Fall Fun

My parents spent a whole week in our neck of the woods during October. We really made the most of it while they were here. We went to my niece's choir concert, celebrated Grandma Sandberg's 110th birthday, went out to dinner together, attended a student film festival, celebrated Aaron's birthday and our ward primary program, and went to a pumpkin patch. It had a corn-kernel playland, corn maze, haunted house (aka haunted storage unit), and a petting zoo: home of the saddest kangaroo ever. And the Bluemlein cousins just happened to be there, too. Great minds...

We also went to the BYU homecoming parade, which I still maintain is the best one around. You don't have to come early to find a good spot. There are free pancakes before hand. Tons of candy. And it's over before anyone gets bored. This year, I cheered for the JDawgs float, and they threw me some free, foil-wrapped goodness. See? Best parade.

We had a fun little birthday celebration for Aaron in the backyard after our primary program that weekend. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures. Awesomely, Aaron is now half-way to 70. 

I decided to take it easy on Halloween this year because it felt like we celebrated Halloween about five times last year. Too much! So this year we just went to the ward trunk-or-treat and called it good. Okay, so we did also carve pumpkins on actual Halloween, but that wasn't so bad.

I wonder if these two will ever get any closer in height.

Does Annie not look like a full-grown woman? Is she going to prom already? Scary!

"And at last we see the light..."

Aaron finished his fifth and final paper for his dissertation. He and I got in a rowboat and set off paper lanterns to celebrate.

At least, that's what we did in my mind. In reality, we took the fam to Coldstone where we told the kids they could get whatever they wanted. We were reminded why we never have (and never will again) take the kids to Coldstone. They just don't appreciate it. Annie chose oreo creme as her base and put gummy bears and sprinkles in it. Blech!

We were in Idaho visiting my recently-returned-from-a-mission parents when Aaron finished. He got up at 4 in the morning on Monday and finished by 9. Then he came upstairs, raised his arms in victory, and we all cheered. The Provo aunties were there, too. It was nice to be able to rejoice together. 

It's been such a long road, and it's not over yet. But the tough mental work is done. And it's just so great! Now to put all the papers together into a dissertation, schedule a defense, actually defend, and find a job. We can do it! 

We had a lovely weekend visiting Idaho. My parents stopped at our house on Wednesday. We made them a sign.

On our way up to my parents' house, we stopped to see my 93 year old grandma and my long-lost cousin Hannah. It was a nice little visit. I'll have to add pics later. My grandma is an amazing woman! She is always cheerful despite her many health problems. And Hannah is a fellow homeschooler!

It was nice to see my parents were reunited with their little town. Everyone was so happy to see them. The aunties and sisters and elders from the ward helped get the house in working order. The ladies went to the women's session together. After, they served the best cinnamon rolls ever. 

Sunday we heard the mission reports, which were great, and had a Texas feast. Annie had been praying for that meal for about a week. I'm not sure why she felt like she needed to pray for it to go well, but her prayers were answered. The brisket, cornbread, potato salad, coleslaw, blackeyed peas, banana pudding, and peach cobbler were delish! 

My parents were excellent, faithful, productive missionaries. We're so proud of them. And glad to have them closer for a little while at least. 

And it's just really great that Aaron finished that paper. Did I say that already? Hallelujah!

Sandberg Family Reunion

So there was this one time when I planned a reunion for 100 people.

I cannot tell you what a surreal experience it was. I am the seventh child of a sixth (and youngest) child. My aunts and uncle and even most of my cousins have always seemed very grown up. This year when Uncle Gilbert wrote me a check for $4000, I definitely felt initiated into the grown-up club.

As I planned and executed the reunion activities I was constantly plagued by the feeling that I was an impostor. Luckily my sister Felicia, a real adult, was my co-planner. So glad we were there for each other. And somehow everything went okay. It wasn't perfect, but I think people had a pretty good time.

Here was the basic itinerary:

Friday July 29:

1-3 pm: Hang Time

5 pm: Bonfire at Nunn’s Park

Saturday July 30:

11-1 pm: Lunch at Charlotte and Kathleen’s church

1-5 pm: Swimming/playing at the Rec Center

5-7 pm: Dinner on your own

8 pm: The Music Man at Sundance Summer Theater

Sunday July 31:

11:00 am: Lunch at the chapel pavilion

1:00 pm: Church

And here are some pics I managed to take.

I'm so glad my parents were able to be there. I'm not sure I would have survived the actual reunion without them.

My favorite activity was the play--my former acting professor played Mrs. Paroo. She was amazing! Every moment she was on the stage was a treat. It was cool to see her doing all of the things she had been trying to teach us college kids to do. I also thought Harold Hill was one of the best I've seen (and I've seen many). And there were several lines that I finally understood for the first time. This is saying a lot because I've been in this musical twice and basically had the show memorized. Some of that understanding is being an adult instead of a teenager. But most of it was because the actors actually understood what the lines meant and delivered them well.

Can we just say, though, that The Music Man has a very strange moral message?

My least favorite activity was being in charge of the tickets to the play. I was terrified that we perhaps ordered the wrong number or lost some or forgot someone. I was so relieved when I got those things out of my hands.

Everyone who came was so supportive and kind. I was really grateful for that. Giant kudos to everyone who has planned a reunion in the past and will in the future! I feel your pain. Thank you! And now I can look back and remember that I once did something hard/stressful and survived.

BFF Visit

We drove home from Portland to get ready to have my BFF Amanda and her family stay with us. If you know the size of our house, you might wonder what I mean by "stay" with us. I mean they were going to sleep at our house. We've actually had a few houseguests over the years, and it works out okay! We put our kids to sleep on the floor in our room. Then we let our guests take the living room and kid bedrooms. This time we had Annie's new twin/normal-adult-human sized bed. And a foam pad we borrowed from Aaron's parents fit on the floor in her room. Cozy!

It was so lovely to finally meet Amanda's newest family member who is such a sweet, content, happy baby. It's seems like all third children kind of figure out that's how they have to be if they're going to survive in life.

It was good to see Amanda and Brad because they are living the dream--finished a  PhD, got a real job, bought a house...you get the idea. They showed us that it is possible. They are also really great people and really great parents.

We went and saw campus and hung out at the splash pad, had dinner, chatted, reconnected. And Amanda and Brad bought a half gallon of Graham Canyon ice cream and left the extra with us. Remember what I said about great people?

 Thanks for coming and inspiring us, Amanda and Brad!

Andrew and Madelynn's Sealing

The month of July was busy, busy, busy for us. The real busy-ness started when we made a trip to Portland, Oregon for Andrew and Madelynn's sealing. We stayed at the Ramada Inn with my parents. The reviews were bad. We weren't expecting much. But the rooms ended up being totally fine. Annie got to share a room with Aunt Abbie and Aunt Kathleen. She loved staying up late and chatting with the ladies. Scotty slept in a sleeping bad on the floor which didn't bother him at all.

Annie trying out a new fashion with Grandma's neck pillow.

 Portland was lovely--partly cloudy and in the mid-70s all weekend. It was so nice to escape the Utah heat for a while. Aaron and I really love the Pacific Northwest. This was the third time we've been out there together. It was such a treat to see the Portland Temple (where Andrew and Madelynn were sealed). It is incredible! It's completely surrounded by these huge, gorgeous trees. You drive into them and them, bam! There it is like an Elven citadel, a white stone building shooting up into the sky. So cool! Being from Provo, I'm not one to shame an unattractive temple, but Andrew and Madelynn's pictures are going to look really great with this temple in the background. This picture doesn't do the temple justice, but I think we look cute.

All of my siblings were there in the sealing room together. It was an awesome moment. Being second youngest, I'd never been to any of my siblings' sealing ceremonies. So it was cool to be able to see Andrew and Madelynn seal the deal. They are a great couple. The look on Andrew's face as he watched Madelynn was awesome to see. My little brother is all grown up!

Waiting outside gave us siblings the perfect opportunity to chat. I can't describe how great it was. My brothers and sisters are truly amazing people.

Here are the two Spencers.

Cousins! Trees!

The lovely bride.

The reception involved food, food, and more food. My parents bought Olive Garden for a meal after the sealing. We ended up with way too much which means we ate lasagna and alfredo for the next four meals. It was delicious. It will be a while, though, before I visit Olive Garden again. The wedding dinner was also delicious. My mom might have set a table cloth on fire. From this experience, I have discovered that I am useless in an emergency.

Andrew and Madelynn hired a bagpipe player for their reception and ring ceremony. How cool was that?! Is it just me, or do Mormons have a thing for bagpipes? And the McCombses have Scottish heritage--we go back to William Wallace. I was just so proud of this wonderful life decision--hiring a bagpiper. And Andrew wore a kilt thus taking the coolness to a whole new level.

Can you see the wee bagpiper?

The ring ceremony was lovely. And the food. It's worth mentioning again that it was really good. I also wanted to say that Madelynn was hoping to have a signs by the beer and root beer that said "Norms" and "Morms" respectively. Apparently, her mom wasn't sure the "Morms" would find that funny.

The next morning, Andrew and Madelynn took us to church (literally) and then hung out with us at our hotel and a park. Lovely to have some extra chatting time with the bride and groom.

We stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way home. Again, Lord of the Rings was invoked.

It was quite the trip--lots of good memories. We are so glad Madelynn joined the church and our family. Good choice, Andrew!