Morro Bay 2012

 If you had peeked into my Freshman apartment at BYU back in 2000, you never would have thought that my roommate Emily and I would ever be friends.  I don't think we started to get along until March!  But those last two months of the year were a serious bonding blitz for our apartment that left me with plenty of wonderful memories and several dear-to-my-heart friends I'm still in touch with. 

When Emily moved to Southern California a few months ago, we planned a meet-in-the-middle weekend.  We joined up in beautiful Morro Bay with our husbands and kids this past weekend.

Honestly, the part I was most excited for was the Hazel/Amaryllis merge.  Both girls have massive imaginations and I had a feeling they would be fast friends.  (They were giggling together within 30 seconds.)

 (Amaryllis kissing Hazel out of a sleeping spell)

We stayed at a gorgeous, big house so we'd have room to hang out after the kids went to bed.  I'm still reeling from all the space - how do I survive in 1200 square feet?  It was lovely to spread out.  Jack was head over heels for the balcony.  He spent mounds of time out there pointing at the boats. 

We strolled the main drag, peeking into shops and sampling delicious pastries from the bakery, visited the teensy aquarium, and played at the local playground.  Emily took this photo.  I love Morro Rock in the background, and sweetie Jack pointing at something that interested him. 

 After naps we spent the afternoon at Spooner's Cove, climbing big rocks, collecting medium-sized rocks, and throwing little rocks in the water.  

 

Jake (Emily's husband) and Todd took Hazel up to the top of this enormous rock at the beach.  Todd said she was right on the edge of the cliff until she got sprayed by sea foam.  That girl is just about fearless.

 I love this family photo! 

 The next day we attended what may be THE LAMEST parade I have ever attended.  I am really bummed that we spent our time on it, actually, because we ended up not having time to check out the kite festival that was going on and I bet it was really cool.  But, maybe not?  Judging from the parade, maybe I was crediting this little town able to put on more of a party than it could.  (I'm telling myself that to try not to feel bad we missed it.)

The highlight of the day was throwing everyone into canoes to play on the water a bit. 

 

We were able to get up close and personal with these bad boys.  They spend all day sunning in the middle of the bay.  They barked a bit at us, but when a handful of sailboats went past, they all arched up as tall as they could get and really made a ruckus.  It was awesome.  

We took our canoes across the bay and played for a while in the sand dunes.  There was a fairly tall drop-off, maybe eight feet or so, and first thing when we got there, Todd said, "Hazel, you should run and jump," and off she went, not a seconds' hesitation.  Slam, into the sand halfway down, and she ran the rest of the way, balance intact.  I am so impressed with her courage.  (Surprised, no.  Todd is quite a daredevil himself, after all.  But definitely impressed.) 

Emily took this photo as well.  She's got a gift for photography.  Check her out here. 

 After canoeing, we snagged some lunch, then it was check-out time at the house and up we packed into the car for the drive home.  We had a great time. 

Thoughts from a Mother

Thursday night Todd and I knelt for prayers. I was giving the prayer, and I started thanking Heavenly Father for Hazel in our family (because it was her birthday) and it just hit me. Three years we've had this little body of a blessing in our family, and we're so grateful she came. My mind swam through memories of the 2 1/2 years Todd and I spent trying to get pregnant, and all the heartache we felt during that period of our lives, and having our sweet girl here makes it so blessedly easy to forget how difficult waiting for her to come was. She is such a fireball, so full of life and chock full of smart and goofy ideas.

Last night I was vacuuming the house (it needed it desperately) and I was holding Jack while I did it because he's going through a phase where he's freaked out by the loud noise. So I'm balancing him on one hip, with the vacuum cords in the same hand, while I push the machine all over the place. Hazel's following me around, yelling something at me over the noise. I pushed aside a feeling of wild frustration and made myself grin, made myself revel in the gift of being a mother of young children. I ignored Hazel as long as I could, just trying to finish, but she kept building in intensity. It sounded like she was saying she was thirsty, and I could see her water bottle on the counter I was coming close to, so I shut off the vacuum to listen to her for a quick second. And she was actually shouting, "Will you serve me?" and holding up a piece of jewelry she wanted help putting on. Seriously? That ring was so important she had to follow me around, shouting at the top of her lungs for three minutes straight?

Today at church Hazel's nursery teacher bore her testimony and spoke about how she and her husband have been trying to get pregnant for three years, and they're looking into IVF. She thanked the bispohric for trusting her with a calling in the nursery, said how much she appreciated being a mother for an hour and a half each Sunday. I got called to be a nursery leader the year we lived in Alabama, when we'd been trying to get pregnant for two years and had had some unsuccessful fertility treatments. I had the hardest time accepting that calling. I cried a ton and wanted very much to say no. For me, working in nursery was torture. All I wanted at that point was to avoid little children because it hurt me so badly to be near what I wanted so much and didn't have. I was bitter and struggling with my faith in God. It was a major low point in my life. I couldn't help but feel that Hazel's nursery teacher is dealing with this trial better than I did. I am impressed, humbled, and grateful to have such a woman working with my child.

Hazel will be in Sunbeams in January, which means her nursery class went to Primary for a few minutes today to practice and see what it is like. It was really fun for me to peek in and spy on her, experiencing this milestone.

Jack's a fast walker now and is getting into EVERYTHING. My mild man is going to be trouble after all, I think. Today he was sitting on my lap as I showed him a book that had textured pieces he could touch. Hazel came over and covered the entire puppy ear with her hand so he couldn't touch any of it. He made a mad grunting noise and pulled her hand off, over and over again. I was proud of him. He's going to put up a good fight and stick up for himself after all!

High School Journal Entry

Today in Relief Society, the lesson was on keeping a personal and family history. It made me curious, so this afternoon I've been perusing my old journals from junior high and high school. And I came across an entry that made me laugh out loud. It's a majorly embarrassing moment!

Background: I made this boy a plate of cookies, and made a big deal all day at school about how I had something to give him. I took it to his house late that night. Here is the story, quoted straight from my own 16-year-old words:

Boy came to the door...I handed him the plate of seran-wrapped cookies. He looked at it.

Then he picked up a piece of ABC gum (that I had put on there before dinner, meaning to take off before I gave it to him, but I guess I forgot.) Anyway, he picks it up and says, "What's this?" in a very confused voice. I grabbed it from him and put it in my pocket, stuttering, "Oh, it's...nothing."

I left as soon as I could. I felt so embarrassed. I can't believe I forgot to take my gum off of the seran wrap. I have never felt so humiliated in my life.

Every night that I'm outside late enough for stars to be out, I make a wish on the first star I see. You know, that old "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight" stuff. Well, my wish that night was that Boy would forget about the gum.