MaeLyn's Musings

Peter loves drama, and he's good at it too. This year he has been in production after production, developing his talents. In March he played the munchkin mayor in The Wizard of Oz. ( See here for my blog on that ).  In April he played a lead role in the one act play Abra Cadaver. ( Here's my blog on that. ) At the end of his Junior year in high school, he was elected as co-president of the drama club and was granted stewardship of the traditional Kermit the Frog doll for acting. (There are four stuffed frogs that are passed from a graduating drama student to the drama student that student feels best exemplifies that role. Josh received the "Kermie" for tech while he was in high school. Other Kermies are passed for costumes and light/sound.) In July he performed in the community theater production of The Servant of Two Masters. ( Blog post ) In October, Peter performed as the narrator in the high school production of Puffs: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certai...

When Hannah was a missionary in Brazil, she met a guy. Elder Moroni Torres was another missionary, from Recife, Bazil. When Hannah returned home from her mission in March 2020, she and Moroni continued to communicate. Since then, they have continued to talk, pretty much every day, and Hannah even returned to Brazil twice to see him. (See here and here .) Eventually he moved to Portugal in order to get a better job. In April of this year, Hannah moved to Portugal. ( See blog post here ) At the time, we didn't know how long she would spend there. After two years of a long distance relationship, they needed to figure out where it was headed, whether they got along well enough in person to get married, or whether they should break up and move on. When she left here, she had a round-trip ticket for just in case things didn't work out, but the date of potential return came and went and she continued on. She got an apartment and a job in a restaurant. At church she was called as secr...

Early in 2022, Josh got a job working for a guy in our stake who does tile work, remodeling bathrooms and kitchens. He cuts tile, lugs boxes of tile up and down stairs, fetches things for his boss, and learns the ins and outs of tile laying as well as bits of plumbing and electrical work. He helps to install tubs and hang doors. At the same time, he has been taking one class at a time from our local community college, the most recent being an architectural drafting class.  To aid him in his travels to and from school and his various job sites, in August Josh purchased a truck: The Beast. It is a 2007 Ford F150 with over 200,000 miles.  Since his purchase he has learned the questionable joys of paying for his own car insurance as well as for car repairs, but he also enjoys the freedom of being able to hop in his car and go whenever he wants to. When not at work or school, Josh attends the young adult ward and institute, goes on dates (a couple nights ago he took his friend...

 On the evening of December 6th, Steven, John and I went to the stake center to meet with our stake president and John was released from service as a full time missionary.  It has been a rocky three years since he was first called.  September 2019: We dropped off at the airport and sent him off to Brazil. ( See blog written at the time ) He attended the MTC in Brazil, and then continued on to the Brazil, Sao Paulo West mission where he served until... March of 2020: ...when he returned home because of the pandemic. ( See blog ) He decided to defer his mission for a year in the hopes that the pandemic would subside by then, and meanwhile he attended a year at the Colorado School of Mines. July of 2021: John left home again, this time to the Florida, Jacksonville Mission, with the hopes that it would be temporary and he would be able to return to Brazil before long. September 2021: Due to anxiety issues, John returned home and transitioned to a service mission. (see  b...

 Last night Steven and I attended Northglenn's annual pirate festival at E.B. Rains park. It is always fun to see the costumes, listen to the music and browse among the various vendors.  This cool crock's clock light blinked on and off.  There was an escape room. (We didn't try it) There was a costume contest.  I really like the style of this dress.  There were even mermaids! We didn't buy anything but it was a lot of fun to browse and see all the cool displays. We will be back next year! P.S. Sunset from the other side of the lake was beautiful!

 August 3rd, 2022 It was the morning I had been anticipating for weeks. Anticipating with anxiety, frustration, a desire to just get it over with, and finally the day had arrived.  The night before I had carefully showered and washed myself with antibacterial soap and dried afterwards with a freshly washed towel. I hadn't used any deodorant, perfumes, lotions, etc. I hadn't eaten since dinner or drunk anything other than just a swallow to take my pills. I slept on freshly washed sheets. I took another shower with the antibacterial soap that morning and dried myself with another freshly washed towel. Steven and I left around 6am to arrive at the UC Health hospital in Highlands Ranch by 7am to check in for surgery which was scheduled for 9am. We made it in good time and had no trouble checking in. It wasn't long before they took Steven and me back to the pre-op area where they had me wipe myself down with antibacterial cloths, gargle mouthwash, and change into a hospital gown...

 Earlier this summer (June 23-25) Peter got to accompany our stake on Trek, a brief reenactment of the pioneers crossing the plains to the Salt Lake valley. Yesterday the pictures that were taken on Trek were made available. (The youth weren't supposed to bring cameras or phones, so these pictures were taken by professional photographers.) These are the pictures I could find that included Peter: Ok, this one doesn't actually show Peter, but it does show the beautiful landscape in Wyoming where he was... He  is  actually in this one although he's a bit hard to find. This was taken during the "women's pull", when they have just the women pull the handcarts up a long slope as the men stand by and watch.  Independence Rock hanging out in camp with his Trek family river crossing ditto, but in this one you can actually see his face Square dancing. (He's in there somewhere.) Pulling the handcart along the trail A little closer... (You can't see his face, but ...

This summer, Peter has been involved in a community theater production of " The Servant of Two Masters ". This play is an example of  commedia dell'arte . Many of the characters wore masks, and their actions were exaggerated in a way that added to the fun. Peter played the part of Pantalone, the money-loving father of a young woman whose engagement to the love of her life is put in jeopardy by the return of a man to whom she had previously been betrothed, but who had reportedly been killed in a duel.  The performances were this weekend. We attended Friday night and found it a lot of fun and really well done. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take a video recording or take pictures during the performance, but we were able to take some pictures in costume afterwards. Peter as Pantalone Pantalone and his soon to be son in law, Silvio.

I now officially have two adult children!  John has about 5 months left of his mission. While I understand that he was disappointed to not be able to return to Brazil, and he still has some difficult days (and weeks), I think he has really appreciated the opportunity to continue to serve. His schedule now includes working on the grounds of the Fort Collins temple, helping out in the Denver North Mission office, and fielding help requests on the gospel library app for Global Services. In his free time, John plays the piano and is learning to play the sax. He also reads a lot and spends a good amount of time on his computer. He explains what he is doing from time to time, but once he starts talking about compilers, the language gets more technical and he loses me. He also attends the young adult ward on Sundays and institute classes on Thursdays. After his mission he plans to return to Colorado School of Mines to continue pursuing his computer science degree. John being John. Peter...

 "Carry this boulder over the mountain," they said. They gave me a guide to show me the way and I trudged along up the slopes and over the mountain, finally arriving on the other side, exhausted from the long trek, sore, a bit scarred, but with a sense of accomplishment. I did it! Six months later, they told me, "You need to carry another boulder over the mountain." This new boulder was a little bigger, a little heavier, a little rougher. Remembering the challenges of my first experience I dreaded having to do it again. The journey I faced seemed so much harder the second time. But I had my guide to help along the way, right? My guide directed me through the foothills, but then sent me to another to guide me. "He is taller and can see farther," my guide said. So I looked to the new guide. My new guide was indeed taller and could see farther. He described the path in detail and warned me of the pit falls and dangers along the way. I could see he had more ex...

"I feel like making a new quilt," I said. What kind of quilt should I make? Something simple? Nah! I'll make it full of tiny pieces that have to be sewn together in awkward Y seams, and where no seam is longer than about 2 inches. And I won't use any real pattern... I'll just make it up as I go. Sounds like fun!  Three months later, it is done. Although it wasn't easy, I love the way it turned out! (Try not to get dizzy looking at it!)