2 weeks and six days left!!
While talking with Navie after the adoption today, I asked her who the cute girl in the pink dress was. "Navie Rae." When I asked her who the cute brother with the brown shirt was, she replied, "Brother is a Buehler now!" And my heart just swelled. Brother is a Buehler now!
Brother is a Buehler now!
I arrived in Utah at 8:00pm last night, played with my Mom all day, and got to attend the Layton Temple tonight, with the main event tomorrow morning. This may be a whirlwind trip to Utah, but I plan to fill every second with FAMILY!
Remember a few days ago when Rylee asked Brennon on a date, saying she'd be a Lucky Duck? Well, tonight was THE night. Progressive Dinner with friends. SO FUN!!!
With Randy traveling more, we're finding more and more things to do together when he's home. Last night, I asked if he wanted to go bowling and was surprised that he said yes. It turns out that we had only 20 minutes before the league started, so we quickly played just one game. Funny enough-- because we were rushed, it added an element of fun.
I finally understand
Maybe my mom wasn't always exhausted because she was doing so much... but because she was feeling so much.
The weight of love, worry, sacrifice, and the endless thoughts that never let her rest. I get it now. Motherhood isn't just about what we do; it's about everything we carry in our hearts.
No wonder she was tired.
No wonder I am, too.
~Author Unknown
Brennon was in a minor fender bender last night. "Dad, I got into a crash; what do I do?" We gave him instructions about exchanging insurance information and taking pictures as we were heading to him.
"I was on my lunch break, on my way home to grab some food. I turned right out of the parking lot and was hit by the person turning left. I didn't even see them; I don't think they had their lights on!"
Luckily, the damage was very, very minimal. A small scratch on Brennon's front driver fender and a small scratch on their back passenger fender.
Come to find out, the girl, traveling with four other passengers (the law says only 3 family members for 6 months after you get your license), didn't have a license and hadn't gone through the class. The mom came and just burst into tears when Randy said that we needed to call the cops. Broken English: "That's ok, that's ok." But it just didn't feel right. Randy stewed about it the whole night since it could have been much worse, but we didn't feel like ruining that girl's life or her mother's. Had there been more damage or personal injury, it would have been a more straightforward decision. But at the moment, we just couldn't do it. The mother grabbed Randy up and just sobbed when he said we wouldn't call. She then turned to me and held on for dear life, thanking and thanking us over and over. She let me go, looked into my eyes, grabbed me up again, and just bawled.
Sometimes, our kids make stupid decisions. Was it right or wrong to let her go without getting law enforcement involved? Maybe. Probably. Yes. But we erred on the side of compassion. We'll never know if she kept her promise to never drive again until she got her license, we only know that in that moment, empathy won out. No police. No insurance claims. No easy answer. No going back.
Randy got home late on Thursday from his trip to Utah and asked if there was anything I wanted to do for the weekend. I'd been thinking of it for weeks, but it just felt right last night-- Camp Zarahemla! We were lucky enough to snatch up the last cabin for the night.
15-year-old Tyson: Eats chips with chopsticks to keep his fingers clean.
We take our chip consumption very seriously around here! Thought and planning go into it; no willy-nilly eating here, no, siree!
A few days ago, Chad sent a picture of him and Brooke playing Dominos: Mexican Train to the Burrell text thread. It sparked a memory in both Randy and I about how much we enjoy dominos, and how much we've missed playing. Since then, Randy and I, along with Brennon and Tyson at times, have played Mexican Train together.
Randy and I ran into a friend at Orange Theory that I hadn't seen for probably 4 or 5 years. He'd seen her a few days prior, so he opened communication with her by asking if she remembered me.
"You know, it's funny. Not only do I remember you, I actually think about you once a week!"
I was shocked! I'm sure my face showed it.
"I work in a spa. At least once a week, I hear a song that you played at a talent show a few years ago, and it always makes me think of you."
If I was shocked before, it was nothing to what I felt then. I'd played Christoffori's Dream by David Lanz all the way back in 2018. I'd been struggling with grief but decided to give myself a challenge, and I ended up being proud of myself for even showing up that night, let alone playing my song. To hear that someone remembered that night, remembered me once a week because of it, just humbled me.
I want to be remembered for good things; this exchange and her willingness to share that with me made me feel amazing.
Brennon worked on February 28th and March 1, technically both his birthday, depending on who you talk to. So, we got to celebrate him today. Shelby is having a mental health crisis, so she chose not to be home.
One of my happiest memories of this birthday for Brennon is that we get to say that he got Grounded on his birthday.
Because Brennon is in year 2 of ASL (as a reminder for years to come, he says it is easy), I asked him to sign his age instead of candles...
