As the month began, I was still seeing blossoms on magnolia trees. We had such a long winter that many things did not bloom when they normally would have. I have never seen the magnolia trees in bloom so late into spring. By the time it was warm enough for them, all the other trees were popping too. It's been a very beautiful spring: a glorious feast for the eyes, an awful attack for the allergies.
A few of the highlights (buckle up, it's a long one) from May include . . .
Touring . . . a replica of the Old Testament tabernacle. Our area was fortunate to be able to host the traveling tabernacle (recreated according to dimensions and historical information) in May (for more information on this experience, click here). It was staffed by volunteers provided by church congregations in the surrounding neighborhoods. Mike, Maxwell, and Bradley all volunteered on one afternoon. They got to share information about the tabernacle and teach about the historical and religious significance of some of the components. Bradley's area was about the ritualistic clothing that was worn, and Max's area was about the fabrics and animal skins that were used. Max, especially, really enjoyed and embraced his role as tour guide and was happy to discuss questions. Later in the week, we went on the tour as a family. It was really interesting and insightful, and I'm sure having a visual memory of the tabernacle will be quite helpful as a reference point when I now read about it in the Old Testament.
Taking . . . the human geography AP test. Aaron's first ever AP test is done and dusted. I have never seen him so happy following a test. I think he got a little taste of what it feels like at the end of every college semester. This class was a tough one: sooooooo many hours of homework that Aaron was often up until 1:00 in the morning (partly due to procrastination, partly just due to the actual workload). But he always stayed caught up, and he learned great study skills along the way. Besides being about human geography, this also felt like a "how to take an AP test" class. The teacher was so good about teaching valuable study skills. She prepped them so well that Aaron said the actual AP test felt easier than the practice ones he took in class, but we won't know how he actually did for another couple of months.
Spending . . . a morning with Grandma Jill and cousins at This is the Place. It was a bit chilly, but they still had fun riding the horses, holding the chicks, playing on the playground, riding the train, and enjoying a doughnut treat from Grandma.
Taking . . . a lot of photos of flowers. I can't help myself. It's what I do.
Receiving . . . a scholarship from Gwen's family. One of the people who helped us the most through the early days of Aaron's aplastic anemia back in 2019 was Gwen. She had also had aplastic anemia as a teenager and she and her mom really provided a lot of hope and positivity for us. Tragically, Gwen passed away in April from a pulmonary embolism. In memory of her, Gwen's parents and her husband gave Aaron a scholarship, which was so generous and kind of them.
Buying . . . a new (old) truck. One of Mike's favorite things to do is to watch the classifieds for good deals on trucks. He has long been unhappy with his current truck (which he found through the classifieds) and had lately become obsessed with finding a replacement for it. He found the perfect one: a dark gray 2003 Chevy Silverado. It is making all of his truck dreams come true. Now if he'll just sell his other truck (and stay away from the classifieds).
Cheering . . . on the boys in their various fun runs. It's one of my favorite events at school. Quick and fast, but I get to see the boys with their friends and teachers, and it always marks the final days of school in a nostalgic way.
Handing . . . over laundry to the boys. I thought I had written about this a couple of months ago, but I guess not. I decided to try something new with the laundry and that was to have each of the boys (Clark and up) take care of their own laundry (washing, drying, folding, putting away). They each already knew how to do laundry, having taken turns doing it for the family. However, it was feeling like we were adding a lot of time to a fairly simple task by rounding up all of the clothes, sorting them all, doing multiple loads just to have them all mixed together and have to be resorted as they were then folded and put away. It seemed like we could cut out a lot of that time if each person just did their own, thereby keeping their clothes all together in one place. And so far, it's been working out like a dream (we've been doing it for about two months). I still do all of the laundry for Ian, Silas, Mike and me, as well as towels, sheets, etc. But the other boys have been doing their own and, aside from leaving the clean laundry in a basket for longer than I'd like, they've been keeping up with it really well.
Being . . . spoiled on Mother's Day. I don't know what Mother's Day will be like when my boys are all adults, but they're really so sweet to me right now. They all made me cards with thoughtful little notes. Ian's card said, "You have been the best mom," and I was glad he at least thought so in the past, haha. They also gave some little gifts: earrings, a notebook, some treats. I told the boys I wanted them to make me breakfast, but then they came up with everything on their own. They made yummy buttermilk biscuit cinnamon rolls (try them!) and fruit and sausage. At church, the bishopric took over primary so that all of the women could go to Relief Society. This felt like such a treat since I love Relief Society. And in the evening, we had dinner with Mike's parents and siblings. A lovely day all around.
Bidding . . . a fond farewell to my grandma. My 93-year-old Gramazetta passed away the day after Mother's Day. Her decline was rapid and rather unexpected. My mom had gone out to visit her the week before. My mom took the photo below on the day she arrived. My grandma was still living independently in her own home and was her usual spunky self. But only a few hours later, her heart began to give her trouble. It was as if it was just tuckered out from 93 years of living, and it gradually gave out. I was able to talk to her over Facetime and tell her how much I loved her. My grandma went onto hospice soon after and peacefully passed away after only a few days with my mom and my aunt by her side. She truly was such a remarkable person, and I've had the joy of remembering so many happy moments from my childhood being with her.
Participating . . . in track. Both Aaron and Max did track again this spring, and, for the first time, so did Bradley. I'm a fair weather parent when it comes to track meets and didn't go to any of them. However, Mike took Bradley to his meets, and so he was able to watch him compete, and he did quite well. (Bradley quit swim team earlier this spring because he wanted to compete in track, and I think it's a better fit for him.)
Getting . . . braces times two. After months of wearing a spacer, Bradley got braces. And after years of thinking about it, I got braces, too. Now Bradley looks like a fully fledged pre-teen, and I look like . . . I don't know . . . a teenager with wrinkles? We got them put on about two weeks apart, so Bradley was able to assure me that things would get better, and I think I'm finally starting to believe him.
Starting . . . a diet. I actually paid for a subscription to a diet plan (Noom, if you're interested). I've had a really hard time losing weight since having Silas, and I just felt like I needed something a bit more organized and structured. So far, it is checking all of my Type A boxes and seems like a great fit for me. I actually told Mike that I wanted this weight loss program for Mother's Day, and he said there was no way he was going to tell me to lose weight on Mother's Day. Haha, I can see how he wouldn't want to go there. However, he is dieting with me, which helps immensely. It's way easier to turn down a treat when someone else is turning it down, too. (Also, might I recommend having the month you decide to get braces coincide with the same month you decide to start a diet? Turns out, it's easy not to eat food when your mouth literally won't let you. Win-win.)
Roasting . . . marshmallows in the canyon for the first (and possibly last) time this season. We went up Millcreek Canyon with cousins to have dinner and dessert. But after wrangling Silas for an hour (raging river in one direction, crackling fire in another), we decided this just might not be our year for canyon outings. Our older kids loved it though, and Ian informed us that he'd never cooked a hotdog over an open fire before, so check that off of the "growing up" list. We got rained on multiple times in little spurts, but not enough to chase us away. All in all, a fun evening, even with the 16-month-old needing constant supervision.
Frogging . . . a knitting project and starting over. I don't have any knitting to show this month because I started a cardigan and got about seven inches into it (that's a lot of knitting, in case you didn't know) before realizing that it was turning out too small. So there was nothing to be done except frog it and try again. Why is it called "frogging"? Because when you rip out your knitting, you "rip it, rip it," which sounds like "ribbit, ribbit." I'm not kidding. This is a universally used phrase in knitting.
Watching . . . Bradley's delightful class play. This was one of my favorite performances during the month. Bradley's class put on a play all about the European explorers (it's the same play Aaron's class did in fifth grade). Each student had a role in the play, and there was a song about each explorer. Bradley was Amerigo Vespucci, which, if you didn't know, is where the name "America" came from. In the play, Amerigo Vespucci is portrayed as an egotistical celebrity, and Bradley went all in on this part. He maybe enjoyed the over-the-top attention a little too much. I had no idea he possessed such charismatic nonchalance. Although I was partial to his song, the rest of the play was equally entertaining and an impressive production all around.
Walking . . . to school. Even though we live relatively close to Bradley and Clark's elementary school, they've always either taken the bus or had me drive them. But towards the end of the year, we decided it would be fun to walk all the way there. Our neighbors, who go to the same school, wanted to do it, too. It took us a couple of tries to make it happen since we've been having morning thunderstorms. In fact, the morning that we actually ended up walking had heavy rain and hail twenty minutes before we left. Luckily, it cleared up as quickly as it came down, and our walk was quite pleasant. And the amazing thing was that it only took us 20-25 minutes, which made me wonder why we'd never done it before. And so the next week (which was the last week of school), we did it again. I think we'll continue to walk semi-regularly in the fall until the weather turns cold.
Sandbagging . . . at the cabin. Mike and the boys spent a Saturday placing sandbags around the cabin in Logan. With all of the snowmelt, the Logan river was running very high. There was some flooding around the cabin, but luckily, the cabin escaped unharmed. (Misadventures from the day included the tree swing breaking while Aaron was on it, injuring his tail bone; and Max getting bit by a garter snake.)
Commenting . . . on Silas' hair color. As soon as the weather warmed up and the sun came out and Silas started spending every possible minute outside, his hair went completely blonde. And everyone mentions it: family, friends, people at church, neighbors. I think it's just because it happened so quickly, so people are a little surprised by it when they see him. I for one think he's absolutely adorable: that blonde hair with his brown eyes and tan skin--what a handsome little dude.
Acquiring . . . a bunch of landscaping quotes. We are trying really hard to move forward on our backyard renovation this summer, but it's requiring a lot of decisions, which neither Mike nor I are good at. In the meantime though, Mike has had many landscapers and deck builders look at it and give him quotes. We also had a landscape architect draw up a plan for us, which gave us a better idea of what the end result would look like and also helped us to know which things we want to hire out versus have Mike do himself. I truly hope I have more to report on this in the next few months.
Seeing . . . our friend, James, in a production of Bright Star Rising. This is one of my favorite plays, but I have to admit my expectations were low since it was just a little community theater putting it on. I was so wrong! The singing and acting were absolutely stellar. I was so impressed, and it was such an enjoyable way to spend the evening. We will definitely go back to this theater for another play (even if our friend isn't in it).
Skipping . . . the last two weeks of P.E. Not the happiest of memories from May. Max was verbally and physically bullied by a kid in his P.E. class for most of the semester. We should have addressed it sooner, but by the time it reached a point that we could no longer tolerate, it was so close to the end of the year that we just decided to have him be done with P.E.
Enjoying . . . the last concerts of the school year: Max's band concert, Aaron's band concert (his last one since he is not planning on being in band again next year), Aaron's choir concert, and Clark's third grade concert.
Finishing . . . a few great books:
What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer (a lovely poetry collection)
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth (I thought I would like this more than I actually did)
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (exceptional writing, disappointing characters)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (a readaloud you can't go wrong with)
A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin (the book I've been recommending to all my friends and family; just delightful in every way)
The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander (very sad and heavy)
Visiting . . . Alisa's grave. It's hard to believe another year has passed since Alisa's been gone. I'm so grateful for the peonies that bloom right on time every May to help us honor and remember her.
Dressing . . . up as Mister Rogers. Clark's class put on a wax museum, and Clark chose to be Mister Rogers. He researched him and then wrote up a short biography, which he memorized. His class set up in the school gym, and family and friends had a chance to go around, push on the "button" to bring each person to life, and learn a little bit more about them. Clark was quite animated and enthusiastic and made a pretty good Mister Rogers, I must say.
Saying . . . goodbye to my brother, Ben, and his sweet family. He accepted a new job in Montana, and they moved at the end of this month. We had a farewell dinner and also helped them load their moving truck. We're excited to have such a good excuse to visit the beautiful state of Montana in the future.
Celebrating . . . Clark's ninth birthday. Clark always has big ideas, but we tried to grant as many of his wishes as possible: he played mini-golf with a few friends, had cake with cousins (Mike hand painted exotic animals on each cupcake), received many fun presents, and got all of his favorite foods.
Spending . . . Memorial Day with Mike's family at a pool party hosted by Mike's brother-in-law. So much food, games, fun, and chatting. A perfect way to kick off summer.
Starting . . . a new job. Aaron is gainfully employed at a snow cone shack for the summer. Several of his friends and cousins are working there as well, so it's pretty fun. (Also, I'm pretty sure he's eaten more snow cones in the past two weeks than in the rest of his life combined.)
Marveling . . . at how green everything is. A cool, wet spring has just made everything explode with life. Mike and I went on a hike in the mountains, and we could not get over how lush and vibrant everything was. It's just not something we see too frequently in Utah.
Whew, if you made it through this marathon recap, I applaud you. It was a busy month, no mistake.
