Wish it was different, but, it's not!

Lately, when I am cleaning, especially when I am vacuuming, I get a little teary eyed. Not because my work load is too much, nor is it because I am tired of cleaning. It's because of all of the dear memories I've shared here in this house!

Today, while I was vacuuming, I thought about the weekend when my parents and some of my brothers and sisters came up with their families just after we moved into this house. We had hardly any furniture when we moved in. Most of our furniture we gave away before we moved into the tiny trailer...where we lived while building our house. For almost an entire year we ate our meals from a folding card table that seated only four people. Our couch was a brown, hide-a-bed, love seat that my Grandpa and Grandma Washburn gave to us. We kept our bed and stored our clothes on hangers in the tiny closets, and in totes. Thinking back on it...I'm not quite sure how we ever survived those days without really getting on each others nerves. The trailer was only 2 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a family room/kitchen combination. There was really no place in that trailer to escape from one another. However, we were happy! About that same weekend that my family came up Ed and I bought our first kitchen table. Although, it only had 4 chairs that came with it, we made and still make do with the miss match set of chairs that we have gathered around it (sometimes we even throw in a bucket or two, and a piano bench.) We were still in the middle of laying all of the wood flooring and so we used some of the scrap pieces of carpet to cover the plywood floor for protection and warmth because it was soooo cold outside(It was Jan./Feb. when we moved in and of course, it was cold and snowy so we spent most of our time inside. It was wonderful! My brothers and dad helped Ed lay the flooring and trim and finish the stair case and railing. What wonderful memories I have of this beautiful home....the fact that it was built out of love and hard work by so many family members and friends, make the memories so much sweeter! I love this home!

There isn't a single room that doesn't hold some special memory!

While we were finishing the boys rooms upstairs, Jim and Mike (men that worked on Ed's construction crew) laid out all of the trim to be stained. My dear friend Lana came over one day to see the progress that we had made on the house...she brought her little boys with her. While I showed her around her boys wondered and played upstairs...stepping on the newly stained trim. It wasn't until after Jim and Mike hung the trim around the window dormers that we noticed the perfect little tiny foot print on the piece of trim. We all got such a kick out of it! It was such a perfect little foot print, that we decided to leave it as a conversation piece...besides how in the world could that little foot print ever get way up there on the ceiling??? If I remember correctly...it belongs to Rusty now 6 years old!

While finishing the office, which we still have yet to accomplish, Waylon colored all over one of the unfinished walls in blue PERMANENT marker. It's still there. We've never painted over it since. Don't really want to! It's perfect!

Winston has managed to follow in his brothers footsteps and color on just about every wall and door he could reach! I figure, someday I'll get around to painting over those marks, but for now, they just "add" to our strange decor of miss match/unfinished painted walls! Love it!

My niece Claire carved her last name in the window sill upstairs in the loft! When asked by her father if she did it...she denied it. We all got a great laugh out of it. She, like so many other loved family members, left her mark that she too was here, in this very special place!

Will Jaye wrote his name on the railing upstairs...he too denied it!

We used to watch the stars from the deck upstairs. We would lay out lots of sleeping bags and pillows and snuggle up together...ALL of us...and star gaze and tell stories.

The list goes on and on...There are so many wonderful memories made here.

I pray every day that Father in Heaven will hear my prayer and place the perfect family in our lovely little piece of Heaven. I hope that the next family appreciates all of the labor and love that has been put into this house to make it a home. There is a different spirit here. This is where some of my dearest memories have been made...This is where my sweet little Waylon came home to and then left from. We built this home together...literally! We raised walls together, painted together, cleaned together, gardened together....WE WORKED TOGETHER!

I am sure that we will make more memories together...I don't doubt that one bit...it's just that sometimes it's difficult to see beyond the trial. It's difficult thinking about who will live here, who will take care of the trees that the primary planted on Waylon's behalf. Who will appreciate all of this? Will the next family have long evenings of star gazing on the deck too? Will they spend cozy Christmas nights in front of the fireplace with all of the lights off and just the Christmas lights on the tree on for light? Will they hide Easter eggs in all of the trees and shrubs? Will they finish the barn and love every minute of it? Will they roast hot dogs and marshmallows in the fire pit? Will they pit BBQ meat for their family gatherings? Will they have family reunions and gatherings regularly? Will this home ever be filled with so many loved ones for special occasions like blessings, baptisms, priesthood ordinations, birthdays and 4th of July's? Will it sleep 30 plus people here under this roof?

I can't even express how grateful I am for Heavenly Fathers tender mercies...for "letting us stay for a while".

When we first moved into the house I remember praying often..."Please let us stay for a while..." I never did feel like this was home...except for when this house was filled to the brim with family and friends...then it felt wonderful. Maybe that's what home is....a place where family and friends reside and love and laugh and learn together. Even still...this is the place where we have done just that...loved, laughed, and learned together! How I will miss this place. How I will miss rocking my babies in my bedroom next to the window with it's cool breeze coming through the opened window. Falling asleep on the couch next to the big family room window with my little ones...each one of them...Waylon, Winston, Wylee, and Wyndel on my legs or my chest while reading. Falling asleep in front of the warm fireplace in the love seat...this was one of Waylon's favorite places too. Eating oatmeal on the fireplace hearth with Waylon so that we could stay warm. Watching the boys play in the irrigation...and come in muddy even though I asked repeatedly "Don't get muddy!" Collections of lizards, salamanders, frogs...BIG ones, toads...EVEN BIGGER ones, praying mantis', grasshoppers, etc in jars and cups all over the house. The little hen that thought it was OK to come inside whenever she pleased. The many animals we have buried here.

I know that I can take the memories with me...and that's the very best part. I just hope that I can always remember them.

Home truly is where the heart is. I love this place!