Never Too Old

There isn't a whole of narration to add to this post. The pictures sort of say it all. 

In the middle of March, we got one of our better snow storms of the year. It wasn't great - a year ago in April I think we got 18" or so, and this was only about six. But this was enough for my big kids to get the urge to go and play - they went digging through the bins of winter wear to find boots and gaters and started on a fort. 

It turns out that when your big grown up adult kids do things that they used to do when they were little, it's extra adorable. Troy and I kept peeking out the back window to check on their progress and it made us smile to see them working together out there.

Emma was not interested in participating, but she made them her special hot cocoa when they finally came inside to warm up. The fort was only half way done, and they swore they would get back to it the next day. It was no surprise, however, that regular life took over and the fort was left to melt away in the sun as the spring weather came back like it always does in March. 

Adding to the Flock

Our chickens by the numbers:

Total ever owned: 51

Total roosters we've had to give away: 15 (So far. This new batch of chicks has roosters yet to be unveiled, so to speak.)

Total chickens who have passed through the veil of death: 17 (including two teeny chicks we couldn't get to thrive this year - rest in peace, Tiptoe and Wobble.)

Total current chickens in our flock: 19

And for the record, 19 is really more than we can handle. Our 11 new chicks are already very teenagery in their appearance and behavior and are practically bursting out of their brooder in the garage. We need to get them out into the actual chicken coop and run, getting acclimated to the old chickens, and figuring out which ones get to stay (the gals) and which ones will have to go (sorry guys).

Here's the tough part. It's almost time to send some of our old lady chickens to a retirement home. And no, that isn't a euphemism for killing them. I can't bring myself to do that! Which proves that I'm just not ever going to be a true farmer. I found an ACTUAL farm that takes old chickens and lets them roam free to eat bugs and weeds. I'm pretty sad about letting them go....in fact I haven't done it yet. But also we do actually want eggs from our flock. So I guess this is the way it goes.

Welcome to the family Ripley, Sigourney, Uma, Prim, Ibbie, Fifi, Jane, Lizzie, Edelweiss, Wisteria, and Diana. (Try guessing who named who.)

We are trying a couple of new breeds this time around - D'uccles, which we have had before but weren't able to raise to be adults, and a couple of non-bantam breeds; Easter Eggers and Americanas. Apparently they are both known for being incredibly sweet. So far I do think these chicks are a lot more calm and willing to be held. It's been a couple of years since we have had chicks and it's been super fun to have them around again! We actually kept them in the living room for their first 10 days or so - mostly because we didn't clear out a space for them in the garage right away. But also because we decided it was delightful to have them close by to keep an eye on them and enjoy their little cheep cheeps.

Here is my teen girl with one of my teen chickens, Jane:

 

And for whomever was trying to guess on the names:

Troy - Diana, after his favorite singer, Diana Krall

Rachel - Jane and Lizzie, after the Bennett sisters from Pride and Prejudice, and Ripley after Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies. (Troy and I picked that name a long time ago.)

Chase & Romney - Prim (Primordial), Fifi (Colossus the Fire Dragon), Ibbie (Cannibal), all named after roller coasters at Lagoon. Sigourney and Uma after the actresses.

Emma - Edelweiss and Wysteria. I think we are going to call them Edo (Ay-doh) and Wisty. 

Names will stick if we are able to tell any of them apart!

Happy Birthday to My Troy

I am so happy to say that I think I finally understand what makes a great birthday for my husband. I always want him to have a great birthday, and so I ask him what he wants - what gifts, what food, what activities. We learned long ago that me surprising him with stupid little gifts that I'm guessing he would like is definitely not it. But asking too much about what he wants is also not it. And then I realized that what Troy wants is to not have to decide anything and for the day to not be a very big deal. Being with people he loves and having a yummy dinner is just about right.

So that's what we did. I ordered Indian food from Mumbai House without bugging him about what he wanted. (That's easy - I already know. Chicken makhani for the win, every time.) I asked our kids to be with us for dinner and conversation in the living room. I made a chocolate cake. And it was the most pleasant evening together. We just really love our kids. Both Chase and Romney have significant others now - both of whom we are really just so fond of. Being all together playing Chase's Hugge game (basically just conversation questions) was sweet and pleasant, especially with our tummies full of delicious Indian food. And cake. 

I worked that day, so I had Romney and Chase run to the store for cake supplies like candles and stuff. Romney thought she was hilarious by purchasing the numbers 5 0 0 so we could make a "you're turning 500!" cake. Little stinker. And boy did Troy laugh when he saw it. 

Yeah, Chase has a sweetie. I probably shouldn't blog about her because relationships are precarious and family blogs are weird. But she has been a really happy part of Chase's life for several months now, so on to the blog she goes. Emily is a total sweetheart.

There's not much else to say except that I couldn't ask for a better partner in life than my Troy. Happy birthday.

Our Little Mermaid

Way back in November, about a week after East High finished its production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, auditions were held for The Little Mermaid. Emma (who goes by Lyn at school), really was hoping for the role of Flounder, Ariel's sidekick fish. She thought Scuttle the seagull would also be fun. She didn't get either role, and was a little bummed about that. However, what she did get was awesome. 

Emma was cast as Arista, one of Ariel's sisters. I knew that once she got going with the rehearsals she would quickly get caught up in the fun of being a part of this ensemble. I knew it would mean fabulous costumes and a really great group of girls, and some lines and even a little solo singing. I was not wrong. Of course there were some frustrating days here and there, but overall it was a great experience. 

The performances were in February - five total, including a Saturday matinee featuring all the understudies so they had a chance to shine. I had to confess to being quite impressed with Emma's solo singing lines. She did great. And the mersisters had a couple of songs with really great harmonies. Proud of my little alto! My purple-haired alto.

The most dedicated theater mom is so cute - she headed up the concessions and dressed up a few times, including as Ursula:

We had a mini EHS reunion one evening - Nick's mom Heather, Annie, mom of Scuttle, me, and Eliza all ended up at one show and spend intermission reminiscing and enjoying each other's company.

Grateful to Sam and Kathleen who made the trip from DayBreak to see the show.

In previous shows I've tried to be a little more involved with costumes and stuff like that. I could only take on a few little jobs this time since my certification exam was so close. Instead I accepted the request to make dinner on one of the long dress rehearsal nights. I always think I'm going to keep it simple and easy and it just NEVER is. There is always some disaster or another. I can't get pulled pork to pull, I spill cheese sauce all over my oven, I forget plates....whatever. It's always a stressful mess. This particular time I was really grateful that the rehearsal went long because it allowed me to rescue a few disasters. However, it did mean that the mac-n-cheese was kind of cold. So what did I do? I went and found the drama teacher's heat gun in his shop and waved it over the pans of noodles for a good 15 minutes while I was waiting for dinner to start. That was a new adventure.

As always seems to be the case, the play took up a lot of time and energy and emotion, and was simultaneously filled with joy and memory making that makes it all so much fun. 

Knitting Ups and Downs

Despite the fact that not a ton of group knitting happened on my Romney Women trip, I did bring a project with me that I made a lot of progress on. That project is a sweater for Troy. I'm so happy that Troy wants a sweater from me. You know, I actually started one for him a million years ago. It was just plain - no colorwork, no cables, no nothing. And it was so unbearably boring that I gave up on making it. Which is probably a good thing because I had never made an adult sized sweater before, and even now that I've made several I still struggle with sizing. Anyway. Troy wants a sweater and I want to make him one! 

He picked out the pattern - such a lovely cable pattern with sort of a funnel neck. I love it. And I had just the right yarn for it. It was perfect except one little thing - I had nowhere near enough yarn. I tried to convince myself that I did - the yarn came from a project that I made during the viewing of the winter Olympics in Korea...whenever that was. I remember that I wanted to make a really big scarf. But I guess I had more Olympics to watch than I realized because the resulting scarf was so ridiculously massive that I never wore it. It was too narrow for a blanket and too long for....anything. So a couple of years ago I just ripped it out, determined to find the right project for the beautiful yarn. I thought I had found it. That scarf wrapped around my torso at least twice! Surely it would be enough!

It took me almost completing the back before I had to be honest with myself and admit I didn't have enough. My plan was to go to a few yarn stores (I mean, if I had to go I just HAD to go, right?) and hunt down a really similar yarn. Turns out, that is an impossible task.

I told my fellow family knitters about this problem, we tried to come up with ideas like making the sleeves a different color or turning it into a sweater vest. My cousin Luanne and I decided that after our return to Utah we would get together to visit a new yarn shop in downtown SLC and see what we could find.

I think it was just that next week that Luanne made the trip to the valley for us to meet up and check out Handworks on Pierpont Avenue. And guess what. We found something, alright! (No, it was not the right yarn.) What we found was first, the most wonderful lovely yarn shop I've ever been to. I walked in and just about died of pure happiness and delight. Brick wall, beautiful old floor, steel beams, and best of all, a puppy. Oh yeah, and a ton of really fabulous yarn. 

 

(I added this sweater to my knit-wish list)

Second, we found that the woman behind the counter was very familiar to me - she had worked at Blazing Needles, my former LYS that closed. I was so thrilled to discover that this woman, who was by far the most helpful and knowledgeable person I'd ever been helped by, had opened this shop. She is so wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that she was able to talk me out of trying to patch together the sleeves out of some other yarn. AND she was able to correctly guess the brand of yarn I was trying to find. She didn't carry it, but helped me find the website. Happily I went home to order the yarn!

Only....the yarn I got was so not right. Way too heavy of a yarn and totally the wrong color. I tried again. Found the right yarn, right weight....wrong color. Observe:

Time to give up. I went back to Handworks and just bought the right amount of a different yarn and started again. I'm almost done with the back again. Have I ripped out the first attempt? Not yet. I can't quite bring myself to do it. But when I do, I'll go back to my new favorite LYS (Local Yarn Shop) to ask what I can make with it. 

The Romney Women Gather

In the last few years I have found myself having a lot more contact with the Romney side of my family. I see cousins more than I used to and when my aunts come to town we try to at least have a meal together. It's been really wonderful. Last fall my two Romney aunts were here and my cousin Luanne and I joined them for dinner and chatting and also some knitting. All four of us love to knit - we have even talked about going on a knitting cruise some day. I doubt that will ever happen, but I do love being with them. That night we decided it was time to make some more formal plans for getting us all together. We thought it sounded like a good idea to have one small reunion with just the eight women in our family - two aunts and six cousins. And then try to also get a bigger group together with husbands and brothers and maybe even kids. A big task, but hopefully doable. We made a list, picked some jobs to get started on, and hugged goodbye for the night. 

The plan was for us to have a women-only retreat in January and then a whole-family gathering the following summer. But then the worst thing happened. Three of my four female cousins, who are sisters, each was diagnosed with breast cancer over the next few months. They have varying levels of severity and different action plans with each, but it was a huge blow to our whole family, especially theirs. At the moment I believe they are all doing well, but we decided that the highest priority would be to just start with the women-only gathering and to go ahead with the last weekend of January as planned. 

We thought it would be fantastic to take the chance during this cold and dreary time of year to head south and take over the home of my Aunt Rosanne who lives not far outside of Las Vegas. However, due to the ongoing treatment of one cousin who lives in Idaho, we decided to move the party to Boise. I know, Boise doesn't sound like the most fun place to go in January, but it really wasn't about the destination either. It was about being together. We talked about how we just wanted a weekend of knitting. Pure knitting! 

As the date drew nearer, I realized that I had some growing anxiety about the trip. (How unlike me.) The things I was nervous about were first of all...were we really going to just knit all day long? I mean, sounds like heaven to me but maybe actually it could get kind of boring. And also it occurred to me that we as cousins and aunts had never travelled together. Travelling always sounds like fun until you find out that two of you like to sleep until noon and the rest of you feel the day has been wasted if you haven't hit three museums by 10am. You know? So who knew how this would be?

Happily, I had the chance to drive to Boise with my oldest cousin Luanne - she's the oldest child in my Uncle Mike's family. Mike is the oldest of that generation, then came my dad, and then three younger sisters. The oldest sister passed away when Troy and I had only been married a couple of years. The only other sibling who has passed is of course my dad. Anyway, I'm very fond of Luanne. We have so much in common and have only really started spending time together over the past couple of years. She lives in North Ogden, so we decided it would work well for me to take the train from SLC to NO, meet at the station, then head to Boise from there. I wondered if we would have enough to chat about for four hours. Those four hours flew by so fast - we talked our heads off the whole way. When we got to the Boise area we made our first stop at a woman's house who is a dear friend of Luanne's little sister Carole. Carole was spending the afternoon there, and we picked her up. 

Can I just say? I ADORE THESE WOMEN. Carol lives outside of Seattle - we spent a night there on our way home from Seattle the last time we visited (like SIX years ago). And the three of us are really the only church-goers in the family. Which is just great - I love everyone so much. And also there is something extra special about the time I get with Carole and Luanne. I just feel so connected to them, and they make me laugh so hard. So I was grateful for our little prelude time together.

We arrived at the house - just a nice big house in a nice neighborhood that my aunt found on Air BnB - a great size for us. And my sweet sister was already there - it felt so good to get a giant hug from her. And then we just proceeded to have the most wonderful weekend! I really didn't know what to expect. Or what to plan for. Some people brought gifts for everyone - Luanne brought these little card holders and some really fun quotes to put in them. Carole brought her own farm's honey and lavender. Aunt Hannah actually embroidered personalized gifts for everyone. Some people got little pillows and some people got wall-hangings. I myself got a chicken and I'm crazy about it. Aunt Rosanne made these ceramic arm-chairs for each of us to represent the fact that we all have figurative "empty chairs" in our lives - people we love who are no longer with us. And the empty chair makes a safe and cozy place for us to picture them and remember them. Each of the chairs also came with a tiny pillow printed with the Romney family crest. Guess what. I had no idea that our family has its own crest, but we do!

My chicken and my armchair now sit on my bookshelf and I look at them lovingly every day.

The gift-giving session was quite tear-jerking actually.

My aunts did a lot of planning I wasn't expecting. I should have pitched in more but I thought we were just going to sit around and knit! There was a lot of cooking - Rosanne did most of that. I did convince her to let me do one lunch for everyone. Many games were also played - I didn't know everyone liked games so much. The best one was a dice game with a whole counter-full of prizes to be won with the winning rolls of the dice. I came away with quite a haul of cheap kitchen tools and weird earrings and socks and stuff like that. So many laughs. We had a shopping day at a craft store and a vinegar-tasting store. We didn't eat out one single time or watch any movies. We just talked and talked and talked. 

 

Rosanne has quite a few family members living in the area, so we actually had some really fun visits from my cousin Lynsey's kids Wendy and Spencer and her brother Miles Simon. Everyone calls him Mike but to me he will always be Miles Simon. I love that name. And I love him. He and are the exact same age and whenever I get to see him we have a good time chatting. He's such a good guy.

His wife came for dinner one night as well. I thought it was perfect to have the main group be just us eight women but with welcome visits from available family members. Hannah bought a cake and flowers to celebrate Rosanne's birthday, which I don't think Rosanne was thrilled about. She, apparently, does not care for celebrating her birthday. 

Other fun things we did were a crafty afternoon making homemade journals, and Margaret led us in sort of a TED talk-feeling exercise about telling our own personal stories. I wasn't expecting to enjoy that so much but I really did. Margaret is so talented - her exercise got us all sharing interesting things from our lives that would never have come up otherwise.

I really thought the trip was a massive success and I hope we do it again soon. We all kind of agreed that we had our doubts about the ability to make the group bigger, and wondered how the dynamics would change with spouses and kids there. Really...we kind of just want to be the Romney women together again. What a blessing to have had this time together.