Firsts and Lasts

Today was a day of “Firsts” and a day of Lasts”. It was the First Day of School for Josh, Carly and Jake---complete with all of the excitement of new teachers, new clothes, and new schools. For Carly, she begins her first and freshman year at Lake High School—and for Jacob he begins 4th Grade in a new building at Lake Elementary. It is his first time to have rotating teachers.

I love the feeling of a new school year! For me, it means a new beginning—the slate is clean, we set new goals, put ourselves back into a routine after a lazy summer, and I really do feel renewed!

Today was also a day of “Lasts”—it was my last day with Zach before he leaves for college! It has been “bittersweet”. I don’t think I ever fully understood that term until today! The sweetness comes in knowing that he is leaving tomorrow to do something that he has worked hard to achieve. A new chapter full of new friends, experiences, and learning. The bitter is the lump in my throat that I feel when I realize that I won’t be there to see him off to school in the mornings…or hear the details of his day when he comes home. That is the hard part of letting go. There have been tears, lots of tears!

I’ve thought about being a mom a lot lately. I have watched my role change in my kid’s lives and for the most part, transitions have been smooth and natural. But right now I feel like I am in unchartered waters! Sometimes I don’t think I am up for the new challenge. But that is the nature of life. Sometimes we have to stretch farther than we feel capable of stretching and let go of those we love so that they can learn to do their own stretching!

The Big Send-Off, August 26, 2009

PS: Zach arrived at BYU safely and has officially had his first "BYU Experience". He went to the Wilkinson Center to get his student i.d. and was sent right back out and was told he needed to shave before they would issue his card. For those of you that haven't seen Zach lately, his "beard" consists of the 5 hairs on his chin that have taken him about three weeks to grow. Scott, BYU's greatest dress code violator of the mid-80's for his overuse of flip-flops, got a chuckle out of that one!

Summertime

Wow! It is August 19 and I find myself thinking....Where has our summer gone--especially August which absolutely FLEW by!?" Monday is the "First Day" for most of us and then Scott will head to Utah with Zach later next week to move him into his dorm. It is hard to believe that his time has come! Yesterday, Carly downloaded our summer photos (thanks, Carls..) and I re-lived a few very fun family times we had in Summer 2009!

Jacob in his "soccer debut" at BYU Soccer Camp

My family at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.

Three pools--ranging from 112 to 105 degrees--Hot, Hotter, & Boiling Hot (I saw bubbles).

All I can say is...limp, wilted noodles.

Once a kid, always a kid. Found a fun, shady Pocatello park and practiced our swinging! Above is my sister Linda and kids---and below are my sibs...

We love our cousins!

Fashionistas Miss Marley and her Aunt Alece Park City Moose and Ohio friends

Midway, Utah's finest Beach models-- Carly and Jake

The Hunter Family Mini-Reunion at Scera Park with our newest additon, Owen!

I had to include this picture of Water Balloon Volleyball--I know a couple of gals who need some lessons...

Team Hunter/Hunter...

And the talented Team Ackroyd--Jon and Tina. Jacob thought the name "Tina" only belonged to pet llamas...

And this team? We call them "The Extreme Team"...

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

The Place We Call Home

Each summer, I have looked forward to “going home”… and by that I mean going back to Utah—home to my mom, my brother and sister and the same house that I grew up in. For many summers, I have gone to Utah with the kids—sometimes under the guise of a few “extras” like soccer camp or a BYU Football game. Picnics in Provo Canyon, hiking to Timpanogos Caves, visiting Temple Square, swimming at the Scera Pool—these are our Utah summer traditions!! I love the Wasatch Mountains—they are truly remarkable to those of us who have moved far away to areas where our version of “mountains” are green rolling hills. I took the kids to a BYU Soccer game last night and looked up to see the sun setting on “Y” mountain, blue sky, pink clouds, rocky mountains—it was a postcard moment. I also looked around and saw all of these

BYU students who now look like my children!

I always look forward to reconnecting with old friends when I come to Utah; meeting their kids, catching up, and laughing about our Orem HS days. I loved high school, but I am glad that life doesn’t make us repeat it! (It’s the same feeling I have when I think about carrying around a diaper bag and stroller again…) Now many of our friends are “Utah transplants” from California, Washington, Chile, and Ohio—I love knowing that I can see them again—Utah is such a cosmopolitan place!

I was filling out some paperwork the other day that asked for my “Hometown”. So I starting thinking...a “hometown?” Hmmm. Does anybody have a “hometown” anymore? What is a hometown anyway—is it the place where you were born? Or is it the place where you lived most of your life? I wonder what “hometown” my kids will put on their college applications? I was reading that the average American will change jobs 8 times during their career lifetime and for our family this has been true—we’ve lived a few different places—so defining “hometown” is a bit of a dilemma for me.

But something strange happened during my visit to Utah this summer. A little bit of an epiphany, maybe. Usually, I don’t really miss Ohio—in fact, I usually don’t think much about it while I am gone. But this year, I found myself missing “home”—my Ohio home! Go figure that! First, I miss my boys, Scott, Zach, and Josh (who will be in an out of Utah at various times this summer) and our little dog Canela. I miss my house and the green trees and those Ohio rolling green hills! Call me crazy, but I even miss the humidity of Ohio—lotion has become my new best Utah friend. I miss my wonderful Canton Ward and the “family feeling” of going to church. I miss my friends, my routine, I miss corn fields and tractors, no traffic—it’s all been kind of interesting. So maybe I AM changing. I believe that I may need to re-think this idea of “going home”. Maybe I am home when I’m with my family and doing my thing—that’s what feels like “home”.

I don’t think things will really change--I still plan to visit and do all of those things that make coming out here special, but “going home” will be thousands of miles away! I loved growing up in Utah, it was a good place to be, but I am thinking that my home for now is Ohio. And Utah? It will be my “home away from home”. Problem solved...I think I may a new answer for my "hometown"questions...

(P.S. One final thought and for the record, some things will never change. I love Ohio, but I don’t think I will ever wear the Ohio State Buckeye Red--I could be stoned for saying this in Ohio!—--But once a Cougar, always a Cougar.)