First day of school

I can't believe how quickly the summer always goes by. It never feels long enough to recover from all the homework and projects the school year brings. I don't handle the first day of school as well as some mom's; I always cry when they leave. The day seems to drag on forever and I always feel so lonely. I am grateful that I have such good kids to miss them when they're gone. (The picture taken on the stairs on the first day of school with their back pack/bags has been a tradition since we moved into our house. Ariel was in the first grade.)

College Time Again...

It's that time of year again, when Ariel leaves for college. I always have mixed emotions. I am excited for her and so proud that she is a college student, but, I miss her very much when she is gone. The last few weeks, we had taken a few loads of her belongings to school. In spite of that, we could barely fit the rest of her stuff in the van the day we left.

We were excited that this year, Grandma Susan was visiting and got to come with us to drop Ariel off. We missed Todd's help this year, he wasn't able to come. We were saved by the hand truck we brought along, it really made unloading the van a lot easier. We stayed for most of the day and helped her unpack and set up her room. It's always hard to say good-bye but I know she is a wonderful, capable girl and will do just fine.

Turning 40

I have always wondered what it would be like to get old...August 17th I found out. Obviously, I have some mental reservations about turning 40. I feel about the same as I did before, I just don't like the thought of it. I was spoiled this year. My birthday celebration lasted for a week instead of the typical 24 hours. I figure that's OK...these are traumatic times.

The morning of my birthday as I left for the gym, I found a special surprise sitting on my doorstep. A lawn gnome named Mr. Winklebottom, and his mushroom. These guys were gifts from my friend Monica, who had been waiting for many years for me to turn 40 so she could buy me some yard art. I am very fond of Mr. Winklebottom; he and his mushroom have a new home in my bathroom window. My dinosaur that my nephew Mikey gave me also keeps them company. He handed me the dinosaur when I arrived at my surprise party and said, "This is for you, since you are as old as a dinosaur." He is very smart, but I still wonder if that was a comparison he came up with or if his daddy helped him with that one.

Todd's mom, Susan, was here visiting. I was glad she could be with us because I don't remember being able to spend my birthday with her since I moved away from Georgia. (That was a very long time ago.) Todd had to work but Susan and the kids kept me company and made it a nice day.

When Todd came home, I opened my presents. Looks can be deceiving and a lot of those pretty packages were filled with junk that they bought from the thrift store. I did get some "real" presents and my last one was awesome. I got a Canon rebel camera, it was a huge surprise and I am really happy about it. I got a lot of nice gifts from my family and friends this year. I was extremely spoiled and I am very grateful for the cards, gifts and kindness.

I decided to vary from tradition and got a coconut cream pie instead of my usual lemon. It was delicious, but the top layer was practically melted off because they insisted on lighting 40 candles a top my pie. It was a blazing inferno. It was a great day and turning 40 was made a lot easier by wonderful family and friends.

A Wonderful Surprise...

We came to Utah for another visit on August 12th. Todd's mom, Susan, got to come with us, which was a lot of fun because she hadn't been there since we moved away almost 16 years ago. I was so glad to spend time with my dad again. He isn't doing well. He had a feeding tube put into his stomach on July 13. He hadn't eaten any food for about four weeks prior to that. We were just giving him IV's those weeks to keep him hydrated. He has been very sick. It's so hard to see him go through such suffering. Brain cancer is stealing away his life, at a rapid pace.

On Friday, Todd and I went to lunch and then drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon. We hiked around a little, sat by a creek, and enjoyed a change of scenery from the desert landscape we usually see. When we came out of the canyon, Todd stopped the car and handed me a blindfold and told me to put it on. I was getting quite car sick being blindfolded, and was so glad when he stopped the car and helped me out. I could tell right away that I was at a park. He led me down a long sidewalk and a couple flights of stairs...if you have ever done stairs blindfolded, it's quite terrifying. The whole time I was pulling on him trying to make him walk slower, I was sure I was going to trip and fall. The more scared I became, the harder he laughed. Also a few of my siblings thought it was hilarious to follow me stumbling along, snapping lots of pictures of me looking like an idiot.

We walked for what seemed to be a very long time and then we stopped. At that moment, I heard a wonderful chorus singing "Happy Birthday." Todd told me to take off the blindfold and I saw a beautiful sight. My whole family was gathered under the bowery. My dad right up front in his wheelchair, with tears in his eyes. All the siblings were there, which is a huge task. It is very difficult to get all eleven home at the same time. We hadn't all been together since the last wedding, which was several years ago. Most of my aunts and uncles and some of my cousins and their families were also there. It was a huge gathering. It was a wonderful surprise. With everyone together we were able to get a family photo, which hadn't happened in many years.

Todd and the kids had been planning this little get together for several months. Ariel did all the planning of the food and the decorations and had a lot of help from lots of people...especially Aunt Jennifer. The decorations were awesome...except some of the embarrassing photos from early teen years when I sported a she-mullet. The food was awesome...one of my favorite things were the beautiful homemade cupcakes with the Steve Wright jokes on top. They even had "We built this city" playing when I first got there. The Ipod continued to play an awesome 80's playlist through the evening. There was a special guest visitor, Junior Robert E. Lee Samples, Todd's hideous Southern cousin. He had written an embarrassing but funny poem about me and read it for the family. We had many laughs with Junior. It was truly a celebration and it was an amazing night with my favorite people. I truly am grateful for all the help and work that so many provided to make it a party of a lifetime.

Aaron's First Temple Trip

Aaron did temple baptisms for the first time on August 10. We were so happy that both Todd and I could go with him. Todd has been doing genealogy like crazy lately and had about 13 names ready for baptism. Todd was able to baptize Aaron for several of his family members, that made his first trip to the temple extra special.

A trip to the Ocean

The Hendrix family had been apart the entire summer. We decided we needed a little re-bonding time together, so we took a quick trip to one of our favorite places...the beach. We rented a condo that was across the street from the beach. It was awesome, all you had to do was cross the Strand and we were on the sand. This made life at the beach very easy. It was the perfect time of year to go and after the morning fog burned off, the afternoons were perfect. The water was warm and I spent most of my time doing one of my favorite things...boogie boarding. I even outlasted the kids. We all got burned the first day, except Todd, he is an expert on never getting burned. The girls were burned so bad that they couldn't even enjoy getting in the water the next day. We rented a surrey, a bicycle built for six. We all took turns steering it and had a lot of fun. We even let Zoey ride with us. It was a relaxing few days. I love being at the ocean and I always hate to leave.