Desert Sunsets

Sisters are Joined Heart to Heart

Dear God,

Please, I want to live near Eden. I want to live next door so I can see her all the time. Can You find a house for us in Utah that has stairs? Amen.



Mama, did Jesus hear my prayer?



Ugh! I never thought I would have to try to answer these questions for Chloe. I always believed that because Eden moved away before Chloe was 2 years old that maybe Chloe would just accept this as part of her life. But yesterday really drove it home for me that Chloe is not okay with just a summertime sister. She wants an all-the-time sister. Chloe has never liked saying good-bye to anybody. When my parents come to visit she would resist giving them a hug and a kiss good-bye thinking that maybe if she doesn't do that they might not leave. She never wants to leave friends or our family's home either. So yesterday after saying good-bye to Eden she was so sad and trying to comfort her by saying that Eden will be back in 9 weeks is no use. "That's a long time, Mom!" No arguing there, it is a long time. Even though there were plenty of times when Chloe was driving Eden crazy I think overall they had a good time.

In Chloe's eyes, Eden is the coolest person in the world (she is pretty cool). Chloe insisted on moving her booster seat to the back seat so she could sit next to Eden. She wants an iPod just like Eden. And you should have seen her face when Eden let Chloe listen to Hannah Montana on her iPod. It was like she was holding a precious gem. Eden even crimped her hair one day. She was so excited about her curly hair. "Look Mom, I look just like Eden now!" Eden would occasionally babysit for us and Chloe would say, "Mom, Dad, you need to go on a date for a very long time." They would make crafts together, play Barbie's ( and cars with Ryder), and watch fun movies.

At the Summer Night Concerts, Eden would chase, wrestle, swing, and dance with both Ryder and Chloe until she was begging us for relief all the while the kids were jumping up and down screaming, "Again, Eden, again!"

Eden helped Chloe make chocolate cookies many times this summer and introduced her to how delicious it is to eat the raw cookie dough.

Eden also made sure Chloe had an excellent experience on her first amusement park ride. Although Aaron and I did see that look that only a big sister can give when she really wants to torture her little sister by going super fast on the teacups. She held back though.
"Mama, why does Eden have to go back to Utah?"

"Well, she has to go to school and she misses her family there."

"Do you think she'll miss us when she's in Utah?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"I miss Eden."

Kung Fu Fighting!

On Saturday before the Yucca Valley Summer Concert we stopped to eat at Pizza Hut. Yes, I typed that right, Pizza Hut. We were waiting for our dinner to arrive and the kids were acting super silly so I thought it might be a good time to try out our new camera.






Tico the Dog.


Checking out the self-portrait feature on the camera. Diappointed though, I thought I might look more like Heidi Klum.

Chloe sporting a hat for Vacation Bible School.

Monkeying around at the park.

Eden amusing her brother at the Summer Night Concert.

How many of you read this and did not tell me I used the wrong word in that last sentence? :)

Random thought

Yesterday I sat and watched as Chloe colored. The happiness and pure peace I felt by just watching her face is difficult for me to describe. Such a simple act. It occurred to me that there are probably countless moments throughout the day that would provide us with such huge feelings of peace, but we miss them because we are mentally elsewhere dreaming of grander things that would supposedly bring us the very same peace I felt by watching her. We spend a great deal of our time chasing after money, things or events that we think will provide us with happiness. All the while if we only took the time and paid attention, we would most likely find this fulfillment in seemingly simple day to day moments. It was a subtle reminder for me that the more simple we keep life, the more complete and at peace we may be.

aaron

They Really Do Listen!

Last night, Chloe, Ryder and I enjoyed eating some absolutely delicious strawberry popsicles on our front porch. I was enjoying the most magnificent sunset when I noticed the kids picking the olives off of the tree and burying in random places in the front yard. I asked Chloe what she was doing and she told me that the olives were magic beans and she and Ryder were planting them so a beanstalk would grow. Then Ryder began stomping all over the front yard saying, "Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!" or something very similar to that. I am kind of surprised they even know this tale because I can't remember the last time I read it to them and I took their storybooks CDs away from their grasps because so many of them were getting damaged. But hey, maybe that beanstalk will grow and the goose that lays the golden egg will want to move in with us. Sorry, there are no pictures of this because we are without one right now.

Chloe is going to Vacation Bible School right now and is having the greatest time. Today she learned about Jesus healing the blind man with mud. She talked about this nonstop for about 30 minutes. Later this evening as I was washing her hair when I accidentally poured some soapy water over her face (organic, no-tears soap). She screaming quite dramatically as only she can, "I'm blind! I'm BLIND! I'M BLIND!" I knew that she was more upset about water being in her face than anything else. I asked her if she needed me to put some mud on her eyes to restore her sight. She stopped screaming, thought about it, then use the washcloth to clean her face. Which is good because I hate getting my fingers dirty.

Beyond Frustration

Okay, so you know in my previous post I said that I had a whole bunch of pictures for posts that were never written. Well, I got on the computer today with the intention of posting some very wonderful pictures of my first tomato and guess what-can't find it! Arg!!!!! Anyway, I have had some mild success with my vegetable garden. Here are a couple of pictures that were not lost.

So I am going to go ahead and blame Aaron for losing my tomato pictures. It can only be his fault since, I never lose anything. Ever. Plus now I can segway into my next topic.

First, let me preface by saying, "I love you, honey. Now I'm going to talk about you." Aaron has the unique ability to make anything he touches disappear. Forever. He's kind of like King Midas but nothing is turning into gold. Usually it is stuff that is "mine" that he has determined does not belong where I have put it. He then zaps it into a parallel universe. Then when I ask him about the missing stuff he acts as if I have lobsters crawling out of my ears. "What do you mean? What bill? The one that said 'VERY IMPORTANT! DO NOT THROW AWAY!' No I never saw that." And it seems that my children have this disappearing gene as well. There have been numerous times when I have bought them a toy only to have them play with it for 10 minutes before I hear, "MMMOOOMMM! I CAN'T FIND MY CAR/POLLY POCKET/THE THING THAT YOU GLUED TO MY HAND SO I WOULDN'T LOSE IT! I LOST IT! FIND IT! DEATH IS LOOMING!" I am convinced that my counterpart in the next dimension is having a grand time stashing away all the lost stuff from my house. Only one time did she have compassion for my dear husband's life when I could not find the dryer balls. (See exhibit A here, http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/household/laundry/dryer+balls.do?search=basic&keyword=dryer+balls&sortby=bestSellers&page=1) Now, who in the world would put my dryer balls anywhere else but in the dryer? Well, when Aaron is living with you the answer is quite obvious. So, I assaulted him with questions like,"What did you do with them??!!! My dryer balls! THEY ARE MISSING!" His reply of course was, "Well, maybe you threw them away." At this moment my counterpart in the next dimension felt that Aaron's life might be in jeopardy and warmed up her flux capacitor to send those dryer balls back. I found them in the small lunch cooler that sits next to the dryer. How else would my dryer balls manage to get in there?

So if you are in need to get rid of something. Anything. Call Aaron.

Love ya, Babe!

I Know!

Okay, so I have quite a bit that I need to write about but lately I have not felt like posting anything. I have even taken pictures to go along with my posts but alas they are just sitting in the photo file. I'll get on the ball sometime this weekend. Promise.