Art – Page 9 – Letters from Home

Art, Science, Wildflowers & Family

It was a social week for us, with house guests in many corners, a science camp, an art camp, full evenings, and a family reunion. I ate a burrito from Freebirds with Richard and Nancy. Mark and I were stung by wasps and Richard and Daniel came to the rescue, vacuumed them up as they flew around their nest, and sealed up the entrance to their nest beneath our house.

My knowledge and interests have expanded over the years as I have waited in my van for kids at music lessons, school, church activities, and ballet. This week I read a lot at the University of Utah while I waited for Timothy at science camp. My van is almost the only place I could read this week. At this rate, I should finish my book by Christmas. Something I did for myself was attend the New Testament Commentary Conference at BYU on Friday afternoon to hear my friend Julie speak. I stole the photo of Julie from Facebook.

A favorite moment was with Paige and Richard when we took a drive to the Albion basin to see the wildflowers. At sunset, a bull moose emerged between the trees. Its long legs made its leisurely walk as fast as our truck as we moved along the road trying to get a blurry photo. That evening I saw flowers; Richard saw the slopes he normally visits on his skis. We wove two separate themes as we talked. “Oh, look at that shade of pink…and those purple flowers! I’m dying.” To which he replied, “I can’t believe I ski over all of those boulders!” spoken with an equal sense of wonder.

Another adventure we had was weeding and planting carrots at the Church garden. The missionary in charge of the carrots kept handing us carrots for breakfast. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, we rinsed them with our dirty hands in the sprinklers and munched as we weeded. “They taste like carrots,” Richard said. We spent two hours with our whole family, working and laughing together, so I was happy.

The kids enjoyed time with 20 cousins this week, bouncing, splashing, and running. Ours is a family with cousins in perpetual motion. In the kids’ cubbies at Spring Lake, we found notes that Grandma had encouraged the Sanchez cousins to write to one another. Here are a few:

Dear Paige, I love you.

Dear Mortiky, Hi, I’m David. I love you!

To Timothy [puppy drawing] signed DAVID

A top secret note from Hogwarts School, sealed for Mark

Dear Paige, I love you. You’re my buddiey.

Dear Daniel, I painted you a picture. You’re welcome. <3 Paige

We watched the most lingering sunset ever on Saturday night. As the late summer evening darkened, the Payson temple began to glow. Watching this heavenly Changing of the Guard in silence, the light source changing from sun to temple, fed my soul.

Art show and retrospective

Paige has been gracious to let me post these.

1-c-binoculars-sma — Timothy at Yellowstone by Paige… I like this painting because it captures Timothy’s particular way of sitting, the curve and color of his hair, and his interest in nature. Oh, and the fabric of his sweatshirt is awesome. Watercolor painting is difficult!

We have a winner in the school election at our house! It will be a good thing for Timothy to serve his school next year. He is smart, dependable, and precise. He’s tall, handsome, and adventurous. His best friend returned from his year-long trip around the world, so happy days are here for Tim this summer.

1-b-cello-sma — Daniel playing cello by Paige… I like this drawing because I saw Paige really emerge as a portrait artist on this one. I like the interesting perspective on this scene of Daniel practicing. Daniel is giving up playing the cello, so this is a nice memory of the instrument.

Daniel took off this year in many new directions, from student government to robotics, becoming a fan of English grammar exercises and hosting the first teen parties at our house. Daniel is a good driver, a great friend, and people can count on him to get things done, even if it’s moving 2,000 pounds of Mason jars 6 times for Prom. 🙂

1-c-snowboy-sma — Mark in the snow by Paige… I like this painting because of its softness. It reminds me of the style of paintings that I love in children’s books. It captures Mark’s concentration, the curve of his nose, and his play. I have learned that children don’t “play” for very many years. This is a treasure that captures the innocence and seriousness of real play.

Mark delights me with the things he says. Sometimes brutally honest, always insightful, and very often funny, conversations with him have been a joy. He’s grown so much, his legs no longer having the soft lines of childhood, but the long bones and prominent knees of an older boy. His permanent teeth have grown in this year, and the whistle in his speech is disappearing.

1-c-paige-sma — I think self portraits are so difficult. I like the natural wood, the flowers, and the expression on Paige’s face. I love that she had the courage to do a self portrait and that it’s a bit unconventional. I am thankful that she loves art.

We attended Paige’s senior awards night this week. She was honored for having a 4.0 cumulative GPA and received a scholarship and other awards. Because of our unconventional choice to home school, Paige needed to make up a year’s worth of high school credit if she wished to graduate. Colleges are great about accepting home school students, whether they graduate or not, but she decided to go for the diploma. She did 4 years of high school work in 3 years, 95% of the makeup work being done during her senior year. She has a summer job and is off to BYU in the fall. It’s a time of celebration for Paige this week. We are so very proud of her.

Looking back and looking forward

1-c-rocks-sma — Sorting rocks on the bridge at the Weber by Paige

Last night we planned to take down the Boy Scout flags that were up in our neighborhood for Memorial Day, but another family did it for us! We were thankful because Timothy was busy finishing his student body officer campaign video.

We gathered for a quick family home evening lesson and I asked the family to make a list of the top ten events of the school year.

Timothy became a trombone player.
Daniel served as a class officer.
Paige was accepted to three colleges and was offered scholarships, but we are most excited that she will be going to BYU.
Paige and Daniel played keyboards in the musical, Les Miserables.
Mark read the Harry Potter series twice.
Paige will graduate from Jordan High next week.
Richard and I celebrated 20 years of marriage.
We participated in the musical, From Cumorah’s Hill.
Mark was home schooled and worked hard in Cub Scouts.
The kids memorized pieces to perform for ensemble and solo piano federation events.

We set some summer goals after remembering all the work that has gone into the school year. We don’t want our summer to be wasted. I asked each family member to make two goals: a daily goal and a Sunday goal to work on this summer.

I read some quotes by Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy:

There is no room for average or complacent disciples. Average is the enemy of excellence, and average commitment will prevent you from enduring to the end.

Let me be clear: to “hang in there” is not a principle of the gospel. Enduring to the end means constantly coming unto Christ and being perfected in him.

I look forward to school getting out and having some new areas of focus.

Memorial Day

1-b-yellowstone-sma — Yellowstone in the rain by Paige

When I was writing my grandmother’s history a few years ago, I learned about two of her family members who were killed in WWII. Each was an only son of immigrants from Sweden. I want to remember them today. It is sad to me that they have no descendants to think of them on Memorial Day.

Pete Johnson’s son, Noble Johnson was killed on March 17, 1945 under the Remagen Bridge in Germany. He was a welder and working underwater to repair a part of the bridge when he was killed. He left behind his parents and a sister named Helen.

The other young man was Cerie’s cousin Harvey Nelson, who came home looking just fine after being wounded in the War. He died suddenly on May 7, 1949 from a piece of shrapnel that dislodged in his body. He was the only child of Judy, the widow of Waldemar Nelson.

It’s sobering to think of their sacrifice and their families’ grief. I can’t visit their graves, but I can write about them and honor their gift.

We made it!

I asked Paige to give me a copy of her AP art portfolio, so I’ll share some of it over the next few weeks. Happy Memorial Day weekend! Memorial Day always feels like a finish line to me. We made it!

What does it take to have music like that in my home?

1-new piano — We bought this piano in February 2007.

Daniel and Paige played piano in public this week. Someone leaned over to me and asked what it takes to have kids play music like that in my home.

I deferred to Paige to tell the woman how long she’s studied piano, and I started thinking about “what it took” to get where we are now. My mind kept going back to the financial aspect of it as I drove away from the event in my 16-year-old van (which I love). Every month, instead of a car payment, we pay a piano teacher. Can a person learn to play piano with a less expensive teacher? Of course! But we wanted the opportunities a professional teacher could offer. We invested in a grand piano in 2007. The kids love this instrument and it is fun to play. This helps them want to practice. Can a person learn to play beautifully on an upright piano? Of course! For our family, having this piano in a music room has been a symbol of our commitment to music and this commitment has become part of our family culture. As for incentives for practicing, we don’t allow media time until the kids have practiced. That’s been a great motivator for the boys.

Besides the financial investment, there is an investment of time. By no means do I resent the money and time we have spent, but I started calculating how much time we have given for music study. Richard taught Paige for two years. I spend one afternoon a week shuttling kids to and from piano lessons. I’ve done that for 10 years. On piano lesson days, I don’t try to do anything that requires focused attention. I’ll fold laundry between lessons or do little projects around the house, but then it’s time to get in the car again. I have no idea how many hours I’ve spent driving. Piano lessons always go over time, so I wait. Waiting 20-30 minutes a week for 10 years means that I’ve spent over 200 hours sitting in the van waiting for the kids to finish piano lessons. Who knows how many hours I’ve spent waiting at ensemble rehearsals, judging events, and recitals. I read while I wait, so it’s nice. And then there is the time that I am home, monitoring practice, or making sure that it happens. I’m grateful that I am home to do this. Is our method the only way to produce great musicians? No! But every hour, every dollar, and every sacrifice is worth it “to have music like that in our home.”

Our family puzzle piece

I was asked to make a piece of a puzzle to represent our family. There had to be space for a 4×6 photo to be mounted in the center. I used some state die cuts to show where we have lived. I placed sepia prints of the kids in bottle caps with a clear glossy stickers over the photos to show where each child was born. What a sentimental journey.

Easter stuff

1-DSC_2709 — Great-grandmother Violet’s tea set

1-DSC_2722 — I have lots of pink dishes from Richard’s mother. I rarely have a chance to use them, but I love the color.

1-DSC_2723 — It’s time to bring out the pastels. That plant in the lower left is another victim of my inability to keep any plant alive. It is only two weeks old. It is limp and lifeless after being over-watered (I think.)

1-DSC_2711 — Daniel gave me this rabbit many years ago. It looks right at home with the tea cups. I drink cocoa from a tea cup now. It’s a smaller serving and I feel so ladylike.

I realized very late this year that I’d forgotten to decorate for Easter. I had forgotten that I had an Easter wreath. I finally unpacked the pink plates. I have spent more time in the New Testament this week. Richard presented the annual Easter Family Home Evening lesson. We open eggs with objects related to the Savior’s sufferings, death, and resurrection inside. We read scriptures associated with each.

I saw the original of this painting last year and I have a print of it framed beside my desk. This images helps explain the times when my burdens have been lightened because I have relied on the Savior. It reminds me that the Savior understands grief and pain and sin and every little thing. It reminds me how precious Jesus is to the Father. It reminds me how precious he is to me. Perhaps it says something significant to you, too.

Clipboard01 — Agony in the Garden by Frans Schwartz

Mark updated our white board calendar yesterday. I was grateful for the image that he chose to draw on Easter Sunday. The empty tomb is my favorite symbol of hope.

I will miss…

…walking into Paige’s room and finding surprises like this when she moves away to college. We’re in the middle of an art explosion here as she completes her portfolio. (Sorry for posting an unfinished work, Paige. The process is fun to watch, not just the finished product.)

Wedding Day at Troldhaugen

1-IMG_0116 — Paige played Melodie op. 3 #3 by Rachmaninoff; Mark played Trumpet Fanfare by Vandall and Windflower; Timothy played Solfeggietto by CPE Bach and Titanium Tocatta by Vandall; Daniel played Wizard Fantasy by Leaf and Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, op. 65 #5 by Grieg.

Last night was my favorite piano recital so far for our children. They each played so well. I could hear improvement in the areas they have focused their pratice this year, whether it is in expression, strengthening the hands, or dexterity. I thought I’d share a small part of my experience at this recital, even though it only focuses on one child. They ALL made us proud.

Daniel sat down to play at the grand piano at the small recital at our library. The room was full of young boys not far into their piano study. When they heard that one of Daniel’s songs had the word, “Wizard” in the title, there were excited whispers among the youngest of boys.

I smiled, knowing exactly what the notes were coming, having heard him play them for months. I expected that Daniel would play well and I trained my attention to the rows of children behind me and how they would respond.

However, when he began to play, I learned that my attention couldn’t be shared. The music drew me to it and I could think of nothing else. Daniel’s playing was affecting me in a dramatic way. When the dynamics soard in Grieg’s Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, I saw briefly the boys in my peripheral vision respond to its power, but my eyes filled with tears and could see no more that that. I realized that I was probably the one benefitting most from this music played by my son.

The phrases of music felt like a blessing, a benediction, a celebration of his years of work. I swept away tears with my fingers and applauded when he finished. I am wondering if it’s time to just embrace the tears that come more freely with the years, or to continue to try to hide them. Do I really want to hide tears of happiness?