The Wild Blue Yonder

You know that light at the end of the tunnel? The one Daniel has been seeing all year? Well, today he finally emerged from the darkness of undergrad academia into the light of having earned his Bachelor of Engineering with a major in aerospace engineering. This kid has been leaning towards a career in engineering almost all of his life. He did take a brief foray into the study of dinosaurs as a preschooler (At his preschool graduation when most kids announced that they wanted to be firefighters, policemen, or superheroes, he proudly proclaimed that he wanted to be a paleontologist. The people sitting behind us murmured that the parents must have coached him, not knowing we were the parents. I can assure you there was absolutely no input from us. It was 100% Daniel.) but by first grade he was firmly grounded in space travel. And his fascination with all things that fly has not diminished over the years.

Starting at about age four, Daniel turned his eyes and his aspirations to the sky. That was the year I sewed an astronaut costume for Halloween. In first grade he had the opportunity to meet a real astronaut and that solidified his desire to fly. As a fourth grader he discovered origami and a lifelong hobby was born. Within a few years, he progressed far enough that he became aware of the work of origami master and mathematician Robert Lang, who was deeply entrenched in the field of space origami. Meeting Lang was another experience that reinforced his passions. Cub Scout space derbies and teachers who gave him opportunities to build and launch rockets added further fuel to the fire. He visited as many airplane museums and attended as many airshows as he could, and his love of flight continued to grow. (In fact, the first time anyone in our family besides Nathan-who you will remember was one of Daniel’s roommates-met Tawni was at an airshow. Malia and I missed out on that one due to a complete lack of caring about the whole airplanes bit, but Kevin and Matthew got to meet her!) As his schooling progressed, he leaned into his strengths in math and sciences and decided engineering was the route he wanted to take. Post mission, he enrolled at USU and began the process of learning the nuts and bolts of engineering. I think one of the amazing things about Daniel is that despite the years of study and hard work, the many tests studied for and passed, and the many hours spent head down in his homework, he still gets just as excited about space travel as he did as a four-year-old. Only now that he has a better understanding of all the many things that have to be designed, produced and deployed perfectly to make it all happen, I think he appreciates it even more. As an example, he closely followed the launch and mission of the Artemis II last month with complete fascination. If you ask him about it, expect to get a detailed and enthusiastic account of the mission. His eyes light up and everything when he talks about it.

Today, Daniel reached a major milestone in his journey towards the sky. With his finals finished and his capstone project completed, it was finally graduation day. The college of engineering is one of the larger colleges at USU (although nowhere near as massive as the college Nathan is in-more on that tomorrow), so Daniel expected the graduation to be long. However, the speakers kept things concise, and with only about 340 graduates participating in the ceremony, it only took about 35 minutes to get through all the names. I had planned for a long haul and had my kindle and an audiobook all ready to go to quell the boredom, but I only ended up reading a few pages. 

After we were done with the official portion of graduation, we retired to Daniel and Tawni’s apartment for lunch followed by a copious amount of Aggie ice cream. Tawni’s parents and her youngest sister drove down from Idaho for the occasion and her two other sisters, both of whom live in Logan, came as well. It was so nice to visit with them on a day that was a bit slower than a wedding day! Unfortunately, Kevin and I were short on time as Malia needed us back home in time to help with her Arena scheduling for school next year. So, our visit was short. But I suspect there will be more occasions over the years to get to know Tawni’s family a bit better.

Now that Daniel has completed his undergraduate work, he will begin preparing to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, which is basically a certification showing that he does indeed have the skills necessary to work as an engineer. He has been submitting job applications throughout this last year, and now that he is officially done with homework, he is going to lean into the job search. Tawni is gainfully employed so they will stay in Logan for now, but that is not their long-term plan. However, Daniel doesn’t know exactly what is next. It all depends on where the work takes him. He and Tawni are not only open to moving wherever they need to, but they also have a desire to live somewhere other than Utah. So, there may well be adventures in their future. The sky’s the limit and Daniel would love to be in a job that focuses on the broad expanse of the heavens. And I hope and pray that he will have that opportunity. 

Sounds of the South

While we were talking to Matthew this evening, he used the colloquialism “dadgum” in a sentence. And not ironically, either. It was a seriously legitimate comment. The funny thing to me is that it was totally natural. He didn’t pause or anything. It just rolled right out. 😂

I think he is going to come home with a little bit of the south deeply ingrained in him. He is loving the people and loving the area. He is embracing the culture and the linguistic tendencies. He is already talking about where he wants to take us when we get to Arkansas. Maybe I should ask him what southern foods smell the best so I can figure out how to make some authentic southern eats for him to sample at home. Because that is the one aspect of the traditions of the area that he doesn’t get to experience. Other than the Slap Ya Mama, that is. 😉

Redneck Word of the Day

As I’m sure you can tell from his last email, Matthew is happy this week. After six months of knocking doors all day every day, his latest transfer has given him opportunities to teach. The change in location, companion, and routine has been good for him. He is teaching almost every day right now and loving it. He loves his new companion and is adjusting well to being a trainer. He is just headed into severe weather season in Webb City, and he is loving that too. Before he flew in an airplane the first time and decided that he wanted to be a pilot, he was leaning heavily into being a weatherman and he is still fascinated by meteorology. So being in tornado alley is actually very exciting for him. They do educate the missionaries on what to do in the case of different weather-related warnings (tornado watch vs. tornado warning, when to head to the shelters, etc.) and while he is fascinated, he is not stupid. He isn’t going to defy mission rules and go tornado chasing or anything. And a couple of weeks ago he promised me he wouldn’t die, so I’m not overly worried. 😂 I do, however, reserve the right to freak out a little bit if tornados actually touch down in his vicinity. 

When Matthew is super stressed or unhappy, he has a tendency to go quiet, so it wasn’t until this latest change gave him a burst of new enthusiasm that we realized that he is developing a mighty fine southern accent. When we talked to him last night, he was in high spirits, and the drawl was quite noticeable. It makes us giggle. He’s nine months into his soujourn in the south, and with more than a year left to go, I can hardly wait to hear what he sounds like when he is done. It should be quite amusing. 😉

He is also beginning to incorporate some southern traditions into his life. As we learned from Nathan after his mission in Texas, as well as from Elder John D. Amos in general conference last fall (FYI-he was one of Tawni’s mission presidents while she was in Louisiana prior to her service in Portugal), almost all foods are made better by putting some Tony’s on it. Tony Chachere’s is a Creole seasoning that is ubiquitous in the south. Slap Ya Mama is a Cajun seasoning that is also widely and generously used. Tony’s is not safe for Matthew, but Slap Ya Mama is, and he has been putting it in everything. Including his beloved stroganoff, which he ate last week for the first time since Fort Smith six months ago. If it has made it into the stroganoff, then he is hard core loving the Mama’s!

Another thing he is picking up is a mighty fine new set of vocabulary words. Last night he shared a “Redneck word of the day” with us. 

Inhale: as in “Why inhale am I still in Walmart?”

Yup. Straight from the mouth of my missionary. Who is happy this week. 😁

The Proof is in the Pie

It’s time for a homemade margarine update. And this time around, it’s all about pie crust. The crust recipe I like and have used for years uses a mix of Crisco and butter (or margarine for us). The Crisco makes the crust tender and flaky while the butter adds great flavor. So, while I know I can make a perfectly serviceable and completely Matthew friendly pie crust with just Crisco, I’m much happier if I can stick with my longtime favorite. With that in mind, let me tell you how it worked out.

The short answer is it worked great!

Now here’s the long answer for those who are super into the minutia of baking. After an overnight chill, I usually have to let the unrolled pastry sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes until it is soft enough to roll without cracking. Using the homemade margarine resulted in a softer dough which meant no waiting. It was ready to roll right out of the fridge. I felt like I needed to move as quickly as possible so it didn’t get too soft, but it didn’t get too sticky or overly difficult to work with in the time it took me to roll it, fill the pie plate, and shape the edge. I chose a pie that uses a fully baked crust so I could assess the results at all stages, so the next step was popping it into the oven for a nice long blind bake. Due to it being softer than anticipated, initially I was worried that it wouldn’t hold its shape in the oven. But there was no need to fret. It held its shape nicely and turned a nice golden color just like I’m accustomed to. Once cooled, filled, and chilled overnight, it retained its integrity and remained nice and crisp. The end result was delicious. I’m sure that was due in part to the fantastic strawberries and cream filling it contained, but still, it was a good crust! It had a decent flake and a nice flavor. It wasn’t quite as tender as I’m accustomed to, but I was so worried about it not being baked long enough to hold its shape that I may have left it in the oven a bit longer than necessary. I’ll see if a slightly shorter bake time improves the tenderness aspect next time around. Because there will be a next time around. This margarine is going to be a very usable option in this capacity.

So, success! I’m so very glad! And I’m hopeful that this homemade concoction will continue to perform well in my other cooking and baking endeavors. I am a bit skeptical about how frosting will hold up at room temperature since the pie crust was softer than that made with a store-bought margarine, but we will just have to wait and see how that experiment goes. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy my slice of pie. 😉

Fickle

Two days ago, I was wearing sandals and shorts. It was 57 degrees outside when I got up this morning. Now it is 34 degrees. And we actually have snow on the grass. It’s not a lot, but enough that Kevin brought in a snowball to torment Malia.

Welcome to spring in Utah.

Withdrawals

Matthew was in Bentonville for six months. Geographically, his area was very small, which meant that the grocery stores he had access to were limited in number. Pretty much, it was Walmart or nothing. With his recent transfer being slightly delayed due to his mission president being in Salt Lake last week to be set apart as a general authority seventy, he has been in Webb City for five days. Today is his very first p-day while he is in Missouri. At 7:23 this morning he sent me a message asking if there is somewhere in Webb City or Joplin where he can get Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream. This is one of the allergen free food substitutes that we use a lot. In particular, we use the fake sour cream to make stroganoff. And stroganoff is one of Matthew’s all-time favorites. He hasn’t had stroganoff since Fort Smith since he couldn’t get the Tofutti in his area in Bentonville. Hence the query for a store that carries it. I got on the Tofutti website and discovered that there is a Natural Grocer in Joplin. That is a boon for Matthew because they carry a lot of the specialty foods we use. 

It is now 9:01 and Matthew just sent me a picture taken inside the Natural Grocer, showcasing another of his all-time favorites: free2b sunbutter cups. I suspect stroganoff is on the menu this evening. And I suspect the Joplin Natural Grocer will have a fairly regular customer for at least the next six weeks. 😉

Sisters

During our temple visits, Kevin and I do a lot of sealings. With the headaches being as unpredictable as they have been, the sealing sessions have been a good fit for us over the last little while. It is a shorter session so if I’m headachy, I can get back home a bit sooner. And while reservations for endowment sessions can be very hard to make unless you are doing so months in advance, we can almost always find a sealing session at a convenient time within the next week or less. Which means that if I’m having a hard headache day or week, we can easily reschedule. And honestly, every time we walk in and ask to do temple names instead of family names, the temple workers get excited. There are so many people who are waiting for sealing ordinances, whose names have been printed or waiting in the queue for a long time. It is wonderful that there are so many people taking family names to the temple, but it can also be really neat to do temple names. I’ve had some really amazing experiences performing ordinances for strangers.

For many years, Kevin and I did mainly endowment sessions with occasional trips to do other ordinances. I think a lot of people do the same. But I have really loved participating in so many sealing sessions. It is an opportunity to listen to the words of the ordinance time and time again, which has given me a chance to really learn them, to ponder on the covenants I’m making, and to find joy in the promised blessings. And while it doesn’t happen in every session, there are times when the sealer running the session will impart some knowledge they have learned over the years or invite us to think about one particular part of the ordinance. For example, today our sealer talked about the fact that in the sealing ordinance we “receive” our spouse as opposed to the commonly phrased “take” your spouse that is used in many other religious or even civil marriages. Think about that. There is a world of difference between those two words. 

We have also learned about several differences in the way sealings can be done. First of all, you don’t have to kneel if there is a physical reason you can’t. Those nice cushions that surround the altar can be lifted out so that a chair or wheelchair can be placed right beside the altar. Makes sense, right? Another thing we have learned that I suspect many people don’t know is that if there are multiple siblings that need to be sealed to their parents, the ordinance can be done once to seal all of them instead of doing a separate sealing for each sibling. The ordinance is valid either way, but it can be kind of neat to have an entire “family” gathered around the altar at the same time.

I have been able to stand as proxy in such a sealing several times over the years, and today I had another chance to participate in this less common type of sealing. Kevin and I were proxy as the married couple as two sisters were sealed to their parents. And as I knelt at the altar, the Spirit reminded me in a powerful way that because I am sealed to my parents, I am also bound to my sisters with the same eternal, unbreakable bond. Everything that has happened with Esther in the past month has been a harsh reminder of the fleeting nature of mortality. And this morning the reminder of the eternal nature of my family was a blessing. We are sisters. Always have been. Always will be. And that is a joyful thought.

Painting for Dummies

Art is not my forte. During my school years I always did well with straight up perspective drawings because they are all straight lines done with a ruler, but as soon as I was asked to add a tree or a bush to my straight road with a picket fence or add people to my square city blocks, I was done for. I can do a pretty convincing stick figure, but other than that, my artistic endeavors are laughable. I can paint crafts, but when it comes to straight up drawing or painting likenesses of anything, I’m pretty abysmal. It’s bad enough that when I was teaching school, my fourth graders used to make fun of me:

Me: {trying to draw something convincing on the chalkboard}

Students: Teacher, what is that?

Me: A dog.

Students: No, it’s not! It’s a marshmallow on a stick!

Me: {not even a little bit offended} Yeah, well, I do my best. {chuckle}

With that bit of background information, you will understand that I was pretty reluctant to participate when my relief society had a painting night. They assured us that anyone could do it, but still, when 9-year-olds laugh at your skills, you really have to face the fact that you are not an artist. However, I was saved from humiliation by the big old headache I had that evening. I would have preferred to be joking about my lack of artistic prowess with the ladies in the ward, but it was not to be. However, there were supplies left over after the activity and when offered to any who had not been able to attend, I actually decided to take advantage of that offer. Because I could give it a try and if it turned out horrible, at least I would have something to keep me entertained for a while, right?

But guess what? Turns out even I can paint by number. 😂 I created my masterpiece during conference this past weekend and I’m actually pretty pleased with the result. And now that it is done, you can’t even see the little numbers that led to my success. 😜