When Malia saw the pictures of Daniel and Nathan horseback riding earlier this month, she was instantly jealous. It has been a long time since she has been horseback riding. Her amazing brothers, knowing her love of horses, were willing to reach out to their friend and schedule a time for Malia to go. It was hot and sunny today and Malia had to cut short her outside time as a result, but she got to ride and was terribly pleased!
After his first week as an FSY counselor and even though he had a tough group of kids who gave him a run for his money and left him seriously sleep deprived, Nathan was perfectly willing to do it all again. That is a good thing since this past week was his week as a counselor for FSDY-For the Strength of Deaf Youth. It was a full weekly session held entirely in ASL and designed to allow the deaf and hard of hearing kids an opportunity to have the same amazing experiences their hearing counterparts have. Youth from all over the country were invited to participate. Nathan came away tired in a completely different way as thinking in ASL 24-7 takes a lot of brain power. And native signers, like native speakers of any language, sign with some serious speed. Nathan told us that by the time they got to the end of the day, one of the kids would sign something and while he knew he should be able to understand, his brain just couldn’t process any more. 😂
For many of these kids, they are the only deaf person in their families and wards and often, there is no interpretation available so while they may go to church, they really can’t access what happens there. Yes, there are some that lip read, but even with good lip-reading skills there is only so much they can understand. As such, having the gospel presented to them in their own language is life changing for many. It allows them, some for the very first time, to understand the sweet simplicity of the gospel and hearts were touched. Nathan loved being a part of that. There were a few kids that he wished he could encourage to look up from their phones and participate so they could fill their spiritual Dixie cups with the wealth of knowledge available to them, but as a counselor, that was not his job. So as much as he would have liked to, there were times when he had to remain silent knowing that if this or that youth would just engage in what was going on they might find exactly what they needed. That was hard for him. But overall, the experience was an amazing one. And within a few days of the session, new videos hit social media and I had all kinds of people from the ward sending me messages telling me they saw him on Instagram or Facebook. That was fun!
Nathan has developed a great love for the Deaf community. As he spends more and more time with them, he has a greater desire to serve them and help them to progress along the covenant path. I feel like he has been given a gift in his ability to learn ASL and become fluent so quickly, and he is using it to help move the work of the gospel forward for a group of people who have limited access to the many programs and resources that most of us take for granted in the church. Because the Deaf and interpreting communities are small, he has met a lot of people who work in leadership positions high up in the church and they are encouraging him and looking forward to him joining their ranks. He has hopes to interpret for General Conference at some point, and considering the new connections he has made this week, I suspect that sooner or later we will see his face on the ASL feed.
For now, he is taking a much-needed rest. He is mentally and physically tired but elated as well. He feels like he is making a difference.
This morning Matthew made a guest appearance on T.V., not his first, but a landmark day all the same. Matthew hit the news years ago when his 3rd grade class was spotlighted during Harry Potter Week. This morning the marching band from the high school had the opportunity to march in the Days of 47 Parade, the biggest parade of the year around here. He had a good time and we had fun watching him from here where it is air conditioned!
When the FSY program was first introduced a few years back, Nathan was super excited about it. Unfortunately, Covid delayed the program by several years which means Nathan never got to go. It was just one more disappointment associated with the pandemic. Well, this past week that wrong was somewhat rectified. Nathan was able to experience his first ever FSY session, just as a counselor rather than a participant. Nathan originally applied to be a counselor for just the one week that the ASL FSY will be held, but after looking for a job for months and with no prospects on the horizon, which we all think is weird due to the many help wanted signs posted all over and is in no way due to complacency on his part, he opted to pick up an extra week so he can have some kind of income over the summer. He was assigned to a session at Boise State University, so on Sunday he drove to Provo to catch the shuttle to Boise. Yes, I know that seems like a lot of wasted travel hours since Logan is so close to Idaho, but that is the way FSY travel works. You catch your transportation where and when they tell you to.
When Nathan returned home this evening, he had loads of stories for us. Apparently, the group he was assigned to ended up being the worst group in terms of behavior, attention, and medical issues. It made for a wild and crazy week. With illness, attempted late night forays outside of dorm rooms after lights out, kids flashing gang signs in group photos, and a bunch of other random stuff, Nathan was pretty worn out by the time the kids went home. However, he still managed to connect with that tough group of boys and came away glad that he had chosen to participate.
The catchphrase Nathan came home with that he felt summed up his week is “blackjack leads to Jesus,” which definitely requires some explanation. On Wednesday evenings of FSY, they have a late-night pizza night for the kids. After consuming their treat, Nathan’s boys settled down to play cards and asked him if he wanted to play blackjack with them. His initial reaction was to say no because that is really not his thing, but the Spirit told him to stay. And he did. He played blackjack while the boys bet using the snacks they brought from home. Nathan told me that his relationship with those boys changed that night. Somewhere between dealing the cards and complaints about lost Poptarts, Nathan and those kids bonded. They were still a handful, but things were different for the rest of the week. So, listening to the Spirit led to blackjack led to bonding led to a more respectful youth group led to a more uplifting experience as they let the gospel sink into their lives just a little bit. Hence “blackjack leads to Jesus.”
Overall, and despite being seriously sleep deprived, Nathan enjoyed his week and would do it again, which is good since FSDY begins in just over a week!
Matthew also spent the past week experiencing FSY for the first time. Getting him there took a lot more planning and work than it did for Nathan though, since we had to figure out a weeklong food plan for him in a situation where he had no control over his schedule, was away from home, and could not safely eat any of the food being prepared for everyone else. We have long since learned that freezing individual meals prior to trips is a great way to go since eating granola bars and fruit snacks three times a day for days on end gets very tedious, but in order to make them an option, you need to have a way to keep food cool and a way to heat it before eating.
We listed all Matthew’s allergies and requested accommodations way back in January when he registered (which I actually did while sitting at the computer for a good half the day trying to get the one weekly session that did not conflict with marching band or our fantastic vacation), including that we would supply a microwave and small refrigerator if needed. I was in contact with the accommodations team on multiple occasions as they worked to find a solution, but it was less than a week before his session started that we finally got it all worked out. This is still really new for everyone running the program too, and they were figuring things out as quickly as they could. After exploring several options, they settled on one that would fit all of Matthew’s needs.
BYU runs two full sessions of FSY at the same time. The only difference between sessions is which dorms the kids are housed in. The solution was to move Matthew from the session he was registered for to the other session which would put him in a dorm room that already had a mini fridge as well as its own sink. There was a microwave in the lobby so that covered all his bases. Since it was a last-minute move to one of the rooms reserved for just such last-minute needs, Matthew also had the room all to himself which is always good for his mental health. Having a roommate that he doesn’t know and who is unaware of his food needs always stresses Matthew out. And with good reason. Over the years we have found that people who have never needed to think about all the implications of having severe food allergies, there can be a serious learning curve about how to manage food safely. Something as simple as touching a food item can make it unsafe for Matthew to eat, so having someone who doesn’t know and understand the drill in close proximity to his food makes him nervous.
With the logistics squared away, Matthew was able to jump into everything else with both feet. He really clicked with his group and the entire week was a huge spiritual boost for him. One of his counselors was named Matt and another of his group members also claimed the moniker so having three of them with the same name was kind of a fun coincidence. My Matthew arrived home today tired but spiritually renewed. He will be eligible for one more session of FSY in two years. Although he will have recently graduated high school and won’t be able to register until after the younger teens, I think that if he can make it work schedule wise, he just might go again.
Today was all American day for us. Most of us followed the national dress code for the 4th of July featuring red, white, blue, or all three in our clothing selections. We started our day with French toast for breakfast. Now let’s talk about French toast for a minute. It’s not actually French in origin. The dish originated in ancient Rome; however, the name French toast was first applied to the dish in the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink that was published in 1871. So that makes it American, right? 😉 And of course I upped the patriotic value by decorating it in with a good old US of A design. It was pretty darn tasty whatever its original nationality!
Dinner followed the theme of the day as my family requested hamburgers, chips, and dip. We neglected the tri-colored drink this year though. It wasn’t intentional, it just didn’t occur to us. I can’t even remember the last time we didn’t have what has become our traditional libation on Independence Day. It honestly felt a little weird once I realized it had been overlooked. I guess that means I’d better get my act together next year.
We talked about French toast earlier, but now let’s switch gears and talk about cookie cake. That probably seems like a bit of an oxymoron. I mean, how can a cookie be a cake and vice versa? By simple definition they are two entirely different foods. So what exactly is a cookie cake? It is a giant cookie baked in a cake pan. Sounds delicious, right? When I started seeing recipes for cookie cakes, I was intrigued and knew I had to give it a try. Today seemed like a good time so I made a sugar cookie cake studded with red, white and blue sprinkles and topped with a tricolor buttercream swirl. It was like the thickest, chewiest sugar cookie ever with a crisp outside and a delicious, moist interior. The only downside was the fact that it rose so much when it baked that a giant crack developed all along one side as it cooled. But some decorative buttercream and strategic photography means you can’t even see it. 😂 Its cosmetic deformity didn’t affect the taste at all though and it gives me a fantastic excuse to try again, so I call that a win! And now that I’ve sampled the two-in-one delight, I highly suspect there will be more cookie cakes in our future.
We finished off our day with a few poppers, sparklers, and a couple other small fireworks. We didn’t go big for those this year, we just had a few on hand so we could end the day with a bit of flash. Matthew and Malia may say that they don’t care about things like sparklers anymore, but they do still enjoy it even if they won’t admit it!
As for Daniel and Nathan, they have a friend who works at a stable and has an open invitation to bring friends to ride, so they went horseback riding this afternoon and then watched fireworks with their cronies. So basically, they are enjoying their lives up in Logan.
With the slower pace our holidays take as our kids have gotten older, I’ve had plenty of time for introspection today. As the sun set and fireworks began to light the night sky, I was filled with an immense sense of gratitude for where I live and when I live. There are certainly challenges associated with living in the last days, but there are also unprecedented blessings. Sometimes it feels like there are challenges at every turn, but all I have to do is look at what is happening in other areas of the world to remember just how blessed we are. I hope I can be more mindful so that I never take it for granted.
Hard on the heels of our big trip to the northwest was our other big experience gift for this year. We had planned to give the kids tickets to see the Broadway tour company production of Les Misérables for Christmas in 2020. But as we all know, the world kind of took a hard left turn early that year and that particular show was one that was cancelled and not rescheduled. We got our money back and all that, but it was still a huge bummer. So when I heard that Les Mis would be back in our neck of the woods, I jumped at the chance to reschedule our missed experience. Thanks to my sister Patti and her status as a season ticket holder for Broadway Across America, we were able to get tickets. In fact, we were able to get really good tickets.
The last time we all had an outing to see a Broadway show, Malia was not really old enough to care yet. But that was many years ago when we saw “Wicked.” (I have been to a couple shows since then, but it has been a mom and one son kind of a date.) At that point Malia didn’t mind staying home and she had a super fun time with her babysitter, but she is older now and wants to be included. Kevin and I are the only ones who have seen the Broadway production of Les Misérables, so the kids were all excited!
When we got to the theater, Nathan was extra excited to see that there were ASL interpreters for the show. Although they were down on the main floor, our seats near the front of the balcony made it so he could see them easily. Throughout the show, his focus was split between what was happening on the stage and the ASL version of what was happening. He has become deeply enmeshed in the ASL community in the past year and gets excited every time he encounters a new accommodation that will allow the deaf community to interact a bit more with the hearing world. He has attended symphony performances that have ASL interpreters, but this was the first time he has seen a stage play with such accommodations. As he is currently working towards passing the tests to become a certified interpreter, he loves any opportunity to learn a bit more.
So let’s get real about this particular show for a minute. There are several songs that are pretty spicy, not things that I generally consider appropriate media. We did feel like we needed to avert our eyes a couple of times. ASL is obviously a visual language and a very descriptive one as well which makes sense since they are basically communicating with pictures. So, anything that is vulgar when spoken is even more so in ASL. Poor Nathan did not have a comfortable place to look. Looking at the stage was uncomfortable and looking at the interpreters was even more so. While the rest of us discreetly looked away to avoid the onstage action that accompanied those parts of the show, he was focused on his lap for those two numbers. So there were pros and cons to having a good view of the interpreters for this particular show. 😂
All of my kids love the arts in some form or another, and it is always fascinating for me to see what stands out to them. For Nathan, the ASL was the big focal point. Matthew was intrigued by orchestration and lighting, which makes perfect sense with his band/stage crew background. Daniel was also enthralled by the orchestra, but he also had strong feelings about the actor who played Jean Val Jean. There was something about his voice that just didn’t sit well with him, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. The man’s voice was spectacular, he was an amazing performer, but there was just something not quite right. As I mulled it over, I realized that the problem was the timbre of the singer’s voice. He was young man and as such, his voice sounds young. I don’t mean weak or unskilled or anything like that. He just had a wonderful, strong, youthful voice. And Jean Val Jean is not a young man. Even at the beginning of the story, he is old enough that he has been in prison for nineteen years. So what Daniel was missing was the depth and richness that simply comes with an older, more mature voice. When I tossed that idea at him, Daniel agreed that it was spot on. In another decade that same actor will still sing the part just as skillfully, but time and age will have given him the depth that both Daniel and I felt he was lacking. As for Malia, she had all her focus on trying to understand the story. She is still only eleven and hasn’t studied European history other than the bare bones version they need to be able to understand the American Revolution, so the whole war in the streets bit needed a modicum of explanation. But with some tidbits shared here and there, she ended up understanding enough and enjoyed the show.
We definitely enjoyed our second big experience for the year, perhaps even a bit more since it was delayed a couple of years. Now we are on the lookout for another show that we might enjoy. Malia is hoping “Wicked” will make the rounds again since she is the only one of our little crew who hasn’t seen it. There are relatively few new shows that seem particularly interesting to us, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes open and wait to see what makes it to our neck of the woods in the future.
With a good night’s sleep in my own bed and several loads of laundry behind me, I feel like I can take some time to ponder on our many experiences of the past two weeks. We saw some more of the wonders that this world has to offer. And for this little group of desert dwellers, some of it was truly awe inspiring. We had some good family time with all six of us, something that has become less frequent as my kids have started to grow up and move out and which I subsequently treasure all the more. We laughed, cried (yes, there were some tearful moments involving my 11-year-old because dealing with the ramifications of food allergies is hard), joked, ate far more than we should have, and had a truly remarkable time. This is a vacation that will long be remembered.
Inventory of assets acquired over the past two weeks:
-About a gallon of bug guts splattered across the front of the car
-Two rock chips in the windshield of my nearly new car
-An assortment of t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies featuring the stops we’ve made (One person we talked to commented that Malia was “wearing the trip”)
-A variety of huckleberry flavored delights
-A boatload, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say a carload, of wonderful memories
-Many hours of quality family time filled with the joy that comes from being together and actually liking each other (My kids have mostly gotten to the point where they are friends and despite being jam packed together for two weeks, they are still all friends now that we are home!)
Abbreviated compendium of lessons learned:
-Sometimes a spectacular view outweighs the inconvenience of sharing one small bedroom with all your siblings. Everyone agrees that their favorite abode was the condo in Seaview.
-We have gained a healthy respect for the impact that seasonal allergies have in our family in an environment that produces more than just sagebrush.
-Humidity wreaks havoc on wavy hair. Malia pretty much stopped trying to make her hair smooth because it was determined to frizz. However, the extra moisture also made it look super lustrous and healthy. That tells me she needs to seriously rock the conditioner now that we are home. Nathan’s normally tame locks have taken on a super fantastic natural wave that makes him look like a member of a boy band or Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine depending on the day. He’s just rolling with it. Even my hair was rather unruly, refusing to become smooth like it normally is despite determined brushing. Like Malia, I gave up trying and went with an “I combed it this morning and that’s good enough” attitude.
-While humidity’s effects on hair received mixed reviews, dry skin looooooves humidity. I didn’t need to lotion my hands the entire time we were near the water despite using cheap public restroom soap the entire time. Within a couple of hours of leaving the coast, I was already reaching for the hand cream.
-We complain about gas prices around here, but honestly, it’s not that bad. The $3.69 price tags around here are far better than the $5.69 we saw in the northwest.
-Toblerone comes in white chocolate. And both white and regular chocolate versions are safe for Malia. We both enjoyed that discovery.
-Seeing animals in zoos and aquariums is great but seeing them in the wild is amazing. We saw a variety of animals in their natural habitats-sea lions, assorted seabirds, vultures, pelicans, elk, bald eagles, baby salmon, and even some desert lizards as we made our way home. (The caveat to this lesson, of course, is if you find yourself in danger of being mauled by a bear, chomped on by a shark, etc. There was a sign posted in the Hoh Rain Forest visitors’ center warning folks to stay away from the elk because two visitors had gotten too close and were charged by said offended elk.)
-Baggage with wheels is definitely the way to go. We stayed in six different locations over the course of our travels and those who had wheeled ¬¬bags had a much easier time of it. Those of us without had a heavier load to haul. Seriously, I think I’m asking for luggage for Christmas.
-Sometimes all you need is a $1 glider and a stiff breeze to fill a day with delight. Even as an adult the simple things can bring joy. I need to remember that. And seriously, if you ever find yourself in Astoria, take time to visit the Column! It was a favorite for all of us.
-Family time can’t be replaced by anything else. And hopefully there will be board games in the eternities because we laugh an awful lot over Pig Pile and It Came to Pass. 😜
Today this weary band of travelers arrived home. Technically Daniel still has two more hours of driving before he returns to his actual home in Logan and Nathan will be headed off to FSY counselor training before he sees his apartment again, but even so, it was a blessed relief to get out of the car knowing that I don’t have to get back in it today! The long days of driving at the start of a vacation are always seasoned with anticipation for the great fun to come and as such, the hours go by just a little quicker. The drive home, on the other hand, always seems longer with the fun behind us and the weariness of travel and many, many loads of dirty laundry weighing us down. As such, I am very much looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight!
