8/6/23

SO good to talk to you this week! Here's our quick rundown of the week: Anne's Tennis tryouts--after already making the highest pool of 10 people, she won 4-6 games against EVERY against every player, hopefully securing her spot on VARSITY!! (I told her if she weren't my daughter, I'd almost be disgusted that she could be this good even without practicing her brains out for years!) Then RAIN (tons of rain! I felt like we were connecting to you in Colombia!) came and delayed things, so hopefully they'll finish up placement tomorrow morning (before we take her to FSY!) Lucy Friend Party here at our house! I was excited cooking burgers and cutting watermelon, but when the crowd of 13yo girls arrived, wrestling, throwing water, and making SO.MUCH.NOISE, I was soon trying not to be the grumpy mom saying, "Inside voices!" and "Time to go HOME. NOW!" When Anne dropped by with her friend, I just hugged her and said, "I never appreciated how wonderful you are!" BLOCK PARTY!!! hosted by Hyer's Friday night--we had such a fun potluck bbq night with lots of neighbors we don't necessarily see all that often, and the weather was FABULOUS! Bridal Shower for Andre's fiance--made taco salads at Joan's house, and had a fun visiting night (we have the BEST women!!!--& love the 60 year age range!) then Dad & I went down to a wedding reception for his boss's son. Cleaning out bathroom and basement storage closets (how did we get so many sheets??) while Seth tested the humidifiers and kept busy doing a puzzle from the thrift store. Had another big run to DI and took the kids to see Little Mermaid, which was SO FUN to see on the big screen since I remember LOVING it as a teenager! Duncan family reunion!!!! We had a big picnic day at a gorgeous park in East Layton with tons of Duncan cousins, sang Happy Birthday to Grandpa for his 80th BIRTHDAY!!! (Todd & Analisa stayed with Grandma so he could drive down with his sister). Those (8 of 9) siblings all lined up & and answered questions like what kind of cars did their parents drive? and what their favorite childhood memories were? (SO many about WORK! and LOVE!), we had the candy jar guesses, the family auction (which included a REAL yellow lab PUPPY!!!), and sawdust piles for kids to dig for prizes like Great Grandpa used to do. Maddie brought the boys up, we picked up Emily off FrontRunner, and B&B came too, so it was SO fun relaxing together (Anne & I won candy jars, and Jane won the golden pineapple for picking up the most garbage at the end: 103 wrappers!). I just love the strength of being together. THEN, Emily FINALLY said we could meet Derek, and we drove her to SLC where she was meeting him for a concert, and ate our favorite German sandwiches at Siegfried's with them (and Derek's younger brother). He even ordered some Borscht that we all tried since he had so much in Ukraine. It was really fun being together--my favorite was when Emily kept trying to jump out of the van to run meet him before we parked, and I almost cried when this German looking gentleman that followed us out of the restaurant came over just to tell us what a beautiful family we had. Good days! Even with a rocky headache Friday/Saturday, Seth's friend pooping in the basement, and lots of piles that still need to be put away. We talked a lot today in SS about how life is full of messy moments, but it is PART of the JOY. I found a family letter this afternoon full of "Brentcapades" when Brent was about Seth's age--it was a FULL week of him throwing stuffed animals into the ceiling fan, pouring cups of water down the stairs, dumping out cocoa mixes on the floor, and rubbing diaper cream and hand sanitizer on shelves and Spencer's head, and even though it pushed me to tears then, reading it now I thought, "Ah, none of that's too big of a deal!--I've definitely seen worse!" & it gave me hope that things that seem crushing now may be no big deal later on. Time has a beautiful way of calming a lot of things down. A cousin posted this quote I love "Above all, trust in the slow work of God" -Peirre Teilhard de Chardin There are SO MANY things that seem hopeless, disastrous, and not at all successful in the moment that are growing into so much goodness. Just looking at how different Brent's life is from those toddler antics gives me hope, but so does how much less those kinds of messes upset me, and that helps when I think of how I could improve with patience with the 13yo girls! Growth and goodness are just slow, gradual things, but they DO come. That man who commented on our beautiful family was also there as the kids were arguing over which gummi candy they would buy (and I told them none!). Great things rarely come in neat packages. God IS so aware of us in our little day by days, and is growing so many great blessings as we walk with Him. Those great things out of small and simple things is one of my favorite principles since so much of my life is small and simple. Because there is also a lot of greatness, and I wish I could've calmed down sooner about things I thought were failing. Hope you're seeing joy in the small and simple too as you're muddling through SO much change in language, culture, experiences!! (and SEND PICTURES!!!) Love you so so much, Mom