Happy Easter 2017!

I know, I know, it's been way too long since I've written an update.  We're just too busy living life to stop and write about it!  I'm hoping to get to it soon, but in the mean time--Happy Easter!  Well, almost Easter.  This year on actual Easter we are having a regional church meeting, so yesterday we had our local celebration.  Whatever your beliefs, we hope you enjoy the new life the season brings!

It's Almost Christmas!

This has been a rough week. Before we get to that, however, when last we wrote, we were headed to Lyn's final Christmas concert for her bell choir.  It was a fun evening, and the kids did a great job.  It wasn't just the bell choir--there were many other musical numbers as well, including an audience sing-along of the Messiah Hallelujah Chorus.  That was Margie's favorite part!  (Besides watching her daughter perform, of course.)

Again, we just love how much Lyn loves to be up there!

On Monday morning, we received the sad news that one of Dan's closest aunts, his father's oldest sister, Betty, had passed away.  She had struggled with Alzheimers for many years, and her daughter had told us that they had put her hospice, so Dan had already planned to begin the long drive to Nebraska that afternoon.  The timing worked out extraordinarily well for him.  His sister missed her connecting flight to Lincoln and was rerouted to Omaha, and since Dan was driving instead of flying, he was able to alter course and pick her up. They arrived at around 2am Wednesday morning, and there was a family visitation that evening.  Thursday was the funeral.  Dan began the long drive back on Friday and finally arrived earlier this evening.  We missed him!

Betty and Gene, circa 1937

Betty and Gene, circa 2007

While in Nebraska, Dan and his siblings, Deb and Tom, decided to visit the site of the old farm.

While Dan was away, Margie and the kids survived, barely.  Margie came down with a wicked cold, but she couldn't slow down because she didn't have anyone to pick up the slack.  She powered through her new job with the high school drama department, her entrepreneurship class, Cub Scouts, her organizing business, kid chauffeuring, and her still-hurting ankle, with the help of lots of over-the-counter medication.

Lyn continued her challenging school work load, as well her rehearsals for the One Acts, and, of course, the Young Women's program at church.

John, meanwhile, was super busy, not only with school, scouts, and piano, but with running sound for A Christmas Carol.  He had a performance on Friday night and one on Saturday afternoon.  Then Saturday night was the closing night party.  He was a busy boy!

On Saturday morning, we awoke to an ice storm.  John carefully took out the recycling and thought the bin looked really cool coated with ice.  He came back in to get the camera and take pictures.

On Saturday night, Lyn made some vegan fondue. She had been eyeing the recipe since Thanksgiving.  For dippers we had roasted cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and broccoli, as well as tofu chunks, celery, and french bread.  It was super yummy and we plan to make it again!

On Sunday, we had our church Christmas program.  Lyn and Margie sang in the choir.  We were sad Dad missed it.  Luckily, he got back in time to take a picture of us still in our new Christmas duds.

I can't believe Christmas is only a week away.  Ack!  We're not ready!!!

Hope you are enjoying the season...

'Tis the Season

This week was very full, but thankfully a bit of a slower pace than last week.

On Monday, Lyn performed in her first handbell choir concert.  Dan and Margie were not able to go, due to Dan's set building, Margie's One Act supervision, and John's piano lesson, but we heard great things!  We are looking forward to seeing her perform tonight.

I love how happy she is in this picture.  She loves bell choir and wishes it would last all year!

Margie spent much of Tuesday getting ready for the Cub Scout Pack Meeting, which was held on Wednesday.  Then she attended her 6th class in entrepreneurship.  She's halfway through!

On Wednesday, Margie continued to spend time preparing for Cub Scouts, then she had lunch with a dear friend, then she rushed off to One Act rehearsal, then she rushed off to set up for Pack Meeting, then she hosted our special Christmas-themed meeting.  Whew!  It was a crazy busy day.  She was so exhausted by the end of it, that she left all the Pack Meeting stuff in her car, left all her dirty dishes piled in the kitchen, left many Christmas decoration boxes strewn about the house (because she ran out of time to finish decorating), and went straight to bed.

This turned out to be a mistake, because...

The next morning, she started carrying some things downstairs to put them away, while at the same time carrying a chocolate breakfast shake, slipped and fell, tumbling down the stairs, spraining her ankle, and splashing the shake EVERYWHERE.

She sat on the stairs, wondering what she should do, and finally decided to call Dan (luckily her cell phone was within reach).  He opened the door to the basement, saw the mess from the shake, and nearly had a heart attack because he thought it was blood!

Anyway, he managed to get Margie upstairs, brought her some clothes (because she was soaked to the skin with chocolate shake), and got her set up with some ice, while he wiped down the walls, put away the things she was carrying and had dropped, and pre-treated the carpet stains, before heading off to work.  What a hero!

Later, Margie's neighbor came and brought her some breakfast, and a woman from church came and cleaned the carpet.  You can hardly tell anything happened!   Well, at least as far as the carpet and stairwell go.  Margie had to cancel two jobs, as she sat around all day popping Advil and icing her foot.  The good news is that the injury is not nearly as bad as she thought it was going to be.  She is back on her feet, still taking it easy and taking a good amount of Advil.  It could have been so much worse!

Margie's friend from church also came and wrapped it with kinesiology tape.

On Friday, John ran sound for his first real performance of A Christmas Carol at LTA.  From all accounts, it went well and he did a great job.  He still has a couple more performances on the schedule, but if you wanted to see it, too bad--it's sold out until the end of the run!  

On Saturday, Dan spent most of the day building is set for A Lion in Winter at The Arlington Players. Meanwhile, our current AirBnB guest used our home to host a Christmas party for her family.  Due to some political family issues, she was not able to hold it in her own home or that of her family.  It was so gratifying to be able to lend our space to them.  This kind of thing is exactly why we did the remodel and continue to work to improve the space--for the benefit of others, more than ourselves.

That evening we attended the church Christmas party.  It was really a delight to be able to show up and have NOTHING to do with it and just enjoy.  Margie was not asked to lead the singing, the kids were not involved in the pageant, no one had to set up or break down the chairs.  It was just so nice to finally be able to relax and just be the recipient.

And that's been our week.  Tonight are excited to hear Lyn's bell choir, as well as other musical performances as we attend the "Christmas at Mt. Vernon" concert.  It's not really at Mt. Vernon.  Kind of complicated as to why they call it that.  But it is what it is.

We hope you are enjoying the season!

Winter is Coming

I hate to keep using the word "busy", but this has been an excruciatingly busy week.

Dan has started to build his Lion in Winter set for The Arlington Players.  Has has also started meetings for Neil Simon's I Oughta be in Pictures, another paid gig for Peter's Alley.

Margie spent the entire week preparing for and then catering the opening night part for LTA's A Christmas Carol.  It was a dessert reception, and this time she garnered the help of two amazing food artists from church.  It was pretty spectacular, but it was so much work and took so much time away from other endeavors that Margie has decided this was her last gig.  It was definitely a good one to go out on.

Dan made these awesome cookie stands.

Margie was particularly proud of her beautiful food signs.

She also couldn't get over how beautiful her apple roses turned out (dyed with beet juice).

The apple roses were a part of a beautiful grape wreath.  Margie used spun sugar to create the popcorn sprays.

We had a hot chocolate and apple cider bar.

Margie's friend, Rozey, did all the plating and table decorating.  It was beautiful!

Sugar cookie ornaments made by Margie's friend, Amber, graced Dan's cookie tree. 

A close up of the candied trees--a crowd favorite!

In case you can't read all the signs, on the menu were Sugar Cookies, Marshmallow Pops, Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes, Fig Jam Thumbprint Cookies, Candied Trees, Mini Eclairs,  Mincemeat Hand Pies, Peppermint Brownie Rounds, Eggnog Truffles, Peanut Butter Candy, and Coconut Candy.

In addition to all this, Margie continued with Cub Scouts, her new job supervising the One Act rehearsals at Edison, and her class in entrepreneurship.

Lyn is going crazy with homework, homework, and more homework.  Everyone says Junior year is the hardest, and she definitely agrees.  She also has been rehearsing for the One Acts at school at the bell choir at church.  Her first bell choir concert is tomorrow at the Temple Visitors Center! She loves bell choir so much, she wishes it would last all year.

John is staying busy, too.  The Global STEM Challenge he is participating in at school has lived up to its name and truly been a challenge--not just for him, but all the students, and the teachers as well, as they all work together to figure out this new style of teaching and learning.  He is also busy with piano and Boy Scouts.  Plus, last week Margie hired him to be her personal assistant and manage her calendar.  That's been a learning curve, but has already been hugely beneficial in managing Margie's crazy life.

Well, that's all our news.  Hope you're staying warm and enjoying the sights and sounds of the coming holiday!

Autumn Happenings

Busy busy busy.  That's life in the Remmers household.  We keep hoping things will slow down, but somehow they don't.

October 10

Dan and Margie enjoyed a rare treat on Columbus Day--beautiful weather and a chance to go on a nice bike ride.

But then it was back the old grindstone of work, school, church, plays, cub scouts, boy scouts, bell choir for Lyn, piano for John, and, well, you know the drill.

October 14

We went to see Signature Theatre's production of the new Disney musical, Freaky Friday.  It was a bit of a juggle, as Margie also had Pack Meeting that night.  She got there just after the opening number.

"Look, ma! I finally got a Tony!"  Just kidding.  Margie was excited to stand so close to the real thing, though, which Signature won a few years ago for best regional theater.

October 15

We held our annual Pumpkin Party.  This year we changed it up a little and did a "tasting menu", instead of a sit down dinner.  It was very yummy and a lot of fun.

Super cute food signs!

Sour pumpkins and pumpkin spice almonds.

Savory pumpkin items.

Sweet pumpkin items.

October 18

We hosted a Family History information night presented by one of the Family History consultants from our church.  It was very interesting.

October 22

Dan and Margie attended the wedding of a good theatre friend of Margie's.  After so many funerals this year, it was nice to be able to get together with folks for a happier occasion.

October 24

Margie attended a live TV broadcast of an interview with Presidential candidate, Gary Johnson.  She had never done anything like that before, and it was fascinating.

This is how Margie felt about the election.  She was grateful there was a third option.

October 25

Dan, Margie and John attended a STEM Family Night, which was an opportunity to learn more about the special program John's in at school.  We had to do a bit of juggling that night, too, as Margie had been asked to sing at a special military fireside at the same time.  Luckily, it was just across the street, so she was able to sneak out, go sing, and sneak back in.

October 28 

Margie got to join with Lyn and her theatre class for a field tip to the local elementary school, where they put on a performance of the student-written play, Claire and the Characteristic Choo-Choo.  Lyn played the title character and lead(!), who rode the train learning about things like responsibility, resilience, team work, gratitude, and respect.  It was very cute!

Also that night was the church Halloween party. As usual, our kids came up with super creative costumes all on their own.  This year, I'm told it's a nod to the video game Undertale (which neither of them play). Lyn is Napstablook (as "Dapper Blook"), and John is sans. He was going to do a full mask, but it's not allowed at the church Halloween party, so Margie just helped decorate his glasses. Lyn had an alternate "church" version of her costume, too, that didn't cover her face. 

For actual Halloween, they joined with Lyn's friend Sherrie, who has hosted a Halloween party ever since they were little.  They all agreed it would be their final year trick-or-treating.  I'd say it's about time!

Here are pictures with the originals--I'd say they did a pretty good job!

This is the actual Halloween version, which included a full face mask.

November 1

Margie started a 12-week business class in entrepreneurship.  It is a certificate program through LDS Business college, and while it has been really challenging, it's also been really helpful!

November 2

Dan started his round of dental visits to fix a tooth he injured in a weird accident.  He had just finished unloading some items at LTA, which required the passenger seat to be down all the way.  He pulled the lever to put it up and it hit him in the face, damaging his tooth at the root, causing it to die and require a root canal, as well as additional correction.

November 5 and 12

Margie and John participated in the annual Scouting For Food.  It was Margie's first time serving as Cubmaster, and it was a trial by fire, but it all worked out in the end.  By the time we were done, our local food bank was full to over flowing!

November 6

Dan and Margie attended the memorial for a dear theatre friend who died earlier this year.  Afterwards, they, along with John, helped serve food.  Lyn had to stay home due to her bell choir rehearsal.

November 10

Flowers for Algernon opened at Edison High School.  The kids did a great job.  Lyn was onstage as one of the "giggly girls" (classmates) who attended Charlie's school for the mentally challenged, while John ran the spotlight.

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November 11

Once each season, teen critics from around the Washington DC area are invited to review an Edison drama performance for a writing and awards program called The Cappies.  Cappie critics are treated to a full dinner, in addition to their ticket, and for the third year in a row, Margie has helped put on this dinner.  This year, Margie and her partner, Rozey, were asked to put on a "bakery" theme to match the bakery that Charlie works at in the show.  We decided to make meatloaf "cupcakes" (meatloaf "cake" with mashed potato "frosting"), served in individual cupcake boxes.  It was a huge hit!

In addition to the "cupcakes", Margie made flower vegetable dips.

We labeled the boxes "Donner's Bakery" to match the bakery in the show.  There were Original, Vegan and Gluten Free options.

November 14

With the fall production now behind us, it was time to turn our attention to the One Act Festival.  Lyn auditioned and got cast as "Norma" in one of the productions, Five Stages of Heartbreak. Margie was hired by the drama teacher to supervise the rehearsals so she doesn't have to be there.  It's kind of boring, but it's also kind of neat to be hanging around and getting to know the kids.  The shows will run the last week in January.

November 17

Margie attended a fun night of Ladies Bunco.  She has fond memories of attending a similar group with her mom when she was young, so she jumped at the chance to play with a neighborhood group.

November 18

Lyn attended a planning party for the Young Women at church.  They had a fun dinner and planned all their activities for the coming year.  Meanwhile, Dan and Margie attended a book signing reception for a friend from church who had written a book with her dad.  It was interesting to learn how their family had been transformed via a specific letter writing strategy to missionary loved ones out in the field.  Check out the book Letters from Home on Amazon.

November 19

Margie attended a full day of Cub Scout training called Pow Wow.  It was very interesting and she learned a LOT.  Meanwhile, John attended his first rehearsal for A Christmas Carol at LTA, where he'll be running sound.  In the evening, we all headed to the 80th birthday party of our dear friend, Dan Maher.  It was a lot of fun.

November 24

We had a quiet Thanksgiving here at home.  We never invite anyone over, because we figure no one wants Thanksgiving without turkey.  Instead, we wait for an invitation.  Usually we get one from Dan's sister, but we didn't this year, so Margie got to make the whole spread vegetarian.  It was still a ton of food, and we were tired and stuffed!

Our festive table.

A plate of deliciousness.

Vegan Coconut Pumpkin Pie.

November 27

Yesterday we attended a baptism in the morning.  That was followed by another trip to LTA.  Margie dragged Dan there to help with some storage shelves that needed adjusting.  He stayed and helped with organizing supplies and clean up.  John, meanwhile, was supposed to be attending cue-to-cue.  Unfortunately, the sound board cut out and they sent him home.  Good thing Dan and Margie were still there!

John with the cast and crew.

November 28

Today, John went Home Teaching for the first time.  This is a program in the church where men (14 and up) are assigned to visit a family and check in to see how they are doing and if they need anything.  They usually deliver some kind of spiritual message as well.  It's pretty exciting to see him step up into this leadership role.  He, along with his companion (an adult), have been assigned three families to check in on once per month.  In the evening, he and Dan attended another dress rehearsal at LTA.

And here we are.  I can't believe Christmas and winter are just around the corner.  I hope you are staying cozy and warm and wrapped in blessings!

Theatre and More

As usual, the Remmers are keeping busy, but the last couple weeks haven't been too bad.  Margie is continuing to take some time off work and it has helped get the "to do" pile down to a manageable size.

On Wednesday, September 28, John had the opportunity to conduct a Court of Honor for the Boy Scouts.  This was the last requirement he needed for his Communications merit badge, which is one of the required badges needed for his Eagle.  He did a great job.  Unfortunately, we weren't seated in a good place to take pictures.

On Friday, September 30, John had the opportunity to help sell concessions for the Homecoming Football game. This was a fundraiser for the Science Olympiad.  Neither of our kids was interested in attending the Homecoming Dance.  John had wanted to participate in the Freshman Follies--a comedy skit show celebrating Homecoming--but there was some miscommunication and the scheduling didn't work out.

Lyn did get into the spirit of the daily costumes during Homecoming week.  On Friday, she was supposed to dress up as a character from a musical.  She selected Glinda the Good Witch, which covered three musicals--Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, and Wicked!

Glinda the Good Witch

I was especially impressed with her hair.  She added aluminum foil for sparkle.  So creative!

On the first Saturday and Sunday in October, Margie and the kids watched General Conference--a worldwide broadcast of uplifting talks by our church leaders.  On Saturday evening, John had an opportunity to attend the men's session and enjoy the annual pre-conference ice cream party.

Meanwhile, Dan attended a production meeting/dinner to prepare for his upcoming production of Lion in Winter at The Arlington Players.

On Sunday night, Margie performed in the annual LTA Awards Night.  They always like to highlight songs from the upcoming season, so Margie was asked to sing "I Get a Kick Out of You" from Anything Goes.  It turned out that asking Margie to perform was a sneaky way to get her to attend the ceremony, as the Board of Governors presented her with the award for "Long and Exceptional Service in a Single Department." She has only been working as the Front of House Inventory Coordinator for 3 years (which doesn't seem long enough to qualify for the award), but I guess all the work she did this summer to clean out and organize the kitchen and storage areas (including on her birthday) did not go unnoticed.  Unfortunately, she wasn't there to receive the award , as she wasn't feeling well and went home right after singing.

All dolled up for the performance.

Reno Sweeney for one night only.

By the way, Dan also won for Outstanding Set Design.  He wasn't there to receive his award either, one, because he was striking his set for Dinner with Friends, and two, because he was protesting the nomination.  As I mentioned in my last post, it wasn't his design and it didn't feel right that he should be nominated for it.

In other news, the kids remain busy with their various theatre endeavors.  Lyn is rehearsing for Flowers for Algernon, as well as helping with costumes.  Mark your calendars for performances November 10-12! John is supposed to be working on lights, but so far he has only attended meetings.  He also signed up to work sound for A Christmas Carol at LTA in December.

Speaking of A Christmas Carol, the Remmers family will be catering the opening night party on December 2.  Margie enlisted the help of a church friend who also enjoys putting on these types of things, and they have had fun brainstorming a fun and creative menu of desserts.  The two of them will also be catering an event at the high school in November.

Getting back to this past week, on Wednesday, October 5, Dan and Margie attended a Flowers For Algernon parents meeting.  This time around, Dan is just "advising" the student set builders--especially helpful since they are not allowed to use power tools.  Dan is grateful he doesn't have to be there all time this go around, since he is busy with other things.  Margie continues to serve as Treasurer for the Drama Parent Boosters, which she enjoys. She is a little worried about next year, though, as the entire rest of the board are Senior parents.  She'll be the only one left next year, unless we get some new blood!

On Thursday, October 6, Lyn had a chance to go out with the Sister Missionaries who are serving in our congregation (ward).  She met a lovely family who had young girls that she really got along with, and then she enjoyed singing in the car while one of the Sisters played the ukulele.

Yesterday, John had the opportunity to work on a service project laying mulch for our local library.  Dan and Margie attended a birthday party for the little girl of one of Margie's clients.  In the evening, Lyn attended a church dance (John is still being a stick-in-the-mud about these things).

Today was filled with our normal church stuff, with the addition of a bell choir rehearsal for Lyn and a Cub Scout meeting for Margie.

Life is full to overflowing, and we love it.  Hope you feel the same!

Life Goes On...

We had a challenging week here at the Remmers', but we also had some good things happen as well, so it all balances out.  That's life, I suppose.

On Tuesday, we attended the memorial of our dear friend who died last week.  It was a lovely ceremony.  Margie conducted the music and sang as part of an ensemble.  We were all crying during rehearsal, but we were grateful that we held it together for the performance.

On Wednesday, Margie had the unique opportunity to help dress her friend in her special, ceremonial burial clothes.  It was the first time Margie had been asked to participate in this, and it was challenging to say the least, but it was a special experience.  It was a rite of passage and the first of likely many such dressings in the future.

On Thursday, Dan and Margie attended Back to School Night.  Now that we have two kids at the same school, each with 8 different classes, it was a challenge figuring out which of us was going to go where.  But Margie put her organizational skills to work and developed a schedule. It all worked out great.

On Friday, we had some friends over for dinner and then we all went to see Steel Magnolias at LTA.  Neither of us had anything to do with this show--though one of the parts was played by the grandmother f one of Lyn's best friends.  It's a fun show with lots of great one-liners.  It closes October 1, so be sure to see it if you can!

Saturday was crazy busy, as Margie hosted a baby shower for a young mother-to-be at church.  The irony that she celebrated both life and death in one week was not lost on her.  The shower was quickly followed by a small celebration for Dan's dad's 81st birthday.  After that we headed home and Margie and Dan went out to dinner to celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary (a day early, as we don't go to restaurants on Sundays).  Meanwhile, Lyn attended a worldwide broadcast of the General Women's session of our bi-annual church conference.  Margie joined her later, after dinner.

On Sunday, it was church as usual.  Luckily, choir practice was cancelled, so we had a chance to relax in the morning and recover from the earlier part of the weekend.  John was asked to serve as Second Counselor in the Presidency of the Teachers Quorum (young men ages 14 & 15) and was set apart for that service.  Lyn attended bell choir practice.  She says she has quarter notes and half notes down, but eighth notes and sixteenth notes are still a challenge!  Also that night, we had a special dinner to celebrate our "real" anniversary.  It was nice!

Well, that's all our news.  We're are looking forward to a little bit more relaxing week coming up.  

Hope you are doing well!

Margie used Pinterest to find inspiration for the baby shower.  The fruit plate was a great success!