Happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers!
It occurred to me that one of the best gifts I could give would be to catch you up with news and pictures of our family. As always, it's a LOT. Here we go...
On March 4, John performed in his annual pre-Festival recital at the home of his piano teacher. We thought this was going to be his last one. Margie told him that he could quit piano as soon as he got a superior rating playing our LDS hymns at Festival. Unfortunately, he was not prepared enough to perform at Festival and had to drop out. I guess he'll be playing another year! Despite the fact that we have to pull teeth to get him to practice, he tells me "it's not
that bad."
On March 7, John had his first filling! Is this something to celebrate?
On March 9-10, Lyn and John attended a Church Youth Retreat. They had a great time learning about how they could make their classes more meaningful and impactful. It was supposed to be at the bishop's mountain cabin several hours away, but the unseasonably cold weather forced them to stay local and stay in the youth leaders' homes. Still, they were away from home, so Dan and Margie took the opportunity to take Dan's dad, Gene, out to dinner. We had a lovely time and are still dreaming of the amazing food we had at Pho Dulles 75!
After the kids got home from the retreat, Dan took John to Festival to at least take the theory test, which he passed with flying colors. Yay!
That evening, Lyn and John attended a regional youth fireside and dance up near the temple. Lyn didn't know how to program her GPS for a route without tolls, so she landed on the Expressway and ended up with her first traffic ticket (one of those mailed to our house with a bill things--she didn't get pulled over by a police officer).
While the kids were gone, Dan and Margie attended Dan's latest show,
Speech and Debate.
On March 13, Margie started a 66 day challenge to eat a salad every day. If you follow her on Facebook (and if you don't, you should!), you got to see pictures of each of her salads. It's over now, but it made her feel great!
March 14th was Pi Day (3.14), but unfortunately this year it fell on a Wednesday, which meant that we were not able to throw our usual party. We were quite sad, but it turned out to be a good thing, as Margie, who had been fighting a cough for the previous month, finally went to the doctor and discovered she had pneumonia!
On March 17, Margie was of course still sick, but the rest of the family went to see
The Audience at LTA.
On March 24, we headed to Florida for Spring Break. It was touch and go there for awhile. Dan's mom had not been feeling well, and Margie had not been feeling well, but this was the last opportunity Lyn would have to go down and see her Baba (Ukrainian grandma) for who knows how long, and we were anxious to go down and help her, rather than leaving her on her own.
It all turned out for the best. The Florida air helped clear Margie's lungs, and we were able to strike what seemed a successful balance in helping Dan's mom and giving her space to recuperate. And Lyn got to spend time with her Baba.
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| The weather in Virginia had been so yucky--it was nice to get back on our bikes again. |
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| We spent a day hiking the nature trail at Betty Steflik Nature Reserve. It was so beautiful! |
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| We saw lots of turtles and other wildlife (luckily, no alligators!) |
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| This tree seemed so perfect for climbing! Neither of the kids wanted to do it, so Margie felt she had to do it. |
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| It was a lovely day to be together. |
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| Margie really enjoyed her daily bike rides to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean. |
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| The next day we took a trip to Saint Augustine. We found a Borg sphere! |
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| And walked around the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. |
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| After lunch, we hung out at the beach, though it was not quite as warm as we would have liked. |
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| One day, we just relaxed out by Baba's pool. |
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| And we enjoyed some gourmet donuts. |
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| We caught the glow of the sunset on the wrong side of the ocean. |
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| Though the weather was cloudy, Easter began with a lovely bike ride. |
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| We had to coax some people into our annual Easter picture! |
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| We enjoyed a yummy Easter dinner of potato latkes with chunky applesauce, steamed asparagus with tarragon dijon sauce, crescent rolls, and a strawberry poppyseed salad. For dessert (not pictured), we had white cake with pistachio pudding. |
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| Poor Baba, her grandchildren have outgrown her! |
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| The gang's all here! (We enjoyed sharing dinner with Nancy's friend, Patty, who was kind enough to take our picture.) |
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| Back in Virginia, we had snow--yes, SNOW. (Followed by 80 degrees that same week. Crazy!) |
On April 13, Margie, Lyn and John attended
The Compassion Experience. Put on by an international rescue organization, this was an immersive experience where we listened to the stories and walked from room to room to witness the tragic living conditions of children in poverty around the world. It was pretty powerful. John, especially, was quite touched and said when we were finished that he would not do well if he had been born in those places. I'm so grateful he could finally understand just how lucky he is.
On April 14, John and Lyn participated in the annual Mini MTC, where they got to experience what it is like to be part of the Missionary Training Center. Unfortunately, John wasn't feeling well and had to come home early. While they were gone, Margie participated in a fun but super challenging obstacle course training class. She was really surprised at how poorly she did and is determined to work more on her strength--as soon as she recovers from her injured tendon!
On April 16, John finally got his permit!
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| Third time's a charm! (It's a really hard test...) |
On April 17, John had his first job interview (it was a phone interview), and he got the job! When he's not at his own camps, he'll be working at a local Cub Scout summer camp teaching games. He doesn't get paid for it, but it will look great on his resume--
and give him valuable experience having a boss and responsibilities.
And speaking of scouts, on April 18, John was finally awarded his last merit badge (Sustainability). He had been working on it for over a year! Now all he needs to do is finish his Eagle Project, which he plans to do in August, as soon as all his various camps and other activities are finished. Mom can't wait!
On April 20, Margie hosted a teacher breakfast to promote
Cinderella.
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| Food signs. |
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| Cinderella's Brooms made of pretzels and string cheese. |
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| Clementine pumpkins. (Another mom made the cute carriage.) |
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| Carriage wheel donuts. |
That evening we all went to see some friends perform in
Bye Bye Birdie. Margie had forgotten what a cute show that is! Our friends did a fantastic job.
On April 21, Dan and Margie helped cater the
Harvey Opening Night Party at LTA, while the kids attended a friend's birthday party.
On April 23, Dan and Margie attended a meeting at Robinson Secondary, which is where Dan went to school. He had fun roaming the halls and tripping down memory lane.
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| He's not a teenager anymore! |
On April 25, Dan and John attended the Middle Years Project showcase, where John got to show off the big project he had been working on all year. It used an online graphing calculator (called Desmos) to create moving and "interactable" images--all using math. Apparently, it was quite impressive!
Meanwhile, Margie was hosting the monthly Cub Scout Pack Meeting, where her friend performed as a magician. It was a big hit!
April 27 was opening night of Cinderella. Lyn was just in the ensemble, but she had a few "moments", including a line in one of the big numbers ("The Prince is Having a Ball") and a sneaky way to try on the shoe twice!
While Lyn and Margie were doing that (Margie was the Box Office Manager this year, so she was at every performance), Dan and John attended the Youth Service Auction, where John and the other youth were performing service to raise money for camp.
On April 28, John began his journey into Mormon male adulthood by helping a family move. Meanwhile, Lyn and Margie spent the day with
Cinderella, which had both a matinee and evening performance.
There was no Cinderella performance on May 4 due to Prom, so we went as a family to see
Thoroughly Modern Millie at Reston Community Players. Everyone loved it!
On May 5, however, we were back at it with a double performance of Cinderella. Also, that morning, Margie attended a regional Women's conference.
The evening of May 6, Lyn attended a potluck and devotional for Young Single Adults. This was her first foray into the next stage of her life in the church (18-35 year olds), and we were kind of surprised she wanted to go. But she's growing up and ready to face new adventures!
Speaking of new adventures, Lyn did not get into BYU Provo campus, which was her first choice. So she is heading to Idaho in the fall to attend the BYU Idaho campus. She had originally planned to transfer after a year so she could be in the world class animation program in Provo, but she told me today that she is reconsidering that idea. "That program is all about 3D animation," she said, "and I just want to do 2D." So she may stay in Idaho and get a degree in illustration, which they offer. Who knows what the future will hold?
On May 10, we went to see
Harvey at LTA. Everyone loved it.
Yesterday, Lyn went on her annual theatre trip to New York City. I haven't actually had a chance yet to find out all the details, so I'll have to include that in the next newsletter.
And today, of course, is Mother's Day, May 13. Lyn spoke in church about being grateful for hard things, and she did a great job. MANY people came up to Margie afterwards and told her how mature and articulate she was and what a great message she gave.
Then this evening, Lyn received her Patriarchal blessing, which is a very special once in a lifetime blessing received, we believe, from our Heavenly Father, through a specially called and set apart elder of the church. It was very comforting and will be a great strength to her as she goes out on her own.
And here we are!
Harvey has closed, so Dan is gearing up to build his set for
The Nance at LTA. That will quickly be followed by
The Vandal, which he is working on for the Capital Fringe Festival, and
August Osage County, again at LTA. He's a very busy man, but it's nice to be in demand.
Margie could fill a whole blog with everything she's got going on, but this newsletter is long enough, so we'll have to address that in the next one.
Hope you are doing well and enjoying the beautiful spring!
