Dinner?

I forgot to post this about Josh being dropped off at BYU-I.  We said good-bye to him around 5:30 pm, and then we went over to Mom and Dad's and spent some time with Angie and kids there before taking off for home.  (Grandpa literally pushed us out the door).

Josh called around 10:30 pm just brimming with excitement.  They had watched the BSU game over at Jancen's (with more and more girls coming in all the time, including Raigen), and then gone to play Ultimae Frisbee.  After Raigen insisted that they "must do something for the talent show", Josh informed me that they were going over to his courtyard to practice "Beat It", the Michael Jackson dance they did last year for Show Choir.  This was at 10:30 pm.  After all that, I asked him what he ate for dinner?  He replied, "Dinner? Oh, I never had dinner.  I'm not hungry."  Ha ha ha ha.   He was having so much fun that dinner was way down on the priority list.  Now that is college life isn't it?  I love it.

We made it!

We made it through the long, cold winter! I don't like winter. I don't like anything about it, except that it makes you appreciate the other seasons more. I love to see January and February go! I must say though, that we've had very mild weather in Jan and Feb, and quite a bit of sun, so I haven't had the "winter blues" as much as I've had in the past. I also think that essential oils have helped a lot too.

So much has been happening. I'm so glad I have a few minutes on this Sunday to write.

Joshua sang with the MAD Boys last week at a youth missionary fireside for the Stake. They sang an arrangement of "Be Still My Soul". It was stunning, it was so beautiful. At midnight on the night before, they practiced it a few last times at our house. So I got to sit in the piano room and listen to these six boys (Josh, Jancen, Connor C, Braiden, Sterling and Connor O) sing this beautiful hymn. Listening to music live is different than hearing it on a recording, or even through a microphone. There is a different feel, a different energy. Having learned more about energy and frequency since starting with essential oils, I understand more about why it's so different. I told Josh after his friends had left, "I'm the luckiest Mom in the world!"

Tomorrow he is singing with Jancen, Connor and Sterling for a Solo and Ensemble Festival at the High School. They are singing Prayer of the Children by Kurt Bestor. They are going to rehearse tonight, so I get a personal concert again tonight!

Joseph and Jesse got their patriarchal blessings recently. What a treat that was for them and for Bruce and I. There was no doubt that each blessing was exactly tailored for each one individually. I was so grateful for the Lord's revelation to our Patriarch.

Today in Church, Libby bore her testimony. She does this every testimony meeting, and it's just wonderful. Today I followed her, and then a little later, Jesse went up and bore her testimony about prayer. She said that no matter how hard her day has been, she can kneel down and pray when she gets home, and she is able to communicate with Heavenly Father and feel His love for her. Soon after that, Joseph got up and bore his testimony. He said that he has a picture in his room of the Savior with the sheep around Him, and one His shoulder. Joseph said that he often feels like he is the lamb on the Savior's shoulders, and that he is being carried and supported by the Savior. He also thanked Jesse for her example. Soon after that, Mary got up and bore her testimony too, also thanking Jesse for her great example. Jesse next to me was shaking, she was crying so hard. I was about to loose it - you know when you're crying so hard that you're going to embarrass yourself by making a loud noise - well, that was me.

Nothing makes me happier than to hear my children bear their testimony. They could win state in soccer, they could win the finest piano competition, they could get a 36 on the ACT and have 4.0's, but it would not make me happier than to hear their genuine testimonies shared. Thank you for doing that today!

Joseph turned 16 in January! He has yet to go on a date... Maybe he could use some good ribbing from his cousins to get him to go on one!

Josh went on a date with Hailey to the Tip-Off Dance at the High School.

They gathered at our neighbors house for pictures.
Afterwards, we got a shot of the Moms, and Joseph!
After that, they blindfolded the girls and told them they were taking them out to eat. The destination was two wall tents that were set up in the front yard of some friends.


It was decorated beautifully, with a fountain, plants, and a gorgeous table setting.

Josh and Hailey had a good time, and the dinner made for a memorable night!

Life is about loving

Wow, I miss a week and there's so much to blog about that I will have to keep this post mainly to pictures.

The first big occasion was a week ago Friday night when we had a community celebration for the Special Olympians that were in town. For his Eagle Project, our good friend Devin planned and carried out the event. Part of the entertainment for the night was Josh and his friends singing the Star Spangled Banner, and an acapella number called "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The Show Choir from his High School also performed two numbers that were awesome. Jesse's Competition Clogging team also performed. At the end, they had the Special Olympics athletes come down on the floor and learn a line dance, along with anyone else who wanted to do it. There ended up being probably 200 to 250 people out on the gym floor doing line dances. The athletes were loving the dancing! One guy grabbed the microphone and started thanking everyone in Italian. I understood "magnifio America, and morte beni". It was awesome! There was so much energy out there and everyone was just grinning from ear to ear, laughing and having the greatest time!

A week ago Saturday, we spent the afternoon and evening with these dear people!
Bruce's brother Stephen and his wife Kendra decided to have a family gathering in honor of Devyn, our nephew, who was going to leave on a mission. Because of a weird schedule, he gave his talk in Church about a month ago, so during a family fireside on Saturday night, he gave his talk again. Other adults in the family also had the opportunity to give him advice for his mission. This was a marvelous meeting filled with the Spirit. I think there's no better setting than home for the bearing of testimonies.

Shawn and Janel drove all the way up from Utah to be here. And Michelle and Matthew flew in from Washington.I was about to take a picture of these guys from the other direction, and then decided the lighting was bad, so I walked around behind them.Michelle had to make a wise crack about getting their better half!The family got to meet Heidi, Sarah and Zach for the first time. We're so glad they came from Oregon to be there.This is what the cousins love to do at these gatherings. Hit the basement and hang out and play games!And here's the man of the hour! Devyn and Grandma,
and Devyn with his parents, Stephen and Kendra.
This is Devyn, now officially an Elder , going into the MTC. This Elder is the definition of what the bretheren want in a new missionary. He's intelligent, clean, humble, personable, well-versed in scripture and doctrine, filled with the Spirit and just an all-around wonderful person. What a good example he has set for our children. I'm so proud of him!

The day after this was Sunday, and Josh and Joseph sang "My Country Tis of Thee" with Connor and Drew for the special musical number in Church. It was really nice.


That evening we had Josh's Eagle Court of Honor.No broken bones this time!Our dear friends Todd, Fred and Larren spoke on the points of the Scout Law. Thank you so much for doing that!Jesse administered the oath.

This is the Eagle's Nest congratulating Josh.

Thank you to so many people who attended! We planned it so quickly that many people didn't hear about it in time. Please - if you didn't make it we me missed you, and apologize sincerely for the lack of better notice. It was one of those things where we knew we had to juts get it done.
All day the next day Bruce watched the slide show we had made of Josh, and then came in and said, "How come I'm so nostalgic for our chidren today?" We're both feeling like it's time to put the brakes on this train called "kids growing up".

On Monday evening we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's hotel and swam in their pool. Thank you for the invite, we really enjoyed it!

On Tuesday, I found out that Teresa, one of my best friends from high school, college and the many years in between, had to have some tumors removed from her leg. After finding out, I went in to Mary, who was home sick that day, and told her what I had just found out. She didn't say anything, she just reached over and gave me a hug. She sat and hugged me while I cried for a few minutes, and was a great comfort to me.

We were on pins and needles until yesterday, when she found out it was benign, not malignant. WHEW. What a relief. And it will save us a lot of money because I was headed out to Indiana for sure if she had received a bad diagnosis. When I told him the good news this afternoon, Josh said, "I have been praying for her. I said in my prayers, 'Please bless Teresa (I can't remember her last name, but You know who I'm talking about) that she will be a better person for the experience, no matter the outcome.'

On Wednesday, Buttercup, our cow, had her milk come in. Bruce thought the calf would be born within a couple of hours. Well, we're going on three 1/2 days, and still no calf! Hopefully it will be here soon...

On Thursday I got called in to sub at a local Middle School, and then Friday I also worked for my old team-teacher and taught her classes at the High School. I enjoyed teaching these two days, but it was baaaad, for the cleanliness of the house. What? If Mom's gone, it's a free-for-all? How does that happen? Easy enough, I guess.

Last night we went and played some games with our friends (The Way blog), and then went and saw Twilight (it finally arrived at the dollar theater). I thought it was a great adaption of the book!

This morning Jesse had a volleyball tournament. They lost the games in the morning but went on to win later in the afternoon. Bruce, Joshua, Joseph, and I all refereed a Futsal tournament. This was my first time to referee Futsal, and it was pretty fun! Futsal is basically soccer on a basketball court. I'm proud of myself for doing something new and just a bit scary.

After the morning events, I picked up Jesse and we drove the backroads to get to the local university to compete in her first official Clogging Competition this year.

They won a 1st place for this dance. Jesse is the one in the front with the number pinned onto her. Her hat was too low, so you can't see her face very well. That's something she'll have to fix for the next competition! It's so fun to watch her dance.

And, to bring us up to tonight, Josh went with Raigen to the Tip-Off Dance, and the theme was 70's!
I don't know where the guys came up with these outfits, but they were hilarious.Last week at his Court of Honor, I was SO disappointed that Josh didn't have his haircut. And now this week, I was glad he put it off, because it was totally 70's!Sorry, you gotta crank your neck on this one.
These girls are so beautiful, and they really did the 70's theme up right!
And the boys, well, bring on the disco!Peace, love and GQ looks.This was impromptu, but a lot of the parents showed up to take pictures over at the neighbors of all these great kids! That's why Josh has such good friends, because their parents are the salt of the earth, and we just love them all. (So how Josh came out so good is a mystery - he just CAME that way.) We ended up going over to chaperone at the dance, and boy, was there a difference between what these kids were wearing and what many others were wearing! Thank goodness for modest 70's prom dresses!

And amidst all this fun, inspiring, and wonderful activity, here is the comment I want to leave you with on this Valentine's Day:

Last week before school started, Bruce had Libby all wrapped up in his arms and playfully said to her, "Life is about eating Libby." Without missing a beat, she replied, "Life is about loving."

Now I swear that she said "Life is about loving Libby", but he swears that she said, "Life is about love." We simply can't agree on who was right! So we disagree agreeably, and choose to remember the gist of what she meant, that truly, life is about loving!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Christmas Recitals, Dinners, Nativity Scenes and Such

We had a Christmas Piano Recital on Friday for my students in the Piano Room of our home. We had 13 students play, some Christmas songs and some not, and all the students did a fantastic job!

Peter played Up on the Housetop, Libby played Oh Come All Ye Faithful, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas - at the end of that she stood up, turned around and yelled out, "Merry Christmas!" Mary played Pirates at Sea and the Pink Panther; Jesse played Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and Joseph played High Point Toccata (see him play it in this post) and Bill Bailey Rag. After High Point Toccata, one Dad called out to Joseph, "Can you play that any faster?" It brought a chuckle to everyone.

This is Libby and her cute friend Sydney. I love these toothless grins!

Here's Jesse and Joseph - I don't know - what kind of caption do you put on this?

We had this Recital at five, and by 6:30 we were over at the Church for the Ward Christmas party. After eating, they had a live Nativity presentation. Joshua started out the presentation singing Joy to the World in a quartet. Bruce and I were asked to play the parts of Joseph and Mary.Bruce's costume was totally authentic: the Kafia from Jerusalem, the white robe from Cairo, and the sandals from Athens. The beard was uniquely his own! My costume was semi-authentic: the white veil from Cairo, and then it veers off - the manta (shawl) from La Paz, and the bath robe from Provo. LOL (Mom and Dad - that means Laugh Out Loud)We had to walk through the crowd, go to three different inn-keepers, and then go onto the stage. As we went on the stage, I got rid of the big pillow, and David & Stephanie let us "borrow" their 3-week old baby boy Corbin. He was awake and squirming at first, so I put a pacifier in his mouth. Thankfully because of the blanket, and us being up on the stage, the audience couldn't see it. When I put the pacifier in, it was right at the part of the program where Mary started singing a solo of "Away in a Manger". Her sweet, angelic voice singing that beautiful carol was very touching. As the rest of the Activity Days girls joined in, singing, "Asleep, asleep,Asleep, asleep," Corbin's eyes were literally going half closed and then closed. He fell asleep right at that moment! It was surreal, it was so authentic.
Jesse and her friends sang With Wondering Awe, as the Wise Men came to worship.
Josh also sang Far, Far Away in Judea's Plains. I have to confess that I never heard Jesse or Josh sing. I couldn't have told you that those songs were sung. The reason is because Bruce and I and that baby were in our little world up there on the stage. It took me until the next morning to figure out how to describe it, and it is that we had all the feelings come back to us that we had when each of our children were born. It was a sweet, sweet experience!
At the end of the program, one of the priests in our ward, Connor, sang Silent Night, and by then I was overcome by emotion, and it came out in my eyes. You can see the glint on my nose in the picture.Amidst all this, Josh had a date for a Seminary dance that night. He went with Hannah, and they doubled with Drew and Tessia. The girls were kind enough to come to the Ward Christmas Party beforehand so that Drew and Josh could sing! And don't forget there was a free dinner!
And here is Libby, signing her heart out so that Santa could come.

On Sat night, Jesse had a clogging recital. Here she is clogging on the far right in the front. Isn't she cute?!?!

Merry Christmas to all - it's getting closer!