Sacred Places

There is a place from my childhood that is filled with so many peaceful, joyful, sparkling memories that it almost feels sacred.  To most people, it looks ordinary, regular, inconsequential even, but to me and many others in my family, it is perfection.  This place is my Grandparents' house.  When I was a child, the moment my feet crossed their threshold, the rest of the world blanched away to a trivial, lusterless corner of my mind.   The house itself felt magical.  Once there, I never wanted to leave.  My younger sister and I would bring our own pillows to use at their house in part so we could relish the sweet, comforting leftover smell of their house infused within the pillow for days after we returned home.  When this same sister walked into my house just before the Thanksgiving holiday last year and asked, "why does your house smell like Grandma's?" I beamed.  It was, and is, the ultimate compliment.

So I relish bringing my children to this wonderful place.  I was happy to have just that opportunity on the Fourth of July, for the annual Burton reunion extravaganza.  The celebration begins early with breakfast and stretches through the entire day, ending when we are too sun-weary and too full of comfort food to continue on.

I am lucky, and my kids are lucky, to have such wonderful people in their lives, most especially my Grandpa and Grandma Burton.  Not many children are old enough to have memories of their great-grandparents, but my children will.

My Grandpa is a multi-talented man, a Patriarch and a Sealer in the Temple, and smiles more quickly than anyone else I've met.  He loves a good joke and keeps a handful of them in his pocket to dole out when he is in the mood to savor a clever moment.

I wish I had a picture of my Grandma Burton as well.  Picture a twinkly-eyed, smiling grandma who smells like good cooking, whose arms beckon kindly and generously, and who feels that just about any ill is repaired by a plate of good food.  And her food is Good Food--her hand-dipped chocolates, smooth, flavorful gravy, and countless other delicacies are the stuff of legend in my family.



So, going back to visit is something I look forward to all year.  It is fun for me to see my kids doing the same things I did, in the same places I did them.

 

The trampoline.

One of the Aunts and Uncles who have a knack for making everyone feel special.

Homemade rootbeer.

(can't forget the fantastic Aunts, or Great-Aunts who help with all these fun things.)

Dry ice sure is magical.

The "kinder Gasthaus"

The sandbox

Above this sandbox used to be the end to a zipline that began at an enormous apricot tree in the middle of the large yard.  We would climb a large limb of the tree, hop on, and zoom across the yard.  Tragically, the ancient, weakened tree was no match for a storm last year.  The day it blew over was a sad day for the members of my family.  The fresh apricots, fragrant bark, and of course, the zipline are no more. 

There are always a few new things to do.  This year it was a giant Angry Birds competition.

Ashley enjoyed sling-shotting the balls across the field.

But Everett enjoyed it even more.  He teamed up with my brother and some of my cousins, who very nicely took him under their wing.

This was serious business to a five-year-old.

And, this serious business became a major feather in Everett's cap when his team won, thanks to him.  At one station, he actually earned more points all by himself than any other team did combined.  "Way to go!  You were awesome!  If you weren't on our team, we would have lost!" my cousins and brother cheered, knowing exactly what to say to make a five-year-old feel like he was king of the world.

James and all the other kids enjoyed the huge blow-up ball pit, new to the family this year.  It was a definite hit.  

After a long day of treats, games, running around, and relatives, it is time to go home.  And that is no more apparent than when my children start to look like this.

But every weary muscle, every tired blink, every sweat mark, and every sticky finger is evidence of a perfect time at a perfect day at a perfect place.  And that is why when we leave, we always wonder how soon we can return again.

Twirl

If you have read this blog for any period of time, you likely already understand that Ashley loves ballet.  She has absolutely zero experience other than her own little shenanigans, but I often find her standing absent-mindedly with an outstretched leg and pointed toe, or moving her arms gracefully around her.  Ashley constantly makes up new dances using new made-up techniques, such as jumping on a mini-trampoline.  "This is called the Falcon dance, Mom" she announced to me just this morning.  

So when I saw this swimsuit a few days ago, I knew it had to be hers.

Ashley's eyes lit up when I showed her my purchase, and she spent the rest of the day in it.

Where would be be without our Ashley?  Well, life would be a lot less twirly.  

Do Superheroes Like to Pull Weeds?

I know my kids certainly don't like to pull weeds.  Everett even knows pulling weeds is the only way he can earn extra money, but he is still not desperate enough to do it.  So what happens when the kids are replaced with super-powered comic heroes?

Lots of tough-looking poses,

A little weeding, 

And lots of napping.  Boy do these superheroes get tired.

(imagine the sound of explosions behind them)

All in a day's work.

I just wish their "day" lasted more than two minutes.

Little Jar of Horrors

Everett has been obsessed with traps this summer.  Fly traps, rabbit traps, booby traps, you name it, he's tried to build it.

And so came the advent of our bug jars.  After cleaning up glass shards from a few broken Ragu jars, I wisened up and began using peanut butter jars.  They worked great.

Everett was thrilled one day when I showed him a little group of wolf spiders that were congregating on the side of our house.  He and I caught three with little trouble, and we brought them inside to look them up.

Despite some fearful web commentators, the general professional consensus seems to be that wolf spiders are generally harmless.  They can bite and they are actually a little venomous, but the venom only causes mild, localized pain, which is the case with most spider bites.

So after I explained to Everett that he was never, under any circumstances, to open this jar inside the house or try to play with the spiders, which he readily agreed too, we noted some interesting facts:

• Wolf spiders do not build webs.  They have excellent eyesight and hunt their prey by running after them, pouncing on them, and biting with their powerful jaws, just like a real wolf.
• The mother wolf spiders are grouped among some of the more maternal animals because they carry their babies around on their back until they are about halfway grown.
• Many wolf spiders are diurnal.
• Wolf spiders eat other spiders (including other wolf spiders), crickets, grasshoppers, earwigs, ants, and beetles.

Everett and I were eager to find out if we would witness a spider throw-down.  Surely one of them would eventually get hungry enough to go after the others, right?  Well, although we did not get to watch an exciting fight, we did return to the jar several times to find sucked-dry spider pieces littering the bottom.

We added a few insects here and there, and once our wolf spider colony had become cannibalistically depleted, we found some new, energetic little guys to repopulate the jar.

Everett's favorite discoveries were:

• Spiders poop.  Yes, they do.  
• Spiders turn darker when they are about to die. (We may have forgotten to keep water in the jar so some of the spiders died a slow death of dehydration.  Oops.)
• A tiny web-weaving spider we found and added to the jar spun its own safety-net web at the top of the jar and avoided being captured by the large predators on the bottom.
• No matter what the internet said, three wolf spiders were not enough to take down one cricket.

Everett was especially interested to note that the "fangs" you can see gleaming from the faces of these little beasts are not actually fangs.  They are pedipalps, which are little appendages the spiders use to handle things with.

Unfortunately, our wolf spider experiment came to an end when a neighbor girl angrily dumped out the spiders in the backyard (I believe it was the jar she desired, not the spiders).  Everett was sad but I am sure the lone live spider was relieved to be set free where nature intended.

This was a fun little summer diversion for Everett and me.  And no, no one else in the house was morbid enough to appreciate our interest or share our enthusiasm for the project.  But that's ok--this is exactly why Everett and I are such good buddies.

(Everett with a bird trap he built, which did not actually catch a bird, but which was fun for him to build anyway.)

Birthday for Ashley

Ashley recently turned FOUR!

She is still a little girl but I cannot believe how much she has grown.

This is one of Ashley's first days home from the hospital.  As soon as I saw her, I fell in love with her dark hair and rosebud lips, and her sweet baby temperament.

Here is Ashley one month later on the day we blessed her in our church.  It was a special day and lots of  special personal promises were made for her life.

Our family changed for the better with birth of this wonderful baby girl.  Her easy, contented temperament often brought a feeling of peace into our home.

Here is Ashley nowadays--hair ragged and fly-away from running around outside, a dress on her little body so she can watch it twirl, and lots of friendly animals by her side.

Ashley still loves stuffed animals and even though she detests baby dolls, she is a great big sister and loves her baby brothers dearly.  Ashley shuts down emotionally if there is conflict in the house, but is otherwise vibrant, energetic, giggly, sunshine-y, intelligent, proud of her strong and fast muscles, curious, a great builder and story-imaginer, and all the things a wonderful four-year-old girl ought to be.

I count my Ashley blessings every day.  I am overwhelmed with love and gratitude for this special little person.  Her full-armed, throw-herself-right-at-you hugs replenish my soul.

Ashley woke up on her birthday morning with balloons filling her bed.  It was a magical moment I should have captured on film.

Ashley also excitedly participated in her annual birthday lunch with Papa.  She loves eating out at any restaurant, but chose Wendy's.  The lure of the chocolate frosty eclipsed her other options.

The most special birthday treat, and the one Ashley looked forward to the most, was a visit from her Grandpa Burton.  He visited last year on her birthday as well.  I think Ashley is beginning to think having him around to spoil her on her birthday is a new tradition!  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of Ashley and Grandpa Burton together.

As always, Everett was almost more excited for Ashley to open her presents than she was!  Everett decided he wanted to make her a snow globe after viewing an instructional youtube clip, so he and I scrambled to get it done before Ashley's big day.  We put a purple flying unicorn inside, with silver and purple glitter swirling in the magical waters around it.  Ashley slept with it that night and Everett was very proud to have made something special for her.  Unfortunately I did not get a good picture of this, either (again, a mom fail).

Never one to disappoint, Grandpa presented Ashley with a magnifying glass/bug catcher and a bouquet of lollipops.  Little did Ashley know that there were more presents waiting for her back in Utah as soon as we arrived for our summer trip.

What you see is part of a poofy dress that I saw at Costco back in February.  Joel took one look at it after I brought it home and said, "that thing is hideous!"  I was inclined to agree with him but I knew Ashley would love the poofy skirt and glittery screen-printed ballerinas. 

Joel and I splurged and got her a My Little Pony set.  Ashley has seen every episode multiple times.  She can name even the most obscure characters.  It is a testament to her absorption in the show that little William can also name all the main characters.  "That's Pinky Pie, Mommy," or "push me up high, like Rainbow Dash!" he clarifies for me.

Everett and Ashley were both excited for the cake.  Everett was so excited, in fact, that he rushed in and blew out all the candles before anyone could react.  He was so embarrassed about this mistake he obviously made without thinking that he rushed up to his room and had to be coaxed back out.

So I lit the candles again so I could get a least one picture with the birthday cake in all its glory, but Ashley was too quick for me as well.

Ashley didn't care what kind of cake she had; all she wanted was one with three layers.  I made chocolate with whipped cream for frosting and real cherries on top.  It would have tasted better if I had 1) made it from scratch and 2) not overcooked it.  However, we left for Utah the next morning and I wasn't took keen on worrying about the leftovers anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our fantastic ASHLEY MARGARET JOHNSON!