Experiences

I commented to Chet today about how hard FHE was when we first started doing it. We were lucky to get 20 minutes of good family time in. Tonight, when Chet pulled into the driveway, there were 5 boys literally jumping up and down on the driveway. They live for family night. They want it to start the second he gets home, and they fully expect it to last until the minute they lay their heads down. It's really pretty cool. Tonight, the excitement was created by them knowing that they got to ride their four wheeler. It has been "benched" due to a lack of oil, or money to buy oil. It was $21 today, so I told Cars that he owed me $10.50 and Carter the same. Cars said, "You agreed to pay for half of anything we buy" I replied that I would pay half of anything they saved for that I approved of. He says to me like I am a total idiot, "Mom! Do you know how hard it was for me to save this $10?" And that was a good point. The kid cannot save money to save his life. So, Chet pulled out the big shocker by telling the boys that Papa had let us borrow his four wheelers & trailer, and it was parked right around the corner from us in the field (It's been there for a while now and they had no idea, Chet's exact plan!), and we were going to ride as a family. The babies didn't know why everyone was so excited, but they joined in on being just as excited. It was awesome. Chet and I each took a baby and a boy, and one boy rode theirs at a time. We let them lead through the huge field behind our house for at least an hour. We pretended to race dad. The boys were all laughing uncontrollably! We went up and down hills. We laughed, and joked, and played! It was awesome. I love experiences! I am really quite frugal with money sometimes, and then not at all other times. I realized tonight that I am willing to spend any amount of money on experiences. Not just spoiling experiences, but experiences that you would talk about later, or remember. Not toys, and things. Unless those things bring memories with them. Chet and I cannot wait for the day when we get to all go as a family, each on our own four wheeler. We went camping with a family of 4 once that would camp and ride. We are sold on that idea. We hope to be fortunate enough in less than 5 years to do the same. Spend numerous weekends a summer just camping and riding together. The thought makes me smile. I hope it can become a reality sometime soon!