Hunter turns 5!!!

What a wonderful week we have all had.

I have not seen Scott this dirty in a very long time. Last night, he was not home until after 9pm. He rushed off before dinner to help Farmer Scott with the baler that broke down. He was FULL of dirt, dust and hay when he returned. But they did manage to finish the field and start on another this morning. Scott's excited to be learning the in's and out's of the farm, be working side by side with Farmer Scott and just becoming more a part of what goes on here. There have been some great changes for the farm.

The kids and I drove up log canyon road again, this time thinking for sure we would make it to the top. Again, we ran into too much snow and had to turn back. Of course where there is snow, there is water, where there is water, there is mud. So the three kids spent the better part of the afternoon playing in the mud. And, low and behold, even Benny got himself muddy!

The water had almost seemed as though it were going to stop running, something rather sad to think about because we have gotten into the habit of checking to see how much is flowing just about every time we pass it. One day this past week, it had just about stopped running under the culvert, just a little trickle. The week before it had been gushing. But as the days heat up, the snow continues to melt and the water keeps running. So, lucky for us, that there is still mud to play in...at least for the time being.

We went into town on Wednesday to swim. As I said, the temperature is heating up and it has been into the 90's this week. It is rather tolerable though because there is not a bit of humidity and THAT makes all the difference. It is just dry and I can see it in the kids' lips as they become cracked and I spend my time reminding and reminding them to get something on their lips. I looked down at my hands the other day and they were just so dry they looked like I had aged about 30 years. My mother's hands, I thought, and it made me miss "home". Funny, how "home" really is where the heart is...what you carry within your heart.

Laundry....I must say that if we just do not wash it by hand, the whole process takes about a half a day. Ugh! And we always arrive back home, crabby and just needing to expand our bodies and spirits into the wide space around us at the cabin. It will somehow become 2-3 in the afternoon and all we have accomplished is laundry at the laundry mat.

That was yesterday. Luckily, Scott took Hunter with him to work and they got to work on setting posts for the new hay shed going up; not an easy task at all for one man, a machine and a small little helper. So, Ben and Katie headed out with me to find a new laundry mat. The one in the nearest town, Nephi, has about 4 machines working and they tear up our clothes, never dry them completely (unless I just keep dropping in the quarters) and I just can't support a place that has all the same broken machines as they had last year. Thought we could combine our trip with a stop at the nearest Walmart, about 30 minutes from here.

Well, that town, although a college town, apparently has no laundry mat, so we kept going to the next town, found one, great machines, all open, hooray, the coin machine only take $1 bills, back into the truck, to the gas station, "we're thirsty", buy waters, ask for change in singles, not sure if they have enough....what?, beg and plead, get the singles, back into the truck, get the quarters, Ben drops the quarters, fill machine, fill another, and another, and another and another and another, sit outside and wait, Walmart too far to back track, get wash into dryer, drop in more quarters, "we're hungry", get all clothes in the dryer, back into truck, find place to eat, eat, leave, fold laundry, leave, head to Walmart, spent 1.5 hours gathering what we need, back into truck, head home, call Scott, no answer, worry Scott is under a post with a broken leg, call again, no answer, head to ranch house, no one there, stop at shop, find Scott and a very dirty Hunter, drop off Katie, take Ben back to cabin and unpack groceries.....by this time, it is time to start dinner!!! I really did have to remind myself SEVERAL TIMES to just slow it down, who cares, no rush, so what if the lady slicing the sandwich meat is soooo slooooow I am about ready to rip my hair out, relax, let it go, breath.

But TODAY ~ a very special day indeed. Hunter was up at the crack of dawn, his day, his birthday. We let him open one present right away in the morning. He picked the biggest one. It was a rifle, a handgun in a holster and a red cowboy bandanna. He was in cowboy heaven. All morning we had to call him "sheriff". Ben was his deputy and Hunter actually did a really great job sharing his new toys with Ben even though it was hard to do. The kids and I spent the morning cleaning out the bottom of the fort we built last year. Katie and I pulled all the weeds, then the boys and I collected two sleds full of rocks to create the walkway. Hunter always gets a treasure map for his birthday and Katie and I had already decided that the "treasure" would be inside the fort. We ate Hunter's favorite lunch, Miss Link's quesadilla's.
Then the kids filled up the small plastic pool we tried to use for sledding last year. It works much better for water than for sledding and they all got naked, danced around the hot driveway, jumping from foot to foot doing their best to not get their feet too hot, and then getting back into the pool. This was my chance to complete the treasure map.

Ben never got dressed after that, so as the kids discovered the map and set out in search of clues, Benny followed along wearing only his flip flops...he even crawled right into the fort, sat down, and got his butt full of sap, but he was just so happy to be part of this great day. We had a wonderful dinner together, Hunter's request: "pig meat", watermelon, and red jello. After we sang and ate cake, we set out for some Rhino driving around the field. Of course, Hunter got to steer. I have this imagine still in my mind of his shaggy blond hair blowing in the wind, wearing his new red bandanna, sitting there on Scott's lap, smiling and steering, laughing as he takes a hard right and heads right out into the field~ no boundaries, nothing in the way for him, just a sense of freedom that he seeks out everyday and there it was for the taking, so right there in front of all of us.

It is hard to believe that Hunter is already 5. I cannot honestly say that I think the time has gone too fast, there were certainly nights in the very beginning that could not have gone fast enough. Even Scott said tonight that it is hard to believe the little boy he is becoming and we both wondered what he will remember about his youth.

Hunter has always challenged me, even from the very beginning he had his own ideas about even how he was going to enter this world!! But regardless of all that, the challenges I face with him, the patience I so desperately seek sometimes, all really just fade away and at the end of the day, he does truly push me to be a better parent, a better person. There is just something so special about him. His eyes light up and joy fills his face when he knows he gets to spend the day with Scott, he gallops down the dirt road pretending to be riding his wild mustang through the dessert, he marches up the hill, alone, singing "I'm a tall, tall tree" to keep the mountain lions away, he kisses me so long at bedtime that we end up giggling and then have to start again.

As his mother, I do face challenges in how to help him grow and change and become the best man he can be, one filled with passion for the things he loves, a genuine and honest kind of man with a big heart, someone who offers kindness and understanding during the times when they are most needed ~ someone like Scott. I have so many wishes for him, but more than anything, I want him to know LOVE, feel it, experience it, truly know it and be able to openly give and receive it to not only people, but to all things. Scott and I sat out on the deck after all the kids had fallen fast asleep after a wonderful day for a birthday and we just held Hunter close in our hearts. He is "home" with us, in us.