The Classics

 Actual comment spoken at the table during dinner this evening:

Malia: “To be or not to be. Is that Shakespeare…or Yoda?”

[Insert laughter here]

Also, Malia’s science homework is four million times cuter than my science homework ever was.

They Needed a (Spring) Break!

Daniel and Nathan both have pretty heavy semesters course work wise right now, and trying to balance school with work and church responsibilities has been a bit of a challenge this semester, especially for Nathan. So, they were both good and ready for a break. This past week was spring break and like so many other college students, Nathan and Daniel hit the road. They did not hit the road together though. 

Nathan joined some friends for a stay in the St. George/Zion’s National Park area. They stopped to attend two different temples along their path which is one of the fun things about Utah. They stopped at the Cedar City temple and the Manti Temple. We have so many different temples that are relatively close together that temple road trips are a thing. And I love that they made it a priority and scheduled it into their trip. 

They also did some hiking, and Nathan spent some time relaxing during some of the more intense hikes. Like me, the migraines limit him somewhat and while he doesn’t like it, having a raging migraine is worse. So, pros and cons. He did suggest the dinosaur footprints museum that Kevin, Malia and I visited in November, and it appears that they had a good time there. But honestly, I remember socializing in college and even if the locale was boring, being with friends meant fun anyway. So maybe they were bored, but at least they looked like they were having fun in the pictures Nathan shared. 😂

Nathan and his friends all pitched in and rented a vacation house which meant that there was cooking to be done. One evening Nathan taught one of his friends to make the baked mac and cheese that we like so much around here, the one that Nathan makes quite frequently for cousins and friends. His friend then proceeded to make five recipes of mac and cheese. So, here’s some context. One recipe will feed Malia and I for 2-3 meals depending on how much we eat. If we average that, it’s about five servings per recipe. Times five. That’s a lot of mac and cheese! But they are college kids, so I suspect it all got eaten. And they added bacon which probably made it even more delicious!

Daniel and Tawni headed to the Grand Canyon. Unlike Nathan, they did not go in a large group. This was a litmus test kind of a trip for them, the one where they spend a week together to see if they still like each other afterwards. So, it was just the two of them. Daniel has never been to the Grand Canyon and Tawni was only ten when she visited, so they were both excited to go.

Daniel’s first impression of the Grand Canyon was that pictures don’t do it justice. And he’s right. There is no way that a photo can convey exactly how large the canyon is. Even when seeing it with your own eyes, it is a bit hard to comprehend. One day they did an all-day 15-mile hike around the rim of the canyon, and he described the scenery as “superb.” Another of his observations is that the canyon just appears. It isn’t visible until you get to the rim. For those of us who live so close to a large mountain range, our concept of a canyon is in relation to those mountains. But the Grand Canyon is a whole different beast, and it was surprising to him.

On Thursday, they got some snow. The storm was large enough that their drive back to the hotel from the canyon was long and slow. On Friday, they did some exploring in Williams, Arizona and accidentally found A coprolite museum. For those that don’t know, coprolites are fossilized dinosaur poop. Daniel actually got coprolites in his stocking for Christmas one year. And it wasn’t because he was naughty. It was because that is what he really wanted! So, when they came across an entire museum dedicated to dino poop, they knew they had to stop. And they discovered that the museum is in the Guiness Book of World Records twice-once for being the world’s largest collection of coprolites and once for having the largest coprolite in the world. I guess that you can say that the #2 is actually #1. WACKY SMILEY FACE

Around here, when we talk about enough snow to close roads, that means a lot of snow. But in the Arizona desert, just a bit is enough to make a big difference. There was enough snow that the road on the north rim of the canyon was closed. That meant Daniel and Tawni had to drive south to hit the highway that would allow them to turn back north to come home through Page, Arizona. It added a good two hours to an already long drive, so they arrived back here (their pitstop on the way back to Logan) later than anticipated. Despite the detour, they really enjoyed their trip.

I’m so glad my boys are taking advantage of these opportunities to explore the world. I wasn’t ever a travel on spring break kind of a girl, but Daniel and Nathan are both more adventurous than I was at their age. And knowing what I know now about all the responsibilities that accompany adult life, I’m grateful that they are taking time to be fully engaged in their college lives and taking advantage of the opportunities they have to be young and free. These times will never come again, and I’m glad they are finding as much joy as they can!

Life Can Be a Rainbow

St. Patrick’s Day is only a few days away, so this morning’s pancakes were a rainbow-colored ode to the Irish. Matthew and Malia didn’t have school today, so we actually had enough time to do something fun. I can sometimes squeak in fun pancakes for Malia on a Friday morning, but even with late start factored in, Matthew doesn’t usually have time for frivolity on Fridays. So, it was nice to be able to take a little time to play with our food!

Lesson learned-fresh Airheads candy, which is what I used for the rainbows, is much too soft to make an arc. Even when I anchored in the pancakes, and not just the whipped cream. I ended up putting it in the freezer so that it was firm enough to snag a picture before the rainbows wilted. That meant we had to work fast! If I did this again, I would unwrap the candy in advance to let it dry out and harden a bit.

But uncooperative candy aside, it was still a cute breakfast!

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. 😊