Week 24

It is the week of school being out, and summer being in! Something that my kids have been looking forward to is spending lots of time at home, being lazy, playing video games, not having to get dressed and sleeping in the same room. Most of that sounds familiar to a lot of you, except the part about sleeping in the same room together. HAHA! It's one of the things that is so aggravating to me, but also, one of my favorite things about my kids.

My kids are all the best of friends. Even when they were tiny tiny, Sarah and Luke would've rather played together than anyone else on the planet. When I was in the last part of my pregnancy with Taylor, we moved into a 1200 sq. ft. house in Green Valley. It was just a 3 bedroom house, with a small backyard. It wasn't anything fancy, but was a good house, and it was located in a part of town that we still adore. Sarah had her own room, and Luke had his own room, soon to be sharing with Taylor. We stayed in that house until we bought our home in Summerlin, about 2 years later. Every chance they got, which was most nights, all three kids would cram into the boys' room, because it had bunk beds, with Taylors little crib shoved in the only spare space in the room that was left. Funny thing is, they didn't care. They just loved having a sleep over every night with their best friends, each other.

As they've gotten older, and we've brought more people into our growing family, we moved into a massive house in the North West part of Las Vegas. People kept telling us that more space was going to be necessary with all of these kids. They said that we NEEDED more space. Funny thing is, we don't. These kids, still, on the weekends and during the summer, sleep in one room together, even though they have their own rooms, and have extra to choose from. And I'm sure that when Elliott is old enough, he'll be sleeping with them too. It's aggravating to me because all you hear is loud laughter, and loud chatter, and just silliness, when they should be calming down and going to sleep. And I want them to calm down and be quiet, because I need my moment of quiet too. HA! It's purely selfish. But, at the same time, I love the chaos so much. They could be siblings that hate each other, and don't want to be around each other, and it's actually quite the opposite.

The photo for this week is:

Allan works so hard for us to be able to have what we have. He works so hard for his family, so that we are happy, healthy, and well taken care of. And in one night, in one moment of being too caught up in "stuff", Allan asked me to go in and look at my kids.....and the photo above is the sight that I saw. In one moment, I learned again that more space only means more space apart from each other. More stuff only means more distraction from each other. My kids teach me everyday, and this moment was a HUGE lesson for me. What my kids want isn't more stuff, more space, more electronics, none of that. What they want is time, touch, love, and to be taught. They don't care how big their house is. They care who's in the home, and how much love and laughter is filling it.

This moment is so sweet, and so special. It brought me back to that 1200 sq. ft. house, and reminded me of all of the special times we had there. It made me realize that bigger is not better. Their relationship is what is important. Their friendship with each other is important. The love that they all 4 share together, and that bond is what is important. It reminded me of all of the memories we made in that house. It reminded me of the happiness that was in that little house. It reminded me of all of the adventures we took the kids on down on the strip. It reminded me of all of the amazing friends we made in that neighborhood, and in that ward. It taught me that when they are older, and Allan and I pass on, that they will only have each other, and will cling to each other, because of what we taught them, and the love we gave to them.

This photo, also, reminds me that the goals that I am setting for myself, as their mother, are actually being realized! I wanted to have my kids close together so that they would hopefully have these bonds. It was so hard, and a sacrifice for our family to build it in this way, seeing as how the rest of the world thinks it is ludicrous to have children at the ages we did, and to have so many, or even to sacrifice so much to have them. But seeing these hands intertwined as they slept, tells me that the goals we set for our family, when we were twenty somethings, and just married, are actually happening, and I couldn't be more happy. These sweet, tender moments, seeing how much my kids love each other, help to snap me back in place, and remind me what is important in life.