MoPro 2017

The pictures are so great, they're getting their own post. :) 

Saturday the 6th was the Regional Spring Formal, a.k.a. Mormon Prom or MoPro.  At first, we weren't sure if Zac would go because he didn't seem to want to take Mickey.  He thought she wouldn't have fun since she just doesn't know many of the Mormon kids well, other than Zac and Marie, which is totally understandable.  But I was still bummed, because I knew he'd have a blast.  So I was stoked when Zac a few of the other Priests from his quorum decided to ask some of the Laurels (just as a bunch of friends).  It meant changing my Sunday morning flight home from Utah to Saturday afternoon in order to be there to see him go, but...worth it! 

Zac took his good friend Marie, who is Mickey's friend, too, and he knows from church, seminary and the theater program at Rampart.  She is just awesome--we love Marie and will miss her next year since she's graduating.  They, along with Taylor, Thalia, Jaron, Elise, Tyson and Becky, started the day with making each other their corsages (boys) and boutonnieres (girls)--a fun activity and a fraction of the price for what you pay at the store.  Winning!  In the evening, the group met up for pictures at a pretty little pond down the hill from us.  I drove straight from the airport to meet up with them--just in the nick of time, as they were finishing up.  They all looked so good, and Zac's tie, that I scoured the Chapel Hills Mall to find in just the right shade of sea-foam green the week before, matched Marie's dress perfectly!  Winning some more!

The boys had decided on a progressive dinner, so the kids went for appetizers at Thalia's and then had dinner at our house.  Thank goodness for Zac, who cleaned and made the house look nice and pretty during the day, and Adam, who did all the fettuccine alfredo dinner prep so it could be finished by the time the group arrived.  Go Team Conlin!  It was really fun having them!  What a great bunch of kids!  They were so polite and had the nice, easy way with one another that good friends have, chatter and laughter throughout the meal.  Ben and Josh stepped in as our waiters for the evening--Josh made a perfect snooty French waiter!  Ha!  

They left us for a dessert crepe bar at Taylor's then on to the dance.  Once they had danced until they dropped, they went to YoYogurt for an after-Prom treat and then back to Thalia's for a movie.  It was a late night, but SO much fun!  I am really happy Zac went (and that Mickey was cool with him going)!  I know he really enjoyed himself and his time with his pals.

 

BYU Women's Conference 2017

It's been a few years since I last attended BYU Women's Conference, and it was loooong overdue!  First, I just love being in Provo at the Y.  It is one of those places that feels so much like home in my heart.  I met up with two of my dear girlfriends, Jen Maloy and Jacquie Eldridge.  They were some of my first friends from our years here in Colorado Springs, at a time when all of our babies were little and before they both moved away.  Their friendship is so special to me and it was a joy to get away from it all during such a busy time to have our buckets filled.  I love that we can start right back up where we left off. 

It was two quick days of spiritual uplift, a lot of laughter, much commiseration, eating and eating more, late night chats to catch up on all the living, infinite support, learning things new and being reminded of things known.  I loved it all and came home with a hopefulness, lightness and fullness I haven't had in awhile.

Takeaways I really needed:

• Friendship and faith are balm to the soul.
• It is not ours to judge, that rests in the hand of God.  It is ours to love.  
• Our Heavenly Father loves broken things and wants to heal them.
• Stay focused on the trunk and don't get caught in the branches. 
• The best thing for teens is strong family support for who THEY are--not who you want them to be; a good tribe--including good leaders that love them, extended family they can connect with and friends who support their choices; and it's so important to encourage and support them as they make the decision to choose the right when they are younger.
• You do you.
• You are loved and known by our Savior.

I have a tradition of drawing hearts on the boys' hands before I leave on a trip, sometimes I've even snuck in during the night to draw them on in their sleep.  It's a little piece of love to remind them how much I love them.  When I drew Tommy's on this time, he told me I needed one, too, and dug out the silver sharpie to give me his love.

Nathan Pacheco was fantastic.

We saw him after signing autographs, but we were too hungry for dinner to stop, so we took this picture "with him" instead.

In the window at the BYU Bookstore.

I am shorter than Jacquie and Jen, so when we held the frame up the lady was like, "Do you want it level?"  So we had to figure out how to squat or stand on toes to get us all at the same height.  It was really funny!  But maybe you had to be there....

Note taker extraordinaire!

Cosmo Kisses!

Late night chats in the dorms.

Before my flight out Saturday morning, so I could get home in time to see Zac off to the Spring Formal, Jacquie and I stopped by the Provo Temple.  Beautiful!  And a Saturday after the semester ended meant...brides!  I love brides on their wedding day!  The temple also happened to be right next to the finish line of the Provo City Half Marathon.  It was like a big, sweaty, dressed-in-white party!

I ran into a handful of women I know from home, but I ran into Brandi Lehikoinen three times, once at the airport, once on campus and once at the temple.  Brandi and her husband, Aaron, lived in the apartment downstairs from us when Adam was in grad school.  They were undergrad newlyweds with no kiddos (they have 5 now) and we used to put our boys to bed and go down to their apartment with our baby monitor for games like Mad Gab and Mafia.  Such good memories with this cute lady!

The Bits: April 16th Through April 30th

April Bits: that's a wrap!

Accidentally twinning with your bus stop mates is a fun way to start the week!

We happened upon Unicorn Frappuccino samples in the grocery store.  Luke loved it, Tommy did not, and I am glad I got a taste, but I'm also glad that it was unpaid for and sample-sized.

Spring Field Projects at the SITW Pond!

Track season is ON!  Ben is running the 1600m, 800m and 4x400m Relay for his team this season.  We love watching this kid fly and, honestly--we get a bit of a thrill from watching him leave boys who are head-and-shoulders taller than him in his dust!

District 20 always honors Columbine Day with a day off school, even when it lands in the middle of the week.  This year it landed on a Thursday, and Tommy was invited for a little adventure to the Children's Museum in Denver with his pal Ike.

Spending Earth Day morning with my little naturalists at the Garden of the Gods Environment Expo.

Luke has a knack for building winning cars.  Luke and his car, The Green Blur, took first in our Pack for the Pinewood Derby again this year!  Great job, Luke!

Soccer Saturdays have a whole new meaning for us now that we only have one little soccer player.  Go Tommy!

Photo Cred: Josh.  Taken as an example of "perspective" while working on his Photography Merit Badge.  Love it!

Thank you, RHS Theater, for inspiring the next generation.  "Finding Dory: A Pop Musical!  By: Tommy Conlin."

Best smelling time of year!

So here's a story: While at Ben's track meet, I got a call from Adam that started off with the heart-stopping words: "Luke didn't get off the bus." I went into full panic mode!  Not sure what to do, I called his school, which was closed, of course.  I called a friend/neighbor whose son rides the bus with Luke, and because they have assigned seats on the bus, he couldn't remember whether he had seen Luke on the bus or not.  We aren't bus pros, Luke is our only kid to ever ride a bus and it's just been this year, and there has never been a problem, so I had no idea what to do.  He has to switch buses at one of his stops at another elementary school, so, of course, because I'm super rational when it comes to not knowing where my kids are, I started imagining that he had been kidnapped from that switch point.  Thank God my friend suggested that I call the District Transportation Office, because I was no longer capable of rational thinking.  In my head, my next move was to call 911. And I was starting to hyperventilate.  I called, and the dispatcher contacted the bus, which at the same moment was trying to contact the dispatcher about a kid who had missed his stop.  Luke had forgotten to get off the bus, because he had been reading too intently (the actual surprising thing is that this hasn't happened already this year--the kid is a bibliophile to the extreme).  I started sobbing into the phone, thanking the dispatcher, missed hearing the new stop where Adam should meet the bus, had to call them back when Luke still didn't show up because I told Adam the wrong school, and then, finally, I got the sweetest three-word text ever: "I have him."  I had to sit down with my head on my knees and try to control my breathing to make the stars go away and pull my head back to earth.  Ben was with me and kept asking if I was OK.  What a relief!  That was awful!  Luke kept looking at me like a weirdo all night because I kept staring at him and touching his face (hahahaha!).  These precious souls of mine, I love them so much!

Catching up with old soccer buddies and hanging out with new running buddies at the D20 Middle School Meet.  I sure love these boys and all they have been to Ben!

We are so proud of you, Zac!  RHS IB MYP Completer 2017, as well as given the Teacher's Choice Award for Personal Growth!

We are going to miss this special school so very much.

Rain, then sleet, then sun, then sleet again, then sunny sleet, all with freezing wind, and two meets in two days!  And smiling through it all!

Outdoor art time + watercolors + substitute teacher + ADHD + friends who think you're hilarious = a whole host of multicolored freckles.

Still trying to pretend it's April 29th somewhere with normal springtime weather.

Sixty-two hand bouquets in process for Teacher Appreciation Week!  Did I volunteer for this?!

These cuties decided to get together and have a "Sophomore Prom" on Rampart's prom night, since they're too young for actual prom.  What a good looking bunch of kids, and also really awesome ones, too.

Josh celebrating his buddy Jojo's birthday.  He is SUCH a social butterfly, so anytime to get together with friends is the best.

I really like these guys.