Gotta start somewhere

Well, here goes. I never have thought of myself as a blogger. A blog sounds very much like something that Merrianne's been waiting for me to clean out of the bathroom sink.  But I thought this would be a good way for us to let people know what's happening with us. There's a good reason the title is Life In the Fast Lane (completely separate from the fact that I'm an Eagles fanatic).

A year ago my oldest daughter Lindsay had a steady boyfriend who I had met twice. I was really impressed with him and excited that she had displayed such good selection skills when picking a boyfriend. Things seemed to be progressing pretty quick with them and we expected them to officially announce something soon. Honestly, I thought it was great because Travis was such a good guy and I thought that if anyone could tame Lindsay, he could.  She would listen to him when she wouldn't listen to us.  Also, Cameron and Curtis were still on their missions and Ashley was in school at BYU-I. Now that may sound a little hectic, but when all your older kids are basically the same age these things are to be expected. I had no idea that this would be the calm before the storm.  

In September Curtis came home first. We were immediately amazed at all the wonderful changes that serving the Lord for 2 years had made.  It took him a few weeks to get "normalized" but he managed to do it some how.  I think he probably still waves at strangers on the street and asks them how their day is going. Well, 2 days after getting home he decided to head over to Rexburg and see his sisters that he hadn't seen for 2 years.  He stopped in Boise to see Nicole Grant who was going to BSU (where BS comes before U) and who had been writing him for the past 18 months or so.  By the time he had gotten home from Rexburg he knew he had met the girl he was going to marry.  Of course he stopped to see her on the way home too.  I thought, well, who am I to argue with such sudden certainty because I knew after 2 weeks.

Well 4 weeks later when Cameron came home Curtis met him at the airport with an announcement.  Lindsay also had her announcement by then too.  He was more than a little surprised, but he hasn't let all this excitement pressure him into making a hasty decision.  In January Cameron joined Ashley and Lindsay at BYU-I for his first semester back in school since his mission. 

December 2010 and January 2011 were wonderful months that I hope we never have to live through again. Lindsay and Travis were married on December 18th and Curtis and Nicole were married on January 8th. Thank goodness for good friends in the Church who selflessly helped with both weddings. I still feel like I was dangerously close to becoming a single parent anyway because Merrianne was almost worn out. 

Well things were just starting to calm down a little when Ashley called from school and told us that she had met Drew.  Here we go again.  We've had a little more time to get to know Drew and I must say our luck is still holding. I couldn't have hand picked a better spouse for Ashley. Drew is the epitome of patience and goodness and I'm excited to welcome him into the family on August 19th. He will be good for Ashley. 

So there we are. A toe-nail sketch (a little bigger than a thumbnail) of what the past year has been like for us.Cameron is still working himself to death saving money for school and we're counting the days till our middle daughter is sealed and drives off to start her life of wedded bliss. Merrianne is helping Ashley get ready and seems to be holding up pretty well. Instead of losing kids we've gained; but I'm not complaining. Their choosing skills are almost as good as their mother's. Savannah and Jake are just trying to survive summer. It's tough.


And me. Well, all I want to do is paint my motorcycle red. It won't make it any faster, it'll just look better going slow...