Troy Gets ALL the Fun

 ...and when I say fun, I do not mean it at all. 

Poor Troy! Remember his kidney stones? And remember his appendicitis? And remember his double inguinal hernia repair? I mean, seriously. 

His latest adventure seemed to have been related to his hernia surgery. I don't think the hernias or the surgery caused his latest problem, but I think they made the problem more likely. I don't want to get too graphic here, so I'll just say that Troy's undercarriage was in need of additional repairs with some draining of fluids included. You can look up the term Hydrocele yourself if you really want to know more. It wasn't painful, just clearly needed addressing. You know what turns out to be incredibly painful? Addressing a hydrocele. The recovery has not been pleasant in the slightest.

Here are the before and after photos of Troy's surgery. And, now that you mention it, I do actually have a "during" photo that the surgeon took of the fluid-filled area. Even though it doesn't show any recognizable parts of Troy's body, I still think that I should not post it here. 

See that smiling guy in the charming green leisure suit? That's Troy's surgeon, aka Josh. Josh is one of my little brother Peter's very best friends. Josh is also a kid I used to babysit many moons ago. We all found it a little hilarious that my former charge was now performing an operation on my spouse. How the years have flown by! Who knew what that adorable little redhead would get up to one day. 

It's been over a week since the surgery and recovery is still in progress, not helped at all by the addition of back spasms that came on yesterday. So far we are just grateful that they are not signs of another kidney stone. Like I said, poor Troy. I wish I could wave my magic wand and make him all better. I'm sure he wishes the same thing. In the meantime, I will do any required heaving lifting and just keep my fingers crossed that he feels better soon. 

Six Months In

On Sunday, March 19, Chase reached a pretty major milestone in his missionary service. He has been a missionary for six whole months - one quarter of the way through!

I feel such joy. He really seems to be thriving. 

When Chase was first out in the mission field, after his three weeks of missionary training, friends and family would ask us how he was doing. We really weren't sure how to answer. I mean, he was okay and didn't seem to be wanting to come home. But you know, missions are really hard. It takes a lot of adjusting. And you bump into yourself a little bit, emotionally, if that makes any sense. You get bugged or bummed about things that you didn't even realize would be a problem for you. So, naturally, Chase was not always thrilled. Some Mondays when we got to talk to him, he was on the grumpier side of the emotional roller coaster. However, he always had a positive story to tell and interesting experiences to share. And he never talked about coming home. So....he was good? 

We have been especially grateful for his companions. So far, including his MTC companion, he has had four. And they have been absolutely wonderful. His trainer especially seemed like an inspired choice. His second companion didn't feel like as much of a kindred spirit, but I know they really bonded as Chase had to turn to him for support as he felt pretty torn apart by his trainer leaving the area. And now Chase has also moved areas and is really loving this companion as well.

Not only is Chase thriving with his current companion, but he's thriving in general. I think he's gotten through those first few months when it feels like time isn't actually ever going to pass and you feel so out of your element. He has shared some extremely tender feelings with us about his growth and faith. And a couple of weeks ago he sent this message, which basically made my life:

 

I get to see his grinning face from time to time on facebook posts he puts out there. And we get to talk to him on Mondays. But the best part for me is reading his weekly emails. At first they were quite brief and were a little light on the proof reading. But that was only the first couple of notes. Since then it seems that he really tries to express his experiences, feelings and faith in these letters and I love reading them. We have had a few folks reach out to tell us how meaningful they are to them as well.

I still feel like he will never come home. But I can't deny that the first quarter of these two years has gone by faster than I expected. How have six months have already gone by? I'm incredibly grateful for the love and support we have all gotten, and that Chase is making his way on his own. 

My heart doth runneth over with joy. 

Choppity Chop

I think this is the forth haircut Romney has begged for, that we were certain she would regret, and she was certain she wouldn't. And for the most part, she was right and we were wrong.

She started out high school with hair down to her waist, and it's gotten shorter and shorter ever since - often with added bangs. We were not always wrong - I think she did regret bangs a time or two as they were growing out. And she did get super frustrated as last summer's short 'do was growing long again. For a while she thought she wanted shoulder-length hair again but as it was trying to get there she was often close to tears and told me over and over how much she just could not stand having hair touch her neck, nor could she stand pony-tail elastics. Her patience was thin, and all she talked about was getting a super-short pixie cut, or possibly shaving her head. In all honesty, I did not doubt her conviction for one second. I thought she just might shave it herself and be perfectly happy. This is why I gave in and took her to a barber shop to get the pixie cut she was after. 

Why was I so against this? I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I myself sported a very short cut through all of high school and have some lasting feelings about it. Also, we really have heard a lot from Romney as her short cuts have been growing and it has not been positive. But...as per usual...she was not to be dissuaded. She was so so happy. And now, a week later, she is still so so happy. And dang it, she just looks so cute. I don't suppose I'll ever see hair down to her waist again. I'm glad it was there once! I am a romantic about long long hair I guess. I really do think it looks great.

Sometimes You Have to Be a Little Bit....NAUGHTY!!

In the summer of 2018 the girls and I were able to go to the Tuacahn theater in St. George and see some wonderful plays. One of them was Matilda, a fairly new musical based on Rhoad Dahl's children's story. I was not that excited to see it - I was a huge fan of the book, and I even adored the movie made in the late 90's with Danny DeVito. It's so darling. And I had tried to listen to the music but it just did not click with me in the slightest. Then I saw it. Woah!! I love this show so much. We have listened to it at least a hundred times in the years since then, and seen Siena perform in it, and seen it at Hale Center, and it just does not get old for me.

So this year, Emma is an 8th grader. She loved performing in the play at her middle school last year, and wasn't discouraged by the many many hours she put in just to be in the 7th grade chorus. She loved it. And was so excited to get involved in this year's play, although she had no idea what it was going to be. She had heard rumors that Shrek was a possibility, and to be honest, that wasn't too happy of a thought. But she knew she just had to wait and see. And weren't we all so excited when it was announced that the play was going to be Matilda! Hooray!

The auditions were in November, and Emma got a call back and was asked to read lines for Agatha Trunchbull, the horrible bully of a principal. She kind of got her hopes up but I tried to not think about it. Instead, Emma was initially cast as Victoria, one of the older kids at Matilda's school. Victoria is considered one of the minor leads, so it was nice that she got that part. There are at least 100 8th graders in the show and any lead part is really an honor and a treat. I was so happy for her to be involved at all. But then after rehearsals began, one of the other leads dropped out, and Emma was asked to take on the roll of Hortensia, a younger child in Matilda's class. She had a few lines of her own, and one or two lines of singing in a duet. Emma felt pretty flattered that the director picked her to take over the bigger part and I feel so lucky that Emma got to be involved at that level.

Man oh man was she busy! Starting in January she had rehearsals basically every day of the week, including most Saturdays. And she loved it. Oh, she would talk about how tired she was or how it all felt like "a lot," but she was just happy. She is also in the stage crew class at school so helped a lot behind the scenes as well.

After months of preparation and rehearsal the play opened on March 3rd - Troy's birthday and the night of the infamous Pinewood Derby. Last year I was a part of the costume team that took on half of the 7th graders and it was such an involved job. I didn't do hardly anything leading up to the show this time - I helped my friend Kalleen a couple of times. She's the costume mistress and is absolutely vital to these amazing productions. But I didn't do much else. However, I made up for my lack of pre-show involvement by taking on a few rolls during the run of the show itself. Being the PTA treasurer sort of automatically gets me deep into the concessions stand - which is a huge deal. I mean they sell at least $1600 of treats every single show, nine shows. It's quite astonishing actually. And then I also took the "treat trolley" back stage during every intermission to sell food and treats to the cast members. It was basically a mob scene for 20 minutes each night, and I feel lucky to have escaped with my life. Those hungry teens are no joking matter.

My other special job was to take over the care and preparation of one the of the props. There were these "balloons" made of flexible plastic, almost like a beach ball. They had to be re-inflated every night, and they were all covered in strings of tiny lights so they'd glow in the dark. They were a real pain in the butt. However, there were kids trying to manage them before and they were just a mess. So taking over on those I think was actually super helpful to the play and made me feel like I was making up for not helping much early on.

This play was so impressive. The sets and costumes and special effects - kids on silks and the trapeze, Matilda floating up into the air as she discovers her magical powers, Amanda Thripp getting flung off stage by her pigtails. The singing and dancing. The sheer number of kids included. The acting is always a little stunted because...hello...jr. high non-theater kids. But there were some standouts. The two gals who shared the role of Matilda were especially wonderful, as were the the two Trunchbulls and the two Bruce Bogtrotters. Also my own little Hortencia, I must say. Gosh it was so fun. I'd go to bed each night with the refrains of When I Grow Up and Miracle and Bruce bouncing around my brain.

The kids put on 10 shows - 9 for the public and 1 for the school. It was, in the words of Emma, "A LOT." And yet every time I get to be involved in a theater I just feel happy. I have to hand it to the director of these shows. She takes on so much, and really doesn't delegate as much as we would all like her to, simply because she is there year after year, and all of us parents are mostly in and out in 2 years. What I admire about her the most is how she treats the kids. She can kind of make the parents crazy - I've been on the receiving end of some of her crazy-making and I'll confess, there have been times that I have been non-plussed by her. But I honestly need to take that back. Yes, she's hard to communicate with. But what I see when I see her interact with the kids is so impressive, genuine, loving and devoted. She loves these kids and sacrifices so much for them. Emma had a great experience and I'm so grateful that she got to take part. I'm still a little sad that it's over.

 

Now THAT's a Happy Birthday

Oh my sweet husband. What a season he has had. You thought that welding a submarine door was a big deal? Yeah, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Some of the church leaders in our area really wanted to host a pinewood derby. Troy is part of the High Council in our stake, and thus helps with a lot of the planning for events, especially for the youth. Although this was technically going to be hosted by the primary leaders, they needed all the help they could get because they wanted to invite not just the little kids, but the youth as well. Oh yeah and any adults who wanted to join. And since Troy knows his way around a pinewood derby, and his services were in high demand.

There were three evenings in January and February meant for people to come and get help building their cars. Troy got a bench-top band saw and set up shop. He told me that for at least two hours each night he was bent over that saw cutting out car after car after car. It was a ton of work, but also kind of fun to see so many people in the neighborhood wanting to get involved and take part. The third evening of car-building had to be postponed due to a big snow storm that came crashing through, but they made up for it the night before the actual derby which was.....take a guess.....on Troy's Birthday! Hurray!

Here are Troy and Ben working their magic on the bandsaw. They put in so many hours of labor on these nights.

By time time Troy's birthday and the pinewood derby actually rolled around, the planning committee had had to do a bit of scrambling to put it all together. I don't think they had expected nearly as many people to get involved. Troy thinks he cut out at least 50 cars, and by the time the weigh-in came there were almost 100 cars entered. The man hired for the job of racing them all was not certain he could even get them all raced in one evening but he brought an extra track and made it happen. It's great that so many people wanted to take part. Also kind of challenging. Best part of the evening? Out of all those cars, the winner was the son of some of our dear friends who moved to Bountiful a few years ago. Troy taught Cullen everything he knew about the art of building pinewood derby cars and clearly he did his work well. Cute Caleb was ecstatic to take home the top prize.

 

As far as Troy's birthday went, he wasn't really in the mood for much celebrating, nor did he have time for it. I did try to do a little something - I got a funny "best dad ever" balloon in the form of a Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker balloon. Troy thought that was funny. I made him one of his favorite breakfasts - omelets and potatoes. I tried to take him out to lunch, but instead he went out with his buddy Rick which was such a good thing. We put his birthday present on hold - things were just too hectic to really enjoy celebrating. I did manage to get him a big slice of his favorite: tiramisu from Gourmandise Bakery. At the derby however the primary president made sure there was a big cake for Troy and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. I was so glad they did. I wasn't even there! There wouldn't be much that would keep me away from Troy on his birthday but it also happened to be opening night of the play Emma was in.

So, happy birthday to my darling Troy. This is a photo of how his day ended - exhausted and snuggled up with his exhausted daughter. What a great heart Troy has. 

Tis the Season...to be frantic

A few weeks ago Romney approached her father and asked if he would mind making a submarine door for her.

No big deal.

Except...it was kind of a big deal. We are once again in the throws of performance/competition/crazy season, and since our daughter can't tear herself away from theater or choir or orchestra (plus all the small groups coming out of each of the three disciplines). She is up past her eyeballs in rehearsals, performances and traveling from school to school for presentations to judges. She has been in two separate choir octets, a female-only choir, a regular choir, a two-person one-act play, a string quartet, and playing the cello as accompaniment with the whole choir. She's ready to die and we are ready to kill her. Just kidding we love her so much. And also would like to die with her. She loves it all, except when she hates it all. 

The submarine door was for her two-person one-act play, written by her dear friend Cambria. Troy put in some serious man-hours on this project. He got to use his welder, and I got to pick up 10-foot lengths of steel in the minivan. Twice. The seats are a little worse for the wear. Good old Jarvis. Cambria's grandpa made the round handles and Romney and I painted it. I think it got the job done but boy were we glad to be done making it. You might think that after all the time and effort it took, we'd want to hang on to it. Not on your life. We agreed to make it and get it to the school only with the strict understanding that it was never EVER to return to our house. We were pretty worried that we wouldn't be able to get it to the school in our van, but once again Jarvis came through. The back seemed to have been custom made to fit homemade submarine doors. 

I wasn't sure I'd get to see this underwater drama, since the only night it was going to be shown to parents was on the same night as one of Emma's performances (more details on that next), but I found out that parents were allowed to go to the performance with the judges. I made the trip out to Brighton High School and was so happy I got a chance to see it. Cami is a great writer, and I don't often get to see Romney's real acting chops. She and Judd (fellow actor and Cami's little brother) did a great job. For the record, Brighton High is a massive school and when you park on the south east side you should expect to walk a full mile at least to get to the auditorium on the north west side. 

Next week Romney heads out on her madrigal and orchestra trip to California and please oh please when she gets home can this all settle down please?

Yeah, probably not. Her play, quartet and all the choir groups made it to the next round. Yaaaaaayyyyyy.

Cute photos of Romney with friends Elizabeth and Anna at a choir showcase evening - they really are so cute.

 

Welcome Home Elder!

No, not our Elder. Just a favorite neighbor and family friend.  

I normally do not take the time to write about other families' missionaries coming home but I couldn't help it this time. This cute returned missionary has been a part of our lives since he was 2 and my Chase wasn't yet born. When Chase turned 3, Cameron was the only guest he wanted at his birthday party. And his journey to becoming a missionary was something we were so honored to witness and found so inspiring. Plus the fact that his two years away seemed to have slipped away in the blink of an eye is also slightly nice to think about, although I know that it probably didn't feel that way to his family. 

The truth is that I'm not even sure what to write here, except to say that it is absolutely incredible to know a young man for his whole life, see him grow up and become an outstanding man. The ways people grow when they sacrifice time and energy for other people is something magnificent to see. We have had a couple of chances to hear message from Cameron and we are all just kind of blown away by how much he has grown. 

This is a very gushy post. Of course I'm extra gushy about missionaries since our own has been out for nearly six months now and already he has developed and learned so much. I'm proud of both of these boys.

The Singing Half-Blood

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - a popular book, which got made into a popular musical, both of which have been popular in the extreme at my house. 

Emma is my true fan of the Percy Jackson book series. She has devoured the books and basically emotionally entered that world with her whole heart. There are many feels and thus many exclamations made when it comes to those stories. 

Romney was the first to get to know the musical a few years ago and Emma wasn't far behind her. When I first heard it, I confess that it sounded a bit rough around the edges and maybe a little amateurish to me, but it grew on us all. The girls know every word of that show and had many hopes and dreams of seeing it someday. Also, Romney and her friends began nagging their theater teacher to produce it starting from about their freshman year. 

You would think that the announcement that The Lightning Thief was going to be the last musical of Romney's high school experience would send her through the roof with joy and anticipation. However, unlike her freshman year, Romney was having a lot more burnout with theater, a lot more desire to move on to new things and participate more actively in her choir connections. She couldn't help wanting to audition though, and was really hoping for one part in particular, that of Grover, the sidekick of Percy. She also really hoped that her best buddy Judd would get cast as the lead. 

There was some disappointment when neither of these things happened. But even Romney could see that the casting was absolutely perfect. The three leads (aka The Big Three) were all to be played by younger students in the theater department - two juniors and one sophomore. And they are all fantastic singers. Romney herself got a smaller part and she struggled to enjoy being a part of the rehearsals. Several times she threatened to back out but of course knew she couldn't. And of course, as I predicted, she ended up having a great time and thinking very highly of the production. She had a few small solos and sounded wonderful. She played half-blood camper Selina Beaureguard. 

I myself watched every performance with delight. The kids were great singers. Romney's friend Judd tried his hardest to steal the show, hamming it up as Hades, and getting plenty of cheers and whistles. There was a live band at the back of the stage, starring Romney's sweet friend Elizabeth on the electric violin. It was so impressive. I really wish I had video clips from the actual show. The Romneys came up from St. George to see it, and Siena kind of lost her mind watching it. (She's also a huge fan.) We were so touched that the Tuckfields also came, and very serendipidously bought our tickets directly behind them without meaning to, so we watched the show together. 

Oh Romney. Your theater experience has had some incredible highs and lows! I know you're ready to move on, and sometimes feel a little regret about a few things here and there when it comes to the drama department. I know you've loved your choir experience even more. But there's been a lot of joy, connection, and friendships here over the years. 

It's just so weird to think that she's wrapping up her senior year. I know we have plenty of theater years ahead as Emma is just gearing up to start high school, but it's still bittersweet.

This'll Just Take a Second

Once upon a time it was October and our little house had reduced its number of residents by one and Mommy jumped headlong into the massive undertaking of fixing up a bedroom for her older daughter. 

And I'm not sorry! I know it took several months, and so much time and energy, especially from Troy, but the end result has been so fun and so worth it. Were there curse words uttered over the hellscape we call sheetrock installation? Did I develop black lung and tennis elbow from sanding joint compound? Are there a few imperfections here and there that we are studiously overlooking? Yes, yes and YES! But truly I am so thrilled, and that's only half as thrilled as both of the girls are to have their own spaces. 

Here's a photo of the insulation, which I'm not sure why I'm including. That freaking stuff is awful to touch. But it was pretty exciting to get it installed after we finished adding of all the lumber in the beams to get a flat surface for the drywall.

 

Here's the sheetrock all up on the ceiling. We almost didn't make it through that. It's incredibly frustrating. We rented a sheetrock lift from a friendly neighbor on the local classifieds, and that helped, but freak we hated it. Troy got so grumpy on one day, understandably so, that he was ready to chuck a hammer through the window. Just at that moment, he accidentally dumped a tray of drywall dust all down his front. The tray was meant to help contain the mess of drilling holes into the drywall, and there it went, from eyebrows to belly button. He said it was actually super comical, especially the look of abject terror on my face when it happened. Luckily we made it through the trauma of sheetrocking and I would like Troy to never have to do it again. It sucks.

Next came mudding and sanding all of the seams and screw heads. I finally felt like I could be more helpful. I had a steep learning curve, and definitely did better on the screw heads than on the seams, and I am far from being adept at this skill. But I did feel like I could do work during the day. I will say that I did not enjoy the sanding part. We now refer to sanding drywall as the 5th circle of hell. 

There is one good part about sanding joint compound, which is the fun art project you get to create when you make prints of your sweaty, dusty face on your husband's chest. 

 

Then on this one Saturday, we declared that we were done with the mudding, taping and sanding. Despite being very tired and dirty, we couldn't wait to start putting some primer on those horribly red walls. (Curse you, Pottery Barn catalogue, for publishing photos of cozy little bedsides in rooms with dark red walls. I was seduced by you and spent 20 years regretting it!) What a divine treat to start to cover them up. It took a LOT of primer but we did it. 

We took several trips to Home Depot over the course of the project to pick out paint colors. It was like a fun little field trip, looking ahead to the happiest part of the project. It ended up being quite a bit more challenging that I expected. We brought home, and I am not exaggerating, at least 35 little paint chip cards, all of them being in gray family. I thought it would be easy to find just the right color, a light and warm gray. That color is impossible! At one point we were sure we found it, and went and bought the paint (the nice, expensive stuff), and painted a big swatch of one wall. Well, the lights in that room are very warm, and the color just looked beige. How can I like warm gray so much and dislike beige just as much? I don't know but somehow I do. It was quite the bummer. Back to square one. Each paint chip I looked at still looked sandy brown in those lights! Finally I went with a cool gray, and I liked it. I got a small sample of the paint, put it on the wall, and I was super pleased. It looked like a warm light gray. Yay! Buy the paint!

Once it got up on the walls...it looked much cooler than I expected. Cool as in temperature. It almost looks blue. I have no idea what happened but guess what. We all really like it anyway. I think it's lovely. 

And then....one night....it was DONE!!!! Getting the plastic and boards off of the floor was the best feeling ever. I vacuumed joyfully for a good hour. And I couldn't help it, I started moving furniture in that night. OCD much? Oh no, not me!

 

I'm so happy. I'm so relieved it's done. We have continued to add some things, like a desk and shelves and some sparkly lights. It's been so fun for Romney to move into her space. But you know, I was feeling bad for Emma, who wasn't getting anywhere near as much work and attention from us. So I didn't wait a single hour before going to work on her room. 

I don't have any before photos, which is too bad! They were sharing such a small space - two dressers and a bunk bed in there. We got rid of one old crummy dresser. (We meant to set it out on the curb as a freebee but then I was dumb and tipped it the wrong way and the drawers crashed to the ground and basically exploded so then it joined me on a one-way trip to the dump. Sorry, Troy. Not my best moment.) We emptied the room, scrubbed the walls and Emma sorted through all of her stuff and really simplified. We chopped off the top of the bunkbed, which later became firewood for us on a cold day when the power company cut power for a day while they did work on our street. It was a fitting end to the old thing. Emma's space, though still in need of updating, is so much nicer. I was glad to give her my full attention and not make her wait another day for some parental elbow grease in her honor. She is also delighted with having her own space. 

I have to give my girls some serious kudos. Can you imagine, two sisters sharing that tiny space so peacefully? They are so kind to each other. They SHARE CLOTHING. (Anyone with a sister knows that this is no easy feat.) I love them, I'm so proud of them. And holy kudos to my Troy for doing this huge project! Don't worry, we won't tear apart the little bedroom until the fall at the earliest. And you do NOT have to do the drywall yourself.