Every so often, I get the urge to tell one of my kids' birth stories. Today is Johnathan's turn. I scanned some photos of his Birth Day and became quite emotional looking at our younger selves, his and mine.
Johnathan
A Once-a-Month Groove
September 3, 2014 • Evan, friends, grandmothering, Jeff and Ashlyn, Johnathan, kids, Sam, travel
And now it's September.
I'm in Provo, Utah, enjoying views of mountains and the sights and sounds of a 9-month old that I love. I'm watching smart, capable men take care of their loved ones and earn money and start another year of school. I'm marveling that those men are my children. My little ones, all grown up.
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| My Four Cougars |
Let's start on August 6. First, I went to Chicago, then to North Carolina, then on to Utah.
Chicago found me pleasantly consumed by the bustle of teaching at Stitches Midwest for 4 days, then by Sunday evening, reunited with family to celebrate the birthdays of my mother in law and her sister. My kids (except Sara in Brazil) all came to Chicago for the party, so I was with all the boys, Ashlyn and the baby Granddarling. That is called Bliss, in case you are wondering.
My mother-in-law broke her foot the day of the party so she was casted up and a bit off her game for the festivities, but I think it was good for her to see everyone. She stayed with us at my sister-in-law's house for her initial recovery so we actually got more time with her than we might have otherwise, so in the end, it was a good twist.
Now, keep up for this part. We drove home from Chicago on a Wednesday (the 13th). On Friday, Eric and Ev drove to North Carolina to a lovely lake called Norman and a perfect Arts and Crafts style home to visit some friends. On Sunday, I loaded up two more friends and drove down to meet my people and these new friends and stay in this glorious house by a lake. On Monday morning, Eric drove back to Maryland so he could get on a plane that afternoon to fly to EUROPE for work in The Netherlands and a quick visit with my brother in Germany. On Wednesday, Evan, Measu and Carolyn and I drove back to Maryland.
Are you with me? It's now the 20th. But here are some photos of the lovely lake called Norman. In NorCar.
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| This is not Lake Norman. It's actually a town square in The Netherlands. The tiny people you see in the middle are Eric, my brother and his family. Eric texted me from a restaurant there knowing that I keep a link to a webcam to this town and sure enough, we could see them! |
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| THIS is Lake Norman. Tranquility, thy name is Norman. |
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| This is not Lake Norman. These are Giraffes at a local safari park. They were awesome. |
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| Evan thought so too. |
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| We loved Lake Norman. |
Then on that Friday, Gwen came from California to grace our home with her humor, friendship and wonderful personality. I love it when she stays with us. She's pretty much been adopted. You can read all about that week here.
We're up to the 27th. Time flies when you're having fun, right?
On the 28th I got up at 0-dark-30 and went (by the generosity of Eric) to an airport in Virginia to fly to Utah. Later that morning, Evan got in a plane in Maryland and got to SLC about 2 hours after me. We loaded up our stuff in a tiny rental car with a great sound system and the logical name of Sonic.
That same day, since we flew backwards in time and had the whole day still before us, we saw Ashlyn and baby A for lunch at Stan's Drive In. We checked Ev into his dorm, did some unpacking and made the list for the BIG Target run. Along the way we met up with Johnathan and Kristen, and they came to Target and helped us get the big shopping done. Yay for double-teaming a big list of dorm essentials. Sam came when he was done with his day helping at new student orientation and in a stunning hour of decisions, many texts, frantic driving and good luck, we got pizza for dinner AND Evan got a job for the semester. I know. I live a magical life.
It's not quite the end of August yet, but the days have been packed, so I'll let you rest before I catch you up to now. Plus, the darling A is up from her nap and it's time for me to play.
As I mentioned yesterday, I left Johnathan in Provo to get on with his life. Dang. He's been part of the dailies here in the little white house with the red door for about a year and a half since he got home from his mission, and I miss him. Right now I'll be fine for the most part, then the feeling comes at me from around the corner as I think something like "I wonder if Johnathan will be home for lunch-I'll make such and such" and I almost go to text him and I remember. Oh. Right. You see, it really is daily stuff. I just like having him around. We talked all the time. His job kept him coming and going during the days and I loved the constance of his inconstant presence. He always showed up just in time when the quiet started pressing on my ears.
As always, the great dichotomy of motherhood is that we miss them, but we thrill to every evidence of their independence and success. Yes, so it is. I have a moment of awareness each night when I realize that I can lock the deadbolt instead of leaving it open when I go to bed because Johnathan is not out late with friends. Then I hope he still is, but remember that he won't be coming home to this house after I'm settled in my jammies and coming up to say good night because he knows I don't sleep till they're all home, even the 22-year olds. As it should be. Really. It's time. He's ready. It's good. He needs to live in a sketchy student apartment again and meet new people and have occasional Sunday dinners with Jeff and Ashlyn and go skiing if he wants and try rock climbing with his cousin and feel free and strong. It is what I want for him. It's just inevitable that there will be some adjustment and I probably will end up perplexing him with a random text or two asking him when he'll be home and can he pick up something at the supermarket on the way. I've grown accustomed to his face.
I'm ever so grateful that I took the time to drive with him and see his steadiness, his focus on tasks at hand, to laugh along with him and listen to his music and share in the amazement we both felt at seeing the Rocky Mountains. He listened to The Poisonwood Bible with me and seemed to enjoy it. He's just good like that. Sensitive and present.
In the end though, and most importantly, this step is a triumph for him. His admittance to the university of his choice came after long years of hard work and desire. It was not an automatic thing, and I really, truly would not have him here under my wing. As easy as our relationship is, he was still a caged bird and was straining for freedom.
So, I think I'll go listen to this a few times and be glad he's made it up into his very own sky. That makes it worth it.
As always, the great dichotomy of motherhood is that we miss them, but we thrill to every evidence of their independence and success. Yes, so it is. I have a moment of awareness each night when I realize that I can lock the deadbolt instead of leaving it open when I go to bed because Johnathan is not out late with friends. Then I hope he still is, but remember that he won't be coming home to this house after I'm settled in my jammies and coming up to say good night because he knows I don't sleep till they're all home, even the 22-year olds. As it should be. Really. It's time. He's ready. It's good. He needs to live in a sketchy student apartment again and meet new people and have occasional Sunday dinners with Jeff and Ashlyn and go skiing if he wants and try rock climbing with his cousin and feel free and strong. It is what I want for him. It's just inevitable that there will be some adjustment and I probably will end up perplexing him with a random text or two asking him when he'll be home and can he pick up something at the supermarket on the way. I've grown accustomed to his face.
I'm ever so grateful that I took the time to drive with him and see his steadiness, his focus on tasks at hand, to laugh along with him and listen to his music and share in the amazement we both felt at seeing the Rocky Mountains. He listened to The Poisonwood Bible with me and seemed to enjoy it. He's just good like that. Sensitive and present.
In the end though, and most importantly, this step is a triumph for him. His admittance to the university of his choice came after long years of hard work and desire. It was not an automatic thing, and I really, truly would not have him here under my wing. As easy as our relationship is, he was still a caged bird and was straining for freedom.
So, I think I'll go listen to this a few times and be glad he's made it up into his very own sky. That makes it worth it.
I'm back.
Good thing, too. Stuff really stacks up when I don't write for a while. I realized I never did write about my birthday (the day of the great Mid-Atlantic Earthquake of 2011). Just before the Hurricane and my trip to Chicago I turned 45 and celebrated by spending the day at the Baltimore Zoo with my kids (I've lived here 41 years and had never been to that zoo). My daughter and her friend were sitting down, so they felt and saw the mighty temblor, but Evan and I were walking around and talking so we were utterly oblivious. We feel quite gypped. It took about 30 minutes for the communication airwaves to clear enough to start getting the texts and calls to make sure we were all okay. We were. Eric was as well, though his building in Alexandria, VA got evacuated and then traffic tangled up to a tense little ball and it took everyone forever to get home. We're a little jumpy here in D.C., give us a break. The highlight of the day was my brother wishing me a happy Birthquake. He's clever that way. All in all, it was a fun day spent strolling with my kids, talking to far away loved ones and listening to my phone beep every few minutes as it told me of my facebook birthday wishes. I do enjoy living in this fascinating modern age. Thanks again 3 weeks later. I love you all back.
The nose is healing well. I think the scar will be nearly unnoticeable. It is already very faint, even while it is still in the midst of healing. Yesterday at church someone commented that my Voldemort bandage is gone. Good news all around there. I have had some headache problems, which is why I've not written much, but it's better every day.
Last weekend, we ran away on a whim to a small town in Western New York State called Palmyra. It is a place of spiritual significance to members of my faith plus it's just a peaceful, beautiful place. It is where a boy named Joseph Smith was confused about religion so he said a prayer and God answered his prayer in a pretty special way. It was gorgeous there. We learned a lot and remembered things that we already know. We met a missionary there who has been called to serve as a Facebooking and Blogging missionary. That was something new for me, so even I learned something. I love that.
One of the days, Eric and all the kids went up to Niagara Falls while I stayed at the little rental house and rested and knitted and got a large number of wedding photos processed. While they were out I made homemade lasagna totally from scratch (even the sauce) and was able to just savor the slow joy of good cooking without a particular time frame. It's one of my best memories of the weekend, since, over my lifetime, most of the dinners have been cooked under a certain amount of pressure between helping with homework and getting somewhere for the evening. I don't even feel like I missed out on the day at the falls because being alone in a quiet place was exactly what I needed.
Now we've had the second week of school and routine is starting to build its comforting walls around our activities. Things will go crazy occasionally, but now those routines will help us stay roughly on track. It's one of the good things about school.
Enjoy a few photos, but please remember that I was not actually in Niagara Falls. All the fun, beautiful shots at the falls are the work of my darling friend Stephanie. She's the dark-haired beauty that you'll notice in the photos with Johnathan below. I took all the rest of the photos.
Good thing, too. Stuff really stacks up when I don't write for a while. I realized I never did write about my birthday (the day of the great Mid-Atlantic Earthquake of 2011). Just before the Hurricane and my trip to Chicago I turned 45 and celebrated by spending the day at the Baltimore Zoo with my kids (I've lived here 41 years and had never been to that zoo). My daughter and her friend were sitting down, so they felt and saw the mighty temblor, but Evan and I were walking around and talking so we were utterly oblivious. We feel quite gypped. It took about 30 minutes for the communication airwaves to clear enough to start getting the texts and calls to make sure we were all okay. We were. Eric was as well, though his building in Alexandria, VA got evacuated and then traffic tangled up to a tense little ball and it took everyone forever to get home. We're a little jumpy here in D.C., give us a break. The highlight of the day was my brother wishing me a happy Birthquake. He's clever that way. All in all, it was a fun day spent strolling with my kids, talking to far away loved ones and listening to my phone beep every few minutes as it told me of my facebook birthday wishes. I do enjoy living in this fascinating modern age. Thanks again 3 weeks later. I love you all back.
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| I love those smiles at the antics of the bird. You're just never too old for the zoo. |
Last weekend, we ran away on a whim to a small town in Western New York State called Palmyra. It is a place of spiritual significance to members of my faith plus it's just a peaceful, beautiful place. It is where a boy named Joseph Smith was confused about religion so he said a prayer and God answered his prayer in a pretty special way. It was gorgeous there. We learned a lot and remembered things that we already know. We met a missionary there who has been called to serve as a Facebooking and Blogging missionary. That was something new for me, so even I learned something. I love that.
One of the days, Eric and all the kids went up to Niagara Falls while I stayed at the little rental house and rested and knitted and got a large number of wedding photos processed. While they were out I made homemade lasagna totally from scratch (even the sauce) and was able to just savor the slow joy of good cooking without a particular time frame. It's one of my best memories of the weekend, since, over my lifetime, most of the dinners have been cooked under a certain amount of pressure between helping with homework and getting somewhere for the evening. I don't even feel like I missed out on the day at the falls because being alone in a quiet place was exactly what I needed.
Now we've had the second week of school and routine is starting to build its comforting walls around our activities. Things will go crazy occasionally, but now those routines will help us stay roughly on track. It's one of the good things about school.
Enjoy a few photos, but please remember that I was not actually in Niagara Falls. All the fun, beautiful shots at the falls are the work of my darling friend Stephanie. She's the dark-haired beauty that you'll notice in the photos with Johnathan below. I took all the rest of the photos.
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| I love this Sara Smile under a rainbow. |
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| Sister Vaterlaus, the darling missionary who took us on our tour of the printing shop where the Book of Mormon was first made. |
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| It matters a lot to me that this book was published, available for anyone to read and find out about. |
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| This is a Lake Stone House! For me, the collector of bits and bobs from the shores of all bodies of water, this would be heaven! Look at all the variety and color of these stones. I loved this. |
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| A very old tree. Old enough to have been a witness to all that happened on this farm in 1820. |
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| Barn. Light. Beautiful. |
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| Even bored teens look awesome in barn light. |
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| Barns are even cool on the outside. |
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| The Sacred Grove. If you don't know what that is, you can find out here. |
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| This place really is extraordinary. You should go. |
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| This was the light that broke through as we climbed the Hill Cumorah. Seriously. |
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| And a rainbow over the temple. For me, beautiful skies are a very tangible way of feeling God's love, so these moments were meaningful for me. I'm so grateful I've been blessed with the ability to express a bit of what I feel in photos. |
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| This was the view out the window for the whole of the 6-hour drive home. Turned out it was the view for about another whole week. Welcome back, sun. |
Sara and Johnathan returned home from Spain on Monday.
They slept.
And talked.
And waited for their new-found friends to come.
And on Wednesday, those friends did come.
All the way from Madrid.
Later than planned, and tired and not used to the humidity.
But smiling and gracious.
I like them both so much, Jorge and Sergio.
The house is full again-5 kids here and lots to do:
Late nights and welcome meetings and swimming and visits to the city-we've been busy.
It will be gone in a blink, so I want to remember it all.
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| Johnathan was first off the bus when they arrived home on Monday. |
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| Sara saw Evan and dropped her bag... |
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| and ran straight to him. |
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| On Wednesday the Spanish kids arrived and there were many reunions. |
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| Welcome Sergio! We still need a photo with Jorge, one of the Spanish chaperones, who is also staying with us. |
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| Friday was a big party at Splashdown, a local pool with a rocking waterslide... |
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| And a rope swing. |
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| And room for everyone to have a big, splashy visit. |
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| Johnathan on the rope. |
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| Jorge swishes out of the slide tube. |
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| Johnathan does his best Superman impression. |
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| While Sara looks more like an angel when she flies. |
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| We love this photo both because of Ev's awesome flipping skills AND the looks on the faces of the women in the background. |
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| Today we went into Baltimore to check out Artscape. We took the Light Rail train which is sooo slow but easier than trying to park downtown. |
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| Artscape had all you would imagine a street festival to have: Sights to see... |
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| Hawaiian ices to savor... |
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| Time to spend together... |
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| and of course, Five-dollar lemonade that you can't resist because your water bottle is empty and it's so hot. |
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| The train on the way home was crowded-we had to stand for the first 20 minutes. |
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| On the way out of the city, you see everything from the urban landscape |
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to the wetlands of the Patapsco River... |
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| Sometimes you have to wait for the next train to get to your station. |
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| But when you're with friends, both new and old, it's all good. |
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