Graduating Senior Lunch with the Wardies

We had a lovely taco bar lunch in the Bywater's yard to celebrate 

the graduating seniors from the ward.

I feel especially close to this group because the boys are the guys Nick grew up with 

and the girls were my Young Women when they were in Jr. High.

The parents each got to share two things we admired about our kids and give one piece of advice.

All the moms and some of the dads cried, of course. 

The tearful goodbyes are already starting! I'm really going to miss Nick when he goes to college!

Two of the many, many things I admire about Nick are:

He's always willing to help. Whenever we ask, whatever we ask, he always says yes.

Helping Dan make dinner or helping out around the house.

We've often commented on how much we appreciate how agreeable he is.

His dedication to his goals. When he makes a goal, he sticks to it.

When he's interested in something he does a lot of research, learns from experts, talks to people and figures out answers for himself. This trait will serve him well in all areas of his life.

My advice was to keep doing exactly what he's already doing.

Work hard, be kind, stay curious and believe in yourself.

My prayer for my children when they are teens (and even now) was often

that they would know who they were and know who they could become.

Nick is such a wonderful kid. Often Dan and I say he's a perfectly capable adult already.

We love you, Nick!

Afterward, we had just a little bit of time with everyone watching F-1 and talking

and soon it was time to take Marty and Lizzie and Emi to the airport.

We're keeping a close eye on the river as it starts to rise. 

We've got a website that shows how fast and high it will be 

(based on a data collection sensor just a few houses away -- 

they have the sensors at spots in all the rivers in the valley.)

We're at 160 cfs and its the highest I've seen it.

But on April 12 when we were in NYC it was at 300, just for a day.

We've still got plenty of height before it floods,

but it's so exciting to watch it rise!

 

Rugby Senior Day

Senior Day for Rugby

and their last regular season game.

They played the "Dirty Birds" who are half Skyline/half Olympus kids -- mostly JV players

so they kinda killed 'em. 

Grandma Nancy, Diane and Marty, Lizzie and Emi all came to cheer Nick on. 

(We were all BROILING at the game. Dan and I both actually talked about wearing sandals, but were worried our feet would be cold. Not even close. After the long winter, 75* feels like 95*!)

This evening we met Mary Ellen and Erika at Holladay City Park

for a picnic where we could enjoy the gorgeous weather, and push Emi on the swings.

Mary Ellen was here for the week on leave from the Jerusalem Center 

so she could be with Erika for her graduation.

I LOVE Lizzie's family.

Emi is getting so close to crawling!

She even took a four crawls this evening.

She's a little sporadic about when she does it, but I'll bet in a few weeks in New York, 

she'll be moving all over the place!

A Year Later

One year ago they took a photo right here with just a baby's dress 

to announce they were having a girl.

And now they are three!

And here's another I cropped to be close-up because look at those three happy faces!

We Made It

Happy Birthday, Dad.

I miss your hugs, the way you always made me laugh and 

how you loved to listen. 

Yayyyyyyy!!

I can't say enough how happy I am to see nothing but warm in the forecast!

Nick had senior photos today so soon this wall will be complete!

(And again, they offered us a room to change clothes and I was like,

"None needed, my boys like to go very casual in their pics."

Happy Birthday, Courtney!

This is turning out to be a month of Courtney, and I'm so glad because 

I never run out of nice things to say about her!

Happy 28 years!

Currently she and Michael are in Belgium just for fun.

Courtney is presenting at a conference in Paris (!) next week,

so she and Michael took an extended vacation to Europe.

One of the things I love about spending time with Courtney is we have a similar sense of humor

and think the same things are funny. We can really crack ourselves up sometimes.

And we are able to remember funny things that happened a long time ago and still think they're funny.

"Oh! Wow! Ouch!"

"Mom, I'm over here."

I admire her ability to say, "Oh, I disagree!" in the most unconfrontational 

and open-minded way and I'd really like to be like that some day.

She never hesitates to help other people and genuinely loves sharing knowledge -- 

whether its about science or restaurants. And she makes people feel welcome and included.

She was featured on a Columbia student spotlight this week and I loved her quote:

"Courtney's favorite part of her Ph.D. was the constant learning! 

'Whether it was in classes at conferences, during research, making mistakes or collaborating with others, I feel like I learned something new every day, and I absolutely loved that.'"

When asked what advice she has for younger students, Courtney said, 'Often as young students, we feel a pressure to prove how much we already know, but my advice is to instead recognize and accept that there is always something you can learn from someone.'"

She's the best! 
I love you Courtney and am so happy you get to spend your birthday 

exploring a beautiful, new-to-you place with Michael!

Blossoms

Dan and I went to the temple this morning (with Art L.)

in keeping with our tradition of going to the temple on our anniversary.

We've often done sealings, but since Art was with us, we did an endowment.

Sealings are soon, though, because we have several to be done.

Sweet Lake Biscuits was a small space on a side street between Sugarhouse and downtown, 

but new, modern and super delish.

The biscuits were perfect, the hash savory, and the sweet ketchup a perfect complement.

I was hoping for the bacon to be as good as "million dollar bacon" from First Watch, which it wasn't.

But if it was, it would be hard to keep us away.

***

Yesterday Chris shouted to me from his room,

"Mom, you've got to see the tree outside my window! 

It's full of blossoms and looks so pretty!"

Meanwhile, I was taking pictures of our early blooming lilac bush.

And everyone else in the neighborhood was posting pics of the most gorgeous rainbow after a series of three thunderstorms. It stormed, then skies cleared, then got dark and stormed again, then cleared.

Three times!

("Three months she's been engaged, Elder! Three months!" 

Name that show...)

I missed the rainbow, which feels like there's a lesson to be learned there.

Come on, spring, you can do it!

Happy 31st to Us

 Happy 31st Anniversary to us!

Two years ago when I asked if he'd take over making dinners so I could focus on writing, 

he agreed without hesitation. 

Thanks, Dan for valuing my dreams as much as your own. 

I'd choose you all over again!

The Summer we met, after our freshman year -- 1989.  "How's your new friend, Dan?" 

Dan's out of town today, but we're celebrating tomorrow with a morning temple session

and Sweet Lake Biscuits for brunch. 

Biscuits are Dan's favorite.

Senior Talks Sunday

Nick and four other high school seniors spoke in church today.

His topic was what does the gospel mean to you and what should it mean to others?

He said sometimes all the millions of things we are "supposed to do" can get overwhelming,

but he's tried to narrow the gospel down to two most important aspects:

"Love Your Neighbor and Forgive"

Wow. You've figured it out, Nick.

He was also asked to give advice to the youth.

"Keep up on your school work. Life is so much easier when you just do what you're supposed to."

"Seminary can be a great blessing, especially if you have a great teacher.

But when you have a boring teacher, still go. You will be able to learn to love them."

We were super impressed with not only his message, but his delivery.

He has so much poise and ability to ad lib on the fly. It's a great talent.

After church I went on a LONG walk with my friend and old Primary music partner, Leslie.

She walks 20,000 steps a day and after walking with her today for 2.5 hours, I have blisters.

But it was so nice to catch up and get to know each other better, winding up and down every lane in our neighborhood on a gorgeous sunny and 60's day (finally!)

Happy Earth Day

See the yellow in the picture below?

I looked out my bathroom just in time to see two boys in a raft floating down the river!

See the empty garage spot?

Dan let Nick and Kate take the Porsche down to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival!

(They met Miles and his girlfriend there. Is that so fun that these cousins are best friends?!)

See the cute baby?

Emi and Lizzie are in town!

On my way out of the mall this evening I walked through the Nordstroms kids department

looking for a pink sweater to match a dress I bought for Emi and reminiscing how it seems like just yesterday I was buying clothes for my own kids on those aisles.

When I got in the car, I got a text from Lizzie wondering if we were home and if she and Emi could come over when she woke up from her nap! Amazing how my Nordstrom shopping manifested the baby!

Lizzie's mom is home from Jerusalem for the week to attend her sister's BYU graduation.

So Lizzie and Emi are in town to be with her.

And we got to have the two of them for dinner!

Emi is squiggly and moving all around.

She doesn't like it when Grandma is telling a story and accidentally shouts in her ear.
(Now we know why Courtney has such a sensitive startle reflex!)

Look at that face!

Finally, see that I got our lettuce planted (lettuce, kale, spinach and arugala)?

And two rows of carrots and beets.

I wasn't going to bother this year with carrots because they don't grow very long and are such a nuisance to wash a million tiny stubby ones. But I feel guilty not digging them up.

And last year Dan never remembered lettuce was growing and kept buying it from the store.

So why bother with a garden.

But along comes Spring when hope and renewal fill our hearts

and suddenly it all seems exciting and promising again.

Gosh... this was just going to be a simple garden paragraph,

but suddenly I'm overcome with gratitude for Spring and renewal--

both the season and the life metaphor.

(Plus we've just watched The Chosen, and I always feel a little more tender 

and grateful after that show and spending an hour with the best Jesus ever.)

Modern Day Resume

This week I've been getting through a long list of to-do's to catch up around the house 

and also get on top of my writing/revising action plan. 

Two priorities this week were 1) buy a device for digital note-taking

and 2) start posting on my angshaefwrites instagram account and get a week's worth of 

posts and blogs prepared for next week so I don't feel like it catches me off guard.

(My blog is angshaefwrites.blogspot.com) I usually just post more details and thoughts to the instagram post. I feel a little awkward about prioritizing social media. I love this blog because I'm recording my life and its akin to journaling and its really important to me. And I love Instagram for sharing important happenings and I love feeling the love from friends when I share.

(And I love being privy to the good news my friends share.

Plus, memes. They're like modern day comic strips.)

But posting social media for a book that's not even ready to send to agents to see if they'll represent it to see if they can sell it to editors to see if they'll publish it to see if anyone will buy it,

well it feels a lot like counting your chickens before they hatch. 

Or telling the world you have something to offer with the potential of being 

laughed at or not delivering. 

(Thank you, Mindy Kaling for the best book title and motivating (and funny) read 

when you're questioning your ability to do something big: Why Not Me?) 

I was lamenting to Nick about how awkward it is to put myself out there 

on social media about my writing but how important every agent and publisher says it is.

He said, "Mom, social media is your resume. It's the new way of telling people who you are."

So I finish this week with a paradigm shift.

A few weeks ago in New York I took a Zoom workshop on social media and they validated, 

"Yes, it feels awkward when no one is listening. But plan on posting five days a week for two years before you'll have a measurable following. It takes time. Don't get discouraged."

The other priority was finding a digital note-taking device.

I love taking notes and I love paper. 

But I don't love keeping track of those notes taken in a variety of notebooks and trying to rifle through pages and pages searching for something I wanted to remember. 

In the end I decided to get an iPad with a pen using note-taking app 

that can search handwriting. 

I love apple notes, but want more versatility.

I did a bunch of research, then ruined Dan's anniversary gift surprise because and iPad is what he was planning on getting me. 

Tonight we had dinner at Nordstrom Cafe then went to the Apple store to buy the iPad, pen and keyboard.

You know I have a problem with taking the time to get things set up,

but as it turned out, Nick was home watching an F-1 show so while he and Dan watched TV,

I got the iPad up and running (and it was a cinch).

Sunshine in a Cup

Literally my favorite snack ever that I've forgotten to eat for 20 years.

Infectious Smile

Went to the dentist thinking I was having a filling replaced.

Turned out the filling is perfect, but I've got a gnarly sinus infection causing pain in my cheek and radiating down to my mouth.

But the good thing is, because we took x-rays, the dentist discovered the painful pocket where I thought the filling had fallen out was showing some bone loss near my implant.

Scared me straight and finally bought the Waterpik they've been telling me to get after every appointment for the last...five years.

I had a waterpik once and I absolutely detest the process.

Going to bed should be a quiet, peaceful experience.

The waterpik was the opposite. Water spraying in your mouth and over your face while you cock your head at an uncomfortable angle so the water pours from your gums into the sink.

It's the same reason I can't stand tubular mascara.

Or washing my face with a facial scrub before bed.

It's messy.

And not how I want to end the day.

But I do want teeth. 

And I don't want bone loss.

I'll let you know how the waterboarding waterpiking goes.

Full Basement

Rugby film evaluations in our basement tonight.

Tax Day

 The most significant event of today is we remembered to file Christopher's taxes.

He was getting a refund of almost $200, but filing taxes seems hard and confusing and not worth the money, I guess, because he wasn't too motivated to figure it out.

But, I've been through that not only with other kids, but with friends back in the day and it's my mission to teach my kids that filing is easy (when you're a kid) and I'd sit with them and prove it. 

 Chris came home at 9:30 this evening to workout.
I was working on my blog and he sat down to chat while he drank his pre-workout and remarkably, I remembered that this was the last day to file. And remarkably, he agreed to do it together.

Now he's $200 closer to paying all his parking tickets and it only took 15 minutes.
Filing online is a cinch, but navigating the filing companies to search for a free federal and state can be very confusing if you're not confident about what to look for. And since they've done away with the EZ,  the questions about exemptions are befuddling and if you're a kid, you don't know the answers, and don't realize they don't apply to you. 

So since filing isn't mandatory at this income level, it's tempting to just not bother. 

(I don't 100% understand because I was elated to get my $62 check in the mail! 

But I attribute that to desperation and needing to eat and the 1040EZ.)

I also went to lunch with Carol and two high school friends I haven't seen in years,

Melissa P. and Kristie T. We had lots to talk about and I loved being with Carol, especially.

Dan's back in New York on business and I'm glad he gets to spend some time in the apartment, finally.

BYU Campus Tour

Marty suggested we all go down to BYU and give Nick a tour of campus. 

Even Chris was excited to go.

Nick drove with Chris in the passenger seat and Dan, Marty and me squished in the back. 

We drove through Helaman and found Nick's summer dorm then walked up to campus talking about how everything has changed since Dan and I were there.

Hard to believe its been six years since we did a similar walk with Marty!

The JSB was open and we even found Nick's Book of Mormon classroom. We took a look in the Eyring Science Center to show the kids where mom and dad met and where Dad and Jamie took a picture standing in the Foucault Pendulum. 

(I thought they'd have more of a reaction about Dad daring to break the rules.)

Found the pic! -- Dan and James, 1989

The main quad is underwhelming as its currently under construction with the demolition of the HFAC, but fortunately it should be finished when Nick is back from his mission. 

As we wandered up to Heritage, Chris decided to call Luke and Jake and see if they were home and could meet us. The quads at Heritage were full of kids playing sand volleyball, hammocking, sunbathing, playing spike ball and hanging out. 

Suddenly, Luke and Jake came running at us at full speed (in flip flops) shouting and laughing and 

within seconds our mellow stroll through campus became a pumped-up get-ready-to-have-the-time-of-your-life full-sell of BYU and college life. 

Whew. 

Marty commented it was good they came because we were being kinda boring.

I reminded him if we'd had that much energy, Nick would have been embarrassed.

But everyone expects a party when they're with Luke and Jake (and Chris) who belong there and 

being loud is part of who they are.

By the time we'd circumnavigated campus, then stopped to see Luke and Jake's place, and then Dad, Marty and I visited Erica to give her a blessing because she broke her arm last week, we realized we were going to get a really late start making dinner at home, so we ate at Lone Star Steakhouse instead.

I'm so excited to have another cougar and for Nick to go to college --

he's going to love it!

Rugby and Senior Prom

The last high school dance for our family was a little anticlimactic for me.

Nick wore a suit he already owned and shopped on his own for shoes and a tie while I was out of town.

The boys got ready at Ryan's new house and took pre-dance pictures there and had their after activity there too. So we didn't see any of the boys or their dates like we often do when they come over before or after. I'm not sad about it (I just spent 8 days with these boys so they've had plenty of Shaeffer time). But it is strange to think it's the end of an era. 

I dressed for Nick's rugby game in base layers, gloves, hat and coat and ended up broiling!

It was only high 50's, but the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day for being outside.

Nick played the second half and he came home with another shiner to show it. 

They ended up getting beat by East, (best team in the league), but we had a great turnout to cheer them on.

Senior Prom -- heading out at 3:30 to get dressed with friends at Ryan's new house.
I asked if I could come over and take a picture before they left, but Nick politely said I could ask Tammy for pictures.

Nick and Kate were broken up when everyone asked to Prom,

so Nick asked a friend of some of the girls in his group, Bergen,

and had a lot of fun. 

They went to the Park City white barn for photos,

then Ruth's Chris in PC for dinner.

After the dance, they'd hired a hypnotist at Ryan's house but Nick called him 

a "meditist" because it felt more like just being quiet and meditating than truly being hypnotized.

And then they hung out until 2:00 a.m.

The End.

The Lymans are Here

Rachel and the Lyman family arrived at 11:00 this morning so after recuperating yesterday,

I madly dashed around getting my house in order. 

The boys had done a pretty good job of keeping things clean while I was gone, 

but let's just say a trivet and cups were still on the kitchen table from Easter dinner last Sunday.

Also, Marty came to town last night because Lizzie and Emi are in Minnesota visiting cousins,

so Marty and Dan planned a boys weekend with Chris (Nick has prom) in California:

Korean BBQ and a Dodgers game tonight, golfing tomorrow morning, 

a Grand Prix race in the afternoon and home by 9:00 p.m!

The boys left soon after Lymans arrived and they let me tag along with them for the day.

I haven't seen Cooper in, like, five years. He's so grown up and a great conversationalist!

I got Dylan's love when I made him a little sandwich with Great Harvest bread.

And how much did I fall in love with Reese when she whispered to her mom, "Can you ask Aunt Angela if she'll come with us?" Actually she said, "Aunt Bekah" but it's a little hard to keep track of all the aunts names!

We decided to go to Cubby's for lunch and then Get Air.

I had to do my hair and put on make up real quick and

Reese asked if I would do her hair too. I had to warn her I don't do braids as fancy as Aunt Michelle.

But no worries, she wanted curling iron curls so her hair could be chin length, like mine.

She didn't quite understand why that didn't work, and in the end decided she'd just wear it down.

She asked if she could use my mascara and said her mom lets her all the time.

But not when she goes to school. 

So I said she could, she wanted to know if it was waterproof or not and then 

this five-year-old proceeded to apply it perfectly!!!

Dying! So wish I had a pic to share! She def takes after her mom.

I don't think I started wearing mascara until I was in college!

In the evening Diane and Max, Charlie and his girlfriend, Monet and Elise, Michael and Jacob,

Aunt Marge and the Lymans and I, all got together for Cafe Rio and...

wait for it...

Two rounds of hide and go seek! Requested by, guess who? Reese.

It was a blast!

(By the way, nobody plays race to free anymore. You have to stay hidden until you're found.)

Everyone played except Aunt Marge who held down the fort in the kitchen.

We're adding this to the family reunion tradition!

Reese counting to 60 and her dad helping her seek (and count to 60).

The boys had a great time at the Dodgers game and even got on TV a few times!

(Cousin Kory spotted them and sent a pic!)

That night as I locked the doors and turned out the lights,

I found something Chris and Nick missed on Easter.