Friends

Before we moved here we pretty much were the coolest house on the block. Because we usually had every neighborhood kid there sometimes from sun up to sun down! The kids also ran the neighborhood a lot, and as long as I could hear their voices I never worried. And even when I couldn't I knew they weren't very far away and didn't even go looking for them until maybe a good hour had passed. Because I knew that they were just in one of the neighbors house bumming a Popsicle or two, and it never took much time until they were all back over at my house again! I finally had to put rations on the treats for the neighborhood! We had a sand pile, and dirt hills in our backyard that the kids pretty much lived on all summer long. And I remember complaining sometimes (well a lot of the time), when they came in with sand or dirt from head to toe. And I not only had sandy dirty floors all of the time, but scrubbing down their sandy heads of hair, and my bathtub became a nightly routine! And every night I had to round up the neighborhood kids and send them home, sometimes wondering if I was the only parent who knew or even cared where my kids were at 8:00 at night!

Well since living here my tune has definitely changed! Maybe it's because this is a big City and not the country anymore. Or maybe it is because we have a very large population, of people who move in and out before you really get to know them. Or maybe because we live in a world now days that if you don't know the parents you really don't want your kids just "hanging out" at somebody else's house. Sad but so true! Or maybe all of the above. But that is the one thing my kids and I have truly missed! We have missed all the many friends and the freedom they had to play and explore as all little kids should. This is our old house and even though you can't see the backyard, it kind of gives you the feeling of the neighborhood. The backyard dropped off into a slope and behind us was unfinished ground that the kids pretty much took over. It was a cul-de-sac with no fencing in between the houses so the kids pretty much had free reign! If you look really close, you can see the distance between our house and the one behind it!


Between school and church the kids have made some friends, but nobody that they have been able to become real close with. And there are kids in the neighborhood, but all they really have to play in is the streets (because our backyard is so small). And we already miss having a pool after last summer!And even though my kids are older, I still can't leave them unsupervised on the streets! So they really don't get a very good chance to know many of the other children in the neighborhood!

Tylie misses her best friend Meg like no other! They were always so close, and she was the one and only child who would sit in Tylie's room for hours and be content with just playing horses! As that is all Tylie ever wanted to play. And little Meggie has spinal bifida and Tylie was the only one who truly understood her! They were in the same class from 1-3rd grade and they were inseparable! Sometimes I would show up to the school and Tylie would be sitting in her wheelchair, and Meggie would be on the monkey bars! And I would think what is wrong with this picture! They are still very close, and every time we go to Utah we make sure to schedule in Meg time!



And Teigen always talks about all the kids in the neighborhood, and how much he misses our trampoline, sand pile, dirt hills, and we even had a swimming pool when the kids left the hose in the sand pile long enough! I think we have always taken those little things for granite! And even though there are many wonderful things about Las Vegas that the kids have been able to experience. There are things we would really miss if we left here too! But I have longed for the kids to get some great friends again. And seriously I would KILL to have a sand pile or a dirt hill in the back yard!!! Call me a redneck! Because I am one at heart! I grew up in Cache Valley what do you expect? But I look back now and regret that I ever complained about all the kids at my house, because now it is just the opposite, and I truly miss those days!

So Teigen has a kid on his team named Brandon. And he has a sister Tylie's age who is also at every game. So they have really bonded and became good friends. On Saturday Brandon and Heather came over for a few hours, and I haven't seen my kids that happy in a long time! And Heather was even content with sitting on the floor playing playmobil horses for a very long time! Tylie made them slushies, here is the girlies outside enjoying the slushies. And Teigen and Brandon were so busy running around being boys that I couldn't get them to stop for 5 seconds for a picture! So this is all I got!


We have lived here 2 years and I am hoping that eventually they will make the friends that came so easily to them before! Thanks Brandon and Heather for such a great time! You can play at our house anytime!