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. 

The Din-n-Tonics In Concert

By the time Chase was finishing high school, he was best friends with the unlikeliest of people. It was unlikely partly because when they had met at the beginning of their years at West, they kind of couldn't stand each other. But somehow they started to be friends and by the time they graduated they were as close as could be. Her name was Ella but now goes by Elio. Elio and Chase were also unlikely friends because they are totally different in their spiritual/religious views, political views and other things too. But Chase has always talked about how one of the most supportive people in his life has been Elio, and that he's gotten nothing but love from her. It's so great. We are very fond of Elio as well. 

Elio is very bright and got in to Harvard, so they didn't see a ton of each other before he left for Spokane, but they definitely stay in contact. I also am friendly with her, and found out through social media that Elio joined the a'cappella group that is a long-time tradition at Harvard University, the Din and Tonics. More than that, we found out that the group would be making a stop in Salt Lake City as they were traveling across the country. I really am so fond of Elio and also wanted to hear this group sing, so Troy and I decided to go.

The venue turned out to be at an auditorium in the Huntsman Cancer institute. This was kind of cool except that I have now decided that that place was designed by a mad man. Parking and trying to find our way to the auditorium turned out to be like unto a Herculean feat. We walked forEVER and even a security guard we bumped into around mile 3 couldn't really help us because he hadn't spent time in that half of warren before. Sorry, building. I will never forget how crazy and convoluted those passageways were. Not to mention the fact that the institute turned out to have two auditoriums and we of course started out at the wrong one. 

After many long miles, we finally made it to the correct spot. And we came to realize was that we were not at a public appearance. We were actually at the Harvard Alumni of Utah Association gathering. Ha! We definitely were a little out of place. But we did bump into my dear former neighbor George, father of dear friend Other Troy. 

And then we sat and enjoyed an absolutely delightful 45 minute program. What a great group of singers. And how fun to show support to Elio. They were funny, catchy, jazzy and had a ton of personality. 

It only took us another half hour to find our car again. 

Saint Blair the Bybee

I realized the other day that there is a post I should have written a long time ago, paying tribute to one of the very best men I have ever known. (Of course that description fits both of the fellows in the photo above, but only one of them hasn't been mentioned on the blog.)

This person is named Blair Bybee. He's a retired pediatric oncologist who has lived in our neighborhood for a lot longer than we have, and has been of great service to our ward. In fact, the young men a few years ago renamed him Saint Blair the Bybee. He certainly carries a feeling of sweet saintliness around him, and does so much for other people.

We were lucky enough to be his assigned family to Home Teach, then, when alterations were made to the system, to minister to. He checks in on us every single month, usually bearing a box so stuffed full of treats that we can barely lift it. He heard me say one time that I love peanut butter, and ever since, no matter what else is in the box of treats, I can usually find a few peanut butter cookies mixed in. 

There really aren't adequate words to describe the great life this man has lived, but I will tell you that when Troy needed surgery and also when my dad was admitted to the hospital with the case of influenza that would lead to his passing, we called on Saint Blair for help in giving blessings. He's always been there for us, and I would be remiss in not recording the part he has played in our lives. And if you ever need a good read, ask me about the book he wrote about being a medical missionary in Samoa in the 60's. 

Ringing in the New Year - 2023!

 The traditions continue. For the 3rd year in a row (or maybe more?) the St. Georgians came to SLC for New Years. I was a little nervous at first - after all, we are down our main bedroom right now. So even though they would be sleeping at a hotel, I still didn't really have a place for the kids to play. Then Troy realized that we could do something unthinkable. Clean it up. We put most of the tools away, took the ladders to the back porch, and vacuumed up all the wood shavings and sawdust and plaster. We set all the floor-protecting boards against the wall and the sheets of plastic on the table outside. And vacuumed some more. And voila! A playroom.

We really had a pleasant time. Whenever we go to St. George Sheri takes us on all sorts of outdoor adventures. It's rare we ever go to the same place twice. But SLC seems to be much more of a quiet time for us to visit and we rarely go anywhere but the zoo when they visit. But this time we picked a few things to do. Yes, that still included the zoo. Funny enough, we, for the first time in at least a decade, do not have a current zoo pass. Usually we share one with the Romney's but we let it run out. We were debating on whether or not to renew when Sheri discovered that it was $5 day at the zoo and that seemed good enough for us!

Our activities included ice skating, (which just about broke Emma who wasn't feeling good), a trip to the zoo, lunch and a stroll through City Creek Mall, checking out the candy window display at Macy's, heading to the Grand America Hotel to see their holiday window displays, watching Top Gun Maverick, and the grownups went out to dinner at Bombay House to celebrate Troy's and my 25th wedding anniversary. TWENTY FIVE YEARS!!!!

I know that most people do a lot more than dinner for their big anniversaries, but we just don't have it in us to do much just before New Years. It's really fun to be with family and I love just being grateful for the wonderful man that I married. (Troy! I love you!!)

We celebrated a New York New Year's eve on Saturday night, staying up all the way until 10pm when the Romney's left for their hotel and we Preslars all fell asleep before midnight. Well, I was still awake. But in bed, cozy and relaxed and ready for sleep. I did a silent "happy new year!" shout in my head then zonked out, ready to bring in 2023 with lots of high hopes and gratitude for the great year it had been. 

 

Everyone else on New Years Eve:

Me on New Year's Eve:

I didn't know I was so frowny when I napped.