A New Post....Finally!

Yes, I have been a complete blog-slacker these past few weeks! I was head-long into my mid-life crises and have yet to completely come out of it. It probably doesn't help that some of my families traditions are ending this year, as my Grandma is selling her house and the surrounding property where my Dad has his garden. The garden has provided years of hard work experience for all of us (this is where we learned to work!) and in the past 25+ years, has provided pumpkins (enough to give away each Columbus Day which is now officially "Pumpkin Harvest Day") and in the past 8 years has produced enough vegetables during the summer that we've participated in the Ogden Farmer's Market. Well, tomorrow is the last Farmer's Market. I'm trying to be an adult about this, but I am a girl that does NOT do well with any type of change and this will be a hard one. My parents have been unbelieveably generous with their time and produce and 8 years ago when we started the Farmer's Market, they let Derk & I keep all the money! We've since "shared the wealth" so to speak and all of us have participated this summer in one way or another. I have absolutely loved the time I've spent at the market. Derk & I started when we were both single and have spent our summer mornings there since then. I added Blair six years ago, then Abby the next year and they both have grown to love it as much as me. We still have "regulars" from the very beginning and I think next year when people figure out that the green beans are gone, there will be much mourning! And...if that wasn't bad enough...October 8th will be the last "Pumpkin Harvest Day." I made the certificates tonight that my parents will hand out during the upcoming week. I am sooooooo grateful for parents that loved us enough to give us these great opportunities. I only hope I am HALF as good as them and hopefully will be able to provide some good things for Abby. For some reason I can't upload any pictures tonight, so I'll have to try again later. I guess as our old traditions die, new ones will be born...it will be interesting to see what we can create!

Mid-Life Crises

So, two things happened today that I thought deserved some "blogging time." I was on my way to pick up Abby after work and saw three pre-teen girls at the crosswalk on State & South Temple. They were probably around 12-13 years old and were just normal little girls, probably on their way home from school. I was sitting at the red light looking at them and wondering if their moms were worried about them, coming home through downtown all by themselves and how pretty soon I would be that mom, worried about Abby making her way home from school alone. Then, tonight on our way home from Riverdale, Abby & I were listening to Ben Folds (a favorite for us both) and heard the lyric from "Still Fighting It"..."everybody knows it hurts to grow up, but everybody does" and suddenly it hit me...maybe the reason we haven't been able to have another baby is because I probably couldn't handle all this growing up! Having Abby start kindergarten has awakened so many things for me...all conflicting emotions. I am unbeliveably proud of her -- how smart she is, how capable and independent, how much she knows about the world already, but I am also mourning the loss of baby Abby, 18-month-old Abby and all the things I didn't get to do with her. Of course, the "working mom guilt" is probably ten millions times more than it usually is and I find myself stopping several times during the morning and wondering what she is doing at kindergarten. I think if we had more kids, this would just be compounded to the point that I just might have a mid-life crises! I wonder if all moms feel this way, even moms who get to stay home. Probably, right? Just part of the fun of being a mom. In tribute to the Abby of the past...here she is, the summer before I went back to work. She was and still is the best thing on the planet!

Abby, Soccer Girl!

We are having lots of "firsts" with Abby lately. First day of kindergarten, first day riding the bus, and now today was the first day of soccer! She is on the "Lime Ladies" team and did an awesome job today! There are just six little girls on her team, so they all get plenty of time to play. Games are only 20 minutes long because they are still little, but it was so fun to see her play! She loved it (of course) and can't wait for next week when Blair will get to see her play live and in person. It didn't take me long to turn into a "soccer mom", yelling direction and encouragement from the sidelines! Yikes! Karrie, Todd & Bridger came to watch which was really fun...Abby loved that she had her own cheerleaders! Here are a few pictures to illustrate the beginning of her illustrious soccer career!

Abby, before the game started

Chasing the ball....

Abby, kicking the ball!

Trying to get the ball away from the orange girls...

Almost the end of the game! Gotta score that last goal!

After a few errands and a short nap for Abby, we met Derk & Christine for lunch at the Greek Festival...my favorite! It was quite crowded, but as usual, I am grateful for an activity that brings people from literally every walk of life. I love hanging out with EVERYONE! This is Abby's fifth year (yep, she's been every year of her life!) and she's decided she likes the meatballs best. Mmmmm.....they are my favorite as well. OK, besides the diples of course, which I've decided to learn how to make this year. I have awesome Greek friends who have offered to teach me, so we'll see. Next week we might hit the State Fair...September is AWESOME!!!!!!!

The Fun Way to Do Labor Day

As many of you know, Blair & I have parents and grandparents who live relatively close (no, that pun was not intended) to each other. Because of this, we have the blessing of spending pretty much every holiday with BOTH families. And, because we started a fun tradition several Labor Days ago of breakfast at Ruth's Diner with Derk, and then the zoo...we have continued and this year we were lucky enough to have Laurel & Doug in town to accompany us to the zoo! This was Ethan's first time at the zoo and it was SOOOOOOOO fun to get to spend some time with them! It was Christine's first year of the tradition as well, and can I just say how truly AWESOME it is to have such a fun sister-in-law?

This is Blair & Abby (who was thrilled to be with her Dad at the zoo!)

Here are Derk & Christine, getting ready to check out the new baby monkey...(no, not Abby!)

This is Abby & Ethan, pretending to be birds in a nest!

Here is Ethan in the beaver dam...isn't he darling?

After the zoo, we headed for the cabin where Abby spent a few hours in the river -- truly one of her most FAVORITE things on the planet! She has plenty of cousins to play with and had a marvelous time!

Here she is, sitting in the river...this happened accidently, but then she said, "Mom! This is so fun! I'm going to keep sitting here all day!"

My cousin Pamela's son Zachary is Abby's friend and they LOVE playing in the tubes together...this time they found out they could do tricks!

It makes me laugh, only because I spent my entire childhood in this river, doing exactly what Abby thinks is so fun!

OK, last picture...this one is for Jon! Kristin & Blair's feet at the cabin!

We then headed for North Ogden for a BBQ at Randall's and a celebration of Josh's 16th Birthday! He got a lot of i-Tunes cards to add to his collection and a great time was had by all. So, another Labor Day gone...can anyone believe that summer is over? It will be LOVELY to have cooler weather, but I keep thinking of all the fun things I still want to do with Abby and the summer is gone. Ah, well...there are plenty of fun things to do in the fall and winter! This week starts the Greek Festival...one of my FAVORITE things on the planet! It starts Thursday night and continues through Sunday...let's just say I'll be there more than once and can't wait to visit the bakery! The State Fair starts as well, so I'm sure at some point Abby & I will be going down the giant yellow slide. I think it's time for bed now, good night all!