Pomp, Circumstance, and Swing

Last night was the official end of Daniel’s high school career, although to be completely honest, the concert last week felt far more like an official end than yesterday’s graduation. If nothing else, it was a far more emotional moment for me than last night was. Nevertheless, graduation was yesterday evening and despite our fears that it would be a four-hour event (900 graduating seniors!), it lasted just two hours and only about 40 minutes of that was the reading of all the names. They had it all worked out to run as quickly as possible.

The program was pretty standard: speakers from the high school admin, the district, the student body, etc. In addition, the chamber choir sang a couple of numbers and the jazz band played. I can honestly say that their portion was the highlight of the program. They played a jazz arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue” which meant that Daniel once again played the beginning notes and subsequently got the raucous first applause. He switched from his clarinet to his saxophone for the remainder of the piece and looked like he was having the time of his life. The audience responded really well to the music and was clapping, dancing and generally cheering them on. I suspect it was a very heady feeling to have an entire arena full of people cheering for you. When the band finished the number, Daniel was beaming. It was a fantastic last performance of high school.

On the way home, Kev asked me how I was doing seeing as I am now the mother of a high school graduate. Honestly, it doesn’t seem real yet. I don’t think it will feel real until we get the mission call and start prepping for that or until everyone else goes back to school and he doesn’t. For now, it’s just like he’s out for the summer. Yes, I know reality is bound to come crashing down on me at some point, but for now I’m perfectly content to feel like nothing has changed.

I’m so proud of how hard Daniel has worked throughout all his schooling to this point. We’ve never needed to nag him about doing his homework or have a come to Jesus talk about how he wasn’t giving it his best effort. I know it is a blessing to have children that love learning and therefore enjoy school. I’m enormously grateful that all my children fall into that category. When Daniel was a sophomore in high school, one of his teachers actually sent me an email thanking me for having a kid who worked hard for his ‘A’ rather than one who expected something for nothing. That attitude will take him far. It has already worked to his benefit. Not only is he graduating with a 3.997 GPA, he has been accepted into the engineering program at Utah State University and plans to major in aerospace engineering. He has a four semester 90% tuition academic scholarship and another smaller music scholarship that comes with a stipend for participating in the marching band. There are several professors in the music department who are trying to woo him into being a music major based on his auditions for music scholarships and the fact that he is equally skilled in two instruments (he’s thinking about a music minor). He has a lot to look forward to.

Daniel is stepping off into the next part of his life. None of us know exactly where he will end up. But no matter where his path leads him, I suspect he will continue to work just as hard and show just as much dedication as he has up to this point.

A Little Drama

Today was Nathan’s first official meeting with next year’s theater officers for the new high school. He was excited when he left the house and was still excited when he came home. It’s a good thing. I have high hopes for next year. If nothing else, it would be hard pressed to be worse than last year.

And He’s Off!

Today is Nathan’s actual birthday. It is also the end of the school year which means the end of driver’s ed. And it just so happens that all the info about driving hours, instructional hours, and the driver’s test has already been sent to the state. All that means that as of this very day, Nathan is eligible for his driver’s license. And guess what? School got out early enough (the teachers pretty much kicked the kids out of the school so they could enjoy their end of year teacher luncheon) and Kevin was amenable enough that Nathan went out to the DLD today. He is now officially sixteen and officially a legal driver. He’s completely stoked.

Nathan has been an old spirit in a young body since he was about nine. He thinks and acts older than he is and gets along better with kids who are older than he is. That has created a variety of challenges for him and turning sixteen brings him one step closer to being able to participate in more of the things his friends are doing. We keep telling him that once he graduates from high school, all the artificial separation created by school grades will go away and age won’t really matter anymore, but for now, it is a challenge for him.

Nathan has a variety of interests and strengths. He is a talented musician. Playing piano is one of his happy places and one of his strongest mood lifters. He has outgrown yet another piano teacher and we are looking for someone who can take him to the next level. Although the past year of choir has left him with a very bad taste in his mouth, he is looking forward to singing for a different director and finding the joy in his singing again. He took a semester of woodworking this year and really enjoyed that. He loves the smell of wood and enjoys working with all the fancy power tools. He has also discovered that he loves physics. Occasionally it bends his brain in unexpected ways, but he really thinks it’s cool. He sees the world through the lens of physics and frequently draws diagrams on my white board to illustrate a principle of physics for us.

Nathan has always had a tender heart and a strong desire to help others. He is constantly helping out at home, not waiting to be asked, simply seeing something that needs to be done and taking care of it. One of the challenges he has had of late is the fact that he hates to say no to people and as a result, he often gets overloaded with too many commitments. He also has a really hard time not feeling responsible for the outcome of everything in which he participates (choir, the musical, etc.) even when he has no control over the situation. It is a challenge helping him find a good balance between his innate (and wonderful) desire to help others and the need to help him realize that he can only be responsible for his own actions. I believe this intense desire to help others is one of his spiritual gifts, one not necessarily noticed or appreciated by the typical teenage crowd, but I truly believe it will be for his benefit throughout his life. I just hope the multitude of negative experiences he has had over the past year don’t dampen it too much.

Although he was a terror as a toddler (not out of malice, he was just incredibly curious and even then, wanted to be older than he was) he has grown into a very responsible, organized and generally pleasant young man. I’m very proud of how hard he works at school, how dedicated he is when he has made a commitment and how strongly he stands for what he believes is right. I’m incredibly grateful he is a part of my family.

And as a side note, this evening he drove himself to the yearbook stomp at the high school. 😊

He’s Made His Mark

Last night was Daniel’s big night, but I need to add in a bit about Nathan. The principal of the high school came in partway through the concert. Nathan was sitting in the row behind Kevin and me, on the end nearest to the doors, so the principal sat right next to him. On our way out of the concert, the principal saw us with Nathan, identified us as the parents, and turned to talk to us. He said that although he is glad Nathan has chosen the high school that will be best for him, he is sorry to lose such a talented, amazing kid. He said Nathan will be missed.

There are 3300 kids at our high school this year. It is more than crowded, it is bursting at the seams. And the principal knows my kid. By name. And says he is amazing and will be missed. Although this school year has been incredibly tough for Nathan, he has still given it his all and has made an impression. A really good one. He stood out in a literal crowd. I’m well pleased with my second son as well.

The End of a Journey

Last night was Daniel’s last band concert of his high school tenure. The jazz band will play at graduation, but the wind symphony’s final performance was last night at Libby Gardner Hall. All the seniors were given boutonnieres, what Daniel referred to as “oldness flowers,” in honor of their final concert. As part of this concert, there were a handful of kids who prepared and auditioned to perform concertos with full band accompaniment. Daniel selected a saxophone concerto back in the fall and has been steadily working on it all year. Several months ago, it was confirmed that he would get to play at the concert, but there was some difficulty getting the music for the rest of the band. In the past six weeks he toyed with two other concertos, but he and the band director finally decided that he should play his original choice with the piano reduction. He was very pleased to be able to perform his first choice in music even though he would not have the full band accompaniment. He was also selected to play the clarinet solo at the beginning of “Rhapsody in Blue,” a piano concerto performed by one of the other clarinet players who is (obviously) also a pianist. The concert opened with Daniel’s clarinet ringing throughout the hall. To play the final concert, including several big solos, in a hall specifically designed for music was a magnificent finish to his high school music career and his notes were the first ones we heard.

Daniel played the first movement of David Maslanka’s “Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble.” When he selected the piece, he told me that it was by a modern composer, but it wasn’t atonal (which he knows I dislike immensely) and he thought I’d like it. I’ve been hearing it in bits and pieces for more than six months, but last night was the first time I’ve heard it all put together and he was right. I did like it. A lot. Three years ago, Daniel’s playing had an abundance of technical skill but was lacking in emotion and musicality. I can honestly say that he is no longer just a technical player. His piece brought me to tears, and yes, I’m the mom and a total crybaby, but there were other watery eyes in the crowd as well. It was a beautiful piece, amazingly performed, and earned Daniel a standing ovation. I’ve quoted R.J. Palacio before, but I’ll do it again. “I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives.” Last night was Daniel’s night. He had parents, grandparents, and other family in the audience, and we were not the first ones to stand up. He was so surrounded by well-wishers afterward that he had to fight his way through to talk to his family before we all left. And Kevin and I were stopped by numerous people who identified us as “the parents” and wanted to express their pleasure in his performance.

In the gospel we are counseled to beware of pride, but there is a good kind of pride, the one that is expressed by the Lord as being “well pleased” with the choices and actions of another.  I am well pleased with how far Daniel has come with his music, how hard he has worked at it, how he puts his heart into his music and touches other hearts in the process. I’m well pleased with the fact that one of the first things other people tell me is that he is just “so nice” to everyone. I’m well pleased with the many things he has accomplished in his schooling up to this point and how hard he has worked to learn as much as he could and do as well as he could in all his classes. And more than all those things, I’m extraordinarily well pleased that in spite of the fact that his music is his happy place, that he will practice until his face hurts and that he has improved by leaps and bounds due to his dedication and hard work, he is choosing to pack up his instruments, set them aside for two years, and serve the Lord. As a singer, there is never a similar sacrifice.

His mission papers are submitted. We’re just in the waiting phase. Last night was the culmination of six years of training and hard work. He is at the end of one part of his journey and looking ahead to an unknown stretch of road. And in another two years, he’ll pick it all back up, take some time getting back to where he is now, and continue making music because it makes him happy. It makes me happy too. I could not be more “well pleased.”

Ready to Roll

Nathan’s birthday is coming up. Due to the fact that we will be on vacation on the day of our next regularly scheduled Sunday dinner at my folks’ house, we celebrated his birthday today. As my kids have gotten older and their interests have matured, I’ve made fewer and fewer fancy cakes. But I got to make a fancy cake today, and honestly, I had more fun making this one than I did with many of the others. Part of it was Nathan’s enthusiasm for the whole adventure. The rest was just the fact that it was a hilarious cake.

Nathan will be turning sixteen and unlike Daniel, who took his time and approached driving with a goodly dose of fear inspired by all the driver’s ed videos that enumerated the multitude of ways in which you can die in a fiery car crash, he cannot wait until he can legally operate a motor vehicle without a parent. He is counting down the days. Literally. As such, this cake is appropriate…and highly entertaining.

So happy almost birthday! And here’s hoping he doesn’t make his cake a reality in a few weeks! (He’s actually a really careful driver, I just have to harass him. 😂)

It Was THIS Big!!

A few years ago, Kevin and the kids took a day trip to Ogden to see a train called “Big Boy” as it passed through on its way to Denver to be restored. This weekend, it came back through, under its own power this time, as part of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the driving of the golden spike that connected the eastern and western portions of the transcontinental railroad. Daniel and Nathan had scheduling conflicts and were not able to join us, but the rest of us drove up to see the train. It is aptly named because the thing is gigantic! The wheels alone are more than 6 feet tall! There were about a gazillion people there and navigating the crowds was a bit of a chore, but I’m glad we were able to see a piece of history.

School of Wax

One of the common second grade assignments in the schools around here is a wax museum. Each student selects a person, (historical figures, artists, Olympians, musicians, etc.), someone they think has been a leader in one way or another, and they research the person, make a poster about them, write a script that includes some facts about that person, and come up with a costume. On the day of the wax museum, they stand frozen until someone presses the “button” (usually a piece of paper taped either next to their poster or on the floor) and then they recite their script, freezing again when they have competed the recitation of their script.

When Malia brought the assignment home, she had already decided that she wanted to learn about Mozart. I have to admit that I’m pretty pleased about her selection and about the fact that she made her choice without any input from me! She read several books, created the poster all by herself (the only things I helped her with was spacing and the idea of laying it all out before she glued anything) and had some very definite ideas about what her costume should look like. I am really proud of how her project turned out. She did a great job!

Malia wanted to include her perspective on the whole adventure, so here are her thoughts:

“When I did Wax museum I was excited and scared at the same time! But it turned out not to be as bad as I thought. All my classmates were there. One of them was Dr. Seuss. Another one was Simone Biles. Two of my friends were Harry Houdini. There were also two Stan Lees. I forgot to say, but I was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There was also someone who had real live turtles! We even able to pet them! Wax museum was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo FUN! But the not so fun thing was that I was hot after.”

He’s Off to See the Wizard

Matthew has caught the acting bug. When he auditioned for the 6th grade production of “The Wizard of Oz” back in November, I was surprised at how serious he was about the whole thing. He has always been our sports focused kid, so this was a big shift for him. But he was in earnest about the show and has been focused and dedicated about learning his parts and rehearsing for the past six months. This week was performance week and the accompanying performance induced adrenaline rush that is the big payoff for the months of work. He was pleased with his performance (as was I) and looked like he was genuinely enjoying himself while he was onstage. He attended his very first post-performance impromptu celebration and his first cast party, both of which he also enjoyed. It will be interesting to see if he liked the whole experience enough to continue to pursue the theater.

Insight

Kevin’s grandmother passed away last month. As his mom and her siblings begin the process of cleaning out her house, there has been talk about her grandkids wanting something to remember her by. All of this has gotten me thinking about those things I have from my paternal grandmother, the only one of my grandparents I ever knew. She passed away when I was eleven and although my siblings and I were not aware of this until we were adults (my parents were always careful to make sure we saw her at her best rather than exposing us to her less pleasant personality traits), she was definitely not happy with the fact that my dad married a Chinese women. She was born and raised in rural Utah and due to her upbringing and the general mores of the generation in which she belonged, her tendency toward racism was not a surprise (although it heartily ticked off my dad).

My grandma passed away in November and when her children were cleaning out her room at the nursing home, they discovered that she had already purchased and wrapped Christmas presents for my siblings and I. I remember opening them on Christmas and thinking about the fact that she had thought of us quite far in advance and thinking it was pretty neat. My gift was a copy of a book called “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck. At the time, the book didn’t really mean anything to me other than the fact that it was the last gift my grandmother had given me. I didn’t even read the book until I was older, which was probably good because it is a pretty heavy read for an eleven-year-old. For those who don’t know, the book tells the story of a Chinese villager in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. It won a Pulitzer Prize. And it most definitely is all about a Chinese man and his Chinese family and their Chinese culture living in China.

It wasn’t until now, nearly 35 years later, that I have had a realization. My Caucasian grandmother, who pitched a fit when my dad married my mom and proceeded to treat my mom in pretty rough ways until the end of her life, gave me a book all about China. I don’t know if she ever read the book herself, but the fact that she gave it to me seems like a sign that she had come to accept the whole interracial marriage thing. I can’t know for sure, but it seems to me that the giving of that book was a sign that she had made her peace with it all, that she was ok with us, mixed blood and all.

Funny how time, experience and perspective can teach us things when we are least expecting it. I feel like I’ve been given a little gift, a little glimpse into the mind of a woman I barely knew.

Floral Decor

For the first time since we moved here ten years ago, the deer haven’t eaten our tulips. It makes me happy.

And our lilac bush, which has been a lilac stick for the past ten years, actually has some blossoms on it this year. Again, happy. 😊

The Last Dance

Last night was Daniel’s last high school dance. While there is a senior dinner dance later this month, it is on the same night as his final wind symphony concert so he will not be able to go. He isn’t bummed by that though. He just took his favorite gal to prom instead. She’s also in wind symphony so it worked well for both of them.

The day date was mostly a bust since Kierra had a baptism, but the main event in the evening was fun for him. The boys cooked dinner, which I think is fantastic, with Daniel providing the main dish. I’m so proud that my boys have actually paid attention to what I’ve taught them in the kitchen. I don’t think any of them would starve if they had to fend for themselves for a while. In fact, the dish Daniel prepared (Italian Herb Roasted Chicken) is one he has cooked for past dances and it must have been well received since it was on the menu again. 😊 After dinner they went to the dance and then had dessert and watched a movie afterward.

One of the fun things about Daniel’s high school dances has been his fancy ties. Not only does he coordinate with his date’s dress (which is pretty normal), he also ties them in fancy ways, frequently using two ties to create an apparel work of art. This time was no exception. Kierra gave him the pink tie and he added a black and silver one to up the wow factor. It was an eye-catching combination.

I think I’m feeling more nostalgic about the last dance of his high school experience than Daniel is. It seems to me that this is another ending for him. I mean, I know colleges hold dances too, but I never went to a formal dance while I was in college. I don’t know what is normal for his university of choice and I most certainly don’t know what he will do if a formal is an option, but in my mind, this is one of the first “last times” for him. I’m so glad he has taken advantage of his time and has gone to as many dances as he has. I only went to a handful while I was in high school, one of the disadvantages of the being the girl all the boys were friends with, but he has gone to most of the ones held during both his junior and senior years. Of course, having a steady sweetheart helps with that, but still. I don’t think he’ll leave high school with many regrets about things he didn’t do.

Motivated to Dance

It’s recital season again. Malia is still enjoying her dance lessons. The tap still seems to come a bit easier to her, but she has watched several movies about ballet dancers and is super excited about seeing “The Nutcracker” ballet later this year, so her interest in ballet has ramped up. She asked me when she can start wearing pointe shoes so she knows she’s still years away from that, but I’ve also told her that everything she is learning now will help her be ready to go on toe if her interest continues. She still forgets to smile when she is onstage because she gets nervous, but she has made a lot of progress this year. It has been fun to see!