Nathanael and Lindsay Ann had their Spring break during March. They came down and visited for part of that time. They were also able to come with us to East Canyon. This was the first time that Lindsay Ann had come to East Canyon. Our trip to East Canyon included the wonderful traditions that we do in March. We had a treasure hunt, Irish feast, played games, and watched movies. One of my favorite times at East Canyon was listening to Lindsay Ann play hymns before church on her violin. After church, we had a little impromptu concert which included Lindsay Ann playing a composition of Nathanael's- and him playing his bagpipes. On the second Sunday in April, Nathanael's choir performed a concert in the Cathderal of the Madeleine It was a gorgeous Spring Sabbath Day. Our family all went to support him. The concert was absolutely magnificent! It was truly a joy to be there. The next weekend, we celebrated Nathanael's twenty-second birthday. We all went to dinner at his favorite restaurant-Settebello's. There was quite a wait that night-which was unusual. However, we were able to finally get a table and eat. It was delicious as always. After dinner, we came back to our house and had cake and ice cream. Lindsay Ann had made a delicious strawberry cake with the best cream cheese frosting I have had. Nat then opened his presents. On Sunday, they came again to extended FHE and it was nice to visit with them for a while before they had to go back to school. Lindsay Ann just finished her final projects and papers and finals this last week. Nat will finish this week. They came down last weekend to watch Clarissa perform in her school play. I was so grateful that they were able to come and support her. I am so grateful for the good relationships that my children have with each other and that Lindsay Ann fits right in with loving and supporting each other.
Lindsay Kaye has just finished eight months of being on her mission. She spent most of March in Chula Vista. While she was in that area, she was able to participate in a double baptism, a single baptism, and attend with the new members to do baptisms for the dead in the San Diego temple. We missed her for the holidays and General Conference. However, she is so happy and doing well. She was transferred in April to La Jolla. She is in another trio. Lindsay Kaye told us that her first week in this new area went really well and that the area is beautiful- but there is a lot of work to do. One exciting thing was that Alex Boye came to her mission and did a special fireside. She said that he is quite intense and that it was a really good night. Lindsay Kaye is allowed to post on Facebook on her missionary account and I love to see what she posts because it is always so inspirational.
Ethan was constantly coming and going. We went to East Canyon. The next weekend, he went on tour with the Chamber choir to New York. He was able to perform in Carnegie Hall just as Nat and Lindsay Kaye had done. He was able to go see a Broadway show, visit Ellis island, and see the 9/11 memorial. He had a wonderful time. Then the next weekend, he went to California on tour with the A'ccappella choir. They were able to go to some workshops, have fun at Disneyland, and perform in an inspirational fireside. Their choir also placed in the competition at the Festival. Ethan again had a great time- but was exhausted. Also during March and April, soccer season started and Ethan was busy working, playing games, and getting caught up in school. He also asked a young lady to Prom. She had not been asked to a big dance at school before and so he really wanted to make it "epic". He loves the movie, "Up" and used that as his theme. He gets home an hour earlier every other day from school because of how his schedule was set up this year. He came home one afternoon and we went over to decorate her car in the school parking lot. We tied about 20 different colored balloons on her car and he put sticky notes on the window spelling Prom. I then wrote on the back window with window markers, "Would you be UP to going to Prom with me?". He then put some chocolate chip cookies on a plate on top of the car that had a note attached to the bottom that said, "If you come with me to Prom, I am sure that we will have an ADVENTURE, Ethan. It was so cute! So last weekend, Prom finally arrived. They did their "day date" on Friday night and then went to dinner and the dance on Saturday night. Ethan came home singing and so I knew that he had had fun. The young lady's mom also texted me to thank him for taking her and showing her such a wonderful time. I am so grateful that he is such a kind and thoughtful young man.
Clarissa has spent the last couple of months getting ready for her performance as Babette in "Beauty and the Beast" in her school's show. The performance was this last weekend. Opening show was Thursday and last night was their final performance. Ethan and I were able to go see her opening night. Her character is very flirtatious and sassy. Clarissa is not a flirt and is very conservative and sweet at school. When she finished her first scene, Ethan and I looked at each other and laughed because it was shocking to see her be so good portraying a character who is the opposite of her personality! She also had a couple of little singing solo parts. Her voice is amazing. I think that Clarissa is very talented because I am her mother, however, during intermission, I had four people make their way down to my seat to tell me how wonderful and talented Clarissa is in this role. It is nice to hear that she really does have great talent in this area and that it is not just me being an overly proud mama. The next two nights, Friday and Saturday, I was once again sought out by others to tell me how great Clarissa was in the show. She even had a woman want to take a picture of her and Lumiere (who was amazing himself) and neither one of them knew her. She was thrilled with their performance. One of Clarissa's teachers also kept mentioning her excellent performance in class and asked if she does community theater because she would like to come see her. Last night was bittersweet for her. Clarissa was so grateful that the show was over and so sad that it was over. I am so grateful that she was able to have such a wonderful experience doing something she loves.
Zachary has been "going with the flow" with all the comings and goings. He loved going to East Canyon and cried when we came home. He loved spending time with everyone. He loved the Easter egg hunts and the family get togethers. Over Spring break, Zachary took some of his own money and purchased items for hygiene kits to give to refugees. He put together 10 of them. Zachary has a very generous heart. Zachary also earned his Bobcat rank in Cub scouts. Then this last week was his first Pinewood Derby. He worked really hard on sanding and painting the car himself and actually got 2nd place! He was so excited! I was surprised that it did so well because it was such a uniquely shaped and painted car. Also, during one of Zachary's Cub scout activites, his group put on a little campfire program. One of the things they did was to tell stories. He chose to tell the story of how he went to go find his sisters at McDonald's and got picked up by the police and brought home. It was the first time that I had heard him tell that story from his perspective. It was funny! Zachary's soccer season has also started and last week, he came so close to scoring a few times-which is great because he likes to play defender most of the time. Zachary made a blanket fort hotel in our basement recently. There were different rooms and he also provided room service. I am grateful that I have Zachary to keep me young.
My "moment of joy" during these last couple of months was reading a post from Lindsay Kaye on National Sibling Day. She wrote,
"I honestly could not have asked for better siblings. Making memories while watching them grow up has brought ma a joy I can't explain. Leaving them to be out here on a mission was the hardest thing I have ever done. But it is so worth it because I get to help others understand that they can be with their families forever as well. Each and every one of my siblings has changed my life and made me who I am today. I know my Heavenly Father loves me because he sent me these angels to love and support me. and that includes my new sister -in- law as well as my little brother up in Heaven. Thankfully, I have the knowledge that families can be together forever and I get to spend forever with the most amazing people!!! The blessings of an eternal family is available to all of God's children!"
I know that Lindsay has also been a great influence on each of her siblings and that we are so blessed to know her and have her as our daughter, sister, and friend.
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