Dreams and Ambitions

I absolutely love to hear my children's dreams and ambitions for life. I hold my breath in anticipation whenever I hear one of them say,"When I grow up, I want to be...." I remember when I was young I would dream too. I wanted to be a figure skater whenever I watched the winter olympics. And I am pretty klutzy so that was a bi dream. I don't remember all of my dreams, and I am sure many would think I picked the 'boring' ones to actually make come true. But I still believe and will always believe that being a teacher is a very noble profession and all my dreams carried the idea of noble and grand in them.
What dreams do I remember my children have:
Sonja: She wanted to be ao chef like Caprial when she was 7. Caprial owned her own bistro in Portland and had a cooking show on OPB. We used to watch it ande she would putter in the kitchen and sound like she was Caprial on tv. this dream died down a while after she was given a special gift of one of Caprial's cookbooks by her eye surgeon when she was 8. We also took her to eat at the bistro and she met Caprial. So some of that must of fulfilled her hopes.
When she was 9-11, she wanted to be a marine biologist. More particularily she wanted to swim with the dolphins. that died down when later she realized she had no keen aptitude for math and some of that leaked into the mathematical sciences. But her love for literature continued and so did her artistic eye. So now Sonja is 19 and pursuing her dream to be a photojournalist. She is building her own photography business and majoring in communications at BYU-I.
However, her biggest dream of all is to marry an awesome man in the temple and have quite a few children. This must happen before the world ends, she says!
Brynn: Brynn loved horses when she was young. she is quite the dog lover, too. She thinks someday she will marry a farmer and have quite a few animals.
In competition with that dream, however, is her love for fashion and make-up. she would love to be the fashion designer for Vogue or something. Yes, just imagine a sweet and gentle 'devil wears prada'. Thinking big, she would like to do make-up for Hollywood movies. Nearly 24 hours after she was born, Eric and I finally decided on her name. It was between Annika and Brynn. I always say I chose right because her name is short and sassy and so is she. Truly though, although Brynn is petite, I know she could be an awesome model. She has her own unique flair and style. When she was 10, she was a hat lover, know she is into vintage, or hippie style. she can do almost anything and is a favorite portrait subject for sonja and her camera.
Joel: well, joel. When he was a baby, he was given a baby outift of a basketball uniform. He had long skinny legs in that outift and I could just see him growing up to play basketball for BYU. Well, he did start growing up and became a sport fanatic. He loves team sports and is an intelligent fan and sports watcher. someday he may be on a college team. But he also aspires to being a sports announcer or sports news anchor or talk show host. Then another day, he loves his science class and decides he could be a nuclear engineer. Wow! Whatever he does, I know I will be his #1 fan.
Eli: Eli is my boy content to be at home. He has an imagination that I just love to listen to and get lost in. But his dreams are not unlike other boys. Once it was a fireman. Last month, while we were on out trip in Utah and the day we had visited the Hill Air Force Aerospace museum, he posed the question. 'Mom, which would you rather I do? I know they are both dangerous, and I am sorry, but which would you be ok with? Pro football player or AirForce jet fighter?' Hmmm. any other options? :) Eli is also practical in his aspirations. One week, while frustrated with how slow the task of learning to read was getting, he was creating lunch with me, and said 'I'll be a chef. I wouldn't have to read a lot.' When I begged to differ, he explained how he could be a successful cook without needing to read a lot. He also plans on being a father and having kids. I believe he notices my dismay with rising gas prices and cost of living, so he develops satisying plans on how to be a father and provide for his family and not need a car and have a small home yet everything he could need. Love it, Eli. You will be a self-reliant, responsible citizen.
Of course, the rest of the family thinks he should be a performer. I love his singing-American idol watch out. And we just may come up with some routines for him to be a famous contortionist with his all around double jointedness.
Lydia: Lydia is our little one who is just happy to be a girl. A princess. She is our singer and dancer. Our happy one. Grateful and loving. Definitely qualities that will enable her to dream big!

A Child's perspective on those BIG Things in life

This year so far has been a tough one for me (us) with big changes and loss. I'm so grateful for little children who help me cope and see sunshine through the rain. In January, my mom, brother (Thomas), his wife and 2 kids all moved to Utah. This was a big loss to us as they were always more than family, neighbors, friends, or confidantes. They were all of this to us and more! So after they moved, when Lydia or I was having an off day, we found a lot of comfort just stopping and saying honestly "I miss my Mom!" or Lydia "I miss Leina and Anika! I want to play with them." Then we would give nice hugs and pats and sympathize and then go on with whatever needed to be done. Then in March, our long time pet, our 10 year old golden retriever, Lance, had a debilitating seizure one afternoon, and we had to put him down that very day. Lydia was there and she was sweet and gentle. She said goodbye as we left in the Suburban with Lance. Afterwards we explained to her that he died and she was ok with it, but I don't think she understood. She sometimes said "we will see him again. He will come back." A couple weeks later, we had a fabulous trip that we had been looking forward to all winter, visiting Mom and Tom's family in their new home in Layton, Utah. Eli, Lydia, Leina, and Anika played their hearts out and we tromped all over the place to museums and sites for a week.
Now the amazing ending to my discourse. Lydia capsulized all these important events and with that child-like faith, had this question and answer conversation with me last night at bedtime. The thing is she had all the questions and all the answers. I only had to affirm it.
L: Grandma and Leina and Anika will come back and visit, right.
Me: sure I hope soon.
L: They could move back to a house here someday.
Me: yeah, maybe. Although they do like their house in Utah. It fits them pretty well, doesn't it?
L: I miss Leina and Anika, and Lance. But Lance is in heaven, isn't he? And he won't come back here. Lance is Jesus' puppy now.
Me: yes
L: Him fixed Lance.
Me: yes, he did.
L: Lance likes being Jesus' dog and living in heaven now. He will stay there.
Me: yes, I think you are right.
And it is that simple! Truly it is.