It Begins!

I should start with a warning that I tend toward verbosity.... and bragging about my great kids. Other than that, I am pretty open. No real secrets and pretty much any part of my life could end up here. So buckle up, hang on and enjoy the ride!

Today is the first official day of summer!! Kids are done with school for the Summer as of the 18th!! YAY!! Mason is officially a senior and Gray is a junior.... Man... how time does fly and things change so much, so fast!

As of today, Mason is in Scotland and Gray is at Youth Conference, so I am basically on my own. The last 6 weeks have been unbelievably crazed. Getting Mason ready for his European tour (as many as 10 countries) and Gray ready for Brazil all while trying to tie up finals on top of working was a bit of a job. But Mason is off and on his way and hopefully Gray will have her Visa in time to leave on Tuesday as scheduled! (Stay tuned here for photos from the babies adventures!)

It's kinda a crazy thing. I don't like my kids to be away from me. I love having them around and don't find parenting to be anything but wonderful. But between Mark living in Utah, and the kids travels, they seem to be gone from home more than most. I am so excited they get to travel and see the world (hopefully, my time will come soon) and am so extremely proud that I can trust them so much as to let them venture out on their own. But, Dangit!, I miss them! I love their sweet faces, their thoughts and ideas, having their friends fill my house, and teenage kisses as they head off to bed (way later than I think they should) or out the door to school or to hang out with friends. I love text messages about their latest crush, asking for help, advice or permission, even the ones that express frustration with me for some reason. I love being a mom. I love being their mom. They really are such amazing human beings. I am so lucky they belong to me! I often say Heavenly Father sent me angels because real children wouldn't last long at my house!! I'm not all that amazing, but they really are. I'm not sure how that happened, but I'm really glad it did!!