I'm a Mormon!

 

Sooooooo...Happy Memorial Day, a day ago. Went camping over the weekend with the whole fam (5 sisters and their husbands, 10 kids under age 8 or so) gooooood times.

 

We left thursday and stayed until sunday. Beautiful nature to be had, there was... I saw snakes and rabbits and squirrels and many, many mosquitoes. It took 3 camp sites to officially contain such a siz-ed family--2 trailers and 3 big tents. Mom and Dad cooked up pancakes and hot cocoa every morning--they say they came to terms long ago with the fact that excursions of this nature will not be vacationally restful for them--and for the rest of the meal times/snack times, all wandered from site to site, fishing through coolers left out in the open. Community style, much?

 

I slept in Mom and Dad's tent trailer, and noted to self that on future outings like this I'll be staking down my OWN site and tent...My littlest sister is 17 and somewhat autistic and has a bladder condition that keeps her (and all within slight proximity) up a lot, a LOT, at night because she always feels the urge to pee, and sometimes can relieve the urge by peeing and sometimes can't...anyway, my, uh, bed, which doubled as the kitchen table, was right up cozy with hers on the wing of the trailer, so that was very very fun. We made lots of runs to the ladies room during the night, before or after her sobs in my ear got the best of both of us...bless her heart! At home her bedroom is right next to the bathroom, so she deals much better. Camping=no fun for her. Another reason for me own camp spot=I like to sleep. Most people do, no? I'm not one to sleep really late, not at all, but you know, 7 or 8 in the morning is not a sin, right?? The first wake-up-in-the-morning of the trip is to Mom and Dad on the other wing of the trailer singing musical duets from the 50's and 60's quite loudly and giggling like schoolchildren. At 6:07 in the a.m. I kid you not.

 

I'm really not complaining! I love my family and the kids and I had SOOOO much fun. We were near a beach, so we'd take walks there and go sea-shell hunting, or "shee-shell" according to the toddler vernacular. I'd ask one kid if they wanted to go for a walk, and as if they all have some baby-radar, the rest would say "I wanna go foh a wahkk too!" so we'd make a chain, with everyone holding someone's hand, and off we'd stroll. Brooklyn, one of the nieces (she's four and absolutely JOYFUL) was most intense in the shee-shell finding. I'd find little tiny ones or particularly pretty ones and I'd say "hey Brookie, look at this tiny/pretty one" and she'd say "I wanna seeee" then snatch it from me and drop it safely into her pocket. So freaking cute.

 

The 3-year-old twins (Kyler and Kaden) are hi-lar-i-ous. Hilarious. Yes, they were born approximately 1.7 minutes apart and split from the same fertilized egg or what have you, but they are fraternal and couldn't be more different in personality. One is really stocky with red hair and smiles even when he cries and is the life of the party; the other is dark haired and olive skinned and a little slighter in stature, and does his own solitary thing with moments of charisma when he chooses to open the enlightenment gates. Their new favorite thing is to tell about their favorite part of the day. They'll wax on for several minutes each about volcanoes and dinosaurs and the Green Goblin and some idea of their triumphing over these foes. It's funny when these stories spill over into prayer time, which usually happens. Whenever we had a big group prayer, they also had to take a turn, and I couldn't help but open one eye and watch the show as they blessed the food and that we'd have fun and the dinosaurs an volcanoes... My boys.

 

Then there's Ashlynn (Brooklyn's little sis). She is a healing little boon. She has the biggest most beautiful blue grey eyes that look past your own, down deep into your heart. An old soul, she is, at age 16 or so months. She's just tiny and wiry, like a little monkey. She loves to cuddle. She was my camping buddy from the get go. Even though she's the smallest, she holds her own with the other kids. She doesn't get pushed around. She said her first "thank you" for me--I taught her please and thank you in sign language so she signed and said the words. Beautiful.

 

Jerrica and Bailey are the two oldest kids and the twins' sisters. They're getting so big, I can't believe it! There was a gorgeous tree on the edge of our camp, and they set up there immediately. They started a "Hofheins *Single Awesome Girls Only Club" (*the Single was added for my benefit, I believe) and only we were going to be allowed in the tree. Funny how these two are so many equal parts princess and tomboy. Bailey was out one evening with her flashilight enjoying a book in the tree. Very cute. Jerrica climbed very high and I was very proud.

 

Another of the smaller ones is Taylor. She is round and stout and walks around with her smile that makes her eyes disappear and waves her hand back and forth like a beauty queen saying "HI!" to anyone in earshot. She's still a little unsteady on her feet and ate a lot of dirt but had a wonderful time, especially with so many coolers with so many treats. She loves to eat, like her favorite auntie.

 

Logan and Lincoln are the blondest little boys with the bluest eyes you've EVER seen. Logan rotates between Peter Parker and Spidey. We had his birthday party and every gift followed suit. He's five and will be going to kindergarten in August. AUGUST! This is my boy whom I've seen most nearly every day of his life since he was born...he's so grown up and serious these days, and quite smart. We played a little baseball, and he instructed after an apparently bad pitch on my part, "Ame, you haff to throw it like diss" then showed me the proper way. Sighhhh. Lincoln is the most curious kid you'll ever meet. He messed with all the knobs and gadgets he could find, from the spigot on the water faucet to the camp stove controls to the air dryer in the bathroom. He's going to be rich.

 

My sister Anna and her husband and son moved to Texas a month ago, and they flew in for the trip. Their original flight was cancelled, but they found one the next night. It arrived around eleven p.m. My parents left camp around nine thirty to go pick them up, and when they returned with Anna and crew around one a.m. they found they were locked out at the front gates. They parked the truck somewhere up there and dragged luggage etc. down the long road into camp. Their little one, Carson, is long and lean and very deliberate. He thinks quite a bit before he acts. He'll put his long little index finger on his chin when in thought, then proceed to act. It took him a bit to warm up, but well worth the wait. We're such an emotional family--it's only been a month and the minute we all saw Anna there was much crying and hugging.

 

Anyway, didn't intend to write a novel, but my family, man...in-tense. My apologies to my sisters who read this and don't find their name in a story--sorry, guys, I'm exhausted! More later!

 

The photo is a piece of it all...

Reading Mauri's blog about putting stuff down in writing to get feelings out of the mind and off the chest was resonant. Me too, iguana, with apology...

 

I smell Eternity perfume and I know I like it and I hear a drunken man release his inhibitions and his prejudice and I know I don't like that. I went to a doctor last week and she was my age and signed her name with an M.D. and she's smart and confident and energetic and I know she's successful. My sister and her family came to visit and she hopped and danced and wrestled with her little ones and she laughed and smiled and was beautiful and I know she's settled. A Lisa Loeb album spins in my cd player and she sings "bring me a blessing, a prayer, or a new pen--you don't know what I need..." and the sentiment connects and I relate as she earns many many pennies for her thoughts and I know that she's content. They say dare to achieve and dream big and dance. I know what I see and gain insight on what I like or dislike through my quiet observation, yet I don't know what I want, or I know what I want but there are so many things to be that I can't decide so I settle back into observation and drown in my dreams, as I wear out and burn out and thoughts, ideas, inventions, and poetry race in my head and are trapped behind my eyes and all I have to show for my brilliance is a blinking stare and I go to work at the Chevron. Yes, there is more to life, but where does one start?

And the kids. And the smell of fire. And ugali. And the Midlands hotel, with the mosquito nets that ya really don't need. And the street vendors. And the kids. Holy mother, I'm going back to Africa. !!!!!! July 11. I can't really believe it, yet, but I'll certainly try.

 

Just wanted to share...