Trying To Be Clever...

Ode to Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 18:44:17 +0000

For the last three years Sophie and I have been members of our local ukulele orchestra. I know I've posted about it often. On Wednesday morning we learned that one of our longtime members, one of the anchors for the group, passed away. Some of us gathered at the library this morning to share sweet memories of him. We each had personal interactions with him that showed his kind and giving character. It was good to sit with friends and comfort each other. And that's what this group is, a lovely bunch of friends who play happy music for our community. I'm sad that our friend is gone, but I'm glad he was my friend and for this musical group that brings so much joy.

Troubadour

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 03:48:16 +0000

Sophie was invited to participate in an open mic tonight. I was her ride and stayed to watch. She brought her ukulele and ended up singing four songs. She sounded amazing!

Mr. Robot

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 02:39:19 +0000

We went to a trunk or treat party tonight and Topher won second place in the costume contest! He was surprised and delighted! The announcer had each kid say who they were dressed as. Topher used a robot voice when he spoke into the mic and said, "I am a ro-bot." I think that probably helped.

Feeling Green

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 03:26:45 +0000

I've been busy painting. Now that we have three kids at home, our kid to room ratio has changed. Everyone gets their own room! I even told them I would paint their room a color of their choosing, within reason. I did veto Topher's original pick. Sorry to my friend Elise who loves orange, it felt too bold for walls. He went with this spring green instead. Now that it's done, he calls it his earth room. He seems pretty pleased with the result.

I Will Walk With Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 01:25:01 +0000

Yesterday was our congregation's annual primary program! The kids spent all year learning songs to share with the ward, plus each child wrote their own speaking part based on a prompt I gave them. They all did a great job! A lot of work goes into making this Sunday happen and I'm so glad the kids were happy with it.

Here are the songs the kids sang for the program:

I Will Walk with Jesus
Kindness Begins with Me/I Will Follow God’s Plan
Holy Places
He Cares for Me
Close as a Quiet Prayer
I Have Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
Gethsemane
Because
This Little Light of Mine
Choose to Serve the Lord

Topher was the first speaker. I'll share the prompt he was given and what he wrote (and then delivered from the pulpit) in response.

Prompt: This year in primary we sang the song I Will Follow God’s Plan. Who is your favorite old testament hero who followed God’s plan? Why? In under one minute, tell us about a time you followed God’s plan.

Topher: My favorite Old Testament hero is David. He killed Goliath when no one else even dared to do it. He was just a young shepherd boy and he had a lot of faith in the Lord. He followed God’s plan by trusting the Lord and having faith. One time I followed God’s plan was when I got baptized and confirmed. I’ll never forget that time, even when I’m an old man. And I also read the scriptures and I pray and I always follow God’s plan. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Peter: Week 13 in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 02:22:29 +0000

Costumes and Candy

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 02:00:39 +0000

We attended our first Halloween event of the year last night. We went to the annual Boo Bash at Bryan's work. Then, instead of grabbing Wendy's to eat on the 45 minute drive home, we stopped and had fancy Italian food from a restaurant that had an impressive gluten free menu. It was a late night, but a really fun one.

I think the costumes turned out quite well this year. Phoebe curated hers and helped with Sophie's. I made Topher's out of unused pizza boxes, duct tape, a dryer vent, and glow sticks. Oh, and an Amazon box for his hat and tissue boxes for his feet. Those came off quickly, I'll need to tinker with my design.

In-House Costume Department: Halloween Mode

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 03:04:54 +0000

Group Chat

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 01:29:32 +0000

It's really special having two missionaries out at once. It was extra cool on Monday to get to talk to them at the same time.

Sawubona

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 02:04:35 +0000

Topher gave his first real (as in, not during testimony meeting or the primary program) talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. He took notes during General Conference, which provided the outline for his remarks. On Saturday afternoon I typed while he dictated, then I asked follow-up questions and typed his responses. This talk is 95% him and 5% me.

And, even though he was very nervous, he did a great job delivering it.

Sawubona is a phrase from southern Africa that means “I see you.” I know this phrase from a talk in General Conference. The person who said it is the new General Primary President named Rosemary K. Chibota. She said, “This greeting is much more than a simple “hello.” It is an acknowledgement of another person’s worth and humanity. It communicates “I recognize you, I respect you. You matter.”” Close quote. Jesus was really good at this. He saw the woman at the well and He told her that He was the Messiah. He saw the blind man and healed him. Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan who saw a child of God instead of an enemy. Someone who saw me as a child of God was Brother W. because he let me give this talk and I’ve always wanted to give a talk in sacrament meeting. He saw I really wanted to do this even though I’m little. My testimony is that you can see others for who they really are, children of God. You can practice by saying “I recognize you, I respect you, and you matter“ just like Jesus did. We are all children of God. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Peter: Week 12 in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 03:59:45 +0000

Feeding a Small Army

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:11:45 +0000

Before he started his mission, Cooper asked if we could hold an open house so people from church could gather to say goodbye to him. I've never done something like that (Peter's missionary experience has been very different, so we've experienced a lot of firsts with both of them) and felt a little daunted by the request. But I told him I'd think about it. His buddy Spencer was set to go into the MTC the week before Cooper. Since we would largely be inviting the same people, we decided to combine our efforts and hold a joint open house. She provided the German food (Spencer was called to Berlin) and we brought the Brazilian food. It was an interesting culinary juxtaposition.

I cooked for two days to be ready. I now can successfully make pineapple-upside cupcakes, sequilhos, and Pao de Queijo. I made so many batches of that last one that I memorized the recipe. We also took a veggie tray and a fruit tray. Bryan cooked a big batch of Brazilian steak and cut it into bite-sized pieces. He also made all the food signs in German and Portuguese.

We had nearly 100 people RSVP.

I would guess that about 75 actually came.

I didn't take a single picture of the people because I was on my feet chatting with people for over two hours and didn't even think of it.

But I did take pictures of all the food before anyone arrived!

Even though they went in a week apart, they still found each other at the MTC and took a picture to send to their moms!

Fewer Is Better

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:34:43 +0000

Good news! It looks like maybe the fix worked! While I have 100 views on Monday's post, I only have 16 views for yesterday.

I never thought I'd be pleased to have fewer readers. But real, human readers are infinitely better than the bot variety.

For now, we'll stick with a public but unsearchable blog.

But First

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 01:13:25 +0000

Thank you to those of you that have reached out saying you'd still like access to the blog.

Bryan found one more thing to try before I make the blog private. I've just changed some settings, none of which will be obvious to anyone reading. Unless you're a bot, then hopefully it will be clear that something is different.

Until we get this issue resolved, I probably won't post much. I mean, I'll still write something every weekday, but I'll hold off on any real content.

Lock It Down

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 18:32:27 +0000

Here's something fun. And by that, I mean not at all fun. I get anywhere from 15 to 50 views on most of the posts on this blog. I looked at it this morning and we're now between 150 and 300 views on several posts. Considering that it's already unsearchable, we suspect that bots have found their way to the blog. After a consultation with my in-house technical support (Bryan), it looks like we need to lock down the blog and make it private. I don't love this, but I don't want bots to have access to it.

If you would like to continue to have access to this blog, please send me a message (email, text, Messenger, Marco Polo). I'll figure out the logistics of adding specific people.

That is all.

Walk On

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:18:13 +0000

I got to watch Topher at his Fitness Walk yesterday. He had fun and did a good job following directions. I wish I'd gotten a picture of him throwing a football through a hula-hoop, his aim was great!

Into the Unknown

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 03:49:56 +0000

On Wednesday morning, Cooper enjoyed a pancake breakfast at Nana Shari and Papa Ron's house,

repacked to include all the white shirts and the white pants he'd gotten the day before,

stopped by The Missionary Mall to buy a few ties (not pictured), drove to Provo for lunch at the new Creamery on Ninth at BYU,

drove to the MTC drop-off spot in the parking garage,

said one more round of goodbyes,

and went on his way.

We miss him, and I've cried a few times since he left on Tuesday morning, but we're so glad that he's chosen to serve a mission.

The Day Before

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 03:21:17 +0000

Cooper and Bryan spent most of Tuesday traveling to Utah. I think the best part of that long day was getting to hug family once they arrived.

Up, Up, and Away

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 03:39:22 +0000

We rolled out of bed extra early (those of us not heading to seminary or an airplane) to say our goodbyes and get hugs before Bryan and Cooper left.

Answering the Call

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 03:51:39 +0000

Tomorrow is the day that Cooper flies to Utah to go into the MTC.

For the last week our great room has been a disaster while he's worked on packing.

This looks like the mess was contained.

But if you look in the background of this one, during our farewell dinner of Cooper's favorite foods, the chaos is a little more obvious.

Cooper is currently finishing the packing. The chaos will be put away. And then he'll be off, learning how to me a missionary.

We're so excited for him.

What Does the Fox Say?

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 03:03:27 +0000

Art Club applications were due this week at the middle school. Everyone had to submit a piece of art to get in. Sophie stayed up much later than was wise and created this beautiful fall scene with oil pastels. The fox is my favorite part.

Examine Your Feelings

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:12:35 +0000

This morning while getting ready for school, the following conversation took place.

Topher: Mom (said with a big sigh), I'm feeling obnoxious.

Me: Oh?

Topher: Yeah.

Me: You're feeling obnoxious?

Topher: (another sigh) Yeah.

Me: What does that word mean?

Topher: I don't know, that's just how I'm feeling.

Fear Not

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 03:09:26 +0000

On Sunday these three sang a beautiful version of How Firm a Foundation called Fear Not. I wished I'd recorded it. Cooper found the song and was the one that convinced his sisters to join him. I took this picture while they practiced before church. I'm so glad they got to sing this before Cooper leaves.

Peter: Week 11

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 03:59:00 +0000

The Badge

noreply@blogger.com (Margot) — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 02:28:04 +0000

His tags finally came! He was already official, but now he looks the part.