thank you america

Nov 11, 2010 by tracy

I love America. I love it through and through. I am so grateful to have been born here in the fruited plains of freedom. On this special day of honoring veterans, my heart is full and I can’t stop crying after listening to this tribute by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

So lovely…

After talking to my children about Veteran’s Day and showing them this video, I challenged them to make something for their Grandpa Ward today to show him how thankful they are for his military service in the Vietnam War.

Thank you to everyone who has helped America be a land of freedom, a land of opportunity, a land of goodness. May it ever be so.

sacred sabbaths 8/22: remember

Aug 22, 2010 by tracy

Keziah and Blythe were asked to sing in sacrament today. The song they chose is called “Remember” and it is one of the lovely songs from Stories of Jesus, which is our favorite CD about our Savior. This is the same CD that has “Gethsemane” and “See the Joy” that I have written about in the past. The whole album is incredible! You can download the whole thing at Hoffman House for only 6.99!

I tried to get a picture of the girls all dressed up, but due to Keziah’s feistyness none of them turned out. Keziah is making silly faces in all of them. Just trust me…they looked beautiful.

Since the front shots didn’t turn out, here are some pictures of the braiding creation I did for Keziah. According to someone at church, she looked like an angel.

Here are the words to the song…enjoy!

Remember

Remember the Man who walked on the water.
Remember the Man who talked to the sea.
Remember the Man whose hands healed the sick;
Who cared about children and what they can be.

Oh, remember. He asks us to remember.
Oh, remember. Always remember Him.

Remember the Man, the gentle Good Shepherd.
The one who fed thousands and brought us good news.
Remember the Man who came to save everyone,
Gave us the truth and taught us to choose.

Oh, remember. He asks us to remember.
Oh, remember. Always remember Him.

Remember the Man who carried our sorrows.
The Man who in three days rose from the dead.
Remember the Man who said “Be of good cheer”
And kept all His promises just as He said.

Oh, remember. He asks us to remember.
Oh, remember. Always remember Him.

Oh, remember. He asks us to remember.
Oh, remember. Always remember Him.

by Roger and Melanie Hoffman

Isn’t that beautiful! The girls did a wonderful job. I love hearing them sing and am grateful the Lord has blessed them with this talent so they can spread His love.

May we more fully remember Him, today and always.

cello choir

Jul 6, 2010 by tracy

I have a lofty (sometimes I think ridiculous and overwhelming) goal of learning to play the cello. It all started with a CD from the band Fiddlesticks and their rendition of Praise to the Man. The cello speaks to my soul. It has a deepness and a roundness of sound that travels into every cell of my body and fills me with joy. I love, love, love it.

The problem is I have a few musical faults. I am not very good at theory. I am not very good at note reading and by that I mean, I can generally look at a note on the bass clef staff (the treble clef is no problem for me) and tell you what it is, but translating that into reading notes quickly while moving both hands, scanning ahead to see what is coming next, and monitoring my tone, my breathing, and my bow…pretty much way over my head. I am not very good at playing music I have never heard before. I am not very diligent about practicing. I struggle with consistency and that is exactly what is needed to become a musician.

However, I have a wonderful teacher. She is patient with my faults, works with my strengths, and inspires me to keep trying. I prayed for her to come into my life and God sent her to me. My heavenly petition? A female cello teacher that would come to my home and not make fun of my poor attempts at making music. What God sent? A woman that would become my dear friend, a doula client times two, a goat-milk-soap-making extraordinaire, AND a cello teacher all rolled into one fabulous package of cuteness, talent, and fun. We are going to be friends for the rest of our lives and when I am 80 she will still be teaching me cello. That’s just how it is.

This summer, she has compiled a cello choir for her students that are out of the beginning stage, but not yet into the advanced stage. It is so much fun! We have an 11-year-old girl, a woman pushing seventy, and me, a 36-year-old mother of four. We all have different parts and we practice them at home and then come together to play them. Sometimes we are all out of sync with each other, playing the wrong notes for the wrong length of time, with the wrong mood. But sometimes? Sometimes we actually make music.

As I sat a cello choir today, I watched the faces of my fellow musicians (I use that word very loosely to describe myself!) and thought what a remarkable experience we are sharing together. We are at different stages of life, have different goals, different needs, different tugs on our time, and yet, we come together and play and work and rehearse and learn together. As we do this, we are melding our lives in a special way.

Because, making music together requires the joining of our souls.

For one hour each week, I get to slow down, focus on my music and think about how to help each one of us play our best and magnify the efforts of all. Such fun!

What a privilege!