The Academy- Part 1

On Wednesday morning at about 2:00am The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps arrived at Lehi High School.  They travel around the country sleeping in gyms and rehearsing on any field they can book.  It is quite an impressive sight to see a caravan of 3 buses, 2 semi trailers, three trucks pulling trailers, 2 motor homes, and assorted other vehicles all show up at once.  There are 150 members of the Corps and they have a large staff and an even larger group of volunteers that help feed, water and take care of the members.

One of the members of this awesome group is my son, Colby.  He auditioned in December 2010 and started going to Camp Weekends in January.  He had to fly to Phoenix seven times between December and May!  On June 5 he arrived there for the last time. . . The Academy practices or performs nearly every day, so he is busy.  They have two tours- a regional tour that will end tomorrow and a national tour that will begin on July 21.

Each member is allowed to have one bag, so as you can imagine, they are fairly large and packed tightly.  Most of the kids use a bag like this:

These bags are great because they have two compartments.  I'm not sure where Colby has all his stuff at this point, but he has to keep his clothes and his air mattress and air pump and toiletries and everything else in there.  The kids had to sleep in the gym mezzanines at the school because the gym floor wasn't fully cured from its new coat of shellac.  Most of the girls left their bags in the hallway or got a guy to carry it up the stairs for them because the bags get so heavy!

Arriving at a school in the middle of the night is pretty standard.  The bus rides double as sleep time (although Colby says it is pretty loud on the bus most of the time) and then they get to "hit the floor" for a few hours on their air mattresses.  The drum majors are in charge of waking everyone up and they have an hour to eat, dress, fill their water bottles and try to get awake.  Then rehearsal starts.

The parents and other volunteers who run the day-to-day details of the Corps are amazing.  It takes a strong group to feed about 190 people four meals a day.  Yup.  Four.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack that looks like another meal.  It's estimated that the members burn 5000-6000 calories a day, so they tend to be hungry!  Most of them lose weight during the summer because they just can't eat enough to maintain. (And no. . . I will not be going on this weight loss plan- I am WAY too old for this level of physical activity!!!)



Lessons from Garrett's Life

I just returned home from a funeral. . . for a 2 year old.  I am not sure that I have ever attended a child's funeral before- it was very difficult. But at the same time, my heart is lifted up in praise for a Heavenly Father who really does love us and has a plan in place for us to come back to him. 

I didn't know Garrett.  My only knowledge of him was seeing him at band events.  The last time I saw him was the Saturday before he died.  His mom had him and Hunter in a double stroller and had Connor straped on in a baby carrier.  The boys were excited to be at the parade.  I wish I had given him a big bag of candy out of my golf cart! (That makes more sense after reading the obituary.)  Garrett's dad, Brek Mangelson, used to be the band director at Lehi High School and is now the band director at a neighboring school.  He is the person responsible for putting a baritone horn in Colby's hand and getting him excited about marching band.  He changed Colby's life and ours, too.

So, this is what I learned today.  Or at least remembered.

• Enjoy every little detail about every day.  Tomorrow will be different.
• Take lots of pictures and videos.  Even of the stuff that "doesn't matter."  It all matters.
• Listen when prompted.  Garrett's parents had impressions that he might not be with them for long.  They discussed and prepared- whether they realized it or not.  They both absolutely shone today with the comfort of the Holy Spirit. 
• Faith isn't a sure thing.  We just need to have faith that Heavenly Father is in charge.  If we have that, everything else falls into place eventually.
• The sun comes out again. . . just like it did for the itsy, bitsy spider.  We have to weather the rain and dark, but it will come out again.
• Giggle, laugh, and have fun.  Everyone likes to, but it seems easier for children.
• Always carry tissues.  They are great for chocolately mouths, sticky fingers, and tears.
• Boys do like girls like their mothers.  Brittany sat near me and cried through the whole funeral, too.

At the funeral both Brek and Brooke spoke about their beautiful little boy.  They were both composed and happy about the blessing they had to be Garrett's parents.  I was stunned by their strength and that of their families.  Here is the beautiful obituary that Brek wrote.

Garrett Kenton Mangelson was born January 17th, 2009 in American Fork, UT. He died Wednesday June 29, 2011 in a fluke accident in the afternoon at his Lehi home. The son of Lehi residents Brek and Brooke Mangelson, Garrett was named after his grandpa (Pa) G. Kent Mangelson. He had a passion for life and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

On a regular basis he could be seen with one thumb in his mouth and the other hand toting behind him his little blue blanket much like a scene from a Charlie Brown cartoon or movie. He loved his blanket! He couldn’t go anywhere without it and couldn’t sleep without it.

Being the second of three boys in the family, much of his time was spent playing alongside his two other brothers, Hunter and Connor. He loved his brothers with all his heart and loved his Mommy too. He had his daddy’s nose, had blue eyes and long eye lashes that most girls commented on and were envious of. His smile and laugh was infectious. He loved to get tickled and asked often for you to tickle and play with him. His passions in life were anything involving pirates, swords, cookies, gummy bears, trains, busses and chocolate milk.

His mother works at Costco and he knew the sign well and whenever he saw it he would yell out “Costco” and wanted to go there.

Garrett also loved the outdoors. He father owns several four wheelers and a ranger. He loved to go on ranger rides! He would always sit next to his daddy, often with his blanket right beside him. Even if it was just to move it a couple of feet or only to move it in the garage he would always want to go on rides. He would break down into tears if he thought you were going to leave without him. Without fail we would ask for the key at the conclusion of a ride.

Garrett loved his daddy’s marching band and parades. He loved candy and during his last days in life he was seen toting around his candy bag from the Lehi parade. His infant Westlake band hat and his blue t-shirt which indicated “Future [Westlake Thunder] Band” member is a cherished item that he loved and insisted on wearing at each band event.

His favorite songs were “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and the “ABC” song. He sang these often and had the sweetest voice. He loved camping, fires and was very excited to see and do fireworks on the 4th of July. He loved his grandma and Papa and his Nana and Pa and was so excited to see them soon. Most evenings during his last days of life he could be seen sitting next to his daddy cuddling while watching a TV show or movie in the basement. This is a cherished memory that his father will always remember.

We will all miss our little “Gare Bear”

Pickle Explosion

I do not really enjoy cooking.  It takes time and is messy.  And only half of the family will like any given meal, so there's always a complainer.

Today, I decided to be a good wife and mother and make a casserole for dinner so that it would be ready for the boys after Reed's baseball game and so that I could have leftovers after City Council.  I even used leftovers, so I should just about be translated.  The grand finale was a sprinkling of cheese on top.  I reached into the refrigerator to get the cheese and the Half-and-Half container jumped off the shelf.  When I went to grab it, I apparently nudged the gigantic Costco-sized jar of dill pickles.  They plunged to their death on the unforgiving slate floor. 

So, then I had to clean up the regular cooking mess PLUS the evil pickle disaster.

Did I mention that I don't even like dill pickles?

Currently. . .

I am:

• enjoying summer vacation.
• working on getting my home decluttered.
• eating no-bake cookies that are totally delish.
• drinking water and strawberry limeade.  ( Haven't had a DC all day!)
• hoping that it doesn't really take three weeks for my camera to get fixed.
• wishing that a bag of money would fall out of the sky!
• worrying about what direction my life should be headed.
• wanting to know.  Now.
• trying to relax and enjoy the journey.
• praying that my children will be strong and make correct choices.
• feeling happy.

Four Outs???

I love baseball. 

Memories of my childhood include laying in my bed listening to the Red Sox play as I drifted of to sleep on warm summer nights.  My whole childhood and youth were filled with seasons of Red Sox games because my parents were fans.  Ok. . . my mom was more of a fanatic.  She was normally quite mild mannered, so hearing her call the pitcher a bum and ranting about the manager-du-jour was pretty amusing.  During those years I was a fair weather fan who mostly watched the games because they were on- not because I was interested.

Then there were the dark years. . . I never watched a game during college or in my early years of marriage.  Colby and Parker had no effect on my tv viewing habits, but then came Reed.  I swear the child was born with a baseball in his hand!  He would watch games when he was just a little guy, but the whole thing got out of hand when we moved my mom to Utah.  The Alzheimer's was getting bad and one of the only things that settled her down was watching a game.  We immediately signed up for DirecTV's Extra Innings so that we would have games.  we also started recording games as a hedge against winter.  Little did we know we were creating a monster.

So. . . Reed finally got to play on the Red Sox this year.  He loves putting on the uniform- I think he thinks that he is heading off to play with Papelbon and Big Papi.  I got to the game late tonight, but just in time to see Reed snag this grounder and throw the runner out at first.  The thing that made me laugh was the wad of bubble gum he had going.  That reminded me of my brother Bruce.  He ALWAYS chewed bubble gum.

Any way. . .

About the four outs.  Our pitching was in the toilet.  We had walked the first three batters up, so the bases were loaded.  At this point we were ahead 7-3, but the parents were thinking that we were in big trouble.  The batter hit an in-field pop fly which was caught (out 1) and the ball was thrown to home plate where the catcher tagged the incoming runner. (out 2)  Then  the ball was thrown to third where the incoming runner was tagged (out 3) but he had actually been on 1st base and had passed the kid on second, so they were out anyway (out 4?).  It was crazy, but the game was saved!  We went on to win after the next inning.

Little League baseball just about kills you to watch.  There is not enough time spent on the basic rules and since the rules "change" every two years as the kids progress to a new age group, there is always plenty to learn.  But, there is never any lack of excitement!

I Finally Achieved the Perfect Weight!

It's not what you think, though. 

It has been a weekend of endings and beginnings.  Culminations and commencements.  (That sounds a little Jane Austen, doesn't it?)

Colby graduated on Friday from Lehi High School.  He had a rough start and still has horrendous handwriting, but he made it.  In fact, he was never in peril of NOT graduating (we had several of those students) so I was very happy.  He even has a half scholarship to UVU for next year, so things are looking good.

Friday night we had a graduation party for Colby.  (Thanks to all who came! We love that our friends support us since we have no family nearby!)  It's funny how one minute you have the party under control and the next you can't scoop ice cream fast enough!  What a blast.  Thanks to Scott and Cathrine for all their help!!!  (Ice cream has NOTHING to do with the weight issue, by the weigh way!)

Saturday was family portraits.  Close your eyes and imagine it.  We all go through it.  Why?  Because we are crazy.  I haven't seen the proofs yet, but I will share! 

This morning Colby was ordained to the office of an elder.  We were all bawling by the end of the blessing.  Bad enough that it would have been embarrassing to go to class, so we went home to get him ready for his flight to Arizona where he will march with The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps.

Time flew.  We managed to get everything done and stuff his duffel bag full.  As I looked down at the monstrosity sitting in my kitchen I mused that it was pretty darn heavy (probably over the 50 lb limit) but there was really nothing we could do about it.  Ed said that we would just pay the charge for it being too heavy and off we went.  We went through a LOT of tissues on the way to the airport.  I am pretty sure that Colby was dehydrated by the time we got there.  He hates goodbyes.  So do I.  I am always dehydrated from crying, so nobody thinks that is weird! 

We stopped at the Sky Cap and wrangled the duffel out of the back of the Suburban.  Ed swung it up onto the scale and I said, "How far over are we?"  The Sky Cap said, "You're OK."  with disbelief we all looked at the scale.  This is what it showed!  Finally, the perfect weight!

Guest Post- They Fought For Me

Ed posted this as a note on Facebook today.  I thought it was great and wanted to share and maintain it here on my blog.

Kaye and I are a bit unusual among our peer group. Our parents were older than our friends parents. They were WWII era men and women who knew personally the great sacrifice of war. My mother's father was killed in action in Bari, Italy while serving as as the First Officer on a cargo ship that was loaded with Mustard Gas Bombs. The last of these horrible weapons was recently incinerated at a facility on the edge of the west desert, just 30 miles or so from our home in Utah. Kaye's father was a Scout with an Army Calvary Division. We know very little of his war time service. Like many of his generation, he would not allow himself to be defined by his military service. He was a great man. He was wounded during the war but rarely spoke of the pain those wounds caused. He was part of an Army unit that arrived first on the scene at one of the horrific death camps established to eliminate the Jews. He returned home, completed an education and spent a career with the Boy Scouts and then a second career as a Junior High School shop teacher. Many spoke during his funeral but none remembered him for his service to our country. Those who spoke of his life spoke of more current acts of service. He committed his entire life to doing good.

My father was a radio operator and spent most of his time during WWII stationed in Souix Falls, S.D. training other young men to do the same. He was stationed for a time on Tinian Island in the South Pacific. An island that would remain unknown but for one event that guaranteed it a place in written history. Like Kaye's dad, WWII was a distant memory and he didn't discuss it ever. I can't ever recall him telling even a single anecdote from his years of service. He returned from the war and settled down to become a businessman, friend, volunteer, and father. He was a Mason and a Shriner. Like Kaye's parents, my Mom and Dad spent many hours involved in numerous service organizations. My Father worked tirelessly to support the cause of Shriner's Hospitals and the other charities of the Masonic Lodge that he was a member of. When he died, it was his Masonic friends who came in a seemingly endless procession to express to my Mother the help he had been to them personally.

These men fought for honor, for duty and for me. Like most of my generation, the sights and sounds of war are the ones we see on television newscasts. I took Kaye's Dad to see Saving Private Ryan many years ago. He remarked as we were leaving that he had crossed the beach about 14 days after the invasion first began. It was total chaos he said. And while the movie captured some visual imagery that provoked long forgotten memories, he said it was the sounds and smells that he could never explain. No one could.

Today we remember them. They fought for us.