everyday life

Grace turned eleven.

We saw the Jerusalem IMAX movie and visited the Dead Sea Scrolls.  In the exhibit, we were able to write notes that would be sent to Jerusalem and put into the Western Wall.  Grace wrote “I would like to thank God for blessing me with an amazing family and everything I need.  Thank you God.”  Whit wrote “I pray to God that the Bruins win the Stanley Cup.”  Meet my children.

Whit dressed up as Indiana Jones and Grace as an “80s Valley Girl” for Halloween.

The four of us went to New Hampshire for homecoming at the high school I attended.  It was both freezing and fun.

We spent one wonderful Saturday morning rock climbing as a family.

Our Christmas traditions swept us along in December: tree trimming, carols, cookie-baking, noticing things.

My favorite post: Catastrophe and beauty, loss and joy

My favorite quote (which is actually my favorite quote of the whole year):

“Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration. . . . I think there must also be a prevenient courage that allows us to be brave – that is, to acknowledge that there is more beauty than our eyes can bear, that precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm.”

– Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

We had a reunion with all of Matt’s family in Vermont over the Fourth of July.

We had several wonderful sails with my parents in their seaside town in Massachusetts.

Grace, Whit and I took our fourth annual trip to Legoland.

Grace and Whit both went to sleepaway camp.  I cried as we drove away, but maybe not for the reason you think.

Whit’s godmother, one of my dearest friends came to visit on her way back to Beijing.

We spent a week as a family on Lake Champlain, a tradition that has come to mean an enormous amount to us.

My favorite post: It’s Not All Shiny

My favorite quote (of this season and, very possibly, of all):

“Life gives us what we need when we need it,” she said.  “Receiving what it gives us is a whole other thing.”

– Pam Houston, In My Next Life

The Boston Marathon bombings affected us all, triggering both fear and fierce pride.

Whit started playing Little League for the first year.  His team, the Giants, had an undistinguished record but a whole lot of heart.

We had a great day at Plimouth Plantation on Memorial Day.

We marked the end of second and fourth grades, and I took the children on a surprise trip to Canobie Lake Park to celebrate the first day of summer.

Over a weekend in June we celebrated my father’s birthday, with his wife, both of his children and all four of his grandchildren around a table.

My favorite post: Inheritance

My favorite quote:

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going.  No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

– Rainer Maria Rilke

Whit turned eight.  We celebrated with a small party: a trip to the batting cages, pizza, and Lego-shaped cupcakes.

I had a spinal tap.  I do not recommend.

Whit played with his hockey team on the ice during a Bruins game.  This was an enormous thrill for all.

We had a marvelous family trip to Washington DC.

It snowed.  A whole lot.

We celebrated Easter at a place that’s holy for our family: a deserted, wind-swept beach outside of Boston that we love best off-season and empty.

My favorite post from these months, about an evergreen theme, the endless, begin-again effort to be present in my own life: Tears at Hockey

My favorite quote from this season:

Every moment in life is absolutely itself. That’s all we have. There is nothing other than this present moment; there is no past, there is no future; there is nothing but this. So when we don’t pay attention to every little this, we miss the whole thing.

And the contents of this can be anything. This can be straightening our sitting mats, chopping an onion, talking to one we don’t want to talk to. It doesn’t matter what the contents of the moment are; each moment is absolute. That’s all there is, and all there ever will be.

~ Charlotte Joko Beck