Summer has officially come to a close and somehow we are back to school again. Every year I am surprised by how quickly time flies and how short summer feels. This year was no different.
This year brought some bigger transitions than usual, with Anna starting high school and Grant heading into his junior year. And apparently my children are just going to continue growing up whether I approve of this plan or not.
Anna was particularly nervous about starting high school, but she has truly done so well adjusting and working through all of the stresses that have come along with it—a new school, heavier academic load, social pressures and the brutal reality of early-morning seminary.
She also made the tennis team, and it has been nothing short of amazing to watch my girl out there on the courts—despite the approximately 147-degree Southern California heat. She has been working on her tennis skills for the past year and a half, so I love seeing all of that work pay off and, even more, seeing her get to be part of a team and have this high school sports experience. Her bestie Afton is also on the team, which makes the whole thing about ten times more fun. The two of them have a ball. Literally.
When she's not playing tennis or trying desperately to get herself into bed early enough to survive seminary the next morning, Anna has also become the unofficial liquidator of our household. She sells every extra earthly piece of clothing we own on Depop, cleans out pantries and bedroom drawers in exchange for money, and participates in various TikTok challenges with her friends. Honestly, if something in our house hasn't been used recently, I should probably check Depop before assuming we still own it.
Grant continues to be the high school pro that he has always been, now somehow a junior! He's taking two AP classes and tutors in a math class for students with learning disabilities—with Anna conveniently front and center in said class. He spends plenty of his spare time working toward his soccer goals—putting together his college soccer resume, practicing out back or training at the fields with his team.
But there is more to the kid than soccer. He has also taken to learning guitar, and his skills are seriously impressive. I mean…the kid is disciplined. When he decides he wants to learn something, he puts in the work. His repertoire now includes a few Beatles songs, which just makes me plain happy.
Apparently this same discipline applies to meat. The first week of school, Grant convinced me to buy a HUGE cut of New York steak at Costco for $150. I fought him tooth and nail. There was no way I was spending $150 on a gigantic slab of meat that I was quite certain would eventually be discovered freezer-burned and forgotten sometime in 2028.
He assured me he would cut it himself, package it, find room in the freezer, defrost individual steaks and grill them for lunch. Sure, Grant. Well. I have officially eaten my words. He succeeded on all fronts and has now happily come home and grilled himself a steak for lunch for THREE WEEKS STRAIGHT. We still have about six cuts to go. Ha!
Weekends for both Anna and Grant have been filled with friends, football games, church dances and school dances. I love having their friends over to swim and hang out. I love seeing everyone decked out for games and dances. I love meeting NEW friends from school and even reconnecting with kids from Grant's HXP trip this summer who happen to live within an hour of us. It has just been such a great start to a new school year.
Our family theme for the year is “Fear not, for I am with you.” And I think that has felt especially meaningful lately. Life keeps changing. Kids grow up. New seasons start whether we feel ready for them or not. There are really good times and there are really hard times. But through all of it, God is with us. And we feel very blessed.
There were plenty of other highlights this month too. We skipped a day of school to meet up with the Stevens family at California Adventure, which I realize may slightly contradict all of my previous concern about heavier academic loads, but WORTH IT. Best day.
We also had an experience this month that I don't think any of us will ever forget—attending the rededication of the San Diego Temple. And when I say we “attended” the rededication, I mean that Anna, Ev and I somehow had the opportunity to actually sit IN the celestial room with Elder Christofferson as he performed the dedication. It was incredible. And, funny enough, we even ended up featured in the Church News walking out of the temple afterward!
The entire month leading up to it felt special. Our youth met at the beach the weekend before and walked all the way from there to the temple, stopping at little story vignettes along the way. We read passages and heard stories about sacrifice, faith and love. We spent time preparing ourselves spiritually for the rededication, and I think that made being inside the temple that day even more meaningful. It has been a very special time for our family and our community.
Other August happiness: babysitting Sophie while Liz and Rob were out of town, which NEVER disappoints. She is such a spunky little girl and we loved every minute with her.
We celebrated people we love—Ashley's day at the beach, a birthday lunch out with Mindi, Junior's 10th birthday party with a big group of friends in our backyard, and a send-off for Charlie before his big adventure studying acting in New York City.People really are what make life special.
And one of my favorite parts of August was having Ev home for a few weeks. She spent time with friends, visited babies with me, and we played the piano and sang—a lot. Those are some of my favorite moments with her. And now she is back and working hard in her LAST semester of nursing school, which I can hardly believe.
Dane started school again too and is enjoying his classes so far. He is always happiest when he gets time with Kenzie, and recently he has taken up golfing again—which warms my heart.
As for me, work is busy in a really good way. I'm teaching workshops and working individually with clients on executive functioning challenges, and there is a lot happening. Busy busy, but I am so grateful for work that I enjoy and for opportunities to keep learning and doing things that feel meaningful to me.
And suddenly, just like that, everyone is off and running into another year.
I think that's what I'm noticing most lately. For so many years, raising kids felt like I was the one doing all the launching—packing the backpacks, signing the forms, finding the shoes, reminding everyone what time practice started. And now I get these little glimpses of them launching themselves.
Anna walking onto a high school tennis court even though she was nervous to start high school. Grant figuring out college soccer and guitar chords and, apparently, bulk meat management. Ev heading into her final semester of nursing school. Dane finding his way back into classes and things he enjoys. They're doing it. They're growing and stretching and figuring things out. And maybe that's why our theme feels right for me too this year: Fear not, for I am with you.
Because I don't know exactly what this year will bring. None of us do. There will be good things and hard things and probably plenty of things we didn't see coming. But God has been with us through every version of our family and every season we've walked through so far. I trust He'll be with us in this one too.
So here we go. Another school year. Another season. Everyone growing up whether I approve of it or not. And six New York steaks still left in the freezer.
