Grateful Friday

 Today I am taking a day off school and we are celebrating our graduates.  (Braeden and Anna--we'll celebrate Mark in a month and Emma later this summer.)

Last night we met up with the Carlsons and Braeden and Anna and had a photo shoot on BYU campus. We were the paparazzi and they were our willing subjects.

We found a cardboard cutout of a dean.

This is a room where Braeden and Anna took a lot of classes so they wanted it included.

My boys

Anna's brother Owen, getting some love

I'm proud of these kids and their hard work.  I'm grateful for their education and for their opportunities and that they have each other.

Watching them together makes me happy.

Grateful Friday

OK Marianne.  I hear you.

And I woke up early so I decided I had time for a quick blog post.

I have so much to be grateful for and I'd love to get it down in this record of sorts.

Women's Conference has been just what I needed.  One day down and another to go and I woke up happy with the realization that I'm going back.

I loved being with Emma.  The older the better is my relationship with that girl.  We had lunch together and told each other about the separate classes we had attended and I loved her insights.  I loved being with my aunt Olivia and cousin Hannah.  We didn't spend a lot of time together during the day but after the last session I went back with them to their dorm and Olivia and Hannah sat on one bed and I sat on the other and we talked.  My sister Olivia came in and asked if we were going to dinner or should she take a nap.  I said, "We can go to dinner.  I'm just getting some free therapy here."

Because sitting there talking to those good women felt that way.

I loved being with Olivia and her mini me, Lili.  I spent most of the day with them.  There is such a comfortable ease with sisters (and sisters' daughters).  There's nothing like it.  We talked together and walked together and shopped together and laughed together and cried together and sewed "courage capes" together which was one of the service projects you could do while you watched.

We finally went to dinner and Adam joined us (he was my ride because Emma left early to go to work).  That only made everything better.

My joy was full.

More than all of that, I loved feeling the Spirit and hearing words of truth that spoke to my soul.  I felt comforted and empowered and like I had a new perspective on everything.  I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It means the world to me.

Grateful Friday

My college kids are home!  Also, it was an ordeal.  We were a car down because Adam's is at the airport and he's in Indianapolis but Braeden was a champion and brought Loki here so Mark could use that and he drove the van to Provo and I drove Joan.

Braeden and Anna were further champions by loading all of Emma's stuff in the cars and then helping clean.

Emma only had one roommate because one of them went home early so they divided up the cleaning jobs and Emma got the laundry room and kitchen.  She cleaned her room and the laundry room and Anna and Braeden and I tackled the kitchen.

The oven/stove are probably older than me and seemed like they hadn't been cleaned since the 70s.  Yikes.

I snapped a picture of Anna at the helm because she was amazing.  She took off years of grime with a Brillo pad.  We all took a turn and tried to channel Anna.

Clean a kitchen with your future daughter in law and fall in love all over again.  I love that girl!  She is moving out of her apartment in June and I told her WE OWE YOU.  We are going to show up and clean!

Braeden tackled a stain on the ancient linoleum with a Mr. Clean Eraser and started making a hole in the linoleum!  Stop!  Leave it!

College apartments are such a sham.  They are so overpriced for what you get.  And I'm pretty sure when people don't pass their cleaning checks, they charge them and then don't get it cleaned and it just builds up until someone like Anna comes along.

We finally finished and I told Braeden and Anna to pick where we went for dinner.  We landed at Sam Hawk which is delicious but was slow and I was so hungry bordering on whiny.

We got home late enough that there is still stuff piled around but they are home!  It's a nice feeling to know they're here under our roof.  For now.  It's all fleeting.  Having kids in college is a messy revolving door (seriously, you should see downstairs) but it is wonderful too.  They are learning hard lessons of adulthood.  They are endlessly entertaining and kind and buoy me up.

I like it here.

(And Adam will be home tonight!)

Emma's 15 seconds of fame

Saturday we drove from Denver to home and listened to General Conference while we drove.

Because of that, we weren't able to watch the Saturday afternoon session and Emma sang at it!

Adam and I both cried during each song they sang because it sounded amazing and we were grateful that Emma had the great opportunity to sing at General Conference and we felt the Spirit and we are crying weirdos.

Braeden and Anna were able to go to the Conference Center and watch and I'm glad they were there.

While we were driving, our phones lit up, "Is that Emma?" texts came in from right and left (or, you know...Washington and Utah at least) including one from our bishop and a high councilor who used to be assigned to our ward.

I've since gone back and watched her and took a screen shot:

My little songbird.  She loves to sing and I love to hear her sing.

I also loved hearing about her experience.  She loved that every song they sang was about Jesus Christ.  She loved the greetings they got from the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.  She loved the boxed lunch they provided.  She said she heard one of the boys say that the lunch tipped the scales and he now wanted to join the Tabernacle Choir some day.

She added another chapter to her hydro flask saga.  She maybe loves that thing.

They wouldn't let her take it in the Conference Center and she tried to put it back on one of the seven chartered buses that took them to SLC.  She said she was walking back toward the buses and instead of being parked at the curb like she thought, they were actually in a lane and when the light changed, they all pulled away.  She said, "It was very cinematic."

She went back to the Conference Center unsure of what to do.  She saw a kindly usher, wearing a gray top hat (is this starting to sound like someone describing a dream?).  She said she didn't know where to put her water bottle.  He sympathized and said, "You can't just stash it on the grounds because if it's found, it will get thrown away.  And I know those things are expensive."

He sensed that Emma was distraught.  (She has the disposition of a temperamental creative genius...because she sort of is one.)  He asked, "Will you remember how I look?"

She didn't know what to say.

He pointed to his head and said, "I'm wearing a top hat.  Will you remember that?"

She said yes.

He took the water bottle and slid it inside his coat and said, "I'll be at door 16 after the session."

I LOVE THAT GUY.

After they sang (and Emma said no one tells you how hard it will be to sing after Elder Holland gives an amazing talk--she said she was crying and trying not to cry because who knew if the camera was on her), President Worthen and his wife greeted them. (He's the president of BYU.)  With tears in his eyes, he told them hearing them was the highlight of conference for him.  He hugged their directors and then shook each of their hands.

Johnson weekend

After a fairly mild week, we had snow all weekend.  I bought these flowers at the grocery store in protest.  

Because spring is coming and I have the flowers to prove it.

Yesterday afternoon, the snow had largely melted and I noticed about three inches of daffodil shoots in the front yard.  

March is fickle but spring is fighting her way here.

We have had a lovely few days, highlighted by spending time with our two favorite Johnson families.

Thursday night we went to the BYU women's basketball game to watch our perennial MVP, Paisley.  I was thrilled to see Stephanie as always and they brought Gavin this time so that made Mark thrilled too.  (They both immediately disappeared.)  Then the other favorite Johnsons, Marianne and family, joined us at the game.

We went for Jamba Juice after with Marianne and family but only they got drinks because they were closed by the time Adam and I got there.  (It was fine, we were mostly there for the society.)

Mark had gone back to Sundance with Gavin to stay the night and miss school Friday.  When I was talking over the scheme with Adam, he said, "Gavin trumps school."  I agreed and also, what kind of message does this give our kids?  We are really good or really bad at truancy, depending on how you look at it.

Friday Stephanie and Brent dropped Mark and Gavin off at our house on their way to Salt Lake for some sight seeing.  I got home from work to two hungry boys.  They talked me into Costa Vida.

Those two have been talking me into things for 15 years which is approximately how long they've known each other.

We enjoyed having Gavin around.  If there's anyone who's an extension of our family, it's that kid.

We met the Marianne Johnsons for dinner and then the Stephanie Johnsons picked up Gavin.

Every time we're with Marianne and Robert, Adam and I talk about how much we enjoy those two.  Their kids are pretty awesome too.

Carolina talked everyone into going to Classic Skating and the kids skated and the adults (except Robert who crashed a few spectacular times) didn't.  Braeden and Anna were there too but Emma and Mark had both gone to work.

It was a good time and I'm glad that Adam's genes are apparently winning because Braeden is more or less able to skate and I'm not able to. (I'm a card carrying member of the Least Athletic People in America--we have a lot of fun in the club.  We don't roller skate at meetings.)

All week I'd been fighting a sore throat and generally feeling lousy and Saturday morning I decided I was just going to give in and spend the day resting and being sick.

Then Mont, a man in our ward, texted Adam.  Mont and his wife keep stats at the BYU women's basketball games and they had a person who couldn't come and he wondered if Adam wanted to fill in.  That is right up Adam's alley so he said an immediate yes.  Mark wanted to go and see Gavin at the game so I decided I might as well be sick there as at home.  I took a picture across the court of Adam in his official capacity.

I was happy to sit by Stephanie and the games are always fun but then I felt worse.

I spent the rest of the weekend sick and the good news, besides the daffodils, is that I am all better now!

Light and truth

There was a teen suicide at a neighboring high school that had a direct impact on some of the people at the school where I work.  I felt heavy with the sadness of it all and came home and hugged my teenager a lot.

Last night we went to Emma's concert at BYU.  I went expecting beautiful music and I heard it.  Also, I felt lifted.  As I heard songs of encouragement and songs of praise I was reminded that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and also a Savior.  There is pain and mental illness and tragedy and grief on earth but it doesn't last and there is comfort to be found.

I want to be a reminder of that Light just like those amazingly talented college kids who reminded me last night.

Recently I was at a social gathering and a woman was saying how much she hates BYU.

Can't relate.

Super weekend

Friday Adam refereed (and had a fan ejected from the game) and Mark hung out with his friends and I painted my nails and watched the Marie Kondo Netflix show that I'd been hearing so much about.  I've read her book which is much more interesting to me than the show.  At least the episode I watched, its main value was making me feel good about myself because the couple in the show found it too hard to fold their laundry and wash their dishes because they had two children.

**

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Saturday I pondered just how weird humans are.

First, Groundhog's Day.

How did it get started and how did it continue and how is it continuing to continue?

I like weather predictions as much as the next girl (probably more) but not from a groundhog.

Groundhog's Day did bring us the movie though and that's worth something.

**

*

Also on Saturday Adam and I had a party we called a Music Night with some of our friends.  We made a cheese tray that included lots of deliberation and going to three grocery stores.

We were so proud of our creation, I took a picture:

We noticed this in our backyard:

When Mark (who was at rehearsal ALL day) got home, I showed him the broken tree.  He said, "Yeah, I saw that a few weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell us?!?"

"I figured you must have seen it.  Don't you look outside?"

Maybe I do and maybe I don't because I definitely hadn't seen it.

**

*

In a continuation of how weird humans are, there's the Super Bowl.  When we were in elementary school, one of Marianne's friends (a girl no less) told her that she liked Super Bowl Sunday more than Christmas.

What?

It is really strong and athletic men donning lots of protective gear so they can crash into each other in dangerous ways in pursuit of a strangely shaped ball.

I read this:

American adults say they will spend an average $81.30 for a total of $14.8 billion as they watch the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams meet up in the Super Bowl this year. The biggest spenders are those ages 35-44 at an average $123.26.

That is staggering to me.  I don't understand.  I know I'm in the minority here.  I know.  I may have a little bandwagon interest if the Seahawks had been playing but they were not.

We had our own Souper Bowl with our BYU kiddos.  I made three kinds of soup and we had two kinds of bread and some of our favorite people.

Emma later sent me this:

Liberty taught our Gospel Study lesson which was wonderful.  It's such a rare and unique time in our lives when we get these spectacular people to come over on Sundays.  We know how lucky we are.

I gave a little recap of the stake fireside we had earlier in the week.  Part of it was about how people (kids) need 8 hugs a day that last for 8 seconds each.  We had a spontaneous hug-a-thon, everyone counting to 8.  Leif said it seemed like we were part of a strange cult.

After everyone left and we emptied and reloaded the dishwasher (basic safety for a Sunday night especially when you used 27 bowls for soup), Mark and Adam and I played Speed-cheesi.  It is Adam's modified version of Parcheesi.  Adam tinkers with everything (except not hodgepodge soup because I won't let him--some things are sacred).

Our empty nest plus one is a pretty good place.

Even when Mark doesn't tell us about the broken tree.

Two unrelated but wonderful things

This morning on my way into the school (and I was neither late nor cranky), I saw one of the darlingest of the darling 2nd graders and he excitedly told me he had a wiggly tooth.

Later, I was working with a group of second graders and he was one of them.  He was lamenting about his tooth because it had turned from exciting to annoying.

All the kids at the table started giving him their tips and tricks for dealing with loose teeth.  "Chew in the back on the other side."  "Eat an apple."  "Get someone to pull it out really fast." (He asked me to pull it out and I declined.)

They started pointing to ones they suspected to lose next in their own mouths and indicated where teeth had been.  I thought how nice it is that we have each other.

I don't really remember too much about losing teeth and it seems like a pretty low cause for concern in the big picture of life, but if you're seven and have a loose tooth and your body is going to get rid of all the teeth you've had as long as you can remember, it's a Big Deal.  How marvelous that shared experiences allow us to have empathy and to feel understood in the world.

**

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Tuesday, after the BYU Devotional, Braeden texted this:

Yesterday, Adam texted this:

I decided to listen, and I was not disappointed.  There's not a text available for it yet online.  I typed some up while I was listening, just because I wanted to record it here in this space that is basically my journal.

I can't do it justice:

There is a God in heaven, who is our Eternal Father.  I know that by my experience, all of my experience.  I know that by the evidence and the evidence is overwhelming.  I know it by study and most surely I know it by the Spirit and power of the Holy Ghost.  Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.  I know that by my experience, all of my experience.  I know that by the evidence and the evidence is overwhelming.  I know it by study and most surely I know it by the Spirit and power of the Holy Ghost.

I'm grateful for what is and for what I know.  I can echo Elder Corbridge.

My dirty kitchen didn't go anywhere

Saturday I had big plans.  They involved giving Mark a haircut, lots of housework and then repairing and painting a cradle my dad made for me when I was little girl.  I had added the last project because Adam was going to be gone a lot for church meetings and sometimes a creative project is what I need when he is gone.

I eyed Mark's thick and unruly hair and asked if he would rather go to Great Clips.  He said a resounding yes because I use clippers and it takes a long time (So. Much. Hair.) and I cut it shorter than he'd like.

If I didn't have to cut it, so much the better (especially since he drove himself).

Now I'd have more time to do all the things.

But I just talked on the phone with my sisters most of the morning.

Adam had a few hours break mid-day so we went to Home Depot for paint and wood (for the cradle).

We worked together on the cradle in the kitchen.  I decided the garage was too cold and I was going to clean the kitchen later anyway.  I had sanded and he was screwing in reinforcements to the base.  I knew there was a BYU Women's basketball game that day but I thought it was in the evening.  We had a stake conference meeting so I was going to miss the game.  Bit I realized that the game was at 2:00 PM!

It was about 1:30 and I said, "I want to go to the game!"

Adam said, "Go for it."

And I did.

I told Adam to LEAVE the mess because he had meetings and I felt sort of guilting dashing off leaving him in the middle of the project anyway.

I forgot my phone in Joan but I knew where Stephanie usually sits.  I caught her son Dillon's eye who was seated behind Stephanie.  I pointed to his mom.  Dillon poked her shoulder and Stephanie turned around and her happy face reflected my own joy of getting to see my dear friend for the second time in one week.  Also, she had an empty seat next to her right there on the front row.

What a game!  BYU trailed most of the game and in a heart-stopping last quarter, pulled ahead and won!  Stephanie is in general a pretty tranquil and unflappable person.  ALL of her cheering is positive and she never criticizes a player (or come to think of it anyone).  But this was intense and like she said, probably shaved a year off of our lives.

Paisley is amazing!  She has talent and just a fierceness that is sort of at odds with her sweetness when you talk to her.  I love to watch.

Look at me, turning into a sports fan.

I called my grandma on the drive home from Provo so we could chat about the game.  And my dirty kitchen was waiting for me, right where I left it.

It's nice that housework is so patient.

Weekend

Mark drove himself to school Friday and to hang out with friends both Friday and Saturday nights.  I hate it and love it at the same time.

Friday, Braeden the birthday boy and 12 other lovely BYU students arrived to watch a movie.  I bought a bunch of snacks that mostly didn't get eaten because they'd gone to Pizza Pie Cafe on the way here.

Heather (one of my former laurels) was among the kids and it made me happy to hug her and catch up.  Braeden said she mostly came to see me.  I'm glad I could tip the scales.

They watched Paul Blart Mall Cop and I watched a little too because I love that movie.  While I watched, I worked on my multiplication kaboom game.  (You know, like you do on a Friday night.)

It's for the third graders I work with.  Basically I do activities with them that I hope are worthwhile and give them candy.  It's pretty much like being a YW president.

Adam came home from refereeing so then I was with him and didn't have to crash the college party (although Adam and I went downstairs eventually and watched the end of the movie...it was Paul Blart Mall Cop after all).

Saturday was the typical errand and housework day.  Then Mark went out and Adam settled into his office to work.  I said, "Do you mind if I work in here too?  I've got to print a bunch of stuff."

He said sure, so I sat down and worked on a math Jeopardy game for school.  Every 30 seconds I asked Adam for help with either formatting or paper was jammed in the printer or it was printing on both sides.

I said, "I bet you wish I weren't in here."

"It is busy," he agreed.

Then, Adam and I went to Costco to pick up his car (he was having a flat tire repaired) and decided to "walk around" while we waited for the time to go to the theater.  I was sitting in front a spot with my blinker on, waiting for someone to back out.  A little car came fast from the other direction and zipped into my spot.  I said, "I'll bet that guy doesn't know how big my husband is."  We found a nearby spot and sure enough, the guy stayed in the car until we had walked away.  Adam is a gentle giant though, so he didn't need to be worried.  (Although I saw him later in the store and he was wearing a stocking cap and shorts and socks and sandals so maybe he should be a little worried because someone stole his pants and it's January.)

A hundred dollars later (Have you ever walked around Costco without buying a cartload?  I don't know if it's possible), we emerged and made it to the theater with little time to spare.  Emma greeted us on the sidewalk with our tickets on her way to the box office to call us and see if we had forgotten.

We saw The Odd Couple and I laughed so hard I almost choked on my Peanut M&M.  I love the theater and I love sitting next to Adam in the theater.

Sunday we had our kids over (and by our kids I mean more than the ones I gave birth to).  We also further celebrated Braeden's birthday.

Here's an aside and a cautionary tale.  When you have a two year old (and mind you this was pre Pinterest times) you may get the idea to make a frog cake.  Just a regular cake with cupcakes for eyes and frosted green.  If you pursue that idea and your child is sentimental, you may just be making that frog cake every year.

I texted Braeden and asked him what kind of cake he wanted.  I assumed chocolate with mint frosting.  He texted back yes to that, but he wanted a frog.

So I did it and it's the ugliest frog cake yet and it seems I'd be getting better at them but apparently I'm not.

At least the kids are cute.

Except why can everyone except my children be normal in a picture?

Braeden, Mark, Emma, Leif, Freja, Anna, Desi, Liberty and Zack (or Zaberty as our kids call them)

Braeden opened his gifts.  He had requested a silky robe because a fellow EFY counselor had one.  I thought they seemed sort of creepy so this one is more of a satiny cotton.  He tried it on (of course) and sat down and said he needed a hound (of course) so Mark ran over to be his hound (of course).

I love our big Sundays.  Adam was the real champion.  After seven hours of church, he made ten pizzas.  Desi said about Adam churning out deliciousness from the kitchen, "Adam's like Edgar."

Which Adam and I both thought was the ultimate compliment.

We had our gospel study time together and I love hearing the discussion of those good kids.  BYU gave me good friends and a husband and an education and that place is still blessing my life.

Concert going

Saturday night we left a good-natured Mark behind to go to Emma's concert (we sadly weren't able to get him a ticket).

We met Emma beforehand for dinner.  We had a nice chat over Costa Vida then dropped her off for her call time.  We had an hour to kill before the concert and decided to walk over to the library to see if they had any interesting displays.

As a side note, the library is completely unrecognizable to me now.  I like the comfort of the aging buildings at BYU where I know where everything is.  The HFAC for example.  I know where the bathrooms are that most of the concert goers don't know about and it comes in handy sometimes.

Anyway.

We were at the library and my phone rang and Adam shushed me but who knows, maybe it's fine to have your phone ringing in the library now?  That place is different.

It was Emma on the phone.  She said she didn't have her black shoes for the concert.  She asked us to go to her apartment and get them.  We immediately headed there.  Baby girl + distress call = mobilization.  We lamented the loss of our great parking spot but Emma needed us.

Emma had said Jackie would be there.  Jackie is her roommate who was decorating cookies when we'd picked Emma up.

Well, Jackie wasn't there.

I texted Emma and Emma texted Jackie and nope.  She wasn't home.

Emma texted, "I should have just sent my keys with you!"  And I realized that would have been a good idea but none of us had thought of it and now there wasn't time to go back to campus and then back to her apartment and then back to campus.  Besides Emma was supposed to be warming up.

When you marry an Adam all your children have big feet.  That's just science.

So I considered giving Emma my black shoes for the concert but they wouldn't fit her.

I texted Liberty.  "What size are your shoes?"

Too small.

We drove to Target.  It's a new little mini Target close-ish to campus and we had never been there before.  I hurried inside to find that it was seriously mini.  There was no shoe department, just some shoes scattered thinly through the clothes.  I quickly scanned the few black pairs.  Wrong size.

A mannequin was wearing black shoes and I got down on the floor to investigate the size.  Too small. I was totally prepared to rip those shoes off the mannequin had they been right though.  I stood up to find a guy staring at me like I was a complete wacko.

What?  You haven't seen a woman down on her hands and knees checking out the shoe size of a mannequin before?

We headed back to the HFAC, out of ideas.  Emma called and was in a complete panic spiral and I told her it was all OK.  "Just go shoeless.  You're in the second row."  They have floor length black skirts and wear black tights.  "It's fine," I told her over and over because being a mother of a child in crisis mode has two facets 1) do everything you can to fix it, even if it means lunacy and 2) reassuring them it's going to be fine.

I asked Adam if he thought you ever reach a point when you don't act like a crazy person for the sake of your children.

We don't know.

We found our seats and were happily in the balcony because we've learned that's the best place to spy our shoeless girl.  (We couldn't tell she didn't have shoes on.)

We loved and adored the concert like we knew we would.  Adam cried more than I did but we had gone straight to Provo right after he was at a meeting with Elder Soares so it's understandable he had an extra tender heart.

At the intermission, Adam stood next to an elderly man and started chatting with him (because he's Adam).  The man asked Adam if he was on the football team.

How old does he think BYU football players are?

The concert was a combination of the four choirs that I love as well as the BYU Philharmonic and a brass quintet.

How wonderful is a world that is capable of producing such beautiful music?

Grateful Friday

I'm grateful Mark is a better driver and way (way) easier to take driving than his siblings at that age.  He was a way (way) harder toddler/preschooler so I earned this.  He is never defensive nor argumentative when corrected, but says a quiet, "OK," and away we go.

I'm grateful I'm almost done teaching children to drive.  Because it is the worst.

I'm grateful for Braeden and Emma texts.  I like getting texts from them.  Braeden sends  funny/interesting/bizzaro NYTimes articles and memes I minimally understand.  Emma sends things like a recent day when she texted us three paintings so we could guess the artists.

Even though I didn't get them correct:

I love that our children are learning things and expanding their minds and sharing their gee whiz stuff with us.  I say this all the time, but I'm so grateful for their opportunities.

I'm also just grateful for those weirdos.  Braeden randomly texted this picture and Emma's response left me wanting to say what?!? and why?!? to both of them but I just went with it.

I'm grateful for snow on the mountain.  If feels like an insurance policy against a dry summer.

I'm grateful for Joan because even though Adam is out of town, the weather forecast doesn't worry me.

I'm grateful Emma was able to score us some tickets to her sold out choir concert this weekend!  Huzzah!

I'm grateful for my job.  It's so fun to be around kids.

I'm grateful that even though the 3rd-4th grade boys that play soccer at recess seem bent on killing me with the ball, they haven't succeeded yet.  And yesterday when I managed to stop the ball that was careening toward me, a few boys threw up their hands in victory and yelled "Teacher blocked the ball!"

I felt like a hero.  For about 10 seconds, but still.  Me + a situation involving a ball + anything resembling victory doesn't happen very often (or ever).

Wouldn't be grateful Friday without a nod towards Adam.  He is the favorite part of every day.

Nevada party

One of Braeden's roommates was recently called to serve a mission in the Nevada Reno mission.  We decided to throw him a party.

Because Nevada.

Adam said, "You know how Texans are really into Texas?  Nevadans are really into Nevada too."

It's true.

Emma and I decorated by cutting apart some calendars my mom had made for us with photos taken around their house.

Nevada = photogenic (the horses are too)

Adam said we had to have salad like my mom makes because that's Nevada salad.  (I don't think my mom's salad is necessarily Nevada salad, but Adam loves salad like my mom makes and I never make it because I'm not a big salad eater and even less of a salad maker.)

I created a trivia quiz with prizes! prizes! prizes!  (gold Hershey's chocolate and silver Hershey's kisses in a nod to the gold mines and The Silver State)

Adam did a reprise of his Nevada/not Nevada game using Google images.

(Brian won both games so I'd say he's ready for his mission!)

We ate brownies cut into the shape of Nevada.

After awhile I gave up and just had regular brownie shapes.  Nevada/not Nevada brownies....

We forgot to sing the Nevada state song for Brian!  Braeden and I even had a debate ahead of time about whether we should sing the traditional version (my vote) or the Killer's version (his vote). And then we forgot!

All the returned missionaries did two truths and a lie about their missions.  So now Brian either is terrified or excited.  It depends on how you look at it and what kind of thirst for adventure he has.

Because crazy stuff happens to missionaries.  Adam said it's because you talk to everyone.  Braeden added, "And they tell you everything."

Sam's impersonation of the man who showed up drunk for his own baptism was pretty awesome and Ben told us about fish he ate in Tahiti that was "cured" in a liquid where another fish had been fermented.  He said the worst part was the smell.

There were eleven of us for dinner and turns out we only have ten knives.  Where did the others go?

Adam and I shared a knife.

Because we're in love.

Alto II

We went to Emma's choir concert on Saturday night.

(It should be stated from the outset that I feel a little emotionally raw about Emma's concerts in general because by the time I tried to get tickets for their Christmas concert, they were sold out which is sort of devastating.  I had a dream that you could get tickets to watch in a room where you could see the concert reflected in the glass of the door.  They were called "mirror tickets."  This is what my life has become.  My psyche hoping there's a room where I can watch at least a reflection of the concert....)

This concert was just Men's Chorus and Women's Chorus and (do I say this every time?) it was just wonderful.  I loved how both choirs sounded better than last concert.  They've been rehearsing a lot and it shows (and they were pretty spectacular at the last concert).  I love BYU and how talented the kids are and I love that my daughter gets to participate.

The men went first and I started crying when they sang Homeward Bound because it was beautiful and I love that song and I cried every time I heard it when Braeden was on his mission and earlier in the afternoon, Adam had said, "Mark could be on a mission in 2 1/2 years."

And we both had teared up a little.

Because imagining Mark gone is like imagining a piece of my heart leaving (and I already lived through that when I sent Braeden so I know that hurts my heart).  I know, I know, I'm very grateful for the experiences Braeden had and I'm ultimately glad he went.  And I also know I'm a little melodramatic.

Blame the sold out concert tickets.  I am.

Anyway, the Men's Chorus got me crying and even though I had pulled it together, the Women's Chorus sounded so beautiful that I may have started crying again. We were in the balcony so I could actually see Emma's face.  Watching her sing fills my soul.  Her lovely expressive face reflects how immersed she is in the music.  Emma is an alto II and there were times in several songs when the low notes really resonated and I'd poke Adam and said, "That's Emma!"  I didn't hear her voice specifically but as far as I was concerned, she was solely responsible for the sonorous magic.

When you're a mom, you can think your daughter is solely responsible.  That's science.

I may have ugly cried during their finale, which was This Is Me (from The Greatest Showman).  Emma was one of 30 girls identified as a "strong dancer" so she stood out in front.  I was so proud of her and so proud of all the glorious girls.

It was a lot of girl power.

When the lights went up and Adam and Braeden were wiping their tears, I felt a little less silly.  (Mark has ice water in his veins and does not cry.)

We went to CupBop for Korean food and then walked across the street to the South End Market which is on the corner by Regency where I used to live but for the life of me, I couldn't remember the names of any of the stores and shops that used to be there.

The boys got Leninade because it's "a taste worth standing in line for" and they are weirdos.  I remembered that I hadn't taken a picture of anything so I had them quickly pose.

How I love those three!

Even though the two knuckleheads tried to get the Leninade to photo bomb the picture:

Somewhere during the evening, I realized that Emma is the alto II of our family.

Her brothers, despite their deep voices, are more like the sopranos.  They are show offy and awesome and add a lot of razzmatazz just like sopranos do with their impressive descants and high notes.  Emma's strongly bringing in the low notes though.  She brings beauty and artistry and a richness to our family.  She holds her own and is herself and is fine not reaching the high notes (or the high shelf).

I am just here to enjoy the harmony.

Spectacular!

Friday night Adam and I went to the BYU Spectacular!  Excitement about going built throughout the week with Emma texting us where she was going to be standing so we could find her more easily.  They performed both Thursday and Friday night.  Thursday night, I got this from Stephanie:

Only made me more excited.

It was in conjunction with Homecoming week and I loved the big sign on campus which read, "Welcome Home!"

Because BYU does feel a little like home.

(Except for parts they've changed, but it's fine.  I'm adjusting.)

BYU Women's Chorus, or Wo Cho as Emma has started calling it, was performing.  Colbie Caillat, David Archuleta, the Cougarettes, Living Legends, Synthesis, Syncopation, Vocal Point and Young Ambassadors all performed too.

(I was mostly there for Women's Chorus.)

But also, I love Colbie Caillat.  And David Archuleta brought the house down with his version of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me."  Just wow.

We were at the tippy top of the Marriott Center but we were able to keep track of where Emma was and we were also able to take a whole bunch of not great pictures. (Kind of the way I blog--not great pictures.  Oh?  You noticed?)

This is the opener:  "Brighter Than the Sun."  I've conveniently circled Emma.

This is Colbie Caillat and Women's Chorus singing "Try."  Emma's there on the second row (you'll just have to trust me).

Here's a shot Adam captured of her on the big screen:

We just had to take what we could get....

Emma's not in this picture but it was lovely when the Marriott Center was lit up with cell phones while David Archuleta sang "Shine a Light."

Women's Chorus sang "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman.  They sang it at their concert too and it makes me get a little choked up.  Listening to my glorious girl and about 170 other girls powerfully sing:

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me

It just gets me.

They were supposed to wear something that reflected their personality.  She was going to wear jeans and her The World Awaits t-shirt because the girl wants to travel, but mentioned to her friend (who happens to be VP of Wo Cho) that she may wear her Winnie the Pooh costume.  Emma, the vice president, told Emma, the daughter, DO IT!

So she did.

(Side note:  When Adam and I were at BYU, every other girl was named Jen.  Now the place is full of Emmas.  I kind of like it since I like the name!)

The best part of Winnie the Pooh is that Emma was super easy to spot.  She's right there in the middle.

This is on the big screen:

Emma said backstage people would come up to her and want a hug from Winnie the Pooh.  (And I don't blame them because Emma gives great hugs.)

This is the finale with EVERYBODY.  They were singing "Walking on Sunshine".

I loved every minute of it.

After, Emma was radiant and elated.  We went to a very late dinner and enjoyed hearing all about her adventure.

I'm so grateful for good experiences for our children.

(And I'm grateful when I get to watch.)

Weekends

I appreciate the pace of weekends even more since I started working (although it is a holiday today and I was wide awake at 5:30 AM--that's not my favorite).

Anyway.

Friday is sort of a blur because I had a migraine.  I wish I knew what caused it so I could avoid that at all costs.  Mark was very kind and nurturing to me and I started to feel better in the evening.  We went to Emma's new apartment and set up the shelves that Adam bought her at IKEA.  He went a little overboard, including things she doesn't really need but he's a good daddy who loves his little girl.  Both kids seem happy in their new apartments and that is happy for me.

Saturday was a nice mix of productivity and a slower pace.  And a tiny bit of drama.  I made apple pies--using apples from our little tree.  I had the pies in the oven and was cleaning up.  The bowl that had had the peels in it slipped out of my hands and fell into the bowl that had had the apple slices in it.  It shattered into a million pieces--seriously, just shards.  I immediately started bleeding on three fingers.  I don't know if glass shards bounced up and cut me or what.  Mark flew to my rescue with bandaids and lots of conciliatory words.  He's a nice one to nurse his mother's ailments.  I was mostly really happy the pies were already in the oven.

Adam and I went back to IKEA that night for more stuff for Emma and Mark went to a swim party his school was having at the PG pool.  We stopped by on the way home to pick him up.  Imagine this scene.  It's dark and a huge pool is filled with teenagers and all the boys are approximately the same size and coloring of Mark.  It took me awhile to find that kid.  Since it was dark the red hair didn't even help.

Yesterday we had the BYU kids over.  Emma decided (after some deliberation via text with me) that she would stay in Provo and attend a ward function so she could get to know her ward/roommates.  Braeden, Liberty, Leif and Freja came.  It was so fun to have them.  I wanted to quiz them all about all the everything but Adam made me wait until he was done at the BBQ because he wanted to hear too.  We had dinner (and pie) and played Codenames.  It was girls and Adam against the boys.  There were a hilarious number of misassumptions about each other.  For example, when Freja gave clues about Hamlet and we were kind of adrift, Braeden said, "Freja, the drama kids are over here." There was also the time Braeden died a little inside when Leif and Mark missed his Cicero hint.

These two goofballs.  Emma said it pretty accurately:  Leif is Braeden if Braeden had been raised by Janet.

I know how lucky I am to have these people in my life.

Change is in the air

Yesterday the temperature didn't get above 80 degrees.  That's the first time that's happened around here since June.

The leaves on the tops of the mountains are starting to change color.

And this:

Boxes and suitcases are being packed and assembled.  Braeden moves into his apartment today and Emma moves in on Friday.

I am happy for them and the adventures and friends and learning that awaits.

But I'll miss those kids.

BYUnion

Erin and Adam looked at this camera and Robbie and I will be the ones looking at the other camera.  The travails of modern life and kids taking pictures with different phones...

Adam and I hosted a reunion of a few BYU friends last night.  Emma, master of portmanteau, decided to call it our BYUnion.

Erin and I were freshman roommates, randomly assigned.  Adam and Robbie were freshman roommates, randomly assigned and Rachel (who wasn't able to come and it made us all sad) was next door to Erin and me.

(We all love Rachel.)

Through some jockeying by Adam, who was in the Elder's quorum presidency back then, he and Robbie were our home teachers.

And also, Robbie and Rachel and I had older sisters who were best friends/roommates.

So there were a lot of connections.  We ate dinner together nearly every night and Adam and Robbie called us every night to play a Billy Joel song for us when Robbie found Erin and me lacking in our Billy Joel knowledge.  (For example, we hadn't heard of him.)  We visited our older sisters' apartment often and it was our home away from home.

We were kind of each other's home away from home.

I scanned and printed some pictures from our freshman year, which was 27 years ago.

We were children.  Babies.  I have two kids older than we were back then.

Weird.

This picture was taken in our older sisters' apartment.

The stone washed jeans....

We had a lot of fun back then and we still have fun now.  We are the it's-like-no-time-has-passed-since-we-last-saw-each-other kind of friends.

We've been through stuff that's been hard that has made us different, but a lot of the same things are important to us as they were back then.  We still feel connected.

And we'll be friends forever.

Rachel asked us to take lots of pictures and we almost forgot to take any.  I know this is pretty much the same as the above picture, but in this one, everyone is looking at the camera.  So there's that.

Just because

Here are two pictures Braeden has texted me from EFY:

Coke Freestyle machines at the Wilkinson Center!  I'm guessing they'll move them into the Cougareat.  Otherwise if they are left there in the hall, they'll really be testing the limits of the honor code.

This is Bridger, Braeden's second cousin (brother to Branson who served--and is still serving--with Braeden in the Virginia Chesapeake mission).  Bridger is at EFY and in the same session as Braeden.  Braeden reported they see each other a lot and it makes him happy.

Emma works during the day at BYU Broadcasting.  (She works nights at the theater still or if she's not scheduled for that, she does chalk drawings and/or teaches me new card games.)  At BYU Broadcasting, she types closed captioning for the programs on BYUTV.  The other night, she wanted to show us Splatalot which is a show she's been working on.  It was pretty terrible.  (It's the kind of show Mark would have loved when he was about 6 years old.) She fully recognizes how terrible it is but she's spent so much time with it, she says she's invested.  Her friend Rose told her it is a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Yesterday Emma met up with Braeden on campus when Braeden had a break.  She came back with the report that he is sunburned and needs better shoes to wear. (The above picture was sent Monday night so I can only guess that sunburn is worse.)

I guess I was thinking about him extra fondly because I'd had a good phone conversation with Stella, in which among other things, we talked about how much we love Braeden.  It's something the two of us have in common.  She told me I was blessed to have him and it is 100% true.

So Emma was going to take Braeden different shoes and some sunscreen today but I decided I would instead.  I found out when his break is and we arranged to meet.

Because I can.

Braeden said, about the meeting, "Maybe we can go somewhere and get something to eat...."

He's staying in the dorms and eating in the all-you-can-eat cafeteria but he loves for me to get him something to eat.

Because he can.

Icing on the cake

I loved Women's Conference, you know that.  But then Friday afternoon, Marianne and I, after sitting awhile in the sun and just talking about all the things like we do, joined the class where our mom and Olivia were.  We found seats and looked to the right and there were Wendy and Rachel and Heather and Toni!

When Marianne was a freshman at BYU, Wendy was her next door neighbor and fast friend.

When I was a freshman at BYU, Rachel, Wendy's younger sister, was my next door neighbor (I know!  What are the chances!)and fast friend.

By then, our older sisters had an apartment off campus so we were a commingled sister group.

Erin and I used to keep our door ajar so Rachel could come in whenever she wanted.  She would answer our phone, "Hello, Allure speaking."  (She claims to not remember doing that, but I promise she did.)

Rachel is one of my favorites.

For the rest of college, Rachel and I were roommates and when our older sisters returned from missions we were all together.  One summer term Olivia lived with us too.

It was straight up amazing that we ran into each other and such a happy reunion.

I skipped the next session to sit and chat with Rachel and Wendy and we all sat together during the closing session.

Friends that are like family are one of life's greatest pleasures.  I've seen Rachel a handful of times over the years but I haven't seen Wendy for probably 20 years and it was like no time had passed (except for our darn kids who are old enough that we can't pretend we haven't aged a bit).

The Jones girls (none of them are Jones anymore) and the Dahl girls (none of us are Dahls anymore) posed for a picture:

Wendy, Marianne, Rachel, me, Heather, Olivia and Toni

I am hoping for a reunion this summer with Erin and Rachel and Robbie.  There's nothing quite like getting the gang back together.