summer goals

This summer my goals are....

1) Get to the temple more often = every other week 

*Lucky for us it's basically in our backyard for the next 3 weeks.  

*Un-lucky for us, I found out it's closed for maintenance from July 4th - 18th.....basically most of the time we are here. 

*Lucky for me there are 2 days until it closes....and I now have back-up to help watch the kids while I steal away. 

*And lucky for me - there are 5 temples in the greater Salt Lake area that I can get to in the same amount of time it would take for me to subway over to our temple in the city.  And in Salt Lake....family which will watch the kiddos.    

What a blessing.  All of it.  

2) Enjoy family time 

As we were leaving school on our last day, a teacher stopped by to say good-bye for the summer.  She made the comment, "I'm so excited for a break, but then I think of all you parents and feel a little bad that you have your kids for the entire summer". 

I looked straight at her and came back with the quick reply, "Oh, don't feel bad...this is the time I look forward to!  I finally get my children all the time, without a schedule that we have to keep up with and time to just do what we want to do.  I love this time!"  

                                                     

And I really do.  Summer time equals magic time.  Yes there are still chores to do, piano practicing, teeth brushing, scripture reading, and bedtimes to do....but everything is at a slower summer pace.  It gets done because there isn't a need to rush to the next planned event.  We plan things because we want to - not because we have to. 

And enjoying that with family is amazing.  I absolutely love having my children around me for the summer.  

And we get to fill in with other family as well - Bryson's parents are here with us right now in Hawaii for the 4th of July weekend.  My mom will come out for the final days of our vacation here, and help me fly home with the kiddos, as Bryson will fly in next week and spend about a week here and then fly back to the city for work.  However, the kiddos and I will go to Salt Lake for another few weeks so that we can finally get family time - and lots of it!  We miss it the rest of the year in these amounts as we live out of state....but in the summer, we like to get as much family in as possible!  Cousins, aunts & uncles, close family and distant family...it's all family to us, and we love it!  

3) Live in the moment 

The phrase 'Stop and smell the flowers' is always meaningful - but in the summertime I love to remember that there is not the rush of things we have to get to.  Even today I caught myself this morning saying to the children a few times, "We need to hurry up and get going!"  I finally caught myself after the 3rd time and laughed a bit on the inside....WHY?  I didn't want to hurry.  They obviously did not want to hurry as they were enjoying playing with the dog, jumping on the trampoline, playing with toys, playing on the piano - anything at all....but NOT to hurry! 

We eventually did need to leave by a certain time so we could drive into Honolulu and run some errands and pick up Nana and Papa at the airport.  But there wasn't a need to hurry.  We got everything done, and we had a lovely time about it....by not rushing.

I want to slow down. 

Embrace each moment.  

And really enjoy living in that moment.  The sights.  The sounds.  The smells.  Realizing how fast it all goes....so to just enjoy.  

4)  Hit the beach every day! 

I suppose this is only applicable to while we are here in Hawaii - but I realized there is no reason why we can't have a beach moment every day while we are here.  We are staying in a place where there are dozens of beaches within 5-10 minutes of us....and then even more as we drive out 10-15 more minutes.  I'm fairly certain it would be at least dozens upon dozens of beaches we could visit.

Even if we don't swim, like today and on Sundays we won't, we can still take a walk and enjoy the awesomeness (has that been defined as a word yet?!) of the beach, the beauty of this island and where we are.  Whether it's a short trip or a long one....we will work to get to the beach each day we are here.

5)  Hang Loose 

Speaks for itself & my little add-in....I want to roll with the punches more.  Plan but be flexible.  And not get so uptight if things don't go as I thought or planned.  And above all else - be easy going and watch my temper.

6)  Be a builder 

I want to be sure I'm building and not wrecking or destroying anything around me.  Anything.

Another way to look at it - be sure I am positive and working towards the big picture at all times.  

Building :) 

I have another summer bucket list of things we want to do during our break from the regular routine of school and schedules.  I'll share that soon - for now, it feels good to remember that goals help us progress and become better.  And even though my goals aren't monumental, it gives some added purpose to these summer months.

And lastly - here are some pictures of the temple as we walked home from Temple Beach.  It was a beautiful evening - we had unpacked the groceries that we picked up at Costco after the airport run to get Nana & Papa....and we needed a chance to stretch our legs and to take the dog out for a walk.  We decided to walk down to the beach, and I'm so glad we did.....it was a gorgeous evening!  Only to be added to with seeing the temple lit up on this magnificent drive down this main avenue (?) here in Laie.

I love this place.