You've had a (half) birthday shout hurray!

Yesterday Mark celebrated 15 1/2 years.  We all celebrated having him in our lives for 15 1/2 years.

Everybody loves Mark.

A whole lot.

We had a nice day.  He had to wait until Emma got home from her afternoon YSA ward before he opened his gifts which was sorely trying.  He is a present shaker so he was convinced he was getting a Lego set.  (It was really Dr. Pepper jelly beans. Ha!)  He also got some vinyl.  Adam and I picked up a Beatles record and a Toto record at Goatfeathers in Boulder City, NV.  His siblings gave him a new speaker since his had died (from overuse--the boy loves music!).

So we prepared dinner to the sounds of Rosanna by Toto.

Emma taught us how to play a stressful version of solitaire.

they don't plan it, they always just pose in similar ways--maybe it's the weirdo DNA they share

Everyone has their own deck but we place piles in the middle and count who placed the most.  (Every deck needs to be different.)  It is fast paced and fun.  (And you know I'm only bringing it up because I won.  Both times we played.)

I made a wonky chocolate cake (we decided to call it a cobble cake because I had to cobble the broken layers together).  Someday I may decide that I shouldn't be the type of person that makes layer cakes but for now, I'll persevere.

Also, maybe someday I'll remember we are out of birthday candles and buy some more.  I lit a pillar candle and Braeden laughed and said if the candle isn't on the cake, it looks like a funeral.  I told him it's like the LDS churches in New England.  The locals won't let them have tall steeples so they put the steeples next to the churches.

Here's Mark asserting his dominance with a T pose while he blows out the candles.  I don't know.

I hope that kid's every wish comes true.

We took a lovely walk on the lovely much cooler day (it felt like October and we welcomed the heat reprieve).

I'm glad we celebrate half birthdays.  For one thing, twice the cake.  Also, it's nice to celebrate these kids that I love.  Mark is the one I've spent the most time with and the one that is constantly surprising me.  He's even-keeled and pleasant and energetic and kind.

I'm glad he's mine.

Grateful Friday

I'm grateful for my boys.

Yesterday Mark and I headed out to go see Braeden.  These summer days spent with Mark are good for me.  We're just two compatible souls.

We were looking forward to Braeden.

We picked him up at the Wilkinson Center and I asked, "Where do you want to go?"

He said, "I want a huge cup of water and some ice cream."  Then he added, "Oh, did you mean that?"

Yes.

So we went to Wendy's.  Braeden showed us memes from Emma's friend Miles' instagram account.  It's a tangled web, but we were cry-laughing in the Wendy's line because that kid is straight up funny. Braeden hasn't ever met him but "really wants to."

Judging from the crazy pants memes, I think I need to keep Miles and Braeden apart.

I took a picture of Braeden, who was not all that sunburned but needs a haircut, to send to Emma to prove that her report was fake news:

I've missed that cute boy.

Braeden and I each got a little mini frosty, Braeden got a big cup of ice water and Mark got:

I don't know.  I sat across from him two hours before this picture and he ate two sandwiches for lunch.

Braeden told us fond stories of the boys he is a counselor over.  It sounds like some of them are mischievous but it also sounds like Braeden is up to the challenge.  He said that he told some of them he was going to go see his mom.  They said, "We want to meet your mom!"

So he took a picture to show them. (I'm sure that really...thrilled them.)

Braeden tells Mark he needs to go to EFY and Mark looks at me like, "Here we go..."

We dropped Braeden off at Stover Hall so he could take a nap and Mark and I headed to Costco.  He gathered up samples and brought them to me while I shopped and then he carried in all the groceries when we got home which was no small feat.

I guess his multi-lunch policy has an upside.  The boy is strong.

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Here's what Braeden texted last night.

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I'm grateful for my girl.

This conversation happens at least daily.

Me:  What are you doing/what have you been doing/what are you doing tonight?

Emma:  My best

Every time.

Emma wrote a new song this week.  This time it is on the piano not the guitar.  It is haunting and lovely and just writing a song feels like something magical and beyond me.

We wrapped Mark's half birthday gifts (and Emma got clever with writing half of the word birthday):

While we were in a gift wrapping mood, we also wrapped some Father's Day gifts for Adam.  We had fun with Washi tape. (His initials are AND so we like to add a good ampersand.)

I showed Adam and he said, "Is Father's Day this week?"

I'm just early, OK?

This afternoon after I drive kids to youth conference as a substitute YM president (Adam), Emma and I are going to go to Oceans 8.

It's nice to have my girl.

Just because

Here are two pictures Braeden has texted me from EFY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Because I can.

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

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

Because he can.

This is summer

I am sitting on the deck this morning.  It's warmish but as cool as it's going to be.  We've entered that time of year.  Stupid hot.

When I look at my weather app on my phone, I have Snohomish there too, just because.  It's a lot of cloudy and rainy there (June gloom/June-uary) and then I don't mind the heat so much.

Because June should be hot and sunny and summery.  That is how the world makes sense to me.

Yesterday I had one of the worst migraines I've ever had.  I was fine in the morning.  Mark and I took our little hike on the hill behind our house, I weeded and watered my flowers.  I talked on the phone with Marianne.  My sweet tutoring students came over and that's when it started to hit me.  I guess because I was tutoring, I couldn't do the normal things I do to stave off migraines so it hit me like a freight train.

Mark was the only one home and he was sympathetic and kind and quiet.  Which is the most you can hope for when you have a migraine.  I retreated to Braeden's room which felt like the coolest and darkest place in the house.

Braeden called during a short break from EFY.  It was hard to talk on the phone but I put him on speaker and it was good to hear his voice.  He was also sympathetic and kind.  He asked me if there was anything he could do for me.  And there wasn't, but I appreciated him all the same.

Mark came to check on me and was fussing over me and wondering if I had a fever.  He asked me about three times if he should call Adam at work.  I wanted nothing more than Adam to come home from work, but it was about 3:00 in the afternoon.  I said no.

Mark walked upstairs and Adam walked in the door.  He came downstairs and found me and I was shocked to see him.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I just felt like I should come home," he said.

That has never ever happened before and I felt loved both by him and Heavenly Father who I think nudged him to go home.  He gave me a priesthood blessing and the tide started to turn.

Emma got home from work shortly after that.  She said, "Do you want a hug?" and of course I did.  Emma's hugs are priceless.  Adam instructed her to make me some toast and I said I didn't want any.

Adam said too bad.

And it did help to eat a little (even though I could only manage about three bites).

Slowly and gradually I started to feel better.

In the evening, we drove over to the Swensons where Emma and Rose and Fiona were working on a chalk drawing.

When we drove away, Adam said, "Those girls are perfect friends for Emma."

It is kind of amazing that our kids always seem to find their people.

I felt like I'd missed an entire day and I kind of had.  In my absence, Mark finished one book and then started and finished another book over 500 pages.  That kid is an anomaly.  He won't read.  When I insist, he'll pick up Calvin and Hobbes or Car and Driver magazine and say, "I'm reading, OK?"

But then when he decides he wants to read, he inhales books like they're oxygen.  I don't know.

Also, as a correction:  the book that started Mark on this reading odyssey was not one I bought him, Braeden bought it for himself.  (He texted me that after he read my blog.)  I guess I was thinking of The Beyonders, or any other of the many books I bought Mark that he won't read.  (If you write inaccurate things about your kids, they'll correct you.  That's science.)

When I was out on the deck with Adam last night, I lamented that I'd wasted the whole day.  He said, "It's fine.  You didn't let anyone down."

And that's summer.

Also summer?  There's a man size footprint on our freezer.

I noticed it this morning.  I blame either Braeden or Mark.  (Adam also has man-sized footprints but I'm giving him more credit than that.)

Summer is nice.

Even when you have a migraine.

I'm going to go wipe off my refrigerator now....

Summer reading update

First of all, Worm Patrick got some stickers!

I have to give credit where it is due.  I bought Dragonwatch for Mark a long time ago and he never read it.  Then Braeden noted it on the shelf and read it.  Then Emma read it.  Then Adam read it.  Finally, Mark decided to see what the fuss was all about and he read it.  It's nice to have positive peer pressure sometimes. Also, when we were gone, Braeden enforced silent reading time.  He's very much an oldest and bossy sibling type of guy.  (Except no one--and I mean no one--can boss Emma around.)

Speaking of Emma, I read Heartless by Marissa Meyer for book club in February.  I didn't love the book but I thought Emma would like it so I put it in her room after reading it.

Since she finally had time for reading that wasn't a textbook, she read it.  She was for sure enjoying it, until the end.

Late one night she finished and left this note outside my bedroom door.

Then I felt like sort of a heartless mother for giving her a book to read that made her sad and angry.

(I did redeem myself because she also read and liked a book I gave her for Christmas.)

Las Vegas

Friday after our various work was finished, we looked into going to a show.  I filtered my search by "family friendly" because ick. We'd heard good things about Donny and Marie's show.  We found discounted tickets.  We almost pulled the trigger, but it turns out we are both as tight fisted as each other.  We couldn't do it.  Sure, it was probably a great show, but was it $163 great?  Probably not.

It's nice to be compatible with your husband on such things.  There are other things we'd rather spend our $163 on.

We looked into going to a movie but there was nothing there that grabbed our attention either.  We're kind of picky about what movies we'll actually see in a theater (see tight fisted, above).

We decided to go exploring.  We saw the water show at the Bellagio, which was impressive.  We wandered through the Hershey's store and the Swatch store.  (I loved the Swatch store because of the nostalgia!  I loved my Swatch watches back in the day even though I couldn't really tell time on them.)

I texted this to Mark from the Hershey's store (although we both knew I wasn't seriously going to buy him any.)

That kid loves chocolate though.

We walked into the Coca-cola store and almost bought about 30 things, but didn't and we went to the M&M store which was pretty awesome, but again, we didn't buy anything.

We'd had about enough of the strip and its offerings and for sure didn't want to be there after dark.  Also, when you're a mom and have a definite mom look about you, no one hands you any of the repellent things they are trying to hand out on the Las Vegas strip.  I would just give them a look, by which I meant to say, "Do you want me to tell your mother?" and people sort of gave me a wide berth.

We happily left the strip and went for a drive.  We ventured into downtown Las Vegas which we'd never seen before.  It reminded us of Palm Desert (if Palm Desert had casinos) and was an interesting place--much more like the rest of the Nevada casinos I've been to.  Less over the top opulent and more Nevada casino.  I don't know how to describe it.

Anyway.

From there we went to the Las Vegas temple.  What a difference!  I loved it.  We walked around the grounds and felt peace and I decided maybe I did think it was possible to enjoy living in Las Vegas.  The plants and flowers were beautiful and it felt like a calm oasis.

We went to dinner after that and I loved observing the teenaged waiters and waitresses who spoke perfect English with no hint of an accent but then slid easily into perfect Spanish depending on the customers.  Bilingual kids impress me.

Saturday we went to the masters' graduation for WGU.  I maybe cried a little.  One of the speakers was a graduate who came to the U.S. illegally as a child.  In first grade she cried every day because she couldn't understand but her teachers patiently and kindly helped her and soon she learned English.  She wanted to be a teacher but because of her illegal status, she couldn't.  She finally was able to get citizenship and attend WGU while working.  Now her dream of teaching is realized.

I really like that Adam works there and that he is doing his little bit to help change lives.

After that we went to Boulder City, but not Hoover Dam, which is probably something few people do.  What can I say?  We're mavericks.  We ate lunch at a little kitschy restaurant that was good and then poked around the town a bit.  High on my list was to visit Goatfeathers and let me say.  It did not disappoint.

This is one of the ladies working at the store and yes, it was a little alarming when she was carrying around a gun and another guy that worked there told her it had been loaded for 6 months and she almost dropped it.

Adam surreptitiously took a picture because what else are you going to do under those circumstances?

We went to another antique shop and drove around the town and looked at the sights.  It was fun.

After we had exhausted all the Boulder City things to do, we returned to Las Vegas and Adam went to the afternoon undergraduate graduation and I read my book.

(It's a good book.)

When he was done we didn't feel like facing the strip again so we went to the Bass Pro Shop.  I mean, why not?  We are neither hunters nor fishers and I hate camping.  What's not to love?

I told Adam we had to buy one thing.  Hah!  We bought three.  (Also, Adam investigated the pontoon boats which was not what I had in mind when I said we had to buy one thing.) We texted pictures to our kids (which they didn't find as funny as we did.)

We went to Von's to buy dinner stuff and felt Safeway nostalgia because Von's and Safeway are the same.  That basil, pesto, sun-dried tomato pasta salad could change the world.

It was a relaxing enjoyable time, just the two of us, doing nothing significant.  It was the kind of vacation you return home from ready to conquer life.  (Which is a good thing because by life I mean laundry pile.)

Grateful Friday

I texted a picture of my necklace (plus unfortunate freckly skin) to Braeden because he gave me the necklace and I am in Las Vegas.

Home means Nevada to me.

(Although I like the un-Las Vegas parts of Nevada more.)

Still.

I'm grateful to be here with Adam.  He's good company.  Yesterday we had a pleasant drive, listening to podcasts and I realized that although I can't read while riding in a car, I can embroider.  So that's happy.

We didn't have time to leave me at the hotel before Adam had a work thing so we went straight to Paris Hotel and Casino where his conference was.  We parted ways and I tried to find a comfortable place to read and I hate to ruin the surprise for anyone but maybe casinos aren't the best places to find a comfortable place to read.  I did OK though.  After about an hour and a half, I started checking Pinterest on my phone because I had...read for an hour and a half.

I found this quiz, which seemed sort of like the kind of quiz one should take in a Las Vegas Casino:

Then I rethought my life choices (because that's the only thing you can do after taking quizzes on Pinterest) and read until Adam was done.

We're staying in a quiet Residence Inn away from the strip and any time we go to a Marriott (brand loyalty!), it feels a little like coming home.

Today Adam has a few meetings and I have my two online math courses to work on.  There's an outlet mall on the same block as the hotel.  I told Adam I may "take a walk" later.

Before I go though, here's something else I'm grateful for:

MOD pizza!

It was one of our favorite restaurants in Washington and they have opened a few in Utah now, one in American Fork!  Happy days!

Wednesday we went to a wedding reception across the street and when we were walking home, Braeden said, "So am I driving to Beto's or are you?"  (There was food at the reception but you know and I know it wasn't enough for this group.)

Adam said, "Let's go to MOD."

I think Emma had a bit of a fit right there on the Porter's driveway.

(Mark and I have been to that MOD, but no one else had yet.)

We climbed in the van and everyone was giddy.  And MOD was worth it.

Mark having his own rapturous experience.  He has made up his own pizza.  We decided to call it The Mudge.

Dillon James pizza with balsamic glaze.  I'm pretty sure that's what they'll serve in heaven, along with marionberry lemonade.

We were all ridiculously happy after going to MOD.  It reminded us of Seattle.  It felt like summer.