What a WEEK I'm having

Samantha came home a week and a half ago. It's been an interesting week. She's only home for a short time this time and then she is off to live in California. Garrett will be leaving for college in a matter of weeks. Soon we will have only four kids at home. Who knows if or when we will all live together again. Garrett will leave for his mission next summer and then I don't imagine we will ever live together again. I guess life is constant change. Change is good. I wouldn't want my kids to live at home forever. But it's still hard to see it end. It's a strange time. Sending some out into the world knowing their time with the family is short and yet still having some that are barely potty trained.

The little kids have still been taking swimming lessons. Garrett was Lydia's teacher this session. He was a good teacher. Some little girls in his classes would bring him flowers others would cry when he had a sub while he worked at another pool. The kids have learned quite a bit and have been little fish this summer. We have spent a lot of time at the pool.

Recently we had the opportunity to spend a night at the Cameo Heights Mansion . It's a Bed and Breakfast that our friends the Fieldings own and run. We stayed here in the Greek Suite. It was fabulous! The food the pampering the views the pool, everything was wonderful! The Fieldings daughter, Alainna, recently married Stephen Beus, a world class pianist. He gave a private concert that night for the guests at the mansion. We had heard him before but never this up close and personal. It was amazing. Sometimes his hands move so quickly it doesn't seem like they match the music. We were fascinated. He tours the world and here we were sitting in the living room watching from a few feet. He would stop and talk about the music to help us understand and enjoy it more then after the concert he answered all our questions. Alainna also sang us a song. She has a beautiful voice and is studying music at BYU. Todd and Alainna have had the opportunity to sing together on several occasions when she lived at home. After that we all went swimming. It was so much fun.

Okay I started this post quite a while ago and I am just getting around to finishing it up. While Samantha was home we celebrated her birthday. We had a lovely vegetarian dinner. Even Garrett thought he could become a vegetarian if he could eat like that all the time. We also had a vegetarian cake. Samantha's friend Katie came and decorated her room and left a present and some balloons so she would see it when she got home.

While she was here we went to the ward Pioneer Day picnic and swimming party. It got a little chilly after dark. But we all had fun. Bridget and Samantha got to spend some time shopping downtown together and they went to the midnight Twilight book release party the night before we left for California so they would be able to read it in the car on the way down. They both very much enjoyed it. I just started it. More on the California trip later.