Grateful Friday

I have so much to feel grateful about today.  I love spending time with family and Adam and the Christmas season. We went to Nevada and had a great time!

Eleanor was pretty much a champ in the car.  We were going to take two cars, but decided that we could pare down what we were taking and squish into one car and I'm glad we did.  It was fun to be together.  

First, we went to Olivia and Edgar's for a surprise graduation party for Edgar.  He is a very hard worker and besides his full time job and being father to five children he has graduated from Pathways.  It was worth the celebration.

My favorite part of the event was when Edgar's mother beat almost all her grandsons arm wrestling.  Grandma goals.

We went to Marianne and Robert's to show Braeden and Anna their new sunroom and visited briefly, which is always great.  Then we went to our house.  We got moved in (the process is getting more seamless all the time) and Eleanor napped and then we went to my parents' house for dinner. 

Marianne and Olivia and their group of carolers came.  It has long been a source of discussion that I don't like caroling or having carolers come.  It's just awkward to be sung to.  My sisters think that is a terrible sentiment.  So they enthusiastically caroled to me.

And I liked it.  They're my sisters so it wasn't all that awkward.

We went back to our house to put Eleanor to sleep and my parents came over to visit.  Since we don't have furniture besides a table and chairs and since Emma left a puzzle on the table the last time we visited, everyone sat around working on the puzzle.

My dad and I started talking about school and how it was like when he went there.  He was explaining the old grammar school and the new grammar school (which is actually also the old school that was torn down before I attended there) and we got all discombobulated about it so I found a box and he drew a diagram.  We argued about where the trailers were where I attended first grade while they were building the new school.  We went on a whole journey, but figured it out in the end.

They left and we were starting to get ready for bed.  Braeden locked the back door.  I said, "You don't need to lock the door."

He said, "Some of my most precious possessions are in here."

Anna came into our room and said, "There's someone knocking on the door." You can't hear anything from our room.

It was Marianne and Robert.  We were happy to see them and sat around the table for more puzzling.  Olivia and Edgar and Omar came and Omar is a whiz at puzzles so we'll have to have him over again if we ever want to use the table again.

Earlier in the day, the garage door had broken.  At least only one thing breaks each time we're there.  Adam and Braeden went out to get Robert and Edgar's opinion on the door.  

I went into the bathroom and was washing my face.  Anna was asleep and her phone rang.  It was Braeden.  She sleepily thought, "This house isn't that big.  Why is he calling me?" and went back to sleep.

I went back into the bedroom and heard the distant pinging of my phone.  It was in the kitchen so I went to get it before it woke up Eleanor.  

Adam and Braeden had been outside for about ten minutes knocking on the door.  They'd tried calling us and Anna and I had been completely oblivious.

"That's why we don't lock the door," I told Braeden.

The next morning we did various projects.  One was move the rat couches off the porch.  We've decided against them and don't want them to attract more rodents.  Before asking Braeden to help, I asked him if he would like a service opportunity.  He said yes like I knew he would.

Then I asked him to help us move the rat couches.  His expression said no way, but I reminded him he had already said yes.  He said we needed to rebrand them and not call them rat couches.

I also traversed the knee deep snow to check the propane gauge.  My boots filled with snow.

It is always an adventure.

Adam and Braeden got the garage door closed.  Adam said it was because Braeden is so strong.  All the food paid off.

We went to visit my parents and my mom gave Braeden and Anna and Eleanor bingo prizes.  You don't have to be present to win.

After lunch, we got everything ready to leave and hit the road.  Eleanor slept for a good part of the trip.  When she woke up, she wasn't happy to be in the carseat, like every baby ever on a road trip.  She was grumpy for a little while, then pretty soon started screaming.  I think it was incomprehensible that her parents were right there next to her and not getting her.  

She started screaming and there wasn't much we could do, like every baby ever on a road trip.  I got the idea to play Baby Beluga by Raffi.  I've read the book to her a lot and she likes it.

She stopped crying.

The song ended and she started crying again.

Adam's car delightfully picks random pictures sometimes to go with songs.

Braeden said, "All rise for the national anthem of the water nation."

We played the song on a loop for about an hour and she didn't cry.  She didn't sleep, she just sat there, listening.  If she started to fuss a little, Braeden would sing along to Raffi and it was like magic.

If you don't mind Baby Beluga by Raffi on repeat, and we didn't, it was pretty amazing.

I would listen to whatever that little angel wants.  

I mean, look at her.

A cup of good cheer

Yesterday we visited my grandma.  

The whole great great grandma thing is kind of astounding.  I can't imagine Eleanor bringing her granddaughter to visit me someday....

Sweet Ella was as good as gold.  She slept in the car, a shorter than usual nap, but she woke up happy just like her dad always did.  She was friendly and busy, but didn't touch all the things she was not supposed to touch, but wanted to.

Grace under pressure.

We hurried home to get ready for our dinner party.  Clarissa (Timeon had to work), Liberty and Nikki, Shuyan and Carolina came over for dinner.

Also, the most bizarre thing happened while we were scrambling to get ready.  I had just wrangled Mark to help me move furniture to set up the tables and there was a knock on the door.  It was a girl about Mark's age, wearing a dress and high heeled strappy sandals.  It was not exactly the weather for that outfit.  She was visibly shaken and said, "Is Mark here?  It is an emergency."

I got Mark and she said, "John was in a car accident and I can't drive."

Mark looked a little taken aback, but said, "OK," and left immediately with her.

Anna and Braeden and I puzzled about the whole situation.  Who was John and who was this girl and how did she get to our house in the first place?

Mark called a bit later.  He had as many questions as we did.  He met John a few weeks ago, playing Magic with his friends.  He had invited the whole gang to his birthday dinner so John and his girlfriend had come.  The girlfriend had the address of our house since Mark had texted the group the address.  He's known both of them for about two weeks.  He never got much more of the story.  He took the girl home and I'm glad he was ready and able to be a helper.

But it was bizarre.

Our guests arrived and it was so fun to see them all!

I regret that I didn't take a picture.

We had dinner and Braeden asked Clarissa all about the Tabernacle Choir, which that amazing girl is now a part of.  He talked German politics with Shuyan.  She delighted and charmed us like she does.  Liberty and I chatted a bit about school and Carolina and I a bit about The Home Edit, of which we're both fans.  After dinner, Eleanor went to bed and the rest of us went to the basement to visit.  We talked about books and the cosmos and lego sets and Braeden shared a brief FHE lesson (it included the cosmos).  I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Adult nieces and nephews are every bit as fun as adult children (Carolina is not quite an adult, but she's fabulous).

Grateful Friday

Yesterday there was a lot of snow.  I slid right through an intersection by our house on the way to school.  Luckily no one was around to crash into.  No lanes were visible on State Street and everyone was driving around 20 mph.  I don't know which thing was more unusual.

I also don't know what it takes to get a snow day around here.

It just kept snowing and snowing.  We had both recesses inside.  

We had both Christmas sing performances and despite the weather, both were packed houses.  The kids were nervous beforehand and then really happy when they saw their parents or grandparents.  I love that.

I didn't love how naughty all my students were all the live long day.  Christmas sing + inside recess + Christmas in general + their personalities in general.

It was a whole day.

One student got a really significant bloody nose.  Not the same student as last time.  What gives?!?  He was walking around in a panic, splattering blood all over the floor.  I told him to sit down while I grabbed kleenex.  I meant the nearest possible chair.  He walked back to his own chair, splattering more blood.  I pinched his nose and walked with him that way down to the office, while he was holding kleenex to his nose.  The secretary chided me for not putting on gloves.

It had not occurred to me.

I left him in her care and went back to the zoo that sort of looked like a crime scene until the custodians could get there.

As the bell was about to ring for the blessed end of the day, the announcement was made that the district "had not expected so much snow" (you think?) so they needed the teachers to leave as soon as the students did so that the district could plow all the parking lots.

I was hurrying around gathering up things and preparing hastily for the next day.  Braeden called.

He said that Anna's mom had tested positive for Covid.  Braeden, Anna and Eleanor all had Covid a few weeks ago, so they were not worried about getting it, but they wanted to come to our house early (they were going to come Sunday) so Amy could recover.

I'm sad for the Carlsons but happy for us, and also, I wasn't even a little bit ready.  Despite my proclivity to plan, I have 100% been living only day to day.

I was driving home and my mind was spinning about what I could make for dinner.  The day before, Clarissa and I had walked and I told her that I wanted to make good meals when they were visiting, but I wasn't all that great at that.

She said, "You know who is really good at that?  My mom."

Clarissa is not wrong.  I quickly called Marianne for help.  When you need to send a distress call, Marianne is a really good choice.

She said, "OK, will Mark be there?"  I said yes.  "So no gluten....it's too late for a slow cooker....how about a simmer sauce?  Cook chicken thighs and rice and get butter sauce or tikka masala."

I said, "We usually do chicken tikka masala on Christmas Eve.  What else have you got?"

She thought for a few seconds.  "Taco soup."

Yes!

I'm telling you, call Marianne.

I went to the grocery store for taco soup stuff and a whole cart full of other stuff.  I considered my cart looked like Braeden was visiting.  It made me happy.

I hurried home and changed sheets in the guest bedroom, pulled out the baby toys and baby books and high chair.  I cleaned the kitchen and made the soup and got everything ready.

I'm so grateful for have them with us.

This sweet little girl was very tired by the time they got there, but I am so looking forward to time with her!

I'm grateful to have Marianne to tell me what to do.

I'm grateful I had to leave school early (I needed the time!).

I'm grateful for this wonderful season of light.  I'm grateful that we take a little time off from regular life and enjoy each other and holly jolly music and treats.  Mostly, I'm grateful for the birth and life of Jesus Christ.  When I hold that little baby in my arms and know that she's mine forever, I feel such gratitude for our Savior and Heavenly Father.  They make everything that matters to me better.

Labor Day weekend

I am here with two purposes:  one to record our trip to CA and one to avoid getting another text from Marianne that begins, "OK sister..."

We went to California on Friday night.  We had an 11:00 PM flight.  I may never recover.  I'm a toddler who needs her bedtime preserved.

Security isn't terrible that time of night.  Also, it always feels like insult to injury that Mark is met with such suspicion at the airport.  He can't go through the scanner with his pump, so it feels like the logical conclusion is that he must be a terrorist.  He is patted down very thoroughly and they even swab his hands to see if they are covered in explosives.  

I always just bite my tongue even though I want to say something snarky.

Braeden picked us up at the airport and it was so good to see him.  He swoops me up in the tightest hugs and I forget how much I need those hugs.

We stayed at a hotel and Braeden retrieved us again the next morning to take us to the airport to get the rental car.  We went to their apartment and enjoyed getting acquainted with Eleanor.  We went to the Davis Farmer's Market and a great used book store.

I had brought a stack of books for Eleanor and had put some in everyone's suitcase:

Some of them were surplus from school and some of them were gifted to me by a kindergarten teacher.

At the bookstore, I said, "Hey, we have room for more books since we brought those for Eleanor."

Adam amended my statement, "You have room for books."  Apparently he wasn't willing to be an accomplice to a book buying spree.

I bought some books anyway.

(And fit them all in my suitcase, so there.)

I had a flare up of my eye disease (because that's always fun).  I didn't bring enough medicine (I'm supposed to take 5 pills per day when I have a flare up), so I called my doctor and had a prescription sent and it was a whole ordeal and Adam took over getting it accomplished.  He even drove to the Walgreens in Sacramento where the prescription was sent.

He's always the MVP (even when he won't take extra books in his suitcase).

We had lunch at Black Bear Diner and Eleanor was masterfully handled by her parents.  She is busy and loves to stand and just pitches her body toward anything she wants.  Here she wanted a glass of water so she just flung herself on the table.  

She is tenacious, that one!  She is also incredibly darling and I love watching Braeden and Anna team up to provide an idyllic life for her.

We spent the rest of the day in their air conditioned apartment.  I read to Eleanor.

She loved this book and would get really excited and bounce up and down and grab at the pictures.  Other books she would just grab and chew on them.  

I miss her.

In the evening, Eleanor went to sleep and Braeden went with us back to our hotel to swim.  He was jumping in his car and I said, "Don't you need a swimsuit?"  

He said, "I keep one in my car."  Like you do....

Adam and the boys swam and I read my book.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Sunday we went to church with Braeden and Anna and Eleanor.  Eleanor was really and truly comfortable around us by then and Adam or I held her during sacrament meeting.  I loved their diverse little ward.  The sacrament was blessed in Mandarin.  Braeden and Anna have a friend named George who was recently baptized.  (Braeden was supposed to baptize him, but it was on the day Anna was giving birth.)  George is in his 80s and is blind.  Braeden and Anna pick him up for church and love him.  He was sitting behind us in the chapel and I overheard a young man, who was passing the sacrament whisper, "George, would you like the sacrament?"  "Give me your hand and I'll guide you."

It warmed my heart.

I got Eleanor duty during Sunday School which is the best kind of duty.  After church, George came over to their apartment too and we had homemade pizza.  Braeden had me sit and chat with George while he worked on the pizza.  George is completely personable and has clearly had a rough life.  He's lived here there and everywhere and doesn't have any family.  When he found out I'd grown up in Nevada, he told me that he'd lived in Winnemucca awhile.  He had been hitchhiking through and had stopped and worked washing dishes at a casino for several months.

He would ask me about my family and my childhood and my siblings and my children and my parents and he kept marveling at how fortunate I was.  "What a good life!" he said, over and over.  "What a good life!"

I had to agree with him.

Monday, everyone (except me) went swimming at the hotel.  I declared myself there to take care of Eleanor when she was tired of swimming.

But it was hot.  So I changed into my swimsuit and went swimming too.  For me, it has to be really hot to make swimming worth it.  For the rest of my family, there needs to be a body of water available.

I think Eleanor falls in line with the rest of them.  She was a little unsure of the cool water at first:

But soon, she was a happy little fish:

When Braeden was 5, we made a deal with him that he would get a Happy Meal if he would go off the diving board at the pool at Forest Park.  It was a big deal because we were poor and Happy Meals were few and far between.

He was doing underwater somersaults in the pool like his Grandpa Linn taught him.  I said if he could do five in a row I would buy him a Happy Meal.  He did six.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out in the apartment with the AC, lunch at Red Robin, where Eleanor was angelic, and a visit to Target.  My grandma sent them money for clothes and they were thrilled to buy Eleanor some cooler weather clothes for their trip to Washington.  

The Happy Meal wasn't the only childhood throwback.  Earlier they had been talking about how Braeden would never forgive me for getting rid of his Yu-gi-oh Duel Disc Launcher.  (You devote your life to your children and they fixate on the junky toy you threw away....)  It put them in a Yu-gi-oh mood apparently because Mark bought some cards at Target (Braeden already had some--at least I hadn't thrown them away.)  They played Yu-gi-oh.

Adam and I took turns cuddling Eleanor.  I loved how she would nudge her head up to Adam for a kiss.  She is 100% a keeper and it broke my heart to leave her behind.  I told her maybe her parents wouldn't notice if she came home with us.

Anna told me they'd notice.

All too soon we headed to the airport.  I realized on my boarding pass that we were in first class.  Adam is the guy who just quietly does stuff like that to make life better.

I asked him, "Why are you so good to me?"

He smiled and asked, "Why are you so needy?"

We walked and walked and walked in the new and unimproved Salt Lake airport after we landed.  I was SO tired and I just wanted to go to bed and I knew I'd have an early morning.  The airport is all about the hike now.

We got to the curb and there was a huge (think Space Mountain at Disneyland) line for the parking shuttle.  Adam led us on another LONG walk to the parking lot.  We had no idea if it was faster or not and we decided that since we were already doing it, we'd just assume it was faster.  

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Mark was incredibly upbeat the entire walk and kept encouraging us and it was disarming and out of character and needed.

In the car, he played just the music we needed to get us home.  That was very much in character.  We made it home!

I'm still tired.

It was so worth it.

I love Braeden and Anna and Eleanor.

As George proclaimed, "What a good life!"

Family FaceTime

 Sunday afternoon, Adam and I took a drive to check on the progress of the Saratoga Springs and Orem temples.  I think they can manage building them without our oversight, but we like to go take a look.  While we were out and about, we had our family FaceTime call.

Everyone's a little blurry and mid expressions, but it's always a happy time.  As you can see, Emma and Mark were showing off their new lights in their rooms.   We all talk over each other and laugh a lot. Also, everyone makes fun of me for only showing my forehead at times like that but it's tiresome to keep my phone held so my face is perfectly framed.  Adam was driving but occasionally I would point the phone his way and he would say, "You're pointing it at the ceiling."

I think the takeaway is that I won't ever have a career as a cameraman.

Emma is planning a trip to California to see Braeden and Anna.  Braeden said, "We'll talk to you more when we get off the phone with everyone, Emma."

I said, "You guys go ahead and go and I want to talk to Mark more."

Braeden and Mark instantly got nervous looks on their faces.  "What?"  I said.  "You're not in trouble.  I just want to talk to you."

Braeden texted me this:

And Mark texted me this:

I said, "But I'm the nicest person in the world."

Emma isn't afraid of me at all.  I don't know if that is better or worse.

(A little healthy fear in sons isn't terrible.)

Home for the holidays

We packed a lot into a few days, evidenced by how much I was dragging on Saturday night.  It was a wonderful time though.

On Thanksgiving we prepared our feast and sat at a pretty table.

the little rosemary plant in our kitchen window is the gift that keeps on giving

Adam asked me to say the prayer and I said no.  He asked, "Because you'll cry?"

I said, "Yes."

So he said the prayer and I cried anyway.

In an extreme departure from the other women in my family, we did not have a ton of leftovers.  All the kids said that Thanksgiving leftovers are overrated, so I guess we all stood in the correct line in heaven.

In the late afternoon, we went to a movie. (King Richard, we all loved it!)

We came home for pie, which is always a good thing to come home for.

Friday, after doing my part for the economy on Amazon, we decorated for Christmas.  Those boys make quick work of carrying boxes. 

The highlight of decorating is opening the box of Christmas bears.  Anna sat in a chair and was bombarded with both stories about the bears and actual bears.

Each bear is loved and stories are told about them all.  It is the weirdest scrapbook in the world, but it's ours.

They put them in chronological order, Braeden at the helm

Adam and Mark set up the new big tree that is on wheels and lives in Adam's office closet.  It is slick and easy and when they were done, they commented that no one was even mad after the task.  Winning.  Adam and Braeden set up the other tree and no one got mad there either.  We're all growing up so nicely.

Mark has long been my sidekick decorator and he was up on a ladder and arranging things to my specifications and he said, "I think we need a third thing up here," and I couldn't have been more proud.  Emma and Anna helped with the arranging as well and we soon had the house looking festive.  We realized next year at this time, we will have a little one crawling around.  Hurray and also, that will change the decorating situation around here.

We watched the Great British Baking Show finale which had been highly anticipated by all of us (except Mark, he hasn't been watching, plus he said since he can't eat gluten, it's not fun to watch).  Mark hung out with his friends instead.

After, we had more pie and then watched A Mighty Wind.  Anna had never seen it and we all wanted her to watch.

Actually, I told her it wasn't a want, it was a need.

She complied like the sweet girl she is.

Saturday was another pack-a-lot-in sort of day.  I made cookies for pikkujoulu.  They were gluten free and also sort of unrecognizable as their former gluten selves.  Let's just say Paul would not have been handing out a handshake.  I still have lots of Christmases to figure out how to make them though.

We went to lunch and then to BYU for nostalgia for our BYU alumni kids.  Mark walked around in his Utah State sweatshirt which he was wearing coincidentally.  I told him I loved him anyway and I would love him even more if he would drop out of college and stay in my basement forever.

He said no.

When we got home, I folded mountains of laundry (dishes and laundry don't take vacations) and we sat around the fire pit briefly because it works now and it was a sputtering mess when Braeden and Anna were last here.  We brought in the couch cushions (the boys and Adam had moved all the deck furniture earlier in the day. And we decorated the big tree.  

Adam made clam chowder while we did that, because we were also going to have pikkujoulu.

The marathon continued.

We had a lovely meal, sans the bread bowls, but I think they weren't missed (plus I told Emma and Braeden that if anyone mentioned regret that we weren't having bread bowls, they wouldn't get Christmas presents).

The kids opened their new ornaments and Braeden and Anna opened a few presents and we sampled some treats (mostly gluten free, from Trader Joe's).   Everyone gamely ate the gluten free disasters I had made and told me they were delicious.

That's why they are all getting Christmas presents.

So happy together

Everyone together is my favorite.  

Mark and I picked Braeden and Anna up from the airport.  We stopped at WGU to see Emma and Adam, at their request/begging  (from Emma).  They didn't respond to our texts (they were, you know working) so we were stuck in the lobby, which is beautiful, but not the point.

We gave up and went and got breakfast.

Then we circled back and got to see them.  

Everyone except the workers went to my classroom and we decorated for Christmas.  I want my students to walk in and be sort of blown away by the Christmas decorations.  I haven't quite achieved that, but I think I am getting closer.

Emma and Adam came home a little early.  Anna took a nap (they'd been up since 3:30 AM) and I walked downstairs and saw this:

They are playing Mario Kart.  It's just about perfect, down to the messy boxes in the background.  I like our house lived in better than empty.

Anna has a little baby bump and it is adorable.  She cried when she saw Mark because she was so happy to see him.  She cheerfully wants to help with everything and anything and I couldn't love that girl more.

I made macaroni and cheese for dinner and a lot was riding on it.  That is one of Mark's favorite foods.  I selected the gluten free pasta that I thought would work best and I studied a few recipes to get the white sauce right with no flour.

It was good!

Mark was happy and I think I was happier.

After dinner, Adam and I went on a quest for pancetta, like you do.  After three stores, we finally found some.  When we got home, we were sitting at the kitchen table, reading different recipes in preparation for the big day.

Mark wanted us to go downstairs and play Quiplash.  He said, "What are you doing?"

I said, "Preparing.  Thanksgiving dinner doesn't make itself."

Mark said, "Hmmm.  That's always been my experience."

This morning I am the only one awake and I am enjoying the quiet until everyone bursts on the scene (actually Braeden is probably the only one who bursts scenes.  Everyone else will be more sleepy and slow moving).  I am planning some gluten free oatmeal apple muffins for breakfast and then that Thanksgiving dinner that doesn't make itself. (At least not for me.)

Getting the party started

Yesterday after school we had turkey bowling, a time honored tradition at our school.  I got a strike my first bowl, flinging a frozen turkey across the cafeteria floor.  Then I lost in the next round.  Since the prize was a (different) frozen turkey, I came to terms with the loss.  Only two of the male teachers were there and they, of course, got up to shenanigans.  All the female teachers, who are used to recalcitrant boys all day anyway, kept them in line.  Stop.  No, you can't shot put the frozen turkey.  Stop.

I was chatting with a second grade teacher and she told me her married daughter and her husband were coming for Thanksgiving and she was "giddy."

I know.

Last night, Adam got tickets to the suite at the Jazz game and Emma and her friend Omar went with us.  We had a good time.  I could get used to being whisked up to the VIP entrance and fed a fabulous meal.  The game was OK too.  During the game, Mark texted that his Tuesday classes were canceled.  Adam is leaving in a few minutes to go get him and then I'm hoping that kid will come to my class.  He'd better not scoot around on my wheeled chair and kick a soccer ball around the room.  That's what he usually does in my classroom.

I am so excited to see him! 

And then Braeden and Anna tomorrow!

My head is buzzing a bit from my late night, but maybe it's just that I'm like my friend Karla.  Giddy.

Weekending

Friday after school we had six candidates for third grade teacher to interview.  I discovered I don't like interviewing.  I want to hire them all because I know how awful interviewing and being rejected is.

We selected the best candidate for the job though.  We chose the PE teacher.  Janelle and I wanted her because we like her and know she's a good teacher but also because we know the kids already love her and the transition will be easier for them.

I felt lighter knowing help was on the way!

Adam and I went to dinner and stopped by the school to give Miriam (the new teacher) the key to her new classroom.  She was already getting things ready.

Also, because I had a bee in my bonnet about my classroom library, we went to two Walmarts to buy bins to store books.

Two Walmarts on a Friday night shows you we know how to party.

Saturday morning, I hosted a brunch at our house to show appreciation to the ladies who are serving in Relief Society.  The other members of the presidency said they would bring the food if we could have it at our house.

It was a very nice party to prepare for.  All I had to do was set the table, which is my favorite thing anyway.

We had a lovely time.  We laughed a whole lot and a few times eyes welled with tears which is pretty much par for course when you have women together who love each other and talk about real things.

In the afternoon, I picked up Janelle and we went back to the school.  Janelle's car is in the shop so Adam and I got the idea to let her drive the van, which has been parked on the side of our house since Mark left.

Adam said he would clean it out (did I mention Mark had been driving it?) and meet us at the school.  He pulled it into the garage to clean it and then couldn't get it started again.  He couldn't get the battery charged and when he removed his foot from the gas or turned the key to off, it would make a clicking sound like it was trying to start.

I decided it was probably haunted, which seemed like the most likely reason.

Mark thought that it missed him and had lost the will to live since he'd left.

You can see we're very scientific with our diagnosis of car troubles.

Adam and Emma came to the school in Adam's car and we helped Miriam hang bulletin boards and organize stuff.  Everyone was better at cutting the big sheets of paper off the roll than me.  

Miriam said it was because I was short, which was offensive.  I'm not short.

I mean, compared to her and every member of the family I grew up in I am short, but I'm not short.

Miriam played college basketball and is 6'1".  We were chatting about height while she was doing the stapling up top and she said her parents were "really short."  Her dad is 5'10" and her mom is 5'7".  I said, "That's not short!"

No one believes me.

I need shorter friends.

I worked more on my class library and I ended up not happy about it.  I told Adam that the make do part of my personality was warring with the I want it to look good part of my personality and I was losing.

Adam just shakes his head at me at times like that.

Kind of like how Miriam shook her head at me when I said I wasn't short. 

When we got home, Adam tried to deal more with the haunted/missing Mark van.  We had talked to my parents earlier and he'd had my dad weigh in on the mystery.  My dad said, "That's strange."

Then he suggested unhooking and re hooking up the battery connection.  The car version of turning it off and on again, I guess.

It didn't help.  We took the battery to Auto Zone (by we, I mean I held the door open for Adam while he carried that heavy thing).  They said it was dead.  A good diagnosis.  It's not that old of a battery so there is some other trouble. 

I'm not ruling out it is haunted.

Sunday was a migraine day.

We also talked to our kids and I did a little yoga which helped my whole neck, back, headache situation.  Braeden and Anna told us that they both got new church callings, Braeden is a YM advisor and Anna is the second counselor int he YW presidency.  It made me happy thinking of those two serving.  Mark told Braeden an idea for the young men and it was a game that Adam had made up and taught Mark when Adam was his leader.

It is a blessing to our boys that they watched Adam serve so well all those years.

Sunday night we capped off the day with watching a new episode of the Great British Baking Show.  It is pretty much the icing on the cake to any weekend.

Plus it was cake week.

  

Bare minimum day

Friday was a hard day.  Really hard.  I had a migraine.  At school.  Here's a fact:  you can tell 35 third graders you have a headache, a bad one.  You can ask them to please be quieter.  Please stop.

They won't.

They can't.

It was awful.

I considered going home but I didn't want to leave.  Also I didn't want to majorly inconvenience everyone at the school two weeks in a row with me skipping out.

At lunchtime, I didn't eat because I felt super nauseous anyway.  I turned off my lights and locked the door so I could lie down on the floor.  It was more comfortable than it sounds.  I closed my eyes and tried to keep the world from roiling.  

I prayed a lot too and I actually started to feel a little better and by after school, I ate part of my lunch.  It was quiet in the school and that helped.

When I was about ready to go home, Mr. Dawson made an announcement on the loudspeaker that we were hiring a new third grade teacher.  A cheer erupted in the school from my fellow teachers in their classrooms.  Everyone has been walking around looking at Janelle and me like we were tributes in the hunger games.  

It was happy news and I hope someone is hired SOON.  I texted all my teacher friends to ask them if they knew anyone looking for a job.

We went to MOD for dinner (Mark's choice) and I came up with a new holiday to celebrate on Saturday:  Bare Minimum Day.

I asked everyone what the bare minimum they needed/wanted to do for the day.  Emma and Mark decided they could pool their clothes and do a little load of laundry.  I had laundry to fold as well as plants to tend and mail to go through.  Adam's list was far more ambitious than ours.  He had a full list of outdoor/yard chores.

We decided we'd help each other until everyone's list was complete.

I finished my stuff before anyone else was even awake and we woke up to a blustery rainstorm.

It made me happy, that rain.  I wanted Adam to have a day that was a break and the heavens agreed with me.

The day was sublime.  We sat around and chatted and went to lunch and went to the outlet mall for a warm coat for Mark.  (Emma bought a shirt and I bought two sweaters accidentally because I don't need sweaters.)

We came home and napped and then went to the Sounders match.  They were playing Real Salt Lake.

The Sounders didn't win but I wasn't really there for the soccer.  We were in the posh executive suite with delicious food plus I mostly like the drama.  (It's the same way I like the Yale Alumni magazine for the personal ads.  I don't know, I just get delighted by people looking for love but only from other Ivy leaguers.  And also, they list their degrees in the ads.)  Emma and Mark decided that college soccer players are probably all theater majors.  Mark leaned over to me and said, "Theater 1075?  It's only for soccer players."

As we drove to and from the soccer match, Mark read aloud from my blog.  It is fun revisiting things from years past.  Writing about nothing adds up to something.

Sunday after church we took Mark back to Logan.  We talked to Braeden and Anna on the phone while we drove there.  They are happy and discovering their new place.  Braeden has an office to share with other graduate students and Anna is starting her new job at the library soon.  I love picturing them figuring out their new life together.  

Once at USU, we walked around the campus a little and Mark showed us the buildings he frequents.  I like seeing him proud of his place.  I didn't like leaving him there....

The weekend was a nice one though.  It was exactly what I needed.  Sometimes the bare minimum is all you need to do.

A tale of two aggies

Friday night we were going to have our last family dinner for awhile.  Adam apparently had food poisoning and he was very very sick.  I had slept horribly on Thursday night and I was very very tired (plus the first week of school knocked me flat).

We both still wanted to go to dinner with our kids.

I told Emma she needed to lead the family.

We went to a new pizza restaurant Braeden recommended.  Adam stayed for a few minutes and then he left.

I ate dinner with my dear four and tried not to think about it.  They're leaving.  I tried not to think about it.

We all went back to our house and Mark and Braeden gave Adam a blessing.  It is an amazing experience to watch your boys give their dad a priesthood blessing.

We went to bed (me still trying not to think about it--luckily I was so tired that I soon slept).

Saturday morning Adam still felt really sick.  Mark was a buzzing anxious boy.  He was bolting around packing and gathering stuff up.

I had given up trying not to think about it, but I devoted my energy to helping him.  Adam didn't think he could go to Logan with us and it made him super sad.  I felt really sad too.  I felt sad for Adam but also sad for me because I wanted him there.  Adam went back to bed and Mark and I knelt and prayed that he would feel better so he could go with us.  Then I went and woke up Emma and told her we needed her to pray too.

Then I decided to call Braeden.  We needed the faith and prayers of everyone.  Braeden said, "When I gave Dad a blessing, I blessed him twice that he would be able to go.  I thought it was strange that I said it twice, but he will be able to go.  He'll be fine."

Braeden had such a confident tone of voice, I immediately felt better.  I told Mark, "Your dad is coming with us.  Let's give him an hour to sleep and then he will be fine."

So I sat on the couch with Mark's head on my lap and we talked while I ruffled my fingers through his red curls.

Soon, Adam got up and took a shower.  The kids and I had already loaded the van and away we went.  Adam didn't feel 100% better but I was so grateful that our prayers had been answered and he was able to go with us.  

On the one hand, it was a small thing.  We would have been OK going without Adam.  On the other hand, it felt like a huge thing.  I felt loved by a Heavenly Father who blessed us.

We moved Mark into his apartment.  We left him to unpack (he didn't want help even though my fingers were itching to set it up in the best way) and we went to Walmart for a few things.  Adam stayed in the car and Emma and I ventured into the craziest Walmart scene I've ever experienced.  The aisles were clogged with college aged kids and their stressed out mothers.  I heard mothers rattling off their list of things they needed and I got an idea.  Yes, a garbage can.  We need to get one for Mark because I hadn't seen one in the room.

I was grateful to have Emma.  I felt these amped up emotions and she was just steady and cheerful and helpful.  

We met Mark back in the student center where he was waiting in an enormous line for his student ID.  Adam sat on a nearby chair while we waited.  Mark kept putting his arm around me and telling me he loved me and I did my best not to cry.  No one wants to see the woman in the student ID line weeping.

After that, the kids walked back to Mark's dorm and Adam and I drove the van back.  Before we left the student center, a freshman looking girl walked past us, crying.  She went into the nearby bathroom and I could hear her inside, sobbing.  My heart broke for her and me and all of us making this hard but ultimately happy transition.  My mother heart wanted to go in and hug her.

We went back to Mark's dorm and met a few of his roommates.  There are six of them sharing the apartment.  They seemed nice but it also just felt sort of fraught, all of them awkwardly trying to set up their little corners, among strangers.  Mark walked us out to the van and that's when I did start weeping.  We hugged and hugged some more, then drove away.  

Just like that.

Later, Mark texted that one of his roommates also has type 1 diabetes.  It felt like another tiny miracle.  I have prayed for Mark as he's going to college and I never prayed that one of his roommates would also have diabetes, but it feels like a blessing that they will have each other.  

Sunday we had Braeden and Anna over for a last Sunday dinner.  Sheesh.  Did it all have to happen on the same weekend?

The spent the afternoon and evening with us and it was so nice and felt like just another Sunday and then I would remember.  Amy (Anna's mom) is in Utah, house hunting, and that makes me SUPER happy because we like them so much.  Amy and Natalie (Anna's sister) joined us for dinner and we had a very good visit.  We have a lot in common, including our love for Braeden and Anna.  We FaceTimed with Mark which was unsatisfactory, but still glad we could do it.  

We at last had a tearful goodbye with Braeden and Anna.  I love those two and I'm so proud of them and confident they will be happy and do great things.

It's just that I'll miss them.

Emma started getting her stuff assembled for her first day of work today and Adam started thinking about getting ready for his trip to California (he is driving with them, he said he is paying it forward because his dad drove with him to Connecticut when we moved there--it's good to have good examples).

I felt overwhelmed by everything.

It has all been a lot to process.  

This weekend reminded me that God is mindful of me and my family.  It made me feel grateful for the opportunities our children have to learn and grow.  It made me tell Emma at one point that motherhood was a trap.  You get these wonderful children you love completely and then they leave you.

Too hard.

I wouldn't change it, but still.

Two political science majors

Braeden and Anna are in Virginia right now, visiting her family.  They took a red eye from Phoenix to Philadelphia, where they had an 8 hour layover, then on to Charlottesville.  This is how you travel on the cheap and to out of the way airports.

They are young and in love and hardy.

(I would not look that cute if I hadn't slept.  I wouldn't look that cute if I had slept....)

Running on adrenaline and patriotism.  I would expect nothing less of my two favorite political scientists.

The ups and downs

The downs:

Living in a construction zone is not for the faint of heart.  We can't find anything.  Everything's a mess.  Things like that.  Also, we're in a heat wave and it feels like the sun is trying to kill us.  And Mark's had lots of problems with his diabetic equipment.  It is so great when it works and so not great when it doesn't.

We went to IKEA twice during the weekend.  Our house isn't the only thing that's a mess.  Our reasoning skills are a little off as well it seems.  Or mine are.  Adam is my unfortunate sidekick at such times.

The ups: 

The parts of our house that are coming back together make me happy!  It feels pretty and such a relief to be back to somewhat normal (in the third of our house that is somewhat normal).

Friday night we went to a Real Salt Lake soccer game.  Adam had tickets from work to the executive suite again.  Am I ever going to go back to being a civilian at sporting events?  (I don't go to sporting events very often so it's probably fine.)  We invited the Hills to go with us.  Since Adam is the stake executive secretary now instead of in the bishopric, he misses his friend Bishop Hill so it was fun to be with them.  I wasn't really there for the soccer but as a drama mama, it was sort of delightful.  The players would get hurt and writhe around on the grass in dramatic ways and it would seem they needed an ambulance by the way they were acting, then at some juncture, unexpected by my untrained eye, they would hop up and run away, all anguish forgotten.

If soccer doesn't work out for them, next stop Broadway I guess.

I wished I had some Academy awards to distribute.

Saturday I had the wonderful treat to have lunch with Stephanie.  It was hurried and not nearly long enough but I love my friend!  I miss her.  We caught up as best we could and promised to see each other more when we go to Seattle next month.

Sunday we celebrated Adam in a muted way that should have no reflection on how we feel about that guy. Braeden and Anna were gracious enough to invite us over for dinner.  When every surface of your kitchen is covered in stuff a dinner invitation is a gift!

We played a game around their table after dinner.  It was a new game that Mark gave Adam for Father's Day.  Adam had the rule book in his hand and he consulted it often, like he does.  We sort of figured out how to score but since none of us are very competitive we didn't write the scores down and we didn't remember our scores either.  

We laughed a lot and I looked around the table at our four beloved children and I had two thoughts:  this won't be forever and enjoy this.

I am ignoring late August when 3/4 of them will move away.  You're dead to me, late August.

Grateful Friday

Last night Adam and Mark went to a Salt Lake Bees game.  There was a group from Adam's work that had a suite.  It reminded me of what never happens at my job.

We had fun though!  I don't think I ever watched an entire baseball game before I married Adam (the only one I can think of is one time I was with my grandma and sisters and we watched our cousin David play).  But I like going to baseball games.  I understand what's happening and baseball parks are pretty.

The Bees have a player Jo Adell and every time he was up to bat, I texted Emma Adele puns.

She was trying to work on homework but I think she appreciated it all the same.

I was grateful to spend some time with my boys.

Here's something else:  Braeden and Anna gave us a birthday present of a photo shoot.  We are terrible about getting professional pictures done and I was grateful for such a kind and thoughtful gift.

Mostly these people make me grateful though.

 

Happy days

 It was a busy weekend.

Friday we celebrated our graduates.   I made cupcakes and Geri tied pirouette cookies with ribbons to look like diplomas.

It was small scale but we had a theme and we were running with it.

My parents and my grandma and the Carlsons came to celebrate with us.  

We watched the virtual convocation.  

Heather, my former laurel and Emma's roommate spoke because she was the valedictorian of the political science college (yay Heather!). 

They scrolled through pictures and names of graduates and neither Braeden nor Anna were listed!  

Braeden logged into his account to make sure he had graduated.

They graduated.  So they tossed their caps in the air.

We had a lovely time eating lunch and visiting.  We took a few pictures.

My sweet grandma will be 94 next month!  Every time I see her feels like a gift.

My parents don't look all that happy in this picture, but they were happy.  I think there were too many phones and it was hard to know who to smile for.

Here are the two grandmas who graduated from BYU 50 years ago this spring (both in accounting).

Anna went to Les Miserables with a former roommate so we babysat Braeden.  Anna said not to give him too much sugar.

It was nice to have Braeden with us but weird without Anna.  We watched part of the Mariners' game and then we all went out for pizza.  Braeden and Emma and Mark sat at one end of the table and were engrossed in their conversation, which I love.

Saturday was moving day for Emma.  Geri and I went early to help her pack.  Adam joined us and we filled two vans with her stuff.  (How and why?)  We left her with Heather to clean.  

Emma came later, exhausted but happy to be home.  We're happy to have her.  She still has a few classes this spring before she graduates but her apartment contract was up and we're glad she's back.

Sunday was a busy day of meetings and the like.  I played a few hands of Phase 10 with the group but then I stopped because I can only handle so much of a slow moving card game.

This morning it's back to real life on a rainy Monday.

But I don't have recess duty, so there are silver linings everywhere.

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.