Updates on My Newest 14 Year Old

The end of May and start of June brought some fun for our gal Emma. 

For starters, a friend from school invited her to a birthday party to be held at some magical land I've never been to called Evermore. I have heard of it - it's sort of like a cos-players Disneyland, I guess. And the deal was that everyone invited was going to dress up in fantasy character clothes and they were going to spend the whole evening there - all the way until it closed at like 11pm or something. I hadn't really caught on to the big picture yet when Emma started working on a project. She wanted to make a staff, and kept asking me for things like a wooden dowel, air-dry clay, paint, and a trip to Michael's for crystals and fake moss and stuff. I didn't even put it together, when she was asking me for this stuff, that this was for the night at Evermore. But as I watched her work I realized that she was creating something pretty dang amazing. It took her absolute hours. 

She turned to her sister for help in putting together a costume, and it took many combinations of many articles of clothing before they figured it out. When I saw her I pretty much freaked out. She looked so amazing.

 

 

I'm so glad we took a lot of photos because the staff didn't do too well that night. I guess the Crayola air-dry clay was not meant for rough handling, staff-fighting, or casting spells, because the lovely additions of the mushroom and other things were mostly torn off by the time she got home. That was a bummer. But she's working on a new iteration of her magical staff over the summer.

Not long after her excursion to fantasy land, Emma let me know that she was ready for a haircut. I was a little sad to see her long coils go away, but she was really ready for the change. And whatever her hairdresser did made her curls go totally crazy.

 

 

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Then suddenly it was June 3, and our wee little Emma turned 14 and was just about done with Junior High. We had a really fun day - happily, this year Emma's birthday was on a Saturday and we just partied all the day long.

We started with a breakfast of her favorite - scones. The birthday fairy visited in the night and brought balloons and a couple of gifts. New white converse high tops, so she'd stop stealing her sister's, some new D and D dice with little dragons inside of the resin, and a couple of other fun things like that. 

Romney had the best bedhead ever that morning

Emma still had her violin lesson that day, so we went off to see Becky, and then swung back by home to pick up dad and Romney and go to lunch at a silly and swanky velvet-clad pink and green bistro called Plated Dreams. In Bountiful. We feel like when you say Plated Dreams you have to say it in a very dreamy and breathy voice with your eyes half closed. Try it. ....Plated....Dreams.....

It's so silly. And also so fun. And tasty. 

 

 

After we got home, Romney took Emma shopping at City Creek to get some new sandals. This was a fun little outing for them but also served the purposed of getting Emma out of the house. See...here's the thing. Emma had all sorts of plans for a party she wanted with her friends. She was really excited but as it turned out, none of her closest friends were available that day to get together and it was looking to be a total bummer. I had an idea. I told Emma to postpone her get-together with her friends, and that I was planning a surprise for her.

This isn't going to sound like a great idea, but around here, it was a fantastic idea. Romney and I invited five of her very best friends to come over and celebrate Emma. Emma adores Romney's friends and they adore her. They were so DANG CUTE. They came over early, and a couple of them even brought gifts for her. They hid in the house, and when Romney got back with Emma, they jumped out and truly surprised her. She was screaming and laughing so hard. And those sweet friends just made Emma feel so special. We did dinner and board games and birthday cake and presents and chicken-holding (not a usual party activity, I know), and it was just such a special was to celebrate Emma. I was close to tears with gratitude and happiness.

Seems like it was a pretty great birthday for our 14-year-old. Love my Emma. 

Can I tell a funny story? She'll probably kill me if she ever realizes that I shared this, but it will be decades before she ever reads this blog. It's just such a great example of why I love her so much. She is wonderfully hilariously dramatic. A few weeks ago at her violin lesson she was working on something, and Becky encouraged her to try a new section of a piece. Emma looked at the music, paused and then closed her eyes and said, "Oh happy dagger! Bring me sweet DEATH."

Stunned silence. 

Then Becky and I started laughing so hard. Becky could not stop laughing and made sure to let Emma know that of all the exclamations she has ever heard in her teaching room, that one was a first. It was so funny.  Emma, we love you so much.

Memorial Morning

Somehow I'm still always a little surprised when Troy and I suggest a holiday activity that requires the kids to wake up early and they are totally willing and excited to do it. Memorial Day breakfast up Millcreek Canyon has become one of our favorite things to do. It's so delightful. 

This year the girls agreed that the breakfast of the day would be biscuits and gravy - with biscuits to be freshly baked in a dutch oven. Plus some juice. We gathered every single thing we needed and got in the car and found a lovely spot. Then we discovered that we forgot some stuff. Like cups for the orange juice. That's ok! We had tinfoil and cans of coke zero, so we improvised and used our creative little brains to fashion our own drinking vessels. Also we forgot tongs for the charcoal. That was harder to improvise around but we managed.

 

Also we had a lizard who was very interested in our very warm fire pit and hung out with us for quite a while. The fact that this was the most exciting thing that happened is the perfect example of why we love our breakfasts in the mountains. 

 

After our exceedingly delicious food (dutch oven biscuits really are the best) and being greeted by a very friendly man who wanted to share his truck-load of firewood with us, we did another wonderful thing which was sit by the fire and read, or knit, or draw. 

It's so good to do these things because once we return back home I always manage to get going on some cleaning project or something like that. This is not a bad thing, but I do it too much and we need to make sure to get away and into the mountains more than we do. 

Best Spring EVER

The way it normally goes in Utah is for us to have a long, cold, grey winter. Lately, without a lot of snow. Just cold and grey, lasting much longer than you'd expect. Finally as you're nearing May, you think, Oh PLEASE let us have just a little spring! And spring comes. For about a day and a half. Then you get blasted with heat and still no rain and it's just awful. That's how it has felt for quite some time now, especially with two summers in a row with record-breaking heat, record-numbers of days in the 100s, things like that. 

But GUESS WHAT. Not this year! Oh my gosh, it was heavenly. Spring came after all that snow in April, and it stayed and stayed and stayed. We got into some sort of monsoon pattern and we got rain every afternoon for days in a row. The temps stayed in the 60s and 70s, into June. Do you hear me, people?? Into JUNE. 

Here are Romney and I at the wedding reception of a friend of hers (that was a first - and it happened a lot sooner than we thought it would!). It was at Wheeler Farm, and she and I enjoyed a delightful walk in the cool evening complete with showers and rainbows. 

This is not a very eventful post, but I had to document that it happened and was fabulous and please please please could it happen again next year?

50, Finally!

I think I've been referring to myself as 50 years old for months, if not a full year. It just seemed like such a massive milestone, looming ahead of me, that I figured, oh well, I'm about there anyway. Let's just claim it early. But then the actual day did arrive!

I have such sweet and wonderful friends. I had been planning on having a quiet day kind of on my own. Treat myself to a manicure, maybe shop a little. But then the friends pounced! First of all, Becca asked if she could host a neighborhood party. So nice. We decided to do it on Friday, the day after my birthday. So I thought, well, I'll still just do my thing on the 25th. Then the old group of neighborhood friends, one of whom has the same birthday as me, decided to get together for lunch. THEN dear Emily asked what else I was doing, and I told her about the manicure. She insisted on joining me and treating! So nice. It was a delightful day.

First thing in the morning was perhaps my favorite gift. Troy and I got up early as usual, and in the dark and quiet kitchen he wished me a happy birthday and told me that he had gotten me a little something. I looked over at the table and started laughing so hard. He got me a Highland Cow! We both busted up because he knows how much I would love getting an actual real cow, and he told me this was the best he could do under the circumstance. Meet Angus. He even moos. 

Then Emily and I went for manicures, and didn't realize that we both inadvertently got nail polish that matched our clothes. I guess we both have a signature color. 

After our lunch at Kneaders, I slipped away to go dress shopping. I had several places I wanted to look but I ended up finding the exact thing I was looking for at a small boutique right by the restaurant in Bountiful. I saw it and thought I'd just pop in for fun and there it was!

Romney also gave me a present. It was hilarious actually. Early in the month, Romney let me know that she wanted to get back into knitting, and that what she wanted to make was a "mug cozy." We looked on ravelry and found a very cute pattern. She picked some yarn out of my stash and I gave her a refresher course. Knitting comes very naturally to Romney, actually. She caught right on to cables and everything. Later she told me that during lunchtime at school she even walked down to the studio of a potter friend of ours. She picked out a button for the cozy and also the perfect mug to go with it! So cute. I was proud of her. Then, on my birthday, she gave me a package and of course what was inside was the mug and cozy. We both cracked up. She had been planning all along to give it to me, and just didn't know how to be sneaky about making it, so she decided to not keep it a secret. So funny! I love my mug and cozy. 

 

In the evening, Troy and I slipped away for some Vietnamese food before doing exactly what we did last year. We went to see Romney sing in a madrigals concert at East High. It was actually a really nice evening.

Friday night was also delightful - treats and so many friends over at the Bucherts house, birthday cake and candles included. I love my people so so much.

End of a Musical Era

The 2nd half of May brought on a lot of goodbyes. (Like me saying goodbye to my 40s). They were all pretty bitter-sweet, but one was especially hard to face.

When Romney was in 2nd grade, she started taking cello lessons from my sister, Margaret. Margaret moved to Boulder when Romney was in 6th grade, and so we tried to do facetime lessons with my brother Peter. That was tough for her. She decided to stop taking lessons for a while. And then a few years later she realized how much she was missing the cello, and we decided to connect with the woman who took over Margaret's studio when Margaret moved. 

How could we possibly have known what a great blessing Ariel was going to be in our lives? Romney started up again as an 8th grader, and though it took a while to break through Romney's stiffness and also to get used to Ariel's style, we soon realized that despite anything that was frustrating or not moving forward from week to week, Romney always came away from her lessons feeling positive and supported. 

As Romney approached her high school graduation, we had to face the truth that soon her season of taking cello lessons was coming to an end! In some ways, this was a relief. She had been so very very busy that cello was definitely not her main focus and often fell to the back burner. But still, no matter what, her time in her lessons made her feel positive about playing and like she was ok the way she was. Romney was clearly never going to go on to major in cello performance or become a cello teacher (well, probably not anyway), and Ariel saw that. She just helped Romney develop a love of music. It couldn't have been better. I'm sure there are many other teachers who would have had more committed kids take her place. But Ariel gifted us with a chance to have music in our lives. 

I also just loved every minute with Ariel - she feels like very much of a kindred spirit to me, and I often imagined that she was close to my age when in fact I'm about 20 years her senior. (The worst was the day that I asked her if she was 40 yet and she told me she wasn't yet 30!) Our age difference sure didn't stop her from playing the role of musical guru for us. I respect her, admire her, want to be more like her. The goodbye was very teary. And it wasn't even a real goodbye! We are planning on continuing lessons with her in an a-la-carte kind of way, just scheduling one every few months or something. But it won't be the same. We are so grateful.

A huge shout-out needs to be sent to my cellist-siblings as well. They both gave us so much as well. Music is an incredible part of this life and I consider us to be extremely lucky to have been surrounded by generous musicians.

Matthew Turns 16

There are a couple of things about our celebration of Matthew that really stood out this year. 

First of all, we didn't have Chase with us. It was both sad and sweet that he wasn't there - sad to be missing both of our boys, sad to not have our Chase with us on our own special Preslar Holiday that he loves celebrating with us. But so sweet because he's out doing this incredibly hard and wonderful thing that is forcing him to grow and stretch and serve and study and learn, and I know he feels so strongly that his little brother is by his side, though unseen.

Secondly, as Troy and the girls and I lingered around the fire, we wrote our notes as usual and tossed them into the flames, and then we ended up having a long and very poignant conversation about our beliefs and our faith. There was a very special feeling there as we cried and shared thoughts and emotions, and I feel like we drew even closer as a family. 

We actually have one single photo of our Matthew, which we have never shared with anyone. The kids have never wanted to see it before but this year they felt like they were ready. I went to get our special box where we keep the photo along with a couple of mementos from the hospital and all of the sweet cards and notes we received from family and friends. It's not an easy photo to look at, but it was special to share it and talk with the girls about what the experience of his birth was like.

Those are such special nights, sitting out in the cool spring air, a different feeling surrounding us than our usual busy evenings. Reflecting on memories, expressing hope and belief, feeling like Matthew is near. I never would wish this experience on anyone, and can't really say that I'm glad that it happened, but there sure have been blessings in the wake of losing Matthew. I'm grateful for those blessings and the bond our family shares because of him.

Gatherings of Spring

So many wonderful gatherings happened this spring. Here are a few:

Taking dear Natalie to the temple: 

My friend Natalie had never been through the temple before and she thought for years about if she wanted to go. This year she decided it was time. She now lives in California, but since her dearest friends and most of her family are all here in Salt Lake, she decided to come here. It was so glorious to gather together as a circle of friends and sisters and join her, support her, celebrate with her. It was just wonderful.

An Evening at Red Butte Garden:

Despite being one of the most planniest planners who ever planned a plan, there are times when a spontaneous invite comes our way and we suddenly find ourselves in the company of friends, surrounded by nature, eating delicious dinner. The Bucherts and Behunins called one evening and next thing we knew, we were eating a picnic dinner at Red Butte Gardens, followed by a good hour and a half of walking around the trails as the light was fading. It was pretty much Heaven.

Saying Goodbye to a Friend:

My mother's cousin, and mother of a family of kids that my whole family was quite close to at times in our lives, let her friends and family know that she was dying of cancer. She and her kids decided to hold a celebration together before she passed away so that her many loved ones could come greet her and wish her well and share their love. Troy and I went, and I seemed to take a trip back in time as I entered the church building that I attended from age 14 - 24. I saw so many beloved people. Sadly, there were so many people there that I didn't actually get to greet Suzan. But I did connect with her daughters and tried to share my love the best way I could. I only got a photo with one person - my friend Jackie, the sweetest lady ever, and mother to my good friend Dave. 

Troy and I weren't able to stay at Suzan's celebration for very long since we had another treat that night - a wedding reception for the daughter of one of Troy's best friends growing up, Craig. We carpooled with the Mayfields, eating up every second we got with them, visiting the great Aspen Grove Camp where we saw one of Chase's good friends. What a lovely evening of joys and sorrows.

Our First Lacrosse Game:

Our niece Lucy plays lacrosse and we have always wanted to see her play. Most of her games are on weeknights in far away places like Draper, Herriman and Riverton. (We are such wimps!) Kathleen called us shortly after my Disney trip to let us know that Lucy would be playing at Highland High - we were so happy we were able to come see her play! It's a really fun game to watch, and we loved supporting Lucy. I was also happy to get a chance to connect with Kathleen's mom, whom we have been worried for as Stan was still in the ICU. She is such a dear lady and has been so kind to Troy and me every time we see her.