Spending time along the coast of California with my family, was a dream come true. It was a chance to spend time together, creating memories and having fun. Amazingly enough, my siblings plus my Mom and Dad were able to make the trip. One of my brother’s daughter, lives and planned her wedding in northern California.

First stop was Pride Mountain Vineyards. The drive alone was spectacular, hills and valleys around every curve. Upon arrival we were greeted by our host, Paul, and within a short time handed each person a glass of wine, then started the tour. There was a couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary, and a woman celebrating her birthday.

As my daughter gets ready to head to Canada for a summer internship program, she has been busy this week spending time with her friends. They travel in packs to each other’s apartments, homes, restaurants, stores and such. Recently, some have been over helping her pack, providing advice and encouragement, as well as just hanging out together. Usually I am in a different room, but can usually hear them laughing and chatting from anywhere in the house. It’s like music to my ears.

During my daughter’s senior year of college she applied for several domestic and international internships. She received her degree in Biology and has always dreamed of having a career working with animals. Fortunately for her, and not so fortunate for me, she was awarded her number one choice, Brazil. With all the talk of crime, human trafficking, and the Zika virus alert, I was less than enthusiastic about the news. She was also awarded another internship in British Columbia, Canada, that I was excited for her opportunity.

Each year, I look forward to the second Sunday in May to celebrate Mother’s Day. Not only to honor my beautiful Mom, but to spend time with my children. Usually, there aren’t any issues with scheduling, but this year was an exception. My daughter needed to head back to college shortly after my son arrived home from out of town. We were only able to spend about an hour together that was consumed in pandemonium; not quite the picture I had in my head of the perfect “Mother’s Day”….HA.

We hope as parents that our positive actions, attitudes, and beliefs rub off on our children. We teach and guide them in the best way we know how, and are hopeful those positive examples become some their own actions, attitudes and beliefs. I was recently reminded how impactful positive impressions have on people outside the family circle as well.

When my daughter was a junior in high school she came to me and said she wanted to be the kicker for the varsity football team. I chuckled and basically brushed the idea aside. She was an excellent soccer player which gave her a definite advantage, however, I ignored her statement and assumed it was a passing whim. Her junior year came and went without any other conversations, and I didn’t give it a second thought.

Another favorite time was the birth of our spring lambs. The soft and wobbly new born lambs would capture our hearts. They would run, jump and play while their moms fed. Each year there would always be one or two lambs that would need to be bottle fed. What a wonderful learning experience that was for my children.

I am not really sure how it all began, but years earlier he would come home hungry, and couldn’t wait for dinner to be ready. He would impatiently stand next to me willing the meal to be done, which clearly made the process quicker……not. His impatience morphed into helping chop or stir, and eventually into complete meal preparation together.

From the time my daughter was little into young adulthood, she has always disliked the color purple. So much so, if I ever bought her clothing that had the slightest spec of purple, back to the store it went.

Growing up in a household of equal girl to boy ratio, I was exposed to a good mix of “sugar and spice” and “snakes and snails”. Whether it was summer, fall, winter or spring, racing was always in our blood and lives in some way. Over the years, my Dad and brothers raced in one form or fashion mini bikes, motocross, snowmobiles or cars, and the girls were always rooting them on in spirit, if not in person.

Buying gifts for my Dad is challenging, when asked what he wants the answer is usually “It’s not necessary to get me a gift” or “I don’t need a thing.” This Christmas was no exception. The only thing my Dad could come up with was t-shirts, but oh, by the way “Your sister already took that idea.” Drat!

Each year since my son was two, I have hung a hand made, advent tree for my children to enjoy, which has evolved over the years to the most current one……still tucked away. Reluctantly, last year I decided it would be the final showing for the long standing tradition. It was a sad, but overdue decision; my kids were growing up.

There are no expectations, other than spending a day with loved ones, enjoying good food, along with familiar family traditions. Like the tradition of peeling and cooking potatoes with my brothers. Funny as it seems, it’s something we look forward to each Thanksgiving. We laugh and joke while peeling a mile high, pile of spuds, that eventually turn into the most delicious mashed potatoes extraordinaire……that we are quite famous for. No matter how many we prepare, there are rarely leftovers.

A group of friends gather together every year or so to celebrate with dinner and wine, highlighting a wine’s specific region, country or state; the host’s choice. This year’s hosts decided upon the state of Washington, U.S.A. Each couple was responsible for a course and a Washington wine that paired well with the food.

He helped shape me into the woman I am today, and taught me unconditional love, humility, bravery and how to love deeper. Even though I miss the days he was a mama’s boy, I take pride in the independent man he has become.mom

My sister was recently in town for an extended period, and hadn’t spent that much time at home in many years.  She stayed at my parents home, but I usually saw her everyday. We had a few unplanned adventures that reminded me of our younger selves, growing up on the farm.

The start of her senior year, she was pumped to kick off her final season, and as usual trained hard all summer preparing for pre-season training. I was excited and yet sad this would be her last year. I spent many hours watching my children play soccer, and wondered what would ever take its place.