The day Emma sang for the devotional and I (accidentally) got fancy photo skills

Emma had vaguely mentioned that she was singing in a devotional but I didn't know the exact date.  Luckily my mom called me to tell me (she'd seen on Facebook).

I alerted Nola (because Sara also hadn't told her mom).

Sheesh.  We're these girls' biggest fans so why are they so reluctant to show off?

I had my fingers poised over the keyboard so I could take a screenshot if I saw Emma.  Adam scoffed a little and said that we could always re-watch it.

I said, "No, this is the only chance ever.  If I don't take a picture now, that's it."

Adam didn't say anything.  

I think sometimes he is rolling his eyes on the inside but he hides it well.

I took this screen shot of Emma--I added the snazzy heart over her face, because I'm snazzy.

I love watching her sing.  She feels the music deeply and just sings her little heart out.

I took this picture off the BYU Women's Chorus Facebook page (which is the true hero in this story, next to my mom):

Happy talented pretty musical girls.  I love it.

The best picture I took was when I tried to take a screenshot of Sara so I could show Nola.

In the middle of my screenshot, the picture was changing from the girls singing to Sister Applonie directing.

And that, my dears, is me being accidentally fancy.

Mr. Braeden goes to Washington

Our plane arrived in Baltimore at around 11:00 PM on Thursday night.  The last time I flew to Baltimore with Braeden he was 7 months old.  Can I just say this was easier/more pleasant?  He hefted my suitcase to the overhead bin.  He provided nice conversation and showed me funny memes on his phone and he didn't cry one time.  Not even at takeoff and landing.

So that was different than the last time.

We told Stella that we would take Uber to the rented house because our arrival was so late.  She wouldn't hear of it.  And if there's one thing I know it's that you don't argue with Stella.

She picked us up and then wondered if we wanted to go see the monuments at night.

Yes!

So we drove by the temple, all lit up on the beltway, then into Washington, D. C.  By then it was well past midnight and we pretty much had the streets to ourselves.

We got to the house at 2:30 AM.  Stella?  She loves the nightlife.

Friday we did more sightseeing.

I loved the sassy license plates in our nation's capitol.

Taxation Without Representation

We took the metro which was remarkably clean.  (My last experience on subway transit was in Paris and ew.)  Our first stop was the top floor of the W Hotel which Stella knew about as a photo op spot.

Here's Braeden overlooking the back side of the White House

We went down to the Mall and saw all the sights.

There's the Washington Monument in the background which we didn't quite get all of. Selfies are hard.  Even when you have long arms like Braeden.

I texted a picture of Braeden and the White House to Fam-a-lam and then Emma magic happened.

Getting that girl a cell phone was a wise move.  Entertainment for days.

I hadn't seen the World War II Memorial before and it is beautiful:

I posed by the Nevada:

Braeden and Stella by Virginia:

And then Braeden between North Carolina and Virginia, the two states in his mission.

I said, "Smile!"

He said, "I'm trying to be like D. Trump.  When in Rome."

Sigh.

We visited the Vietnam Memorial on our way to the Lincoln Memorial.

My little (maybe not so little) political science major was pretty much in love with the whole place.

I took a picture of him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, as a companion to this other picture we have:

He was more alert this time around....

By then we were getting tired so Stella hailed a cab and we took that to the Jefferson Memorial.  The cab driver was from Ethiopia and Braeden and Stella had a good visit with him and the introvert in the back seat pretty much kept her mouth shut.

Stella calls the memorials "Mr. Lincoln" and "Mr. Jefferson" and it's a toss up between which one I love more.

We took another cab to the Capitol and this time the driver was from Pakistan.  Again Braeden and Stella chatted with him.  I admire and don't possess those skills of easy conversation with strangers.  There's a reason why people like Stella and Braeden have so many friends.

The Capitol was closed for the day by the time we got there.  Stella and I found a place to sit and Braeden said, "I'm just going to go touch it."

That's him down in front.

Taking Braeden to Washington was sort of like taking Emma to Paris.  The stuff of dreams.

My cup runneth over

Braeden and I got home last night from our Washington, D.C. trip.

I wish I had better words to describe it but I will have to do my best.

Mostly I felt like I did this small thing.  A little sacrifice.  I sent my dear son away on a mission.  It wasn't easy.  I missed that kid and it felt physically painful to drop him off at the MTC.  But I did it, because it was what I was supposed to do.  I wanted us to be obedient.  I guess I hoped Braeden would benefit from the experience.

So I did that small thing and I never expected the enormous blessings and rewards that would result.  I didn't know I would end up with dear friends.  Over and over in my life, I realize the rewards for our obedience and efforts always outpace any offerings we make.  It makes me feel puny but also incredibly loved by a Heavenly Father who blesses His children.

Braeden baptized Stella last year on September 10.  Somewhere along the line he said, "Can I come back here when Stella goes to the temple?  And also I promised her I would."

So that was that.

And also Stella is part of our family now and I got to go too.

Saturday we went to the temple.  We had the baptism and confirmation performed for Renée, who is Stella's beloved daughter-in-law who passed away several years ago.  Braeden performed the temple work for Christopher, Stella's son who has also passed away.  I can't wait for Christopher and Braeden and Mark to meet.  Stella and I have a lot in common and one thing is that we adore our sons.

I was honored to be Stella's escort while she did her own temple ordinances.  In short order she had every temple worker we talked to in love with her.  Because that's how she is.

There is no one in the world like Stella.

People from the Salem ward who love Stella and threw their arms around Braeden in a happy reunion came from Virginia Beach to be with Stella.  I loved all of them.  Not just because they told me I looked young enough to be Braeden's sister, but that helped....

After our wonderful day at the temple we went back to the house Stella rented for us.  Some friends from Virginia Beach joined us for Chinese food takeout and we sat around the table and talked.  Stella related some of her experiences leading up to her baptism and then the Heinzelmans (I really don't know if I'm spelling that correctly) told us the story of their conversions.  It was astounding.  Hearing the experiences of these good and intelligent and truth seeking people, it was clear to me that Heavenly Father loves them.  He loves His children.  He wants us back.

Every insignificant and temporary worry that plagues me seemed to float right away.  I felt the perspective of what matters most.  I felt filled up with light.  I felt increased love for Adam and our children and really everyone.

This is what matters.

This is where it's at.

Grateful Thursday

I'm a day early this week because I won't be around tomorrow.  Braeden and I are flying to Washington, D. C. later today.

I'm excited.

And nervous.  (Because I'm always a little nervous before I take a trip.)

I'm also very grateful.

We are going there to see Stella.  We're going to stay in a house with her that's she's rented for the occasion.  I'm looking forward to visiting with her.  Mostly, we are going so we can go to the temple with her.  What a crowning event in the life of a former missionary!  I'm thrilled that I get to be there with Braeden.  And most importantly Stella!  She is an amazing woman, full of light.  She is prepared to take this next step and I'm honored we get to be there alongside her.

I'm grateful to Adam for encouraging us to go and making it possible. 

I'm grateful to Mark for walking home from rehearsal later since Adam will be dropping us at the airport.  He's a good kid.

Other things happened this week.  Monday we hosted around 30 neighbors for a potluck dinner at our house.  I hadn't met some of them and didn't know some of them well.  It was nice to get together.  (And finally put a face with the Lamborghini house--Mark was especially interested in getting to know who lives in that house.)

Tuesday we went to Emma's choir concert.

(I took this from Facebook.  She looks deceptively tall in this picture.  She isn't.  She was in the second row, on the floor in front of the risers and I couldn't see her.  I caught a glimpse every once in a while to know where she was standing but I couldn't see her face.  I suggested she bring a box to stand on next time.  I'm not sure if she'll obey....)

The concert was amazing.  I always love the PGHS choir concerts and this one really kicked it up a notch from that.  It was a showcase of all four choirs, Women's Chorus, Men's Chorus, Concert Choir and BYU Singers.  I thoroughly enjoyed each.  Three boys Braeden graduated with were in Men's Chorus and it was fun to see them singing again.  (They were all in PGHS Chamber Choir.)

After the concert Emma was sparkly with her dangly earrings and shiny costume.  She was also lit from within, delighted to have sung with her choir.

If there's anything better than happy children, I don't know what it is.

Choose your hard

The other day I saw this meme:

I've been thinking about it ever since and thinking of all the applications to life.

Exercising is hard.

Being unhealthy is hard.

Choose your hard.

Remembering to floss is hard.

Having gum disease is hard.

Choose your hard.

Cleaning up is hard.

Never being able to find anything in your messy house is hard.

Choose your hard.

Forgiving is hard.

Staying angry is hard.

Choose your hard.

School is hard.

Being uneducated is hard.

Choose your hard.

Making time for the most important things is hard.

Not having the most important things is hard.

Choose your hard.

Being part of a family is hard.

Being all alone is hard.

Choose your hard.

I could go on an on and on.  I have got to remember to choose the right hard.

How the rest of the weekend went

Adam and Braeden and Mark went to the Priesthood Session of conference so Emma and I hung out together Saturday evening.  We went to Magelby's for dinner.  We predicted how many men would be in the entire restaurant (which was packed).  I guessed three and she guessed six.  There were five.

Sitting across the table, Emma and I chatted and I just enjoy being with that girl.  We talked about BYU and her future plans and her friends.

On the way home we stopped at Walgreens for a prescription for me and my ring ding eye.  The pharmacy was closed but good news!  We didn't go home empty handed.  Emma bought a little cat that was painted to celebrate Dia de los Muertos.  I don't like Halloween but Day of the Dead is better.  I like the bright colors.  Emma named the cat Josefeline.  Because she's my clever girl.

I tried to convince her to stay the night and she didn't want to.  I had her give me five good reasons why she should drive back to Provo and she only came up with four.  I said I would give her five good reasons why she should stay and I could only think of four also.

The boys came home and I asked, "Braeden, are you staying here tonight?"

He said, "Heck yes!"

I said I was trying to convince Emma to stay and Braeden said, "You know guilt won't work."

And yes I do.  Emma was packing up her belongings (and Josefeline) and I said, "Emma, you know you're the most stubborn person in the world."

She said, "Yep."

Adam and Braeden and Mark and I stayed up late, talking.  We talked about the past year or so for our family and the lessons we've learned from some of the craziness.

I'm grateful for our family.  I love our children with a fierce mama bear love but I also just really really like them.  The older they get, the more they feel like friends.

Sunday we went across the street to the Porters for a brunch and to watch the first session of conference together.  It was an amazing spread of food.  Nola said she likes it better than Thanksgiving.  Between sessions of conference, we were treated to a concert by all the talented kids.  There was singing and piano playing and cello playing and more singing.  Garrett, one of the Porters' friends from IN who is attending BYU, played the piano laying on his back on the piano bench with his hands crossed above his head.  Maple Leaf Rag.  It was awesome.

We headed back across the street to watch the final session of conference, uplifted by the spiritual feast of conference, the literal feast from brunch and the wonderful talented kids.

I just love General Conference.  The older I get the shorter it seems to last.  I can't wait to read the talks and remember the way I felt.  I aspire to be more and to do better.

The kids stayed around until about 9:30 Sunday night.  We ate and played games and made plans and Adam crushed everyone's dreams at Yahtzee.

Life with Braeden

That pretty much sums it up.

Braeden was having two of his mission friends stay with us Friday night.  Then they were going to have "dates" (at our house, watching General Conference--hence the quotation marks).  We were going to feed them all lunch and then they were going to hike between sessions.

Change of plans.

Now there were three boys staying.

Change of plans.

One of the girls was staying in Centerville (none of these kids are from here).  They decided instead of watching conference here, for the dates, they'd go to Salt Lake City for it.  So now they just wanted a quick breakfast-while-going-out-the-door-early and wouldn't be eating lunch with us after all.  I bought muffins.

Change of plans.

Now the girl is staying in Provo rather than Centerville.  Breakfast and lunch were back on (as of 11:30 on Friday night).  Adam took a late night WinCo run for provisions.  So one car would go to Provo to get her and another car would go to Eagle Mountain to get Braeden's date.

Change of plans.

Nope, she's not in Provo, she's in Alpine.  (I'm telling you, this girl is a nomad.)  So Braeden and BJ went together to get the girls.  One boy left super early to go to conference in person and another was here for the first half of conference then he went to Salt Lake City too.

Change of plans. 

They needed to eat lunch QUICKLY because they decided to go to Salt Lake for the afternoon session.

It was dizzying.

But also really great.

Some of the group at breakfast:  Nate (aka Elder Nipco), Braeden (aka Elder Davis) and BJ (Elder Turley).  They called each other by their missionary names.  At one point, one of the girls said, "You can call me Makalai."  BJ said, "OK, but I'm going to need some time Sister Weibye."

The boys were super polite and easy to talk to and I loved the easy camaraderie they had with each other.  At 11:00 on Friday night they called one of their former investigators (who now lives in California) to wish him a happy birthday.

Braeden apologized to me for the craziness.  I told him (quite truthfully) that we welcomed the adventure.

Ever since he was three years old and asked me to call all his friends so they could perform a play on the stage at the stake center, that kid has been orchestrating things.  And I just buckle up and enjoy the ride.