All of our children at the cabin (first time since 2017)✔️ River runs✔️ Wildlife✔️ Wildflowers✔️ Extended family ( ) Memories and thoughts of extended family✔️✔️
Our 2020 Sanchez family reunion is being done in shifts, with each sibling and my parents invited to take a day at the cabin. Memories and traditions fill voids when we can’t be together. This year is just a blip in a very long story.
This is the usual crowd at the cabin each year:
2019 (Daniel was in Chile)2018 (Paige was in New York)2017 (the last time all of our children were at the Weber with us)
What did we do with our 24 hours at the cabin this year? We read, played a couple of games, went on walks, collected rocks, and went tubing!
General Conference with everyoneOur friend’s name was read during General Conference. We raised our hands high to sustain him.movie buddy
I pinch myself sometimes to see all the boys home.
Easter activity with the Sanchez family
Easter dinner: pulled pork, baked beans, homemade rolls, layered green salad“Spelling” games from Easter candy 🤭walk
recovering from surgery
Stake Council Zoom meeting, hearing a missionary report
I didn’t post much about family life in April. Days are smudged in my memory, all about the same. Sundays we gathered for dinner and to watch old home movies. Richard worked an unconscionable demand of hours, mostly from home, thankful to be employed. I have watched the clock for entertainment since my surgery, content to do almost nothing. We watched a movie almost every evening. Daniel has been a primary care giver to me, and we have had some good talks. Tim has worked outdoors, mowing and aerating, and has been faithful in completing school work. I learned quickly that I should not ask him about school. He manages his life like a boss. Mark was most content to be home, with days uncluttered by middle school nonsense. He talks through each assignment aloud, frustrations and triumphs sounding in my ears. We have eaten more takeout than usual, hoping to keep our favorite restaurants alive. Also, friends have provided a lot of meals since my surgery. I finished reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy and watched the movies. That was a good choice. April was the best and the worst. I know you can relate.
These are amateur photos of Paige’s paintings of The Secret Garden, but they give you an idea what they look like.
Oh, this pandemic. I find my opinions and moods shift like the tides. I keep a copy of Paige’s paintings on the front of our kitchen cupboards to remind me that things will get better. When I am dealing with complex emotions, I ask myself where I am in The Secret Garden spectrum, and just being able to place myself in the story helps me see there is a resolution coming. Some days, I am painting number one, contrary and pessimistic. I like the painting with Collin in bed, with Mary illuminating the room with her candle. I want to be like Mary, sharing light, even though I am a little fragile, too. Richard likes the doorway opening into the garden, reminding us to keep a sense of wonder and hope. Clearing flower beds with the family was our best activity all week, and in a month or so, there WILL be pink flowers on the tree outside my living room window. Where are you in the spectrum today? Where is your robin leading you?
Did you ever look through a kaleidoscope? That’s what life feels like right now. We get used to looking at a beautiful pattern through the lens, but it’s only temporary; the world rotates, and little pieces of our lives shuffle to different places. For a time, there is a grating noise, and some resistance to rotating the scope. It feels chaotic and uncomfortable, but another pattern emerges from the shuffling of pieces. Beauty and order always find a way. There are beautiful patterns emerging from this time of upheaval. We don’t know how our little pieces will rearrange themselves, but they will, all under the direction of a loving Heavenly Father. We love you and we are proud of you. I choose to celebrate who you are, and not focus on the “change of plans” so much. Coming home a little early will not change the impact you have had on people in Chile. It will not change who you are, and who you have become. Your love for the gospel is needed here, and the Lord will use you, wherever you are. I feel gratitude to the members in Chile for their loving care of you. My heart goes out to your president and his family. I pray for everyone. I am filled with hope and peace, and it will all work out. A silver lining for me is that I will have you around again to talk to. We’ll enjoy the next pattern in the kaleidoscope soon. Love, Mom
BYU campus has lost its bustle and busyness. In the Harris Fine Arts Center, production posters have red “Canceled” signs posted on the diagonal. Each canceled event represents thousands of hours of effort, unfulfilled.
Paige and I installed her paintings for display this afternoon, knowing there will be no reception and not much traffic in the building. She painted eight illustrations based on The Secret Garden, and they will be on display for the next two weeks.
In her artist statement, Paige writes, “When I was seven, my grandma gave me a copy of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It has been a special story to me ever since. Initially, I loved the book because I dreamed of finding a secret place to make my own like Mary discovers the garden. Now, I recognize its deeper message of healing which feels urgently relevant today. Mary and other characters are healed physically and emotionally as they care for the abandoned garden, let go of fear, overcome selfishness, and develop meaningful relationships with each other. As Mary cultivates interests and a purpose outside of her own self-centered ways, she blooms and grows harmoniously with the garden. We all seek personal healing in some form, and this story brings hope that the healing we seek is possible.”
I finished assembling the quilt top, thanks to the gift of an extra day.
ski trip
Tim broke the family speed record for skiing. I wish I didn’t know this.
Tim’s band visited Mark’s band.
Birthday dinnerAfter 11 years of searching, then waiting for a sale, I bought a piano lamp.Richard and I spent about 5 hours preparing French food yesterday, and it was really disappointing how awful it tasted. Ours actually looked like this photo. pc: tablespoon.comMark at Youth Conference.
This week, as I ran errands and shopped, I was asked a few times if I was planning to do something fun. Yes! We celebrated Richard’s birthday with food, food, presents, food, and desserts. At Costco, someone asked if the next big birthday was the big 4-0, and since the scales have tipped toward 50 for me, this miscalculation has embedded itself in my heart and grown into many private smiles. I love celebrations with family, the preparation, anticipation, and the memories.
And, if you want to see Paige’s 8 beautiful paintings inspired by The Secret Garden, her show is coming up soon. I love seeing Paige’s illustrations.
As for the Daniel, he had the opportunity to meet Elder Uchtdorf and shake his hand last week, and he was invited to share his testimony in Stake conference. He is moving to a new apartment that has hot water. He has been busy assembling emergency kits for each companionship in the mission. With summer holidays coming to an end, they expect more protests and violence in his area, but the kits are more in preparation for earthquakes. He is teaching Rosa and others with his companion who is from Canada. I had my first bad dream about his safety, and I can’t hear The Prayer (Bring Him Home from Les Miserables) or Danny Boy without tears. Still, I love being part of a missionary family.
One thing I do for my calling at church is teach Primary children during ward conferences. I made this visual aid for last Sunday to teach about Isaiah’s “Mountain of the Lord’s House” and it was a lot of work, but the kids really loved the doors and windows. They also loved talking about how temples are like mountains, places to feel peace, quiet, and see beauty and light. I also loved the comment about mountains being places of adventure. I think learning of God’s ways is one of the great adventures of life. I love what I learn as I serve in Primary.
Every book I read about the Founding Fathers makes me loathe Thomas Jefferson more. We may skip Monticello this summer.Valentine’s Day seminary morningsideDate with Richard to the BYU ballroom dance company concert in Salt Lake CityMark’s recital piece was called Walking in the Wood for short. He wasn’t nervous. He shows real finesse in his trills.
Lately, the most interesting thing that has happened is when I cleaned out my lentil collection from 2014-2019 in the pantry so I could make some soup. I lined up the small bagged portions in chronological order on my countertop before sweeping the expired packages into the trash. My February goals have required serious effort and focus, and I aimed too high this month in my plans. Maybe sometime soon I will have something more to say.
Dear February 29,
I am glad for the extra day to finish some things.
Hello, friend! I have been so cooped up this week, hiding from the snow and working on the nest. I needed to make a path through the craft room so I could reach my sewing table. I *think* I am ready to put together a quilt. I am reading a long biography of George Washington and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I can see the floor of every room in the house but one. I am writing a lot. The Valentines Day decorations are up, and the pops of red on my shelves make me happier than any other color. See, not much to report. But I think of you and this makes me smile.
