The Hale Centre Theatre (Sandy, Utah) production sets the play in 1984, giving it plenty of nostalgic 80s vibes, from the tunes to the costumes and ladies’ wigs.

I’m in the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 7:30 p.m. shows, and Saturday 4 p.m. performances. Tickets are at hct.org. Get yours while they’re still available.

Here’s a link to a Google Photos album with pictures and videos from the show.

The post Footloose at Hale this summer appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

Dominic

Dominic (19) completed his machine gunner training with the U.S. Marines infantry and is stationed in Southern California. He continues on exercises with his platoon to advance his combat readiness. Last summer, he purchased a used VW Jetta and uses it for excursions from the base.

In November, he attended his first Marines Ball in Las Vegas, spent a long Thanksgiving weekend with us, and then returned home for a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Year’s. We loved having him with us at home a few times last year, during July, November, and December. This June will mark the end of his second year of active duty and the start of year three of his four-year Marines contract.

Eliana

Ellie (23) is in her second year as a dental assistant at Pioneer Valley Dental in West Valley City. She lives in the Sugarhouse and loves that area despite the immense road construction (which seems familiar everywhere along Utah’s Wasatch Front).

This year, she has been on several trips to see her favorite artists in concert. She saw Billie Eilish, Lana Del Ray, Tyler the Creator, and Chappell Roan, among many others. We love that we live close enough to get together for dinner, games, family activities, and celebrations.

Vickey

Vickey enjoyed the summer family trip to Vermont (more on that below). She loved playing host (and second Mom) to Olympia (and Taylor, her boyfriend) and Penelope Nelson at different points this year. Not to mention a long-needed visit with their real Mom and one of Vickey’s best friends, Ellen. We hosted several visitors throughout the year and loved seeing everyone who had visited and getting caught up.

One of her favorite memories of 2024 was going on a road trip with her Mom, sister, and nephew. The trip’s main objective was to reunite her Mom with her best friend from high school, Jane. It was a treat to see some of the most beautiful landscapes, eat at different local restaurants along the way (Grand Junction was a surprise “foodie” town!), and see/hear all the fun stories about her Mom and best friend (who exclaimed: “You don’t look a day over 50!” when they hugged each other for the first time in many years). The last stop on the trip before dropping Rachel off in Albuquerque was in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We met up with several of the family’s women and had a great time playing games, eating, and shopping our way through the town.

Pete

As 2024 began, I rehearsed and then performed about 50 shows of Fiddler on the Roof at Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy in two months (here’s my photo album from the production). The show played during the Utah legislative session, which always adds a layer of complexity and additional meetings to my regular work in the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. It was a hectic time.

I’m still the managing director of business services at GOEO, overseeing a team of about 30 state workers who administer seven federal and state programs supporting Utah small businesses and entrepreneurs. August marked the completion of my sixth year at GOEO.

Last summer, I played Sam in the Sandy Arts Guild’s production of Mamma Mia! (Here’s my photo album from the production.)

I serve as a Sunday school teacher for some of our neighborhood teenagers and as a West Valley City My Hometown initiative service missionary at church.

The Family

Vickey and I celebrated 25 years of marriage last June and marked the occasion with a 10-day trip to visit and be with my sister’s family in Hyde Park, Vermont, where we attended her oldest son’s high school graduation. My brother and his family joined us for the outing. Vermont is beautiful. We enjoyed a slower pace of life, lots of time exploring on hikes, visiting lakes and waterfalls, downhill mountain biking at Bolton Valley Resort, and a couple of visits to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I especially enjoyed the apple fritters from North Country Donuts in Morrisville; they were the best I’ve ever tasted and might be worth a trip back to Vermont.

In 2024, we played host to our good friend Charles, who is married to one of our best friends (Tracey) while he prepares to join the U.S. Air Force. We have loved getting to know Charles. Our dog, Jetson, particularly loves having a jogging buddy in the house and will keep up with Charles for 6- to 8-mile runs.

Last year, we started a family holiday bake-off tradition based on the popular Great British Bake Off. Vickey and Pete took first place with their Yule log creation. This year, the selected theme for the bake-off was a Christmas-themed snow globe. We went from five entries last year to seven this year. Our neighbors, the Fillmores, came to judge for a second year. Just for fun, here are our bake-off entries from 2024 and 2025.

For Christmas 2025, we’re looking forward to whatever challenge my brother and his wife, the 2024 first-place winners, choose for us.

We hope you and yours have a wonderful New Year’s filled with opportunity and fun. And we thank God for the gift of His beloved Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

The post 2025 New Year’s letter appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

The cast was so talented. I loved listening to and performing with my new friends in the cast.

Here’s a link to a Google Photos album with pictures from the show.

The post In Mamma Mia! at SAG this summer appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

It’s the second time I’ve been in Fiddler. The first time was in 1987, when I was just 17 years old, with the Schenectady Light Opera Company in upstate New York, and I played Fyedka.

When the production opened, and we played to an audience mostly comprised of family and friends, the volume of the vocal cheers and applause caught me off guard. I was overwhelmed with Fiddler’s reception from the audience, which continued throughout the two-month run.

The show was double-cast. I was in the Monday cast, and we delivered around 50 performances in about eight weeks. It was a lot of work and tons of fun.

I loved working with my new Fiddler theater friends.

Here’s a link to a Google Photos album with pictures from the show.

The post Fiddler on the Roof at Hale this winter appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

Dominic (18) graduated from Bingham High School in South Jordan last June. A couple of weeks later, he flew to San Diego to begin his boot camp for the U.S. Marines. We took a family trip to Southern California to pick him up from boot camp in mid-September. He was home with us for a few weeks, then returned to continue his Marines school of infantry training at Camp Pendleton. We’re proud of what Dominic is doing and who he’s becoming.

Eliana (22) lives with roommates in Sugar House. Last year, she went to work for a dental practice office in West Valley City and trained as a dental assistant. She and her girlfriend, Karla, have traveled to several music concerts and taken a couple of fun vacations. We enjoy having them join us for dinner and meeting to eat out or watch movies.

Vickey is in her second year of teaching special education and being the faculty advisor for the Black Student Union club at Herriman High School. She’s in charge of our church’s compassionate service and stays busy with work and family.

Pete works in the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. He started working there in 2018. He’s the managing director of the office’s business services team, with 25+ people across the state who administer government programs to support Utah entrepreneurs. Last winter, he performed in Titanic The Musical, and this winter (Jan. to March), he’s performing again, this time in Fiddler on the Roof (MWF cast), both at Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy. He teaches youth Sunday school at church and serves as a volunteer service missionary for the West Valley City My Hometown initiative.

2023 was a year for the record books, as Pete and Vickey became empty nesters. We’re on to a new chapter for our family. We’re so grateful for all our Father in Heaven has blessed us with, especially good family, friends, and neighbors. We hope to continue our journey of becoming our best selves — of becoming more like our Savior. We’re indebted to Jesus Christ for all He’s made possible for us to receive and benefit from. Here’s to an awesome 2024!

The post 2024 New Year’s letter appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

His decision to join the Marines opened new chapters for our family:

• We became a military family, which, until he met with the Marines recruiter, we’d never considered or planned for.
• We experienced a child leaving home quickly and abruptly, unlike our oldest, who took two years post-HS to move out.
• We became empty nesters.

When I left home in my late teens, it was for things like summer band and theater camps. And as a high schooler, I feared being drafted into the military.

And now my son — who left for boot camp one month before turning 18 — is head-first into the military, at least for eight years. It was an adjustment and a new reality I hadn’t prepared for.

Change can be unsettling.

Most people will never know what having a child at the U.S. Marine Corps boot camp is like. It’s not like boys, scouts, or summer camps. It’s more intense. The stakes are high. And what happens during boot camp changes your child’s life trajectory.

The most challenging part of the experience for parents is the lack of direct communication with your child. Most of our friends are familiar with ecclesiastical missions, where missionaries can message family members weekly and even stay connected through regular video calls and social media posts and comments.

Our son could only mail letters from boot camp through the U.S. Postal Service. And he got to call us once for about five minutes near the middle of his 13-week boot camp experience, and one more time, for about twice as long, the Sunday after his boot camp crucible.

Our communication was also through snail mail. There was about a two-week lag between when we’d write him, and he’d write us back. Asking questions and getting direct answers proved improbable. So, we learned to be good guessers.

Mostly, he was busy and didn’t have much time to write. So, the messages we received were short. He talked about how much he missed his family, certain foods, and the ability to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He also talked about how difficult and challenging his physical and mental experience was. He was his platoon’s scribe, which meant he assisted the drill instructors and stayed up an hour or two longer than the other Marines.

Tip: Finding the correct address to mail letters to our son was difficult. We finally found the authoritative source for his boot camp mailing address on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot website.

Our family benefited from one communication tender mercy. Our son chose to spend a couple of hours on Sunday mornings in worship. Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve captain who volunteers as a service missionary for the Marine Corps recruits. He helps organize their Sunday worship services.

As a civilian volunteer, he can contact the recruit’s parents. Getting a phone call from him on the evening of the first Sunday after we’d sent our son to boot camp was reassuring. After that, each Sunday, my wife and he would exchange a few text messages. He’d share short updates so we had a general idea of how things were going for our son.

These texts seemed like a lifeline to our son. We’re so grateful to Elder Page for his service to our country as a retired USAFR captain and as a fellow latter-day saint.

It’s difficult to overstate how foreign it is, in 2023, to be so disconnected from your child. We’re used to nearly immediate methods of communication, and resorting to physical letters seems so last century.

We also joined a Facebook group led by family members of former recruits and U.S. Marines. It was a nonprofit group of volunteers. They shared the best information we received about what was going on at boot camp. The group was supportive and helpful throughout the experience.

Reading posts and comments and engaging with the other recruits’ family members was helpful and cathartic.

The other challenging and different part of Marine Corps boot camp — compared to other more common camp experiences — was knowing the extreme physical challenges our son would need to complete. A 13-week schedule, called the matrix, outlines the various physical and mental challenges and tests the recruits face.

Boot camp culminates in the crucible, which is a 54-hour test of endurance under extreme conditions. Just before my son’s platoon began their crucible, they experienced a hurricane and an earthquake in Southern California. In the Facebook group, many family members were concerned about the recruits’ safety during the crucible. But they were safe and accounted for, even though what they were doing was physically challenging and exhausting.

The mantra we’ve learned is, “No news is good news.” As a parent of a recruit, you hold on to that saying every time you think of your kid doing something more difficult, challenging, and stressful than they’ve ever done.

When we knew the crucible had concluded, we knew our son ceremoniously received his eagle, globe, and anchor pin and officially became a Marine. Not because we got a phone call to confirm that he had completed the crucible. But because we didn’t hear anything to the contrary. Again, “No news is good news.”

Although our son is a new 18-year-old, joining the Marines has made him grow up in ways that most of his peers and even 20-somethings don’t experience today. His maturity and perspective on life have dramatically changed. And with his commitment, he has changed the trajectory of his life and ours.

A remnant of the Vietnam War seems to be the relegation of U.S. armed forces to America’s lower class. I’ve read and seen examples of military service being looked down on by Americans of influence and wealth. This feels very un-American to me. To the extent this feeling exists, it’s unfortunate, if not despicable.

There’s great wisdom in sending young adults off after high school graduation to serve in some capacity. It teaches many important, hard lessons best learned through life experience, not book learning.

Thankfully, at my son’s high school graduation, some of the loudest, longest applause came when the principal highlighted the six members of our son’s 600+ graduating class who were entering America’s armed forces. Our son was the only one going into the Marines.

As a Marine family, we’re now connected to reports of accidents or war. Our hearts ache with every service member’s loved ones when one of our own is injured or loses their life.

We’ll always live knowing that a ring on our doorbell could break our hearts and change our lives forever.

I get choked up and teary when I think of the path our son has chosen and our boy’s service and commitment. It’s a mixture of feeling like a proud papa and anxiety about what could happen during and with the residual effects of his military service.

Every parent may feel this to a degree when their children leave home. Despite my years of longing for less teenager stress when our kids were that age, being an empty nester — like every new life chapter — comes with a degree of uncertainty. It feels a bit unsettling and surreal.

One thought has been on repeat in my mind since sending our son off for his boot camp experience: The family is an earthly experience with the most significant opportunity to become like our Heavenly Parents.

I imagine our Father and Mother in Heaven feeling similarly anxious when their spirit children left to experience mortality. The earth-life choices we all make determine our trajectory after this life.

Change is unsettling, especially if there’s no sure foundation.

Another surprising observation from our experience connecting with other recruit and Marine families is how much love of God and Jesus Christ is shared. There are constant prayers and calls for blessings and protection. So many parents have typed and posted prayers on behalf of the recruits. It has been awesome to feel that unity, brotherhood, and sisterhood.

Regardless of what the future holds for our son or family, my foundation is fixed upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is mighty to save. He’s better at saving than I expect to ever be at anything. In fact, he’s a perfect Savior, and His grace is sufficient.

May God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit be with, strengthen, and protect our son as he serves this country and give us, his family, an eternal perspective and strength to endure. Amen.

The post Thoughts from the father of a new U.S. Marine appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

I enjoyed learning about the ship, its passengers, and the historical context of the disastrous maiden voyage. I also loved performing with a very talented cast and singing some beautiful music together.

Here’s a link to a Google Photos album with pictures from the show.

The post In Titanic The Musical at Hale this fall appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

For Pioneer Day 2023, I’m hanging the new flag from our front porch. As I searched the internet, I couldn’t find one source to say how the flag should hang vertically.

The sources I found all stated that the U.S. flag, when hung vertically, hangs with the blue field of white stars on the viewer’s left.

So, following the same rationale, the new Utah state flag should hang vertically with the blue on the viewer’s left.

I’m no vexillologist, but I worked with some on the new Utah state flag committee. That sounds like a drug commercial where an actor says, “I’m no doctor, but I play one on TV.” LOL!

I tried hanging the flag with the blue on the viewer’s right. But the more I thought about it, and the instructions for the U.S. flag to hang vertically with the blue in the viewer’s top left, the more I became convinced that’s the right way to hang Utah’s new flag, with the blue on the viewer’s left.

Please comment on this post if anyone wants to weigh in on the correct way to hang the new Utah state flag vertically.

The post The correct way to hang the new Utah state flag vertically appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

Dominic (17) is finishing his senior year at Bingham High School in South Jordan. He’s pre-enlisted in the Marines and plans to depart for boot camp a couple of days after his June 1^st high school graduation. He’s a Marine squad leader until he reports to boot camp. He’s getting fit and meets with the Marine poolees weekly to prepare for the next few years. He’s also working part-time at KFC in Riverton.

Eliana (21) moved into her own apartment this summer with a Starbucks coworker/friend and her friend’s brother. They live in Sugar House, near Vickey’s parents in Holladay. She continues to work at Starbucks, Orange Theory Fitness, and some weekends and evenings at Urban Outfitters at Fashion Place Mall in Murray. This fall, she purchased a 2013 Toyota Avalon. Ellie and her roommate are creating an art gallery wall in their apartment.

Vickey moved from Copper Hills to Herriman High School this fall. She enjoys working in a newer school and getting to know her special education team and new colleagues. She was the Copper Hills Black Student Union advisor and was able to start a Black Student Union at Herriman HS. She works with the students to build camaraderie and organize events. She also began taking courses to certify as an instructional coach.

Pete received a promotion at work this fall. He’s now the managing director of business services in the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. He went from managing a team of four full-time employees to almost 20. His new team administers programs that help Utah entrepreneurs, like the Utah Innovation Center, Procurement Technical Assistance Center, Immigration Assistance Center, and a regulatory relief sandbox. This fall, he also performed in The 25^th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee at Sandy Arts Guild and was cast in Hale Centre Theatre’s (Sandy) February to April 2023 production of Titanic The Musical. At church, he’s enjoying teaching the 16- and 17-year-olds in Sunday school.

2022 was a good year for the Codellas. We’re grateful for our association with family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. We give thanks to a loving Heavenly Father for His goodness and the incomparable gift of his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Here’s to 2023!

The post 2023 New Year’s Letter appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.

I had a blast creating Mitch’s character — an alter-ego of me, for sure. He was a rough biker dude and felon, two things I’ve never been.

The show and cast were hilarious, and I loved performing with my Spelling Bee friends.

Here’s a link to a Google Photos album with pictures from the show.

The post In Spelling Bee at Sandy Arts Guild this fall appeared first on Pete Codella's Family Blog.