Time marches on.

My grandma used to say good intentions pave the road to he_ _. And all I seem to have with this blog is good intentions. It has been a crazy, busy few weeks. What a good thing, right? But it has been so busy I haven`t even had my nails done. For those of you who know me you will recognize the gravity of my situation!! About a week ago our dear family friend Colleen passed away.Last year she was diagnosed with colon cancer and she fought it like a warrior, but eventually cancer overcame. Colleen was a warm,elegant,witty woman. And one of the best mothers I have ever known. She has been Hannah`s other mother for over 15 years. I am grateful for what Hannah learned from Colleen and she will be missed. Porter and Hannah were here for Mother`s Day weekend. Hannah actually came for the funeral and was here til yesterday. It is so fun to have the college kids come visit. They are grown ups now so it is like having friends visit. Our niece Tashya and her husband Andy also were here for a visit. They have to be the perfect couple! I can`t believe they were each able to find the perfect spouse for themselves. It is a joy to see them interact. And they cleaned my house before they left! That was a wonderful surprise to come home to. They both just graduated from BYU and will soon be off to Texas where Andy has a great job waiting and Tashya will be the world`s best homemaker. I plan to visit them in the depths of January and enjoy some warmth. Nathan graduates in less than a week. REALLY? I sometimes wonder how I have come to this point. Four kids in college? In December I will have 3 kids in their twenties. How?? Where has the time gone? I remember whenever we had a new baby a few weeks before the due date I would start to panic a little when I realized our family was about to change forever. Well, it is a little like that now. Except there isn`t a big event like a new baby, there are more little events like graduations and missions and college. I guess those aren`t necessarily little events, and they do initially change the dynamics of our family. And then the changes begin to happen to the children living away from home. So life is different, but we don`t feel it so much within the walls of our home. I still feel that panic and am trying to figure out how to adjust to this new stage in our lives. So any suggestions would be helpful. How do you parent grown ups? I am still a mom, but with a different role. How do you balance little kids with big kids? It is weird to think we will only have 3 kids at home soon. And I embarrassed to admit this, but sometimes I forget that we still need to carry on and do all the traditions we always have and that I still have a little boy who deserves all the enthusiasm we had for his older siblings: piano recitals, pack meetings,field trips and so on.His brothers and sisters think Brigham is spoiled and lucky because he gets more than they did. But I don`t think they realize he also gets older, tired-er parents! And busier parents. Guess I have lots to think about huh? Again, any advice would be awesome!