The Beginning

 Davis High, senior and sophomore.  They told me I caught them at a bad angle.  Whatever.  There is no bad angle when you're 15 and 17 years old.  Live it up, girls!

 It's the rule:  they have to walk in together.  Optional:  singing "We Are Family" in your head as you walk.

 And then it was Araceli's turn.  7th grade, and all alone at Fairfield Junior High.  At least she has her cousin Jackson there to be her family.  Araceli is ready for this, and so excited.  She has three honors classes, which seemed like a good idea when she was invited to be in them in May.  Then I heard the words "Science Fair Project."  Ugh.  Anyway, I think every one of Ari's teachers is great.  I'm happy.

 Oh, my beautiful baby!  She ran to get her "Chithruby" backpack and eagerly strutted up the street with the rest of the kids.

 Posed for pictures.  "Who, MEEE?"

 This was the attitude Tziporah went into 6th grade with.  She swaggered right into Freestone's classroom and had to be carried out sobbing.  Poor baby, she really believed they wouldn't notice that she was four feet shorter than the other kids.  Ptolemy had to go home too, as he is in afternoon kindergarten.  When we got in the car to do errands, I said, "Well, guys, it's just us!  Where should we go?"  Ptolemy said, "San Diego!"  Tizzy said, "Yeah!  Get our swimsuits on!"

Wow, it's going to be a brutal reality check.

 Finally, it was time!  Again, Tziporah tried to go.

 I'm not ready for my snuggly baby boy to go to kindergarten, but he is.  Darnit!

 Now all I have left is one precocious child who is very disappointed to be left out of all the excitement.  She was so sad walking home, her disappointment was palpable.

I know, Tziporah.  The first day of school is rough.  

The End

 We introduced all three of our Euros to Worlds Best Corndogs this summer, but for some reason, we took each of them separately.  They all agreed that, out of the two corndogs they had each tried in their lives, WB were the best.  I'm pretty sure I nearly starved the French girls.  They were always hungry!  And if you've been to our house, you know there's no food to eat on a good day.  Imagine if I hadn't been to the store for six weeks.

 The girls' last day here, we tried not to think about their departure.  Olympe went on a date with my cousin Danny, and the rest of us went to the pool to drown our sorrows.  It worked, temporarily.

 But they still left.  Amid laughter and tears, Golda and Ruby said good-bye to the French contingent.  In the ten minutes I have before I pick up Ari from school, I will try to explain what a fantastic experience it was to have these teenagers here this summer.  Never mind, I can't.  The summer is a big blur now, a big, contented blur.  With June packed full of the play and the ballet recital, then the 4th of July and our continued daily journeys to Cherry Hill, then the arrival of the Euros and all the subsequent trips and adventures, I feel like it was a 24-hour party for two straight months.  Every night, it seems like, I hosed out the big cooler and repacked it with the next day's supplies.  We experienced more of Utah than we ever have.  At first, Golda was worried that there wouldn't be anything for us to show their friends.  I felt badly that we hadn't even introduced our own kids to some of the wonders of our home state, until now!  Not to worry, we didn't even come close to running out of things to show them.  Even now, I think of things every day that I regret not having enough time to do.  Especially with Victor, because he left earlier and missed Montana and some of the other things we did.  I hope they come back!

This summer was a study in dichotomy for me.  On one hand, Scott and I had the enormous responsibility of taking care of ten kids.  Meals, entertainment, chores, keeping the house in order, laundry, packing and unpacking the car, jobs, teaching.  Yeah.  On the other hand, summer holds a freedom for me that the school year can't match.  I ignore as many responsibilities as I can, and I make it a priority to get things done early and not let the daily grind take up our pool/Cherry Hill/exploration time.  I become more of who I really am, deep inside, under all of the layers of Taskmaster Mom.  It's so liberating.  I need it.

I identify with this quote so strongly.  This summer, I did have all the energy and imagination I needed.  Every day was a new adventure, and every moment was enjoyable.  I was on Cloud Nine all summer long.  Now I just have to find the inspiration for the heavy load of the school year.  I know it's in there.

I was doing my annual school year breakdown, and Scott said kindly, "Welcome back to real life."  Scott has been in real-life land the whole time.  I don't know how he has the patience and generosity to let me float away, to the end of my tether, and return whenever I think it's time.  He just knows me, and has the generosity of spirit and the patience to let me go, while he stays and makes our lives run smoothly.  I am so fortunate, I can't even imagine how I got so lucky.  I just know I can't begin to deserve Scott's enormous heart.  I'm just glad it's mine.

Beartooth and the Broadwater

 Good morning, Cooke City!

My cousin Emily did this batique (is that the right word?) artwork of the bear.  So cool!

My new group of teens.  I lost Victor, Ruby and Golda, but I was lucky enough to pick up Danny, Frank and Ari in their place!  This was our scenic drive up to the top of the Beartooth Pass.  Frank was the only one who spotted mountain goats, but that's ok.  They have mountain goats in the Alps, so the girls can see them when they get home.

Glacier

Ptolemy is scrambling up the mountain barefoot in the background.  His feet must be like leather after this summer!

The river that runs by the cabin has a wide, shallow part that they call the "Broadwater."  We canoed and swung into the ice-cold water from the rope swing.

My uncles are great men.

Frank was very nice to the kids.  What a great guy!  How did all of the DeBrys turn out so perfect?

The water instantly freezes every part of your skin.  It's actually exhilarating.

If a regular mosquito is a deer, Montana mosquitoes are moose.  They fly by with their impossibly long legs dangling below them, confident that they will get to you.  Uncle Paul says that they eat mosquito repellent for breakfast.  They are plentiful and ruthless, but they didn't get in the way of our fun!

I loved having everyone together at the table for meals.  Marla and I took turns fixing tons of fresh fruit along with nice, warm dishes.  When Rita arrived the last day of our stay, she brought fresh, young corn and buttered it all up for us.  Olympe wouldn't even try it, and it was so tender and delicious!  Corn on the cob is unheard of in her region.  

Mark and Marla, Paul and Rita and EVERYONE were so nice to the girls.  SO nice!

The joy in this kid!

Eliza is working in Cooke City this summer at the Beartooth Cafe.  The other teens loved having her at the cabin the last night.  I think they stayed up hours past midnight.

Frank was so good to Xanthe.  He took care of her and listened to her talk.  Sweet kids!

"No way am I eating that disgusting vegetable."

Paul telling scary (TRUE) stories about bears.

All of these shirts and jackets are for everyone's use.  What a great idea!  And you'll need one if you go outside, because the mosquitoes bite through regular shirts.  Lol

The drive home from the cabin started at 8:15 Thursday morning.  It was raining, so we only stopped once in Yellowstone, to see this guy.  A big elk!  We made it home in exactly 8 hours, which is not bad!  Thanks for a wonderful trip, Uncle Paul and Aunt Rita.  Everything was glorious.  We love you!