Hold On

Wow, the last few weeks have flown by and it’s all I could do to hold on for the ride.

 

Hold on and kiss summer good-bye with all the sweetness we could find.

We ended up taking our girls to the State Fair.  Boy’s weren’t too interested in going.  The boys were smart.  Other than introducing our girls to Cotton Candy and…

Finding a new Merry-Go-Round Friend…

 

Well, let’s just say it rained buckets while we were there and the cost of everything was unbelievable high.  Took the magic out of the whole experience.  The rain I can handle, the price gouging – no thank you. 

On a more fun end of summer note was an overnight camping trip and ride on the ferry.  Lea couldn’t resist feeding the gulls.

Always inspired by NieNie and her Back to School Feasts, we decided to have one of our own.

Wait, why is there a pole in the middle of the table?

 

It’s our theme for the year.

‘ Hold On.’

  Because as our whole family knows – Life can sometimes be a whirlwind of everything.  ‘Fun, Terror, Love, Frustration, Temptation, Friendship, Distraction, Family, etc.’  And while the whirlwind is swirling around you, sometimes as a breeze, and sometimes with the ferocity to rip out your soul; well, it’s important to ‘hold on’ to what’s really important.  Love, Family, Goals, Dreams, and God.

We’ve been through a lot over the past year with our whole unbloggable and still ongoing saga.   But I’ve so much more hope for the future because I’ve tried to ‘Hold On’. 

And with our theme a favorite verse from one of my favorite books, 

‘ And they said unto me:  What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?  And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.              

1 Nephi 15: 23-24.

And with the hope of a brighter tomorrow comes sweeter joy.  In our family feast it was the sweet joy of Ice cream sundaes.  They couldn’t wait for a picture.

I cut each of my children a tiny iron rod and soldered a jump ring onto the end.  Some keep it on a necklace, other’s a backpack pull.  Just a wee reminder to ‘Hold On.’

And with that I sadly sent my kids back to school.  I’ll miss them.  Wish we were in the position to Home school again.

And with that, I now torture you with the ubiquitous Back to School Pictures.

Princess couldn’t wait.  Could you tell she’s ready to bolt off to the bus.

Evo-man & T-rev totally thrilled to be hanging with friends instead of Mom.

And Lea’s off to Middle School.  No way is she that old.

Here she is, sporting all the freaking supplies that the teachers requested.  Back to school registration and classroom supplies nearly broke the bank.  Our compromise was no new school outfits.  Oh well. 

 

And they were off, except for Hope.  I still get to hang onto my baby for one more year.  She’s desperately lonely and I’m afraid Pumpkin might have to endure some more dress-up time in the very near future. 

I’ve so much to do this fall, better get started.