It Has Been a While

So much has transpired in my life over the last year.  Many wonderful things came about in 2013, but the road was painful and hard.

Phillip and I celebrated 23 years of marriage in Laguna beach. It proved to be the calm before the storm.

We welcomed Tanner home from Bogota Colombia after a scary 2 to 3 day ordeal and traumatic but brief hospital stay in NewYork City.  I will never forget the way my heart felt during that time.  It ached in ways I never knew were possible.  Those days in March I reached a new low and felt the highest high.  I was exhausted but I am sure it was nothing compared to how Tanner was feeling.  Getting that boy back home was such a relief. I cried as I grabbed him into my arms.  BEST. FEELING. EVER.  He is doing great, got a job and worked hard before heading back to school at BYU Idaho.   He also, just recently celebrated his 22nd birthday!  He is majoring in Mechanical Engineering and is having quite the adventure trying to remember calculus after spending 2 years forgetting about it.  He will get through it and will build amazing things some day. He is so determined and wont rest until he accomplishes his goals. If we could just convince him that sleeping is super important.  We love him and he brings us so much joy.  (Joy is such a small word it just doesn't do the feeling justice.)

A bright spot in 2013 was also Emily thriving at BYU Idaho.  It has been such a blessing that she has met so many wonderful new friends and is loving her major... and minor.  I love hearing about her culinary adventures.  She got very excited about the deep frying section of one of her school books.  I think her friends and roommates are the ones who benefit most from her culinary studies.  It can all be so fun but learning to be away from home and grow up is hard work.  I miss her at home so much but know she right where she should be.  We have no doubt that she will do all she has set out to do! She found a job in the spring on campus.  She was recently promoted and is excited to be making a little more money! We are so thankful for her and her good life. We love her.

Chad got through his freshman year of high school alright.  Flew through the work and flew past 6'2 ... 6'3 ... 6'4.... 6'5 and is now 6'6.  I speak often of his height but Chad is so much more than his stature.  Sometimes we get stuck on the obvious with people.  That boy thinks deeply about life and works so hard.  All my kids are like this is some way but Chad is probably our most serious Child.  He is growing up fast!  I think the only way he knows how to relax is to play hard on a skateboard, surfboard, basketball court or guitar.  (JV basketball this year.) He doesn't seem to rest until he masters things. I find myself telling him to find a way to clear his head and relax, often.  Would it sound contradictory if I also said that he a needs a swift kick in the rear to take out the trash and mow the lawn, sometimes.  Haha. We do adore him.

Kate finished up 6th grade and started 7th.  She changed dance studios which proved to be more difficult than we realized.  Its rough being the new girl and having to be critiqued when your 12.  Who am I kidding, that would stink at any age.  She decided to focus more on ballet for one more year and then I think she may like to play some v o l l e y b a l l!! Thats right! I can't wait!  She is also growing fast, it will be fun to see how tall she gets.  I was 5ft 10 by 8th grade.  I think she is about 5'6 5'7 now. She has missed having Tanner and Emily home but is learning to get used to the change.  Arguing with Chad helps her pass the time. They will grow out of it. right?  Were bracing for the teenage years but we do love her so much!

At church this past year, actually the day Tanner arrived, our ward split and we lost some dear friends to the change in boundaries.  We welcomed a new bishopric, whom we love, but said goodbye to leaders we had grown to love and appreciate for their kind service and good lives.  By fall our Stake split as well and we went from 15 wards down to 7.  While we enjoy how it affords us an opportunity to foster stronger friendships with those closer to our neighborhoods, it has been hard to not see those on the other side of the stake as often.  We will miss them all.  Lots and lots of change! but I am grateful that it served as a good distraction from some of the more personal trials the year brought.

Phillip and I both have new positions at church and we are learning a lot from the challenge.  Phillip is now teaching seminary at 6am each school day like i did for couple of years and I was recently called as the director of Public Affairs for our new Lake Elsinore Stake.  I am still helping out in a ward calling too (relief society meeting leader or what ever the title is now) We're, both, hoping the hardest part of the change is behind us.  We both just need to keep plugging along and we will get the hang of things eventually.  We know that, in time, these opportunities to serve will prove to bring about many blessings in our lives.

Phil Holmes Design is still going strong and we count our blessing each and every day that we are able to afford to pay for two kids in college at the same time! Phillip works hard at his job and we feel blessed that he is willing to sacrifice so much to support our family.  He started swimming again, this last summer.  He is making some waves at the gym pool and a few new friends too.  I like to watch him swim near the end of his workouts.  I stand at the glass and am always amazed how he is able to glide across the water and make it look so effortless.  I love it.

We enjoyed an extended family vacation on house boats on Lake Shasta this last summer with my Dad and his wife, my little sister and her new fiance, my mom and her husband (yes you read that right), my brother and his wife and kids and some of her family too.  The weather was perfect, the water was awesome, having all the family there was wonderful and the relaxation was heaven-sent.  My favorite part was sleeping on the roof of the boat under the stars with Phillip and all four of our kids.  I had to pinch myself as I watched them sleep so peacefully right there next to me, just like old times. They will always be my babies.  

The holidays were filled with mostly coughing and throwing up.  It was quite the way to end the year.

All this remembering... it's making me tired.  The good was so good but the trials, I'd really like to forget now.

Happy 2014!  I already feel like its going to be a year long deep breath.   I am so ready.