Weekend

 Friday (besides Pi day, yes, there was pie in the faculty room at lunch time), we celebrated Mr. D Day.  We were commemorating the day two years ago that we met him and found out he would be our principal.

I work with people who celebrate things!

Someone made a lanyard for every single student with Matt's ID card on it and we surprised him by having the kids dress like him. It was hilarious and happy.  I took a picture of my class, but cropped it to only a few.  You get the idea.

After school and after Adam got home from work, we headed to Nevada.  We listened to a BYU devotional with Coach Sitake (highly recommend!) and started a new podcast.  

We would hit pause and talk about what we were listening to.

I love roadtrips with Adam.

We stayed in Wells at a hotel because it was such a quick trip.

Saturday morning I communicated with Olivia about what time to be at the church, where the baby shower was being held. Adam and I went to the church at the appointed time and of course Marianne and Liberty were already there, setting up chairs. 

Olivia did the food and created a game and I did the decorations and it was a good time.

I would do just about anything with these two:

Since Parley, the baby, likes tigers, according to his dad, I went with the theme.

Here's the spread of delicious food Olivia made:

The tiger quilt in the background was made by Marianne.

The game Olivia had us play was nursery rhyme charades.  Olivia has this way of getting people to do things they wouldn't normally do.

Here's Olivia's group (including Desi and Liberty and a lady in the ward, Melinda) acting out This Little Piggy.

Here's I'm a Little Teapot (I'm related to everyone in this picture):

Jack and Jill (did they know they'd be rolling on the floor of the Relief Society room when they got up that morning?):

Then my mom and aunts' group did Humpty Dumpty.  Aunt Olivia (who is in her 70s I may add) was Humpty.  She sat on the back of the chair and fell from there!

I know from stories about their childhood and her altercations with my dad that she's always been pretty bronco.

Liberty opened her gifts, which were very nice and I love the convivial atmosphere of a shower, especially when everyone survives the charades.

Olivia, Liberty, me, Lili, Marianne, Desi and my mom.  I love these women.

After we cleaned up, Liliana (newly engaged and we're all happy about it because we love Josh) had a fitting for her wedding dress in the Relief Society room.  Desi is a master seamstress and used to work at a bridal store altering dresses.  We all weighed in on the fitting and admired how beautiful Liliana looked.  I rode to Starr Valley with Olivia and our mom and Lili.  Adam had already gone.  He'd done a little bit at our house, but mostly visited with my dad.

When we got there, my dad said they'd solved all the problems of the world.

I guess we should have had those two on the case earlier.

Marianne and Robert came over and we visited some more.  It was getting to be late afternoon, so Adam and I left.  We stopped by our house and I measured a wall where I'm contemplating a picture and we both felt a little sad that we weren't staying.  We are planning to be there for several days during spring break.

Adam and I drove home with more podcast and music listening and a stop at Maverik in Wendover because we can't not do that.

Sunday was a nice day.  Church was good and Marie Louise and I did a little family history in the afternoon.  After looking at my own family history, I am getting a bee in my bonnet to go to Sussex and Wiltshire while we're in England this summer.  I presented my idea to Adam and I'm pretty confident if it is possible, he can figure out how to fit it in.

Emma and Mark came over for dinner.  We ate and had a Come Follow Me discussion, then played codenames.  It was old against young and Emma's and Mark's mind align in ways that Adam's and mine do not.

That is all.

It's cold and I have traffic duty and my classroom was very cold on Friday so I'm mustering all my courage to go to school today.

Quilting

 My mom made a beautiful quilt top for Braeden and Anna for a wedding gift.  She used fabric from all of our wedding quilts and it is a treasure.  Anna wanted to learn to quilt and we decided to work on it during Christmas break.  

Yesterday my mom and Olivia and Ruben and Liliana came.  Ruben had an appointment and the rest came to quilt.  My mom brought quilt frames and tacks and needles and her $52 thimble.  My mom doesn't mess around.

She shared her expertise in getting the quilt on the frames.  I'm so grateful for her and Olivia because I 100% would have messed it up.  We all sat around the quilt--even Braeden, which was an unexpected pleasure.  We talked and laughed and quilted and it was sublime.  Adam was our caterer and provided lunch and dinner.

I remember once, years and years ago, quilting with my mom and sisters and both of my grandmas.  It felt like such a rare treat.  I think of my grandmas when I quilt.  Olivia and I talked about how they epitomized unconditional love.  I think of my grandma's grandmas.  Sitting at a quilt feels like a link to them.

I don't know if they had Braeden playing Beatles songs from his phone onto a Sonos speaker while they quilted, but I think a lot of it was much the same.  There's the rhythmic in and out of the needle.  There's the easy conversation.  There's the sharing of scissors and spools of thread.  I love it all.

We're quilting more today.  The only thing that would make it better is if Marianne and her girls were here.  

And my dear grandmas.

Here's the quilt this morning, ready to go.  I'll post more pictures tomorrow.  Adam took some yesterday and I need to get them from him.

Family time

 We were supposed to have a small family reunion on Saturday but it was canceled.  The coronavirus just keeps on ruining stuff.

I still wanted to go to Nevada but I got freaked out by (you guessed it) the coronavirus and I was super busy Saturday getting ready for school to start and also trying to be a contributing member of my family at home.

It's a lot.

We joined a zoom meeting on Saturday with most of my siblings.  We played a trivia game about Tabor and then they presented my parents with the 50th anniversary present we have been working on for years.

A quilt.

There are blocks that represent different events in their life and a quilt block representing each of their children's family.  It was a group effort but my sisters deserve most of the credit because they quilted it.  Both parents cried so, you know, mission accomplished.

After the call, Adam saw my sad face and said, "We can drive there tomorrow."

We didn't have church yesterday and I wasn't planning on doing any school prep or laundry so we made a plan.  Mark ended up staying home with bad allergies so it was just Adam and me, practicing being empty nesters.

(We'll be good at being empty nesters.  We like hanging out together.)

We had lunch with my parents (at separate tables) then my sisters and most their kids came over and we sat distanced apart and visited.  There were no hugs or closeness at all and I don't love that.

But I did love a quick trip to see my dear parents and some of my family.

Fifty years of marriage is a long time, but so is eternity.  I'm glad I'll be with them that long.

Grateful Friday

We are all exhausted at school.  We keep saying to each other, "And school hasn't even started yet...."

The school nurse gave a presentation yesterday and stressed us all out.  A lot.

Every day I get good ideas from my fellow teachers about dealing with masks and face shields.  We are decorating our rooms with splashes of color and cheer but there is a heaviness too as we are physically and mentally hampered by a virus I wish I'd never heard of.

I'm grateful for our principal.  We had our first day of professional development meetings yesterday.  He wore casual clothes and said that after we were done, he was ready to help in our classrooms.  He would lift or load or hang up anything we asked.

He also said, "Summer school was our guinea pig and it worked!  Learning happened.  We can do this!"

I will love when the kids arrive.  They will save us from our stressed-about-the-virus-angst.  (Or at least they will distract us from it a bit.)

***

I'm grateful for my family.  Mark checks me like a barometer when I get home from school and administers hugs as needed.  Adam sustains me when I am spent.  Emma and Braeden and Anna are a witty text away.

I'm grateful for my parents.  They are a dear and loved light in my life.  When I feel gratitude for my siblings (and I do--we're a hard headed opinionated lot but we love each other), I know that credit for the gift of brothers and sisters goes to my parents.

It is Tabor's birthday today.  He's 40 which seems impossible in a little brother who I remember holding the day he came home from the hospital.  Welcome to your 40s.  I hope you like Advil.

We were placed in families for a reason.

Such a lovely time

I didn't take one picture!  Luckily people I love and who love me enough to let me steal their pictures did take pictures.

We had a wonderful weekend in Nevada.

Friday we went to Hyrum's graduation.  It was one of those unique Covid 19 kinds of graduations.  Desi was describing it to her roommate and her roommate was shocked that 1) everyone in the class had a truck and 2) they would then all fit on the football field.

It's Wells, Nevada so of course they all had trucks and I think the baby boomers were the only ones who had classes bigger than twenty something.

The graduates' parents were in the trucks and the seniors were in the truck beds.  They drove around the track and stopped off at a platform to be handed a diploma.  Then they parked on the football field. We stood with the Hyrum fan club outside the fence and I can tell you we were an effective cheering section.

Hyrum's sisters were responsible for decorating the truck 

The handsome graduate!  We are super excited to have him at BYU.  Emma made him a membership card to the Davis Dining Club.  It was pretty fancy.

There was a parade through town after the graduation and the best part of that was Olivia throwing smarties candy at the graduates and missing about 3/4 of the time.

The plan had been to go to a restaurant and celebrate after but I had this terrible allergy attack and we were all pretty tired so we went to Elko to our hotel room and spent a really horrible night.  Sometimes we struggle in hotels.  Mark had the best night and he slept on the sofa bed.

Saturday we went to visit with my parents.  We tried our best to keep our distance.  It was hard to remember to stay away from my mom.  I kept ending up right next to her and would back away.  My mom has been going through bins of pictures and mementos and she gave me some things including some silhouette drawings from when I was in primary, a 16 x 20 inch photo of me as a bald smiley baby and my tithing notebook.  When we were little we had these little spiral tithing notebooks to keep track of how much we owed.  It delights me.  I loved seeing the entries for $.10 here and $.07 there.  I told my dad that I demanded higher wages when I saw that he'd paid me $.70 for hauling wood.  He said he doubted I was worth that much.  I did have a record of my mom paying me $5 for finding some medicine so she was clearly the better one to work for.

In the afternoon we went to Olivia's for a potato salad making party.  I think I've made potato salad in my own home maybe once and I've made it with my mom and sisters many many times.  I love the process of making it.  And with our daughters helping it was speedy quick.  My mom made the dressing and I remembered when I was a little girl and my great grandma Jaynes was the one who made the dressing.  There's no measuring involved.  The matriarchs just intuitively know.

Later, my sisters and Adam and Robert and some of our kids were sitting around talking and it got a little heated as we turned to politics and the state of things.  Our kids were uncomfortable but my sisters and I have been arguing for four decades so we were fine.

At least no one pulled anyone's hair.

Earlier I had had a similarly intense conversation with my parents and I'd cried (because I'd started talking about my students).

I was talking about it with our kids later and I said that I was glad that I'd been raised in a family where we could disagree and express ourselves.  That is a blessing.

That evening we had a dinner to celebrate Hyrum.  Braeden and Anna came in time for those festivities and I loved having them there as well.  Marianne had my parents get their food first.  Then she had the "lucky men who were married to Dahl women" go next.  Robert and Edgar and Adam are a happy (and I should add lucky) trio.  They enjoy being around each other.  I ate dinner with them.  When I sat down, Adam and Robert were talking about the length they liked to mow their lawns.  I almost rethought my decision to join them, but the conversation shifted and I'm glad I stayed.  We stayed into the evening, visiting and enjoying being together.

Sunday was an even better day.  It was the day that Omar was baptized.  He was going to be baptized in Boulder Creek which was a fabulous idea and then the weather didn't agree.

It was cold.  So unseasonably cold.  It had been in the upper 80s on Friday and the high was in the 40s on Sunday.

It was snowing a little that morning and Olivia and her family prayed that it would be sunny for the baptism.

Tabor and Katie, who have moved to Lund, Nevada arrived and we were a happy group.  We gathered in Olivia and Edgar's living room with Robert presiding and my mom on the piano and Marianne leading the singing.  It did not take long until I was in tears.  It was just so nice to all be together and I felt the Spirit strongly as we sang together and some of those kids can sing!

Mark and Hyrum blessed the sacrament and Morgan and Marcos passed it.  There was a wonderful feeling in the room and I felt the purest kind of joy.

Lili gave a sweet talk on baptism and then Olivia and her kids sang a song.  Wow, I'm proud of my sisters.  They are such terrific mothers and women and I'm sorry I used to pull their hair (but they sort of deserved it).

I told Braeden I wanted him to be close and be ready during the baptism.  Boulder was running pretty high and Omar is just a little guy.  Clarissa's husband, Timeon is from Kiribati and since he grew up on an island, he basically grew up in the water.  Clarissa said he would be ready too.  And he was.  He wore a sulu and flip flops and white shirt and tie.  Kiribati is on the equator so you would think Timeon would be too cold for the high desert melted snow rushing past but as all his admiring cousins-in-law decided, he is a beast.

Also, the wind stopped and the sun started shining.

Brave Ruben baptized his little brother.  You can see Timeon downstream behind the bushes being a baptism lifeguard.  It was wonderful and very memorable.  The minute Omar came out of the water, Olivia scooped him up in a blanket and carried him up to Edgar who took him to their warm and waiting car. Ruben wrapped up in a towel and followed and once Edgar was driving away, it started snowing again.

So the takeaway is if you really need something, have the Cobians pray for it.  They got their sunshine.

Here's my sunshine:

Emma snapped this picture of my parents walking to the baptism.  I love it.  The winter parkas look out of place on a June day but I promise they weren't.

We all went back to Olivia's for Omar's confirmation and then a dinner.  Edgar cooked hot dogs and hamburgers outside in the falling snow and Adam joined him in solidarity (and because he likes hanging out with Edgar).

These cousins recreated a picture.  Here is the original:

Ruben, Liliana, Mark and Hyrum--they were all practically doing the splits on that huge horse.

Here they are now (different horse):

Cuties.

The snow kept coming and we decided we should probably hit the road.  Not too far on the other side of Wells, the snow stopped though.

It was 20 degrees warmer in Pleasant Grove than it had been in Starr Valley, but still cold.  Adam wondered if we should turn on our heat.  I said that on principle, we can not turn the heat on in June.

I'm very grateful we got to spend the weekend with our family.  It's been a long time since we've been together and I also loved worshiping with them and being together to celebrate big milestones in their lives.

Families are where it's at.

A fun math problem

We're all about word problems in third grade plus right now we are starting to learn about expressions and equations.

So, what do you get if you have late nights at the theater plus insomnia fueled mornings times too many plus pajama day at school (dress up days are the worst--the kids get so hyped up)?

You get one very short blog post.

I will add a picture though.  These lovely ladies came to Mark's show last night.

Carolina, Desi, Marianne and Mark

I am so grateful to have family come to Mark's show.  For one thing I love to have dinner with them and catch up while we're waiting in the line for the bathroom during the intermission.  Also, it makes me feel loved that they love Mark.

Carolina said, "It was so cute!  I looked down and saw you and my mom wiping your tears."

Hey.  Just wait Lina.  Pretty soon you'll be a shameless crier too.  I think it's your birthright.

Another show

Friday, Braeden, Anna, Emma, Olivia and all her family except Ruben came to Mark's show.

It's one of my favorite shows my kids have been in.  And bonus, I understood more of the story the second time around.

By next Saturday, I'll be an expert.  You can ask me anything.

Omar traded off sitting on Olivia's or Edgar's laps so he could see.  When Marius was singing about being the only one left behind, Omar whispered to Olivia, "I wish Mark had been the one to survive!"

Emma cried when Mark died on the barricade.  I definitely flinch and squeeze Adam's hand, but Emma cried.  She loves her boy.

Some judges from some high school theater association (I don't really understand it) were there so Mark just had a few minutes to greet us then he had to go be "adjudicated" which sounds serious, but drama kids are...well, dramatic.

A few weeks ago, the boys who played the students had a mandatory bonding time that their director insisted on.  They got together and ate pizza and played video games.

I think it worked.

Since we didn't have much time with Mark, we took a quick but requisite picture of Mark and Anna.

Anna reminds me of the lyrics from the kids' song by Justin Roberts Cartwheels and Somersaults.

Well, we never really knew

How much we needed you

We also quickly took this picture and I was fumbling in the weird light and trying to squeeze everyone in and Mark was saying, "I've got to go!"

And his friends were walking by and saying, "We've got to go!"

Some of them are looking at me and some of them are looking at Olivia, but we got them!

Anna, Emma, Mark, Omar, Braeden, Marcos, Liliana and Ammon

Grateful Friday

Emma's surgery was a success.  The last two days have been incredibly long literally and metaphorically, but I know I have a lot to be grateful for.

I'm grateful for modern medicine.

I'm (you don't even know!) grateful she is home from France.

I'm grateful for the power of prayer and priesthood blessings.

I'm grateful for the sustaining power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ because sometimes I feel like I can't even and then I can.

I'm grateful for kind nurses who persist in kindness even when Emma is kind of grouchy (she's been in a lot pain).  I felt humbled when I overheard several conversations in the hall amongst the nurses about who was working on Christmas Day.  One happily said, "I don't have to come in until the afternoon so I'll have Christmas morning!"

I'm grateful we got a great surgeon.  He was not charming but all the nurses told us how lucky we were because he was the best.  One said, "Intimidating, but the best."

I'm grateful for a kind principal who texted me to do whatever I needed to do and not worry about it.  I'm grateful for my third grade team who sent me encouragement and promises that they had everything in hand.  I'm grateful for whoever substituted my class yesterday.  I know it wasn't easy.

While Adam tag teams the hospital scene, I'm going to go into school this morning.  I need to give my kiddos their gifts and hold up my end of the Christmas festivities. With my principal's blessing, I'm going to be a mom the rest of the day.  Emma may or may not get to come home today, depending on her lab results.

Those gallstones did a number on that girl.

I'm grateful for the support that reached over the phone when I talked to my parents and sisters.  I'm grateful for all of my families' texts and the gifs and memes from my brothers (mostly Ron Swanson related).

It all added up to feeling loved.

I'm grateful for my boys who love their sister and would do anything for her.  I'm grateful for the love we all feel from sweet Anna.  She is small in stature but large in heart.

I'm grateful for Adam.  He is a pillar of strength and generous with his insistence I go home and sleep while he takes the night shift.  I felt like a big wimp and a deserter but I was also dizzy and freezing cold and shaky and had a very sore throat.  We both knew I needed sleep and he made it happen.  He is who you want in any crisis.

I'm grateful for the Christmas season.  It is good timing for Emma and me to both have a break for her to convalesce and me to take care of her.  It is also good timing to stop and reflect on how grateful I am for Jesus Christ who sustains us all.

Nervous nellies

Yesterday I talked to Marianne.  She was nervous because Desi was going on a multi-day wilderness survival adventure for a wilderness survival class she is taken for no reason that makes any sense to me.

(I love not camping.)

A few weeks ago, after hearing about it from Marianne, I gave Desi a mini lecture about it (you know, like you do).  She said, "I never should have told my mom about it."

Here's the thing:  two people have died doing the BYU survival trip.  They've made changes to the program since then.

But still.

I was nervous because Mark left for Texas for his Thespian Convention.  He went last year and loved it and was excited to go again.

The Gaylord Texan is a far cry from wilderness survival, but diabetes is dangerous.

This is the first time Mark's been away from both Adam and me and I worry about him managing everything on his own.

Here's what it comes down to:  mommin' ain't easy.

Grateful Friday

What to choose?

There are a lot of things I could write about, but I'll pick siblings.  I'm grateful for mine.  They provide me scaffolding that keeps me up at times.

Looking over some pictures that friends have sent me, I've been delighted by these sibling pictures:

These sweet kids will grow and change and move hither and yon.  They will have hard things happen and celebrate some victories.

I hope they always rely on each other.

Just wow

I didn't take one picture (hey I hired a photographer), but I lifted this one from Facebook my SIL posted.
My heart is full.  So full.  I feel gratitude in abundance.

I don't know if I can adequately get it down but I have to try.

Tuesday morning this was happening:  Emma the makeup artist and Natalie curling her sister's hair.

I love all three of these sweet girls.

Stella and Natalie and I drove to the temple together: two women I'm not technically related to but I feel like I am.

I took two steps out of the car and the strap on my sandal broke.

Stella said, "What size do you wear?"

I said, "9."

"I have some navy blue shoes that are 8 1/2." (My dress was navy blue.)

She dug them out of her suitcase, I threw the broken shoes into the car and away we went.

#1 takeaway from the day:  sisterhood in all its forms is real.

Maybe not the #1 takeaway.  The high point of everything was in the temple.  My feelings leaked right out my eyes.  There was a box of kleenex stationed next to my chair and one next to Amy's.  Not the temple's first encounter with mothers.  I felt immense gratitude that we were at this point.  All the everything Adam and I have ever wanted for Braeden was happening in that moment in that room.  And I realized that there was no way I could have dreamed up a better wife for him.  Sometimes it pays to let your kids make their own choices!

Imagine.

In the temple I also felt immense gratitude for Adam and the love we share and the life we have and the covenants we've made to each other.

There was record breaking heat.  It was 103 outside the temple when we were taking pictures.  My face will be red and shiny in every picture.  Really, I wasn't counting on looking super great in the pictures anyway though.  Photogenic I'm not.

We next went to Magleby's in Springville where Anna's parents hosted a lovely luncheon.  It was delicious and so very nice and my anxiety about the reception started escalating.  Adam and I made an exit.  I got $11 shoes at Walmart because size 8 1/2 shoes were pinching my toes (even though Stella insisted I could just keep them.)

The $11 Walmart shoes were super uncomfortable like you would expect so I ended up wearing my casual sandals I brought to run around in while we were setting up.

By the time Adam and I got to the Art Museum, preparations were in full swing.  I had put Olivia at the helm and her sweet boys were setting up chairs and my friends arrived to start helping.  Marianne showed up with several hundred rolls she'd been sent to Costco for.

Stephanie and I frosted the styrofoam cake and Desi adorned it with flowers and it didn't look half bad!

I felt overwhelmingly loved.  My parents were there helping to entertain Stella (and I backed up to my dad so he could tie my sash on my dress which is what I've done my entire life.)  Ammon and Melanee pitched in prepping food and Ammon left for the store to buy a knife because I forgot to bring one to slice the rolls.  I had a small and effective army of friends manning the kitchen.  They are the type of friends you can just hand things over to.  Every time I turned around I saw one of them refilling ice or water or replenishing the food table.  My darling nieces served me in so many ways.  Desi completely and expertly handled the flowers.  She selected them and ordered them and picked them up and then created an amazingly beautiful bridal bouquet, all the corsages and boutonnieres and decorated the tables and cake.  I didn't even have to think about it.  Emma and Liberty and Liliana and Carolina were her lovely assistants.  And I saw during the reception Savannah, completely without any sort of prompting, clearing dishes from tables.

Emma and Lili and Savannah don't have sisters but I just hope they appreciate the sisterhood they are part of.  Those nieces are a force for good in the world.

My friend Cortney texted me a picture of them dancing:

I appreciated help from Adam's family.  Geri helped prep food on Monday and Megan and Talia took the food to the venue Tuesday morning and Geri and Whitney helped unload the van the next day.

And I would be nothing without my sisters.

Starting Monday they were by my side, bossing me around in all the right ways and helping with the kind of rapid efficiency they excel at.  Tuesday morning I turned around and the food prep was done and Olivia had washed all the dishes.

I don't know how I would live my life without those girls.  Olivia was there til the bitter end and (to the delight and surprise of my friends) I had to bully Marianne into leaving because she was driving all the way back to Nevada. My friends said, "Thelma!  We've never seen this side of you!"

My sisters are the kind of girls that have to be forced to stop helping.  That's all you need to know about them.

The next morning I talked to my sweet mother who has had such a health struggle for so many months it would completely demoralize someone of less fortitude.  She said all the right and reassuring things to me about how it had all gone and then she said, "I'm so sorry I didn't help more.  I really wanted to."

I assured her that I knew that.  I said, "I've met you.  I'm familiar.  I know who you are."

(My sisters got it from somewhere.)

I never quite cooled down from the picture taking.  I went from that inferno to a small respite at the luncheon to running around in the heat again.  (a garden reception seemed so idyllic...in April when we made the arrangements)

Before the reception began, my friend Susan said, "You look very red.  You need to drink some water and sit down."

I outlined the various errands I was running around doing.  She said, "I'm going to follow you until you get some water.  Get some water now."

And true to her word, she tailed me until I had a cup full of ice water in my hand.

And I think Susan was on the right track.  I never cooled down and I think I got a mild case of heat stroke.  When we finally got home, I felt nauseous and had a terrific headache.  I took a cool shower and felt some better.

The next day I delivered gifts of thank you and a plate of brownies to my friends.  Marie Louise and I sat on her front porch (it was about 20 degrees cooler than the previous day, of course it was) and we visited and laughed.  Then I went to Susan's.  I told her thank you for making me drink water. We sat on her couch in her lovely living room and visited and teared up a little when we were talking about things close to our hearts.

I feel blessed to have the people in my life that I have.

(And you know I'll add pictures to this family record that is my blog when I get them.)

(And I'm not sure when I'll stop talking about the wedding.)

Love sweet love

Saturday I attended a family bridal shower for Anna.  It was at her aunt Steph's house.  Braeden had told me repeatedly that I would love Aunt Steph.

When I arrived and I introduced myself to her, she said, "I thought you were going to say you were Braeden's sister, not his mom!"  So yes.  I immediately loved her.

(I don't look too young to be Braeden's mom, but I don't complain if anyone ever says that.)

I got to meet Anna's aunts and grandma and a few cousins.  They are all good people and it feels so comfortable to be around each other.  My mom, grandma, Aunt Launa, Marianne, Olivia and Melanee all came which made me happy.  Weddings are all about love.  There's love between the bride and groom of course, but people that love them also show up and give gifts and love and help celebrate and it's wonderful.

Anna got some very nice gifts and their little nest will be well feathered.  Amy, Anna's mom, made her a beautiful denim picnic blanket.  Growing up, Anna's family always had a denim picnic blanket in their car which Amy's mom had made for her.  The sentimental gift made Anna cry and then that made me cry because I am an empathetic crier who cries when people I love cry.

So I'm a lot of fun....

My mom made Anna a quilt top.  She realized (wisely) that she didn't have the time to make 24 quilts for her grandchildren so she is making them each a quilt top when they get married and they can quilt it however they choose.

The quilt is made of remnants of the wedding quilts that my mom made for each of her children's weddings.  I caught my mom mid expression here, but I'm still posting the picture because I love those two women and that quilt.

My mom's health made it a difficult labor of love to complete and it means a lot to me that she made the beautiful quilt.

After the shower, I had the chance to meet Mark, Anna's dad.  I stood around chatting with Mark and Amy and I realized how likable and easy they are to talk to.  If we were neighbors, we would be friends.  No wonder we love Anna so much!

I gave Anna a ride back to Provo.  We had a great conversation about trials and unanswered prayers and miracles and you know, just idle chit chat like that.  I helped her move the gifts into their apartment which is NEXT DOOR to the apartment where we lived when Braeden was born.  It was bizarre to be back there.  I used to sit right outside those doors with baby Braeden waiting for Adam to come home from work.  What if I'd known that in 22 years he would be living there with his bride?!?

Maybe I already mentioned this.  That apartment we lived in, apartment 8?  We bought the contract from Amy and Mark.  We were in the same ward briefly.  They look vaguely familiar to me but we don't really remember each other.

Mark (Carlson) said we need to find out who lived in the apartment after Adam and I moved out because it is Anna's sister Natalie's destiny to marry their son.

The next two weeks are going to be a wonderful chaotic whirlwind.  I'm going to try to savor every moment and enjoy all the celebrating.

Because the perfect pairing of these two that I love is worth celebrating.

A delightful day

I loved being at the temple with my family.  Unfortunately Katie and Melanee were sick and Adam and Edgar were working, but the rest of us were there.

Olivia, Liberty--the only endowed grandchild not at work, Ammon, Robert, Marianne, my parents, Enoch and Jennifer, me, Tabor

Here's the immediate family:

I was wearing heels!

It took a few tries to get the pictures taken.  The first guy we asked had his thumb in the shot.

Our parents treated us all to Black Bear Diner afterward--including those who had been too young for the temple and Katie who had slept on our bed during the temple trip.

I rehashed more wedding plans with my mom and sisters.  I said that my stress was rising.  My dad kept telling me that I should get a weight for the bottom of my dress.

"What!?!"

He said, "Well, if your dress is rising you need to weigh it down.  You need to be modest."  Then he grinned.

Maybe people like him are why my stress is rising....

At the reunion, our aunts had a basket of snapshots and Marianne took a picture of this gem.

Adam sees pictures of this and asks, "Did you cheeks need glasses?"  Maybe.

Marianne and Olivia decided we should recreate it.  I guess my dad was talking to someone else because when Ammon sat on his lap, he was startled. "What are you doing?!?"

Here we are trying to get into character--Enoch is looking at the photo for inspiration.

Marianne and Olivia and I are all holding our hands up for reasons only known to genetics.

Tabor said he couldn't do it without his superman pajamas.  I wore my sunglasses, the closest I could come to my becoming 80s photogray glasses.

I like being around these people.

What's it like

Sunday afternoon we were sitting around Enoch and Jennifer's living room.  Marianne and I were squished hip to hip in one of those chair and a half situations.  Tabor came in with a pair of pliers.

"Maybe I'll just pull the whole nail off," he said.

That got the interest of all three of his sisters.  "What are you doing?" we asked, disapproving.  That's our initial reaction with our brothers, mostly Tabor.

Katie was at the kitchen table behind us and Tabor explained she had a blood blister under her fingernail and he was going to lance it and drain it.

That was met with a chorus of don't do that from his sisters.  Olivia maintained that he should leave it alone and it would heal.  Marianne told him it was sterile if left alone.  I reminded him of the time he broke his face (after colliding with a mule) and glued himself back together.  "You're not equipped to give medical advice!" I said.

He ignored us.

He lit a match and sterilized a needle (that he was holding with the pliers.)

Enoch was characteristically silent through it all.  He's laid back in every way except when it involves a basketball and maybe his Traeger.  (He is the one who pointed out that Tabor needed to go to the doctor after the mule/broken face incident and Tabor now has a metal plate in his face so I guess Enoch weighs in when it matters.)

Olivia and I kept protesting that Tabor should stop and that he didn't know what he was doing.

Marianne extricated herself from the chair and hurried to Katie's side.  She said, "You need to do deep breathing.  It will help with the pain."

For the first time it occurred to me that Marianne is exactly suited to be a doula.  I can't imagine anyone better at 1) taking charge and 2) advocating for someone.

She had Katie doing deep breathing.  She said encouragingly, "Come on!  Do ridiculous big breaths."

Tabor said, "Stop breathing and wipe up the blood.  I'm done."

"You're done?!?" Marianne and Katie asked in unison and wonder.

"Yes," he said.

Then at two different times he came after me and Olivia with the pliers.

This is what it is like to be among my siblings.

I love those kids.

Today we're going, along with our parents, to the temple together.  We're celebrating my mom's birthday (which was last April).  Why not make the celebration last?

Liberty

Saturday we had the great pleasure of going to the temple with Liberty who is preparing to serve a mission in the Arkansas Bentonville mission.  To know Liberty is to love her.  She is sweet and good and kind and talented and helpful and beautiful all wrapped into one person.

Here is our group after the temple.  Adam was home recovering from a cold so he wasn't with us.  I loved that my grandma was there too.  She worked in the Jordan River temple for 15 years and that has always mattered to me.  I remember staying with her for a week during the summers and she would leave before we woke up some days to go to the temple.

When I went to the temple for the first time (the evening before our wedding) it was in the Jordan River Temple.  My grandma was there.  It was like she was my tour guide in her native land.

Saturday, in the session we were on, I happened to be seated behind Marianne and Liberty and Anna.  Desi was next to me and my mom and grandma were behind me.

My kinswoman.

Speaking of, here are the pillars that hold me up, my sisters:

I was the only one wearing heels.

Below is Liberty pictured with the cute kids who went to the baptistry while the rest of us were on our session.  Mark and Morgan baptized their sisters and each other.  I can't tell you how much I love that.

They were finished before we were and not knowing Grandma Jaynes was in the temple with us, decided to go visit her.  I had the keys to our van with me, but the Johnson's van was unlocked (which is a good thing because the keys were in it).

None of them knew exactly where Grandma Jaynes lived but Emma remembered Winchester Street, Carolina remembered there was a Chick-fil-a and Morgan remembered there was a loop on the freeway nearby.  They used google maps and triangulated a location.

They're pretty smart; even though Grandma wasn't home, they found her house.

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.

Snowy day

Neither Adam nor I had work yesterday (I never do on Mondays, Adam didn't because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day).  Mark didn't have school but had rehearsal all day.

And it was snowy!

Here's the view (between the slats of the blinds) from my office:

It was beautiful and I felt grateful that we have cars that can make it up our street.

Adam took Mark to the school (Mark drove) and Mark got his first taste of treacherous roads and an increased respect for driving carefully, even when you're driving a Subaru.

I picked Adam up at the school and he went with me to Salt Lake for my hair appointment.

Braeden sent this cute picture of him and Anna:

So Adam and I took a (possibly less cute) picture and sent it:

Our next door neighbor called Adam and said that he had come over with his snowblower and cleared off our driveway and sidewalk and accidentally cut an extension cord our Christmas lights guys had left behind by our steps.

We have good neighbors (and even if the extension cord had been super important, neighbors that are that kind are more important).

When we got home Adam went to Provo to spend time with Braeden (they went grocery shopping including Adam picked up things Emma texted him that she needed...he's a good dad) and I stayed home and did the cleaning I didn't do Saturday.

It was beautiful and peaceful and quiet:

I love a good snowstorm when I am in my warm house.

Marianne and Carolina were in town and Marianne wanted to take us all to dinner.  We met up at a Thai restaurant with all of our college kids and had a marvelous time.

I asked Marianne what she was doing the next morning and she said going to the temple.  I said, "So does this mean you won't do traffic duty for me?"

Rats.

The kids left (the Johnson girls went to the Hale Theater; Braeden, Emma and Zack went back to Provo and Mark went to the car to sit with the seat heat and snooze). Marianne said, "We should move to Pleasant Grove so I could see my kids all the time like you do."

DO IT!

Adam and Marianne and I sat around talking.  We kind of forgot about Mark.  Like he said, "It's not the first time that has happened."

We had a nice time chatting and decided someday we would go on a couple couple mission together.  Marianne said, "OK, but let's serve somewhere warm like Hawaii."

Maybe we should make it a triple couple mission and have Olivia and Edgar go too.  We could go to Mexico and let Olivia and Edgar do all the talking.  (I'll make cookies for people.)

Dolls and freckles

Little girls with dolls and freckles.  That's what we were once upon a time.  It blessed my life to be born between the two powerhouses that are my sisters and it continues to bless my life.

They were my best friends growing up, the ones I told my secrets to and the ones who told me frankly when what I was wearing didn't work.  At. All.  They never minced words.

They have also always been my biggest champions and supporters and comforters.

What I didn't anticipate is how their husbands would bless my life too.  They both married stellar men whom I love.

Yesterday Robert, fresh off his trip to Hawaii where he broke a finger and had emergency surgery in addition to seeing his eldest daughter married, got up early early to drive here so he could ordain Adam to the office of a high priest.

Despite the similarities between Marianne and me, when we were all newly married and living in the same ward in Provo, someone asked if Adam and Robert were brothers.  And they are brothers in every way that matters.

After church we sent Robert on his way in a blizzard with a sandwich and our gratitude.  Back when I was borrowing Marianne's clothes and holding the steering wheel on the way to seminary while she was applying her mascara, I never could have imagined what a blessing her someday husband would be to our family.

The highlights

(Some of these pictures are mine and some of them are nabbed from Olivia and Facebook.)

Our quick trip to Nevada was memorable and exhausting and wonderful.

Friday morning we left early and made it in time for the Ladies' Brunch at Olivia's.  We stopped at the school in Wells to pick up Lili for the brunch.

If I were to pick up Mark from school, I would have to carefully identify him by name and grade level and then I'd have to show a picture ID and they'd make sure I was on the list of people that could pick him up.

I walked up to the office window and before I could say a word, the secretary (who I don't know) said, "You must be here for Liliana."  (I must look like my sisters.)

I said yes and she had me sign a roster and that was all there was to it.

The brunch was lovely as usual.  Everything was festive and beautiful and the food was spectacular.  I just love the convivial atmosphere of mothers and daughters and aunts and sisters and cousins and nieces.  They are my people.  Aunt Olivia came too which was wonderful.  Olivia has us go around the table and talk about our past year and what we're looking forward to and our end of the table always cries.

There's just something about all being together and saying things that all of us know anyway and all the love around the table.  It makes us emotional.

Or maybe there's some allergen at Olivia's house that makes our eyes water.

It could go either way.

We also laugh quite a bit.  Here's a picture of three sisters losing it and one daughter/niece thinking we're crazy:

After, we headed back to my parents' to pick up our menfolk.  They had been helping my dad in an archaeologist dig under their house.  The back of my dad's truck was full of old toys, destined for the dump.  My parents said I could have anything I wanted.  I loved seeing things but the only thing I pocketed was a Weeble.  Because Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.

I got to finally meet the groom, Timeon and he was every bit as great as I'd been led to believe.

We went to town and the mighty decorating began.

I was kind of in charge but eventually felt uncomfortable with people giving me credit because it was very much a group effort.  I never could have done it alone.  We stayed there until late afternoon, went back to my parents' for dinner then to the Club Hall for the Starr Valley Christmas program.

My mom wrote the original Nativity script way back when and I could recite it to you right now; it's imprinted into my brain.  My dad made the manger they still use and some of the decorations on the tree are the same I remember from the 70s.

It was good to be back.

Olivia ran the show this year (usually Marianne does too but her kids have aged out/she had one or two other things going on) and did a fabulous job.

I loved it.

Saturday morning we had a scalloped potato making party at Marianne's.  We had teams and Adam and Robert were the champions.  (Emma and I made a respectable showing.)

In the afternoon, it was back at the church for setting up and preparing.  It all came together in a lovely way.

Desi and Liberty did all the flowers and they were AMAZING.  My children were silly and made McDonald's runs (also they helped a lot with set up.)

I loved this picture I snapped before the reception began.  The happy couple and my dad.  

Emma and Braeden with Adam in the background who apparently missed his calling as an announcer.  

Teamwork makes the dreamwork.  It was a lucky day when I got in the same line as these two before coming to earth.

When I was pinning Marianne's corsage on her, I said, "Can you believe this is happening?  Your daughter's wedding?  I feel like we're grownups."

It's blurry but this is me holding sweet Boston.  He's basically sweetness with blue eyes.

I love these two!

Robert's sister, Deborah, took pictures and she is amazing.  She had the bridesmaids pose like this:

So these goofballs tried to do the same:

At one point during the reception (I think after we'd watched a video of the happy couple with some sweet words at the end by Timeon), Braeden said to me, "I don't know why I'm so emotional."

I said, "It's a big deal.  A family is being created."

Braeden nodded, "Yes.  It is really sacred."

And it was.  The adoration of the new couple, the encouragement of a community who showed up to celebrate, the amazing women in the kitchen who worked so hard, and the large extended family of Clarissa's who opened their arms and welcomed Timeon.

Dahl Family

Johnson Family

We were all there out of this huge love and that's sacred.

Sunday was also a big deal.

Before church, Adam ordained Mark to the office of priest.  We had permission to do it in Nevada so Mark could have his uncles and grandpa and Hyrum there.  I loved feeling the goodness of those men as they surrounded my sweet son.  What a blessing it is in life to have righteous men to look up to and through them, to feel the power of the priesthood.

Enoch unfortunately didn't make it in time because of snowy roads.

It's a wonderful life.

Deseret spoke in church and I cried the entire time.  She is just this embodiment of light and truth.  Every word she said was so good (I'm guessing the Cantonese words were good because she spoke a little Cantonese too).

After, we had a big ward dinner and then we headed back home.

That much concentrated joy can wear a person out.