17 December 2018
Merry Christmas
Christmas is coming a little early to our house this year! In two days our family will be piling into the car and heading to the SLC airport to pick up Julianne. It's been nearly 18 months since we've last seen her, with contact limited to once a week emails and two skype calls. But in something like 44 hours she's going to descend that escalator in terminal 2 and I'm going to run, and grab her, and hug the stuffing out of her! (All the while sobbing, I'm sure.) Her return is all the Christmas I need and it will feel so good to have that Julianne sized piece of my heart that has been residing in New Jersey and New York for the past year and a half, back home where it belongs.
Julianne spent the first couple months of 2018 in Kearny, NJ...a suburb of Newark. However in early March she was transferred to New City and then to Middletown, both in New York. When all is said and done, what with also including her time in the Mexico MTC, Julianne spent more of her mission in New York than New Jersey! She loved seeing the NYC skyline across the Hudson regularly, enjoyed doing service at Ellis Island and with the Salvation Army, survived more nor'easters than I can count, and even got offered a recording contract from a Christian music producer who heard her singing on the street one day. But of course the true highlight of her mission has definitely been the people she has come to know and love. It'll be hard saying goodbye, but we have already started planning a trip back this summer to visit.
Rebekah and I had an interesting conversation a few days ago about what it was like to return home from a mission. Obviously there are all sorts of emotions to do with joy in seeing your family again, mixed with grieving the people you are leaving behind and the end of this wonderful phase of your life that has made such an impact on the person you've become. But Rebekah also said that it was a little strange to come home and realize how much our family had changed. We didn't just freeze in time while she spent that 18 months in London. Logically she knew we were continuing on with life just as she was, and of course she got weekly updates as to what we were doing. But she commented that it took a little while for her to find her place in our family again. Not in an "I don't fit anymore" sort of way...but the family dynamic had changed a bit while she was gone, as we had spent our days together here at home without her. Which of course makes perfect sense, but I just hadn't ever really thought about that being one more thing to adjust to when you return home from a mission. Rebekah is curious to talk with Julianne about it and see how their experiences compare. But it's kind of put a slightly different spin on our year's events as I've prepared to write this yearly letter, in wondering how they have shaped us and changed us...just as Julianne's mission has shaped and change her.
Our biggest event of course, is THE WEDDING! Rebekah and Tanner were married and sealed in the Bountiful Temple on March 3rd. After an extremely lackluster winter, of course the biggest snowstorm of the year was forecast to be on the big day. Murphy's Law? Mother Nature's sense of humor? Plain old bad luck? Not sure which but I was decidedly peeved. How would we take pictures after the ceremony? Would people even be able to make it up the big hill to Eaglewood Reception Center that evening in North Salt Lake? But above all...SERIOUSLY? Snow? THIS day, of all days? Sigh. I was finally resigned to what will be, will be...but then watched in surprise and gratitude as that storm delayed hour by hour as the day went on! March 3rd turned out to be chilly and overcast, but miraculously beautiful and perfect. A friend remarked at the reception later that night that the next time she needed specific weather for an event, she was going to call me for prayers because clearly I had a direct line to the Man Upstairs. I responded that the swear words I had uttered in regards to the weather forecast likely had cancelled out any goodwill I might have had. Our weather reprieve was probably due more to Rebekah's prayers than mine. ha! The snow started lightly falling after the bride and groom and guests had left, we had cleaned up, loaded all the presents into the car and were just pulling out of the parking lot. Miraculous indeed. But in all seriousness, it was a day for the history books. Rebekah was a glowing bride and Tanner, a doting groom. The temple ceremony was beautiful and I could not stop the tears as I watched my baby marry her sweetheart for time and all eternity. The whole day was filled with such love and happy reunions. Family, friends, neighbors, mission companions and senior couples...many traveling long distances to share their love and support for the newlyweds and our family. I was incredibly touched. Rebekah and Tanner are happily living the blissful newlywed life, residing in Aggie Village up in Logan and attending Utah State University. We see them fairly regularly for which we are thankful. They just finished up finals and are traveling down later today to stay with us for the Christmas season. How wonderful to have ALL my family together again this week.
Brandon is a senior this year at ----- High School and I'm already steeling myself for another emotional graduation ceremony next May. This year has seen some changes for our boy. After a great deal of thought Brandon decided to "retire" from gymnastics competition. He realized that his goals had changed and doing gymnastics in college wasn't as important to him anymore. He was developing new interests and hobbies and wanted more time to devote to those. He determined that his meet at Stanford University in January would be his last, and going into it knowing it was the final one made it rather emotional for both of us. Waiting to begin his rings routine on his last evening of the competition his coach said something along the lines of, "I still remember lifting you up to the rings at your very first meet 8 years ago. I'm glad I get to be here to do it again today. You get up there and show them what you can do." I'm so glad that Brandon didn't tell me about that comment until later that evening, because I completely lost it. I wondered why Brandon finishing gymnastics emotionally affected me so much. And I think it's because once again, it was watching him come to the end of something that, like Rebekah's and Julianne's missions, had such a huge impact on his life and had a hand in shaping the person he is becoming. He has learned so much more than just how to do cool tricks. Growth is more than in his ripped muscles. The friendships he's made are more like family. And so though he was excited for the next phase of his life and this change was nothing but good, it was also bittersweet. Luckily, part of this new phase includes coaching. He still gets to see his gymnastics family every day as he runs the parkour program at the gym, and helps coach the level 5 competition team. But his hours aren't as long so he is able to spend more time on his new hobbies, like photography, piano, and outdoor adventures such as camping, snowboarding, and hiking. He's fielding college options right now and is debating between USU in Logan, UofU in SLC, and SUU in Cedar City.
Lilian turned 11-years old this year, got her first cell phone, decided to start wearing mascara, is getting asked to babysit, and really likes boys. Pre-teen, right on schedule. She continues to love playing with her soccer team, while I'm still learning more about the rules and politics of the competitive soccer world. Quite a switch from gymnastics! She's pretty proud that her team took first place in their division in the spring and has enjoyed the perks of tournament travel (hello, Mesquite) and discount tix to Salt Lake Real and Royals games. And because apparently all those soccer practices and games weren't enough, Lilian developed a hankering to play the cello with the 6th grade orchestra. Orchestra? Learning a stringed instrument? But why, when we already have a piano that she refuses to learn to play? She was determined, so we rented a 1/2 sized cello. She attends twice a week early morning practices and I'm rather impressed with how quickly she's learned to read music and associate notes on a staff to finger placement on the strings. I can read music but know nothing about stringed instruments so she's been more or less on her own when it comes to practicing. But so far so good!
Lilian also auditioned for the school play last winter and was cast as Teen Fiona in their performance of Shrek. Wearing her wig for the first time in dress rehearsal she said, "Remind me to never dye my hair red. Or cut it in a bob!" I'm pretty sure she secretly was thrilled to have a big enough part to necessitate a wig. I volunteered to help run the lights for the show so I got to see every performance. It was such fun that I signed up to help out with the musical again this year...only to find myself getting roped into being the music director, heaven help me! We just finished auditions and casting the show, Willy Wonka Jr. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm already falling in love with these kids! Lilian earned the part of Veruca Salt but I swear there was no bias or nepotism going on...the director was the one who cast her. (Even if I did agree heartily with her choice.)
Bryan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this year. we had thought that maybe we should plan some big, exotic trip to mark the occasion and then remembered that we just spent a nice chunk of money on THE WEDDING. So instead we used frequent flier miles and flew our little family, including the newlyweds, to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. It's kind of humorous to watch people's faces when you tell them that you've booked a vacation to Ohio as they try to work out the appropriate reaction to your news and wonder why you would want to go there of all places? Cedar Point has some of the world's best roller coasters. We're talking record breaking heights, speeds, lengths and drops. Plus, it's on a peninsula in Lake Erie so the whole park is surrounded by water and white sand beaches. It was pretty fantastic! One ride, the Dragster, was only 17 seconds long, but it shot you off at 120 miles per hour and took you 420 feet in the air. I literally screamed the entire 17 seconds...but oh my, what fun!
Bryan went on an Alaskan fishing trip with his parents and brothers in August and brought back loads of salmon. I was envious of their adventures, but super thankful for the yummy fish. We also took a couple of camping trips, one of which was to the Salt Flats in January. As much as I love winter, waking up in a tent to 27 degrees temperatures made me realize that though I'm glad to say I've done it, I'll leave the winter camping to Brandon and Bryan from here on out. Interestingly enough, when we did have our big Croft summer campout over the 4th of July, I wasn't even able to go. Our little puppy Oscar was deathly ill this summer. It was when Bryan spent two nights sleeping on the floor next to the little guy because we weren't sure he would make it through the night, that I realized just how much we love our furry baby. He rallied a bit and we thought he was on the mend so I sent the rest of the family off on the aforementioned camping trip will I stayed home to nurse Oscar, only to have him take another turn for the worse which landed him in the Doggie ER for 48 hours. But while there, they diagnosed him with Addison's Disease. Ever heard of it? I hadn't, but apparently it is a disease humans can get as well...most notably, JFK had it. Basically it means that Oscar's adrenal glands had failed and weren't making the hormones he needed to keep his body functioning. We were able to catch it in time and with monthly hormone shots he'll continue to live a healthy and normal life. We are hugely relieved. Good heavens, how did this even happen that we've become such dog lovers?
Julianne is coming home to some changes...some small, some bigger. But overall, I'm hoping she'll find the changes in us to be good ones, as we look forward to seeing how her mission has shaped her. We are literally counting down the hours until that hole her absence left in our family is physically filled again. There's going to be a lot of joy and rejoicing at our house this Christmas!
We hope you have the most wonderful Christmas and the happiest of New Years!
Love, The Croft Family
Bryan, Sarah, Rebekah & Tanner, Hermana Croft, Brandon, Lilian (and Oscar)
