Who's Counting?

Today is May 1.  That means that our Tay has just 3 months to go on his mission.

Just sayin'.

Canadian Mormons Are So Wonderful!

I just had a phone call from the sister of a woman in Canada who lives in the ward where our Elder Hill is serving.  The Canadian sister is going to be in town visiting the woman who called me, and they offered to let me bring something over so she can take it back to Elder Hill if we want.  This is the third time this has happened (different people each time).  We've also had two different people write or email us to tell us about their love for our son.

I will never look at a missionary the same again.  It is wonderful to know that people are watching out for our son and are willing to take care of him while he is far from home.

Thank you, Canada!  I love you.

Facebook Writing Prompt

When Tay was about 6 or 7 years old, he LOVED the movie "Jaws."  One day he came upstairs and seriously said to me, "Mom, if you're ever in the ocean and you hear DUN-UH. DUN-UH get out of the water QUICK."

Presidential Inauguration

Don't worry--I won't wax political on you.  But today I read that the President must be sworn in on January 20.  Since that was on a Sunday this year, they opted to hold the inaugural "festivities" on January 21.  But President Obama was still sworn in on January 20.  Did you know that?

Neither did I.  And this is why.

20 years ago today I was in labor.  20 years ago today there was NOTHING on TV on any channel except the Presidential Inauguration.  20 years ago today Bill Clinton was being inaugurated as our nation's president.  I remember the day very well.

Only guess what?  It seems that what we were all supposed to be watching on television (forgive me for not being interested that day) was just the FESTIVITIES.  It wasn't even the real thing. 

I'm kinda ticked, to be honest.  It's one thing to watch the president get sworn in ON EVERY CHANNEL.  It's another to watch a party.  When you're in labor.  All day. 

I'm just sayin'...

Once Upon A Time...

…an 85-year-old woman lived by herself and went to Church in her ward in Canada. A new missionary came to their ward, and she learned from him that he was from West Jordan, Utah. By coincidence, the woman’s daughter also lived in West Jordan. Since the daughter was going to go visit her mother in Canada, she had her mother contact the missionary. The Elder gave the woman HIS mother’s cell phone number, and a friendship was born.

The daughter lives almost exactly ½ mile due east of us. She leaves for Canada tomorrow morning, but she said she’d take a package with her if we’d like. On Sunday she will be attending the ward where our Elder Hill is serving.

Small world. Happy mama.

Sweet Memories

On Tuesday, July 31, our son was set apart as a full-time missionary for our church.  Here is a picture of the group of boys we've seen a lot of at our house for the past two months:



Craig, Chris, Tay, Ryan, Logan giving "The Smoulder"

 These boys are singers.  They are worthy priesthood holders.  They are fabulous men.

Ryan, Chris, Jace, Taylor, Craig, Logan, and Landon (above)

Here they are after Tay was set apart.  This was after the tears had mostly subsided.  The Spirit in our home was strong.

Tay was blessed with many things, and after the stake presidency left, we gathered as a family (we consider these young men part of our family) and shared the things we remembered about the blessing as well as any advice we had with Tay, who wrote his thoughts, feelings, and impressions in his jounral as we went.

One of the things Tay was admonished to do was to share his experiences with his "dear sister," who is also serving a mission.  That was sweet to me, as I pray that our children will be friends throughout their lives.

After Tay was set apart, he hugged each of the brethren in the circle (his dad, President Hansen, President Wilson, President Watson, Bishop Donat, Uncle Derek, Uncle Brant).  Then he hugged me.  Then he went straight to Landon and then to Ashtyn.  More heart pictures.

We took some pictures.  I love that the "big boys" let Landon (and encouraged him to) photo bomb their group pix.

Everyone left at about midnight.  It was a long, sweet night.

At 5:30 a.m., Logan showed up at the door.  Tay and Chris had planned to attend a temple session, leaving our home at 6:00.  I went out to the living room to get the door.  Tay had beat me to it, and he and Logan were hugging when I got out there.  I heard Logan say, "Is it OK if I just hang here till you go?"  Friends are so important, and we are grateful for these fabulous young men, who have really lifted and encouraged one another.  We've loved Logan since he was about 3.  We met Chris when the boys were in 3rd grade.  The others are high school/choir buddies, and they are seriously wonderful.  There are many more like them, all of whom are either on or preparing for missions.  Extraordinary!
It hasn't been quite 24 hours since we left T at the MTC.  It wasn't as hard for me to leave him as it was to leave Bri.  I think mostly that's because he was SO ready.  I know he was nervous, but he was also ready and anxious to go.  We stayed busy yesterday.  Landon cleaned Taylor's stuff out of "his" room (mostly).  Yesterday was just a beautiful day, filled with gratitude for so many blessings.

But today?  Today I'm wondering what our son is doing, who he's with, if he slept, how he's faring, if he's getting along with everyone, etc.  My heart aches a little.  I hope there will be a letter soon. 

More Parenting Paydays

Yesterday was Taylor's "farewell" in our ward sacrament meeting.  At 9:00 a.m. he attended the farewell of one of his high school friends, and we attended another one in our stake.  Apparently, all of the "kids" (mostly choir members from WJHS who graduated in 2011 or 2012) from both previous sacrament meetings decided to come to our ward, too, as did many friends from Tay's YSA ward and other single activity groups.  That really touched my heart.  There were DOZENS of kids there.  (And actually, I shouldn't call them kids.  They are talented, beautiful, capable, WONDERFUL men and women!)  My two Utah brothers and their families were there.  My uncle and aunt from Heber came.  Our dear friends from Magna came.  All three of Spencer's parents were there, as was his sister and many of her family members.  We are so grateful for the wonderful support group that our son has! 

Taylor really struggled with putting this talk together.  He studied like you wouldn't believe all week long, but still it just wasn't coming together for him.  He stayed up late on Saturday night and said that he was on version 3.0.  By the time we had sacrament meeting, he said it was version 3.2.  Whatever version it was, he did a great job.

After Tay spoke, he, Logan, Chris, Craig, and Ryan sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."  They sang a cappella in 4-part harmony, and it was LOVELY.  They've held practices at our house during this past week, which was also a wonderful blessing.

Our stake president asked that we stay for our entire block of meetings.  Taylor didn't really want a "party," so we didn't do anything at our house afterward.  Because I had a Primary lesson to teach, I didn't get to do a lot of visiting afterward, but it was a marvelous payday for sure. 

***

At 7:00 a.m. yesterday, the stake presidency held a combined high council / bishopric training meeting.  They invited all of the missionaries who are leaving within the next month and their parents to attend the meeting.  One of the 8 who was there was a young man who just returned from his mission.  All of the other seven are young men leaving from our stake in the next month.  There was one young man with special needs who will be gladly serving at the Jordan Institute, which is just a couple of miles from our home.  The rest were boys who we have known since they were in elementary school:  TJ, CJ, Chris, Taylor, Kjel, and Mark.  They are going all over the world, including North America, Africa, South America, and Central America.  The stake president invited each of those 8 young men to stand and share their testimonies.  They each took just a couple of minutes, but they bore powerful witness of the Savior.  It was a marvelous way to begin a Sabbath morning.  My goodness!  The power in that room!

***

Our "sons" Craig and Chris were endowed in the Jordan River temple on Saturday evening.  We asked if it would be alright if we came, and they both said they would LOVE that.  It was so fun to walk into the endowment room and see Taylor and two of his dear friends sitting there.  Each of the boys, Craig and Chris, waved at me once I was seated, and it made my heart melt a little bit. 

Craig's mother was adorable as we greeted them in the Celestial Room.  She expressed her love for Taylor and her gratitude for our support of Craig.  Craig goes to Seattle, Washington, in early September.

I sat next to Chris's sister during the session.  She pointed him out and told me that was her brother.  I said, "Hey!  That's my son!"  Chris enteres the MTC on August 15th.  He will be learning ASL to teach in Mesa, Arizona.

We have "sons" in Washington, D.C.; Mexico; New York, New York; and other areas throughout the world

I know that in 9 days--when Taylor leaves--life is going to change a lot.  Those young men will be friends in a special way for their entire lives, but things will be different when they come home from their missions.  They will go to school and get married and get jobs and have babies and move away.  I am so grateful to have had the chance to be their Mama Hill during this season!

Sharing a Memory -- 80's Rock

When Tay was about 6, my brother came to visit from California.  He brought a LOT of music with him, because, you know, a lot of CD's can fit in one little carrying case.  He was playing something, and Taylor was not interested.  Finally Brant said, "What music do you like, Tay?"  Taylor said, "I like 'We Built This City.'"  Brant looked at me, and I said, "Yes.  That would be Starship."  He looked at Tay and said, "I bet I can hook you up."

Sure enough, within minutes, we were blasting WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROLL.

Now Brant and his family live in our basement apartment-of-sorts.  Taylor lets Brant's boys come up and use his computer to download music to their iPods.  Here is the conversation I just heard:

K:  Do you have any 80's rock?
T:  Dude, rock 'n' roll is the BEST.
K:  I know, right?  But do you have any?
T:  Dude, my iPod is full of it.  It's all on my iTunes.  Take what you want.

What goes around comes around, even if it's evolved somewhat in 13 years.  Maybe when T gets home from his mission he will go to Kandon for music tips.

Sharing a Memory

Children's songs were a huge part of my childhood.  My dad is definitely a music man, and there was always music of all kinds at our house. 

My husband did not have the music experience (our version of "The Classics" is very different), and at first he thought all of the silly songs we sang at my parents' home were stupid.  But he's always been a really good sport, and it wasn't long before he was a professional children's song singer.

We continued the tradition of singing songs with our children, especially when we were in the car.  Our children have always been good travelers, but like anyone, they grew weary of long drives.  So we would sing songs.  To this day they call it "The Song Game."  It's not really a game; everyone gets to take turns choosing the song we will sing.  With six family members, three "rounds" of the song game can get you pretty far down the road.  Our songs range from Primary songs to rounds to silly songs to repeat-after-me songs, and our repertoire has grown as the kids have gone to Scout and YW camps.

One of the rounds I learned as a child goes like this:

Sweetly sings the donkey at the break of day.

If you do not feed him, this is what he'll say:

"Hee-aw!  Hee-aw!  Hee-aw, hee-aw, hee-aw!"*

As a little boy, Taylor loved this song.  T's birthday is in January, so he was in nursery from the time he was 18 months till he was nearly 4.  He could talk really well, but he just thought the song was "Swink-Swink da Donkey."  One day the nursery leader came to me, looking exasperated.  She said, "You have to help me.  Taylor gets so upset if we can't sing his favorite song, but I don't know what it is!  I can't understand what he's saying."  I started laughing, and said, "Is it 'Swink, Swink da Donkey'?"  She looked instantly relieved and said, "Yes!  That's what he's saying!  What is that?"  So I taught her the song.  And everyone lived happily ever after.**

*You have to make sure to do the hand movements, too.
**Because who wouldn't be happier when they know that song?

Taylor Is My Favorite

This morning I did NOT want to walk the icy 1/2 mile to the bus stop, especially in the COLD.  So I asked Tay if he would take me to the Trax station.  Just as we pulled IN to the station, the train was pulling out.  He said, "That's OK, Mom.  I'll just wait here with you till it's time for the next train."  We visited about some really awesome things for about 12 minutes.

He's coming downtown to pick me up from work this afternoon so I can make it to my 5:00 meeting in West Jordan.

Taylor is a love.  And that is why Taylor is my favorite when I'm with him.

Sharing A Memory...Named After:

This post made me think about the discussions we've had about where our children's names came from.  Each has its own story, and Landon is grateful he was a boy, because he hates the girl name we had chosen for him.  Whatever.

When Taylor was two or three years old we asked him what his full name was.  He appropriately responded, "Taylor Jon Hill."  We asked him if he knew who he was named after.  He got a very puzzled look on his face, thought for a moment, and said, "I was named after Briana?"

Yup.  Right after Briana was named, Taylor was named.

P.S.  He was actually named after my dad.  And also, we loved that his name was almost like the prophet, John Taylor.  But, ya know, "after Briana" is also true.

Sharing a Memory...Taylor

In 1998, Disney released a new movie, "Mulan."  Disney movies have always been a need.  We did not forego seeing a Disney movie with our family for anything.

In 1998, Taylor was 5 years old.  He sat cross-legged on the movie theatre chairs in the old Reel Theatre in Magna. 

At about the halfway point in the movie, the Chinese army learns that Ping is actually Mulan, a woman, and they abandon her in the snow.  As they marched away, 5-year-old Taylor blurted out, "Rude!"

We love Mulan, and we watch it often at home.  There are many parts that are funny.  But nothing is as awesome as a cross-legged five-year-old blurting out, "Rude!"

Today's Tidbits

If I were super-entertaining I would have something profound to tell you about Harry Potter 7--part 2, to which I have been looking forward for MONTHS.  Yes, we saw the midnight showing.  Yes, I LOVED it and found it incredibly satisfying.  Also, Alan Rickman is GENIUS!!!

3:00 a.m. bedtime is not so satisfying.

I was the first one on a very stinky elevator as I went down to get some lunch.  As each person got on I wanted to scream, "It smelled this way when I got on!"

If you get the chance to go to the COB cafeteria for lunch sometime, let me recommend the ginger snaps.  I love them.  And if you don't get one for yourself, I hope you will at least think of me.

Taylor received his Eagle Scout award at a Court of Honor last night.  Many, many thanks to the Giffords and the Spencer 5th ward for hosting something so wonderful.  I love you, Sami! Just sayin'...


My awesome brother, Derek, presented Taylor and Logan's Eagle awards to them, and that made me remember that I completely spaced HIS Court of Honor over 20 years ago.  Luckily for me, I have gotten to see firsthand the marvelous man that he has become.  It is an honor to be his sister.

And it is an honor to be Taylor's mother.  He is a fine, fine man, as is his friend, Logan, who I have loved since he was about 4 years old.  Congratulations to both of you!

New bifocals arrived yesterday.  I feel like a dork, swiveling my  head all around to try to find the best place through which to focus.  I tried the no-line bifocals for a day and ended up with a screaming headache, so I went to the lined lenses.  Something about the lines equates with "old" in my head.  Eh, well.  So be it.

Flex spending is a God-send.

Great Big Stuff

You MUST watch this.  It's Tay's audition that I told you about.  It turns out that someone DID film it.  He's AWESOME!

Masquerade Ball

Each year the choirs have a dance party together. This year's theme was a masquerade. This is Ashtyn in Whitney's lovely dress, Briana's tiara and jewelry, and the mask she made herself. Isn't she lovely?



Here's Taylor. He also made his mask. He'd kinda hoped for a Phantom of the Opera mask, but his paycheck did not arrive. This mask turned out very cool, though. (We all paper machier'd over their faces, and their dad was very instrumental in getting everything shaped, dried, and cut--he's a keeper!)

Fun Night

Landon and I went to Taylor and Ashtyn's spring choir concert at the high school last night. A couple of comments:

The Belles Voix dresses are a bright, bright, nearly-turquoise blue. When I first saw Ashtyn's dress I thought, "Woah!" But they really look lovely on stage. It matches their lovely voices.

Take 10, the men's group, is better this year than I have ever heard them. They sang "Memory" from Cats last night, and it was incredibly beautiful. I love men's choirs, and this one is really fantastic this year!

I'm tellin' ya, the 2011 Mads are going to rock the world! I will admit that I am a bit biased, since our son is one of them; but seriously, this is a talented, talented group of kids. I'm excited to see what they can do!

BEAUTIFUL GIRL!

BEAUTIFUL DRESSES (Isn't she lovely?)

BEAUTIFUL VOICES = Belles Voix


The Madrigals
"Changing of the Guard"


Taylor and his new partner


WJHS Concert Choir

Guess Who?

Let's play a game:

Guess who hosted high school Regional Solo and Ensemble Festival? The correct answer is West Jordan High School.

And guess who qualified to perform in Regional Solo and Ensemble Festival? The correct answer is Ashtyn (ensemble) and Taylor (both solo AND ensemble).

And guess who is going to State Solo and Ensembles? The correct answer is Taylor, for both his ensemble AND his solo.

And guess whose cheeks hurt from smiling at her son, who was schmoozing the entire room as he sang? The correct answer is ME, ME, ME!

Spotlight On...

Taylor Jon Hill was born at 11:53 p.m. on Friday, January 22, 1993. I had been laboring all day, but I was determined that, after 6 months on the market, our house was going to be sold at that 4:00 p.m. appointment! So I laid around all day, we sold the house, I ate a footlong Subway, and then we headed to the hospital. I was so grateful that Taylor graced us with his presence BEFORE January 23rd! He weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce, and in spite of his mother being stoned for the first few hours of his life, he thrived.

Briana, his 2-year-old sister, called him Tayo Jean (pronounced in the french way--"zhahn"), and Tayo-Jonny he became! We have had to promise to only call him that in private, though, since he doesn't want his friends to tease him for life or longer.

Our T has many talents. He is very respectful; he's confident; he has a lot of raw music ability (which is being honed in high school). He understands computers--he's been my go-to guy since he was about 8 years old! He worked hard to play lacrosse well. He's a deep thinker. He's an awesome writer, including fiction and poetry. He keeps friends for a long time.

When Tay was little, he always snuggled with a blankie. Or an article of clothing. Whatever he could find was fine. It made me a little gaggy when he chose dirty underwear from the hamper! Once he brought his pillow into the kitchen, where I was standing at the sink doing dishes. It was after church, and I was still in my dress and hose. He laid on the pillow behind my feet, and rubbed my nylon-clad legs. I had to step carefully so as not to squish our sleeping little man.

For a year or so (ya know, 6th or 7th grade) Taylor didn't do much snuggling with us any more. After that, though, he started draping on us--arms around the shoulders, head in the lap, etc. Sometimes it was a slight invasion of space, but for the most part I loved that we finally had our boy back in our arms (so to speak). Now he is taller than any of us, so when he puts his arm around me, I can lay my head on his shoulder. (I'm only allowed to do this in private, too, but that's OK.) I love snuggling with this boy-man!

Taylor is 17 years old. He is finishing his junior year of high school. In another two years (yikes!) we will be sending him on a mission. He's a fabulous young man, and I can hardly wait to watch him become the man I know he can be!

Shot in the Neck with a Crossbow

Remember that game called Gossip? It's where one person comes up with a phrase and whispers it to the person sitting beside him. That person then passes it along to the next person, and so on. By the end of the game, the phrase is usually pretty messed up.

I did not wake Tay up yesterday (mostly because I was asleep, too!). When he awakened, he went to the very end of school. Actually, I think the final bell of the day had rung. He went into the room where most of his friends would be, and the teacher said, "What are you doing here? I heard you got shot in the neck by a crossbow."

That's close to "Took a shot to the neck with a lacrosse ball."

Take An Aspirin and Call Me In the Morning

I went out running last night, and as I stretched afterward, Taylor said, "Mom, you gotta see this."

I said (still stretching), "OK, what is it?"

"A bruise," replied Tay.

"Lacrosse?"

"Yup."

So I walked over to look at a HUGE, lacrosse ball-sized bruise right at his collar bone line. While running drills, he had been running toward a teammate, who shot. Taylor, playing good defense, blocked the shot with his body. :)

As we gathered around the table for dinner, Tay began complaining of a terrible headache. He took some ibuprofen with his meal. But as we ate, he said that his eyes were bugging him. He asked if we could turn off the overhead light. He said he couldn't focus to see his food. This is when I started getting concerned.

We finished dinner, and he and I went to take quick showers. Then we went to the Instacare. It was about 8:00 p.m. We weren't even there long enough to sit down, and they sent us to the ER. We drove to IMC in Murray, where we sat. For a long time. With about 300 other people who were ill or injured. They brought us in for an initial screening and said it would be about 10 minutes before they took us back. 40 minutes later they finally called us back. (BTW, this really wasn't any surprise, considering that it was the ER and there were so many people there.)

When the doc came to examine T, he could hear a strange rushing noise in his carotid artery where he was hit. They were worried about a blood clot forming at that site, which feeds the brain. They did not want (and neither do we!) a blood clot or pieces of clotted blood in the brain causing strokes or brain damage. So he ordered and MRI/MRA to get a clearer picture.

Tay was in the MR area for about an hour and a half. They thought they could see an anomaly in the carotid artery, but they had not done the iodine contrast during the MRA, and they could not see it conclusively. So they ordered a CT scan. They thought they saw a subtle anomaly in the artery, but they did not think it was going to require surgery or major blood thinners. They told us to give Taylor an aspirin a day as a platelet inhibitor, and to call the specialist in the morning. They also ran a vascular ultrasound as a base point, where again they thought they saw a subtle anomaly. The specialist will probably run an additional ultrasound as a follow up early next week.

Taylor is fine, but he's sad, because he will not be playing lacrosse for a while--we'll know more details after we see the specialist.

We got home at 4:00 a.m.