Sad and Scary, but OK

Now that I'm all mostly caught up on the "What we've been doing" part of our life, I thought I would share a few experiences that we've had lately.

I don't know if you noticed or not, but Malia hasn't attended any volleyball camps this summer, and she has decided not to. In fact, after much discussion, thought, and tears, she's not going to try out for the school team either. There were a lot of things contributing to her decision, but it came down to doing what makes her happy. There is a line from a song that my father-in-law likes that says, "When you have the chance, when you have the choice, surround yourself with JOY." And for right now, that is not volleyball. There was a change in the coaching at the high school, and for some reason the new husband and wife coaching team are not Finlayson fans. Other players and parents have noticed, and talked to us about it, and we've speculated why.... but whatever the reason, it made volleyball frustrating on a good day, and downright miserable on all the other days. Malia loves to play volleyball, and loved the girls. Now that the decision has been made though, and she is confident she has made the right decision, she is relieved and excited to see what else she can do. For now, part one of her plan is to run cross country. Right up until drivers ed messed up the schedule, Malia and Taisha had been getting up early and running 3-4 miles every morning. She's not very fast, but she's made it a personal challenge to stick to it and see how much she can improve through the season. Things have a habit of just falling into place for Malia, so I can hardly wait to see what she has waiting for her!

I mentioned in my last blog post that Malia got a job at a snow shack this summer. She was so excited to get this job, and works about 8-12 hours a week. It's a busy snow shack, so her time goes fast, and she was thrilled to learn that Taisha could come and help and hang out with her as well. The other night the girls were both there from 6-10. It had been a busy night, and they had just started closing down, when someone tried to rob them. The girls had closed the front of the snow shack, when someone (Malia said he was older than her, late teens, early 20's, and bigger than her) with a bandanna over his face, and a hoody on, came to the back door and yelled at them to give him the money. Malia told him "NO! It's not yours!" (So totally Malia...) She told me later, the thought didn't even enter her mind to give him the money. In her mind, where fairness and equality reign, he couldn't take something that wasn't his. He yelled at them again to give him the money, Malia said "NO!" again, and Taisha yelled for him to get out. Then they both pushed his arm out, they slammed the door, and wedged themselves so the door couldn't open, and said a prayer that he would go away and they would be safe. There was a van driving by that saw the kid in the bandanna, and pulled in. The kid took off running, and the man in the van, watched where the kid ran, while the wife checked on the girls, who had called the owner of the snow shack, who called the police. The owner was about to the snow shack when the girls called, the police were there minutes later, and I pulled in minutes after that. I got out of my van, and was trying to figure out what was going on, since I had just talked to them about 10 minutes earlier and everything was fine, and Taisha got into my van, locked the doors, and sobbed. Both girls were terrified. The police officer that was there kept telling my girls they did great, but that if anything like that happens again, just give them what they want. After the girls were out of ear shot he said that a gun store had been robbed a few nights before, so it's better to be safe, than sorry. He said it looked like it was someone who hoped to just scare the girls into giving him money, but probably didn't want to hurt them. I'm so grateful that they were looked after that night. I'm grateful that someone was paying attention, and noticed something wasn't right, and pulled in to make sure they were alright. I'm grateful the kid didn't have a weapon. I'm grateful for the priesthood blessings they asked for when we got home. I'm grateful they were there together, as they both said it would have been a lot scarier by themselves. And I'm grateful that they were so courageous and strong. There were a lot of tears, and they were both shaking, but they were safe. They didn't sleep well that first night, and Taisha didn't sleep well the second night either, but this morning, told me it felt more like a foggy nightmare, and that she finally had a good sleep last night. Both Taisha and Malia don't like to talk about it, and want to put the whole scary incident behind them.

Just to change the mood.... Anaya started violin lessons, and her teacher has me come and watch the lessons so that I can help Anaya while she is practicing during the week.... bahahahahaha! With McKay starting piano and Anaya starting violin, I have visions of the two of them playing violin/piano duets together in the future! McKay on the other hand, has a little different vision for the future: sky diving. We have had so many conversations about sky diving... Part of me is so excited to see how each of my kids personalities develop into adults, and part of me is just a little worried! =)

It's like we're playing Musical Kids!

This summer has felt different than summers in the past, and for me, it's taking some getting used to. The kids have been nice and busy doing all sorts of fun things, but it feels like we are rarely all home at the same time. It's making planning things to do as a family especially hard. Here's a quick run down of what I mean:

Malia had and AMAZING time a EFY. She was actually really sad to come home after such an uplifting experience. She's already saving to go again next year.

(Malia with Tana, her EFY counselor )

(Malia's EFY group. She was SO sad to leave them all!)

While Malia was at EFY, Anaya went to art camp and started violin lessons, McKay started piano lessons, and Kayden went up to Island Park for a student council retreat. Anaya played t-ball the month of June. Last year they named their team the "Yellow Bananas," and this year they were the "Pink Raspberries." I'm noticing a trend...



Malia got home from EFY, had a few days at home, and then left with a friend to Boise to play at the water park, and Taisha went to volleyball camp. Malia got a job at a snow shack for the summer, so whenever she was home, she was working. Malia got home from Boise, and she and Taisha packed and left for girls camp.

(Malia repelling)

(Marshmallow guns)

(Awesome group of girls!)

In between all of that, Kayden got a job renting kayaks at Rigby Lake, and he has been running, running, running. He has logged over 450 miles so far this summer. He's also been mowing lawns and has spent many days staining decks (the one he is working on now, is HUGE, and has taken over 25 hours so far.)

(St. Anthony Pioneer Day Fun Run - Kayden is #291)

(Slow day at the Yak Shack!)

While the girls were at camp, Rik and I took a quick over night trip, and Kayden started working on his assignment for student council: the 4th of July float for the parade. After many late nights, here's how it turned out:

(Kayden pogo-sticked the first hour of the parade!)

While Kayden was pogo-ing down the parade, the rest of us went to Lagoon. Once again, we lucked out, and the weather was perfect, and the lines were OUTSTANDING.

(Malia and Taisha riding the tram across Lagoon)

We got back from Lagoon, and Kayden left for California with Kristen and her family. Have I mentioned how much we like Kristen and her family?


Kayden had a BLAST! They went to the beach, the temple, and Disneyland. His first morning back, he walked up the stairs SO sad, and asked if I could just drive him back to California... and then asked where his continental breakfast was!

At some point we got the garden planted. It was beautiful. Rik had drawn up a plan on graph paper, he tilled our 50 ft x 80 ft lot until it was weed-free and fluffy, and we planted everything in perfectly straight lines, with seeds perfectly placed. Imagine my shock when I drove out and saw this:

Yep, somewhere under all those weeds are our little plants having the life choked out of them! So we've spent just about every available evening out there weeding... and weeding... and weeding.

(CRAZY amounts of weeds!)

Oddly, the kids have so much fun out there with their cousins, and they look forward to the ice cream when we get done weeding for the night.

McKay has been loving every second of Scouts, and had the opportunity to go to day camp a couple weeks ago. Even though he has been waking up anywhere from 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning, on the day of day camp, he was up and dressed at 7:00! He was so excited to shoot bb guns, hike, and do all the other fun things they had planned.


My mom sent me a link for some instructions to make crocheted headbands, and Taisha has been busy making them. She's also done snow cone/cotton candy stands in the front yard, and is babysitting A LOT.

Malia finishes drivers ed this week, and then gets to practice driving with Rik and I for the next 6 months or so. Malia and Taisha have spent a lot of time together this year, and I have loved listening to them talk and giggle together. They run together in the mornings, help each other with their babysitting jobs, and Taisha loves going to work with Malia at the snow shack. They've been going to the temple together with some of the other girls in our ward. I love seeing them becoming such great friends.


So do you see what I mean? Someone is always coming or going, or completely gone, and my house feels weird to me when people are missing. Maybe it's because whenever someone is gone, we have "The Great Bedroom Switch Around." When the girls were at camp, McKay and Anaya took over their rooms. When Kayden was gone, Taisha moved down there, and Anaya moved into Taisha's room. When Malia was at EFY, Taisha moved into Malia's room. The saddest part for me though, is knowing that this is how it is going to be years, and I'm having a hard time getting used to the idea. *pouts*

Some of the other highlights of the summer have been having Nathan and his family visit, visiting with some Canada family, fitting in a quick visit with my high school best friend (who came up for our 20 year class reunion), getting called as the Primary chorister (most favorite calling of all time), and Melanie and Trevor had their 6th baby!

Logan William Palmer
Born July 11th, 2011 at 7:42am
6 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches long

On a completely unrelated note, if you'd like to see Kayden's photo shoot for his senior picture for the yearbook, and weigh in on which one he should pick, go here.