Jim's Birthday

Lately he's been rocking a mustache. 

We were sitting in Stake Conference, and Andrew looked at him and said "ew. you have a mustache".

I guess he hadn't noticed it even though it has existed for weeks? 

Avery lays on my lap and I braid her hair. 

This is the state of our external house.

The beams look so good thanks to Jim. 

Will the new house ever be finished? WILL IT? 

One of my favorite Sunday activities is the family forest walk. 

On Jim's actual birthday, we had the best day, start to finish. 

It was busy and full of outside fun with our friends...

starting with a Galbraith sesh with Hudson and Cooper while everyone else was at school. haha. 

I went for a run. ps did you know I'm training for the tri this year? next weekend. 

Look at this new sculpture at the beginning of a new trail that the boys all rave about. 

I stopped by Whatcom Falls after my run, going to pick up the boys from the North Side.

We used to visit here a lot when we first moved here. 

Then we hustled home to fetch the kids from school,

and headed to Mt Vernon to do the archery range. 

Joe gifted Jim this new upgrade of a bow. He is pretty stoked about that. 

There are so many arrows stuck in trees. 

On the way home Jim found a new app in his car that does car karaoke. 

We had so so much fun singing so so loud the whole way home.

Evan put up with it. haha

Everyone came over to have cake and ice cream (including Gus and Christopher who are excited that they are considered "buds" with "J-Dawg", and guess what dumb dog got into the pantry and licked/ate half of the sheet cake!?

Darn dog. 

Luckily we had enough for everyone to have an unlicked portion. 

The Big Bike School Upstairs

On the last day of Captain School, after he finished the last of his assignments and tests, Jim sent me this picture. 

Captain Jim. 

He came home and it was so luxurious to have him home. Pure luxury. 

Gold and diamonds and pearls of comfort to have him here to hug. 

It had been a scary and wild and lonely 12 days since he left. Relief when he walked in the door. 

Saturday me Lisa Jim Joe went to Galbraith for some Balm of Gilead.  

It felt so good to be back in our Saturday tradition. 

I asked the boys how their ride was when we met up back at the car, 

Joe said "therapeutic". 

Us gals ran to the overlook of El Pollo Elastico, and this beautiful scenery was there waiting for us. 

Is there not room enough in Adam andi ahman? 

We went home to our living room circled up, and Joe retold the whole awful, miraculous story. It was intense and sweaty to listen to.

There were so many levels of Hell. Dante's Inferno in the Yukon. 

Once Roland was taken via Ambulance, then jet, then helicopter to Vancouver, 

Joe Christine and Hans got a hotel room so they had access to a phone. 

Cell phones are obsolete up there, and Joe had to use a calling card. 

Dial a 9 to get out of the hotel, then the 800 number, then the calling card number, then the many hospital phone numbers. 

Over and over like a nightmare, he would dial the numbers. One hospital, then the next hospital, then the next. Hospitals all over the country - north south east west. None with any records of a Roland Stussi. 

Dial, dial, dial. Numbers numbers numbers. In a controlled panic. Tiny little numbers, over and over and over.

The bottom level of Hell. 

I sent this picture to Joe and Lisa when they were in the middle of Vancouver hospitals and house rentals. 

I sent this picture to Jim when he was in Florida in the middle of tests and sim sessions.

One Wednesday after soccer, I had gone to young womens, so Andrew was supposed to get a ride with the Wogans, but instead he jumped in the car with the Blacks. 

They went to dinner at Paso.

Lisa told me from the back seat Hunter asked Andrew "did you hear Roland got shot?"

And Andrew responded in the most metaphorical, vague way, 

"yes...so is he in the big bike school upstairs?"

and Hunter, who is Andrew's soulmate, somehow understood exactly what Andrew was referencing, and reassured, "no he's downstairs".

It's extra extra vague because Andrew was getting Roland confused with the other Uncle - Kyle. 

One time many years ago, Kyle had put on his roller blades and worked with Andrew in the back breaking work of bike riding school. Click here to see what they were talking about. 

I just love how the two boys spoke in riddles and understood in riddles. haha

Earlier this Sunday, I made tortilini soup. I made a lot of it. And tortilini soup doesn't age well. And Jessica is pregnant,

So I walked a pint of the fresh hot soup down to her house. I always feel uncomfortable dropping in on people, especially people who are pregnant and have small children. 

I knocked on the door and heard a patter of Maggie feet running to the door. 

I crouched down to her size and handed the pint to her little hands. I saw Jessica over there sitting on the floor behind the couch and I said "Here's some soup. You don't have to eat it. You can even throw it away if you want, just don't tell me."

Then I walked back home and asked myself "what did I just say?"

A few hours later Me and the Chambers drove to Roxanne's house to deliver this cake to her on her 44th birthday. When I got in the truck, Jessica said to me: "remember when you brought me some soup and told me I could just throw it away? What is wrong with you? Am I supposed to eat it or throw it away?" 

haha

Also, she was sitting in her underwear over there behind the couch, so see what I told you about drop ins? 

Garage band. Bea is the lead singer, but she's camera shy. 

We waited for Jim to come home to make caramel apples. 

He swept the back porch while we twirled and cooled the caramel.

One evening, when was Jim home and the world felt warm and cozy for a second, 

we gathered round the telly to watch Avatar. 

I warned everyone in the room:

"I don't know what this movie is about, and I don't know what's happening and I don't know who the people are, so don't ask. Ok everyone?"

And without skipping a beat, Andrew asked, "What's going on?" like a total smart alec. 

We laughed and laughed because do you know that he is his father's son? 

Life has come full circle:

One time when Jim was in cub scouts, his leader, Sister Fullmer explained the activity and said to the boys, "now I'm about to tell you everything we are going to do, so nobody better ask 'what do we do?'"

As soon as she finished explaining the details, and without skipping a beat, Jim asked "what do we do?"

Sister Fullmer sent Jim home. 

First Day of School

The last day of summer they spent a zillion hours at the water slides until the lifeguards sent them walking home, 

a surprise showing of the ice cream truck (so perfect!),

then we shut it down at BP for old time's sake. 

As the sun set on summer, I felt good about how we left it all out there on the field. We didn't waste one minute of summer.

That night our family had a lesson on how to introduce ourselves to new people, how to be a "stone catcher", and then Jim gave them all a blessing. 

In the morning,

Jim left to catch a flight to Vegas for captain school about 20 minutes before the kids left to catch the bus. 

8th Grade

She got all the teachers she wanted, none of the ones she didn't want.

Doing cross country.

3rd Grade

Mrs. Arps (but she got married, so her name is Mrs. Harris now!)

Mr. Minkler and Mr. Higgins: the 6th grade dream team!

We are so lucky.

Usually I drive them to school on the first day. I fight all the clogged roads and search for a parking spot so that I can walk them in to their fresh classrooms.

This year, we aren't allowed to walk them in, so I sent them on the bus. I am not mad about it. 

Sweat pants are what the kids wear these days. 

Very comfortable. 

I let the boys buy one of these obnoxious shirts with obnoxious characters on them. They are their favorite shirts.

I cannot tell you how very warm it is in my heart to watch these kids go to real school all day every day.

It's not even the empty house that I love so much. 

It's the feeling of normal and the feeling of growing. 

I expected them to have a harder time transitioning to the rigors of full day, but they come home so stoked on school. 

I don't know how to write it without it sounding cliche and obvious, 

but I am so thankful for school. It is the best. It fills all the gaps. It challenges them in so many ways - socially, physically, mentally, emotionally. 

You've probably seen the thing that floats around the internet by Jen Hatmaker about "please do not make the kids do any extra social things after the first week of school. they are exhausted and need proper rest and down time" and all that. 

For some reason, every year when I read it, I tear up. It tugs my heart. It makes me realize how hard this is for them and their little bodies - managing all the elements that are hard and stretching. 

But the hard things are SO good for them. You are doing good things when you are exhausted at the end of the day. 

Last night (it was the end of the first day of school) I gave Andrew a hair cut. I should have known better than to do such a thing. It was too much for his body/mind to handle. He screamed and cried and ran away from me in horror. I yelled and dragged his skinny little arm back to the stool so I could finish. 

It was bad timing. 

We finished the haircut (and I think I did a great job), but he cried and yelled at me 

"IT'S GAME OVER! Now I'm nervous to go to school!" etc.

It broke my heart. 

But in the morning, he didn't even mention his hair and it was not a thing.

But please, Kelli, next year don't demand anything extra - not even a hair cut - of the children in the first week. 

PS I will post an after haircut picture soon. It is the most satisfying haircut ever. The chlorine has destroyed their hair. Evan is next, but I'm going to give it a few days. 

 

Jimuary

It's been a wild couple of weeks around here. 

First, Jim got called into the bishopric. 1st councilor. 

Second, he is upgrading to captain. 

Two huge things colliding at the same time right around Father's Day. 

Avery was sick and didn't want to be in the picture, so this is what you get. 

We knew who the bishop was gonna be, but didn't know who the other councilor would be.

So of course you do all the speculating and guessing. 

We were very happy when it was announced Sean Riley was the 2nd Councilor. 

He's so chill and kind and willing. 

Joe ordained Jim as a high priest, so that was neat.

We were sitting there and the Stake fellas asked if there was anyone we wanted to ordain him? I guess it's a special thing? So Jim ran and fetched Joe. 

We bid a farewell to his favorite calling - ward clerk. 

They should call the clerk's office The Man Cave. 

They have a mini fridge in there and stuff. Always doing big important man things. 

Today he conducted and it was great. He was so handsome and natural up there. 

That's all fun and games, but the other big life changer we need to talk about is the upgrade to captain. 

So, you upgrade based on seniority. 

If there is an opening, you bid for it, and the most senior person gets it.

There are rarely openings for captains here in Bellingham.

If we lived anywhere else in the country, he would have been a captain years ago - probably a senior captain in most bases. 

But the Bellingham base (the only place we want to live) is just so full of older captains that aren't going anywhere.

So when the opening for a Bellingham Captain came along, we had to do some soul searching.

He is the number one (in seniority) First Officer, so that means we get to pick our exact schedule every month. Every day off we want, we usually get.  It's very nice to be senior.

Upgrading to captain means we would be at the very bottom of seniority. 

We get whatever crap schedule is left. Quality of life is in peril because we don't know what we will end up with.

Holidays, weekends, vacations...we get the last of the pick. 

It's a hard choice to make, right?

In the end, of course we upgrade. 

So what will his future day to day work schedule look like? I don't know! And that is a new sensation for me. 

Training starts in September.