BYU Grads

We have our first two college graduates in the family! 

Sam and Savannah graduated from BYU today - Sam in Biology with a minor in Ballroom Dance and Savannah with a bachelors in Nursing. Sam has a few things to finish up during Spring term, but he was still part of the official end of term graduation ceremony. 

They both made it through some crazy hard classes, unpredictable circumstances, and the upheaval of Covid. But they've also had so many amazing experiences and made some great friends along the way. 

Congratulations, Sam and Savannah! We're so proud of you and can't wait to see what your bright futures hold!

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. 

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. :)

A Worthy Cause

Do you want to make a world of difference with a small donation? I have just the charity for you. Educate the Kids is a charity out of Scotland that has built an orphanage and schools and changed the lives of thousands of children in a small village in Kenya, Africa. The charity was started by Maureen over 20 years ago. Maureen is the mother of my friend, Yvonne, from Scotland. Yvonne helps run the charity as well. These ladies are as good as they come. I have known them for almost 30 years and I can fully vouch for their integrity and goodness. 

Because Educate the Kids is run by volunteers, they don't withhold any money from donations for administrative fees. Every penny of your donation will go to help the kids. You can donate directly through their website or you can contribute specifically toward food parcels* through Just Giving. The food parcel program was set up when the village lost their main source of income - tourism - during the Covid pandemic. Educate the Kids has literally saved this little community by providing them food and hope. 

The school is finally open once again after the pandemic closed it for several months.

A little goes a long way! Please consider a donation. And tell your friends! 

*The food parcel program says it's for Christmas, but as of today (February 18, 2021), they are still collecting donations and providing the parcels to families in the village. 

These handsome boys live in the orphanage.

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!!

The Happy Couple

I just wanted to post a few pictures of Spencer and Grace on their wedding day last November. We're pretty blessed and super grateful to be able to call Grace family. These two are great together!

The Stowell clan (We were missing Sterling!)

The Garvins and the Stowells

Ballroom Dance at its Best

Sam is at BYU. He's majoring in biology and minoring in - of all things - ballroom dance. 

I had to register him for his first semester of classes at BYU while he was still on his mission. I selected several typical freshman classes and a couple that were required across a selection of majors he'd shown interest in. But then he still needed one more credit. Jeff and I both enjoyed ballroom and folk dance classes in college so I signed him up for entry-level Social Dance. 

When Sam saw his schedule he actually complained a little bit about that. I explained why I chose it then told him he was free to change it if he wanted. I think there may have been some eye-rolling on his part, but in the end he kept it. 

Long story short, he LOVED it. He couldn't get enough of it. And he's really good at it! He proceeded (and continues) to take multiple ballroom-related dance classes each semester. This semester he has 5. (Or is it 6?) 

I stumbled upon this video today while cleaning up a few files. It's the finale from the BYU Ballroom Dance concert this past spring. It's SO good!! Sam's group comes in at 2:42 then again, with everyone, at 4:13 to the end. I can see why he loves it. 

And I'm taking all the credit. :)

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....)

The Laddie Wha Lived

We all like Harry Potter so I was excited when my friend told me about a Scots language edition of the first book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stane."

It's a riot to read out loud, and somehow that seems to be the only way we can read it around here. It makes me miss my bonnie Scotland more than usual. The best part is when my kids attempt the accent. Sometimes they sound Indian or Irish. Sometimes they get it just right. Sadie is hooked and is getting pretty good at it.

We were hooked from the start. Page one had us all laughing, especially the paragraph describing the Dursleys:

The whole book is like that! It's pretty great and a fun investment.

Cheerio!

Sterling's Spring Recital: Praeludium from Partita No. 3 in E Major

Sterling started working on this piece in January. Right up to the end, he was worried he wouldn't be ready. There are a lot of 16th notes, like the whole piece. It's fast and it has plenty of tricky parts, but if you ask me, he nailed it.

So enjoy Praeludium from Partita No. 3 in E Major by Bach/Kreisler. It's a good one!

Saying Goodbye...Again

We said goodbye to our beautiful Savannah this morning. She's on her way to the Missionary Training Center for a few weeks before heading to the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission for 18 months.

Savannah has been home from BYU for a month just waiting for this day. As hard as it was to say goodbye, I know she's ready which made it a lot easier to let her go. There is so much about Savannah that will contribute to her being an amazing missionary. She's funny and smart. She doesn't hold grudges. People feel safe with Savannah; she just loves everyone. She has an amazing testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and isn't shy about sharing it. We miss her already, but I know she's going to be just fine.

Over the last few weeks, Savannah and Sterling have been working together to record an A Cappella cover of "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman. Sterling wrote the arrangement and the two of them laid down all 8 tracks. They finished it up just in time. It is admittedly amateur, but I think they did a great job!! It was fun and very satisfying as a mom to see them working so enthusiastically together to complete this fun project. :) Here you go:

Opus 23 Concerto in G Major for Violin and Piano by J B Viotti

It's that time of year! Last week was filled with recitals, concerts and parties. It was a great week! I'll post a few of my favorite songs from the high school choir concert in a day or two. For now, here is Sterling's Violin Recital piece. He played it so well! Enjoy. :)

Light the World - Day 1

Today is the start of the Light the World campaign by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are challenges each day leading up to Christmas - different ways to Light the World through service. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in. Just think of what a difference we can make!

Today's challenge is found in Matthew 10:8 - "Freely ye have received, freely give." 

I love today's video. I wish there were vending machines like this in my little corner of the world!



What am I doing today? I'm going to make a donation to my favorite charity, Educate the Kids. It's run by a friend of mine from Scotland. 100% of donations go to help the children in a small village in Kenya. Educate the Kids has built an orphanage and two schools for these kids. They also provide lunch (and sometimes breakfast) each day for the school children. For some, this is the only food these kids get. I've been feeling so, so grateful for all my blessings and know that a little bit will go a long way to help those in extreme poverty. Educate the Kids is working miracles for these children through education.

Go to https://www.mormon.org/ to find out more about the campaign and to see all the challenges. Are you in?

Let's do this! We can #LighttheWorld. :)

Sterling at ReMix

In August, I mentioned that Sterling attended ReMix Vocal Academy at BYU during the summer. It's a pretty intense and amazing A Cappella camp, run by the director of BYU's Vocal Point. There were about 120 kids at ReMix that week (session B). They were all divided into 8 different groups. Sterling was on the Blue Team.

The final concert was pretty cool! It started off with all 120 kids for the intro "Unpack Your Heart." You can't see Sterling in this video, but he was there and he was a beatboxer during this number.



That was great, but it wasn't my favorite. After the opener, each group did their own number. Sterling's group sang "There's A Place For Us," by Carrie Underwood. Again, Sterling was the beatboxer. I think he sounds pretty good!!



That was great, but it wasn't my favorite. During the concert, they had a few beatboxers come out for a demo. Sterling (in blue) was selected to participate along with a Red Team member and one of the counselors (in green).


Okay, that was awesome and was definitely one of my favorites! We all loved it and the audience was going crazy. It was pretty cool! :)

The final number was a Mashup and Sterling was the second soloist.


That piece was a favorite as well. There was so much energy and you could tell these kids had worked hard and were having a great time out there!

Sterling loved his experience at ReMix and can't wait to return - along with Soren - next summer. We're all looking forward to it! :)

Saying Goodbye: It Doesn't Get Any Easier

Spencer reported to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah this afternoon. His two-years of missionary service has officially begun.

I'm so happy for him! We've wanted him to have this opportunity and experience, literally, since he was born. That's what makes the pain of separation so ironic. We wanted him to go, but wish he could stay here forever. Yeah, it doesn't really make sense. But I felt the same way when Sam left for his mission and again when I dropped Savannah, then Sam, off at college. It's hard to let go, but it's in the going that they learn and grow and become.

Spencer flew out yesterday, but before we left for the airport he had to get in just a little more of his favorite game...

We've played a ton of badminton over the last 5 months as is evident by the dirt patches on the court. Spencer is the man to beat. Even in their suits, Spencer and Jeff couldn't resist one last opportunity to play. Now we all have two years to get good enough to beat Spencer when he gets home. ;)

One last picture of the gang. It's sad to see these good friends separated.

Still smiling on the way to the airport.

Mercifully, Spencer flew out of a small airport.
We were given extra time together because security was taking a break.

Spencer had a one-hour layover in Chicago which turned into a 4-hour layover. I, of course, was worried about him because...well, because I'm his mother. Mercifully, a member of the church from Utah who happened to be at the same gate as Spencer texted me and we were able to communicate briefly so Spencer knew we were all aware of his delay (especially those waiting for him in Utah) and I knew he was doing well. We were all super happy when he finally reached the ground in Utah.

He stayed with my brother, Rob, last night and they went to lunch with Sam and Savannah before reporting to the MTC. He called me for one last tearful goodbye after lunch. The tears were mostly mine. Spencer didn't break down until he said goodbye.

Within thirty minutes of his arrival at the MTC, Spencer sent me a super quick e-mail. He said, "I know I'm doing the right thing," and also mentioned that his district (the other missionaries he would be in classes with) was "crazy awesome." Those are words to calm a mother's heart.

Spencer is ready. He knows how to work, and he's easy to get along with. He has a strong testimony of the Savior and His Atoning Sacrifice.

He's going to be just fine.

25 Years Ago Today

Twenty five years ago today was a big day for me.

Saying goodbye to my dad at the MTC. (I've always had a hard time saying goodbye to my dad!)

On July 1, 1992, I entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah in preparation for my service in the Scotland Edinburgh Mission (SEM). I was in the MTC for only 13 days. At the time, missionaries going to English-speaking missions stayed in the MTC for 3 weeks. However, the SEM was getting a new mission president and the outgoing president wanted to get us there before the change to lessen the load on the new president.

The classic MTC picture - my district pointing to Scotland on the big MTC map. I'm in the floral skirt.

I loved the MTC. Two districts totaling 21 missionaries had all been called to Scotland so we were a pretty tight group. 

My MTC district. I'm the one in pink.

I have so many great memories of my time in the MTC and my mission. If I had to do it over again, I definitely would!

You Will Be Found

It's always a great day when BYU's Vocal Point releases a new video! I accidentally stumbled upon this a few days ago and then purchased the song. :) It's a good one.

Violin Recital: Rondo

Jeff's parents drove out from Idaho last week to see Spencer and Sterling in Guys and Dolls. They planned on leaving early this morning for Colorado to see more grandkids, but we were able to talk them into staying an extra day for Sterling's violin recital.

Boy, was it worth it!!!

Sterling played the Kreisler arrangement of Mozart's Rondo. It was AMAZING!!

I hope you love it! (It made me cry.)

Guys and Dolls

The high school production of Guys and Dolls this weekend was amazing! The boys were gamblers: Spencer played Harry the Horse and Sterling was Scranton Slim. I wish you could have seen the Crapshooters Ballet; it was my favorite scene!

One thing our little town consistently does well is musicals. Every spring, we are wowed by a quality production. Music is a high priority and the stigma that exists in some areas isn't as present here.

We've had at least one of our kids in eight different high school productions over the years - including the year Sam and Savannah were in The Music Man as 5th and 6th graders - and we have six more years to look forward to. I'm telling you, it doesn't get much better than this at the high school level.

We're sad to see it end, but we're counting our blessings that our kids have such great opportunities here in Small Town, Illinois.

Just look at those suits! All the gamblers had on wildly colorful suits. I love it!

Just for fun, here's a list of the musicals our kids have been in at the high school...
The Music Man (Sam and Savannah)
Oklahoma (Sam)
Honk! (Sam and Savannah)
Anything Goes (Sam and Savannah)
South Pacific (Sam, Savannah and Spencer)
Bye Bye Birdie (Savannah, Spencer and Soren)
Shrek the Musical (Spencer; Sterling played in the pit)
Guys and Dolls (Spencer and Sterling)

GENTRI

Have you heard of GENTRI? It's short for The Gentlemen Trio and we are fans! We've been playing their music on repeat for the past week and can't get enough.

They also have some great videos to go along with their music. Here are just a few of my favorite songs...

Guide Me To Thee: I bought the sheet music for this one and I want my boys to learn it. So pretty.


Dare: We all love this one. It's also a sweet video. :)


Enough: This is a beautiful song, but the video is a total tear jerker. You might want to grab a tissue. Make sure you watch the whole thing, but don't say I didn't warn you!

I hope you love them as much as we do! :)