A really good day

Last Saturday was a really good day - the kind of early fall day which is rare and precious.  We were busy, but not too busy.  The weather was perfect - not too hot or too cold.  We were outside lots, there was a minimum of fighting between kids, and we got a lot done.

Maybe I'll back up a bit - Friday night Dan and I were able to attend the temple. And we stayed attentive, even after a long week of waking up early for Seminary.  Now that's a miracle . . .

Then Saturday started with a 9 a.m. soccer game.  I unfortunately have no pictures, because I was too busy cheering for Joseph!  This is how Dan explained the game in a letter to Brandon this week, "On Saturday we witnessed Joseph make three of the team's four goals, helping them win the game.  His games last about 50 minutes and they were 40 minutes into the game.  They were down 2 goals to nothing and had not even been very close to the goal.  Then, within about three minutes Joseph made three goals.  It was so amazing that I actually made a strange yippee sound when he made his third goal.  You would have been very embarrassed for me.  It happened so fast that the coach had to put him back on defense to keep him from scoring again (three goal max rule - which we had never heard of)."

Last week I read in my sister Ali's blog that her little soccer star Lindsey was pulled out of the game because she was getting so many goals that the other kids couldn't get the ball.  I marveled because nothing of the sort had ever happened in the Porter family.  But, then when Joseph started scoring goals in quick succession he was pulled to play defense instead of forward.  It is especially great to watch his confidence grow.


After the game Dan, Joseph, and I meandered through a few errands, enjoying the rare fact that we had nowhere in particular to be at any particular time and the sun was shining.

First we spent time in Best Buy while Dan tried to find the right cords to hook up his new iPad to a projector to play Seminary videos.  Joseph and I entertained ourselves by playing with the crazy effects in the Macbook photo booth.  Our favorite was "Space Alien."

Next we drove to Krispy Kreme to buy some donuts to celebrate the awesome game.  We went inside and took time to watch how they make the artery-clogging, uber-sugary, heavenly treats.  Then we picked out two dozen assorted donuts.

We dropped off a van full of stuff at the DI trailer and then took a dozen donuts to our new Bishop (who is also our good friend) as a birthday treat.

Now, where were the girls during all of this?  Bailey was actually at a friend's house.  She had slept over there the night before (an exception to our no-sleepover policy) so that she could babysit her friend's younger siblings the next morning while her friend and friend's parents went with the youth in their ward to the temple at 6 a.m. (did you follow that convoluted explanation?) Then, she hung out for awhile before coming home in the afternoon.

Aubrey wasn't awake when we left to the game, but woke up and got all her chores done while we were gone. She was happy to help us eat donuts when we arrived home. Then she begged Dan to teach her how to powerwash.  Aubrey is an entrepreneur at heart, and she is highly motivated to earn extra money right now for a big item she wants to purchase.  So, she spent almost four hours in the beautiful sunshine doing a great job getting black mold off our driveway.

Meanwhile, we found some friends for Joseph, and (once Joseph finished his chores and piano) they spent hours outside throwing a football back and forth.

Dan took a few hours to work on his Seminary lessons for the coming week, and I got the house organized.

When Bailey finished her chores, she drove me and Aubrey to Target.  Yes, I said she drove us. And she's a  good driver.  While we shopped for a few things and the girls tried on some clothes, Dan took Joseph swimming at Lakeshore.

Then we met up at home, ate dinner together, made a bed on the family room floor, popped popcorn, and watched some old Disney movies - "Now You See Them, Now You Don't," and "The Shaggy Dog."

This was a very good day, and not because anything dramatic happened. There are some days and moments which resonate with me, and I try to take a mental picture of what the day looked, sounded, and felt like.  I file those moments away in my mental bank and pull them out to revisit from time to time.

It's human nature to feel like the big events are the memorable ones, but for me the never-to-be-forgotten moments are the quiet, simple ones. The hanging out together, laughing, eating, working, and playing together.  The being together with people I love more than anything and feeling grateful that this is my life.