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.