Keeping

It's Friday night. It's 11:15. It's our last night in Utah. It's raining.

We have been here for 6 weeks. It has been wonderful.

I was sitting in the bedroom we have been borrowing from the in-laws for the past 6, preparing a little surprise heart attack as a small, insufficient offering of gratitude for them when thunder started booming. And I couldn't stand it. I had to go out and enjoy the rain, right after I found more scotch tape.

The husband was asleep on the bed beside me, I didn't disturb him- he put in long hours at work today and didn't get home til after 8:30. (because when we come to Utah for the summer, he goes into the Provo office and works whilst the children and grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and friends and I play. And usually we play pretty hard. Poor, working husband) And I snuck out to the front porch swing and enjoyed the heavenly lightning display, accompanied by rolling thunder. I listened as it came down out of the canyon, rolled right over my rooftop and off to Provo.

And tears formed in my eyes. Like magic. And they were tears of gratitude for in-laws who have put us up in their home for 3 fortnights. I'm going to miss them.

I have a mother-in-law who doesn't know the meaning of the word idle. Nor does she know the meaning of selfish. That silly mother-in-law doesn't know the meaning of the word gossip, either. What she does know is hard work, service and praise. And humility. She knows that one.

And I have a father-in-law who loves to have his family around him. And he loves to tell us stuff. Stuff about stuff. And stuff about people. And stuff about places. He loves to take us flying his model airplanes. And he likes to go on lots of little errands. For Grandma. And stuff.

They are the parents of the husband. And I love them.

As I watched the lightning and tried to capture a picture of that elusive bolt, I looked at my car sitting in the driveway. The one that I was bummed that I had not gotten around to washing. And I was glad for the rain. I ran inside, gathered some rags out of the cleaning closet and went to work. Washing the car at 11:00 on a rainy Friday night. And we'll see how it looks in daylight.

And then I woke the husband up and invited him out into the rainy night with me.

We are traveling home to Arizona tomorrow. I want to bottle up this rain and this cool and this breeze and bring it home with me. Too bad rainy nights don't keep.

But memories of a wonderful 6 weeks in Utah do.

And I totally hope we can fit the area rug that I purchased for the living room in the car without having to leave one of the children behind. Because, hello, when you find the perfect area rug you have to buy it- then and there. Even if you are in Utah and your car is already full with kids and canines and stuff.