Practice Run

Today Malia spent the afternoon with Aliese, the youngest of Cory’s girls, who is highly skilled at creating fancy hairdos and offered to do Malia’s hair and nails for Daniel’s wedding. They arranged to spend some time together so that they could practice a bit and find an appropriate hairdo. The result of their experimentation was fantastic. And so much more Malia-ish than a full updo!

When she got home looking exhausted and sporting a different hairdo and a bit of tastefully applied eye shadow, I asked her how it went. Her response? “That’s a lot of girl power!” Yes, a full afternoon focused on hair, make up, and nails is an entirely different experience for her. Being the only girl in our little brood and by her own definition “not a girly girl,” this afternoon was definitely a different experience for her!

A Beauty-ful Show

My parents have season tickets to Hale Centre Theater. They saw the current production of “Beauty and the Beast” several weeks ago and enjoyed it so much that my dad asked Rachael and I if we had any children that would enjoy seeing the show. We both have daughters that enjoy theater and so the tickets were purchased and given as Christmas presents. 

We saw the show this afternoon and it was fabulous! It was well cast, and the performers did a wonderful job. The sets and special effects were fantastic as well. Overall, just a super enjoyable performance. I have a tendency to cry when live theater is really well done. I don’t know why. There is just something powerful about a live performance that isn’t there when watching things on a screen. So, the fact that I got watery eyed is high praise. And while I may feel silly about it sometimes because it’s not like I didn’t know how the story was going to go or anything like that, at least I was in good company because Rachael was crying right along with me. 😂

So thanks, Dad, for sending us to the theater! Malia and I had a wonderful time!

Cooking for Cousins

I know I’ve mentioned that Nathan likes to cook. And I know I’ve mentioned that he is so very glad that Jacob is living in Logan now. Nathan invited Jacob over for dinner again this evening and this time Ella drove up to enjoy the food and games in person. These cousins are friends, and I love it! And like I told Nathan, I’m glad Ella was able to join them in person this time because virtual homemade mac and cheese is just not as good as the real thing. 😂

A Painting Party

For the past several years, Malia has hosted a sleepover with Kate right around the time of her birthday. This year, the slumber party was scheduled a few weeks early because we discovered a neat event that Malia was super excited to attend. There is a nearby art studio that is the primary retail location for a variety of local artists, many of whom paint religious paintings. Every other month or so, the studio hosts a “paint with the artist” event where you can not only meet the artists and see them work, but you can try your hand at recreating one of their paintings. When asked if she was interested, Malia responded enthusiastically in the affirmative. These things are always more fun with a friend, so the sleepover was scheduled to coincide with the event.

The girls got to meet Dan Wilson, tried out some of his techniques, and came away with a recreation of his painting of Abraham Lincoln. Her heavy use of cool colors made Malia’s version look a bit like zombie Lincoln, but they had fun. Malia said she would definitely go again. 😃

After their artistic endeavors, the girls stayed up almost all night. Malia said it was somewhere around 4 a.m. when they finally went to sleep. They were awakened at a normal hour as they were sleeping in the family room and our household got up and moving at regular time this morning, but they were both pretty darn tired. Rachael told us that Kate had a great time and went to bed at 7 p.m. this evening. 😂

I’m so glad these cousins are such good friends. Sometimes teens get so busy with school, extracurriculars and friends that they don’t have much time for family, but I hope these get togethers continue as they get older. Because Malia has no sisters, she has to get in her girl time with cousins.

Modern Day Army of Helaman

Today was another cousins’ temple trip to the Taylorsville Temple. Jacob, Rachael’s oldest son, came home from his mission in Germany exactly one week ago and was in attendance today, so Nathan took the day off work and came down to join us. In addition to Nathan and Jacob, we had Matthew, Malia, Drew, Sabrina, and Kate. Matthew, Jacob and Drew all performed baptisms as well as being baptized and Nathan and Jacob both performed confirmations. It was so neat to be there with this group of worthy youth and young adults. The world they are growing up in is far less than ideal and to see this rising generation stand strong amidst the storm is both humbling and inspiring. Their love of the temple and their willingness to serve there often helps strengthen them and is such an amazing example to me. I know I’ve said this before, but sometimes I feel like I’m learning just as much from them as they are learning from me. This is one of the many things that brings one of my favorite scriptures to mind. “For the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal.” (Alma 1:26) I may be one of the parents charged with bringing up this rising generation, but I feel immensely humbled by that role as I catch a glimpse of their potential and the great force for good they can become.

Holy Ground

In October of 2019, I took Malia to the one and only women’s session of general conference she has attended. It was the first one that she was old enough to attend and she was super excited. We met with my sisters and Rachael’s girls for dinner at my mom’s house before the meeting. Lona, Kevin’s mom, who is in the same ward as my folks, joined us. After we ate, the two grandmas, Malia and I headed over to their stake center to watch the broadcast of the meeting. Malia, who was super excited, wanted to sit in the very front row, so Lona and I sat with her right up front. My mom needed to sit further back so she left us to crane our necks while she chose a more comfortable viewing location.

This particular stake center was my stake center from the time that we first moved to Utah until I moved out to go to college. When we first settled in Taylorsville, it was our normal Sunday meeting house for a while. It was an older chapel, even then, and had the original unpadded wooden pews in the chapel. I remember loving the primary room in that church because it had identical wooden pews but sized to fit children.  I absolutely loved that they were just my size! Not too long after we moved, a church was built across the street from my parents’ house, so we began having our regular Sunday meetings in the new building. But there were still plenty of events that took us to the stake center, one of which was our stake conferences. Things are different now, but back then, there was a separate meeting for the primary children. We would gather in the primary room to sing and have activities and lessons while the adults attended the general meeting. Our stake also did road shows and stake musicals and all kinds of fun things. And many of them were held either in the stake center or on the adjoining property that had a big, covered pavilion and a softball diamond as well as a large expanse of grass. Ward BBQs were held in the pavilion and I remember many happy events spent eating and playing and enjoying the company of my friends. 

Now let’s jump back to 2019. As we have come to expect, there were new temples announced in that general conference. But in all my memory, that was the only time the new temples were announced in the women’s meeting instead of a general session. In addition, while announcing a dozen or so new temples has kind of become the norm in the past few years, at that time having just a small handful was more normal. So, when Pres. Nelson announced the building of eight new temples, it seemed like a lot. Not only that, but the last temple on the list was to be built in Taylorville, Utah! A palpable wave of excitement rippled through the congregation there as the sisters assembled rejoiced at the news that a temple would be built right there in their city! My mother-in-law was overcome with emotion and even for me, although Taylorsville is no longer my home, it was an exciting announcement! Little did we know that at that moment when the temple was announced, we were sitting on the very spot where the Taylorville temple would be built. Only two months later, it was announced that the old stake center would be razed, and the temple would be constructed in its place. The following year, the church was demolished and construction on the temple began.

The temple was completed this April, and we were able to view it during the open house in May. My parents, Kevin’s parents, Daniel, Nathan and my sister Esther joined us, so it really was a family affair. The temple was beautiful, of course, and it was so neat to be able to see it with our families. Although Daniel is the only one of my kids who ever attended church in the old stake center (and he was far too young to remember that), the traditional Thanksgiving gathering we have had with Kevin’s family each year was held in the cultural hall of the stake center up until the time that it was torn down so we all have memories of the old building. And those of us who were together in the stake center when the temple was announced were together again for the open house.

The temple was dedicated on June 2 and although I thought we would not be able to attend because we don’t actually live in that temple district, the procedures for attending a dedication have changed so Kevin, Matthew, Malia and I were able to go! Once again, we were joined by my parents, Esther, and Kevin’s mom, who came with Connie, Kevin’s sister. This is the first temple dedication Malia has attended, and I was so glad she was able to experience such a special meeting. For a while there we got to attend quite a few dedications as the ones for all the Utah temples were being broadcast over a wide area, but that has changed and now they are only being broadcast for the specific temple districts. It makes sense, it just means Malia has not had multiple opportunities to attend temple dedications like all our boys did. In addition to participating in a wonderful event, we got a little bit of a surprise in that my high school choir director was directing the choir that sang for the dedication. It was fun to see that he is still able and active, and my kids were able to see the teacher that I spent a lot of time with during my three years of high school. 

I feel like today has brought us full circle. This morning Matthew and Malia were joined by Kate, Sabrina (Rachael’s girls), and a friend of Sabrina’s to do baptisms at the Taylorsville Temple. I sat in the baptistry while they worked their way through the ordinances, and it was a tender mercy to do so. The headaches have been so bad the last while that I have not been able to go to the temple as I normally would. So just being able to be there today was a balm to my soul. And it provided Matthew and I a time for a quiet mother/son talk that was definitely guided by the Spirit. 

I have a tendency to get teary every time new temples are announced because I know that there are saints all over the world who will be able to go to the temple a bit more easily and a bit more frequently. I have been so blessed to live somewhere that has many temples close at hand, but I know that outside of Utah that is not the norm. And when I have those quiet moments of revelation, guidance, and peace in the temple, I am reminded of just what a blessing it is. While this new temple is close to so many others, it will, like all the others dotted across the world, provide more faithful members opportunities to serve and learn in ways that can only happen in a holy temple.

We’re Going on a Witch Hunt

It’s fall break and for once, the break in our school district coincides with the one in Rachael’s district. That meant a cousins’ outing was in order and today was the appointed day! We decided to meet at Gardner Village where we could wander and enjoy the Halloween ambience for free and then to have lunch at my parents’ house. Rachael, Sabrina (and a couple of her friends), Kate, Sam, Patti, Ella, and Esther met up with Malia and I for a morning of witch hunting. I’m not talking Salem style witch hunt though. It was like a scavenger hunt but witch themed. The kids were being silly, as well they should, and we had a grand time. As all the cousins get older, it seems like there are fewer and fewer of these days spent together. I guess that means we had better sneak them in whenever we can!

College Cooks

My cousin Shirleen lives in Logan. Her kids are all grown and no longer living at home, but she and her hubby, Greg, have welcomed Daniel and Nathan and my nephew Josh to Sunday dinner at her house on numerous occasions over this past year. These boys have also attended dinners with Shirlene and her parents, my Uncle Pat and Aunt Betty, at their care home. Daniel and Nathan will be homeless for about five days at the end of the semester since there is a gap between when they have to move out of on campus housing and when they can move into their off-campus apartment and while she can’t house them for the gap (Her own kids will all be in town so her house will be full. Otherwise, she would welcome them for a few days.), she is ever so kindly allowing Nathan to store his frozen food in her freezer, which means he doesn’t have to haul it down here and then drive it back up the following week.  I’m so grateful for the support my extended family has given these college boys, and they are grateful as well. They expressed their thanks by turning the tables and cooking Sunday dinner for Greg and Shirlene this evening. They are good boys.

Second Time Around

Today was another temple day for us and another one with family. Daniel and Nathan weren’t able to join us this time, but Rachael, Kate and Sabrina accompanied us for another visit to the baptistry. We visited the Mount Timpanogos Temple this time and although the ordinances are always the same, each temple has its own procedures as far as dressing, waiting, etc. go. I’m really glad Rachael was with us to help shepherd us around. This is her normal temple, and it was so helpful to have her tell us where to go!

We had a lovely time and we have decided we need to do this again!

A Passion for Poultry

Remember a few days ago when I said that Malia wants to make chickens for everyone she knows because she loooooves the chicken she sewed in her sewing camp? She started with her cousin Kate, of course, because Kate is one of her most important people. Malia asked me to text my sister Rachael to get a picture of Kate’s favorite chicken (because they keep chickens and consider Kate to be the “chicken whisperer” of the family) as well as that chicken’s name. The yellow Buff Orpington, named Orpy, is Kate’s favorite because it is so fat and fluffy. Malia made a mini Orpy, packed it up very nicely in a gift bag, and gave it to Kate when we had dinner at my parents’ house on Sunday. This evening Rachael sent me a picture.

Kate loooooves the chicken!

It’s All Relative

Yesterday morning I was reading a talk about parenting lessons we can learn from the Book of Mormon. As my mind was pondering on the importance of family in the Lord’s plan, I was reminded of an interesting connection that we made back at the end of May. My nephew Jacob, Rachael’s oldest son, graduated from high school and when we received his graduation announcement, the first thing we thought was, “Gosh! Jacob looks a lot like Matthew!” I then sent a picture of Matthew to Rachael and her first thought was, “Gosh! Matthew looks a lot like Jacob!” We couldn’t see it when they were younger, but as they have both matured, the resemblance has become quite clear. Other than their very different coloring, these two look remarkably similar. They must be related or something. 😉

A-Hunting We Will Go

The past several years have seen Malia doing a solo Easter egg hunt. We blame that solely on COVID. This year, with things finally edging more towards normalcy, my mom wanted to see everyone for Easter. For us, Easter Sunday is spent at home with Kevin’s parents joining us for dinner, so we decided to gather with my clan on Saturday for an egg hunt and lunch. We ended up being small in numbers, my parents, Esther, Rachael and Dave and three of their kids, and me and my little crew minus Nathan, were the only ones in attendance. While my mom would have liked to see everyone, the smaller numbers actually made things a bit calmer, which was nice. 

Daniel, Matthew and Drew hid all the eggs for Malia, Kate and Sam to find. They were pretty clever in terms of hiding places and had to give a few hints to the younger crew. I had stuffed the majority of the plastic eggs with tiny stuffed animals and some little squishy animals that are all the rage right now with the elementary school set. The stuffed animals were far and away the most favored though, with even Matthew claiming a tiny lion as his own.

We also took the opportunity to have a small celebration for my mom’s birthday, which was two days ago. I made her a coconut bundt cake and fancied it up to have an Easter theme. Two birds, one stone, right? Anyway, it was a super simple cake with super simple decorations, and it was delicious. I haven’t made this particular cake for a long time and had forgotten how moist it is. My little crew and I have decided that we need to revisit some old favorites for our FHE treats for awhile instead of trying new things as there are many little gems buried in the depths of my cookbook.

It’s always nice to be able to gather with family. I think that in times past I took that for granted, but that is one more thing that COVID has changed. Like so many other things, being cut off from family and friends for so long has opened my eyes to what a blessing it is to be able to gather with the ones we love. 

And as a side note, Malia did in fact make Jell-o eggs this evening.

Quality Cousin Time

With the start date of his mission fast approaching, Nathan has been prioritizing family time. I had my every other week lunch with my parents today and Nathan joined me. My sister Rachael joins us for these lunches and since her youngest, Sam, is not in full time school yet, he gets to come too. Sam was only 1-year-old when Covid shut everything down which meant that by the time we were able to gather again, he didn’t remember any of us. Over the past months as we’ve been able to gather as a family more regularly, he has begun to warm up again and is at the point now where he will even talk to us, not just stare and grin (which always reminds me of Jacob, his oldest brother at this age). While Rachael and I chatted with my parents, Nathan and Sam got down on the floor with paper and markers. It was fun to see one of the tallest cousins hunker down to the height of the smallest cousin. Sam will probably have forgotten Nathan again by the time Nathan comes home in two years, but for now they were able to spend some quality time together.

Best Mail Ever

Malia got a letter in the mail a couple of days ago. Matthew got one today. Neither one includes any actual words, but they were the best letters our family has received in ages. You see, the letters to my kids were sent by my 3-year-old nephew Sam (with some help from Rachael, his mom). We gave him an outgrown but not yet colored coloring book a few weeks back and he was super happy about it. I wonder if the letters my kids received were a thank you?

 

The Best Smell in the World

A month or so ago, Rachael’s daughter Kate, who is Malia’s age, made bread almost entirely on her own. Rachael shared a picture of Kate and her amazing loaf with all of us. Malia thought that was pretty neat stuff and not wanting to be outdone, decided she had better get her act together and learn to make bread. We set aside this morning as bread day and with only some guidance and instruction from me, Malia crafted some delicious loaves of her very own. I have a Bosch so she didn’t learn to knead it by hand, but that’s the next step.

Malia’s interest in helping in the kitchen has waned quite a bit over the past few years and I’ve actually missed having some helpers. Knowing Kate is becoming a cooking whiz has rekindled Malia’s interest and I love it. Not only do I love having her help, but I love knowing that she wants to learn to be a proficient cook. That is something I’ve worked to teach all my kids and I’m glad she is once again a willing participant in Mom hosted cooking lessons.

The house smelled amazing all day and the boys were terribly happy to sample Malia’s success. To be honest, I was terribly happy to be a taste tester as well. Warm bread is the ultimate comfort food and always brings to mind feelings of safety and security, thoughts of home.

 

Some Day Soon

As a senior in high school and a kid who gets along better with people older than he is, Nathan has his eye firmly focused on college. While he still has credits to complete before he can graduate, he is filling out applications and making plans for the next step in his education. He is looking at a major in some kind of physics/applied mathematics field. His first-choice college is USU, which is convenient because he has a brother who is currently a student in the USU engineering department. Nathan is also very interested in continuing his music training and he happens to have a cousin who is a student in the USU vocal music department. With a couple of built-in tour guides, a day trip to check out the campus seemed in order.

Today he drove up and met up with Daniel. He saw the music hall and the engineering lab, asked a bunch of questions, met up with Josh (his cousin) for lunch and shakes and the creamery, and asked a bunch more questions. He came home more excited than ever. He feels at home on campus, which is always a good sign. He’s mentally ready to be there now, but he still has some time before he can start his college experience. He has already been in touch with the physics department about what classes he will need to take, how the major is set up, options to specialize as he completes the lower-level classes, etc. so he has an idea of where to start. Now he just has to complete the application process and actually be admitted. He’s a bit anxious about that part. I don’t think he’ll have any problem getting in due to his stellar academic record, but he still has to the jump the hoops.

Family Time

Before the world went Covid crazy, it was my habit to meet my sister Rachael at our parents’ house for lunch on Wednesdays. It was a chance to have a nice, relaxing visit and to stay caught up on how everyone was doing. Since Covid hit, we have been skipping our lunches in order to prevent exposing the parental unit to the nasty virus. There have been several morning visits for me since summer mornings are cool enough that we can visit on the back deck, socially distance, and without me having migraine issues from the heat. And we did have one girls’ night on the deck a few weeks back. But today, with the cooler fall temperatures and all the kids on fall break, Rachael and I met with my parents for a nice backyard lunch before it gets too cold. Matthew and Malia were in attendance and were so glad for some time with their cousins. The regular visits with my family have been one of the things I’ve missed the most this year, so it was a good day.

Family Ties

By way of a birthday party, all Matthew wanted to do was go to the temple with his cousins. That is what he wanted to do last year as well, but I didn’t every actually make it happen so this year I made sure to get it scheduled. Not everyone was able to come, but Drew (Rachael’s son), Aliese and Corynn (Cory’s girls) were able to join Matthew and Nathan. Since we had a reservation for a family group, they were able to jump the line at the temple. They all really enjoyed that since there was a 2 ½ hour wait. We invited everyone to our house for dinner afterward and those of us who were there had a jolly time. In my opinion, it was an amazing way to celebrate a birthday!

Blind Dates and Deaf Conversations

Last night was the Sweetheart’s Dance at the High School. After all the creative asking and answering of last week, I suspected it would be a fun group. Since Nathan is the only one who lives in close proximity to the high school, the plan was to gather up all the kids and spend the day date and dinner portion of the event at our house. The two kids that live in West Jordan drove down to our place and then Nathan drove all of them to Cedar Hills to pick up the other three. He said the drive back to our house a bit awkward which doesn’t surprise me. Blind dates are like that. The afternoon was spent playing board games and at some point, it was discovered that the two Cedar Hills kids that my nephew Jacob recruited for this adventure are both taking ASL (American Sign Language). Nathan is also taking ASL and absolutely loves it. With a common interest discovered, things relaxed a bunch.

Dinner was homemade pizza and that was an activity in and of itself. There were pizza faces, braided breadsticks, and lots of laugher. The official photos were fast and few because it was cold outside, and then there were more games played until it was time to go to the actual dance. As expected, the dance was loud and chaotic, but the reward for successfully navigating the main event was chocolate fondue.

I think Nathan had a good time. It was a low key, relaxing event that was lacking much of the drama that has been prevalent in his social circle of late. He told me that he ran into a couple of other madrigal men at the dance and they liked the whole planned blind group date thing that they are considering following suit for a later dance.

Eight is Great! (Part 2)

In terms of a birthday party, Malia had very simple desires this year. She wanted to go swimming at the rec center. I was completely on board with that since it meant all I had to do was provide cake, ice cream and supervision. And Kevin ended up being the one to take the kids to the pool which meant that I was able to skip out on supervision and pick up the much calmer clean up duty instead.

Because we have limits on how many 3rd graders we can 1) fit in our car and 2) we can realistically keep an eye on at the pool, we told Malia her invite list was limited to five friends. When the appointed hour arrived, we only ended up with two-my niece Kate and Acie, a friend of Malia’s from school. Luckily for us, Malia was not disappointed in the least. In fact, she told me yesterday that if Kate was the only one who came, she would be just fine with that. Once again, love that my kids are friends with their cousins! One of the perks of having such a small group was that Acie and Kate warmed up to each other very quickly.

Malia wanted her cakes to match the theme of her party, so today’s cupcakes featured teddy grahams hanging out at the beach. They were simple to put together, Malia loved the way they turned out, and they were delicious which is all I can ask from a cupcake!

She had a great time. It was all very low stress. Success for both of us!