Enjoying the holiday season with Alisa

Maple Mountain Chamber Orchestra Christmas concert.

At the BYU game with Dad.

Alisa is the best baker in the family.

Birthday Story for a Nine-Year-Old

WHEN YOU DIG FOR POTATOES

By

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy 9^th birthday Mitchell- my budding archaeologist.

            When Mitchell’s mom told him to go outside and dig up some potatoes for supper he groaned, “Do I have to? It’s my birthday.”

            “You never know what you might find,” his mother said with a wink.

            “What I’d really like to dig up is a mummy,” Mitchell answered. “There’s a mummy exhibit coming to Salt Lake City at the Leonardo Museum with real mummies from all over the world in January. I really, really, really want to go.”

            “But the admission tickets are so expensive,” his mother answered. “Now get those potatoes dug up. Since the snow melted off yesterday, you can get to the last ones next to the raspberry bushes.”

            Mitchell dragged his feet into the garage, grabbed a small shovel and reluctantly walked to the backyard. He found the spot his mother told him about and started digging. The shriveled vines were his best clue of where to dig.

            First Mitchel dug up a gigantic potato then several small ones. He brushed the moist earth off the spuds and continued digging. Suddenly his shovel hit against a solid object.  Mitchell’s heart raced. He quickly dug deeper and brushed the dirt away. Buried in the ground right next to the raspberry bushes, Mitchell found a wooden box secured with a lock.

            Mitchell wiggled the lock but nothing happened. He ran into the house yelling.

            “Mom, you’ll never believe what I found buried in the dirt in our garden. It’s a box with a lock. I want to get this lid open so bad. What do you think is inside? It could be anything . . . like papyrus or a gold goblet.”

            Mitchell immediately called all his friends to come over and bring every key in their house. He tried each key one by one. Nothing fit. The box stayed locked. All his friends went home disappointed. Then Mitchell remembered his own key collection. He tried every one, but nothing fit.

            Mitchell wondered what to do. Because he was born on December 19 there was always a Christmas tree in the family room in their home. He plopped down on the floor, flipped over on his back and looked up at the tree through the boughs. That is the moment when he noticed their giant silver key.

“The key!” Mitchell said. “I forgot about our magic key.”

That large silver key was how Santa got into their house on Christmas Eve even though they didn’t have a chimney and even if the door was locked. His family hung it on the tree each year. Mitchel always liked to leave the key on the front porch with a plate of cookies before he went to bed on Christmas Eve.

Mitchell grabbed the key off the tree and rolled it over in his hand. Then he walked over to the dusty locked box. He pushed the key into the lock and turned it to the right. He heard something click right before the lock opened. Mitchel quickly creaked open the lid to the box.

There in the bottom of the box were tickets for the mummy exhibit in Salt Lake City along with a treasure map and a secret code that looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics.

“Mom! Dad! Look what I found in the box!” Mitchell screamed running through the house. “The magic key worked. Now I can go see the mummies. And look there’s a treasure map with a secret code in here too.”

Mitchell carefully unfolded the treasure map. He carefully deciphered the hieroglyphic writings that formed the secret code in his notebook. Mitchell noticed a half moon, serpent and the bird along with the picture of a man, woman and child. He followed the treasure map through the house as he thought about what the glyphs meant. He ended up in his parent’s bedroom where they were sitting together holding hands and smiling.

“I’ve got it!” Mitchell said with a smile. This treasure map’s secret code translates to . . .  mother . . . father . . .  love . . .  son . . . Hey, does that means you guys love me. Ah shucks. Thanks Mom and Dad.”

Mitchell gave his dad a high five then he gave his mom a big hug right before he said, “You guys are a pretty great daddy and “mummy”.

John spreading musical cheer in Denmark 2015

My son John is on a mission in Denmark.
 He is traveling the country with this musical group putting on free concerts to spread Christmas cheer all around the country.

ORCHESTRA CONCERT TONIGHT!

I play in the New Horizon's Orchestra and we have a concert tonight at 7:00 at the Sherwood Hills LDS Ward Building at 4000 Foothill Drive in Provo. 

The dress is casual and everyone is welcome.

THIS IS MY ORCHESTRA AT TEMPLE SQUARE

Poem for a Fourteen-year 0ld

FOURTEEN

By

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday Matthew. You are awesome!

I’m not a boy.

I’m not a man.

Will someone please tell me

Who I am?

Food stuck in my braces

When I smile -

Teacher with a whistle

Makes me run the mile.

“Change your underwear.”

Says Mom with that look

But I frankly don’t I care

If I smell like fish on a hook

“Comb your hair, brush your teeth

Take a bath would you please

Practice piano, clean you room,

Or my patience is going to leave.”

Homework and locker combinations

Assemblies, recitals and tests

Gives me days at junior high

Without a moment to rest.

All the girls my age

Look two years older than me

How am I supposed to impress them

When all they see . . .  

My pants turn into floods

Whenever I turn around.

My voice seems to crack

Whenever I make a sound.

 Older brothers stare

Younger brother tease

When will this annoyance

Ever, ever cease?

Too old for Halloween

Not old enough to drive

How in the world

Am I supposed to survive?

Junior High is full of

 Jocks, nerds and bores

I just don’t know how

I’m supposed to soar.

Maybe I’ll just relax

And just practice being me

Cause when all is said and done

I’m content to be

Matthew the magnificent

Matthew the brave

Matthew the courageous

With a sense of humor to save

Late night video games

Lying in my hammock to sleep

Sneaking treats from the pantry

Is all I really need.

Who says you need

Nutritious food to survive

Mac and cheese serves me well

That’s all I need to thrive

You say I need

 Proper vitamins to grow.

I say life is too short to skimp on candy

When your blood sugars get low.

Someday I’ll be the dad

And surely I will say

“Stop doing that!” to my son

But today is not that day.