The art of summer

My mom is so good at making excuses for me. She called me yesterday because she knew I was just so busy, but she hadn't heard anything about my vacation. I didn't even call to let her know we made it home safely. The truth is I have a 24 hour day just like everyone else. I just haven't quite mastered the art of summer yet. I'm doing pretty well with enjoying the looser schedule and still keeping my family fed and clothed, but I'm not so good at keeping in touch with people I love, reading my scriptures with the devotion they deserve, and helping my children get enough sleep. There's always something to work on.

Here is a sampling of what we ARE good at during summer time though: vacationing!

Two Sunday evenings ago, we flew to Utah to spend time with poeple we love. We first went to Alpine. We arrived starving and my mom graciously took our order for pancakes and eggs as we were driving in. And toast. My mom does toast well, and she has my children spoiled by some scrumptious bread that is now the standard against which all breads are judged. It was SO GREAT to be there with my parents and my "big" sister in the house I grew up in that has recently been painted and polished. There is just such a feeling of comfort and love there.
And my parents are exceedingly good to me and my little family. One day my husband and kids helped take out a couple of trees with my dad while I had a fun jaunt to Ikea for lunch and shopping with the ladies. We had a Bushman reunion. My kids had a great time with distant cousins. Another day I ate out with my mom and roommates from my BYU days while Mr. Wimmer took our kids to hike the Y. We drank in the beauty of the mountains and went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. The only thing missing was seeing my brother, who was in Hawaii with his kids.

Our trip to Logan was punctuated by a stop at IHC's new hospital in Murray, where Dr. Wimmer got to see one of his friends practice EP while the kids and I made our own fun at Costco and Murray Park. We arrived in Logan during one of Jordan's last baseball games, where we met my fantastic in-laws and marvelled once again at everything those Larsens do. That night the Larsen adults rode scooters with Alan and me to the Beehive Grill where we had a fun visit and great food. We spent three nights at Larsens house in their beautifully finished basement. I loved running with my amazing sister-in-law, getting to know their little ones at these particular ages, and seeing how they live their beliefs.

The Wimmer reunion (check out Ali's pictures) was wonderful. I loved all the pre-reunion festivities that ended up being hosted beautifully even though my spicy sister-in-law huffed that the reunion definitely didn't start until Saturday afternoon. Especially fun was an art fair jaunt with the Wimmer women where I bought a beautiful piece of pottery and a fun bracelet. The actual reunion started with swimming and pictures at Sherwood Hills (the resort in Sardine Canyon where we stayed). Then we had an adult dinner to honor Alan's parents, who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in January. Steve and Deb surprised everyone with the gifts: a lovely Lladro swan figurine and a quilt made from fabrics sent in by each daughter and son's wife. After church for most of us (Willa and I stayed at the hotel resting to help her feel better) we were disappointed it was all over so soon. It didn't seem quite enough time to lay all the love and visiting on all those dear people we don't see nearly enough. Our trip home was smooth and uneventful, though. We were really glad we didn't need to use those fancy bags they have in the seat pockets. That would not have been artful at all.