Freya and Thea Turn Five

The babies of the family turned five today. I don't even know how that is possible. How have they gone from little tiny twin babies to Big 5-year-old girls? It's wonderful to see them grow up. They are funny, funny little people.

Today I took them for birthday lunch. They like to go to McDonald's, but they went there yesterday, so instead we went to Wendy's. They probably had exactly the same thing at Wendy's that they had yesterday at McDonald's, but I didn't have to eat at McDonald's so that was a perk. I forgot to take a picture, so when I dropped them off, I had Mikayla take our picture at her house. I love these girlies!

Sickie Shark

Oh Brandt. What a silly you are. Several weeks ago, Mikayla sent me a reel of a woman in a shark blanket in the bathtub. She said, "Is this what you are planning on doing with your shark blanket?" I had no idea what she meant. The reel was funny, but I didn't know what it had to do with me. Then, while paying bills this month, I was looking at my Amazon purchases and saw that two shark blankets were on their way to my house. 

What?! I didn't order shark blankets. I quickly found out who had though. It was Brandt. When I asked him about them, he said he ordered one for him and one for Ruth, for Christmas. Nevermind that he'd purchased and gifted Ruth several other things already. I guess that didn't matter. 

The blankets arrived a few days ago and Brandt tried it on almost immediately. It drowns him, as a shark would do. Ruth apparently wore hers to breakfast with her dad and the server at Denny's thought she was about twelve. 

Brandt wasn't feeling well this morning and opted to watch church from home. As we were leaving, he was ensconced in his hair, pulling up the link to Zoom. He looked ridiculous. The song "Baby Shark" began running through my head, but instead of "baby shark" I was mentally singing, "Sickie Shark, do do do do do do, Sickie Shark, do do do do do do, Sickie Shark, do do do do do do, Sickie Shark."

 

 

Young Women Overnighter

I have been serving again in Young Women, this time as the Second Counselor in the ward YW presidency. Not to boast or anything, but I serve with Angela Bradford and Janie Rasmussen and we are something of a power trio. It's fun to serve with friends.

We have wanted to try and recreate some of the feelings that come with girls camp--the comradery, the fun, the spiritual boost. It's hard to do all that in a weekly, one-hour activity, so we decided to do an overnighter. This would allow all the girls to be together for a longer period of time, we could somewhat dictate the schedule and activities, and we could bond. The Coveys graciously agreed to let us all crash in their basement, and so we got together last night.

The whole activity came together beautifully. We had pizza and salad for dinner, and a drinks bar the girls came back to repeatedly through the night. Me too, if I'm honest. I think I made myself four different drinks. Everyone also brought a treat and so we snacked and munched throughout the night. 

We watched a Church broadcast that was meant to be stopped for discussion and I was impressed by what the girls shared. Some of their stories did not relate at all to the question, but they were thoughtful and sincere and I was impressed how many were willing to talk. We discussed standing in holy places, standing with holy people, and testifying of holy truths.

We did skits in a bag, the "bag" part of which I put together. I wandered around the house over the past week pulling odd things off shelves and out of drawers--hats, scarves, toys, tools, random objects that could be used as props. Each class of girls had to come up with a short skit using the objects. The oldest class did the best job, performing the highest body count ski I've ever witnessed. Ten girls were lying dead on the floor at the end. My class had a difficult time focusing on the task at hand, so when it came time to perform, no one really had much clue what to do and all but one girl seemed fairly uncomfortable. 

The Coveys made the hot tub available and many of the girls went out to soak in the hot. There were crafts and games, several of which I played with Rebekah Stovall, Lizzie Jensen, Hazel Tayler, Lilly and Angela Bradford, and Becca Weidner. We all got to sleep super late, and several girls were up super early for such a late night. We had a lovely morning devotional by Emma Bradford about growing your testimony, and muffins and juice for breakfast. 

As I drove girls home, everyone said how much they had had, how they wanted to do it again, and how grateful they were that we could all be together. I deemed it a complete success.

Here are a few pictures I took at the end. I should have been taking pictures all along the way, but I didn't. All eight of the girls new to Young Women and in my class were there. It was a great way to welcome them into the group at large.

My class trying to prepare the skit.

It didn't go well.

Much of my class slept under the basketball games

as if they were in individual tents.

My class

Hazel Davis, Rebekah Stoval, Ada Bushman, 

Sophie LeCheminant and Hazel Tayler

missing: Bailey Blad, Lauren Ficker, Madeleine Lewis, and Piper Perotti 

who were there but left before we thought to take pictures.

Only Kate Seamons and Riley Perotti didn't come at all.

Middle Class

Alisa Lashchonova (non-member), Elle Blad, Rachel Jensen, Claire LeCheminant,

Emma Bradford, Lauren Lewis, Jane Jackson, Mia Thornock, and Hadley Bushman

missing: Amy Bracken who left early but was there

Oldest Class

Ava Davis, Laney Ficker, Elizabeth Stovall, Lizzy Jensen, 

Abbie Drake, and Lilly Bradford

missing: Ashlyn and Shaylee Elder, Allie Ficker, Ellie Mason, Lucy Nebeker who were there but left before the picture was taken.

Those who did not come at all: Isabella, Nicole Bracken, Taylor Crisler, 

Addie LeCheminant, Rebekah Neyman, Sarah Oyler, Jayne Tayler, 

and Anna LaComb

We should have taken a picture of the leaders

Bravo!

 

This evening, Kent and I attended a Bravo! Series performance of Pablo Sainz-Villegas, a tremendously talented classical guitarist. He was really incredible! The music was beautiful, his playing was lyrical and expressive, and his fingers did amazing things with the guitar. It was fun to have a date and to enjoy a lovely arts performance. We saw several people we know including Bill and Becca Weidner who were there because Bill plays guitar, Mary Elizabeth and Bill Christensen, and Sherry Rowe and Ann Mineer. Nice to say hello.

Reading Time

 

This morning at Mikayla's house, after the big kids went off to school, Freya presented me with The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Hoard to read to her. How could I pass that up? She and I sat down in a big comfy chair and I started reading. Within seconds, Thea joined us. I read until the very last moment before I had to get up and go to work. We didn't finish the story. What a bummer! I would have liked to spend the whole day with them and their mom, but they had school, too, so it wasn't to be. But I loved it while it lasted!

Brandt Does Pyrotechnics

Brandt has had the opportunity to work with Vortex Fireworks Artists, a company that Ruth's mom, Amanda, works for. The CEO really likes Brandt. They had a job at a Ute's Women's Basketball game and Brandt went to help with set up and take down. As the players were introduced and game onto the court, they shot flames. So cool! Brandt got to wear a fancy red jacket because he was part of the team (pyro, not basketball). He hopes he can work for them again.

The carts behind Brandt and Ruth can roll. 

They stand them up and the flames shoot out of the them.

Then then they roll them back.

Celebrating Kent

Kent turned 67 today. Does that sound old? It might be old. But Kent is fit and busy and not really old at all. He worked today but went to lunch with Lee and Aaron. As a family and in the company of my mom, we had a celebratory dinner at La Dolce Vita. Brandt told our waitress that we were doing to Italy this year and would be eating "real" Italian food when we got there. (We aren't going to Italy this year and the food we had at La Dolce Vita was "real.") My mom made Kent a blueberry pie which was delicious and into which we stuck seven candles (67 would have been too many) and over which we sang "Happy Birthday." 

And as it would take a long time to come up with 67 reasons we love Kent and then record them, here are seven from each of us.

Katherine

1. Kent thinks about other people before he thinks of himself.
2. Kent works hard.
3. Kent is smart and continues to learn new things.
4. Kent is kind to those on the margins.
5. Kent is a great Primary teacher.
6. Kent exemplifies the first two commandments: he loves God and he loves his neighbor.
7. Kent always cleans the kitchen.

Isabella

1. He is very patient.
2. He is always ready to help.
3. He is selfless.
4. He wants the best for us.
5. He can fix anything.
6. He likes to learn.
7. He gives people the benefit of the doubt.

Brandt

1. He does service for other people; he's very selfless.
2. He adopted me.
3. He tries his hardest to cook food.
4. He's a hard worker and has taught me to work hard.
5. He teaches me things.
6. He's very laidback and chill.
7. Kind to everyone.

Lemon Tarts on a Day Off

It's MLK, Jr Day and I have the day off. The children have a five-day weekend, but we are doing nothing particularly interesting. They are spending way too much time on the computer, but that's nothing new to report. 

I went to Mikayla's house to play games with her and my mom, but then I suggested to Cora that she come to my house to cook/bake something. Cora loves to do anything in the kitchen and got a really great kid's cookbook for Christmas. She and I have looked through it several times and she was very keen to make something together. She was interested in making fruit juice popsicles, but we don't have the molds. We looked at granola and granola bars, but then Cora said, "In Amelia Bedelia, Amelia makes lemon tarts. Could we make those?" Indeed we could! She and Freya and Thea came back to my house and we set about making tarts.

Cora helped mix the crust, then roll it out and press it into the tart pan. Thea wanted to help too. We had to juice lemons which all three girls helped with. We had to whip egg whites because we were making lemon meringue tarts and all three girls helped with that part too. When it came time to try them, Freya was uninterested. Thea didn't love them, but Cora, Isabella, and I really, really, really liked them. They were sweetly tart (no pun intended) and looked beautiful. We took some home to the Johnsen's so everyone there could try them too. It was fun way to spend the late afternoon.

Cora made this at home and brought it along.

Doesn't that look delicious!?

It was!

Consistent and Resilient Trust

Today, while doing some blogging, a found a quote a neighbor and friend, Natalie Bean, shared during a Sunday School meeting. I absolutely loved the quote and asked her the reference and. It was from an October 2019 General Conference talk by Elder L. Todd Budge. In his talk, "Consistent and Resilient Trust," he spoke about trusting in the Lord. 

In a paradoxical way, afflictions and sorrow prepare us to experience joy if we will trust in the Lord and His plan for us. This truth is beautifully expressed by a 13th-century poet (Jalalu'ddin Rumi): “Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.”

President Russell M. Nelson taught, “The joy the Savior offers [us] … is constant, assuring us that our ‘afflictions shall be but a small moment’ [Doctrine and Covenants 121:7] and be consecrated to our gain.” Our trials and afflictions can make space for greater joy.

The good news of the gospel is not the promise of a life free of sorrow and tribulation but a life full of purpose and meaning—a life where our sorrows and afflictions can be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ.” The Savior declared, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” His gospel is a message of hope. Sorrow coupled with hope in Jesus Christ holds the promise of enduring joy.

This is quite timely. This week I suffered a crushing disappointment. I had applied for a job I really, really wanted, made it to the last interview, was one of three people to meet with the final selection committee, and I didn't get the job. This rejection has stirred up feelings of anger, resentment, dispair, sorrow and hopelessness. I cried and cried the night I was told I didn't get the job and still, three days later, have a hard time holding back the tears as I think about it. I'm blessed to have a job and to be connected with people at work, but I was hoping for something better. I've been praying for something better for a long time and it hasn't happened. That 13th-century poet says, "Whatever sorrow shakes your heart, far better things will take their place." I'm not sure I believe him. 

Elder Budge talks about the Jaredites who had to place all their trust in God as they journeyed across the ocean to the Promised Land. They were reliant on Heavenly Father to see them safely across the great deep. I know I need to do the same, but I'm feeling as though Heavenly Father is allowing me to suffer the consequences of poor choices made throughout my life. They have not been bad choices, but apparently, they were not the right ones. It's not so much that God has abandoned me, He is just letting me live with my mistakes. 

Elder Budge says, "As difficult as it is to understand, especially at the times in our lives when the headwinds are strong and the seas are turbulent, we can take comfort in knowing that God in His infinite goodness is always blowing us toward home.

I testify that as we commend ourselves unto the Lord and consistently and resiliently trust in Jesus Christ and His divine purposes in our lives, He will visit us with assurances, speak peace to our souls, and cause us to 'hope for our deliverance in him.'"

I'm finding it more and more difficult to have consistent and resilient trust in Jesus Christ's ability to change my life, now. I know, in the end, Christ will be my Savior and through him, I will be able to return to my Heavenly Father. For now, I'm feeling fairly lost and alone. I need his assurances; I need him to speak peace to my soul. 

Mixing at the Rise

Brandt has been working for Alan Wilburg at The Rise, a small musical venue on Center Street in Provo. Brandt does all the things, whatever needs to be done. He does mixing, lighting, stage help, and bouncing (just kidding!). He sends me pictures of all the things, then comes home and tells me all about the equipment which sounds like a foreign language, even though he's speaking English. He is having a great time.

On this night, Brandt was working all over, and cousin Luke came down to join him, just for kicks. 

Studio Live 64S sound board.

Whatever that means.

Lighting controller

In the middle of working at The Rise,

Brandt got a call from Pink Bird and drove to Salt Lake to deliver equipment.

Then back to The Rise with Luke.

Baby Elaina

Isabella has Early Childhood Development this semester. It has been a good class, but hard in some respects as it has brought up the trauma of her early childhood. But she's done really well. The final "project" is to bring home a baby which you care for overnight. Isabella has been nervous about having the baby, but I assured her she would be an excellent mother.

Today, the baby came home. Isabella sent me a picture of our newest family member which I proudly showed around the bank. "I'm a grandma!" I announced. I asked if the child was a boy or a girl, what she was going to name him or her, and how long she got to keep the baby. It was a girl, she named it Elaina, and it only stayed the one night. 

The baby comes with a set of "keys" you insert into a slot in the back of the baby. The keys were needs attention, feed, burp, diaper change. Periodically, the baby would cry and Isabella would have to figure out what she needed. If it was feeding, shortly after the feeding the baby would coo and then she would need to burp, then a few minutes later, the baby would coo again and she would have to burp a second time. 

Isabella was a good mom. She set up a highchair next to her computer so Elaina could be close, but most of the time, she just held her. She sang the complete Hamilton score to Elaina, made sure to attend to her as soon as she cried, and cared for her during the night. She mocked me for talking to Elaina, telling her what I was doing when I was holding her, and wanting to read her a story, but I reminded Isabella that all those things help a child's development. Isabella kept saying, "It's an inanimate object!" and I kept saying, "It's a baby!" 

Isabella's one big concern was that something would happen to Elaina and she would have to use the "panic" key. She did such a good job, there was no need. At least, there was almost no need. Just before leaving for school, Isabella handed Elaina to Kent to hold while she brushed her teeth. Kent propped Elaine up on his chest, with her face towards him. That put her sort of on her tummy. Isabella said she was not ever to put the baby on her stomach, especially as if she was sleeping, because you aren't supposed to put babies on their tummies. Elaina began to cry and cry and cry and nothing calmed her down until Isabella used the panic key. She was so irritated with Kent and certain she was going to fail, even though she had done such a good job for the bulk of the time. It was a posture Kent and I both used with the children, so it seemed completely normal, but Elaina didn't like it. In the end, it was fine. She was docked no points and got an A on the project.

Key insertion

Elaina needed some attention

Here is Isabella's report of how the night went:

The night was pretty terrible. I 'slept' with a small light on so that I wasn't struggling in the dark when I was woken up. Because of the way the baby is programmed, after the initial cry, I had to stay up anywhere from 5ish to 30 more minutes to reinsert the key to end the crying cycle, so it didn't restart. The baby cried maybe 4 times during the night, but I was so anxious and paranoid that I stayed up, ready at a moment's notice. Would I do it again? No. Am I glad for the experience? Yeah, and I'd recommend it. But ah- it was not very fun, and I didn't like being repeatedly woken up.