Summer Lovin'

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I mean no offense to my husband.

But at the start of this summer I felt like I was staring down the barrel of a hot, lonely, slinking slow three months with three children, a newborn and a husband who was going to be gone most of the time. And I did not want to carry on.

So I rallied my family for help. I hired Hillary our afternoon nanny. I served food only on things made of paper or (sorry) plastic. Costco catered most all of our meals. I made room in my schedule to take care of myself physically and emotionally. Compassionate friends were called in to guide me through a spiritual transition. We made the most of the Saturdays when Christopher was in town. We didn't miss a date night. Anson and Ever went to BYU Summer Preschool with Miss Dorie and Mr. Brad and loved every single second of it. Erin and I had daily dates at the computer where we'd share an hour of me writing on one monitor and her watching Bob the Train on the other. And the baby slept a lot and grew cheeks to rival the watermelons we ate during sticky afternoons on the back porch.

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It's been a glorious summer. I've been incredibly taken care of. I am in awe of how peaceful the past few months have been. I beat the postpartum blues and kept running. And I did it without my spouse. I even took all four children swimming by myself yesterday. Who am I anymore?

And so, I don't mean to say this summer was great because my husband was gone for most of it, but learning to cope on my own has done wonders for my confidence.

(But August has never been known to pull punches in our family, and every so often I feel the heavy air of an August tragedy. It's just the way things sort of hang still this month waiting for the sun to drain the last drops of summer. I am a skeptic of August. I breathe better when it's over.)

We only have two weeks left before school starts and things change. So we're attempting daily adventures to put that last punctuation on our summer. Today we went to the BYU MOA to see the Cut! Costume and the Cinema exhibit. Then we explored for a few hours making quilt tiles at the Iran and Pakistan fabric display and climbing over the Micheal Whiting 8-bit modern sculptures in the gardens.We even got a sneak peek at the Kim Schoenstadt Provo mural in process. And Iris had a in-stroller nap, which is also good for her cheek growth.

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And now it's time to go make spaghetti and meatballs.



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