Home

My legs ache as we pull into the driveway at 12:30 pm.   I push open the car door into our overgrown Palo Verde tree in the driveway.  As I take a deep breath, the heat fills my lungs and I know that I am home.   Home after a 17 hour car ride with 4 children.  Our Traverse even seems to take a deep breath after all those miles driven, piled high with bags and our Wyoming beef strapped onto the back.   We make our way into the house and crawl into our beds.   Home at last.

It seems hotter than usual, so we spend all of Sunday in the pool.   Coming inside to make a quick meal and back into the water where it is cool and we can be together.   It feels so good to be here in this beautiful place.  All together.  A place we have created together and call our home.

I soon realize that it wasn't just me that felt hot.   It was hot.  Extremely hot (111 degrees hot) and our air conditioning wasn't working.   That explains why we seemed so miserable.   And thank goodness for air conditioning repair men.  Those men who can make our life much more bearable.

Daddy had to go back to work on Monday and as the kids and I finished breakfast reality hit us.   We had the whole day stretched out in front of us.   There were no cousins to play with.   No Grammy's and Grandma's to make us dinner.  No more Wyoming summer left.   It's always an adjustment.  Adjusting to our routine and what is expected of us at home.   The first day is always the hardest and at the end of the day I wanted to resign from my job as Mommy.   To resign and walk away.   And, I get to.  I get to go to bed and start again tomorrow.   The great thing about being a mom is that you can never really quit.   No matter how you felt the day before.   And the blessing of the next morning comes and the day before is a distant memory as you start again.

Tuesday brought friends and laughter and excitement.    It was so good to see everyone and play with our friends.   We missed them and they have become our family here.   Those hugs we received after being gone for 6 weeks were so welcomed today.   While the Mommy's were all hugging hello, the little girls preferred to crawl under the table, chew gum, and talk princesses.

As the heat rose, we came home and snuggled in for some reading time.  This was my favorite part of our day.    The part where my floor is covered in books and we are all sprawled out together turning pages and getting lost in a story.

As Gabe and Owen read to Grace I silently sat and watched them, feeling thankful.   Knowing that no matter what else was happing this moment was perfect.

The desert has called us home and we are so glad to be back.   We were so thankful that we got to spend so much time with our family in the mountains and we can't wait to go back next year yet we know this is where we need to be.   This place we call our home.