A Hall-aday week

Monday, Tuesday,and Wednesday of this week Heather was with her family in California for Christina's temple date, so I was with the 4 kids while Jeremy was at work. They are good kids and easy to be with.
Monday Robyn had a birthday party for Luke across the street. When I went to pick her up, I finally got to reconnect with Jordyn, a girl I went to junior high with at Lakeridge. She is coming up on her 5th wedding anniversary, prego with her third baby and well settled in a house on the next street. Wow, time flies.
Tuesday I got word that my Grandpa Conway passed away that morning and had a moment of tears as I read the email that he was actually gone. Funeral services this weekend.
That afternoon I took the 3 kids (Allison was playing with friends) to the BYU art museum during the day and we went to Alyssa Merrell's wedding reception that night. It worked out perfect because Jeremy was hosting a big party at the house. This wedding reception was voted a 10 and possibly the funnest one we have been to. We were counting how many receptions we have been to together, all 5 of us, we lost track after 7, its our favorite thing to do together. The reception was on Osmond Lane, so the spacious backyard included a separate mini playground for the kids. By mini, I mean fully loaded with a few swings, multiple slides, and plenty of inbetween to crawl, climb, and run around on. So they loved that, and I loved the photo booth at the beginning of the reception to document this time with them. And of course the chocolate fountain, cake, brownies, and other goodies qualify as dinner's dessert. My only thing-I-would-do-different-next-time is to provide a substantial dinner. We had frozen burritos that just didn't cut it and left extra room for treats at the party. Supporting the bride and groom seems like the cherry on top of these occasions when I take the Halls, it is just too much fun. We got home late and I think they finally all fell asleep around 10:30 after checking in the party at home and sampling the pink lemonade and chip and dip combo.
Wednesday I got a call from one of the dance studios by the Hall's house to come substitute teach a couple of ballet classes, so I raced off to do that as soon as Heather walked in the door. This job hunt has felt like sewing a patch work quilt, more like a mosaic. It feels like bits and pieces of possibilities are the common reply from my efforts to get a job.
The classes went well and a tender mercy: I found out about teaching these classes a few hours before, not a lot of preparation time, so I planned to use the class I prepared for the BYU dance camp in June. I got to BYU and found my prepared class a bit advanced for these kids and simplified it on the spot. When I got to these classes at this studio prepared to teach the simplified class, they were ready for more and I was prepared. Thank You Heavenly Father.
I have mixed feelings about teaching at this studio and at studios in general because unless it is a conservatory styled studio, their focus is on winning competitions and filling up their windows with trophies. Ballet then becomes the hoop they have to jump through to get to compete, totally on the flip side of how I was trained.
Thursday was my free day this week to get my life in order and ready to move upstairs to make room for Curt and Mand in the basement at the Folks'. It felt good to clean out my closet and throw away all the old lotions and potions and clothes that just don't work anymore. Not to mention the company of Marg and Nate who were down for the funeral.
Thursday night I took Kim and David to see "Joseph" at the Scera Shell. Every new song I heard "oh this is my favorite". Needless to say, they relished every minute of it.
Friday night was the viewing for Grandpa Conway at the Larkin place. It was so great to reacquaint with cousins and catch up on all the new babies and life plans. I recognize these times are few and far between when I get to see my cousins, so I am working on being the ice breaker and the one who reaches out first. It is still not the most comfortable for me, but I am getting better at it. I pray a lot hoping the fire of the spirit will melt the way. It works for some relationships and others take a little more time to warm up.
Friday night I went with Dad to pick up Ren and Cathleen from the airport. We stopped and chatted over some Crown Burger, mmm. Dad and I shared a caramel shake, who orders a caramel shake? Crunchy chunks of anything go hand in hand with soft ice cream in my book. That night I let myself in at the Halls and slept there so they could leave at 3am for their California family vacation. I get to hang out with Taylor and Rocky this week while they are gone.
Saturday were the funeral services for Grandpa Conway and I took Taylor with me. It was a beautiful service and the reality of the goodness of his life is a lasting impression for me. It was the most cheerful funeral service I have ever experienced.
After the luncheon we crashed at Julianne's house and Mags and I got some more time to chat. Taylor was such a good sport, but he did enjoy the multiple kinds of Jello and Funeral Potatoes. We got home late and went straight to bed.
Sunday was low key if I ever knew it. We went to church, saw my cousin Emily and came home to chill. That night we went over to visit with Joe and Matt before they went back home. Everyone except for Christina was here for the funeral services, amazing.