Month: April 2019

Today was nice, specifically because it was way less busy, and way more low key than yesterday.

We listened to conference, and Lydia and Mary were extremely well behaved and colored quietly in front of conference. Clarissa and Ammon are at the age where behaving well during conference is a completely unrealistic expectation, so we managed their chaos along with the messages.

My favorite talk of the entire conference was by Tad Callister on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I felt fire in my soul as I listened to it, and for me, it was the most doctrinaly pure and powerful talk of the entire conference.

Weather was amazing today, and we played outside for a bit before having dinner which was one of our summer favorites: BBQ chicken cobb salad. It was soooooo good.

Then Lily, Georgia and I tidied up, and I had a wonderful time talking to my family on the phone and I played some guitar.

It was a great day!

No pictures today. Sorry! Today was the culmination of a lot of Spring cleaning. We had created a giant pile of stuff to go to the dump (and more stuff to go to DI) and my amazing neighbor Scott allowed me to use his trailer to drop everything off.

We also listened to general conference which was generally crazy with the kids, but overall it was a positive experience for me.

In the evening, Lily and I went to listen to literature readings of female authors who publish through By Common Consent. The poetry and prose was really amazing, and it was an incredible example to both Lily and myself of how to put forth a voice that is in opposition to convention, yet still filled with love and light. The authors were amazing. My favorite part was a piece written by a lady who was raised by a mother addicted to drugs, and her whole piece was thanking American tax-payers for everything she had growing up that enabled her to now live a successful life.

After the event, Lily and I had rather intense discussions about how to support and love each other better. We’ve been having hard conversations lately, but they’ve been productive and have given us a deeper understanding of each other, and how to better love each other. I love my Lily 🙂 A lot of the discussions involve differences in how we perceive our faith. Interestingly, the more talk, the more I find we ultimately come together and realize the strength of our common ground. Yay communication!

On Friday we were still spring cleaning. Abe went to Lowe’s with the kids  while I did something…maybe I was working out? I can’t remember. Oh! I know. I video chatted with my friend Ashley, because we are trying to write a book together.

Then in the evening we went on a date with Lucas and Kim to Kohinoor. I basically spent an hour talking nonstop about my faith journey, but they were the NICEST people and just were so kind to listen. Normally talking so passionately would send me into a fit of anxiety afterward, but so far I haven’t felt any. Honestly, if I think about it too much I might, so I’m going to stop writing about it now.

Thursday Abe stayed home for spring break. We woke up later than planned and ended up taking Ammon and Clarissa on a run in the buddy bubble. On the run we bumped into Abby, and then later her mom. It was so fun.

It was a beautiful day and Abe really worked hard to clean our garage. We also organized our closet and downstairs. It seems so sad that we didn’t really do anything especially exciting over spring break, but honestly every time I look around the house I am so glad we cleaned. It is such a relief to not feel *quite* so oppressed by clutter.

On Wednesday we went to a casual baby shower for our friend, Amy. My mom came too and it was fun to chat with all of the women, even if I had to leave conversations mid-sentence many times to chase Clarissa all around the church.

On Tuesday the girls got busy on Mary’s book report. They made the poster almost entirely on their own. Lydia typed the text into my mom’s computer while Mary dictated, and together they put the poster together. It took a lot of time and came out so great.

The only problem was that the glitter glue dripped when we moved the poster someplace safe to dry. Mary was sad because she didn’t like the effect, but I think the drips look like rain drops–and that’s appropriate, because the book is about a garden!

Then in the afternoon I took the kids to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. It was so much easier than usual, and I don’t know why. Normally bathroom breaks are a crisis and I always lose my kids. Well, I guess I lost a couple kids at various points, but for some reason I figured they were fine and it didn’t stress me out like it normally does. And they were fine and I found them minutes later each time, so it all worked out.

On Friday Abe left for a ski weekend with his friend, Jon. Jon’s wife, Shirley, arranged for a bunch of Jon’s friends to spend a couple days in Park City skiing. She is, I learned from her wedding, a superb creator and organizer of delightful experiences. I was so grateful Abe got to spend time with his friend and have such a great time.

Since it was the last week of the quarter, Abe couldn’t go up until after work on Friday. (Also, he made his quota!!! That’s huge because he’s been breaking himself to turn his team around, and it was just a huge relief.)

My friend, Jill Campbell, came over to spend the night. She had a leadership meeting for the MWEG conference, and since the big conference was Saturday, she just spent the night. It was so fun to see her and catch up!

Monday was the first day of Spring break, and Abe took a personal day off. We had grand plans to clean, and I think we cleaned a little, but for some reason we didn’t get a lot done in that department. We did do errands though, and Mary picked out her book for her book report.

It was April Fool’s Day and Abe kept saying silly things to the kids that made them laugh all day.