Some days the stars align!

Isaiah has three passions: international travel, politics, and the NBA. So yesterday was a bit of a dream day for him. He didn't get to travel anywhere, but he served as a delegate to the Utah State Democratic convention. When he and Gerald attended our party caucuses a few weeks ago, they were the only two present from our precinct. I felt bad for staying home, but it had been a long, exhausting day, and I had class the following morning at 7:00 a.m. down in Orem. I thought there would be lots of people there; our precinct up in Sandy always had a decent sized group. Guess I forgot that we now live just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Utah County line. Not so many Dems round these parts. Gerald has served as a delegate for several years, but this time he abdicated the position to Isaiah.

The big vote yesterday was whether to run a Democrat in the U.S. Senate race against incumbent Mike Lee (and lose), or to throw support behind Independent candidate Evan McMullin, who has a remote chance of winning. There was tremendous pressure among some at the convention to run a Democratic candidate. Many feel there is virtue in supporting a candidate you respect, admire, and actually like, even if losing in inevitable. 

Isaiah is far too pragmatic for such an approach. In his opinion (and mine as well), if there is even the slightest chance of unseating Mike Lee (you know, the guy who's not sure he even believes in climate change, but says if it's really a thing, the way to solve it is to get married and have more babies), we need to take it. Yes, I 100% agree with Isaiah's decision to vote in favor of supporting McMullin rather than running a candidate from our party. And no, I'm surely no fan of Evan McMullin; I probably disagree with him on most issues, plus he was super rude to Isaiah at a rally this past fall. I guess Isaiah doesn't look old enough or powerful enough to matter to him. However, he's far better than Lee, so if there's even a slight chance, then, yes: I'm Team McMullin!

And guess what? Some days the stars align. The vote went Isaiah's way, and Dems will not put forth a candidate to run against Lee in November, but instead encourage support for Evan McMullin.

Then...there's Isaiah's other passion: the NBA.

Our favorite team, the Utah Jazz, played its fourth game of the first round of the playoffs yesterday afternoon, against the Dallas Mavericks. We were 1-2 going in and felt like this was a "must win" since we were home, and Game #5 would be played back in Dallas. Isaiah was still at the convention during the first half, which he watched on his phone as much as he could, then listened to the third quarter as he drove home. Most of the fourth quarter found him pacing the floor, head in hands, alternating between joy and despair depending on how each play went. But he was there to see our incredible team fight to the end and pull out a "W" after being down four points with only 37 seconds left to play. It was insaaaaaane! Careful strategizing on both ends of the court and stellar performances by Gobert, Mitchell, Clarkson, and Bogdanovac made the magic happen. We have ourselves a series, as we return to Dallas 2-2.

Some days the stars align. For Isaiah, yesterday was one of those days.

Why would you stop when they leave home?

A FB friend posted pictures of her three kids hunting for Easter eggs, with the words, "The kids say they want Easter egg hunts until they leave home." My response: "Why would you stop when they leave home?" Although only one of our kids currently lives here full time and another comes and goes with college breaks, all four who reside in the Salt Lake Valley come home for Easter and hunt for eggs. I mean why should all the fun end when kids grow up? No reason I can think of.

I was woefully behind this year. Sunday morning found me prepping Easter baskets and rushing to fill all the plastic eggs with yummy chocolate delights, while trying to watch a bit of stake conference, which was broadcast because our stake is too large for everyone to meet in person. Can I just mention here that waiting until the last minute is not my style; I'm usually super organized and skillfully avoid the stress of last-minute hurrying. But this time, nope. Didn't happen. That's because I have no weekends this semester. I teach Friday mornings in Orem from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. Then I serve in the temple from 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. And Saturday I teach all day at SLCC. Fortunately, this schedule ends this coming Saturday. Hallelujah! (Note to self: Never again agree to teach on Friday mornings or all day Saturday.)

The tricky part came when Seth arrived before I had a chance to hide the eggs. I immediately texted Shulamith: "Seth is already here, and the eggs are not hidden! What do I do?" Her response: "Just hide them nonchalantly; he'll never notice." She knows her baby brother well. But then Isaiah went downstairs to hang out with Seth, so there they were, the two of them, sprawled out in the living room, solving world problems. These two are practically clones, and I love that they are such close friends, despite their 9-year age difference. 

But help! Now I needed to hide all these eggs without either of them noticing. Could it be done? Indeed. I proceeded to hide 30 plastic eggs throughout the main level of the house (including the living room), entirely unnoticed. Later that night, Seth asked, "When did you hide all the eggs? I didn't see any of them when I first got here."

Once Shulamith and Eli, Amanda, and Jane arrived, we ate yummy ribs that Shulamith had smoked all day, along with her famous pasta salad, and baked potatoes. Eli and Amanda brought my favorite bread from Harmon's. If you haven't tried Harmon's white chocolate pecan bread, you should probably go get some today. 

The egg hunt was a huge success; I think Seth collected the most, closely followed by Eli and Amanda. 

After dinner, we added to the Easter festivities by also celebrating Isaiah's birthday, which was two days earlier. We got our favorite Costco cake, and Seth's girlfriend, Sav, brought not just one pie, but two (!), banana cream and Oreo. So it was pretty much dessert heaven!

In the middle of all this, we finally put Jane in this little pink dress. My grandpa brought it back from Switzerland when I was a baby, and I was the first to wear it. Since then, we've made sure all the baby girls in the family wear it at least once, including Shulamith, Kennedy, and now Jane.

Finally, every Easter needs baskets:

Because why would you stop when they leave home?

Should we just stay and eat the food? (The Story of Two Shower Crashers)

"You have arrived," Shulamith's GPS announced. We stared at a mound of dirt and a couple houses still under construction, nothing remotely resembling a place where a baby shower might be. "Let me make sure I put in the right address," she said. "Wait, no, I'm one number off."

She quickly put in the correct address, and her phone told her we were just one mile away. Yayyy! We won't be too late. Off we went. 

Following the confident voice of the GPS lady, we weaved in and out of blocks, through various streets and cul-de-sacs until finally arriving at our destination. There was no house number visible, but tons of cars were parked nearby, including one with a woman inside and her car door open. Shulamith jumped out and walked over to her. "Are you going to the baby shower, and is that the right place?" she asked pointing to the house with the cars all around. "Yes!" the woman replied. "I'm just waiting for my daughter."

Grateful to have found it, we walked up to the door, on which a sign was posted: "Come on in!" so we opened the door and walked inside. There were so many ladies there, at least 30, all gathered in small groups happily chatting. We looked around and didn't see Amy, but we assumed she was hidden somewhere inside one of those groups of friends, or possibly she stepped aside to the restroom. I placed our gift on the gift table, and we continued to wait.

After several minutes standing alone, recognizing no one and not seeing Amy anywhere, Shulamith whispered, "Do you think we're at the right place?"

"Yes?" I answered.

"But where is Amy? Where is her mom? Where is Jessie?"

We knew we wouldn't be acquainted with most of the people attending, but those three at least should be there. 

They weren't. 

Finally, I went back to the gift table to look at the tags on the gifts. Yikes!! Every gift but ours had the name "Brynn" on it. 

Barely able to contain ourselves from breaking out into uncomfortable and inappropriate laughter, we retrieved our gift, awkwardly waived to the room, and announced, "We went to the wrong shower." We quickly left to continue our search for the correct house, but not without remarking to each other that we should have at least stayed long enough to sample the food.

A few houses down, we discovered another home with a few cars around. "Could this be it?" we wondered.

Success!

We walked in and were immediately greeted by a very pregnant Amy, glowing with her natural beauty and grace pouring over and around her. Seated behind her was her sweet mom, whom I hadn't seen in 18 years since we left Mt. Vernon in 2004. A handful of other former Mt. Vernon folks were also there; all roads lead to Utah, I guess. It was a delightful time reliving memories and catching up on nearly two decades of life. Kids have grown up. Spouses have been added. New babies have been born. We haven't changed in the least. Thank goodness.

Amy opened lovely gifts, including a Beaded Blessed bracelet, for which we all selected two beads to bless Amy with everything good as she enters into motherhood. Shulamith and I share our joy and love for Amy, who, growing up, was the closest thing to a sister Shulamith ever had. This yearned for and long awaited baby girl is a miracle for sure and an answer to many prayers. 

I can't wait to meet her one day.