Empty(ing) Nest

Not long ago, after a very strong windstorm, my husband Wes found this in our front yard.

He brought it in to show me, and he was a little surprised that I wanted to keep it. It seemed to be a timely reminder of how our lives are moving now.

I can't count the number of times that some middle-aged woman, seeing me with my little flock of small children, said, "Oh, they grow up so fast." Of course, I didn't believe it. I felt like I was stuck in toddler-time, and would be forever.

But it's turning out that those women were right. When you are raising children, the days are long. But the years are short.

Here's a little history of the last 22 years with my three oldest children:

My oldest child Sam, 1991

Two-year-old Sam and his new sister Hannah, 1993.

Hannah, Sam and Danny, 1995

Sam

Hannah

Danny

Sam graduated from high school and served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Now he's majoring in Business Management at Brigham Young University and working part-time.

After graduation, Hannah received a lot of great scholarship offers. She has been studying History at Brigham Young University for two years. 

Danny just graduated from high school last month, but he will be leaving home soon: On July 17th, he will enter the Missionary Training Center in Provo to prepare to serve a two-year mission in the Philippines.

I suppose that I really always knew this would happen. That's the goal: to produce happy, successful children who can lead productive, independent lives. (But who still want to come home to visit.)

Three down, four to go.