Arise and Shine Forth

They came running in--literally running--like Helaman's army. Only instead of 2,000, there were 1,100 flag-waving youth from six stakes in our area, gathered to present a dance festival.  And seeing the strength of that little army had me moved to tears.

Earlier in the week I'd chaperoned Caleb's choir field trip.  At one point during some lunchtime conversation, his choir director asked me, "Why is it that all my best kids and families are LDS?"  He later added, "You're doing something right!"

That night, in our family scripture study we were reading in 3 Nephi 12:16 when the savior says, "Therefore let your light so shine..."  I thought of my conversation with Caleb's teacher earlier in the day and shared with my family how grateful I am that the youth in our ward are living up to that charge and are shining sufficiently such that their teacher is taking notice.

When the youth came rushing into the arena to present their dance festival, I was deeply touched by thought of these youth being a light to the world and how well they are living this year's theme to "Arise and Shine Forth."  I still cry every time I think about it.  Such great kids.

The dance festival was a wonderful experience that called us all to repentance.  Caleb had complained long and hard about having to go to Tinikling practice.  Jon, who often went to help, talked about how painful the rehearsals were and we were all left wondering whose bright idea it was to have deacons dance with poles.  They had to master the rhythm of the sticks, dance in and out of them AND change positions throughout.  Really?  These are 12 and 13 year old boys.  They're in their awkward stage.  Perhaps the most awkward of the awkward stage.

But they pulled it off beautifully.  It was like witnessing a miracle.

Here's Caleb on the poles (with his back to us in the left corner):

And here he is dancing (in the middle):

One of our favorite young women doing some bollywood:

The Beehives did a fan dance:

The Haka.  Our stake didn't actually have any youth in this dance but we got a kick out of watching these cute little white boys do the Haka.

The swing.

More than twelve dances in all.

The finale involved some fun finger lights.

All of the dances were fabulous and the costumes so well done.  In between each dance, testimonies from our youth played on the arena's jumbotron.

I was amazed at the effort required from an untold number of people in order to coordinate an event of this kind.  We should've never complained.  It was so great that my dad thought it worthy of the church news.

While Caleb may have been less than enthusiastic about the months of practices and a 12 hour-long day of dress rehearsals and performances, it turned out to be a great experience.

He wore his dance festival t-shirt for 3 days straight!

Alyssa is already looking forward to being old enough to participate when dance festival comes along again in 4 more years.  I'll try to remember not to complain next time.

You were great, Caleb!  I'm so proud of the young man that you are.

The Best and Worst of a Ballpark Birthday

I have the best brother.  He recently had a birthday.

The worst thing about my brother turning forty: we're close in age so I'm not far behind.

The best thing about my brother turning forty: It's a milestone birthday that warrants a bigger-than-usual celebration.  Like a trip to Seattle for a Mariner's game (on a bobblehead night).  Perfect for the avid sports fan that he is.

The worst thing about the 2nd inning: The Mariners didn't score.

The best thing about the 2nd inning: A birthday scoreboard message.

The worst part of the food: Oh who am I kidding, there's no worst part of baseball food!  Peanuts, Cracker Jack, Red Vines and sodas in souvenir cups...pretty awesome.

The best part of the food: No ketchup packets.  And the souvenir cups.

The worst part of the game:  The Mariner's lost.  Thanks a lot, Brandon League.  You're not much of a closer.

The best part of the game:  Caleb's grooving on the Jumbotron.  Serious grooving.  Like at least 20 seconds of screen time.  I've never seen them stay so long on one person.

We only got a few seconds of his dancing but Jon had so much fun looping it to make this video.  You simply must watch it.  You'll smile.  I guarantee it.

Happy Birthday, Chad.  Glad we got to celebrate with you. 

Finding Greener Grass

Almost immediately after I was fired I began researching other gyms in our area.  I knew Alyssa was quite attached to her coaches and had no desire for a change, but I also knew it would be impossible to remain associated with a business when we had no respect for the owner nor most of the staff.  How could we continue to pour money into the pockets of one who'd treated us so unjustly and unprofessionally?

I talked with as many people as I could--coaches, judges, gym owners and parents.  I got a lot of opinions--widely varied--and most of them agreed that no matter what move we made, we'd be better off than we were with our current gym.

As miserable as I felt with our situation, I struggled with the idea of a change.  I'm a generally content person that is more often than not satisfied with the green-ness of my grass.  And frankly, I sometimes find myself annoyed with others who are dissatisfied with their seemingly lush lawns.  I often said to Jon, "My biggest fear is getting caught up in the idea that the grass is greener somewhere else."

"Well our grass is pretty darn brown right now!" was his reply.

He was right.  And there was very little hope of reviving it.

We waited until Alyssa was away at fifth grade camp to make our first big move.  We visited another gym.  It felt sneaky.  Almost dishonest, even though it wasn't.  We'd weighed the pros and cons from all of our sources but finally decided to visit the one closest to home.  It also produces the best gymnasts in the state.  But they have a reputation for being...intense.

We confessed our snooping to Alyssa and told her that while we would not force this decision on her, we were going to insist on a trial.  The next day, on Lys' day off from gym, I suggested she go watch.  She reluctantly agreed.  It didn't take long for her to notice a skill level, efficiency and sense of team that was not present in her current gym.  On our way out she asked, "So when will I try it?"

I spoke with the team director the following day and shortly thereafter, both girls were doing their first training trial in the new gym.

Jon and I met with the gym owner who more or less had been expecting us.  He told us that he had seen Alyssa do bars at the state meet and had commented to a coach from our previous gym about her talent.  This coach responded with, "Well she may be coming your way very soon because they just fired her mom."  The gym owner was glad we'd come.  And when we left his office 40 minutes later, Jon let out a sigh and said, "I feel so much better already."  On top of that, the girls loved it.  Both were training new skills and feeling welcomed by the other gymnasts.

So you'd think pulling the plug would be easy.  But you'd be wrong.  I truly don't believe Alyssa has ever cried so much in her entire life.  Change is never easy and I know leaving had her feeling exceptionally disloyal to Chen and Tia, the only two coaches who'd ever really invested in her gymnastics.  It was agonizing.  We prayed, we cried, we talked more than is typically comfortable for our stoic Alyssa.  We tossed and turned all night for an entire weekend.  But after day two of her trial at the new gym, Lys was noticing greener grass under her feet.  And she's never looked back.

It's not easy to explain how difficult a trial this has been and the emotional toll it has taken on our family.  I remember numerous people commenting to me that perhaps my firing was a blessing in disguise.  I often wondered how being treated so disrespectfully and unfairly could be a blessing.  But it is true that had it not occurred, I'm quite positive we would've never considered making this change.  And though it may be too early to tell, the grass does seem a whole lot greener for all of us.

The Beginning of the End

Jon and I were dreading the end-of-year gymnastics banquet and had contemplated not going, but after an insider did some investigating for me, we learned that Alyssa would be receiving an award so we decided to grin and bear it for the sake of our girls. After all, they did deserve to be celebrated even if the termination of my employment has caused us to face feelings of bitterness unlike any we've previously known.

As soon as we sat down at our table we wanted to leave.  Watching my former employer take the mic and brag about the fabulousness of her gym had us wishing for barf bags.

I'd prepared myself for an evening of feeling awkward.  I hated watching my team be presented with certificates I wasn't allowed to sign.  I resented that I didn't get any credit for some of the unprecedented accomplishments my team had achieved.  But I expected it.  What I didn't expect was how my gymnasts were going to react to my name being left off of their certificates.

As soon as the level 4 awards were completed and the level 5 awards started, I heard a young voice behind me say, "Tara, will you sign my certificate since you were my coach most of the season?"  I turned to see a line of my former gymnasts standing behind my chair waiting for my signature that rightfully belonged on their certificates.  I signed each one through tear-filled eyes.

When it was time for the level 7 awards, Alyssa made her way to the front of the room.  Each of her teammates were given a certificate but it quickly became evident that Alyssa had somehow been overlooked.  A very awkward few minutes followed as the gym owner, my former employer for whom I have lost all respect, made painfully lame comments like, "How did this happen?  We checked them all twice."  And, "Didn't we do this to you last year?"  Or the best one, "You'd think this was my first rodeo, wouldn't you?"

Our exaggerated eye rolls were a small outward expression of our immeasurable inward disgust.  But thankfully there were other awards for Alyssa to take the attention away from the certificate oversight.

"Here, we have an award for you, Alyssa.  You're 'Miss Bars.'" (Awarded to the gymnast that was the highest scoring gymnast on bars over the course of the season.)  The trophy was handed to Alyssa while they quickly searched for a blank certificate.

After the other event awards were distributed, Alyssa was given a trophy for "Miss Sunshine."  "Miss Sunshine" is a coach's choice award for the gymnast who "lights up their life."  Have we ever mentioned how much we love Alyssa's coaches, Chen and Tia?  This award shows that they love her too!

Lys' two new trophies

I didn't go up front when the booster club presented the coaches with their end-of-year gifts but they did give me my gift on the side.  It was a $50 Mastercard and giant card signed by the girls.

And after all was said and done, my team and their parents presented me with an enormous bouquet and $100 spa gift card.  Their support has gotten me through these last few difficult months.

My former co-coach, Michelle, and a few of our gymnasts.

My favorite Level 4 gymnast!

The evening had come to an end and one parent said to me, "Now go parade [the flowers] past [the gym owner]!"

So we walked out, me with my head held high and feeling a bit like Miss America with my heavy bouquet.  This was it, our last big hurdle.  The last event we would participate in with this gym.  We knew we had to leave.  Our hearts could not heal if we stayed.

So we didn't.

Here's to new beginnings...

(stayed tuned for more details.)

My Mother's Day

Mother's Day really started on Friday when I went to have tea with Natty.  Except there was no tea.  But there was punch and treats, handmade gifts and the sweetest tissue paper flowers.

We had such a great time but darn that adorable slide show that makes me cry!  I think I'd be fine if they didn't set those cute pictures to the song, "Let Them Be Little."

 The musical portion of our mother's tea was really fantastic.  I'm amazed at all the complicated lyrics, choreography and creativity involved.

Here's a quick peek though the clips don't do it justice.  You had to be there.

On Saturday Jon came home with these beauties:

And Sunday brought a few more gifts--some new sheets, a novel and some yummy smelling candles were packaged under this paper towel:

That's right, my husband's the type that doesn't know that tissue paper is the appropriate wrapping material here.  Well, he might know, but he'd have to go looking for it and asking me to help point him in the right direction would ruin the surprise, so paper towels will do.

I love him.  Really, really love him.

I also got a new hanging basket.  I actually picked it out myself but we'll just call it a Mother's day gift.

We tried to get before-church pictures by the new basket but those just never go as planned.  Caleb's making a weird, this-plant-is-touching-my-head expression and Alyssa is trying to get a sick Natalie to smile.  Plus I'm crouching down so far that the whole thing just looks weird.

But in my memory will be three beautiful children on a gloriously beautiful day and I couldn't be happier to be their mother.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

Oil and Water

It turns out that they do sometimes mix.

Watching Kid History on the iPad.

Natalie, who has never in her life slept in a room by herself, really missed Alyssa while she was away at camp.  Thankfully Caleb was willing to share the half of his bed he never uses.

It's so sweet while it lasts.  But it never lasts long so it's a good thing we took some pictures.  Caleb was soon back to flickering the girls' lights just to be annoying.  Or just to get Natalie to scream.  I wonder if he'll ever forgive her for being a girl.

*Update on Lys: She arrived home from camp yesterday afternoon singing silly songs--and coughing.  But she had a splendid time.  She slept until 11:00 a.m. this morning--that must have been some serious fun to need that kind of recovery!  And yes, I did tear up when I saw her.  I'm so glad she's back.