Amazing Week

To say this week has been AMAZING is an understatement. Words can not express the levels of joy and emotion I have felt. I'll recount the highlights.

Missionary Open house--May 3, 2009

In preparation for an open house for Tayler, we baked and baked--2 batches of brownies, 2 batches of peanut butter chocolate chip bars, and 3 batches of rice krispie treats! Yum. We also had fruits and veggies an chips to round out the fare. It was fun--and was a part of a fun last date for Tayler with Whitney. We had family and many friends from our ward, and from school stop by to wish Tayler well. We enjoyed visiting with everyone so much, and appreciated their support and love.

Richard and Marissa were with us for several days, and we enjoyed having them around so much. They were with us for the open house, and most importantly when Tayler was set apart as a missionary. President Campbell came to our house on Monday evening, and gave him a beautiful blessing and setting apart as a full time missionary.

Off to Utah

On Tuesday, we said good bye to Richard and Marissa for the summer, as we left to go to the airport with Tayler. Collin helped Tayler lug his 3 suitcases into the van, and then we spent a few teary minutes as the kids said good bye to Tayler. It was hard. I finally said, this is like a taking off a bandaid, sometimes you just need to yank it quick--and go. Driving down the driveway, seeing the beautiful greenery, and blossoms, and all those familiar landmarks of home for the last time for 2 years, and thinking of those siblings back in the house, was pretty emotional for all of us. By the time we got to Wilsonville Road, we had squared our shoulders, and started looking forward and not back. Then the adventure began, for me at least, as I realized Tayler was really embarking on the adventure of his life.

Grandma
The first thing we did after we got to Utah was to drive to Cedar Hills and see Grandma C. She was just getting out of Relief Society and was so tickled to see us, as she didn't know we were coming that day. (She hadn't been around to answer the phone). We had a pleasant visit with her, and Tayler enjoyed having dinner with her in the lovely dining room where she lives. She was so sweet and cute and proud of her grandson in his suit. She told everyone he was going on a mission. It pulled on my heart strings when we left as I contemplated for just a moment whether Tayler would have another opportunity to visit with her after his mission.

Family Dinner
After our quick visit we drove straight to Provo for dinner. Janice and Spencer were tending Merilee's kids in Utah, so they met us for dinner, along with Kathi and Allen, Jason, Heidi and kids, and Rochelle, BJ and Gabriel. We had such a nice visit, and great food. Tayler was a little disgruntled that he couldn't finish all of his dinner--but it was his 2nd dinner, so we cut him some slack! While we were visiting outside of the restaurant, in true ARAVE style, 4 men dressed in identical suits came up to us and asked us if they could sing to us--they were doing a photo shoot for an album they were making. I think their name is Hang Five. Anyhow they sang us a barbershop rendition that was pretty good! Then someone asked if they would sing Happy Birthday to Janice. They improvised, and it was quite a hoot. Janice was also sung to in the restaurant, so that was a pretty good memory for a birthday I think!

The MTC Wednesday May 6
It was a lovely, clear, warm day and we arrived at the MTC at that morning. We were greeted by a lot of cute, elderly men wearing red reflective vests and sun hats. They helped Tayler unload his luggage, and instructed him on how best to haul his luggage away to the receiving area. He took care of that right away, and then we spent the next 20 minutes or so taking pictures outside of the MTC. Rochelle and BJ both got off work early and met us. It was so beautiful, and there were so many families hustling about taking pictures, and hugging, and drinking in the last moments with their missionaries. We went inside the MTC through separate doors, after we were quizzed by sister missionaries as whether we had any sickness or exposure to sickness in our group. I'm glad they are taking precautions to protect the MTC from the Swine Flu. On Tayler's entrance he was given a card with his MTC address, an official name tag, and his "dork dot" as President Campbell lovingly called it. The orange sticker designates that it's his first day at the MTC.--I guess if he's found wandering, someone will help him! Inside the lobby area, Tayler handed me a seam ripper and informed me it was my job to take out the stitches that closed his suit pocket, and then I was to put his new name tag on him. I of course was delighted to help, and do my last bit of mothering. We took a few last pictures, and then began our long walk down several long hallways whose walls were lined with poster size photos of missionaries. One that stood out was of an elder baptizing someone in a white font--rectangular, and cut out of ICE. Ow! At last we arrived in a large assembly room with a large screen where they were projecting Mormon ad videos and fun facts about the MTC. Did you know that it takes a small dairy of 400 cows to supply the MTC with enough milk each week--something like 20,000 gallons of milk? After a time the MTC president and his wife came in. We started the meeting by singing Called to Serve. The mission president spoke for a while telling us about the MTC, how a general authority comes to speak every Tuesday, about how they would have official orientation later that day, that they wouldn't be calling on Mother's day this year, but they will next year. It was good talk, leaving us with a feeling that all was well. His wife spoke too. The meeting was short, but not too short. I felt it was time to go when it was over. Tayler and I smiled at each other when the mission president advised the families that saying good bye was like taking off a bandaid, quick was a little less painful. So we had our last hugs, and I soaked it in as best I could for as long as I dared, kissed his cheek and passing him on to his dad and Rochelle and BJ. He walked past us, and around the back of the chairs, gave us a little salute as he neared the door, and I said to myself "harrah, harrah for Israel". And then blew my nose!
Saying good bye was hard, but not bad. I think the reason it wasn't bad was because earlier that morning we prayed together. We knelt together before we left the condo, and I offered the prayer. I was able to thank the Lord for the bounteous blessing he had bestowed upon Tayler over the past year, and over his life. We were able to commend him into the hands of the Lord in my prayer, and shed a few joyful tears in the process. We were able to embrace with no time constraints and no one looking on. It was in that sacred space that I really said goodbye and made the transition of letting him go. In the MTC, it was just the formality, and really to me a added gift of having a few more moments with him. It was hard saying goodbye for two years, but on the other hand, I felt such joy that he has come to this place in his life. He has overcome so many hurdles. His testimony is strong, and he bore it last Sunday in church, and it thrilled my heart to hear it. I came to realize then, that he was really ready, and the time had appropriately come for his full time service.

The extra 6 weeks given before his mission was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. We felt so calm sending him into the MTC knowing he was fully recovered from his open heart surgery. He will be totally capable of riding a bike and accepting the rigors of full time missionary service. We don't question anything, we know he is measuring up. That is a comforting feeling, as we haven't heard from him yet, and we will only hear from him once a week. Another tender mercy is that Tayler was able to go out with our ward missionaries several times in the pasts 6 weeks. This really helped him get prepared for his mission, and strengthened his testimony so much. He got to work with his cousin Erik outside for a week or so, and renew his friend ship with him also. I'm sure there were other blessings associated with that extra 6 weeks that we will come to realize in days to come.

Prom Dress
This may be insignificant to some, but not to Cara and I. In the short time we had after the MTC, Quin and I went to the mall and looked for a prom dress for Cara. In Oregon, Cara had looked at several malls, and downtown Portland for a modest prom dress--to no avail. I went to 2 stores, and found quite a selection. I ended up buying 2 dress--on sale, no less. I tried them on which was kind of fun and funny. They definitely didn't look like "mother of the bride" dresses, and I did get some interesting assessments from the sales clerks! Fortunately when I got home, Cara loved the dresses, and the one that fit best was chosen. Happily, a good friend of mine has a daughter who also needed a dress, had no time to shop, and loved the other dress! So, we helped bless their lives also. It was cool how that worked out.

Flying Home

Our trip to Utah was soooo, quick. We were extremely happy that Rochelle planned to fly home with us so she could see my concert, and visit a little longer. We LOVED bringing her and Gabe home with us. I think Quin took over 100 pictures of Gabe on the airplane alone! He nearly filled up his memory card in that one day we were gone!!!

Concert Focus
Once we got home, my focus shifted to preparations for our Sherwood Chorale 5th anniversary concert which was this weekend. I had much to do on Thursday to prepare for rehearsal, and spent from 2:45-10:00 at the high school in rehearsal. I felt bad leaving Rochelle, but she was happy to be with Quin and to blog, and play the piano, and sort through a box of her high school stuff. One of her goals was to find a quiet book that I made when she was a baby, and after a bit of searching she found it.

Concerts
Friday, Rochelle and I both got mother's day presents from Quin-back massages from a friend of ours. We enjoyed it, and I also got my haircut. That evening the Sherwood Chorale concert was very fun. Anna performed in the Children's choir, and Collin accompanied. Anna is so smiley and cute on stage. She has great stage presence, and sings so well. Collin is everything I could want in an accompanist. He plays accurately, with expression. He pays attention to what is happening, and follows well. In that performance, we missed an entrance and he kept playing, then repeated back when we came in. He's such a great musician. I really appreciate his support, and the fact that his is so respectful, and willing to do what ever I ask as a director. He is very professional, he listens to my direction and does what I say. We never have mother/son conflicts over music, or anything really. It has been very convenient, and very gratifying to have him as the Children's choir accompanist. The concert was very enjoyable for the choir, and for me. They were well prepared, and other than a few technical glitches everything went well. The joint number we did with Michael Allen Harrison and Julianne Johnson was sheer pleasure. We rehearsed for a half hour before the concert. That was fun working with them to get our finished product planned out. Michael's jazz embellishments just lit the choir members faces up. It was delightful to hear the transformation of the song. Julianne is masterful in her ability to sing in a jazz style. It was a bit hard to sing our part the first time through because we were all hearing incredible things, and we were trying to soak it all in, and remember what we were supposed to be doing. After we finally decided on where to put in a repeat where Michael would have a piano solo section, we were good to go. What fun that was! At the end of our half of the concert, we sang the joint song, and it was delightful. After intermission we heard Michael play a lullaby he wrote for his new 17 day old baby. Julianne sang several songs with Michael, and at the end she called the Chorale and kids choir up on stage to sing-a gospel rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters", and "Don't Trouble the Water". It was cool, she had us sing back up. It wasn't great, but it was FUN. In fact it was a blast. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. The audience didn't want them to quit, so she ended with by having the audience sing with her "What the World Needs Now". Wow, there was energy in the air, and a euphoria among the choir that you could cut with a knife.
As I was milling around after the concert, I started up the aisle, and low and behold, there was BJ!! He had flown in that evening, rented a car and drove to the concert! Rochelle and he had decided they would surprise us! I was so surprised, and so HAPPY that he was there to hear Julianne sing (he missed our part of the concert-but there was Saturday for that). I had felt bad when we realized Rochelle wouldn't be home with BJ until the evening on Mother's day, so when he showed up I was so excited!!!

Saturday's performance followed a leisure day of rest. At the greenroom we gave autographed posters to 9 choir members who were in the first Sherwood Chorale concert. Four of those people had been in all 9 of the concerts and the other 5 had been in 8 total. I think that is amazing. In five years, we have done a lot of music, and it has been a wonderful experience. We made an awesome 5 minute video which was shown in the concert celebrating our 5 years.

The performance was even better that Friday night, no technical problems, and the Children's choir didn't mix up words, or miss anything! The Chorale sang tighter, and everything was expressive and just wonderful. At intermission, I was surprised to learn that Michael Allen Harrison had brought his step son as a guest to perform with him. (Julianne was not there). I met him on stage and we had a nice chat. I had no idea what an astounding performance I was about to witness. The second half of the concert started out wonderfully, as Michael always plays incredibly. I loved his lullaby, and his 3 songs he played alone. Then out came Tanner Johnson with his violin. He played "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, Michael has played it at every concert, but with Tanner on the violin it was incredible. I have NEVER heard jazz violin like that, and it was breath taking. I was on the edge of my seat with my jaw dropped on the ground. This 17 year old played with musical maturity, and fineness that was completely breath taking. They played several songs together, and both piano and violin were played with virtuosity and complete expression of the musical canvass upon which they danced. They are releasing a CD this summer. They played a tango called Chocolate Kisses which they are releasing on a Tango CD, and will be playing it at a concert next Valentines Day. I heard many an audience member say they are going to that event! What an incredible concert. We were blown away.

After a much visiting after the concert, we were gathering up our last things to leave, and the janitor was waiting for us to leave so he could lock up. He told me his boss said we were doing the custodial work. I said yes, we were cleaning up the PAC and putting everything back the way we found it. He informed me that we had to mop the lobby and clean the bathrooms! So Quin I and Collin were the last people left! I was so grateful Quin just got the mop and mopped the lobby--there was pop spilled on the floor, and it was indeed messy. We got out of cleaning the bathrooms somehow. Wow, I wasn't expecting that, but Quin was my hero. By the time we got to the choir party at the Rebecca Lodge, all the treats were gone. :( It was sad. We did get there in time for the entertainment. Russell Griffin once again replaced several of our Chorale songs with funny words, and we were highly entertained. Then we watched the video of the show, and went home just before midnight. Once home we visited for a while more because it was hard to come down after the concert high! Then we hit the hay--what a wonderful day!

Mother's Day
To end the week, we had Mother's day. The kids made Rochelle and I a wonderful waffle breakfast with 3 kinds of fruit, whip cream, gourmet eggs, sausage and bacon orange juice, and my favorite--white grape peach juice. It was lovely, AND Rochelle and BJ gave me the wonderful gift of salt and pepper mills! Just what I've been wanting! We enjoyed church--I especially loved holding Gabe during sacrament meeting. He wanted me to hold him, I could tell. :) He's a delightful child. After church, we had a quick lunch, and sadly said good bye to Rochelle, BJ and Gabe. I was so sad to see them go, but so grateful they came for my concert and Mother's Day. Oh how I love my children! I miss Tayler today, but I just know he is doing great. I'm sure Marissa will call when she gets a chance, and I'm looking forward to talking to her. (They left for California Wednesday)

I've been writing this blog for a good long time. What a wonderful and memorable week. It may be too much information for a blog, but for me it's a record I don't want to forget, and I do want to copy it for Tayler. These experiences are choice, and are milestones in my life.