this is home

My baby sister got married a few months ago, leaving my mom alone in a big house. So it was time for her to downsize, and she sold our family home to a new family. Changes like these are always a little bittersweet, but she's found a new home just perfect for her (and her puppy), and I truly believe that a home is made by the people in it, not by the walls around them. I know her new home will become our new home, and I'm so happy for this new chapter in her life.

A few weeks ago, all the sisters descended on St. George for one last hurrah at our childhood home. As the oldest sister, it is less my childhood home than any of the others, but it's still the place where most of my growing up happened. 

Some things about our house on Lizzie Lane I never want to forget:

+ We brought several dogs home to this house. Blitzen (Samoyed)  got shipped to a farm after he tore up our newly laid sod and chewed into the air conditioning unit in the dead of summer. Then came Tanger, a darling little orange puff ball of a Pomeranian. He was hit by a car and killed when he was tiny. It was my first real experience with loss. I still remember that ache. Then Ditto, another Pomeranian. Crazy dog that one. He passed of natural causes. At least we think so. Could have been a demon. And then Chamine. Our beloved Chamine. It is so strange to be in that home without her in it. She is a part of many - if not all - of our notable memories there. And of course Miley, my mom's tiny Pomeranian that is her tiny friend always and will be the first puppy in my mom's new home.

+ We also had several birds, including my blue parakeet named Willie that lived forever and could say, "Clean your room!" (Thank you, Mother.) We also at one point adopted a stray cat named Stripes. She was an outdoors only cat and fairly evil - she routinely left us rabbit heads on the door. No lie.

+ When I was 13 or 14, my parents decided to put in a pool. As a parent myself, I want to just say, "Why?" Crazy! Giant liability! Death trap! Money pit! But good night did I love that pool. I spent one full summer in that pool. 

+ My best friends in high school - twins - lived right next door. I feel like that's so completely idyllic - best friends next door. It really was the best.

+ My sister Kristen and I shared one wall between our rooms. We had a secret knock code. It was basically epic.

+ My sister Marissa used to be scared at night. I'd find her sleeping on my floor next to my bed quite frequently.

+ My baby sister Danielle is the only sister to have lived in just one home. When she came home from the hospital, I immediately adopted her as my own. I don't know if I helped my mom much, and I imagine she was just being patient, but I spent hours with that baby on my hip, changing diapers, pretending that I was a mom. Thank you mom for sharing your baby with me. :)

+ Speaking of babies. Just after Annabelle was born, I went to St. George for a week while Jess went to Lake Powell with his family. This little period of time is so frozen in my mind. There was something so magic about having my baby in the home where I grew up.

+ The house went through a few remodels, lots of new carpet. Once, when we knew we were getting new carpet, my parents let us draw all over the carpet. It was basically a dream come true.

+ I first used the Internet at this house. Dial up folks. We were cutting edge. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee erdoooooooooooaruuuupppppppppppp.

+ In my later teen years, I uncovered my love of design. My parents let me paint walls and decorate rooms. I think I did an okay job, but looking back I realize how generous that was of them. The red wall in my sister's room remains to this day.

+ This house is kitty-corner to our church building. We used to literally climb the fence to church. In our dresses. My dad put a ladder there for that very purpose. Ep. Ic. I used to run circles in our neighborhood. Miles and miles. One night, I tripped and fell (Lou gets it from me) and sliced my knee open. I could tell from the blood and depth of the cut that I needed to get help fast but was on the exact other side of neighborhood from my house. So you better believe that I hopped the wall - gash in my knee and all - so I could wake up my mom to take me to the ER (six stitches were required).

+ St. George is the perfect climate for scorpions. And lucky for us, there was a hotbed of them behind our house (in the church lot). So we saw them frequently. My youngest sister was stung several times. One night, I woke up to a sharp pain in my face, and my brain must have been aware of what was going on, because I was thinking "SCORPION!" as I woke up. I ran to the bathroom to see my face pulsing where the sting had occurred. Stupid little beast. Most scorpion stings aren't lethal or horribly painful as the scorpions are all dulled a bit by pest killer, so I knew I'd be fine (after some late night Googling). The next morning, I found the little monster on the bathroom floor, and I took great pleasure in killing him.

+ For many years, we had a hammock chair in the backyard. I loved that swing and spent hours reading in it.

+ I spent many hours at my mom's gorgeous baby grand piano in the big window. I think I play the best on that piano. And I love the grooves in the wood where our fingers have worn it down.

So long 1130 Lizzie Lane. May the family that fills your walls next love you every bit as much as we do, and may your rooms always be full of the things that make happy memories.

tumbling and running

This backyard. Oh how we love it. Especially the little tumbler. Many of our evenings are spent out here. Mostly because we have so many weeds. And snails. Oh my goodness the snails! But we love this backyard. It's turned into a magical little place for us, where the gardener can tend to his plants (and weeds) and the babies can run out all the remaining wiggles of the day.

graduation what?

I'm fairly certain that it was just a month or two ago that Annabelle started preschool. It seems like just yesterday I was using my grown up eyes to march her in to class. It seems like just yesterday I was willing her to be brave, to play, to share and have fun, and to learn.

And then this happened.

No idea. The older my babies get, the quicker time shuffles by. I swear it.

Her graduation was a darling event. We've been so pleased with her experience in preschool and are so grateful for her teacher (Miss Sam) and everything she did for Annabelle. Our hopes for Annabelle in preschool were that she would find confidence (and bravery) and learn to socialize. But she learned so much more. She learned about careers and cultures and giant vocabulary words, and her reading level has skyrocketed. She learned to share and sacrifice. She learned how to be a friend. She learned that mommy always comes back, and that in the mean time, she can have fun. She learned to love learning. She learned to trust her gut. She learned to be independent. 

I'm not totally sure that every child needs preschool. In fact, I'm sure they don't. But we've been delighted with her experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. I sincerely hope (and even pray) that my girls will continue to be blessed with teachers like Miss Sam, who care about each individual child and have that unique brand of patience that comes with teaching children. 

On to kindergarten. Which I'm not really ready to talk about. I'm not quite that brave yet. :)

one last pit stop

On our way home from the Grand Canyon (via our St. George stopping point), we stopped at Kolob Canyons, the northwest section of Zion National Park. (Tip: It's not Zion's. It's also not Zy-ON. It's Zy-un. Like lion.) Anyhow - in Kolob Canyons, there's a five mile hike called Taylor Pond. Of course, we didn't do the whole hike, but we thought we'd do a little with the girls. It turned out to be the perfect little stop. The girls played in the stream, and we sat and enjoyed the beautiful Zion walls towering above us. We took about a million photos, saw some frogs and lizards, threw rocks, and ended with a rousing joust (Lou vs. the world).

When one leaves the tripod in the car, improvise.

Photo by Annabelle.

  

Photo by Annabelle.

 

Photo courtesy of rock tripod.

About ten minutes after we got back in the car, the girls fell asleep. And did not wake up until we got home. That's like 3.5 hours! It was basically the best drive in the history of ever and the perfect end to our little trip.

back to the grand

So back to the Grand Canyon. Before we left, Jess had researched additional landmarks around the Grand Canyon. And boy are we glad he did. Because as I mentioned, having Lou near the rim of the Grand Canyon is basically a bad idea. 

To any of you considering taking children: there are many fenced off locations at the rim, and you shouldn't let me scare you away. The Yavapai Museum of Geology is actually located literally on the rim, and it's enclosed so you could always camp out there and safely view the Grand Canyon from their wall of windows. That said, there are many areas that are not at all blocked off or enclosed. And some of the fences are gappy. If a child wanted to (Lou), they could slide right under (or over).

And here's the thing: Lou can't help but find danger or illness or anything that involves abandoning sanity. And she's clutzy. She trips over really thick air all the time. So we were not at all encouraged to tempt fate. Instead we headed to Wupatki National Monument. Let me just:

Oh, my archaeologist heart just can't get enough of this. 

So Wupatki National Monument is home to Pueblo ruins dating back to 1100. As in the year. The largest pueblo (at the site of the visitor's center, pictured above from the front and back) has over 100 rooms, and housed just as many people. In its hey day, it is believed that thousands of smaller pueblos were surrounding it. There are a handful remaining today. They. Blow. My. Mind. 

I could've spent all day here. No lie. Some of the ruins you can walk around; some you can actually go in. Of course, you're asked to leave everything as you find it and treat the ruins with respect. But I did love that we could actually wander in and through these beautiful structures. And just one question - the doors. Why so short? 

I climbed to the top of a pueblo that the park service has deemed The Citadel (for it's shape and location, pictured below). It's at the top of a mesa and you can see for miles around. On the informational sign, I read that they guess that this was likely used as a defense structure, so they could see enemies. But then again, no one really knows. For all we know, they just liked the view. I loved that sentiment. :)

By the time we got to the main (giant) pueblo, Annabelle and Lou were tired and it was pretty warm outside. Of course, I wasn't about to miss out, so we took them to look from afar, snapped a photo (below), and Jess and I took turns hanging in the little visitor's center with them. They have a great little hands-on exhibit, and they were seriously entertained forever.

So all of this to say, if you do make a trip to the Grand Canyon - kids or not - I highly recommend Wupatki. It's extraordinary and so beautiful. Cue another photo dump.

P.S. Did anyone notice that Annabelle's wearing her wedding shoes? Honestly, we just have issues with apparel and vacations. She had her "tie shoes." But apparently her feet grew since she last wore them and they pinched her toes. Somehow she left the house wearing her fancy shoes. So sure. Why not hike in fancy shoes with bows?  To her credit, she did not complain one bit about tromping around in those fancy little things. And when we got home, I took a Bleach Pen to those suckers, and they're almost as good as new.