 years.  But we had high expectations and we were anxious to start our life together, whatever it looked like.

In 1994, my head was spinning with excitement and the thought of all the possibilities that were ahead of us.  A hundred people traveled all the way to San Diego to be part of our day.  Nana sent gorgeous flowers from Hawaii even though she couldn't make the trip.  Grandma and Grandpa George were busy running around the Del Mar Hilton making sure all the reception plans were coming together.  The Grs had a room full of Thunells who were anxious for a wedding and for a week of playing in California.  Aunt Nance helped me get ready, and then everyone made a huge fuss over my dress and my hair and my flowers.  There was more food at our reception than I think I've ever seen in my life, but we didn't eat any of it because we were so giddy and happy.  Who could think about food?  It was a spectacular day.

Twenty years later, our day looks a little different than it did in 1994.  Daddy and I had breakfast with you and read scriptures, just like every other day.  We folded laundry together after everyone left for school.  I didn't even get to talk to him for very long before he started a conference call this morning.  At 9:00am, I am still in jammies and slippers and no one is making a fuss over me.  Our anniversary dinner will have to wait until tomorrow night because I have Cub Scouts this afternoon and he has YM tonight.  The schedules take precedence these days.  But today will still be as perfect a day as the one we spent together 20 years ago.  

I want you to know that as amazing as our wedding day was, it is the thousands of ordinary days that we've had since then that I am most grateful for.   It's not the grand vacations or the expensive gifts or parties full of people that I remember and cherish the most about the last 20 years.  It is sitting in church next to Daddy with all of you beside us.  It's the dinners around the kitchen table, the diapers changed, the sleepless nights, the endless road trips, the crazy, not so reverent FHEs, and the furniture moved into and out of a handful of homes.  It's yard work and birthday cakes and fingerprints and the sound of Daddy snoring.  

Daddy and I have become a great team over the last 20 years.  I design and he executes.  I have an idea or a vision or an inspiration, and he believes in it and brings it to pass.  I cry and yell and get frustrated and he is the calm voice of reason that puts everything back into perspective.  I procrastinate and become overwhelmed and he makes a list.  He brings us all together and I make delicious food.  He gives a great Sunday School lesson and I tie the little spiritual bow around it at the end.  He is consistent and reliable and I am hilarious and emotional.  He cleans bathrooms and I take care of sick babies.  He plans road trips and packs the car and I make a beautiful, organized nest out of the hotel room.    
    
That balance didn't happen overnight.  It has taken 20 wonderful, challenging, difficult, joyful years to create that and to appreciate it.  I would not be me without Daddy.  And he would not be himself without me.  There are two of us for a reason.  We are better together than we would be apart.  And we would not be who we are without all of you.  

I am grateful for who we have become over the last 20 years.  And I am so grateful for that February day 20 years ago in California because it was the beginning of a beautiful life with all of you.   

I love you so much,

Mommy

Scout Camp

On Saturday the girls came home from Girls Camp and filled the garage with tents, bed rolls, camp chairs, stinky clothes, and whatever other camp paraphernalia they hauled to and from camp.  These girls definitely did NOT pack lightly.  And the lake seemed to have crept into everything they brought with them.  The whole garage smelled like stinky, rotten fish by mid-afternoon.  

We spent the better part of Saturday emptying out buckets and doing LAUNDRY, LAUNDRY, and more LAUNDRY.  By Sunday morning, there were piles of laundry in various stages of clean and to-be-cleaned, folded and to-be-folded strewn about the house.  It's a good thing we didn't have any plans for company on Sunday night.

I hurried through the unpacking and cleaning out process quickly because Craig was right behind me arranging yet another load of camping gear on the other side of the garage.  Scout Camp requires a whole different set of gear apparently, so he didn't re-use anything the girls had brought home.  We all tried really hard not to mingle the incoming stuff with the outgoing stuff.

Craig is quite meticulous about his checklists and preparation for Scout Camp.  This is his third year so he has it down to a very orderly and error-free science.  He's been in Scout Master mode since the middle of last week when he returned from his business trip and could officially start packing, stop shaving, and let the pre-camping beard-growing begin.  (I asked him why on earth he would want to have a full beard in 100 degree Texas weather, but he says that it's less surface area to have to spray sunscreen on...oh, the intricate workings of the mind of a Scout Master...)

We got very little sleep last night knowing that we would have an EARLY morning today.  (Why does that always happen?  Whenever I have to wake up earlier than usual, I spend the entire night checking the clock and counting down the number of hours still left to sleep.)

We both got up at 4:00am.  Craig jumped in the shower and loaded the last of his gear into the Jeep, and I threw 24 breakfast sandwiches into the oven to heat for the boys' breakfast.  (That's sounds like I'm so awesome, doesn't it?  Well, I didn't actually MAKE the sandwiches.  I only heated them.  And it's a TWO HOUR drive.  I may not be a Scout Master, but I know that when boys' tummies have been awake longer than an hour, they're gonna be looking around for food!.)  The night before, the girls helped me decorate little lunch bags with the boys' and drivers' names on them so that everyone could fill them this morning with a little snack for the road.  I packed the early morning picnic into the back of the van and met everyone right as they arrived at the church at 4:45am.  And since I was there, I just happened to bring my camera along to catch a BEFORE shot of the group as they embarked on their week long adventure.  

Aren't they perfect?  (I can say that because I don't have to spend a week camping with them.) I love these boys so much.  I love them because they are good boys and they work hard and listen to Craig and all of that.  But I love the collective group of them for what they are doing to my husband.  He has become more organized and meticulous in the three years  he's spent in this calling, but he's also become more compassionate and kind than I've ever known him to be.  He works as hard on their Sunday lessons at church as he does on making their camping experiences great.  He has taught them not only to pack efficiently and "leave no trace" at a campsite, but also to recognize the Spirit, be examples of righteousness, and not be afraid to proclaim the gospel in their daily lives.  He's genuinely interested in helping these boys not just become Eagle Scouts, but to eventually become great men.  And in the process of doing that, he is becoming a greater man right along with them.  It is an inspiring thing to witness.  

I'm grateful for this opportunity that Craig has to spend a week bonding with these boys and a few of their dads, and I look forward to all the stories he'll bring home with him on Saturday.

P.S.  Just so you don't get a false impression about my amazingness, I want you to know that  when I got home at 5:15am, I jumped right back into bed and slept until 10:00am.  And then I read a book until people started looking for me around 11:00am.  I'm not always productive and in motion.  

Memorial Day Drive

This morning, around 11:00, Craig and I found ourselves home alone with no children.  They were all occupied with friends and wouldn't be home for the rest of the day.  So, we snuck off for a little drive on a gorgeous spring day in Dallas.  

Craig has been dying to get out to Camp Trevor Rees Jones where his scouts will be having their annual week long scout camp next month.  He likes to survey the land and practice the drive and check out the surroundings so he knows exactly what to plan for.  

We had lunch on the way out and stopped in to check on a pair of shoes I desperately needed at Kohls.  They had my size AND they were on sale.  

Oops, I was writing about a drive wasn't I?

OK...back on track now...

Look at this beautiful scenery...and within just a couple of hours from our house.  It was just gorgeous at this camp today.  Totally quiet, no scouts yet, cool breezes, pretty wildflowers everywhere.  I found myself slightly envious of those boys who get to spend a whole week out here next month.  And then I accidentally disrupted an ant hill, started sneezing, and realized that I'm an indoor girl (who greatly appreciates the outdoors...but more from INSIDE the car.)

Seeing an alligator was one of the things on my list of stuff I wanted to do today.  

Why would anyone do that??  Did you see the mouth on that thing up there?

That whole little log was filled with turtles basking in the sun.  But these guys are super skiddish, and as we got closer they jumped off into the safety of the water.

I'm so grateful for all the beautiful things that surround us.  It's harder to find them sometimes in Dallas than it used to be in Utah, but there are plenty of them.  So glad I brought my camera today.

And here's what my mother is doing today to celebrate Memorial Day in Hawaii...this is so cool!  Every year, they have this amazing lantern festival to remember family and friends who have passed away.  They buy a lantern and write the names of all the people they want to remember on the sides of the lantern along with little love notes and messages.  

Ralph and Irene are Chris' parents (my birth grandparents.)  Irene was my adopted mom's best friend.

Krash was my mother's husband.  He died of colon cancer in 2010.

Then they take these beautiful little lanterns and set them on little floating platforms (like surfboards) and they float them in the ocean.  They've been doing this off the Ala Moana Beach in Oahu for 14 years.  Thousands of lighted memorials floating on the water.  

Doesn't this just make you ache to be in Hawaii tonight?  ...me too

I'm so grateful for all the people who have come before me to pave the way for all the opportunities I have and my children will have.  

Happy Memorial Day.  Hope you had a great weekend.  

Wicked!

Have I kept you waiting long enough?  I had no idea how many texts people would send asking to know in advance what the big surprise was.  Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted.  Thanks for being so patient.  :)

The older the kids get, the more difficult it is to pull off surprises for them.  Gone are the days when we could say, "Jump in the car.  We have a surprise for you!" and have little children just jump into the car.  

Now when we say that, they say things like this...

"ugh...like what kind of a surprise?  because all my friends are outside playing basketball."

Yesterday, as each of the kids got home from school, we strongly suggested that they change into cute, dressy clothes and be prepared to go to dinner.   We were peppered with four separate rounds of questions.

"Why do we have to put on fancy clothes just to go out to dinner?"
"How long will we be gone?  I have homework tonight."
"Where are we going?  Cuz I might rather just stay home and have Ramen noodles."
"Are we moving!!??"

This is the reason I do not plan surprises.  

Finally, after coercing McKay into a pair of khakis and the girls into dresses, and making one quick little detour to Firestone to have a dead battery replaced in the Jeep, we were off to our surprise.  

First stop...dinner.  Only Megan has ever been to this place, which was shocking to us because we really thought we had taken all of the kids there at some point in their little lives. Apparently we hadn't.  They were thrilled.

The six of us split three entrees and an appetizer so that we would have room for dessert.  (How am I ever going to stick with that DO NOT CONSUME list, if there is always some special occasion requiring cheesecake!?)

I think the kids would have been completely content knowing that cheesecake had been their big surprise tonight.  When we got back in the van, they all thanked us profusely and settled in for a nice long car ride back home.  (hee hee...)

When Craig drove to Fairpark, they were all so distracted by the ferris wheel, 

...that no one noticed the giant WICKED banner hanging on all the entrance gates.  Phew...

We parked and no one had any idea what we were getting out to see, but they were happily satiated with cheesecake, so they didn't really care.  

We walked right up the stairs and into the theater before anyone realized what we were doing.  And then, they saw the signs, and the crowds, and the Elphaba-green decor, and they started squealing.  Really, there were squeals!

Emma watched Craig pull the tickets out of his pocket and said, "No way!  Daddy, are you joking??  Are we seriously going to SEE Wicked!?"

We had SO much fun!  Our seats were awesome.  I remembered to bring both MY glasses and Megan's so that we wouldn't miss one incredible detail.  The music from this show was already seared into our music-filled brains, so watching it come to life on that stage, and having the show fill in all the details of the story for us was AMAZING!  The kids have never seen a professional musical.  They grew up on a little stage at the Old Barn Theater in Cache Valley, but this was a slightly bigger production than anything they've ever seen.  They had NO IDEA how awesome it would be.  They were glued to their seats for the entire 2 1/2 hours and reluctant to leave when it was over.  

Here's what we heard on the way home...

"Thanks Daddy, that was so AWESOME!"

"I can't believe you had the tickets for two whole months and didn't tell us!"

"It was really good.  Totally worth putting on khakis for."

And just before she fell asleep in the van, Savannah posted this on Instagram...

Amazing night!  I'm so grateful to have a husband who thinks to make everything a surprise.  And who doesn't mind all the complaining and questioning on the way there.  

Connemara Eagle Project

This morning, the Scout Master took Megan and McKay to Connemara to help with an Eagle Project for one of the boys in our ward.  

McKay went because he loves hanging out with the older boys and his dad, and because he will jump at any chance to use a hatchet.  

Megan went because she LOVES Connemara and she might also love that boy who was working on his Eagle project.  (Not like LOVEY DOVEY kind of love, but like SUPER good friends kind of love, you know?)

Really, how can you NOT love this gorgeous little piece of nature right in the middle of all of our Allen civilization??

OK, here was the project.  (This makes me get a little weepy, it's such a great thing to do.)  So there were all these little stray trees on the property that were in the wrong locations...like those little saplings that just spring up in wrong places.  

photo courtesy of Chad King

photo courtesy of Chad King

photo courtesy of Chad King

So all the boys (and Megan) dug them up, cut them down, and dragged them over to big piles like these...

Eventually when the leaves die and wither away, the piles will look like these little huts...

There is a large population of coyotes in the area and at night the bunnies are pretty vulnerable prey for them, so these little "bunny huts" provide shelter.  They're large enough for bunnies to sneak into, but too small for coyotes.  And all the thorny branches are not very appealing for those coyotes either, so they keep moving, and the bunnies are safe for another night.  Isn't that awesome?? The boy scouts spent the day clearing debris AND saving bunnies from coyotes.  I love that!  And I'm sure the bunnies will, too.

via

There was a great turn out for this activity, lots of future Eagle scouts and a handful of leaders helping, so they finished the projected 3 hour job in less than 2 hours!  And now all he has left to do is the paperwork...hooray!  One more Eagle about to leave the nest.  Craig is so proud of all these boys.  (Can you see the glowing pride?)

What a great service project to be a part of.  I'm so proud of my little environmentalist Megan who couldn't keep herself away from an opportunity to work at Connemara.  I see lots of GREEN greatness in her future...

photo courtesy of Chad King