Subaru trial and living on top of old smoky

On Monday Adam had the day off and we decided to take a drive.  Adam has been wanting to go to Lake Mountain for awhile and see how his Subaru would do. (unintentional rhyming)

Lake Mountain is the unimaginative name of the small mountain range west of Utah Lake.  We set out with snacks and high spirits to test the mettle of the car.

Turns out the car did much better than I did.  It was a narrow and winding and extremely rocky and bumpy road and I got very carsick.  I finally had Adam stop and let me get out to walk.  It was terrible.  Emma got out to walk with me.  She said, "I don't even get carsick and I'm carsick."

The Subaru chugged up the mountain like it was made for such activities.

The view from the top was stunning:

We saw our house! (probably)

Also, to give a sense of scale, those little dots on the near side of the lake are houses too.

We watched a flock of birds that we guessed were seagulls flying waaaay high in the sky.  I took a picture but it's hard to see the birds.

They were thousands of feet in the air.

I drove home which helped the carsick situation.  We went and visited my grandma, helped take down the Labor Day flags in the neighborhood and watched the season premier of Studio C.  It was a good day and I went to sleep happy.

Then about 2:45 I woke up and smelled smoke coming through the open windows.  Living on the edge of civilization during the driest part of the year, it got my attention.  Despite Adam trying to reassure me, I couldn't go back to sleep until I figured out where the fire was.  Luckily, the internet knew.  It was at Deer Creek reservoir on the other side of the mountain we live on.

It made for a smoky day yesterday.

Here's the mountain we drove up Monday.  Hardly visible.

Parent Paradise

We got an email from Braeden Friday evening.  Happy day!  Except.

He was sending a quick email because his shoes did not work.  These are the very expensive shoes we bought him (two pair!).  These are the shoes we told him to wear before going to the MTC so he could be sure they worked and were broken in.  These are the shoes he didn't wear.  At all. 

I love that kid.

(I keep reminding myself.)

He was sending a desperate plea for us to send his old shoes which are quite worn.  He said he was wearing his tennis shoes in the meantime.

So he's that missionary.  The one with the tennis shoes and suit.

Adam and I looked at each other in dismay after reading the email.  We reminded each other that we love that kid.

Then we got online.  (I wonder if people that have always lived in Utah County know how it is in the rest of the world.  This place is so different.  Bizarre in delightful ways.) We found a multitude of same day MTC delivery services around here. 

We went to The Missionary Mall.  We explained our dilemma to the fresh faced young man who worked there who just returned from a mission himself.  He shook his head in a knowing, forbearing way.  He got us bigger shoes.  He said we could return the very expensive two pairs of shoes as long as they were still new enough looking that they could resell them.  (If Braeden scuffed up those shoes, I'm going to need to remind myself how much I love him.)

Adam polished up the worn old shoes and Saturday morning we went to Post Mart to deliver the old shoes and the new, bigger shoes.  There was a whole pile of things parents were sending to their missionaries at the MTC.  You could send as much stuff as you wanted for $3 a day.  We handed over the box and the guy smiled and said, "We'll deliver this in a few minutes."

Also, the very expensive too small shoes?  Braeden can put them in the same box and send them back to us through Post Mart.

For free, because he's a missionary.

Bizarre, ridiculously wonderful Utah County.

As we walked back to the car, Adam said, "Living here is a missionary parent paradise."

Tiny notes

Dear House,

You are so very quiet.  I think I'll like it here.  It will take some getting used to, but quiet is one of my favorite sounds.

Me

Dear Braeden's Empty Room,

You. Are. Killing. Me.

Me

Dear Adam,

You are a genius to arrange for us to have a date the weekend after Braeden left.  You know me.  And I love you.

Me

Dear Illusive Fly,

I will get you.

Me

Dear Red Geraniums,

Thank you for your cheerful blooms all summer.  You remind me of my grandma and you make me happy.

Me

Dear Every Doctor's Office I've Ever Been To,

Yes, that paperwork is correct.  My husband and I have the same birthday.

Me

Dear Snake Emma Saw in the Garage,

You're gone, right?  You're not hiding in the garage still?  You're not going to end up in my bed, right?

Right?!?

Me

Books I read in August 2015

August brought some good books my way.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler ****

I always like Anne Tyler and this was no exception.  I may have liked it even better than her others.  It's about a family over three generations.  It skips all around telling their stories.  The characters were in turns delightful and infuriating.  It gave me a lot to think about.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman  **

This book was OK.  I probably would have stopped reading it, but I read it for book club.  Yes, book club.  I didn't ever tell you because it was sandwiched between too many other things, but I have joined a book club.  I was slightly terrified to go because I sort of like it here in my comfort zone, but I was very glad I did.  I miss my old book club.  I love talking to women that are like minded and I like reading and talking about books.  I even like soldiering on through a book that I wouldn't read otherwise for the greater good of book club!

This book was fine until it ventured into paranormal stuff and I was thinking, "Wha?" I never really got it all, I just thought it was sort of strange.

But I read it!  And I went to book club!

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute****

I feel like I should have read this book a long time ago.  It's been around awhile.  I told my mom about it and she read it years ago.  Where have I been?

It's about a young British woman who is in the Pacific during World War II.  She falls in love and moves to the Australian outback and really makes something of herself!  It was pretty fascinating and feel good.  This is sort of a lame book review (like most of mine are) but I figure you've probably already read the book...

That's that

Mark went to school but Emma stayed home.  She told Braeden he could wake her up whenever he wanted to.

It wasn't an easy task but Pooh Bear finally emerged from her den.  They sat down and started playing Heart and Soul on the piano together.

It was the first happy/sad occurrence of the day.

Here he is posing with his ceremonial last Coke Zero while his dad loaded the van.  I feel like every picture we get from him while he's on his mission will be silly.

And I don't mind.

We got everything into one big and one little suitcase.  For two years.  Amazing.

We picked up Mark from school and I had to take a quick shot of my three in the back.

It's blurry but my eyes were also blurry.  Braeden was still/always opting for drama.

We stopped for lunch and the waitress is going on a mission in three weeks.  There's nothing quite like Utah County.

His drop off time was 12:45 and we got there early.  We drove up by the Provo Temple and there were little clumps of missionaries and their families milling around.  I didn't make eye contact with any of the other mothers.  A few sideways glances showed me that like me, they were barely holding it together.

Solidarity, sisters.  I get it.  This is tough.

It was time, so we walked back to the van.  Braeden gave me his arm.  We walked along, my arm looped through his and I felt the soft fabric of his suit and his strong muscular arm underneath and I thought, "This is it."

We dropped him off, hugged and cried and a kind elder was there to enthusiastically welcome him and ask him where he was going and our role was complete.

Tear stained and slightly blurry picture, but it was one of those times when I've never been so sad and happy simultaneously.

And crying like nobody's business.

I handed out Kleenex in the car and that was that.

He's on his way.

The big day

It's finally here.  His whole life we've talked about the day he'll serve a mission.

And here we are.

I can't even begin to describe how it feels.  Exciting and scary and joyful and full of gratitude and really, really rotten come close.

I'll miss him.  That's all.

Other stuff too

I have one and only one thing on my mind and that is the impending departure.

You know, in case you couldn't tell...

Today we have a packed list of last minute stuff to attend to. Just when we thought we had everything, it turns out we don't.  I'm very glad we'll have Adam to help us tonight.  He's smarter and more experienced (at being a missionary and at packing a suitcase efficiently).

Today also, I have some things to say unrelated to Braeden's mission:

1-Happy news!

Meet Lucette.  She arrived yesterday.  All ten. Pounds. Of. Her.  (Well done Melanee!) She is already a well loved celebrity in the family.  She is not only the Baby Dahl (23rd grandchild!) but she also has the distinction of being the biggest at birth.  I can't wait to meet her later today.

2-  This is what Emma wanted for her half birthday present:

She is a silly old bear, much like Winnie the Pooh, but incredibly huggable and cuddly when she wears her new pajamas.

3- I have been enjoying my grandma.

Sadly, she broke her back and is in a rehabilitation center and so wasn't able to come on Sunday.  We've visited her a few times, including last night.  I love my grandma!  She'd already given a very generous donation to Braeden's mission but when we went last night--and Braeden was there to say good-bye--she retrieved a folded bill from her wheelchair and asked if he had room in his bag for that.  She is the kindest, most generous grandma in the world.

Recently, when going through the possessions of their parents' that have passed away, my mom's cousins found a box of letters that their father, my grandma's brother, had written home during World War II.  They made copies and then gave my grandma the box of letters.  I have been reading the letters aloud to my grandma.  She was still living at home at the time and so the letters are to her as well.  They are a treasure trove of information.  I love reading about the history of the time and getting an inside look at the life of a soldier.  I also love the family history aspect of it.  I always liked my great uncle Shirley.  (He was named before Shirley Temple made Shirley a girl's name!) He was a talented piano player and always kind with twinkling eyes.  He was also my grandma's next door neighbor.  It is interesting to learn more about the relationship Shirley had with his parents and my grandma back then and I like to know the kinds of things they talked about.

The very best part is how inspired I feel when I read Shirley's words.  He was incredibly optimistic and upbeat.  He didn't complain about a single thing.  There was one, "Golly it is hot today..." but that's hardly a complaint.  He writes about what they're doing (we're at the beginning of the letters so he's still in training and hasn't gone to Germany yet) and who he is with.  He's complimentary of his fellow soldiers and grateful for the food he's getting (food at home was rationed then).  His letters are also chock full of gratitude to his parents, their way of life and how he was raised.

They make me want to be a better person.