That's a Wrap on Romney's 2nd Decade

Well, now she's 20. It happened - I'm down to one teenager! And I have a confession. Since I'm writing this so far after it happened....I can't actually remember very well what we did for Romney's big Two-Oh.  I had to call her and ask her. Birthdays are a little different when you're older! She reminded me that she had to work that day and it was kind of low-key, plus she had a friend party on a different day. 

We met up in the evening and went to a Vietnamese place for dinner called Little Saigon over in Sugarhouse. So super delicious. I got pho and drank every last drop. And then back to our house for treats, presents, and a movie. And...it was kind of late for a movie so instead we watched Parks and Recreation. 

Gifts? Lets see. I gave her a new little backpack because she likes stealing mine. Emma gave her a cute little fried egg stuffy made by Jelly Cat and also a pair of earrings. I'm dying a little bit. I can't remember what else!

Despite the very low-key birthday, it is always delightful to celebrate our Romney Ann. She's just so fun and pleasant and supportive and wise. She loves being with us, she loves going on drives and getting drinks and chatting about all of the things, and helping me pick clothing out. She has been working so hard - she started a couple of new jobs over the summer, first at Great Harvest and then with the local school district working in their after care program. I thought she'd hate it (probably due to the times I had to substitute teach at the elementary school and despised it) but instead she's thriving. She's taking care of herself and in a super lovely positive relationship with the most wonderful boy. I'm just so proud of her. 

Last Day First Day

Summer (finally) started drawing to a close. The sad part of this was that Emma's job at This is the Place had to wrap up. Emma had the most delightful summer working there - she of course made so many friends and had such a great time learning the music and performing dances and songs all day long. I am very sorry to admit that I meant to go see her all summer long and just didn't make it until her very last day. I felt bad about that but also was so so glad I was there to see her last day. It was so fun! The songs they sing are just so charming and funny, plus the dances and Emma also gets to play her violin a little. I know she really wants to go back next year. And maybe this Christmas too. We were both a little teary as we walked out of the park.

 

The very next day was Emma's first day of school - she is now a JUNIOR. I find this to be completely bizarre. I....don't even know what to say. She's not allowed to be this old. 

 

She is taking a theater class for the first time, which is funny because theater is her LIFE. She is bummed out because her madrigals class and orchestra class are scheduled at the exact same time - for a while she tried to kind of do both and just jump back and forth. Shockingly enough, that did not work out. She has picked madrigals and hopes to take orchestra again next year. She's in drivers ed and she and I are driving a lot together, which is, you know, just...delightful. Actually she's doing a great job but it's always nerve-wracking. She gets less mad at me than the other two did. She just laughs at me when I clutch the door handle or push on my imaginary brake. Sweet girl. The thing that helps us the most is listening to all the musicals we love on shuffle and singing along. 

Love my girl so much.

Little Bird Leaves the Nest

 How can someone who looks like this...

...tell me that she's all grown up and moving out of my house?

Not possible. But somehow it happened. 

Way back in the spring Romney let us know that she had friends moving into a house together and she was going to be part of it. To be totally honest, Troy and I weren't too sure about it. Mostly because we didn't want Romney having to earn and spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars every month when she could live at home for free. But she was determined (which is exactly like her, by the way) and for several months she and her bestie Anna and the other two roommates planned and planned and planned. They had so much fun preparing, and they did a lot of shopping. Romney became an absolute master of finding deals on Facebook Marketplace. 

Then late in July the girls began moving into the house. Romney's room is in the basement, which at first seemed a little dank and grim, but she did a fantastic job making her room into her home. Although the downside is that it's in the basement, the upside is that it's by far the biggest bedroom in the house. Romney was able to create a little bedroom side and a living room side with a couch (from FM) and a TV (from us). She collected all sorts of artwork and lamps and furniture and got it all set up. And it was really cute.

We had a really special family experience then. There is something we do in our church called dedicating a space. When we build new church buildings or temples, a blessing is said over the space to make it sacred. We often do it when we move into new homes as well. And Romney wanted her room to be dedicated. So Chase gave a special prayer to ask for a blessing on Romney's room. It was really lovely to kneel together in a family circle and ask that this new home for Romney would be a positive place, and safe, and happy. And welcoming. I'm so grateful for moments like those. 

And you know, it's been a great place. Yes, Romney has to work hard to earn the money to live there. And she loves it. She loves her roommates, she loves taking care of herself, making food, grocery shopping, all of the things. We like to say that she's loving playing house. But really she's not playing. She's just getting started and she's doing a great job. I'm so proud of her.

Here are my three darlings, spending an evening without Troy and me, just playing games and enjoying time together. Fills up my heart.

Ok and what do you think happened pretty much the minute that Romney moved out? Of course the other two had to switch rooms. Troy and I had always said that if we had three kids in the house, the two girls would share the big room and Chase would get the small. But with only two kids in the house, the older kid would get to choose. And as much as Chase loved the brand new little bedroom we fixed up for him, he wanted to be in the big room to be with his lizard Omnom. The switch was arduous but also fun to get everything fresh and clean and give the kids their own spaces.

The best part of all is that Romney's house is five minutes away, right by Emma's high school. She can hang out there after school if I can't pick her up yet, and we get time with Romney all the time. It is even sweeter to me now when the five of us are together.

Life is good. Having kids grow up is a little stinky, but also miraculous and wonderful.

Thirty Years Ago

In the spring of 1994 I opened an envelope which contained a call to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, assigned to the Korea, Seoul West Mission. I left for the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on I think June 30 (maybe the 29th?), then boarded a plane for Korea on August 30th of the same year. I returned on December 30 of 1995. That mission was quite an experience. I loved it, I struggled so hard, sometimes I think I did some good and sometimes I think I was just a big dork who missed the point of a mission. I'm sure it was both and everything in between as well. 

Oh my gosh. I was so young. And had so much hair. (One second, I need to go cry. Be right back.)

Okay, moving on. Several months ago I started hearing about a mission reunion happening in July. Honestly, I was really nervous to go. I kind of felt like maybe I didn't actually have real close friends from mission. I was definitely feeling more focused on the "I think I might have been an idiot for my whole mission" side of things. I almost didn't go. 

OH MY GOSH I'M SO GLAD I WENT.

The reunion consisted of a whole weekend of events, and I was able to attend three things. 

On Friday night, there was a casual dinner at a Red Robin restaurant. Then on Saturday morning we reserved a whole bunch of seats for a session at the Draper temple. Finally on Saturday evening there was a Korean dinner and program at a stake center in Riverton. There were the fewest people at the Friday night restaurant. At first I was just kind of glomming on to a couple of elders I knew a little bit but not super well. Such nice guys. Funny, both named Elder Richards. One really short, one really tall. Great guys. And then two absolutely wonderful sisters arrived - Sister Bissey and Sister Brown. They actually were companions at the time I arrived in Korea and I spent my first day and night in the mission with them. They just made me feel taken care of. So great to see them! But best of all was towards the end of the evening, probably my best friend from the mission arrived. I honestly didn't expect to see him - I thought he lived in Arizona. His name is Elder Sanders, and we were in the same district in Incheon for a long time. He's just a dear dear friend. We were pretty close when we both got home but of course life happens and we hadn't been in touch for years and years. And the reunion was so sweet. He's just a brother of my heart. 

The next morning was the temple session, and I was able to reconnect with a different group. I was just glowing inside. Elder Little, Sister Backman, and more. 

I had to skip out on lunch at the park that afternoon because of the play at Hale Center Theater, but that night was the Korean dinner. I saw so many more people I was excited to reconnect with. The best was my big buddy Elder Brock from Florida. How cool that he came! He used to call me biscuit. Probably not appropriate for missionaries. But it was never meant in any way but dearest affectionate friends who were getting through missions together. I had been on a zoom call with him a couple of years before and there was no chance to connect because it was a big group. I was nervous he wasn't going to be that happy to see me. But the reunion was joyous, and the first thing he said was, "Biscuit!!!!" I'm grinning right now just thinking about it. I got to meet his wife too, who is just a total sweetheart.

I felt so comforted, like actually I hadn't been just a dork out there. I am so grateful I got to serve that mission. Would I do a better job today than I had when I was 21? Of course. But this reunion helped me feel better about the ways I wasn't perfect and better about the time I spent. That love we all felt was so real. I'm so glad I didn't chicken out.

Elders Mazcheck and Sanders, Korean Sign Language speakers

Elders Brock (Biscuit!) and Acton

My mission president, President Neilsen

Sister Bissey

Elders Little and Richards

Looking for the Bright Side

July. Seems like it has to happen every year. And we do our best to make the most of it. I'm sure it's no secret that July (and let's face it, August too,) are just not my favorite times of the year. I get very grumpy and feel claustrophobic in the heat. I just do not love it. 

I have been trying to remind myself that there are things about July that I actually love. These things occur mostly in the early mornings and the late evenings, but here are some things I love about July.

Fresh tomatoes.

Birds singing early in the morning. 

Flowers on our porch. 

Breathing in the warm summer air late in the evening.

Lying in a hammock. 

Crickets.

Watermelon.

Flip Flops. (Actually I get sick of those and long for my socks and shoes, but it's great at first.)

See, there are good things about summer. I just have to really focus on them and even then I sometimes lose my mind from being too hot and sweaty. 

Some July highlights:

Independence Day. It started out the way we like it - up Millcreek Canyon, with a fire in the pit, biscuits in the dutch oven, and gravy on the stove. We were missing one very important element, and that was our Romney. She had to be at work instead of with us! She spent the day slaving over sandwiches at Great Harvest Bakery. She's a hard worker, that Romney Ann. Weirdly, none of us had the slightest desire to watch fireworks. We went for an evening swim with the Moores and then retreated indoors. Well, Romney didn't. She went to see fireworks. 

Oh! We had a visitor! This little guy came to hang out in our yard all day on the 4th. We think it's a Western Screech Owl. He let us get so close! He did give me a couple of warning clacks with his beak when I got within about 10 feet, but he stuck around for quite some time. I sure hope he was interested in mice and not our chickens. He was quite small, and our chickens weren't nervous at all with him around. So I vote mice. 

Other July events - 

We celebrated the International Day of Play at the hospital. Here I am at one of the play tables with two of my officemates. Actually, former officemates. But that's a different story. 

We had some fun projects get finished up - Emma took an old satchel bag, removed a patch that was on the front of the pocket, and created her own design to embroider on it. This is the Place really got under her skin, I guess! Cute bag.

And I finished her gardenia quilt! Don't look too closely at it - it has a lot of flaws. But I love the design and it's so fun to have it on Emma's bed.

The last Saturday in July was an absolute marathon for me. It involved a 30 year reunion for my mission in South Korea, with events in the morning and evening, and in between Troy and I went to Hale Center Theater to see the son of our dear friends the Tates star as Ren McCormack in Footloose. He was absolutely fantastic. We had such a good time seeing him in the show then going out to lunch with this incredible group of friends.