2020- Week 24(June 8- June 14)

Ethan continues with his road drives and next week will be his final test. We have tried to go driving for an hour every day so that he can practice.

We went to This is the Place this week to support the park and to say hi to my boss. Whitney ended up having to work so we took our neighbor Cade with us to use her ticket. 

 Cade has two ancestors that died as children on the treks so he found their names at our new Children's Memorial.

This is the in the original Gardiner Cabin- it is 13 X 22. The pioneers were the first tiny home builders. 

I babysat Brody, Brooklyn and Bronson- or the BBB as I call them now. This was the first time in months that I have gotten to hold Bronson and play with the kids. Bronson is such a happy baby and he loved playing with the train table. He didn't car about the trains but loved the pieces of track. 

I also babysat Ally while her mom did school. We played Polly Pockets the whole time. 

Ashtyn and I went to the mall on Saturday to look for some dress pants- boy was it crowded. We wore our masks but most people didn't. Is that how crowded malls always were or did it just seem that way to me because we haven't been in large crowds. Most stores made you stand outside in a line and only let a few customers in at a time. We found a cute pair of black slacks but they had closed the dressing rooms so hopefully they fit her. We got cinnamon pretzels when we were done- I love those so much. 

Christopher Clarks funeral was on the 10th. I ended up watching it the next day. Almost every speaker referenced Paul. They said he was Tophers inspiration and that when he was cast to play him he spent weeks researching every aspect of his life so that he could do him justice. He was a spiritual giant. He leaves behind his beautiful wife Lisa Valentine Clark- who has also done a lot of local acting as well. She was in Once I was a Beehive and also on Random Acts and much more. He had 5 children. 

 

The relief society came to visit Whitney and welcome her. 

Ashytn had to get finger printed at the police station for her mission so we did that on Friday. We also went and saw her doctor to talk about how we can get her medicine while she is on her mission. 

Ashtyn went with her friend Bev and her mom and sister to a Black Lives Matter rally downtown. I was so proud of her. I have a really hard time with big crowds and strong opinions and would be way to scared to do something this brave but not Ashtyn. She is passionate about this cause and many others. She is always signing petitions and donating money to orphans and other causes she feels need help. 

They said the rally was really peaceful and most people were wearing masks.

Ethan got called to be the secretary in the priest quorum. He was set apart on Sunday and they announced it in their weekly Zoom meeting they have. Church started back up this week too but it is alphabetical to keep the numbers small so we won't go until July. Melissa said there were about 50 people and everyone wore masks and they didn't sing any songs, just listened to the organ and only had one speaker. 

The table is officially done and now I am working on staining the seats of my chairs black now so that the whole chair is black. It has been hard- the finish has looked streaky on some of them after a few coats. Next week I am going to sand them all and put on the final coat and hopefully that fixes most of the issues. If not I kind of don't care. This has been a huge undertaking and I am tired of it and want my kitchen back. Plus I dripped stain on my skin and it will not come off to save my life so I have black streaked legs.

Ashtyn gave Daisy a ponytail- this girl loves her dog so much.

We celebrated Jeff's birthday. He is getting a new driver for his birthday and fathers day so we just got him a few small things and made him a candy bar poster. We sure do love him. He does so much for our family. He is a really good provider. He keeps us all laughing and he makes sure we study the gospel often. He is 44 years old and I have been a part of his life since he was 21- so more than half his life. I love him with all my heart. There is no one that makes me happier in all the world like he does. He got to go golfing with Tom and Scott so he was a happy man. 

 

 No one ever eats cake at our house so we got him his favorite cupcakes instead.

 This week also would have been Grandma Betty's 100th birthday so Saturday night we got hot fudge sundaes to celebrate.

2020- Week 23(June 1-June 7)

The best thing that happened this week was that Whitney graduated. I am so proud of her. Not only did she get straight A's this year she also went to college part time. She is an amazing girl and is really going places in her life. Because of Covid 19 her graduation ceremony had to be virtual. We invited my mom and sister Liz and Nana and Papa to come to our house and watch. Ashtyn helped me decorate the basement and set up a photo are. There was a thirty minute video at the beginning with pictures of all the kids. Whitney didn't think there would be one of her because she was only there at school two classes a day but to our surprise there was a picture of her and her friend Macy. There were some darling talks given. Camery Hibbert the SBO of History said "Tomorrow is never guaranteed but if there is one thing that this experience has taught us it's to enjoy every second of life. To make the most of the time that you have. And to live your life in a manner that you can look back and have no regrets. We have a really big graduating class. There are a lot of us. But this does nothing to diminish the individual value of each classmate. Whether you see it or not each and everyone of you had an impact on Bingham. Each person brought something special and unique and Bingham wounldn't have been the same with out you." The Superintendent, Dr. Anthony Godfrey  gave four pieces of advice that I loved.

1. Beware of Drift- When we make decisions by not deciding. 

When we fill time by not fulfilling our potential.

2. It is easier to keep up then catch up

3. Stay in touch with your friends from your time in school

4. Distinguish yourself in the way you treat other people

Then Traci Miller from the school board shared the poem The Girl in the Glass that says...

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you queen for a day

Then go to the mirror and look at yourself

And see what the girl has to say

For she's the one you must  please never mind all the rest

For she's with you clear up to the end

And you've passed your most difficult, dangerous test

If the girl in the glass is your friend

You can fool the world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass

But your only reward will be heartache and tears

If you've cheated the girl in the glass.

For it isn't your father or mother or friend

Who's judgment upon you must pass

The women who's verdict counts most at life's end

Is the girl staring back from the glass

After the speakers they showed each graduate. It was alphabetical so we watched for a long time to see Whitney. Unfortunately right before her name the connection cut out so I hurried and pulled it up on my phone and took a picture, but we missed seeing her on the TV- darn. Afterward we took pictures with everyone and then headed to the parade. I had decorated the car to look like a float. Whitney wasn't too excited to do the parade because she hates to be the center of attention. The first part of the parade was really hard for her. We had put her name on the car so everyone was yelling her name and that made her so uncomfortable.  Jeff and I didn't help the situation and told her that she needed to at least acknowledge everyone and wave and that she was being rude to just stare straight ahead. I felt very bad for her and it was one of my worst parenting moments that I will have to write more about in another post. After a while she was able to compose herself and wave and say thank you to people. Tom and Sharon and Kristy and her kids came and had posters and cheered as we drove by. At the end you drove through the school parking lot and all the teachers were lined up cheering. It was actually so amazing and I hope she felt at least a little celebrated. On the way home we drove by our church where my mom and Melinda and the kids also were standing on the curb holding signs.  Later that night we got food from Chick-Fil- A(her choice) and then Jeff and I took her to the city chalk festival and we walked along the Jordan River Parkway to decompress. Then she and I went and got ice cream from Baskin Robbins. She wanted to try their vegan cookie dough. I got pink bubble gum like I did as a kid. It was a hard day but I hope a happy day too and that she is proud of herself. 

We were finally able to submit the paperwork for our passports. I have been checking the website every day for months and they finally said that you can submit your application. They are still only going to be doing emergency ones but at least ours will be in the line to get done as soon as they open back up. I doubt Jeff and I will get them in time to go to Israel in September but I hope Ashtyn will get hers soon.

I babysat my neighbors two little cuties. They are so cute and friendly.

Ashtyn finished her diamond painting.

I have started the finishing process on the table. I am using a "filming" technique. It uses a 50/50 mixture of polyurethane and mineral spirits. By thinning it out you can apply it with a rag so that you don't get brush marks. It also provides a more professional finish instead of the plasticy look of polyurethane alone. You do have to do more coats to build up a strong finish so I plan to do 12. So far I have been able to do six. You sand in between every three coats. This picture makes it look more yellowy than it really is.

Something sad that happened this week was the death of  a Utah icon- Christopher Clark. I cried when I heard the news. He is my beloved Stephanie Nielsons older brother. I'd been following him and his family on social media for the last several years. He was witty and so so funny and just such an inspiration. He has been in several local commercials and he also played Paul in all the church New Testament videos. He starred in our favorite Christmas movie called Stalking Santa. He directed many plays at the Orem Hale Theatre and I got to see one when he cast my good friend Angie in the lead role. He was diagnosed with ALS about five years ago. That would have slowed some people down but not him. He did so much and when he couldn't do something he found a new way to do it. He and his wife were interviewed on Studio 5 for a Valentines Show a while back and it was so sweet to watch. He was also recently interviewed by Seth King. Seth is the brains behind the Instagram Late Notes. Christopher or Topher as they called him couldn't even move at this point and was completely dependent on others but still so so funny. He used a computer to talk and he even made the computer sound good. He shared a piece of advice that has really resonated with me. He said you give yourself 15 minutes a day to feel sorry for yourself. He said life is really hard and that's ok to feel bad- but after the 15 minutes you need to get up and get back to living. I love that. They are going to broadcast his funeral and I am going to watch. He will be really missed.

We watched Selma as a family. I do not every remember learning about this march in history. It was very hard to watch what happened to the people. These are the kinds of things we need to learn about. It was a very eye opening movie.

Sunday was Seminary Graduation. It was also virtual and then you drove to the stake center and your bishop handed you the diploma in the gym- Only Whitney went inside so I don't have any pictures. After we went to Tom and Sharon's for our first family dinner since March. It was so nice to be together- everyone was there except Scott's family that were out of town. After dinner Sharon got out some old things of Grandpa Shaw's including some pictures when he was young. It was fun to look through these things and I wish we did it more often. I never got to meet him. Then we sang happy birthday to Jeff, Fischer and Kellie who have birthdays this month(we missed Ru and will have to sing to her later)