Hale Family Tales

I went to the “nursery” yesterday.  It was fantastically sunny and the owner was very helpful to tell me what plants do well in Colorado and what I should expect out of them.

As I was planting my new “babies”, one of my real life babies was next to me digging in the dirt, playing with worms, and singing about the joy of gardening.

I snickered to myself…I just like to watch things grow.

At first they are little, vulnerable, dependent for every need.  Soon enough, though, you can see where they are bigger, stronger, and oh, when they bloom, it takes your breath away.

Have you ever noticed how many songs focus on love – romantic love?  Lost love, found love, loving through the circumstances, enduring love…

I was thinking yesterday that not many songs recount the love that a parent has for a child – and the few that do stand out.  “Butterfly Kisses”  “Daddy’s Hands” “In my Daughter’s Eyes”  “Sunrise, Sunset”

I think to a certain degree that a parents’ love for their child is almost too profound, too deep, and too instinctive to put to words.  Sometimes romantic love is a choice and a solemn digging-in-the-heels of commitment.  Parental love is like breathing – and is expressed in so many ways, oftentimes sacrificially; especially when sleep is interrupted; schedules are dominated by naps, homework, ball practice; money is channeled toward shoes, braces, dance lessons, adoption costs.  I think it takes 9 months of nausea, stretch marks, backaches and finally labor and delivery to get that little squishy person here for a reason.  I think adoption is months and years of hurdles, reams of paperwork, and willingness to literally go the ends of the earth for a reason.

These bonds are not ever to be broken.  The process in forging the relationship between a parent and a child is smelted through a fiery refining process.  There are no words to express our feelings for our child other than the I love you’s/I’m proud that you are my daughter/I am thankful for you/I am blessed to have you in my life…

This post is quite rambling, but I finally decided that is ok…there are just no words.

He told me he loved me last night before going to sleep.  I said, “I love you, too.”  Sort of in the we’ve-been-married-13-years-and-this-subject- is-pretty-much-covered-and-I-am-reading-a-good-book-over-here sort of way.

Then I said, “thank you for taking us up to Estes Park today.  I love-love-love that town.  There is just something about that town and the scenery and the little shops and the people and the snow…. and…. and….”

Laughingly, he pointed out that I was way more enthusiastic about our trip to the mountains than telling him good-night.

Feeling a bit guilty, as I returned to my book, the thought occurred to me that I wouldn’t have enjoyed Estes Park nearly as much if I hadn’t been sharing the day with him.

Hannah beat Grandpa today at Candyland.  Ellie won a game of Candyland and Trouble.

They won fair and square – he didn’t throw the games.

It’s ok, though – we fed him cookies.

Today, I ran my last load of laundry in my old Maytag washer and dryer.  We received them as a wedding gift 13 years ago.  I read that the average life span for a washer and dryer is 10-13 years.  My Mom and Ryan’s Mom both had Maytags for 20+ years while we were growing up (I know, weird coincidence).  I was hoping my set would last that long.

They’ve hung in there, but the dryer was not drying after a whole cycle and there was no longer any temperature control.  The only option was on and hot which is not very good for clothes.

So, Lowe’s is delivering a HUGE capacity front loader tomorrow.  We will stack them in order to maximize the space in my tiny laundry closet, I mean, laundry room (I’ve decided that the only distinction here is that it can be called a “room” since there is a door).

….ya know, I am going to be doing laundry for 5 soon…

Well, actually, both of our Mom’s did laundry for 5 on their old Maytags…I will just be doing it in fewer loads…ahh, technology…

….and I love the automatic car wash….

….oh, and I love my blackberry…

….and don’t get me started on my Dyson….

It took 8 minutes to get home from Kohl’s tonight.

This is a new term to me.  Well not now, now that I have experienced one…

Today it dumped about 3 inches on the ground in the 30 minutes I was in the grocery store.  I had to load up kids and groceries into my van in “white out” conditions while hearing the rumble of thunder and seeing flashes of lightning.  It was surreal to us – the snow was tiny pellets and very dry.  Not anything like the slushy, icy stuff I am used to.  The temperature wasn’t even that fierce but the wind was crazy.

My great solace was that I was less than 5 minutes from home!

He might be turning 35 next week…

He might work his tail off all week in a job he loves (generally) in order to provide for his family…

But my husband is the biggest kid when it comes to living here near the mountains.  He is a kid and the mountains are his playground.

He took us skiing in Keystone on Sunday.  Hannah and Ellie attended ski school for the day.  Ryan took me down a green – my very first run except for the couple of times I’ve been down the bunny slopes.  I am the first to admit that there were several factors working against me.  I’m pretty old to be learning a new skill such as this and I am the first to admit that “great athlete” – or even “meager athlete” – has never been synonomous with the name Gina Hale.  But, I love everything about skiing.  The crisp, clear air, the powdery snow, the relaxed look on everyone’s face just to be in a place where God’s glory is glowing.  I love riding the lifts and the gondola taking in the scenery for miles around and watching the skiers below.   I just hope that I will learn to love the actual sport of skiing…

I gave the meaning to the term “snail’s pace” as I made my way down the mountain.  I was very inefficient and wore myself out completely because I  insisted on keeping my skis in the “pizza wedge” position instead of relaxing a bit.  Ryan was very encouraging and patient – moreso than I think I would have been.  He would turn around and smile and encourage me and resisted every temptation to laugh when I fell, ran into a pine tree, or just stood there trying catch my breath (literally, we were at 11, 000 feet) or gain my composure.  I wore out early and he took off and went on several more trails and lifts actually making his way around most of the mountain.

The other highlight was how well Hannah did in ski school.  I showed up about an hour early to watch how the girls were doing.  Hannah was going up the lift by herself and coming down a “gentle green” with a huge smile on her face as she swished through the snow.  The couple of times I saw her fall, she popped right back up on her skis and continued.  Her instructor was very encouraging about her day.  When she was dismissed from class, she immediately asked her Dad to go up with her – and then asked again and again until the lift closed.  He was as pleased as punch – but pretty darn worn out at this point!

Finally, we took the girls up on a gondola to about 12,000 to see the view.  We enjoyed a snack in the lodge and by the time we were ready to head back down, the gondolas were closed due to high winds and we had to ride back down in a regular lift.  I was pretty wide eyed at this point, but everyone settled in – Ryan had a tight hold on Ellie – and we enjoyed a glorious ride down the mountain…it was way more fun than the gondola!

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹ The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.