I can’t believe I’ve gotten so far behind on posting here…I still haven’t published all the fun details of our end-of-summer family reunion to Bear Lake!
October was a whirlwind and I can’t believe Halloween is next week. Usually, our month is chock-full of trunk-or-treats, parties, pumpkin patches and corn mazes but we haven’t done anything here besides Jamie’s pumpkin party and two weigh-offs (which are a bit of a letdown compared to Colorado). There aren’t many seasonal opportunities in our new area and the kids just aren’t as into it all as they were when they were little. Cue the mourning. Hadley doesn’t even want to go trick-or-treating this year but I hope to convince them both to hit Park City’s Main Street because they do a fun event after school on Halloween.
A few updates:
Our ward (congregation) is like our extended family and we’ve been blessed with a great one in Midway. A couple of weeks ago, our stake (organized from a group of contiguous wards) was split into two stakes and two new wards were added in our little town (yes, it’s growing that much here!) Everyone’s boundaries were realigned and we were so relieved to stay with all of our friends!
We spent a glorious fall break in California last week!! We’re still paying off all our car problems from last summer but when I was invited to spend a few days at the ocean by their visitor’s bureau, we jumped at the chance to go on the cheap. And then Jamie’s car (our only functioning vehicle) broke down in Vegas while en route (just another reason to hate that place) so we have even more expenses. It’s starting to feel like we’ll never catch up and it’s tough to not feel disheartened by this.. But I would like to actually have grass someday, maybe even a finished basement, dental work done for the kids and oh, I don’t know, how about a car that works? I’d really hoped to go home to Canada for Christmas but my Pilot is totally out of commission (it’s sitting in our garage until we can afford to replace it) and there’s no way Jamie’s Camry can endure the winter driving conditions to Canada. I try to remind myself it’s only been a year since our move and these things take time. And patience. But right now, I have too much time and zero patience!
Fall has been glorious so that has meant a lot of hikes with friends and family. I had a magazine assignment with AAA EnCompass Magazine. Once that wrapped and I found out I didn’t get that BYU job, I tried to spend as much time in the outdoors as possible. Free therapy!
Having two middle schoolers is no joke. OK, more like one 13-year-old girl. Bode is still easy but I have no doubt once the hormones kick in, he will have struggles of his own. We’ve been battling boyfriends, grades, cell phone obsessions and so much more with The Girl. During our trip to California, we put a kibosh on screentime and it was glorious to just be together and gave me hope there there is still a human inside that teenager. Somewhere.
Bode wrapped his short soccer season. We’re so pleased he still wants to play rec vs. selling our souls to competitive. He’s the superstar on his team, which (in my opinion) is a lot better than being an average player in an ultra-competitive league and being required to travel all the time without guaranteed playtime. I’m quite happy as a mediocre soccer mom! He scored four goals on his last game, a great way to end the season.
I’m not in a super great place right now and am frustrated by my lack of direction, my persisting knee problems and how out of shape I am because I can’t exercise without pain. I still have all my work out of Denver but I’m ready to move on and nothing is coming together here (and our finances aren’t helping my frustration). I’m not the kind of person who waits for things to happen but that’s what I’m being required to do.
My BFF Lori’s son got married a couple of weeks ago and I had an awesome chat with her sister, Leslie. She is one whose life hasn’t worked out how she planned but has made a tremendous go of it. “I’ve found that the answers don’t always come when or how you want them to,” she said and then made a very insightful comment: “However, I can promise you that when you pray for Peace, He will always grant you that, even if answers aren’t coming.”
Peace Out. Here’s to getting caught up and life figured out.
XO
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 