A Drop in the Bucket

Matthew participated in Youth Harmony Day again this year. He wasn’t super excited about the whole thing like he has been in the past, but he went anyway. I think a lot of the joy he found in the experience in the past has been surpassed by the joy he has found in jazz choir this year. However, he did have one standout moment in the day. One of the barbershop quartets that performed for them sang a song that Matthew loves and has been trying to find people to sing with him for a long time. He approached this quartet, and they offered to sing with him for a few minutes after the organized practices and performance were over. For him, that was the highlight of the day! It was another one of those checkmarks on his bucket list. 

It’s Hard to Believe that He’s a Grownup

For years now, Matthew has preferred to downplay his birthday celebrations. He just doesn’t like making a big deal out of it or being at the center of attention in these kinds of situations. So even though he is now a legal adult, his birthday was a very lowkey event. Since his birthday is on a Sunday this year, Kevin picked up some entertaining balloons yesterday and we hid them away until this morning. And just for some context, turning 18 is kind of a big deal birthday and Matthew really likes pickles, so the dill balloon was funny!

Rather than a cake, Matthew requested cinnamon rolls for his birthday treat. And he wanted them giant sized, of course, because that is way more fun! We didn’t make him blow out a whole bunch of candles, but I did find one of the sparkler type candles that we used on his treat a few years back. These are the ones that have a tendency to relight themselves. Which I didn’t know last time. But this time we lit the candle with full knowledge of its powers of resurrection. SMILEY WITH TEETH Matthew is a good sport though and humored us! 

This past year has brought a lot of changes for Matthew. And this next year is going to bring a lot more changes for him. We know that. And he knows that. When he leaves, our little family at home will shrink again. And this time, I think it is going to be a much bigger adjustment for us. Going from four kids to three kids at home was a bit of a change as was going from three to two. But dwindling to only one child at home is going to take some time for Kevin, Malia and I to figure out. We have had a glimpse of that this year as Matthew’s activities have taken him away from home more and more often. But it is still going to take us some time. It can be hard for me to think of Matthew as an adult. He’s still just my high schooler. I know that whole adulting thing is going to kick in pretty quick here, but for now, I think I’m just going to take advantage of these last few months that he will be just one of my teenagers. There’s no need to rush that whole growing up bit. The world will take care of that in due time.

Swing!

Last week he attended Matthew’s big Valentine’s Day shindig. Last night, we attended Daniel’s. The USU jazz bands have held an annual dinner/dance at a nearby city social hall for the past twenty years. We have been in attendance for the past three or four years, missing I think only the first one that Daniel played for. We always skip the dinner part and eat in advance so that at least Malia can eat out with us, and that was the plan again this year. This is the first time that we have gone on actual Valentine’s Day, and it was good that Kevin had the afternoon off and we left plenty early because we had a longer than normal wait at the restaurant before our table was ready. Because pretty much everybody and their sweeties were at the Olive Garden this evening. No surprise there. The kitchen was totally overwhelmed due to a larger than normal number of take-out orders in addition to the multitude of in person diners, so there was a point when we thought Daniel might need to leave and eat his dinner for leftovers at a later time. But the food arrived just in time for him to eat and be on his way.

One of the big differences between these Valentine’s events and the boys’ normal concerts is the kind of jazz they play. The rest of their concerts generally comprise newer jazz, a lot of which is a bit too dissonant for me and not much to my liking. But for Valentine’s Day, all the bands select more traditional jazz standards, the kind that were popular in the 40’s and 50’s and the kind that I love the most. These are the songs you can dance to. And I particularly love the ones where I can sing along to!

It has been fun attending these events that our boys have been a part of. With Matthew graduating this year and Daniel planning to graduate next spring, we know that we won’t be attending many more, at least until Matthew gets to Utah State after his mission. He is already looking forward to being able to play for Jazz Night at Elite Hall. And then, Daniel will get to experience the event from in front of the band stand!

I Love Pancakes

I can’t seem to let a major holiday go by without celebrating it in pancakes, so there were Valentine’s Day pancakes this morning. I did simplify though, opting for simple strawberry pancakes tinted red. We had some cream cheese frosting left over from our cinnamon snowflake pancakes at Christmas, so I pulled that out of the freezer to make them a little special. And strawberries lightly shaped with a cookie cutter are fast, easy and add that extra little something. So simple, so tasty, and a fine way to celebrate! 

Tapping Our Toes for Valentine’s Day

Last night was the annual Valentune’s Gala at the high school. This year Matthew is a member of both the jazz band and the vocal jazz choir, so he was doubly invested. Due to the popularity of this event for the past two years, they scheduled and sold out two night’s worth of tickets. Matthew said Friday night’s performance was pretty rough, but last night everything was fantastic!

We had a big group attend with us this year. Kevin, Malia and I were there, of course. Daniel, Tawni (his girlfriend), and Nathan came down from Logan. My parents came. Kev’s mom and her sister Gayla were there as well as Cory and his entire family including Roland, Michelle’s dad. In total, we had seventeen people who were there to support Matthew. And like I said before, it was fantastic! He did an amazing job on both sides of the performance. His vocal numbers were amazing and his trumpet pieces, including all his high, tricky parts, were spot on. I think this is one of the most important performances for him during the school year, and although he wasn’t particularly pleased with how the first night went, he was pleased as punch with how everything went last night.

Our family has kind of been key in the development of the Valentune’s Gala. Nathan was in vocal jazz his senior year in high school which was the second year the school was open. That year they did a combined vocal jazz/jazz band performance at the bandstand in a nearby city park. The band boosters were on hand, frying burgers and offering other concessions and it was a big hit. Two years later, when Matthew was a sophomore and the current band teacher was in his first year at the school, the event was changed to a more formal dinner and a show event. Matthew was the one who coined the phrase "Valentune’s Gala,” and it has stuck. So even though he will be graduating this year, he has left his mark at the high school.

Last night was likely the last time we will attend Valentune’s, which is a little bittersweet. It has been one of my favorite events since its inception. That is, unless Malia decides she wants to be in vocal jazz when she gets that far. But we’ll see. She still has a few years to go.

Oh, and as a sidenote, they served crème brulee for dessert. That means I got to make crème brulee yesterday so that Matthew and Malia could have some as well. And I got to use my new kitchen torch. Allow me to say that playing with fire has never been so delicious. 😊

Moving Forward with Faith

Matthew has a plan for the next several years. The plan starts with serving a mission as soon as possible after he graduates in June. Months ago, he had figured out to the exact day when he could open his mission papers and when he could submit them based on his date of availability, which is about five seconds after he graduates. The papers were opened in November and completed and submitted on January 7. It took the stake president about another week to review them and send them on their way, and then the waiting began.

Because of Matthew’s severe food allergies, we honestly do not know what a mission will look like for him. We have heard stories about missionaries with food allergies who have really struggled with eating safely in the mission field. And most of those have been missionaries with only one or two allergies. In fact, there is a young missionary from our ward (well, our previous ward before it was discontinued) who came home in part because of unsafe eating situations in his apartment, lack of understanding from companions, and the completely understandable unwillingness of ward members to feed the missionaries out of fear about not being able to do so safely. 

Matthew has half a dozen severe allergies to some extremely common foods, so we really have had no idea how a mission would look for him. In the past few years, both service mission and proselyting mission applications have been exactly the same and the service missionaries have become a part of the full-time missions. The opportunities available for service missionaries seem to have expanded and the church has really been trying to educate members about those opportunities and teach all of us that service missions are not lesser missions, they are just different and allow those who would not be able to serve as full time proselyting missionaries to serve in ways that fit their needs. Service missionaries live at home, and with all his food needs, we have realistically thought that might be where Matthew ends up serving.

Matthew has been a pillar of faith about the whole thing. He honestly feels like he will be called to serve wherever and however the Lord needs him and he is completely fine with whatever the Lord has planned. Having said that, he will admit that he would love to be able to go somewhere besides home to serve. But he has placed his life in the Lord’s hands. And he has been an amazing example to me of what faith looks like. Because let’s be honest. I’m totally stressed about the eating situations Matthew might encounter out in the mission field. It’s not that I don’t trust him, it’s that I don’t trust everyone else to understand and choose to be cooperative and supportive about the changes that would need to be made to normal kitchen activities, cleaning routines, and daily schedules in order for Matthew to eat and live safely. Of course, it’s likely that all I’ve heard are the times when things go wrong rather than all the times when they go right. Because let’s face it, the bad stories are the ones that get circulated. But like I said, Matthew has shown an enormous amount of faith and is going to happily serve in whatever capacity he is called to.

Although mission calls usually arrive on Tuesdays, at about 4:30 yesterday Matthew flew up the stairs and told me he was headed to the temple. I was confused because the temple is closed on Monday, but then Matthew explained that his mission call had arrived, and he was headed off to open it. He told us some time back that when his call came, he wanted to be alone on the temple grounds to open it. He needed the opportunity to get the personal revelation necessary for him to know that it was the right call for him. It’s not that he doesn’t trust the Prophet and the Lord, it’s just a desire to get that confirmation for himself. So as soon as he got the email, he headed out the door.

He came back an hour and a half later completely calm. He told Kevin and I the details of his call and shared with us the fact that he knows it is the right call for him. Then he scheduled a Facetime call with Daniel and Nathan for later last night. He shared his news with all his siblings during that call. After school today he headed up to visit both sets of Grandparents to tell them in person. And this evening, masses of friends and neighbors gathered for the big reveal. As our house was filled with people, I was struck by just how big Matthew’s support system is. He has made an impact on the lives of a surprisingly large number of people. He is in band, choir, and stage tech so his friend groups are large and varied. He was only two years old when we moved into our house, so there are neighbors and friends from the wards that have known him nearly all his life. And as I looked around, my heart was filled to overflowing with gratitude for all these people who love and support and encourage him. And it wasn’t even any of our family since he took the time to tell them separate from the large group gathering.

So now that I’ve pontificated greatly, y’all are probably urging me to actually get to the point and answer the big question. And the answer is…Arkansas Bentonville Mission speaking English. Matthew has been called to serve a full-time proselyting mission. And he is thrilled beyond all belief. His start date is July 14, so he will have five weeks after graduation to finish preparing. 

We have only known about this call since last night, but I find that my prayers have already changed. Instead of praying that Matthew will be able to serve safely, I find myself praying for the miracles we need to be able to facilitate his missionary service. And I am praying that we will be able to do our part and find the right paths that will lead us to those miracles. Because the Lord has called Matthew to serve, and He will provide a way. We just need to find it. Basically, I just need to get out of the way and let the Lord work His miracles. And open my eyes to them because they will be there. Yes, I still have concerns, but the food allergy mama in my head is surprisingly calm this evening. I guess Matthew’s faith is rubbing off on me.