Changes and Changes and Changes September 2023

For over a year now my dad has seen visions of people coming into his home, staring at him, sometimes poking him, and then leaving. It scares him, leaves him a little upset for the day. I've tried to explain to my dad that he cannot see and so whatever he can see "clearly" is not real. He usually accepts that explanation for a little while but last time when the strange man poked him he told me, "Well, the poke certainly felt real!"

Two nights ago he saw a young man in his room, but he didn't scare him or poke him. He smiled before leaving.

It's interesting to think that it was my grandfather, perhaps warning him that he'd be back for him soon. Although I think a truly benevolent spirit would just let the poor man sleep. 

In any case, we are relieved that this visit was friendly. 

Things are also hard with Emma gone. I miss my girl. I'm excited for her but still am also so very sad. I'm also confused as to why my kids don't miss her more! They seem to be quite content with her gone, and I wonder if I did something wrong if they're fine without a sibling?

And yesterday Izzy went with her breeder to have her second litter of puppies. She's been a little stinker lately, having accidents in the house. It's time to thoroughly clean the carpets, maybe get new carpet in the basement, and clean while she is gone.

Changes and changes and changes. I'm not very good with them.

Happy Birthday Macey 2023

Happy happy birthday Macey!

So having a snow day on your birthday is kind of awesome, but you had a fun field trip scheduled today so I know it’s not the day you wanted.

When you were born you were a scheduled c-section with a planned morning arrival, but the hospital was small and really busy. The nurse warned us that things may not go as planned.

Rough start, but you were perfect. The nurses loved to check on you because you were tiny and perfect.

And that’s this year! Not the ideal start but this is your year to dance and get into crazy competitive medical programs and research schools and make crazy soda concoctions because you are still perfect, and we love you!

Raising Daughters 2023

I got two separate texts from two different daughters within about two minutes. One asked me to go with her after school to sign some paperwork and offered to buy me a treat on the way home. A different daughter asked me to send her a picture of my signature so she could do a good job forging it at school. Honestly, how am I supposed to parent within these two extremes?!?!

Dances and Dance Recitals 2023

Macey was able to go to Prom in April with a friend from one of her classes. She looked beautiful and had a good time!

Speaking of dancing, Spring was able competition season for UDA. We were lucky and a lot of the competitions were local so Macey was able to drive herself, dance, stay for awards and come home. It was a lot less drama than previous seasons. 

Except for one competition. This one was in Farmington, and Macey was not expected to finish until midnight.

It was a crazy night. We stopped to eat, I took Molly to do a little shopping until the stores closed, and then we watched a lot of dance. And oh ya, it was snowing outside. Sigh.

But Macey looked beautiful.

Happy Birthday Braden March 29, 2023

 Happy Birthday to B! When he was little I used to hold his hand in the parking lot or store and say, “I like it when you hold my hand!” And he’d answer and say, “I like it when you hold MY hand!”

The other day I reached for his hand and he carefully redirected it back to me. That's fair. I had a good run!

B is FUNNY and always up for a board game or video game or a trip or swimming with sharks or a new restaurant or basically anything but school. He loves his dogs and hats and friends and almost all of his sisters. We love him!!

Izzy's First Litter

 Izzy had four puppies in her first litter. Two girls, two boys. The girls were merle and the boys were tri-colored. They were BEAUTIFUL. One buyer pulled out so we were able to keep Baby Roo when we brought Izzy home. Baby Roo was such a good dog. Smart and playful. Got a little mean and bitey before naps. We loved him.

Easter 2023

 Easter season came with one more opportunity for my kids to go see the Easter bunny (such good sports) and for one more epic family dinner and Easter egg hunt.

Chloe's Wedding

Hands down one of the best things about moving to Utah in December of 2009 was moving closer to the Child's. We have loved our theme nights, game nights, holidays and birthdays together. 

I especially loved being able to include Chloe in a lot of our outings. When I bought season tickets to This is the Place or the Zoo I always declared five kids so I could bring Chloe along. 

She was the best kid who became a beautiful bride in April. 

She had a beautiful sealing in the Draper temple surrounded by family and a lot of Tyler's friends. And she had a really nice ceremony, dinner and reception down in the Memorial Gardens in Salt Lake City. 

Since we were all dressed up, I took the opportunity to gather my family together for a picture.

Dance Season!

At the beginning of her Senior year I told Emma that I hoped she would love and enjoy every minute of her Senior year. I did not want her dreaming too far in the future that she missed what she had right here. Go to the games, go to the dances, hang out with friends. Just love it all. And wow, did she ever! Here's Student Body Prom, Bingham Prom, Herriman Prom and MORP 2023.

Mothers Day 2023

I really love Mother's Day. I love the peaceful mornings with presents. I love buying new dresses and doing my nails to match. I love pie in Relief Society. I love gathering my kids and dogs for the Mothers Day Selfie. I love not feeling guilty for napping or reading or doing anything because it's my day. It's easy to have good ones with such good kids.

Spring Tennis 2023

 I signed up Braden for Spring Tennis along with three other neighborhood boys. The season had a very rough start. I believe the first two weeks were cancelled because of all the ridiculous spring snow we got this year. Eventually the courts dried up and Braden was able to split time between soccer practice and tennis practice. He missed enough practices, however, that he had to play in JV but it worked out because he was able to win the JV Doubles Championship for the Region.

It was a good experience overall but I may look for indoor sports in the Spring next year. Spring in Utah is rarely kind.

Seminary Graduation May 21, 2023

 We were able to go see Emma graduate from Seminary on May 21st. We are really proud of how engaged she was in Seminary, particularly in the last two years, and how she made it a priority in her overall schooling. I think she developed a strong testimony of the seminary program, and I am grateful she was able to participate!

Oh The Places: May 26th

 

We did it! Twelve years ago I read about this idea to have teachers sign this Dr. Seuss book at the end of the school year. I am so proud of us for not forgetting and not losing this book! I hope Emma enjoys looking back on it.

 

Dad Turns 95: June 1, 2023

My dad turned 95 this year, and to celebrate we had a big party at Rachelle's house. My dad cannot see much anymore -- just shadows, I think -- which must be hard for someone who loved to relax by coming home and spreading out the newspaper on the living room carpet. 

He also cannot hear very well, which makes sense since he had to tune out his seven kids in order to survive, I think.

His memory is very limited. He seems to have one core memory for everyone in the family that he has latched onto. 

Obviously, Garry's is his job. My dad takes a lot of pleasure in talking to Garry about his job. 

Mine is the time I took him to A Christmas Carol at the Shakespeare Theater in downtown DC right after Molly was born. I was unsure of the best way to get home that night and told my dad that in DC the key was to follow someone who looked like they knew where they were going -- they signal early, the don't hesitate at intersections -- and follow them. It worked that night. It almost always does work. I used it last night at Molly's soccer game, actually. My dad has told that story probably 100 times now. 

For Emma it is school. He's so happy she's going to BYU and talks to her about it every time. And sometimes when he thinks I'm Emma I have to answer questions about BYU. Luckily I can ;)

For Macey it is also school. I do not think that he knows she's studying medicine. He would have really loved hearing that back in the days when information went it and stayed there.

For Molly it is obviously soccer. He can't go to her games -- not really a point if you cannot see or hear -- but he asks my Mom to call and check on the score.

For Braden he asks about school and sports. Braden has moved from soccer to tennis to swimming. He's involved in a lot, and he'll fill my dad in.

He's in a Helen Keller world without a Helen Keller brain. But he never complains and appreciates time outside and good food.

Emma's Graduation: June 1st

Emma graduated Bingham High School on June 1, 2023. The graduation was held at Utah Valley University. For some reason Emma was one of the very last girls in line and she graduated along with some very loud football players who was also last in line, and we were afraid we would not be able to hear her name. 

I've asked Macey to not do that next year. 

After graduation we went to the River Bottoms in Provo for a small family dinner after having a larger family gathering the night before at home.

Sweet Emma is way more than “thoroughly tolerable.” She is the exceptional “boiled potato” to my steak. Watching her walk — she is “very fond of walking” — was as amazing as it was heartbreaking.

Emma, I am so proud of you. I “love you - most ardently” and can’t wait to help make all of your dreams come true.

Braden's Last Day of Elementary School: June 2nd

Emma's graduation was quickly followed by Braden's last day at Monte Vista Elementary School. I was already a blubbering mess with Emma's graduation. Braden's milestone did not help. 

I moved Braden and Molly to Monte Vista from Eastlake in 2019. A friend of mine from bookclub mentioned that she was thinking of moving her kids there to help with the transition to Junior High. A vast majority of the Eastlake kids do not go to South Jordan Middle School, and so Emma and Macey really walked into Junior High only knowing a few people. I always joked that Emma knew three people total and one of them was the lunch lady. If I moved Molly and Braden to Monte Vista, they would go to Junior High knowing a lot of the kids.

This friend never made the move, she actually decided to take her kids out of Chinese Immersion and opted to send her kids to the local school. But another neighbor came with me, and I was excited to have a carpool, if only for two years.

Molly really struggled with the move for a few weeks. She would call crying and asking to come home and said that she could not understand her teacher's Chinese at all. I think her anxiety just made her shut down completely to the point where she could not understand a word being said or taught. But she got an award in 5th grade and started to make friends and had really great teachers. It ended up being a good experience.

Braden also had a good experience, though he'll never admit to it. His third grade Chinese teacher was really hard on him and loved to keep him in during recess to work on math but luckily for him he had her during Covid so he didn't have a full year of her. He found good friends and a complete obsession with four square. Braden can talk about four square for a very long time and all elementary school drama seemed to center on four square: who lost the ball on the roof, who cut in line, who purposefully tried to get him out, etc., etc.

My favorite part of Monte Vista was how easy it was to do drop-offs and pick-ups compared to Eastlake. The church made it easy to park and pick up and the neighborhood made for much speedier returns home. I'm glad we made the move, and I am sad to see this part of our lives end.

Macey Ends Ballet: June 10th

Macey had foot surgery in July, and so her final recital on June 10th was probably her last dance recital.

That's a lot to take in.

She's been dancing since she was so small. Her very first class was this Ballerina camp in Southern Maryland where I had to borrow a leo from a neighbor. 

Now we have a lot ;)

Moving on means leaving some things behind, and that's really painful. 

Macey is a beautiful dancer. With her Google brain she learns her dances quickly and well. Her body was never as flexible as she wanted or needed it to be, and that held her back a little. She was in five studios here in South Jordan: Black Diamon, Elite, C&C, Rocky Mountain and finally UDA.

She seemed to find more opportunities at UDA. This year she was also able to participate in her dance studio's Varsity Ballet program. It meant a lot of dancing, she was at the studio for hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but she seemed to really enjoy it.

I don't think she likes the social aspect of class -- she just never quite found "her people" in dance class the way that she has with the Medical Assistant program at JATC. But hopefully she'll look back at all the years she put into dance with joy.

TREK: June 14th

Garry, Macey and Molly had the opportunity to participate in our Stake's TREK this summer. I cannot say that any of them were super excited to go, but they seemed to have a good time and came away with good friends and good memories. 

They ate well and only really hated one day when they were told that it was a short hike and it ended up being a lot longer.

For me, I just had to help them get their clothes ready. Thank goodness for Deseret Industries and online shopping. Garry took care of everything else on this list, from buckets to utensils.

Taking Dad Through the Car Wash: August 26, 2023

Molly's high school soccer team has had a lot of fundraisers in order to help with expenses. One fundraiser was a carwash. 

My parents were kind enough to purchase a $10 carwash, and Garry picked up my Dad to take him through while their Camry was spiffed up by the soccer team. 

The team also provided donuts. Garry handed my Dad a donut, and I think my Dad thought he was just holding it for Garry but was excited when he discovered that it was his. 

Still thinking that it might be Garry's donut he was supposed to share, my Dad only ate half of it until Garry told him he could finish it or save it for later. "I'm not very good at saving things for later," my Dad said and finished the donut. 

He loves sweets. And he still talks to Molly about that fundraiser, asking her how much her team earned.

Emma's Summer Course at BYU

And so it begins! First day of school for Emma at BYU was June 26th. It’s an online course she's taking with her cousin Chloe.

Emma is the fourth generation female to start at BYU. Her great grandma was at BY Academy, her grandma studied at BYU, and I graduated from there.

Super proud of her and all the work she put into getting here.