Casting Call

Such very exciting things going on at our house! Since I will be totally mired in two events for the next couple of months, I thought I'd better share with you. I have actually been trying to get Prima Donna to guest post for me for about a week, but she is just too busy.

So a couple of weeks ago she asked me if she could try out for the musical at the high school. They were doing Footloose, a play she had actually never seen. She hadn't even seen the movie! I supported her of course, but as a sophomore, I honestly never expected that she would get in. She spent many nights rehearsing her song for the audition, and when they announced the cast list, she was chosen to be part of the adult ensemble. She was so excited to have a role!

The following day, Prima Donna, Princess, Crafty, and Scout all auditioned for the Nutcracker. Our studio is affiliated with the South Pointe Ballet and they are doing their first ever Nutcracker production teaming with the Herriman City Orchestra. After a little arm twisting, I also got Sport to try out.

They had a mandatory parent meeting at the studio tonight and they announced the cast. Crafty will be part of the Waltz of the Flowers. Scout is a Buffoon, and Sport is a Party Boy. Princess received two parts, the Lead Mirilton and the Snow Corps. And Prima Donna got a leading role... Madam Ginger! That means she is the lady with the huge skirt that all the Buffoons come out from beneath. It's the perfect role for her since she is tall and muscular.

I'm just not sure how she is going to deal with rehearsals 24/7....and school...and Young Women's...and performing team...and dance classes...and Youth City Council...Reflections...Girl Scouts...drama club...FCCLA...

She's pretty obviously my daughter; not happy unless her life is crazy busy!

Baby Doll's First Real Haircut

I think I've told you before that we get all our haircuts from Supercuts (except for my sweetie, I still cut his, usually in the middle of the night or right before church on Sunday). I love Supercuts because they offer training classes 2 or 3 times a month where they bring in people who have already been cutting hair and then they retrain them to Supercuts procedures. Of course they need models to practice, so for years for have been getting all of our haircuts for free!

I'm thinking we met Melissa when Crafty was a baby. That means we have been attending classes for about 12 or 13 years now. One by one the kids have joined us as they have gotten old enough to get a "real" haircut. I say real because I usually cut their bangs once or twice before they actually climb up into the big chair.

Baby Doll will be 3 in a few weeks, so even though her hair is fine and wispy and doesn't really grow well, it was time for her to graduate to a big girl (at least when it comes to hair, still no success on the potty yet). She has been talking about it all week, but then she started getting sick and I almost cancelled our appointments this morning. But when I asked her if she wanted to stay home and take a nap or go to haircuts, she whispered "haircuts," so at 1:30 we found ourselves in the parking lot of the Supercuts training studio.

We crossed the parking lot hand-in-hand, but I didn't sense any nervousness in her attitude which is strange because she is pretty particular about who she likes. Even when they pulled us back and asked her to climb in a big chair about six feet away from me, she willingly got up on the booster seat. They put a huge black adult cape on her and she looked so lost. I was put right behind her so I couldn't really see how she was doing, but she did not complain nor did she need any reminders. She was just plain and simply a big girl.

News from Teach

She eats cereal every morning.

Teach had some awesomely cool news for us when they witnessed their 2nd baptism.

SOPHIE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(: It was pretty fun. It was interesting afterwards because. I was talking to Sister Lewis about her first baptism as a missionary and we decided on something. I imagined as a missionary that baptisms would be this HUGE big deal that I got MY baptism... but it's not really like that. It's beautiful and spiritual and amazing to watch someone enter into that covenant with God - but the day of the baptism it's more of a calm hand off from missionaries to the ward. and it's not MY baptism... it's Sophie's baptism.. and the Lord's baptism. It's a very humbling experience to realize that we are nothing in the process, but they Lord trusts us and loves us enough to give little ol' Sister Teach an opportunity to be edified by Sophie. (:It's pretty spectacular.

Sophie and the sisters

I was happy to see that Teach still has a bit of spitfire in her! Check out this little rant.

So I got to go on an exchange to a different area on Saturday night. (I have been on 3 already as a STL and they are always VERY informative and it makes me realize how much I love Sister Lewis).

 

So. the point of the story. These sisters have Elders in their ward too, which ferry them around kinda like we drive Elder Lilo and Hopper everywhere... THEIR ELDERS ARE BUTTHEADS. 

I'm sorry. That was really mean. But they were just NOT very nice and just not very ... Spiritual. It was a really hard experience for me because one of those elders is going home at the end of the transfer and he's going to have that shiny RM badge as he goes to BYU... and girls will just trust that he's a good person.. That sounds harsh. but I just hate that sometimes as Mormons go for labels and not the heart. 

 

It sounds like transfers are coming up next week and she is anticipating that she will be moved to a new area. Her mission goes all the way down the state to Waco so she could be anywhere in that area. It will be fun to see what happens. She has been in the same place for 6 months now, so it's probably time for her to move.

Missionaries can still be silly.

I love my companion and I love my ward and I love my investigators, and I just am  really sad that I will probably be leaving it all behind. That's all. But yesterday while I was praying I was so grateful for this transfer. It has been the best transfer so far in my mission and I feel that it was a tender mercy from the Lord. Hard things are coming. Good things I'm sure too... but very intense learning experiences. I told Heavenly Father that I would go where he wants me and I would do all that I can to be the best missionary i can be... as long as his Spirit is always there. Which it will be. (: I trust the Lord so much, Mom. In all ways he is my constant support and I know that it will all be ok and I truly trust and rely on him. I just love the scriptures so much. That's all. (: I read the story of the Brother of Jared today... that's a classy one.

She has always been a grateful, kind person, but I love hearing it from her every week. Being a parent is so hard, these are the paydays when we know that our sacrifices are appreciated.

I want you to know that I love you and I'm so grateful that you and Dad are faithful members of the church. That you are literally God's covenant children, and I'm glad that you led the example of where I needed to go in life. Thank you Mom. and thanks Dad. I love you both so much.  

I will just leave you with one last thought.

I love knowing that we always have the opportunity to repent and become better. I sometimes don't forgive myself very easily but I have to remind myself that even though God created all the cosmos, universe and even down to the littlest mustard seed... he also created me. And we are more precious to him than all of that. How important that we share this with all those that we see. 

I agree 100%, Teach!

Our Anniversary Get-Away

We have now been officially married for 30 years and we have had very few opportunities to get away by ourselves. It seems that I was always pregnant or nursing a little one. But now that Baby Doll is nearly 3 it seemed like the perfect time. The problems started when I looked at the calendar. There was not a single time that would work!

So we decided to just go in the middle of the week and assume that our mostly grownup kids could handle things without us. The Dog Walker is nearly 20, for crying out loud, and Princess will be 17 in a couple of weeks. Surely those two could get everyone off to school and run the house...

My sweetie booked a hotel in nearby Heber City, about an hour away. We decided to stay on Monday night rather than Tuesday so the Dog Walker wouldn't have to miss any classes. My sweetie arrived home from work about 2:00 and we were out the door shortly after. The drive was uneventful. I read to him and we looked for fall color, but not many leaves have turned yet.

We checked into a Holiday Inn Express about 3:20. We had requested a King room, but were pleasantly surprised that Hotwire had booked us a King Deluxe with a fireplace and a jetted tub. We got settled in and then headed for the pool. There were very few people in the hotel and no one swimming. Unfortunately the water was cold so we made our way to the large round hot tub. It was comfortable, but not hot so we swam around in it and talked until we noticed the clock said if we didn't get out and get moving we would have to settle for a fast food supper.

We dressed quickly and drove the short distance to the Spin City Cafe. The place we had originally planned to go was not open on Monday nights (or Tuesdays either, that's what you get in small-town Utah!). Spin City was a hipster, 1970s feeling cafe with a rather expensive menu. The food was good, but not worth the price. The gelato brownie sundae was the best part!!

We stopped by the WalMart on the way back to the hotel to get some snacks and all the stuff we forgot. Can you believe neither one of us remembered a hairbrush?! Back at the hotel we decided to try out the jetted tub...then the fireplace... got to get our money's worth!

I read a bit more to my sweetie, but by midnight he was ready to crash. He's not used to the late nights like I am. We crawled out of bed just after 8:00 and enjoyed their free breakfast. We still had a couple of hours before checkout so we pulled our wet swim suits back on and played for another hour in the hot tub.

Just before 11:00, we checked out of the hotel and got on the road. We took the Park City route yesterday, but decided to go back home through Orem so we could get my sweetie some peaches. We made one more stop in Draper at Cafe Trang for lunch.

It was wonderful to get a chance to renew our relationship and just talk for hours and hours without kids interrupting and dance runs to make. I think maybe I'll keep him for another 30 years...