Moving On

It seems that life has a way of moving on at the speed of light whether we like it or not. Our family faces some big changes, good changes, but changes nonetheless, and I don't do change very well. Jordyn has finished kindergarten, she will be in school all day next year, and part of me will miss my little shadow. I'll be home all alone all day, and while I look forward to that, I still feel a little empty when I think about it.

Matthew graduated from the sixth grade this week. Next year he will be in junior high. He will turn 13 and be a teenager this summer. How is that possible? He's still just my little boy.

Ammon will be in high school next fall. He is already pushing boundaries and rushing to grow up and be independent. He is anxious to drive, and has friends who already do, which makes him think he has more freedom. I wish I could just tie him down and make him slow down a bit. He'll be playing football with the 'big boys', and has already started hanging out with some of the older kids. Ammon can't be in high school because he's only 12, right?

We're coming up on Michael's 'hump' day this summer. It's hard to believe he's been out almost a year. I miss him like crazy, and I hurt when he goes through difficulties, but I am so proud of him too. His mission has gone by much faster than I ever thought it would, but I can't wait to get him home, even though I know things will never be the same as they were before.

At least Jenn and Adam aren't changing anything this year. Thank goodness for that! I do need a little stability in my life.

Jayme has finished her bachelor's degree and is getting married this summer and moving to Cedar City. Talk about change! I am so proud of her for finishing school and getting her degree, it's been a long road, but she hung in there and did it. I'm excited for her to be moving on to a new stage in her life, but I will be a little lonely without her here. I don't know what I'll do if my kids ever move very far away, guess I'll be racking up some frequent flier miles or something.

Change is part of life, and I need to accept it, but I don't like it. I know it means progression and can't be avoided, but I still don't like it. People always say, "enjoy this while you can", but you don't really understand until it's too late. Good thing I'm enjoying the now, and look forward to enjoying the tomorrows. I may have learned that lesson late in life, but I'm grateful to have learned it. Can't I just freeze time for a little while though?

Best Week Ever!!

Last week we went to Disneyland and had a wonderful time!! Jayme and I have wanted to go for a long time, but the boys didn't want to go. Finally we decided to go for a graduation present for her since she graduated from UVU this semester. At first it was going to just be Jayme, Jordyn and me. Then Jennifer felt left out and wanted to come, but she felt guilty because Adam had never been before and she had promised that she would take him. Then, Jayme said, "If Adam is going, I want Cassidy to come" I warned them that we would all be in the same room, that I snore and that Cass would have to sleep on the floor, they still wanted to come. I also warned them that Stone family vacations are always an adventure and one never knows what will happen. They still wanted to come.

We spent five days in the park and had a great time. Jordyn was tall enough to go on everything except for one ride. She loved Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. It was more crowded than I expected, but we were able to go on everything we wanted several times, and didn't really have any long waits for rides. It was great to get to know Cassidy better and so nice to see everyone getting along and having fun.

We found our new favorite place to eat. It's at Big Thunder Ranch, and it's an all you can eat barbeque with ribs, chicken, beans, coleslaw, corn bread, and at dinner they also serve sausage and corn. Can you say yum? It was served family style in buckets, and we ate a ton!! I think we had two buckets each of chicken and ribs. That same day, my Aunt Kathleen and her husband Ed came down to spend the day with us. It was great to see them, and we had a super fun time with them.

On Saturday the adventures started. We got up and drove down to the swap meet, and were going to go to the beach for a while. Well, after the swap meet, the car was making a terrible squealing and grinding sound, and I felt very strongly that we needed to get it checked out. We pulled into a Midas store and the guy said there was a bolt stuck in the brake rotor. After four hours and lots of coercion to have more work done, we were finally back on the road, and we went down to the beach. We looked at the tide pools and found lots of sand crabs and hermit crabs. It was Jordyn's first time and also Adam's. We didn't bring swimsuits or anything, but of course we had to get our feet wet. Naturally we all got a lot more wet than we planned on. Jordyn was soaked!!

Jordyn didn't want to come home, and was really sad to leave. I was too if you want to know the truth. Sometimes I really miss California, but what I love most is being at Disneyland. I know I'm weird, but I love just sitting and enjoying the atmosphere. When they decide to open condos above the stores on Main Street, I'll be first in line! Until then, I guess I'll just have to settle for visiting every few years.

Jordyn's Dance Recital

It was the final big week for Jordyn's dance class with their recital. Jordyn did a great job!! She remembered to smile the whole time, and she remembered most of her dances. "Tik Tok" was a favorite, and she loved dancing with the umbrella to "Rhythm of the Rain" Good job Jordy!!!