Miracles

I don't even really know where to begin....there is a reason (a few) why I have been silent on this front).  It will be easier to go month by month instead of each child.  You then will see our miracles unfold....

June:

-Ethan attended Helaman's Camp for the Priests in our stake.
- Clarissa attended Girls Camp.
- Nat and Lindsay Ann left for his choir tour in Europe.
- Travis and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary.

July:

-Clarissa performed with the Alpine Community Theater in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".  She actually got her first uncredited review in the news!

"...the skirt of one young dancer coming undone.  She bravely continued to dance while trying to also keep her skirt from entirely falling to the floor, and frankly did a great job."

-Nathanael's American Festival Chorus and Orchestra finished their tour and Nat and Lindsay continued to travel in Europe for a delayed honeymoon.  They were able to see England, Scotland, Ireland, and France.  They had a wonderful time and learned to especially love Scotland and Ireland.

-On July 21st, my parents were going to come see Clarissa perform in the musical, but my Dad was injured just before and ended up in ICU for a few days.  He hit his head on the cement when a ladder he was standing on collapsed.  He had bleeding in the front and back of his brain, a stroke, and a skull fracture.  Yet, it is truly a miracle that he not only survived, but has not had any major impairment from his accident.  We were so grateful that he has recovered so well.

-On July 25th, Clarissa and I had borrowed my Mom's car while we were looking for another vehicle.  I had picked her up from the theater where she was participating in a promotional video for the theater.  We were almost home when a young man did not yield turning left as we were going through the green light North.  He ended up hitting us and it was hard enough that our airbags deployed. The diamond from my wedding ring was ripped from the band and has been lost to parts unknown.  The miracle was that my petite Clarissa saw that we were going to be hi-t and instinctively put her arms up in front of her in a defensive position and moved to the side.  Thus, the airbag did not injure her.  Another miracle was that I am alive and well.  Right after the accident, there were a few people who stopped and immediately helped me and my daughter as well as the other young man.    One had a chair in the back of his car that he let me borrow.  Another helped the other young man and directed traffic.  A woman offered to get me water etc.  They were strangers who made a difference in a difficult moment.  We found out later that I had several little fractures on my ribs where the seatbelt was, on my sternum, and my ankle.  I am grateful that that is as bad as it was.  It could have been much worse.

-During May, June, and July, Lindsay Kaye was serving in La Jolla, CA where she and her companions found a lot of success teaching that resulted in several baptisms.

August:

-Clarissa celebrated her 14th birthday by having her friends come over and get ready for a stake dance. The dance ended up being canceled so they just came back to our house and had treats and snacks while they played a Karoake game in the basement.  She seemed to have a lot of fun.  Turning 14 also moved her into the MiaMaid group at church. 

-Lindsay Ann celebrated her 20th birthday.  We are so grateful to have her part of our family.  She is so intelligent, kind, and talented.  I have already learned a lot from her and I can see how happy she makes Nathanael.

-Zachary, Clarissa, Ethan, Lindsay Ann, and Nathanael all started back to school.  Zachary is now in the 3rd grade, Clarissa is in 9th grade, Ethan is a Senior in high school, and Nat and Lindsay Ann are both Juniors at Utah State University.

-One highlight was going up to Logan to drop off Ethan, Clarissa, and Zachary to spend the night with them in their apartment.  Nat and Lindsay showed us many of their favorite places in Logan and it was lovely to spend the afternoon with them.  The kids also had a great time at their apartment.

-Lindsay's one year anniversary on her mission was on August 30th.  She has absolutely loved being a missionary and feels that it was the best decision that she has ever made.  I am amazed at the confident woman that she has become.  She has been a light to those around her and helped many companionships with compassion and kindness.

-On August 2nd, Travis was informed that that was his last day at NuSkin.  I will not go into all the details about the situation- except to say that there are people in this world who claim to believe the same things you do and belong to the true Church of Christ who are actually bullies.  At the time, I was very angry and bitter, however, I can now look back and see that we are in a better situation and right where we need to be.  I will also say that I do not think about his former boss hardly at all anymore-but I still harbor resentment towards her that I am working on.  I am glad that I am not in her shoes.  Karma can be a beast and justice will be served eventually.  As you can imagine, these last months of 2018 have been very difficult for our family both physically and emotionally.  There were times that I would do really well and feel that everything would be okay and then there were times that I had my little melt downs and could not see that it would work out all right.

September:

-We celebrated Lindsay Kaye's 21st birthday and the Chilean Independence Day by going to a new Chilean restaurant.  The food was delicious!  It was a highlight of the month.

-Ethan played in his last season of club soccer with his team, Manchester United.

-Zachary played on a new AA soccer team.  The boys started out really well, and then played some very difficult teams. After that, they seemed to lose their confidence a bit.  Even though Zachary would get upset after losing a game, he continued to be positive and look forward to the next game.  He also became a huge BYU fan.  He loves watching the BYU sports with Travis.  He knows the players names, numbers, and can tell you about their individual statistics. It has been fun for Travis to have another sports buddy.

-Ethan was invited to the Sadie Hawkins dance with a young woman in our ward.  He had a great time.

-I started a new job with the district as an Assessment Tester.  It pays really well and I only do it for a month at a time.  It was a small miracle that Travis saw that they needed testers on Facebook for just a short time and that I was able to get that job.  Every little bit helps. 

October:

-Ethan had invited a young lady to attend the Homecoming dance with him.  He kind of was in charge of the group and he wanted our family to cook the dinner like a Sunday dinner.  They ate at a neighbor's house and I helped to decorate the table and make it nice.  He felt like they all had a good time. 

-Ethan participated in a Disney themed fundraising concert for his choir tour.  He performed a duet from "Tangled"-"Now I See the Light" and a solo from "Beauty and the Beast" musical.  He needed costumes for his performances.  One miracle is that while he was working at Little Caesar's Pizza, he won a gift card to Amazon that would pay for his Beast costume.  Then, Travis' sister helped us with his Flynn Rider costume.  The week of the concert, the choir director had a small stroke and fell and was in the hospital.  Because Ethan is the Chamber Choir President, he was the one in charge to help pull everything together.  As you can imagine, it was extremely stressful for him.  Some of the other parents and Travis and I helped as much as we could.  I was helping backstage on the first night.  Travis told me afterward that it was the best Disney concert that he had seen-which he had seen Nat and Lindsay Kaye do these concerts as well!  The next night, I got to sit in the audience and watch.  The song just before Ethan's solo was all of them singing, "God help the Outcasts".  However, Ethan was not on stage.  I was a bit worried about him.  Then he came out and nailed his solo.  Afterwards, we found out that he had had a bloody nose just before his solo and was trying to get it to stop!  There was also a piece that the boys were performing and it was difficult.  The first night of the dress rehearsal, they were considering dropping it because it was so bad.  They practiced extra and it was amazing for the shows.  That was a small miracle.  It was a big miracle that the concerts went so well!

-We were able to participate in our usual Halloween activities and parties.  Travis' other sister had a costume that Clarissa was able to borrow.  Ethan wore his Beast costume and we had purchased a clearance costume in Logan for Zachary.  I was worried about spending any money on pumpkins to carve or candy to buy to hand out when someone chose our family to do a "12 Days of Halloween".  Among the gifts were pumpkins and a large bag of treats for us to pass out at Halloween.  What a blessing!

November:

-Clarissa was in the dance ensemble for the school's musical, "Singin' in the Rain Jr.".  She can dance!  I have a friend who met her husband in the folk dance performing group at BYU who came to see the show.  He went home and told her how amazing "that Lloyd girl" was and how he was drawn to watching her during the show because she was so good!  When it comes from someone who is an expert in that area-it means a lot. 

-Towards the end of the month, Clarissa was the lead in her show for her theater class.  She was Candy Cane in the show, "Wagon Wheels a-Rollin' ".  It was funny and Clarissa did a wonderful job!  I know I am bias;)  She wanted me to do a Gibson Gal hairstyle for her character in the show.  I watched YouTube videos and it seemed simple enough.  I was wrong.  It was hard and I would get so frustrated that I would almost start speaking in tongues-and not in a good way!  That being said, she got a lot of compliments on her hair and I was proud of how it turned out.  My Mom even asked me who had done her hair and when I told her it was me, she laughed and said that she knew I had many talents-but she did not know that was one of them.  If that really were one of my talents, I would have been able to do it easily and not taken so much time.  Ha! Ha!

-The highlight of this month was that Travis was offered a job with the Church.  That evening, we had been invited to go see the new "Fantastic Beasts" movie with Travis' sister.  They even provided our family with popcorn and drinks.  It was so fun!  I am so grateful to them for their kindness.  This job is a miracle.  He was so grateful to know some that worked with those who were hiring.  It is because of them that he got an interview.  We feel that this is where he is supposed to be right now.  He loves that they start with a song and a prayer.  He loves that this is more than just a job.  He is helping to hasten the work and build up His kingdom on earth.  He is working in the IT department which has always been something that he enjoys.  It is a miracle.

December:

-Zachary finished his 8 month program of desensitizing him to peanuts so that if he accidentally eats one at some point, it will not be fatal.  It has been a long process but it is such a miracle that he can eat peanuts now.  What a blessing!

-Clarissa had her Christmas choir concert.  It was very enjoyable.

-Ethan performed in Lone Peak's Madrigal Feaste.  His character was the king.  He was really stressed about it because the choir director was still out of commission.  He helped hold extra rehearsals and decorate the gym to look like the inside of a castle.  It was amazing!  He did a wonderful job!  I am so impressed by his ability and willingness to go the distance and make things a success.

-Lindsay Kaye was transferred  a week before Christmas.  She is in what the locals call PQ.  It is difficult to pronounce and so our family just calls it Pasemaquade like in "Pete's Dragon".  She was transferred from a small town called Ramona.  She had had some success in Ramona but it was one of the hardest areas of her mission.  She ended up losing her wallet with everything inside of it and so we had to work out getting things replaced like her Driver's License etc. 

-One of the highlights of December was going up to watch Nathanael sing in his Christmas concert.  They were magnificent!  It was a joy to watch him perform.  After the concert, we picked up Lindsay Ann from the studio where she spends a lot of time for her major.  It was impressive to see what she has been working on.  We then went to a local restaurant to "clean the kitchen sink".  We were able to eat a large ice cream sundae that was in a bowl that looked like a small kitchen sink.  It was fun!  We had a great time!

-Christmas, of course, was wonderful.  On Christmas Eve, we had a brunch with just our family and then the kids exchanged their gifts for each other.  I was so impressed that each one put so much thought into what they gave each other.  We were able to relax for a while and then went to my extended family's Christmas Eve dinner.  It was a treat to visit with my brothers and their families and watch the kids in the Nativity.  Nat and Lindsay Ann stayed overnight with us this year.  Christmas morning was fantastic and everyone seemed very happy.  We were able to Skype with Lindsay Kaye-which was awesome-but it always makes me miss her for a while afterward.  Thankfully, she will be coming home in a few weeks!  We then went to Travis' family  Christmas get together and that was really fun.  We then went home, took naps, and finally went to my parents home again to visit.  It was a lovely day.  As Travis and I were sitting on the couch, we were watching the kids and looking at the Christmas gifts and we both felt overwhelming love and gratitude because we had had a wonderful Christmas because of the generosity of others.

It has been a miracle that we have been able to meet our goals for the year and it was only through angels here on earth and on the other side of the veil that we are in the position that we are in.  We had donations of cash, checks, free voice lessons for Clarissa, treats, snacks, gift cards etc.  I cannot name all the donations or all those that helped us, but the Lord knows and I pray each day that they will be blessed for their Christlike generosity.  I am grateful for the greatest miracle of all, Jesus Christ, who is my personal Savior.  He died for me but He also lives for me.  It is only through Him that I can receive mercy in my failings and shortcomings.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to better know Him these last through months as I have literally had to depend on Him and have faith that He really does love me personally and that He truly wants the best for me in this life and the next.

This has been a very difficult year, but I will always remember that it was also a year of miracles.

Coming and Going

It seems like the last couple of months have been filled with comings and goings.  So here are the noteworthy events from the Lloyd home in March and April....


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.