Performance Progress

Tonight we attended the Theatre Showcase for the high school. For most of his life Peter has had terrible stage fright. Giving talks in church was a challenge, as was reciting poems or giving presentations in school. Over the last two years of doing theatre at the high school, his willingness to perform in front of a group has grown. At last year's showcase he sang a solo line of a song. At tonight's showcase he performed an entire song by himself. He sang Arabian Nights from the live action version of Aladdin. And he did a good job!

He's come a long way.

In Bloom

Sacrament Meeting Love Note

I love Topher's end-of-Kindergarten writing.

Where's Topher?

I guess we need a swing.

Team Rivalry

There are two things you need to know to understand this story. The Eagles are the local (meaning Philadelphia, which is our closest big city) professional football team. The Iron Pigs are the local (meaning minor league and not as far away as Philadelphia) baseball team we saw play on Friday.

On Saturday Topher and I were buying a few items at Home Depot. He noticed that the cashier had an Eagles lanyard around her neck. That prompted this conversation.

Topher: Oh, are you an Eagles fan?

Cashier: Yes, are you?

Topher: No, I'm an Iron Pigs fan.

The cashier was very amused by this exchange but had the self control to just smile and ask Topher about his new favorite ball team. 

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Phoebe and Sophie got to join forces with all the chorus kids in our school district tonight as they sang the national anthem for our local AAA ball team. We decided to turn it into an adventure for our whole family. Cooper's face doesn't represent how he actually felt, the kids loved it! The girls did a good job singing and some of the kids even followed the game. The night was kind of long for Topher, but ending with fireworks helped.

Now He's Sleeping In

After three years of early morning seminary and one year of evening seminary, Peter graduated from seminary! We drove an hour to the Stake Center on Sunday night and attended his seminary graduation.

Well done, Peter!

The Master Is In

On Saturday morning we hauled ourselves out of bed earlier than the boys do for seminary. We drove nearly three hours south, parked in a garage, walked a mile, sat in stadium seats for almost three hours, took some pictures, walked another mile back to the car, then drove nearly three hours back home. All of that was worth it to celebrate my brother Jordan graduating with his Master's Degree!

Congratulations, Jordan! And Congratulations, Leah! Speaking from my own experience, a Master's degree for one spouse is often earned by both spouses.

Hearts and Smiles

Phoebe was heart attacked tonight by two of the older Young Women in our ward. We saw them pull up to the house and thought they were going to knock on the door. After a few minutes they drove away. We walked downstairs to figure out what had happened. That's when we saw hearts on the storm door.

The messages were all very sweet. They were also accurate. They praised her kindness, her artistic abilities (both performance and visual), her intelligence, and her beauty.

Friday Night Fun

Our weekend was packed full. I think school today will be a break in comparison. It started on Friday with Peter attending Prom with his pal Jillian.

Then I took the three younger kids to the Fun Fest at the elementary school. Topher and Sophie jumped on bounce houses for an hour and a half while Phoebe (who I failed to take pictures of that night) played games and hung out with me and a few other friends. 

I had misunderstood the payment directions and only had enough cash for Topher and Sophie to participate in the activities. Phoebe was fine with just walking around with us. However, the person in charge of taking money and handing out activity wrist bands was her elementary school gifted teacher. When he saw she wouldn't be able to play any games he pulled out his own wallet and announced that he would pay for Phoebe. Phoebe and I both insisted that wasn't necessary, but he had such happy memories of being her teacher for three years that he paid anyway. It was very sweet and Phoebe is determined to find a way to pay that generosity forward.

You Can't Stop the Beat*

On Tuesday we went to our final (I think) school concert of the year. Phoebe's middle school chorus preformed with the many high school choral groups. She did a great job and was a joy to watch!

The middle school has two singing groups and they each sang two songs. The high school has seven separate singing groups and they each performed multiple songs. Then the middle school and the high school joined forces for two songs at the end. Throw in a handful of student awards and recognitions and the concert was nearly two and a half hours long without an intermission.

Topher slept through the last thirty minutes.

Even with a concert that long, we were still glad to support Phoebe!

*This was both the title of one of the songs Phoebe sang and also how I felt near the end of the concert. I began to doubt that it would end.

Speaking of Mothers

My Mother's Day was full. I knew in advance that my Primary music leader, my second counselor, and my secretary would be out of town. My first counselor and I figured we could manage the group and I happily said yes to subbing for music. I also knew one of my CTR 4 teachers would be gone (she had found a sub). I'm already down one additional teacher and a nursery leader. I thought I would send my counselor to one of those open spots and prayed we could find one more person.

Last Thursday my first counselor tested positive for COVID, which meant I was suddenly the only leader for Primary on Mother's Day.

On Friday the other CTR 4 teacher texted to say she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be at church on Sunday.

I texted a handful of people to see if they could help. They could not.

Our CTR 4 class is tiny and I had a hunch that at least one of the kids wouldn't be there on Sunday (her mom was the one that had COVID). I asked one of my wonderful Sunbeam teachers if we could just send the CTR 4 kids with her. She said yes. That meant I could move the sub from CTR 4 to CTR 5 where we have a teacher gap. Nursery was harder to cover. The husband of our lone nursery leader ended up getting a sub for his own class (he teaches Peter and Cooper) and helped as the second adult.

After getting to church early to set up the room (we meet in the end of the gym which means we need to roll out giant rugs, set up about 30 chairs, and bring in chalkboards every Sunday), directing the Primary kids as they sang Mother, I Love You in sacrament meeting (without a rehearsal with me since I'd been in Idaho the week before), and listening to the sweet talks (including Cooper's), I made it through Primary. That included conscripting my pianist to fill in for me as the nursery music leader at the very last minute when one of our more active Primary kids decided to bolt instead of going to his class when I dismissed everyone. She kindly agreed. I found our escapee and talked him back into his class. 

Oh, and leading music time was just as fun as I expected it be. I'm looking forward to subbing again this coming week. Seriously, it's my favorite.

After that long day at church, Bryan gave me a few sweet gifts and made a delicious dinner. And the kids all agreed to a Mother's Day picture.

I also took a nap.

It was a long but good day.

Honor Your Mother

Cooper gave a beautiful talk in church on Mother's Day. I definitely teared up a few times. He shared it with me so I could post it here.

Honor Your Mother

Exodus 20:12 says, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Blessings will come from honoring your parents, and today I will focus on honoring mothers. How can we honor our mothers?

As the words to the primary song go, “When my mother calls me, quickly I’ll obey.” As simple as these words are, they are very true. I have personally found that obedience to my mother is one of the best ways that I can show my love for her. There is nothing my mother wants more than to see me grow and become a spiritually strong and Christ-like son of God. She raises me to become the best I can be. Like the young men of the great Army of Helaman who attributed the spirit they felt to their mothers who taught them, I am grateful for my mother for teaching me the gospel. Alma 56:48 says “We do not doubt our mothers knew it.” Our mothers do know what's best for us and we should obey them.

Perhaps the greatest example of the honor we can show for our mothers is by looking at how Jesus Christ treated his own mother. In Galilee there was a marriage, and Jesus’ mother was attending. Jesus and his apostles were needed at the wedding when there was no more wine. Jesus then asked his mother in John 2:4, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” At the time, “woman” was a highly respectful term. Jesus was respectfully asking what he could do to serve his mother. Both respect and service are great ways to honor our mothers. Respect is looking up to someone, understanding and abiding by what they say, and being polite when speaking with them. Every time we choose not to talk back to our mothers or even fight with our siblings shows mothers that we love them and want them to be happy. Service shows that we not only love our mothers but are willing to spend our time helping them, when they spend so much of their time helping and raising us. This can take many forms, whether it's doing a chore you weren't asked to do, offering to help your mother with the things she needs, and caring for her when she is sick. When Jesus was suffering on the cross, his disciple and his mother were standing by him. Jesus speaks to this disciple in John 19:27, saying “Behold thy mother!” and the disciple took his mother to his home. How true! Behold the remarkable nurturing of your mother as she sacrifices time to fulfill her sacred role in the family. These are all how we can honor our mothers: obedience, respect, service, showing the deep love and charity we have for our mothers. Though there are many, I would like to talk about one other thing we can do through the power of prayer. Pray to know what you can do to honor your mother. Every person is in different circumstances and the best person we can get assistance from is God. Pray for your mother. Ask for her to receive blessings, and not only can we pray, but we should then seek to fulfill the things that the spirit prompts us to do. Finally, in a 1973 talk, Thomas S. Monson said “May each of us treasure this truth; one cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one.” When we honor our mothers, we honor God. I bear my testimony that I know we can feel joy and the peace the spirit brings when we honor our mothers. I know my mother also feels joy when I honor her. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Arts

On Friday we went to the high school art show to see Cooper's photography! He had six photos on display and was recognized for his skills.

These two were my favorites. One night this semester he realized he had to have fifty pictures taken by the next morning, following specific lighting and subject prompts. Phoebe was still awake, so she got to be the model. She had no idea she would end up in the art show.

Apparently the most difficult part of photography (for Cooper) is cutting the mats to frame the pictures. He does not like that task at all. But he likes taking pictures.

A fun bonus surprise was hearing Peter sing. He had signed up to help the Open Mic club that night (there were several art and music performances during the art show) and sang an Imagine Dragons song. We happened to be in the right place at the right time to hear him.

I'm thankful that we live in a school district that celebrates and encourages the arts! And I love that Cooper and Peter both shared their talents that night.

Sweet Water

Sophie had her last concert of the school year last week. Forty-six students auditioned for solos or small group parts. There were two trios, two duets, and four short solos. Sophie was selected to be one of the soloists! I'm so pleased that her chorus director recognized Sophie's vocal ability.

The theme for the concert was water, so the kids were invited to wear blue. The songs were all great, but this first soloist was my favorite.

Well done, Sophie!

For Secret Reading

Part of the reason I needed to get home from my trip on Tuesday night was that I had an appointment to be the secret reader for Topher's class on Wednesday morning. I was so glad it worked out! 

Topher had no idea I was coming. He was thrilled to see me. The little girl in the picture is in Bryan's primary class and our kid choir. She was also happy to see me.

I chose to read Some Dogs Do, one of my favorite books. Topher was the only one that had ever heard it.

After the book I got to play some birthday themed games (they have four birthdays in their class this week) with them. Topher got to call on the kids to participate.

When we were done Topher walked me to the exit of the school. We were halfway down the hallway and he stopped to hug me. I felt just as happy that I got to come be with him and his class!

From Here to There to Here

Last week I flew from my local airport to Chicago, from Chicago to Denver, then from Denver to Idaho Falls. I now know that the Chicago airport has a dinosaur in it.

I also learned that United gives these gluten free goodies out as a snack.

Here I am with one of the people I came to visit, my youngest brother, Isaac.

It snowed while I was there. I was not pleased. I had to use my hotel key envelope to scrape the frozen stuff off my rental car. When that turned into a pulpy mess I resorted to just shoving the snow off with my arms.

My sister-in-law Falisha and I went to an art museum that included these lovely pieces. The combination of art and the written word really speaks to my soul.

She and I also enjoyed walking along the Snake River.

I took advantage of staying in a hotel less than a mile from the Idaho Falls Temple and walked over to do a session on Saturday morning. It was lovely. I especially appreciated that the weather cooperated, this was the nicest day we had while I was there.

On Tuesday I flew from Idaho Falls to Denver in a tiny plane.

As soon as we landed in Denver I took my phone out of airplane mode and discovered that my next flight (from Denver to Chicago) was delayed. Then as I exited the plane it was delayed even further. By the time I was in the Denver airport my next flight had been delayed so much that I was going to miss my connecting flight to get home.

I texted Bryan to update him on what was happening and we tried to find a solution. The United app gave me the option of rescheduling to a flight that would change my arrival time from 9:33 Tuesday night to 11:15 Wednesday morning. I didn't want to do that.

I decided to walk to my gate, even though the flight was so delayed. As I went I noticed a gate saying the next flight was going to Philadelphia. I had the thought that I needed to get on that plane. I tried to call United customer service and was bumped to a text conversation with an AI. 

When I got to my gate I saw that my Chicago flight was next, followed by a flight to Philly. I opened the app again and this time it gave me the option of a video chat. I was put through to a person almost immediately. I explained that my flight was delayed so I was going to miss my connecting flight. I said that if I could get to Philadelphia I could get home. I asked him if I could move my seat to the later Philadelphia flight. He said that plane was full, but there happened to be a flight to Philly leaving at 1:40 that had space that he could move me to.

It was a few minutes after 1:00 at this point.

While he changed my ticket I turned around and booked it back to the first gate I had passed, the one that I felt I should get on. That was the flight! I walked up as they were already boarding, told the situation to the gate agent, got a new boarding pass, then walked on to the new plane. The customer service agent stayed on the call with me until it was all fixed and I was walking down the gangplank.

I was so thankful that it worked out. Bryan was able to shift his schedule to pick me up and Cooper and Phoebe took over bedtime duties with Topher and Sophie (Peter was at work).

This is what the middle of the county looked like from the plane.

This is what Pennsylvania looked like from the air.

I exited the flight, so happy to be on the ground two hours earlier than my original itinerary dictated. I was waiting for Bryan at the curb outside the airport when I discovered that my third flight, the one I was going to miss, had been delayed. And delayed again. And then canceled. If I hadn't switched my flight I would have been stuck in Chicago.

I think that experience was a tender mercy.

Thanks for letting me visit, Falisha and Isaac!