Merry Christmas 2023

For the first time in four years, we were finally able to get our whole family together for a picture. Sterling and Soren overlapped a few months on their 2-year missions so it wasn't like we were lazy, it just wasn't possible for that long! We've had some pretty awesome additions in those four years - a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law and three grand babies that I can't imagine my life without. So here's the WHOLE Stowell family - all of my favorite people in one picture. Life is good!

Merry Christmas! 

Merry Christmas 2021

It's hard to believe 2021 is already coming to an end. After 2020, which felt like the longest year ever, 2021 has flown by. It's been full of so many great moments and memories. Just a few of the highlights include: two college grads (Savannah in April, Sam in December), our first grandbaby - Walker is the cutest little guy ever (ever!!), Soren graduating from high school in May then leaving to serve in the Utah Salt Lake City mission at the end of the summer, Sterling returning home from the Texas San Antonio mission last week.  

There's plenty to look forward to in 2022. But for now, I'm happy to just pause and be grateful for the baby born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, the Savior of the world. 

Merry Christmas!

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

If you have an open Thursday or Saturday evening this week, you might consider tuning in to our high school's production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Jeff and I saw the dress rehearsal on Monday and it is just the funnest show! We loved the music, dialogue, and especially that cute Linus Van Pelt played by our Soren. ;) (Sadie was an understudy for Sally Brown and she is on the stage crew.) The small six-person cast is comprised of all Seniors and they are Soren's best friends. It's been a great experience for them.

Here's a fun preview...

And here's all the info if you plan to watch. (Tickets may not be available within 30 minutes of each night's opening so buy them early!) Also, the 7:30pm start time is Central time zone. 

Hygge

HYGGE n. - a quality of coziness that makes a person feel content and comfortable.

I first heard of hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) maybe two or three years ago. I immediately fell in love with the idea of fuzzy sweaters, wool socks, lighting candles and snuggling up together with blankets and hot cocoa during the drab winter months. I read "The Little Book of Hygge," by Meik Wiking and made cozy little alterations to our most lived-in spaces whenever I was inspired to do so. 

I haven't thought specifically about hygge in the past year or so, but I happened to listen to a podcast this morning that mentioned some of the benefits of hygge. As I listened, I realized that we have embraced hygge and, as a result, we love to be home. 

I look back over the past year of shutdowns and cancelations and how frustrating it's been for so many. I hear of kids who choose to spend most of the day alone in their bedrooms and I feel sad for them. I feel sad for their mothers. I'm grateful that, when school was all online, my kids both stayed in the living room all day. They often snuggled up in a blanket while completing assignments. I made cookies and brought them regular snacks throughout the day. We ate lunch together. Often there was a puzzle or a paint-by-number in progress on a little table against the living room wall. We watched every season of Phineas and Ferb. (How had we never seen that before Covid?) Even now that the kids are back in school, once they get home they hang out in the living room to do their homework. They run lines and practice songs for their musical together. There is always music playing in the background. We always eat dinner together. We play games regularly as a family. We watch Hallmark movies and have daily scripture study together. We aren't perfect and we sometimes get on each others nerves, but we're quick to forgive and move on.

No wonder I never want to leave. My home feels like hygge to me. 

The Addams Family - You're Invited!

If you'd been a fly on the wall at our house these past couple of  months, you would have heard a lot of funny music and plenty of laughter as Sadie and Soren prepped for their high school production of The Addams Family. It's a special quarantine edition which accommodates social distancing so they are actually allowed to have a production this year. The script even has a couple of one-liners about quarantine. :)

The show will be streamed online on March 5th & 6th at 7:00 pm Central time. Yes, you still need to purchase tickets. Our poor performing arts program was drained last year when Mary Poppins came to a screeching halt after they'd already built the set and purchased costumes, etc. We're hopeful that The Addams Family will be a smashing success to replenish the budget and allow them to put on more shows. (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown is ready to start rehearsals as soon as The Addams Family is through!)

You can find all the information about tickets on the flyer above. If you're not familiar with Charleston High School, they have a long history of amazing stage productions. There must be something in the water here because the talent pool in our small town is unreal. Jeff and I were lucky enough to be part of a very small audience tonight to view the dress rehearsal and we were blown away! Sadie is amazing in her role as Mrs. Beineke. Soren did great as one of the ancestors and on Saturday we got to see him perform as the understudy for Lucas Beineke. 

I hope you'll join us, wherever you are, for this fun show! You won't regret it. :)

Light Pillars

We've experienced a unique phenomenon twice in the past few days. Saturday night, Sadie and Soren were out running an errand and they noticed lights shooting straight up into the sky. Sadie thought it was a little weird, but figured that some street lights were aimed in the wrong direction or something like that. The next day I saw an article talking about light pillars that had been spotted in central Illinois. I showed the kids and Sadie realized that's what she had seen on Saturday. 

Then last night, Sadie was looking out the window and she saw them again! They were so cool (the photo below doesn't do them justice at all) and we soon found that they we could see them in every direction - north, south, east and west. Some were white or pinkish, others had a tint of green. All we know is we've never seen them before, but we'd love to see them again! (The article linked above gives more information about light pillars and has several more photos.)

BYU Bound

Soren got the news last night... He's been accepted to BYU!! That was his first choice and we couldn't be happier for him. We're super excited to have another Cougar in the family. 

This picture is from fall 2019 when we attended a BYU football game in Toledo, OH.
It's no secret that we love our BYU!!

Homebound

Like everyone else, a lot of our plans have been canceled over the past year, but if I must stay home, I'm sure glad I get to stay home with these guys. Turns out, home is my favorite place to be. 

Easy Cheesy Garlic Pizza Bread

This is one of our favorite quick meals around here. When the world shut down and the kids were home everyday, we must have eaten this for lunch at least 2 or 3 times a week! It's super easy to make and only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. 

Easy Cheesy Garlic Pizza Bread

1 or 2 loaves Jimmy John’s day-old bread*

Butter or margarine

Garlic bread seasoning (Click here for the recipe)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Pepperoni

     Cut each loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Lightly butter each piece and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning (substitute with garlic salt, if needed). Sprinkle with cheese and cover with a row of pepperoni slices. Place under broiler for 3-5 minutes, checking every couple of minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Cut each piece into fourths. Serve warm.

*You can ask for "day-old" at Jimmy John's. At the location near us, which happens to be store #00001, it costs 50 cents a loaf and you can buy up to 4 loaves. Sometimes they sell out, but they seem to have it 90% of the time around here. If it's not available where you live, you can always use French bread or Italian bread loaves instead.

Living the Dream

The "Past Forward" writing group I attend hasn't met since last March, only days before the world shut down. Mid-April, a month into "lockdown" and with no clue how long it would last, we were encouraged to write down our thoughts about the virus and staying home. Here's my short piece, written April 14, 2020. And for the record, as anxious as I am to be rid of face masks and to gather with others without a second thought, I still feel like I'm living the dream.

Living the Dream

I woke up and looked at the clock. 4:59am. I turned off my alarm before it went off at 5 so I wouldn’t wake my husband. I got out of bed, knelt to say my morning prayers, and quietly left my bedroom.

I have things I want to do today, or rather, I have things I wanted to do last week or last month that didn’t get done because everyone is home. By everyone, I mean two of my six kids and my husband. But I’m the mom and I take that title seriously. I like to mother. So when I’m in the middle of something and someone needs me, I stop what I’m doing. I like being available, even if that means watching a Hallmark movie on the couch with my daughter because she asked. Or four Hallmark movies…but who’s counting? Sometimes that means making cookies or muddy buddies or dishing up goldfish crackers because school from home requires regular snacks. Sometimes it’s just being available to answer questions about school, even if the answer is “Ask your brother. He knows how to set up a Zoom conference.”

Then there are my other four kids. Three of them are students at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah and one is serving as a missionary in Texas. My daughter just got married in January but has now been without her husband longer than she was with him because he’s at basic training for the Marines. She’s doing really well under the circumstances, but sometimes she has a really hard day so the phone rings a lot. And I talk to her. My missionary son can call twice a week and I drop whatever I’m doing to talk to him. My oldest son has a habit of calling while he walks across campus to the library (where he’s still allowed to study, social distancing all along the way). And sometimes he gets a little philosophical and so our conversations go a bit long. I can talk on the phone while I do the laundry, make dinner, clean the kitchen, etc., but all those “things I want to do” require a little more focus. I save those for the times when I’m home alone while Jeff and the kids are away each day. Only now they’re not.

And so, in an effort to have my productive alone time, I woke up at 4:59 this morning. I made progress on a project before the kids started getting up. I’ll get back to it eventually. In the meantime, I get to mother even more. It’s quite a nice perk, really, since in just over three years I’ll have an empty nest. Being the mom has always been my dream job and so I guess you could say I’m living the dream. That’s what it feels like to me.

So Much To Be Grateful For

Wow. 2020. What can I say? Goodbye and good riddance? But even after all the grief the year has brought, I can't help but feel really grateful for the beautiful things we've experienced. I've posted next to nothing, but that's not because there's been nothing happy to post. Two weddings (Savannah in January, Spencer in November), our first grandbaby on the way, more time together at home, our 25th wedding anniversary, time with family in Utah and Idaho, and Sterling's unique missionary opportunities in Texas, just to name a few. We have many reasons to look back on this year, smile, and be grateful. In so many ways, good and bad, it's been a year like no other. Let's focus on the good.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2019

Wow! It's been a great year! Savannah returned from her mission in July; Spencer in October. We drove to Utah for Thanksgiving so that we could get a family picture before Sterling left on his mission on December 18. We haven't been together for the holidays since 2016 so I'm glad we made the effort to all be together, however briefly. I sure love these guys.



I've done a lot of hand lettering this past year. I love to doodle various sayings and words. This was the back of our Christmas card. I wrote it in pencil on white paper, smudged it a bit, then scanned it and reversed the colors. I love how it looks just like chalk on a chalkboard!

We have a lot to look forward to in 2020. Let's make it our best year so far!

Merry Christmas 2018

The Stowells are alive and well. It's been a good year and we have so much to look forward to! Our two missionaries will both come home in 2019 and, if all goes well, Sterling will graduate from high school a year early in May. It's possible that I could have 4 kids at BYU in January 2020!

With our missionaries out, I couldn't get a family picture this year. I could have pieced together a Christmas card with everyone here and there, but I wanted us all together so I hatched a plan that worked out beautifully!

Isn't that awesome? I commissioned Sadie's 13-year old friend, Jack, to draw our family picture and I am so happy with how it turned out. The word "Christmas" is something I doodled on the back of my church program a couple weeks ago and my friend, Jen, digitized it for me. (Jen and I have started a little Etsy shop with these digitized files -- I'll blog more about that later!)

I was a little worried about getting the cards out before Christmas. I received the finished drawing on Sunday, December 16th and had the card designed and ready for the printer on the morning of the 17th. The week before Christmas felt like a bad time for a rush order at the printers, but I walked into my favorite print shop at 9:20 Monday morning and, literally, walked out at 9:30 with a stack of 90 cards -- printed, cut and shrink wrapped! It was a happy little miracle and my cards were in the mail Monday afternoon.

Life is good! We have been so blessed and can see God's hand in our lives on a daily basis. We are grateful for the Savior and the opportunity to celebrate His birth.

Merry Christmas!

ReMix Revisited

Sterling attended the ReMix Vocal Academy during the summer of 2017 at BYU. It was such an amazing experience that he and Soren were excited to attend together this year.

It didn't disappoint.

Sterling was the first one we saw in the show opener.

A whole week of a cappella instruction and rehearsal, team bonding and workshops makes for a really good time. The teams were super tight and both of my boys loved every minute. They are already saving up for next year. 

Here are the numbers my boys were in:
Show Opener (all teams): Kaleidoscope

Blue Team (Sterling): Home For Me

Green Team (Soren): Pieces

Closing Mashup (all teams)

If you are interested in hearing the other team songs, here's a link to the entire ReMix session B playlist.

Sterling had the opening solo in his team song.

Soren had a solo in his team song, too. 

Sterling's team. Sterling is third in the back row.

Soren's team. Soren is first on the bottom row.

Sterling in the awesome Beatboxing showcase. (Sadly, they didn't post the video on YouTube this year.)

The boys' cousin, Trevor, was at ReMix this year, too. He had a great experience and his team song, Maps, was really cool.

Trevor is second in the back row. 

My boys are sad it's over, but they still listen to the music regularly and are in touch with their team members. It's not something they'll soon forget and was the highlight of their summer! (...especially when you compare it to getting their wisdom teeth out the following week before leaving Utah. They had to drive the 1500-miles home on a liquid/soft food diet and a regular rotation of Tylenol and ibuprofen. lol. But that's another story....)

School Days

School has been in session for 2 1/2 weeks now and we're all looking forward to the long Labor Day weekend. We LOVE our days off!!

Sterling is a junior, Soren a sophomore and Sadie is in 8th grade - big man on campus at the middle school. These kids are ready for the year and off to a good start. Admittedly, we all cheer when the kids come home with no homework. That's the best! (You can read my thoughts about homework here. It's an old post, but nothing has changed in that department.)

Here's a picture from the first day of school. All three of these kids are significantly taller than they were this time last year. It's fun to watch them grow and become such great people. Most of the time they are pretty good friends with each other, too.

I'm looking forward to a great year.

(Can you tell my blog isn't on my radar? At all? I'm working on that.)

Merry Christmas!

High School Christmas Concert

The other day, I said I'd share a couple of videos from the High School Choir Christmas concert. I realized today that it's now or never if I want to get this done before Christmas!

Here are three of my favorite numbers.

Sterling had a solo in The First Noel, performed by the school a cappella group, Maximum Forte.



White Winter Hymnal is a song they got from Pentatonix. Maximum Forte learned the hand motions and it's so cool! I wish they were sitting farther back on the stage so we could see the whole group at once. They were sitting on stools really close to the audience so the camera was only able to get so much, but the sound alone makes this worth posting.



This last one is all the choirs combined, singing Variations on Jingle Bells. It's super fun. Soren is tucked behind someone near the front. Sterling is easily seen.

End of Summer

Oh, why do I procrastinate my blog?? Well, late is better than never so here is a quick recap of our summer.

We started off with four weeks of no major obligations. Those weeks seemed to last forever and we just enjoyed the time together. There was plenty of badminton, progress toward goals (we got a LOT of things accomplished this summer!), and just time together. It was a needed break from the typical demands.

I already blogged about our end-of-June activities, High Adventure and the youth Pioneer Trek.

July was pretty steady with several week-long activities. Jeff and the boys attended a hot and sweaty Scout camp and Sadie attended her first Girls' Camp during the hottest week of the summer. Ugh! We picked her up a day early to head to Utah where we spent the last week of July so Sterling could attend an A Cappella camp - ReMix Vocal Academy - at BYU. I'll post more about that once the videos of the final concert are up on YouTube. It was amazing!! He had a great week and we all loved the final concert.

Sterling and the bros after his awesome concert!

Sterling with Adam, former beatboxer for Vocal Point
(Sterling looks really short here, but Adam is 6'10.)

While in Utah, we were also able to spend time in the temple as a family and we were there when Savannah went through the temple for the first time.

Draper Temple with the cousins! This was Sadie's first time to do baptisms for the dead.

Somehow I didn't get any photos after Savannah went through the temple (rats!!) but here's the whole crew at the Provo City Center Temple after our family did baptisms for the dead.

My mom and all of my siblings were in town so we spent time with cousins as well. We stayed with friends who made us feel like part of the family and, despite our vow NOT to go to Utah this summer, it was definitely worth the drive.

We didn't make it to Idaho this year, but Idaho came to us! Sadie and cousin Ana are BFF's. Little Sawyer is a cutie!

My dad's headstone was installed while we were in Utah.
I'm glad I got to see it. We visited dad a few times.

We hiked the Bonneville Shoreline Trail one morning with our friends and hosts, the Afflecks.
It was a beautiful hike and morning!

The cool, new suspension bridge on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Bridal Veil Falls

A motley crew. :)

A rare photo of Jeff and me.

We saw a full rainbow in Wyoming on the drive home. So pretty!

Eclipse 2017: Worth the Drive

I took my kids out of school today so we could head south to see the total solar eclipse. We were only about a 2-hour drive from the path of totality. We were lucky; for the most part, traffic was light and quick and we made it to West Frankfort, Illinois with five minutes to spare. We pulled into a gas station and had some fun seeing the crescent sun shining through the grid we made with our fingers. 

Then we donned our eclipse glasses and watched as the tiny crescent got smaller and smaller. When it disappeared, we removed our glasses.

I've heard a total eclipse and people's reactions to it described different ways. For us, there was no screaming or crying just a feeling of awe. The darkened sky had a hint of yellowish green, kind of like a pending tornado but without the storm. A bright star appeared and there was a smaller star (planet?) lower in the sky that flashed and twinkled. Clouds hung low in the sky across the horizon and they took on a slightly pinkish hue, almost like a subtle sunset. The cicadas were buzzing loudly like they do in the evening. And the moon, looking more like a black hole, was surrounded with a bright white light. Yes, it was awesome.

The whole thing lasted less than 2 minutes and then the sun peeked out again as the moon slowly slid away. We were back on the road within 15 minutes of our arrival for the 2-hour drive home.

Four hours of driving for a 2 minute experience. Was it worth it? Yes, we all agreed it definitely was. Given the chance, we'd do it again. It's something we won't soon forget.

First Day

We're getting smaller over here with only three starting school today. Sadie is a 7th grader, our big middle schooler this year! No more elementary school for us. Soren is braving the high school as a Freshman and Sterling is a Sophomore. It's shaping up to be a great year! 

Spencer has a different kind of first day. He starts working the night shift tonight at Jimmy John's, store #00001. :) I'm sure he'll gain some good work experience and put a little money away for school. Just six weeks until we say goodbye to him for 2 years! I hope time drags on until then...

Life is good!