Dunes!

Sandwiched between the shores of Lake Michigan and the small, but beautiful Silver Lake is a wonderland of dunes. No trails, just follow your feet. Where will they take you?

Where dunes spill into the forest

Ghost forest at the base of a dune

The power of sand and wind

Three brave hikers

Amazing sculpted formations

The top of the dunes glow because of the way light meets the constantly moving sand

Oh! The pain.

The discovery of ice

Silver lake is encroached upon by blowing sand. One day these cottages will be dune front properties!

1-2-3 JUMP!!

If you have come this far, you won't go away unsatisfied. Here is your reward:




















Can you even imagine the amount of sand in the shoes, clothes, van, and ultimately on the floors and beds? They all had sand covering their faces, caked in their nostrils and ears and filling their pockets. I dumped pile after pile of sand out of shoes.

A Memory for Nathan

Joseph got a digital picture frame for Father's Day this year. It was the one thing he kept thinking about and kept shopping for. As I walked into the room just now, this picture was on the screen:


This is eight year old Nathan at his first pinewood derby/pancake breakfast. They sent him outside to hold this sign up by the road. It says "Scout Pancake Breakfast." How cute is it that he came into the gym telling me excitedly that THREE cars had come into the parking lot because of his sign!?

This derby was especially exciting because Nathan's car won a ribbon (2nd place). His is the blue car below. This was one of the many heats he won.

A Card, a Message and a ZING!

This blog post is more spiritual in nature, but I feel like posting it here rather than my other blog.

Joseph and I have made each other some cards over the years. It started when we were dating and he made me a card for something or other. I was really impressed! He drew a funny little heel on the back of the card with the label "Heelmark: For when you can't afford to send Hallmark." College students...!

After he made me a few spectacular cards, I caught on and made some of my own. I've run across some of our cards recently. Today, I ran across this one that I made some years ago and the message was for me:



Have you ever had that feeling where some idea was trying to get through to you and then suddenly ZING! you got it? There's an idea floating around time and space for me right now, but the ZING isn't happening. I'm too collapsed, fearful and spending my energy trying to ward it off.

I'm going to try deep breathing!

Posters

Here's another post about something that I needed to take pictures of and then throw away. These are some of the posters I've made for my kids' birthdays. A lot of them were used for some version or other of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Coloring is surprisingly therapeutic (well, to a point).

Have you ever read the George and Martha stories by author/illustrator George Marshall? If not, you should check your local library. They have a humor all their own! These posters were for Joseph's party about four years ago. I told him that he had two surprise visitors coming to his party. He was genuinely excited about this because he loves having people over to our house. Secretly I had bought some stuffed hippos and dressed them up for George and Martha (you're seeing that this was more for the kids than Joseph). In one of their stories they go up in a hot air balloon. I created a hot air balloon, put the hippos in and sailed them into Joseph's party! The kids and I thought it was great!



Elijah's third birthday party:


May's fifth birthday party. We played pin the horn on the unicorn:



For Nathan's eighth birthday we held his party at the local science museum, but we were all really into Gumby and Pokey at the time, so I had to incorporate that:



Sariah's fourth birthday:


Elijah's fourth birthday. He's still a Curious George fan. We even have Brio train sets that were made to accompany some of the stories. I can't tell you how many Curious George books I've read:



Elijah's sixth birthday party, also held at the Science museum, but with a penguin theme (all the kids go crazy for penguins in Kindergarten because it's part of the curriculum):


We've had lots of Thomas the Tank Engine parties and we're going to have another one on Sunday. Brigham is already crazy about Thomas!

Memory Capture

If I want to capture all or part of my screen, I can use a program called SnagIt by TechSmith. I used this to grab the Google Earth images of our vacation. I really like the program. It has lots of options, but I won't pay $39.95 in a several days when my 30 day trial is up (Plus, my brother can probably tell me how to do this for free)! I wish it were as easy to capture memories.

Even if I carried my camera everywhere (which I know some people do), or if I had a notebook to jot down the things that happen as they happen, I would still miss things. It's not realistic to catch everything or keep it in memory. Besides, I'm not very good at stopping to take pictures (I'm usually the only parent in the room--every time--who forgets their camera). I'm also not very good at getting a journal out and writing.

Obviously this is on my mind a lot and my blog is getting a lot of overkill on the subject. It's just so intriguing to me! Going through all this stuff is getting to me; I've already said that. Also, Brigham is our last baby and he's turning two which in some ways is the end of babyhood. When I was in the middle of lots of little kids and not knowing when the end of it would be, I didn't stop and appreciate it so much. Now that I'm entering a new phase of life, I'm realizing that it's my last time to enjoy some of these little moments within my family.

Sometimes I walk around in peak awareness of the specialness of each moment. I haven't figured out which ones to record and which ones to leave, knowing that they will be there if I need them. Every so often I have remembrances from yesterdays gone by. Joseph and I share them together or we share them as a family and in a way they serve to bind the family together. They are here one moment and gone the next. Lately, I want to grab them and hold them down.

We are getting rid of all the little plastic animals and dinosaurs. When Nathan was three or four he used to play upstairs for hours setting these toys up in designs and in the end he'd tell me, "Mama, I'm making a birthday cake." At the time I thought it was cute, but mostly I was just glad he was up and playing and out of trouble while I attended to his two young siblings.

I'll sometimes get a glimpse of my little girl when she was sick and undiagnosed with asthma. I told her to bring her two blankets upstairs so we could use them for her nap. Diligent as she was she struggled to drag them upstairs and as I laid her down for her nap I noticed how labored her breathing was, her nostrils flaring. More air! Joseph took her to urgent care and the doc there said it would be faster for Joseph to transport her to the ER than to wait for the ambulance while she turned white, then blue, struggling for her life. In the days before cell phones were so prevalent, I waited in fear.

At times I remember the walk I took one spring day five or six years ago where I watched the ice churning and melting in the little lake next to our home. I learned a lesson about myself in that ice. It was amazing to me that I "happened" to be there to witness the miracle.

Occasionally I think of the one and only blue bird I've seen and wonder when I'll see another one!

I remember the day Elijah was born. I looked down at him, the very image of Nathan when he was born. It's humorous now, but I waited a whole month to get a glimpse of Elijah that was something other than what I remembered of Nathan when he was that age. Did I really have a different little baby in my arms? They were so alike.

On the drive to and from Florida I marveled at springtime in Georgia. It was like a mini-autumn. The leaves and blossoms were coming out in so many colors. I've never seen anything like it. Astoundingly beautiful. I made a mental note to try to remember it.

And on and on. Most of these memories aren't recorded anywhere. I'm trying to decide whether or not to use my blog to record these memories. It seems fitting to me because my blog is my family journal.

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A couple of fun things from the past few days:

In Primary on Sunday, the presidency did the spotlight as usual. Sariah was standing next to her new friend Brooke. Although they've been in class with each other for the first time, they seem to just have noticed each other ("Hi Sariah!" Brooke called. "Hi!" "Do you like my dress?" queried Brooke. All girl, isn't it?). I started to hear things in the spotlight that indicated Sariah. Finally, she stopped her chatting and started to take note of what they were saying, "This person likes Halloween best because they like candy." "This person likes to go to singing and storytime." And finally, "This person's birthday is on January 17th." Even from my seat in the row behind Sariah, I saw her head jolt out and a smile spread on her face. She went proudly to the front of the room to get her prize and then spent the rest of singing/sharing time glowing. Everytime I looked at her, she beamed.

Yesterday, we took cupcakes to Elijah's classroom. On the way out of the school, Brigham spied the buses waiting for the lines of kids to come. He started running, "Look, bus. Look, bus." (I want to look at the bus.) We went over and walked by the buses until he got his fill and then headed for the van.

Where are Memories Stored?

Joseph and I really like to conjure up ideas and build toys for our kids. Over the years, we've done some pretty neat things. We made a whole set of wooden blocks. We made a ball pit. We made a puppet theater. We made a doll house plus many of the fixins' (clothes, bedding, furniture etc.) for the dolls (see this previous post). For Nathan's fifth birthday, we threw him a Thomas the Tank Engine party and made these trains for each of the kids who came:


I found the extra trains that we had the other day and let Brigham play with them. I went back and forth deciding whether I would keep them or not. In the end, the face fell off of the Thomas and that decision was made easy.

All in all, I'm working to get rid of things even in the face of my version of practicality. For instance, why get rid of boy clothes that Brigham will eventually grow into? On the other hand, what is the price to store them for another five years until they fit him (and the elastic waistbands are likely shot)?

I also want to get rid of a lot of things that I think my memories are tied to (like the Thomas trains), because we just can't keep storing all of that stuff. (Do I sound like a broken record? Probably!) I was on the phone the other night with a lady whom I hope to get to know better (hi Jenny!). She talked about not letting the things that are in our homes define our memories. I thought that was wise. Somehow as I look at these things, it seems like the memories are captured inside them. If I remove the object, it seems like I remove the memory. In reality, I believe I just project the memory into the object. They are really stored inside me.

I haven't figured out how to keep memories differently. Maybe I do know how, but I've not effectively done it in the past. Surely pictures and journals are a big part of it. Sadly, I haven't done a very good job in the past of taking and making pictures available or of writing things down. My friend mentioned sending me the letters I had written to her over the years. I'm grateful for that because my journals are a desert during that time frame. (Wish I'd thought of sending people their letters before I rashly threw them out!)

My memories are important to me. I don't want to lose them.

P.S. For some bed-making fun, check out Lara's blog!

Remember?

Remember when we used to write each other letters and send stacks of pictures? It's hard to believe. Some years back, I got rid of all the letters I had been saving my whole life, but then they built up again. Since I'm determined to go through every box and bin in my house, I have to sort through these letters and decide what to keep (very little).

I wrote weekly to many missionaries as Joseph's siblings and my siblings served their missions. Unless my memory serves me wrong, it wasn't until my youngest brother served his mission, that e-mail was a form of communication. I'm not sure I ever sent him a paper letter! I'm sure that's standard now. I can't imagine fitting that into my life now! At one point, I was writing three to four letters per week plus occasional other letters. It seems weird to me now that we communicated that way. Our kids will hardly relate at all, although they do get the occasional letter and birthday card. Mail just isn't what it used to be!!

My prize possession in all of these letters are these letters below:

After my Grandma Burris passed away, my aunt gave me these letters. They are the ones I wrote to my grandma. I'm wondering if I still have the letters she wrote to me saved somewhere. The longer my grandma is gone, the more I miss her. I don't think I realized when she was alive, how important she was to me. I can't wait to see her again! I love you Grandma Jennie!

Red Dog, I Think I'm Gonna Puke!

Red Dog is safely stowed away in the basement, I think. Do doubt he'll be uncovered in the next few weeks as I make my way through the house. More on him later.

Today I was grilling Joseph on our way back from eating at Panchero's for lunch. Mmmmmm! I was asking him what he would do if he were in my shoes. I wanted to know what he'd do with the dolls my mom made for me when I was a kid. These are lovely dolls, folks. She specialized in Raggedy Ann and Andy. She has seen much less quality dolls than the ones she makes sold for $100. I still have the pair she made me when I was one year old. They are tattered looking, but in pretty good shape. I have a three foot tall pair as well. Plus, my mom also branched out and made a few other kinds of dolls. They are beautifully made. I never really got them down for my girls, I guess with the idea that we'd keep them nice and pass them down. I just didn't realize that for items to carry meaning, they needed to be held and loved. With my space issue, these are a real dilemma! Joseph didn't make this any easier. He simply told me that he'd not make any decision about them because they are mine.

At that point, somehow, Joseph remembered Red Dog. Red Dog has been with me for a long time. I'm not sure what age I was when he was given to me, but I know that he was washed many times. One day, at about age 3 or 4, I remember sitting on the bottom stair of the staircase and crying. Red Dogs stomach had ripped open and the little beads and stuffing were coming out. Mom saved the day and sewed him up for me.

When Nathan was born, we put a shelf up in his room to display some of the dolls and, of course, Red Dog. I used to pretend that Red Dog would talk to Nathan and sometimes Nathan talked to Red Dog.

When we moved to this current house, the shelf was again installed in Nathan's room over his crib. He always liked to say good night to Red Dog, who was up on the shelf, before he went to sleep. At that time I was pregnant with May and apparently often said, "I think I'm gonna puke!" One day I took Nathan in for his nap and suddenly, he looked up at Red Dog and said, "Red Dog, I think I'm gonna puke!"

Red Dog stays. Good dog.

Help! This is Harder than it Looks: A Hike Down the Trail of Reminiscence

After taking a break yesterday, I'm back on the warpath of removing schtuff. After moving our 72 hour kits to one of the shelves that Joseph built on Saturday, I proceeded into our room. This is the closet that holds the binders of college notes. It wasn't that hard to get rid of the Stats notes. Don't get me wrong. I actually loved Statistics. They say it's all in the teacher you get. Dr. Hilton was a fabulous teacher. He patiently and sometimes not so patiently (he was sarcastic, so I was right at home) explained the principles. During our take-home exams, he'd allow us into his office to ask him questions about the exam if we didn't understand the question. I remember more than one time, he actually gave the answer right to me! Still, the notes don't mean much to me, so many matrices, so little time!

Then I found my advanced invertebrate notes and my notes from when I studied in Monterey, CA at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station. These notes are more than notes. They are works of art. Dr. Lee Braithwaite taught these classes. He was the kind of professor that expects you to write down every word he said and then memorize it all. That was exactly what I did. He'd give your hand a break every now and then by drawing a diagram on the board (which you were also expected to copy to the last detail and memorize). See below:





One day, he didn't have time to give the lecture and color-photocopied his own notes for us. Get a load of this:


I don't think I can get rid of these notes. They are a part of me.

Every year Dr. Braithwaite chose 16-17 students to go with him to Monterey. Someone dropped out last minute in 1993 (just four short months after my marriage) and Dr. Braithwaite offered me their place. Joseph agreed to let me go (Thanks Joseph!). Once we got our classroom set up, we started having lectures, waiting for low tides at the right times to go on our 8-9 field trips. We'd get up EARLY to hit the low low tide. One morning we'd be at the Great Tide Pool looking at nudibranchs, sponges, sea stars, and chipping barnacles off the rocks for research. Another morning, we'd be on the mud flats digging up the worm Urechis caupo and looking for his roommates the crab and the fish (sorry, I have forgotten the Genus and species of those). We dissected specimens and drew them. We got water samples and looked at and drew the microscopic plankton creatures. We induced sand dollars to release their eggs and sperm and then watched as the larvae developed: one cell, two cells, etc. The divers brought up a holdfast from the large kelp that grows in Monterey Bay and we collected the octupi, crabs, brittle stars, etc. that were living inside. Good memories. I love invertebrate sea animals!

I also found my slides of my fish (Redside shiner) and the larval tapeworm that invaded them which I was studying for my Master's Thesis. Good stuff.

Was I really that person back then? Since I have always been a stay-at-home mom, I've never really used that stuff and I've all but lost it. Well, I'm keeping those notes! I can use them to prove to my kids that I actually went to college and used my brain cells!