Back to the Future

Wow! I can't believe that it has been so long! It has been a crazy six months at our house and so we are going to go back in time and just give the "noteworthy" highlights...

Nathanael turned 17 years old in April. I just can't believe that he is not a little boy anymore. May was a busy month for Nat. He went on his first date which happened to be Junior Prom for Lone Peak High School. He asked his date in April. His date was in a lot of his classes. She also was the captain of the math club that he was part of and they had a lot of common interests. One of the common interests is "Harry Potter". Because of this, he asked her to Prom with a letter that we modified like the one that Harry first received to go to Hogwarts. I bought a really cool tin owl that was coral and blue. It was funny because owls are trending right now and so I had a lot to choose from. I picked one that I thought was really tasteful and would be appropriate for a teenager. We taped the letter under the owl's beak and Lindsay and I left it on her door step. She answered Nathanael by leaving a "howler" on his desk that said "Sure!!!". It was difficult for him to find a group but he finally did and I felt like it was the best situation for he and his date. The group went to an Italian restaurant for dinner called "Biaggi's" and then went to the state capitol for the dance afterward. The next day, they did their "day date" by picking up the girls and playing bad mitton at the park. They then went to Cold Stone for ice cream. After that, they came here and watched a movie, had Manti chicken etc. for dinner, and roasted marshmallows. I was so nervous about hosting because I was not a cool teenager and felt like I had no business entertaining teenagers now. However, everyone seemed to have a good time and one of the mother's of a girl in Nat's group saw me at the store and told me how they had a blast and that everyone had a really good time at our house. It was quite an eventful couple of days but everything seemed to work out and go well. Nat had a good time and continues to have a good friendship with this young lady. In May, Nathanael took 5 AP tests. One of the tests he took did not have a class that was offered but history is one of his greatest strengths. He passed all 5 tests. He received two 3's, one 4, and two 5's. Most impressive. Nat also received the Outstanding Second Tenor Award in choir this last year.  We have always had basses in our family so it is kind of exciting to have a tenor now.  He finished his Junior year in June and also went to Youth Conference in our stake. July was eventful in that he was able to go to scout camp to "Angel's Landing" in St. George. He then received the final piece for his bagpipes. Yes, that's right-his bagpipes. Nathanael has really been wanting to play the bagpipes for years. He got a chanter for Christmas last year which you are supposed to learn and practice on for at least six months. Nat did a lot of research and found that it was cheaper to buy the pipes in pieces and put it together himself rather than purchasing a set already put together. The last piece finally arrived and he was so excited that he was shaking as he was putting it together. I have never seen him that excited! I watched him in amazement as he figured out all the different pieces. I would never be able to do that! He has learned a few pieces to play and I must say that it "stirs my soul" when I hear him play. Nathanael started his Senior year of high school in August. He is taking 5 AP classes this year-one is at Amerian Fork high school. He really wanted to take AP Chemistry and Lone Peak offered two classes. He signed up for the one he could do but they dropped that class because there were not enough students that registered for it. The only other period they offered it was during Chamber Singers which is the top auditioned choir group in the school. Of course he was not going to drop that class and we found out that he could fill out a school to school form and take AP Chem at American Fork. It was at the perfect time of day and seems to be working for him. Now here we are "back to the future" and hoping that this year is a really good one for him.

 Lindsay has been very busy as well. At the end of April, she participated in another Feis (Irish dance competition) in which she did very well. It happened to be held at Union Middle School where I attended when I was her age. She also got her learner's permit to drive in April. AHHH! In May, Lindsay performed in a voice recital. She was the first vocalist to perform and so she was very nervous but she did really well. She also received a special award for academic excellence in 9th grade.  In June, she also was able to attend Youth Conference with Nat. She also participated in a Irish dance camp and then competed in another Feis on my birthday. She placed in every dance that she competed in-awesome birthday present! She is progressing as fast as she can in Irish dance. She really seems to enjoy this form of dancing. In July, she was able to attend Young Women's camp and EFY. She had a really good time at both events. In August, she started her first year of high school as a sophmore at Lone Peak. So far, she is working really hard to do well in her classes. She has one class that she had to make dinner for our family using only foods that were eaten in the "New World". She then had to write a paper about the Continental Trade and how grateful our family was for it because our dinner was okay but very, very, bland. Lindsay is really looking forward to the future as she turns 16 this month.

 Ethan graduated from elementary school in May. At his sixth grade graduation, he won "The Hope of America" award which was quite an honor. Ethan has a talent for working with others and seeing the good and potential in others. I admire him for his great example in this area. In July, Ethan was able to attend his scout camp and earned 8 merit badges. He is right on track to earn his Eagle around the same age that Nathanael earned his. He also played in the Utah Invitational Soccer Tournament and his team won first place! Travis is his coach and Nathanael is an assistant coach. It was very exciting for Ethan and his friends who play with him. In August, Ethan played in another soccer tournament-Murray Max and his team once again won first place in their division. Wahoooo! In August, Ethan started seventh grade. He was very nervous about going to Jr. high but he is ready to move on and continue to learn and grow. It will be exciting to see what the future holds for him.

 Clarissa finished the third grade in June. She also participated in the Utah State Feis with Lindsay on my birthday. She also did really well placing in all of her dances except for one. Because she did so well, she and Lindsay have both been able to move up to the next class level. It was wonderful that the girls were able to do so well that day because I was livid that morning.  We could not find Clarissa's hair piece or tiara. That is one of my biggest frustrations is when I can't find something. By the time we left, the girls were crying and I was extremely angry. We bought a new hair piece at the Feis for Clarissa and they just took turns wearing the tiara. We did find what was lost a couple of weeks later. Really? Clarissa started the first day of school on her 9th birthday. It was a little nuts! She got to bring a birthday treat on the first day of school and the class sang to her in French. We celebrated with a "picture perfect" theme. Clarissa got a camera for Christmas and LOVES to take pictures. On the Saturday after school started, she invited a couple of friends to a little party. We took them over to a local park for a picnic and picture scavenger hunt. Each girl got a disposable camera to take their own pictures. The girls seemed to have a lot of fun-especially feeding the ducks. We then came back to our house where they decorated picture frames and had cupcakes. We developed the film later and gave them their pictures along with a little photo album to put the pictures in. It was a fun and low-stress birthday party. Back to the future, Clarissa is doing well and loving school so far.

Zachary is learning and growing everyday. He played Tot Soccer last spring. His coach was-guess who-Travis! Zachary liked to just run around during the games and was upset when he was taken out. Of course, his favorite part was the treat at the end. Zac is learning his letters and how to count.  His big thing is that he started preschool!!! His first backpack is a "Star Wars" backpack which is funny because Nathanael's first backpack was also "Star Wars". He is so much like Nathanael in so many ways that I think to myself, "Here we go again!"   We will just have to let the future unfold to find out who Zac really turns out to be.

Too many "moments of joy" so I will just end with the fact that even though things have been unusually busy this summer, I am so grateful for all the tender mercies and blessings that our family has received. We were able to do some fun activities as a family like going to Seven Peaks, the Scottish Festival, and a couple of long anticipated movies this summer. I will treasure those memories and hope that my children will remember the good times and traditions. I plan on doing a better job of posting "in the future"...

March Madness

It has been a crazy month of March-almost to the point of driving me to "madness" (which my children would tell you that I am already there)!

Here are the latest "noteworthy" events at the Lloyd home...


Nathanael started the month in New York City on tour with the Lone Peak A Capella Choir.  Travis was able to go as well as a chaperone.  They both had an amazing time!  One of the highlights of the tour is that Nat was able to sing in Carnegie Hall.  It was obviously a "once in a lifetime" experience. 

The next weekend after he got home from tour, Nathanael traveled to St. George to participate in the State Academic Decathlon.  He competed very well winning six medals.  He won a gold for Literature (his English teachers would be astonished), a silver in music, a bronze for science, a bronze for social science, and a bronze for art, and another silver for his team coming in second place for the large schools.  He was excited and we were thrilled that he did so well.

Earlier in the month, Lindsay participated in the Grand Concert at Mountain Ridge Jr. High.  The Jazz Band, orchestra, and Concert Singers put on a concert together.  At the end, they perform a piece as a tribute to each branch in the military.  The choir sings the anthem for each branch and those that serve(d) or have a loved one serving are asked to stand and be recognized when the choir sings about that branch.  I can't help but feel emotional and my heart swells within me as I think about my grandpa McMillan who was a marine in World War II.  I am truly grateful for this country and for those that sacrifice so much for us.

Towards the end of March, Lindsay performed in her first Irish Dance Recital.  The theme was Irish legends and mythical creatures.  Lindsay was a "Selkie" or a seal that goes ashore and turns into a beautiful woman that marries and has a family and then one day returns back to the sea.  She did a wonderful job and seemed to have a great time performing.

Ethan had a great time performing in the school play.  He was Tin Man 2 in the "Wizard of Oz".  The couple who does the play has each main part have multiple kids to play each character to give more kids a chance to have a speaking part.  Ethan was awesome!  He even did a great job when just before call time the second night, he was turning off the light switches in our basement.  They are right under a large speaker mounted on the wall.  I don't know exactly what happened, but he ran into the speaker and now has a nice scar.  It actually looks just like Harry Potter's scar.  Anyway, we gave him an ice pack and took him to the school to have his make-up done etc.  We were worried because he was dazed and kind of "spacy".  I decided to sit with him for the first little while to make sure he did not show signs of a concussion.  After a while, I felt like he was looking better and his color was back and the swelling had gone down so I went a watched the play for a while.  Then before intermission, I went back to check on him.  I asked him how he was doing and he said a little too enthusiastically, "I'm fine mom!  I'm great!  I'm awesome!  I am just fine!" and then he grinned really big.  I thought, "Yeah, right!"  I prayed that he would  be able to do his best.  He was on right after intermission.  Watching him that night you would have never known that anything had happened.  He was great!  We are grateful that the speaker did not fall on him and that his injury wasn't any worse than it was or could have been.

Clarissa also got to perform in her first Irish Dance Recital with Lindsay.  They are in the same class and each class had their own choreography and dance to be a different legend or mythilogical creature.  Therefore, Clarissa also got to be a "Selkie".  She also performed very well.  At first it was a little difficult to recognize her because she has to wear a hair piece that has been matched to fit her hair color.  I am not used to seeing Clarissa with so much hair!  However, after I spotted her, I realized that she was the most petite in her class and then it was easy to find her quickly.  It is obvious when watching her how much she loves to perform.

It is "crazy" how much Zachary is getting into "Star Wars".  He especially likes a character in the "Clone Wars".  It is a Clone trooper named "Rex".  He is already telling me that he wants to have a "Star Wars" birthday.  His birthday is not for another nine months!  I have said this before, but Travis must pass on a gene because all our boys love "Star Wars".

March also had a lot of fun for our family.  We went to East Canyon with Travis' family and celebrated St. Patrick's Day.  It is always fun to have a treasure hunt with all the cousins.  I think back to the very first treasure hunt I did with Nat on his first St. Patrick's Day.  My, how things have changed for good!  Over the years, our traditions have evolved and have gotten better!  The treasure hunt is fun and the food is delicious, but I am always reminded of how grateful I am for my Irish ancestors who accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We also celebrated Easter at the end of the month.  We always enjoy the traditions of the Easter egg hunts and family meals.  I hope that our children will look back on these traditions with fondness and that these traditions will help all of us to stay close and keep our family strong.  At Easter, I am so grateful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and hope that my children know it because of how I live my life even though I make so many mistakes.

My "moment of joy" was a little bit different this last month.  Nat had gone to Lone Peak soccer tryouts but had to miss the portion specifically for the Goal Keepers because he was on tour with the choir.  They told him that he could try out during practice when he got back.  He showed up to practice after he got back from tour and instead of getting to try out, the coaches were angry that the boys did not come early to help clear the snow off the field and so they made all the boys run the entire time.  The next time he showed up, they told him that they couldn't make a decision because the coaches and trainers who work with the Keepers were not there.  They told him to come back the next day, however, Nathanael explained that he would be in St. George for the Academic Decathlon for the rest of the week and then on Monday, he would be in Logan for the State Math Competition.  They seemed impressed and told him to come on Tuesday.  The following Tuesday, Nat showed up and played Keeper and practiced with the boys.  Travis saw him and said that he felt that Nathanael did a great job.  At the end of practice, the head coach was not there to make the final decision.  They called him and he told Nat that they already had picked the 4 Goalies for JV and Varsity.  They did not want 5 Keepers.  As you can imagine, Nat felt really bad but he handled it very well.  He could have been rude come home and lashed out at everyone-but he didn't.  He went down in his room and played his chanter.  Music soothes the soul-especially for Nat.  Of course, he was very disappointed and felt bad but he behaved very appropriately.  He was quite "sober" for a couple of days but he knew that he had done his best and that sometimes life just isn't fair and that we don't always get what we want.  Therefore, my "moment of joy" was watching him handle this disappointment well and not let it get him bitter or talk badly about those that made the decision.


Cathy

Simple Pleasures and Blessings

Okay.  I wrote this at the end of November and yes, I know it is March.  Don't remind me how many months it has been.  However, it is some of our little family history and I am trying to get it documented.  So just go back in time and pretend that we are not already one quarter through the new year :)


It has been a while but here it is-I am going to try to cover two months of "noteworthy" happenings at the Lloyd home...

Nathanael has had a busy couple of months.  In October, he had a choir concert that was simply a pleasure to watch.  Even though he is too old to go trick-or-treating anymore, he dresses up for our ward Harvest festival.  He borrowed the Lindsay kilt and scarf from his Aunt Jamie and wore it proudly with a revolutionary period style shirt.  It was a pleasure to see how happy it made him when he wore it.  Then in November, he was in his first Academic Decathalon competition and took first overall in his division because he won the most medals.  He was very pleased.  Even though the competition was a good experience, November did not start out well.  He was driving Ethan and Lindsay home from a futsal game and got into a car accident with our van.  It left all the kids shaken and scared and of course, Travis was out of town on business.  The blessings were that no one was hurt and that our van was not totaled and could be fixed. 

 

Lindsay Kaye also had a concert in October.  Again, it was a pleasure to watch her perform.  She also is too old for trick-or-treating but she dressed up as one of her favorite characters from the Hunger Games books.  She dressed up as Katniss and I thought that she looked great!  I had to learn how to do a certain kind of braid and after practicing several times, I was satisfied that I finally could do it well.  It also brought me a little pleasure when she carved her pumpkin and had to clean it out so there were no strings-just like me! 

Ethan has had a busy couple of months.  He played flag football in October and he has some "wheels".  An old flag football coach named him "crazy legs" and it seems to suit him.  It brought Travis and I (mostly Travis) a lot of pleasure watching him play.  Also, just before the Thanksgiving break, Ethan performed in a Greek play with his classmates.  He was Odyseuss in "The Odyssey" and seemed to have a lot of fun performing.  He also won first place in his class for a story that he had written about a day that changed his life forever.  He wrote about the day that we found out about losing our baby, Michael.  It brought me pleasure and also touched me when I read it.  Ethan was Frodo from "The Lord of the Rings" books for Halloween.  He has had  a lot of pleasure reading those books.

Clarissa Anne had a lot of pleasure from being Hermione from the "Harry Potter" books.  She and I also went to a special mother-daughter breakfast for activity days.  It was a pleasure to be with her and listen to what is important to her.  She also loves writing and wrote a really cute story for her class.  She now is working on a "novel".  It will be interesting to see how her story will unfold.  She said that she wants to be an author when she grows up and I believe it!

Zachary loved Halloween!  He wore Ethan's old frog costume and loved "croaking" for all the neighbors.  He played the part well.  It was such a pleasure to take him trick-or-treating!  The weather was great -which is highly unusual when it is my turn and he talked about all the decorations and loved receiving candy!  He still talks about wearing his frog costume and trick-or-treating and getting candy.  I think that it was his favorite holiday so far this year.

I don't really have one "moment of joy" this time.  It was a pleasure to go to East Canyon with Travis' family.  It was a pleasure to spend Thanksgiving with mine and it was a pleasure to be able to take the kids out and have some one-on-one time with them for their day offs.  I also really enjoyed spending time with Travis doing some traditional "black Friday" shopping.  We kept it low key this year and found we could purchase more online and sleep in longer.  It was a pleasure to see his face light up when he found some Manchester United soccer gear at Ross for some awesome prices.  So far, the new clothes have been good luck as both teams won this week in futsol when he wore them for the first time.  One of the teams had been undefeated.  Now for some blessings, I had fallen really hard on my tailbone, back, and then smacked my head two days after the kids' car accident.  It was a blessing that my injuries were not worse even though they were very painful for a while.  I thought that maybe I had broken my tailbone but I am feeling so much better and I think I just bruised my tailbone and back but I have healed quickly.  I am very grateful for that.  It was such a blessing to know that my bones are doing so much better than they did even ten years ago.  Even though October and November have been very stressful and difficult,  there have been many moments of simple pleasures and we still have received many blessings.  After the kids were in that car accident, I did not have a vehicle and we have been without a van for a few weeks, but Larsens let us borrow their van for a few days and so many friends were offering their help.  My brother, Paul, came over on short notice to sit with the younger kids and let me borrow his car while I went down to deal with the accident.  Our bishop stopped by to find out personally how the kids were doing.  We are truly blessed to have family and friends that are there when we need them.

Cathy

Firsts

There are a lot of "noteworthy" events this last month in the Lloyd home.  We had a lot of "first" experiences lately that have helped each of us to learn and grow....

Nathanael sang in the school's Solo and Ensemble Festival for the first time.  He sang "The Roadside Fire" and was accompanied by his aunt Tammy.  It is a difficult piece but I thought that both he and Tammy performed well.  However, we were a little unprepared in that we didn't realize that he had to have another copy for the adjudicator and all the measures numbered.  It had been 20 years since I had done this and I did not remember and Nathanael did not seem to remember hearing those instructions.  Thankfully, he was towards the beginning and so the judge just reminded everyone else to have these things done.  It was a learning experience and it was good to see him do well even though he was very nervous.  Nat also had the opportunity to go to New York for the first time on tour with the choir.  It was very exciting!  Travis was able to go as a chaperone and it was his first time to New York City as well.  Hopefully, they will share with us the highlights of the trip in next month's blog.

Lindsay participated in her first Feis (pronounced "fesh") for Irish dance.  A Feis is an Irish dance competition.  She competed with the Reel and Jig.  It was so fun to watch her because she is so graceful and does such a good job.  However, she did not place as high as she would have liked and truly we wondered what she missed points on.  She was disappointed but felt that she performed her best and was satisfied with that knowledge.  It was a good experience to learn that even though you may not get the results that you want, you don't give up and continue to work hard and do your best.  She also was asked to speak in the Young Women's New Beginnings for the first time.  She was chosen because she was one of five that had earned their Young Womanhood Recognition Award last year.   She wrote her talk herself and I did not even have the chance to look over it quickly before she spoke.  However, she spoke with such depth and maturity that my heart swelled within me.  She did not need my help at all and I was amazed at what an incredible young woman she is.

Ethan  received the Aaronic priesthood at the beginning of the month.  He was able to attend Young Men's for the first time.  He also had the opportunity to pass the sacrament for the first time.  It was kind of neat to watch him pass the sacrament and be able to hand his trays to his older brother, Nat.  Ethan is turning into quite a young man.  He also had a "late night" instead of a themed party to celebrate his birthday with his friends for the first time.   He seemed to have a good time.  Ethan finished up his Jr. Jazz season and is continuing to play futsal and is rehearsing for the school play next month.  He has been a very busy kid lately!!

Clarissa also participated in her first Feis for Irish dance.  She was so nervous about it that she literally made herself ill.  She was so sick that she couldn't even attend class the day before to have some extra class practice.  Thankfully, Lindsay had worked with her for a couple of weeks and so Clarissa knew the dances and could do them well.  The day of the competition, she was extremely nervous and not feeling quite up to par.  It was a blessing that the younger girls went first so that she could "get it over with".  She was amazing!  You could not tell at all that she had been so sick just hours before.  She also was able to place in her division which made her so happy!  It was so good for her to learn that even if you are scared and fearful that you can overcome those feelings and do well.  She learned that she can rise up and do hard things!

Zachary has really gotten into "Star Wars" for the first time this last month - which unfortunately led him to his first (and it better be only) theft.  I was visiting teaching at a new sister's home.  She has a little one that also likes "Star Wars".  On the way home, Zac was showing me a "Galactic hero Star Wars" figure on the way home.  It looked like others that we have.  Later, Ethan asked me if we got a new one for Zac.  I was shocked!  Ethan explained that the one Zachary was playing with was not ours.  Great....I called this sister and apologized and we returned the figure.  I did have a talk with Zachary about not taking other people's toys, however, he seemed to be "distracted".  Hopefully, we won't have to have these little talks in the future...

My "moment of joy" came when I was having a follow-up meeting with a sister in our stake about her ward conference. Zac was the only child there-her kids were all at school.  She told him that he could play with the toys in the corner-which he did.  After a while, we started to wrap up and Zachary came running up to me and exclaimed, "Look mommy!  I cleaned up!"  I looked at where he was playing and sure enough, he had cleaned up the toys and put them in the corner just as they were when we got there.  Awesome!  The best part is that I did not even ask him to do it-he did it on his own.