THE FAMILY HOME

 

This is the home where our children grew up. In a couple of months we will have lived here 28 years. I can not believe we have lived here that long. 

 Of course, I can not believe Rachel will turn 27 next month either.  I can still remember her insisting on blowing out the candle inside the jack-o-lantern on our front porch on her birthday when she was 2 years old. This is where she grew potatoes in the garden every summer, and would take a brown paper sack of them to give to her teacher in the fall.  This is where her Thundercloud Plum tree that she picked out at the nursery when she was little is planted. When our dog Kobe was a puppy, it was here she slept in the kennel with him the first few nights so she could let him out to go potty every couple of hours. This is where her Tolo dinner for 12 in high school was held. This is where we hosted her wedding reception in the back yard on a beautiful August night with lights twinkling in the trees.

I have just as many memories of Becca, who is 24, in this house. The sound of her laughter is embedded in the walls of this home. I remember her obsession with the "101 Dalmations" movie when she was 2.  She had dalmation pajamas, swim suit and back pack. When she wasn't pretending to be a dog herself, she trained her little brother to be a dog and do tricks.  Before we got a real dog of our own, she had a pretend dog named "sparky" that accompanied us on family hikes in the woods. Becca adored animals but ended up getting asthma from having our guinea pig "Blackberry" in her bedroom. As a result Becca became allergic to most animals.  Blackberry moved to the elementary school and became the classroom pet in Becca's first grade class. It was on our driveway that Becca learned to ride a bike and roller skate. She grew pumpkins in the garden and created her own "catch and release" program for every spider she found in the house. She and her best friend Carly were the wait staff for every formal dinner her older sister had here during high school, until she started having her own posse here for Tolo/prom dinners and that job got passed down to her little brother. Becca has helped me paint every room in this house. She loves to entertain and has cooked and decorated for every event this house has ever hosted (especially Rachel's wedding reception!).

Jared is turning 20 in 2 weeks, and with that milestone this house will be done with teenage inhabitants.  This house saw him get his head stuck in the bed frame under the bed when he was learning to crawl.  This is where he dropped a quart glass jar of molasses on his foot as a toddler that exploded his nail right off his toe. This is where he would wrestle with Dad and his sisters until "somebody got hurt".  This is where being the youngest meant bodily damage.  As an infant his 7 year older sister who was holding him tossed him because he started to spit up, mom forgot to close the gate on the stairs and he took a full somersault trip down to the landing in his walker where he split his lip, and another sister let go of him on the hardwood floor where he face planted and broke his nose. This is where Jared hosted airsoft parties in the greenbelt behind our house and his high school friends congregated after school for cookies and xbox. This is where Jared planted his own herb and vegetable garden.  This is where Jared was continually mowing the lawn and edging the ivy.

This where Sam who is 20 started coming after school as a visitor with the rest of Jared's friends for cookies and xbox and became a part of the family, literally, moving in his junior year of high school. This is where he learned to cook. This where he made life decisions like joining our church, going off to BYU for college and leaving on a mission. This house became a home for him, probably the first one he ever really had.

As Chuck and I enter the grand-parenting years it is wonderful to look back on all the great family activities this house has provided. Summer evenings eating dinner on the front deck and as dusk fell watching the neighborhood bats search for dinner.  Watching a resident family of raccoons waddle through our yard every night at twilight to dine in our garage on the cat's kibble. Putting up the tent and sleeping in the back yard in the pre-sport court years. Playing roller blade hockey in the driveway. Lots and lots of pickleball and badmitton on the sports court.  Getting in the hot tub as a family when it started to snow to watch the flakes come down. Lots of time in the family room downstairs in front of the fireplace watching movies, especially "Father of the Bride" with Steve Martin (Dad's favorite movie). Sunday evening family walks around the neighborhood.

Our kids are all grown up and semi out of the house, but even when they are all gone this house will always be their "home" and welcome them back.