10 Kids Under One Roof

Several weeks ago, late on a Friday night, Abe and Daisy pulled up in their old, shared Honda (gifted from cousin Devin). But then, rather than each of them coming in with a single bag of things for a weekend visit (along with load of dirty laundry to take care of before returning to school), they came absolutely loaded with shoes, posters, pillows and blankets, routers, a bike, pots and pans, and all the other things that had filled their college dorms since last August! (In fact I'm still not sure how they actually managed to fit all of it in the car ... while still finding room for themselves.) But in any case, they were home! And not just for a holiday or a measly Saturday and portion of a Sunday. They'd finished out a year of college. (Abe's first year and Daisy's second. [She managed to change the order of things--Abe always a year ahead--while he was on his mission.]) And their arrival that Friday night marked the start of FOUR WHOLE MONTHS of all ten of my kids living under the same roof again!

With their more-permanent arrival, the dynamics of everything around here has shifted decidedly for the better. Conversation around the dinner table is better, there is more happy chatter and genuine laughter in our home. There is Daisy helping Jesse with math homework, going to Summer's classroom to help out with puppet making, offering to watch kids while I run or Mike and I head off somewhere together, playing Legos with Hans and Littlest Pets with Starling, making delicious dinners (!!), supporting Penny and Goldie at various performances, and taking little kids on adventures. There is Abe making Jesse brave mountain biking, taking his younger brothers rock climbing, taking brooms and dishes out of my hand and shewing me away, letting Hans follow him around with all of the many many things he has to tell, and setting great examples of scripture and conference study habits. There is both of them up at the farm helping Mike dig post holes, cut and drill boards,etc. to get the barn overhang finished.

Here Abe, Daisy and Goldie are headed to the conference center to hear the prophet and his wife speak to all the young adults of the church. (There were over 20,000 young adults that attended.) Goldie told me the picture of all of the people outside of the conference center was how it pretty much looked everywhere on Temple Square. Such a cool thing to be a part of. I love that the three of them could go together. 

(Here they are just checking out the old tabernacle before heading to the conference center.)

They both started up with summer jobs last week, so we won't be enjoying their constant around-ness anymore, but it's still a happy thing having all of my kids living together again! I especially appreciate it now that I have spent portions of these past three years without it (it's been nearly three years since Abe left on his mission!) and now that I sense more fully how we are sliding away from the adding people to our home stage (as we were for 18 years!) towards the subtracting people from our home stage! (Come this August, I will have all three of my oldest kids away at college! [And no useful drivers besides me and Mike again. 😢]) It may not be too many years now before they won't be coming home even for summers ... as home migh entail places of their very own! (Though we are hoping to make an area of our home in Logan be able to double as a small apartment in the hopes that we might be able to coax even the occasional married kid to stick around a big longer! 😁) In any case, I am very grateful for this small space of time with all of the people I've made.