You may be wondering what Jason was up to while the kids and I were mega-vacationing all the way from New York to Omaha. While work consumed most of his days, he found some time in the evenings for trimming ivy...
...eating Brianna's Fourth of July pie
...and watching our bulbs sprout.
Mostly, however, he built a float.
The Emigration stake had been assigned a float for Salt Lake's Days of '47 Parade on Pioneer Day. Thanks to some inspiration and encouragement from our friend and neighbor Chuck Clark, the float evolved into an Avenues Community float instead of just a church thing. Jason has been involved from the beginning with the planning and architectural design work. Now it was time for construction.
It's amazing how many of our neighbors came together to see the float to completion.
Glitter for days and days. Some of it hitchhiked a ride to our house on Jason's clothing.
It feels like something's still missing. But what?
A cute cat?
Some corn stalks?
How about a rock quarry for the foundations?
Nope, sunflowers.
Rewind six weeks to before we left on vacation, and the kids and I helped paint these sunflowers. Can't say we contributed a lot to this float, but at least it was something.
Plus, it was really fun.
These two might be the youngest contributors. I figure you can't really mess up slapping on yellow paint.
With flowers added, it was time for the finishing touch--a puppy.
Annika thought the sparkly porch was great.
At last, here's the float on exhibition before the parade. Pretty gorgeous, huh. I love how it captures the rich history of the Avenues with its diverse housing types. The Avenues attracts a wide range of peoples, but really, we all come because we love the homes.
Nearly every time I called Jason in the evenings from New York, he was out at the warehouse helping out. Even more, he biked there and back every day since I had the minivan. I have no idea how many hours he invested into the craftsmanship of this float, but I promise that it was a lot.
I confess, at first I didn't quite get the vision of the float. I felt a bit resentful that it consumed so much of my hubby's time and energy. When I came home, he was so stressed about being behind on projects at work. I couldn't understand why he'd spent his evenings glittering when he needed more time for drafting. A couple of Sundays ago, this perspective changed for me completely. We had an atypical sacrament meeting that focused on inclusion and love in our neighborhood as experienced through the Avenues Community float. Chuck Clark and our bishop spoke, as did two dedicated volunteers who are not members of our faith: David Alderman who lives on our block, and Regina, a neighbor of the Clark's who recently lost her partner to breast cancer. Both David and Regina's remarks were beautiful and Christ-centered, bringing to light his injunction to "Love One Another." They felt loved through their experience with the float.
At last, I got it. I finally understood why a silly parade float could be the very highest priority. You see, it didn't have anything to do with the float--it had everything to do with the people.
Thank you, Jason, for catching this vision even when I couldn't see it. Well done, mi amor. I love you.
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