Weekend of "Mom" moments: I cried. But you already guessed that.

It was a weekend of mom moments. For the past three months, Seth has been rehearsing for his part in the ensemble in his high school's production of the musical Carousel. He did not choose to participate; it's a requirement for students in Concert Choir. In the beginning, no one was more disgruntled about this situation than Seth. Not in a million years would he voluntarily spend that many hours of his free time at school singing and dancing. He complained a lot. A whole lot. He talked about how joyous November 23rd would be when the thing would finally be over.

Today is November 23rd. As I write, he is performing in this production for the last time. And he feels anything but joy about that. I can't say exactly when it happened, but at some point, a change occurred. Maybe it was gradual? I'm not sure. All I know is the rhetoric today was, "I'm so sad it's almost over. I've made so many friends; we are all gonna be sad. It's been so much fun!" Performing is like that, isn't it? The work is hard--the repeated rehearsals, the same thing over and over and over. But it's all so worth it when the curtain opens and the lights come up.

Probably no surprise to anyone, but I loved watching Seth perform. Shulamith and I had tickets for Thursday night, and I enjoyed it so much that I volunteered to usher Friday night, just so I could go again for free. My baby was absolutely adorable! Really, you should have seen him. I cried. But you already guessed that.

 Gerald went Saturday night. I was in Logan. Saturday was one of those days when I wished humans could be in multiple places at one time. Seth was performing in the musical, Shulamith was playing soccer, and Eli's choir "From the Heart" was touring up in Logan. Gerald went to the musical, his only opportunity to see it, and I went to Logan. I left first thing in the morning and got there in time to meet Eli for lunch. I love it when my kids are all together, but I also cherish the one-on-one time with each of them.

After lunch, I attended the choir's performance at a local nursing home. I can't say enough about this choir; it is consistently inspiring. When it was over, I left Eli and went to the Logan Temple, while the choir sang at another nursing home. That evening, I attended their fireside performance at the Logan Tabernacle, where I had the sweet surprise of Eli singing a solo, a beautiful arrangement of "There is a Balm in Gilead." I cried. But you already guessed that.

I drove home late that night, singing aloud to the Christmas music playing in the car. It was a weekend of "Mom" moments.