Singing in the Rain. No Really, IN the RAIN

Something on the summer calendar that I have been really looking forward to was an evening at our favorite, Hale Center Theater, to see Singing In the Rain. That show is probably my very favorite old movie. Troy loves it too - he usually opts out of our HCT nights but chose to join us this time. It did not disappoint. Thrilling as always. I feel like HCT really focuses on the tricks and stunts and surprises, always has amazing singing, is jaw-dropping with the sets and costumes, and the plays are generally light-hearted and showy. It's not the place for really deep theater. It's the place for escaping into magic and sparkles and show. And that's just great with me. Also, I really love the layout of the theater. There is no place you sit where your view is blocked, no matter how tall the person in front of you is. 

So August 1st finally arrived, not only signaling the end of a very toasty July, but bringing us our date at the theater. What a great show! I especially loved a trick they did in the song You Were Meant For Me, which is not the best song in the movie. They made Kathy Seldon fly through the air. Totally unexpected and very fitting for the feel of the song. That was fun. And of course the big show-stopper was the title song, where they really did make it pour rain onto the stage. I was so impressed with Don Lockwood. He danced beautifully, and that must have been so hard on a slippery wet stage. He did slip once, but just a little fall, and he made the rest look just effortless. Great great night at a great great play.

So when it was done, we were walking slowly out to the lobby of the theater, smiling blissfully and talking about our favorite parts of the play. Suddenly this woman dashes into the lobby from outside and kind of yells out, "It is actually raining outside RIGHT NOW!" Everyone headed for the doors, to see the delightful surprise that we were getting some seriously needed rain in the middle of our Singing In the Rain performance. How charming! How delightful! How perfect! August really was relieving us of July's stubborn drought and heat. What could be more magical. 

That is....until we tried to get to our car, which was parked across the street. It wasn't very far away, but we got very very wet. It turned out that not only was it raining, it was an absolute downpour. By the time we arrived at our car, yelling and laughing out loud the whole way, screaming with each burst of lightning and clap of thunder, we were literally soaked to the skin. All four of us. 

The drive home was slightly harrowing. Not only were the freeways very covered in water, but the lightning and thunder were incessant and we basically seemed to be keeping even with the leading edge of the storm as it headed north towards our house. When we first got in the car we texted Chase (who will probably never choose to see a musical with us EVER) to ask him how the rain was there, and he said it wasn't raining at all. However it wasn't too long before he amended his statement and let us know that the rain had arrived in a big way. 

Salt Lake got pounded. And since we made it home safely I can say how completely delighted by the rainy theme of the night.

That was on Monday. Today is Saturday. Do you know what that means? I am no longer behind in blogging! I am very proud of myself for catching up. And also....it rained again today, so hard that it flooded our porch and made our garden into a lake. So grateful for the rain!

All the Camps

Last week Troy and I were on a walk and we bumped into some neighbors. While spending a lovely few minutes chatting and catching up with them, they asked us what traveling we had done this summer. We stopped and thought about it for a second. Yes....we've done stuff and gone places....but so far it's all been for church-related camps and events. There have been so many! Troy is currently serving in the calling of the Stake Young Men's president, and I'm his unofficial assistant.

The first big church youth event of the summer was near the end of June. The stake (which is a gathering of about 10 congregations, otherwise known as wards) made a weekend plan for all the youth in the area - kids from the ages of 11 - 18ish. It wasn't an over-nighter, which would complicate things enormously, but it was two jam-packed days. Day one started very early with a trip to the temple in Daybreak. This is the only event of the two days that Troy has photographic evidence of, since he was so busy the rest of the time. Romney wasn't able to go on the first morning since she was working, so it was extra special for Emma to have time with her dad there.

After that early start to the day, the group headed all the way up to East Canyon Reservoir, where they spent the entire day playing in and near the water. My job was to go food shopping and to deliver Romney when she was done with work. I didn't see them until quite late into the evening.

The next day was a hiking day up Millcreek Canyon before lunch and some activities downtown like seeing the church art museum. By the time they returned from that activity I had one seriously wiped out family.

The next big camp was Brighton Girls Camp for Emma and Cara. Like I mentioned, Romney, Emma and I drove to Fillmore to meet Peter and Cara, enjoy a meal together, and bring Cara home with us. The girls had to be up early the next morning so we could make it to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon in time to meet the bus that would take them to the top of the canyon. I knew Cara especially was quite nervous, but she really kept a stiff upper lip and I never saw a tear from her. She seemed to be calm and happy to be with Emma, and seeing so many other girls there seemed to relax and help them both.

Here they are on Monday morning, getting ready to meet the bus:

They couldn't have their phones with them at all at camp, so I sent Emma with a digital camera. She took a few pictures before the battery died. Oh well! Not a lot of evidence, but a few fun shots:

She found my name in the craft shack :) 

Here they are when I picked them up from the bus on Friday afternoon. They were dirty and stinky and happy as could be. They had a great week. I was especially proud of Cara who decided to go on the very early sunrise hike on the last day, even though Emma wasn't wanting to go. They sang all the good songs at the top of their lungs all the way home, where I promptly made them shower before taking them to get Ugurt.

At the very same time that Emma was at Brighton, Troy was on another stake young men's activity, this time for longer and needing much more planning. When he got asked to do this calling he got a lot of feedback that the wards wanted stake camping trips for the boys. Troy and Stake President Ben the Great put together a three-day, two-night backpacking trip for as many boys who could and would go. That turned out to be about 14 boys, mostly in the younger end of the age range, and pretty much all of whom had no idea what it meant to go backpacking vs. camping. It took some pretty heroic effort on the parts of the leaders to get them all ready with the gear they would need. Troy and I decided that this time we should just do all the food. Going backpacking for the first time is a big deal, and anything you can do to help it be a positive experience will have a big impact on the future desire to participate. 

I think it was a smashing success, although I wasn't there. I think a lot of boys had a hard time at first but by the end were really upbeat and cheering each other on, and it seems like they had a great time. I know Troy and the other four leaders really worked hard, and I'm proud of them, and grateful for their service to this group of young men. 

 

 

 

 

The very next week, with barely enough time to rest and get cleaned up, it was time for Stake Young Women's camp, up in the hills above Heber. Camp started on Tuesday and ran through Friday. Each ward is supposed to provide an adult leader to be the ward camp leader, and our ward just did not have anyone who could fill that role. So the YW leaders sort of patched together a schedule of various adults who could help out. I was the lucky person to be able to go up on the first day and spend all of Tuesday until about 9pm with the girls. It was pretty fun to be there, to see the girls together, to spend some time with the stake leaders whom I love dearly. It got pretty warm in the afternoon and hanging out and doing archery was not the funnest, although Romney got a bullseye that was pretty impressive. 

The bummer was that the lake had an algae bloom so no one could touch the water at all. They came up with a lot of creative ways to get wet and play water games with just the hoses so that was fun. By the time I picked up the girls on Friday afternoon they were beyond exhausted and even though that was almost a week ago I'm not sure that they have totally recovered yet. 

So yeah, we've been doing stuff, but only church-assigned stuff! And honestly, it seems like it's been fun although I've participated the very least. We are looking forward to some just-family time in the next few weeks before Chase starts his big adventure.

Romney Takes the Wheel

When Romney turned 15 I swore we were going to have her get her driver's license in a timely manner. She was not hesitant at all and also wanted to get moving on it. Do you know when she turned 15? Naturally, in the summer of 2020. It was not an easy thing to get her an appointment to take the written test and get her permit. We finally found a spot....in Draper. The Draper DMV, by the way, is not in regular Draper. It's in SOUTH Draper. It's so far away! But we made our way out there, she passed her test, and we started driving. A little. We started out in the cemetery where she could cruise around slowly with no other cars. She started getting the hang of it and we drove on and off with her for the next few months. 

Then our plans went right out the window. School started up again and as you can tell from the previous posts, she did a major swan dive into school activities and we barely saw her after school for weeks at a time. Let's just say that not a lot of driving happened. Now it's the summer before her senior year, and though she's still 16 for another few weeks, it really is time for us to buckle down and get that dang license. She's pushing as hard as I am, so that's a good thing.

Romney and I have been doing a ton of driving together. It's a nice little getaway for us both, partly because the cars have lovely cold and dry air conditioning. In order to really get her comfortable on the road I've had her drive on two rather long trips.

First, I mentioned earlier that I took a cello to Mt. Pleasant for Peter. The reason why is too boring to get into, but I ended up needing to go back to Mt. Pleasant and pick it up. It's maybe an hour and a half away, so Romney took us down there. I was proud of her! Her first freeway merging, her first freeway driving at all. She did great. I'm going to say that speeding is not her issue at all. If she hears me say, "Speed up a little, honey," again, she's going to strangle me. Same with, "Watch your speed!" 

The first time I drove through Mt. Pleasant I was hoping to drive the two extra miles to see my cousin Joe at his Spring City pottery shop, but he was in SLC that day! Happily, when Romney and I went back down, he was around so we went to see him, get a big hug and have a nice long chat. I am so fond of my cousin. I just love him. Then of course we hit Das Cafe for reuben sandwiches before starting back home. I drove. She was wiped out!

Not long after that we had another long drive to make. Emma was going to head up to Brighton Girls camp for her first time as a camper. We invited cousin Cara to join and it was so lucky that she had that week available. We decided to meet up in Fillmore, trade kids and eat some burgers at the Iceburg. I had Romney drive on the way down there as well and again, great job. 

Here we are in Fillmore, getting ready to take a slightly nervous Cara home with us. Romney helped cheer her up, as you can see. 

So, no license yet, but she's done two of her three learning drives with the driving company, and then she'll have to do one more written test and one driving test. There is hope that she will get her license before school starts! A miracle! 

Doing Those Summery Things

Summer. It's hot, occasionally muggy (I know not much compared to, say, Georgia, but muggy for us). This year we had the hottest July ever on record in Salt Lake. It's often miserable and sometimes I forget that there is, along with the discomfort and claustrophobia of the heat, also a lot about summer that is awesome. In the middle of the afternoon I sometimes even think I'd be fine with it suddenly being January, but then comes a late summer night with the stars and crickets out, or an early morning spent in the garden and I know I'd still pick July. 

We have had a lot of fun things going on. Here's some of what we have been up to:

Garth Brooks!

Garth Brooks came to Salt Lake City a year ago. I really wanted to get tickets - Troy is a fan and really enjoys his music. I tried but the tickets were gone in a half hour and I was out of luck. Then I heard the announcement that Garth was going to return to Salt Lake for not one but two shows this June. This time I vowed to get two tickets. What was funny was that I had the bad luck of needing to fill a volunteer assignment at our church cannery at the exact time the tickets went on sale and while in the cannery you are not supposed to have your phone on you. Well, I was a little devious. I faked an urgent need to visit the bathroom. I snagged my phone, stood in a stall and got online. I was in there for a while because there were so many people buying tickets you have to wait your turn. I didn't even try to figure out what seats would be good, I just bought the first ones that popped up. Whatever! I was so thrilled when I got the tickets. I hurried back to volunteer and I'm sure everyone wondered if I was ok after such a long trip to the bathroom. 

The night of the concert approached, and we found out that Sam and Kathleen also had tickets. We decided to get together before the concert for dinner and then to walk up to the stadium together. June was pretty mild and it was a pleasant night to walk up there. Troy and I enjoyed the concert a lot, although he and I always seem to pick the winners when it comes to horrible obnoxious (and often drunk) neighbors. We were sitting on the aisle, and were next to a large party of very annoying people who just loved to go in and out of the row. I mean like 20 times. And dance together and then do a dip basically into my lap. And have conversations with people in the aisle right in front of our faces. It was so obnoxious! But we still loved the music, Troy especially, and when the concert began to wind down, there were some empty seats across the way that we slipped into. I was so impressed with Garth. What a performer. What a show! It was the most massive display I have ever seen, and he was so generous with the audience. I was entertained by the big screens showing fans all night long. It was great.

Also with Sam and Kathleen we got to go to the temple and take Sam and Troy's mom, Grandma Carol. It was wonderful to be together inside. Kathleen's parents joined us as well. They are such lovely people. Then we all got dinner together at Cubby's afterwards.

Another evening of music happened at the end of June - our 80's favorite, Howard Jones, came to the Red Butte Garden Amphitheater. I have written before about how sad I was to miss him at Park West in the 80's and how I felt I had made up for it by seeing him then 3 times. Make this 4. We might not have made it a huge priority to go except that Troy's best friend Mike and his wife, my cousin Katrina, asked if we would like to go along with them. Any chance to see them is a good thing so we bought tickets and saved the date. Of course it was a delightful evening. It was a little cloudy and stormy, but no rain on us. Just a 10 minute lightning delay. That actually turned out to be perfect timing. We had heard earlier in the day that the son of one of Troy's other really close friends from high school would be opening his mission call that night. We were sorry we wouldn't be able to zoom in or attend the event. Right in the middle of the concert Troy got a phone call from Dave, the dad, and I had this feeling that his son had gotten called to Chase's same mission. Troy went and returned the call during the delay and I was right. Cute Ben was called to serve in the Washington, Spokane mission, leaving in November. So cool!

During that last week of June I called in a favor from Peter and Sheri. Not that they owe me any favors, so I guess now I owe them one. Peter was going to be in Salt Lake City for some cello events, and heading home on the evening of Saturday the 25th. I had put Emma in some sewing classes earlier but she didn't really have a lot going on. I asked if I could send her home with Peter to spend a week in St. George. I was so happy that worked out. Emma loves her cousins so much and needed a change of scenery. She spent the whole week there, taking a couple of dance classes, hanging around, going swimming, and hopefully not driving them crazy. From what I hear it was great. I drove down on Thursday the 30th, stayed one night, and Emma and I came home the next day. On the way down I took the long way, stopping in Mt. Pleasant to deliver a cello in need of repair to Peter's favorite Luthier there. Long story. It was kind of nice to just have a day in the car to myself.

Before Emma and I left for home we took most of the cousins (sorry Iva!) to go get shaved ice which was massive and had a much more extensive menu than any shaved ice place should reasonably have. It was crazy. 

Also in June I had the chance to drive up to Brighton Girls Camp for a memorial for the camp's most legendary president, and one of my mom's best friends, Floss. She passed away in the fall but the family wanted to gather with special friends up there at camp. Not as many people were there as I expected, but a couple of very close friends. I was especially happy to drive up the canyon with my dear friend Edie, who graduated from high school with Troy. She's just the best. I loved talking with her and running around camp together afterwards. 

The Take That Step Totem Pole from 1997

I forgot that I painted these signs for the cabins. They don't look very good.

A blanket I signed when Floss was released as President

I don't actually have much to say about The 4th of July. We are old, hot and tired. We helped at a neighborhood breakfast, grilled burgers with the Moores, and went to the Country Club for fireworks and were surprised by an extra short and extra early but definitely pretty fireworks display. I don't think I took a single photo. 

What was more fun that week was having breakfast the next day with my friend Krista, visiting from Texas, and also that evening having dinner with the beloved Durhams, in from Seattle. Dinner at Kathleen's parents' home, with popsicles on the back porch, talking like we always do, watching the sun set and listening to the kids laughing their heads off like usual. That's a little slice of heaven right there. 

Our church held its second-annual chalk-art festival on July 9th. It was so hot. I was not very excited about this event. And I wasn't sure if it would be as fun as last year. We tightened up the area a lot, from 3 square blocks to just 3 blocks all along the same street. The girls and I went and found some shade in the late afternoon to work on some chalk art and actually it was really fun. There was another neighborhood event happening at the same time - a band playing in someone's front yard - so lots of people were out and about, drawing and listening to music. After we finished our masterpieces we walked up and down the blocks, talking to a lot of people we have never met before, which is the exact point of the festival. It was great. I only needed two showers afterwards to cool down. 

  

We did actually make a summer bucket list. We kept it simple - with both Chase and Romney having jobs this summer (doggy day care and Old Navy, respectively) - there aren't a lot of hours when we are all at home. So far we still have a ways to go on the list to get it complete, but a few things have happened. One was to make the perfect root beer floats. We decided that the perfect float would be made with Nielsen's Vanilla Frozen Custard and Henry Weinhard's Root Beer. I put some glasses in the freezer to get all frosty, and we did indeed made the best floats ever. Romney's cute friend was hanging out and we were happy to invite her too.

Also on the bucket list was a drive-in movie. Lucky for us, our dear Mayfields also had that item on their list and we connected to get mediocre popcorn and watch the latest Thor movie. I loved being with the Mayfields. I thought Thor was ok. But not great. I was kind of disappointed. But hey, it's a drive-in movie. Good fun for all. 

So there you go! A marathon post about our summer fun. Summer has been going on for a decade now, in case you were wondering. Time slows when you have a record number of days above 100 degrees. If you need me, you can find me in the garden at about 6:30 am.