My Daddy January 28, 2009

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything.  That’s because my world has been turned upside down. 

A little over four weeks ago, my dad passed away unexpectedly in his sleep.  Ever since then, nothing has been the same. 

My dad was my rock.  He was my friend.  He was my daddy.  He will always be.  But I miss him terribly.  He was such a huge part of our lives.  I love my dad more than I could ever begin to describe. 

It’s been  4 weeks now,  and I still feel lost and terribly sad.  The sadness is purely selfish.  I’m thrilled for him.  I know where he is.  I know that I’ll see him and be with him again.  I know that death is not the end and that I can be with my family for eternity.  However, I’m so sad not to have him physically here anymore.  Someone told me that we never mourn for those that have passed, we mourn for those of us left behind.  It’s so true. 

I wanted to take a little bit of time, and talk about my dad a bit. 

My dad’s world revolved around me and the kids.  His family was his life.  Growing up he always put me first and was always there for me when I needed him.  There are countless examples of this, but I remember on one particular occasion, I was in preschool.  Some kid slammed my pinkie in the hinge part of a door and I was in some serious pain.  I remember getting some ice from the teacher, and then looking up and seeing my dad there.  It seemed like it has only been a couple minutes since it had happened.  My dad was at work at the time, but dropped everything and drove as fast as he could to come get me.   On another occasion, he came to the rescue when I lost my favorite blankie.  I have wonderful memories of going out to Lake Mead with my dad.  No matter how much he wanted to fish, he always made sure to pull the boat up to shore line so I could go collect sea shells and rocks and other fun things.  We spent a lot of time outdoors when I was younger, as my dad loved to fish and hunt and camp.  We stayed close, even as I was a teenager.  My dad was always someone I felt I could talk to and go to with anything.  He wasn’t always happy about what I did, but he was always there for me and always loved me.  After I got married and had children, my dad was a wonderful grandpa.  Trips to grandpa’s house with the boys always started off by visiting the garage and playing with tools and learning something.  He loved to have the boys come over and they would build things and work on all kinds of projects together.  And the girls just melted his heart.  In talking to family and friends, he would constantly be talking about the kids.  He took such joy in all of them.  He was a huge part of our lives. 

My dad was incredibly talented.  As a young child I remember sitting next to him and watching him as he tied flies for fly fishing, or worked on a fishing rod, making it look completely amazing.  He also was an extremely skilled woodturner.  The things he made on that wood lathe were absolutely incredible, including intricate baby rattles for each of the kids.  My dad was also the one anyone called if they wanted a picture frame made, or shelves made, or anything fixed. 

My dad was also a very kind and gentle man.  He was a great example to everyone who knew him. 

I’m so grateful for the time I did have here with him, and I’m so grateful that he is my dad.

You can read the obituary here.

Well, so much for that idea… January 4, 2009

Tomorrow is the official end of Christmas vacation.  I had all the grand ideas of having the kids do some extra school work during the break.  A day of science, or language arts.  Gavin could do some phonics catch up.  Plus, I didn’t want to fall out of the routine of school.  Yeah, that didn’t happen.  It was great in theory, then reality set in and we took time off for the holidays.  It has been super busy the last couple weeks, much more than normal for the holidays.  Lots of family events, because their uncle is going to be leaving this coming week to serve a mission in South Korea.  (I’m hoping to spend some time with the kids learning together about Korea.  We did that when their other uncle went to Argentina on his mission.)  Then, we had the boys’ birthday party, the week after Christmas.  It’s not over yet, either.  Logan is getting baptized this week, and there’s big doings for that, too.  It’s all been great, though!  So, even though we didn’t do school work over the break, and it’s probably going to be hard to get them back to things tomorrow, I’m grateful for what we did do.  It was a break well spent!

Here We Go! May 2, 2008

Hello everyone! 

I’ve started this blog to chronicle our family’s journey as we begin to homeschool.  A little about my family and me.  I’m the mom of four amazing children.  I’ve got one that will be going into 2nd grade, one going into kindergarten, and two littler ones.  Dad provides wonderfully for us and goes to work while I stay home.  I am also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Naturally I want the very best for my kids, and that doesn’t stop with their education.  I’ve been sorely disappointed in our school district here.  It wasn’t good when I went through it, and it’s gotten exponentially worse in the last 20 years.  While my oldest son, who is in 1st grade now, has been blessed with two magnificent teachers, he still isn’t getting the kind of education I would like for him.  Don’t get me wrong; those teachers are doing the best they can with what they’ve got, and I don’t fault them for the insufficient education.  The problem lies in the public education system as a whole.  It’s fatally flawed, and overly left wing.  I think some of the things being taught in public schools are absurd and definitely NOT what I want my children learning.  So, we’ve made the decision to homeschool our children.  I think it is going to work out so much better for them. 

Coincidentally, I found out one of my very best friends is also planning to homeschool her 3 kids.  So, we’ve been bouncing ideas off each other, and being great supports to each other also.  We’ve decided to work together a little bit and we are pretty like minded on the type of education that we want for our kiddos.  It’s been great, also to have someone else to sift through the endless amount of information.  I’ve also been getting some invaluable information from a sweet homeschooling mom of 4 at Church. 

Although I am a bit overwhelmed at the task ahead of me, I know that with the Lord and my family working together, we can do it!  There are just so many possibilities and opportunities available, I have to say that I am really very excited!  What could be better?!  This truly will be the journey of a lifetime!