With Love From New York: Showing Support For Ukraine

Sadie, Jeff and I were in New York over the weekend. It was an amazing trip with the choir and band students from Sadie's high school. We were able to see and do a lot of memorable things, and maybe I'll eventually post a bit more. But I wanted to share what happened at the very end of our trip, just before boarding the buses for the long drive home. 

Our last activity on Sunday night was "Top of The Rock", the observation deck at the top of the Rockefeller Center. The 360º view of the city is said to be stunning. Unfortunately, the weather was wet and freezing and foggy. There was even a guide who met us at the elevators to tell us that there was zero visibility and we were welcome to use our tickets at a later date instead. Since this was our last day in New York, that wasn't an option for us so up we went. 

While the view was somewhat limited, it was still beautiful with the misty fog and the lights on the buildings. The Empire State building was a bright blue with gold lights below. As I looked around the city, I saw a few other buildings with lights across the top - a solid stripe of blue above a stripe of golden yellow - and I realized they were lit up in support of Ukraine. Then, with that realization, I looked back at the Empire State building, saw the blue and gold again, and almost started to cry. Here was this iconic structure making a bold statement for all the world (or at least all of New York) to see. Yes, I felt like bawling, but I really felt proud and happy and in total agreement with the sentiment. It was a beautiful way to end our trip. 

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!

'Tis But a Scratch

Sadie signed up to play in the Homecoming powderpuff football match. During practice a couple of weeks ago, while running to tackle a defendant who had intercepted the ball, Sadie slipped on wet grass and caught herself with her left hand as she went down hard. She laughed it off at first, but then realized her left wrist looked a bit wonky. I got a surprisingly calm phone call that went something like, "I think I broke my wrist. You should probably come pick me up now."

Four hours in the Emergency Room verified that Sadie's wrist was broken. The end of her radius was tipped back and, despite more than one attempt to bring it back into alignment, she was put in a bulky cast and told that surgery might be needed. We were sent home with instructions to see an orthopedic surgeon within a few days. 

Sadie didn't miss a beat; she was at school the next day. One of her biggest hurdles was not being able to type so some of her teachers gave her extra time to complete assignments, but overall she wasn't going to let this slow her down. Four days later, we took her to the orthopedic surgeon. He said she would need surgery to either 1. manipulate the bone into place and hope it heals properly, but often it will tip back again or 2. put in a plate to hold the bone in place and solve the problem. At his recommendation, we opted for number 2. He was able to schedule surgery the next day.

Sadie's biggest fears are doctors and needles. She really isn't scared of much else. To keep her mind off the surgery, she attended her first two classes the next day. I picked her up from school and we went straight to the hospital. Despite her fears, Sadie was so brave as they inserted the IV. For her, that was the hardest part. Then before we knew it, she was waking up from surgery and prepping to go home. 

The orthopedic surgeon assured me that everything went well. He even stayed longer to stitch her up himself to make sure it was done well. :) A little over 6 hours after we arrived, Sadie was given the green light and we headed home. She even insisted she was well enough to attend a couple hours of a college softball game that some friends were playing in that evening. 

Most people would settle in and take a couple of days to rest, but this was Homecoming Week and Sadie had been looking forward to Decade Day for a few weeks. So the next morning she got all dressed up and headed to school. She made it through like a champ and definitely rocked the awesome '80's, complete with big hair, acid washed jeans, and Jeff's high school letterman's jacket from 1987.    

Sadie, the day after surgery

Since then, Sadie's hardly complained. We're hoping she graduates to a removable splint next week. And then it's on to a full recovery shortly after. I'm telling you, this girl is tough!

stowell.fami.ly

From 2008 to 2010, I had a blog called "Our Little Corner of the World," found at stowell.fami.ly. The posts contained loads of cute things the kids said and did, family outings, a few videos I liked - some funny, some inspiring - and a random assortment of other stuff. It was fun to go back and reminisce. 

As time went on, some of the settings on that blog became outdated or something because I could no longer access it. I was so sad! I didn't want to lose those memories. I checked back periodically, but I still got an error message every time I tried. I brought it up to my brother, Steve, who helped me get the blog started all those years ago, and he came to the rescue. He was able to change a few things to grant me access. Whatever he did changed the look of the blog to be very basic and I noticed a few posts were curiously missing, but I was grateful for the 70+ posts that I had access to once again. 

Because I don't want to risk losing everything again, I've copied and moved each post to this blog. I kept the dates the same so they appear from May 11, 2008 to Friday June 4, 2010. It's been a fun project full of smiles and memories. :)

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. 

An Easter Celebration

Sterling is serving in the Texas San Antonio Mission. Last night the mission shared a musical Easter Celebration over Facebook Live and YouTube. It's a collection of musical numbers performed by missionaries and members throughout the greater San Antonio area. It's really beautiful and uplifting. Sterling recorded and mixed all the audio. He also sings in two of the numbers (at 38:55 and 45:35). I would have loved this even if Sterling wasn't involved, but seeing his cute face makes me love it even more.

Click here to watch: YouTube or you can also click on the picture below. 

Bat Number Three

A few nights ago, Jeff and I went to bed a little later than usual and were just drifting off to sleep when our phone started ringing. We knew from the ring that it was one of the kids using the intercom feature. Jeff answered to hear a frantic Sadie informing him that there was a bat in her room!

We rushed downstairs as quickly as we could. Sure enough, there was a rather large bat flying back and forth as it tried to find a way out. Sadie had been reading in bed when she first spotted it so she climbed all the way in and threw the covers over her head. She was safe, but peeked out now and then only to scream when the bat flew over her head. Jeff had a large container, hoping the bat would stop long enough for him to capture it. I ventured in just long enough to see the excitement and take a picture when the bat finally landed. In the retelling, this all sounds pretty tame, but the whole thing was terrifying! Sadie wasn't the only one screaming.  

It took a little while, but finally the bat rested upside down for a bit from Sadie's curtains. Jeff placed the container over him and somehow - after a traumatic near miss - managed to get him under the container on the floor. I slid a stiff piece of foam board under the container and Jeff was able to carry the contraption outside to free the bat. Whew! Needless to say, it took a little while to fall asleep after that.

That's bat #3. We had in-house bat adventures back in 2012 and 2015. I'm hoping this is The End!

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. 

Making Peace With February

I don't know what it is about February, but it's my least favorite month. With rare exception, February always and ironically feels like the longest month ever. Plus, I hate to be cold and February is typically the coldest month of the year in my little corner of the world. When I get chilled, I don't want to do anything or go anywhere which makes the days feel even longer. 

Knowing my feelings for February, I decided to challenge myself to three things: 

1) Write a blog post every day (After my long hiatus from regular blogging, that's quite a feat!) 

2) Create one piece of envelope art every day

3) Read at least one chapter from a book each day 

Today is February 28 and guess what? Once I publish this blog post, I will have reached my goals! I can honestly say that having those three goals really helped; surprisingly, it didn't feel like a burden. Now that February is over, I'm hoping to post to my blog somewhat regularly. As for the envelope art, I enjoyed the creative process, but these past few days I've really struggled to come up with people to address envelopes to. So I won't keep that up, but I took pictures of every envelope I designed so it will be easy for me to recreate specific designs when I want to send something fun. And I hope to continue reading at least one chapter a day. In February, I finished reading "Mere Christianity," by C. S. Lewis and "Atomic Habits," by James Clear. I'm now reading "A Grief Observed," by C. S. Lewis which I should finish tomorrow. I just picked up some new books from the library so I have a few choices about what to read next. I love reading and I'm glad to get back into it. It's been a while since I've taken the time.

It's been a good month. Sure, we had our ridiculous cold spell where I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch all day, but I was grateful for the motivation to get up off the couch and do something. I'm just grateful I can finally say that February isn't all that bad. 

One of my favorite envelopes. My friend gave me the dancing stamps so I had to come up with an envelope to send to Sam, our ballroom dancer. He loved it! :)