Month: September 2020

On Wednesday Abe and I celebrated his end of quarter by going on a really memorable date. First we went mountain biking in Wasatch State Park and then biked around Midway a little. Biking on paved trails was positively magical, but the mountain biking had its perks. For example, it made me thankful that Abe and I had not done this while we were dating because I would have incorrectly concluded that we were totally incompatible. While Abe is going “Whee!” I am of the very strong opinion that death is imminent; mountain biking is just not my idea of fun.

On the other hand, once we started biking on a paved bike trail in Midway, I was in love with everyone and everything. On the right were beautiful houses on the left were huge expanses of fields and mountains–and an enormous moon was rising over everything!

Afterward we went to the Midway Mercantile for dinner and participated in one of my most favorite activities, eating. We had fondue (it was so good that when we ran out of things to dip I was shamelessly eating it straight!), shepherd’s pie, trout, strawberry rhubarb crisp, and sorbet. I also tried some of their mixed drinks and red wine and ended up having some slight difficulty walking straight after, much to Abe’s amusement.

Due to the drink consumption I do not remember the specifics of what we discussed, but it was probably the usual: religion, spirituality, Utah’s perks and quirks, our hopes, our kids, politics, and the state of our health (or lack thereof, depending on which one of us is talking). What I most definitely do remember is that the whole evening felt so amazing. I felt so lucky to be married to Abe and to have time to do fun things together–even when we have different definitions of fun.

On Monday morning my Thrive friends came over for brunch. I was so glad to see them because I have been missing all of their get togethers and also didn’t go on the boat trip they planned this month. I get really sea sick and was scared I would beach everyone if I went, so this was a great chance to spend quality time with these beloved friends. We polo each other all the time and are used to seeing each other on a screen so it’s almost surreal to see each other in person.

Trader Joe’s helped me so much with this brunch. I didn’t cook a thing and all of this was done in one hour:

Then Jess stayed with us for the night before her flight back home to Colorado. We played a lot of Otrio with her and also had a fun night eating gummy snacks together and laughing about silly stuff.

Here are some videos of the kids dancing:

Mary turned 8 today!! She is such a sweet, kind, caring, loving child. Abe captured this sweet moment of Nana wishing her a happy birthday. They have such a sweet relationship, and we credit Nana for so much of Mary’s sweetness. They spent a lot of time together before my mom’s move, and we are all certain Nana’s sweet, calm disposition rubbed off on Mary, who is similarly dispositioned.

This was a pretty low key birthday. We celebrated Mary by telling her her birth story, sharing our favorite memories with her, and just telling her all day how much she means to all of us. She started the day by opening her presents and spent the rest of the day playing with them. She got Legos, a new pair of unicorn pajamas, a bathrobe, a paint kit, face paints, a new piggy bank, and a beautiful picture drawn by Ammon especially for Mary.

She walked around all day with a happy smile and nothing makes us happier than seeing our kids feel affirmed. It was a beautiful day for everyone.

In the morning I took Ammon to his soccer game while Abe dropped off the van for maintenance and took the kids to the park. It was a beautiful day with so many beautiful flowers in bloom.

After the kids found a tablecloth and made themselves a picnic lunch.

Then Abe and the girls practiced the new art technique Andrea taught them.

In the evening Liberty came to babysit and Abe and I went on a date with the Tiemans. We met them in Big Springs Canyon and had a picnic together. After months of distancing, it felt amazing to be with real live friends again–for two nights in a row. Wow! Being outside helped us feel safe and we sat at opposite ends of the table, and it felt like the best of all worlds. They are such good, kind, easy people to be with and by the end we were discussing future camping trips together. I hope it happens!

On Friday evening we met the Bakers at Midway Mercantile for a date. We ate at one of their outdoor tables and discussed so many things. The food was amazing and the Bakers were so fun. Afterward we went to their house for homemade ice cream. I fell in love with their dog who was some breed I’d never heard of and can’t remember–but so hilariously friendly! It felt strange doing social things again but also so incredibly nice to be with people we love.

I had one of the heaviest days at work today that I have had in a long time. I went straight from 7:30 to 5:00 with no breaks. It involved 12 or 13 meetings and a call review, and by 5:00 I was toast. Lily was so sweet to support me blowing off some steam with a bike ride, and then I came back to the most incredible beef and mashed potato dinner. It felt like a five star dinner. After putting the kids down, I did yoga (to blow off more steam) while Lily had book club.

Here are some adorable pictures of Clarissa:

I worked from the office again today. The internet technician from Utopia came and concluded that a gopher chewed up our some wiring in our internet box underground.

Work was super busy. After work, I took Ammon to his soccer game. He did dance moves on the soccer field. I cheered for him to help him focus and show my support. He said he scored three goals. He often says he scored goals that he didn’t. I didn’t see him score any goals….but he did get a great block!

At home I helped Lydia with her math homework. It was about reflectional and rotational symmetry.

At night, Lily told me about Lydia’s therapy appointment today. We learned that she has some self-esteem challenges and thinks negatively about herself. That was such good information for us to know so that we can better affirm her and help her understand how much we love her, and how truly wonderful of a person she is. She is so responsible, so caring, so smart, so humble, introspective, sincere and loving. We love you Lydia!!!!

Lily overall felt quite good today and got a ton accomplished with the children, and kept the home clean and even did some organizing. It was a productive day for everyone!

This morning I got approval from my company to work in our office because our internet went completely out. We scheduled a technician for tomorrow. It was very interesting to be in a building built for over 1,000 employees and to have only 8 employees in it.

During the day, Mary, Lydia and Ammon all had their dance lessons. There was a technical difficulty with recording Ammon’s dancing, but below is the girls’ dancing.

They are so cute!!

I will also say that Ammon loves to dance. I’m writing this a day later (Tuesday) and today (Tuesday), Lily told me Ammon danced in Trader Joe’s and it was beautiful. I also saw him today (Tuesday) dancing on the soccer field, when I wanted him to focus on playing soccer. But part of me was glad to see him dancing. I’ve just felt for a while now that he would be a good dancer. He loves to move his body and he loves to perform and get attention, and he really seems athletic and even graceful. Who knows, maybe we are on to something with him!

After work we all visited Georgia. She had a wonderful day today and is making friends at the care center. We love her so much!

After visiting South Fork, I took the family on a drive up South Fork Canyon. I biked up it last Friday with Daniel Olsen and was blown away by the colors and I suggested the family go up today. We were in awe of the colors.

We had the windows down and breathed fresh mountain air. We got soups and grilled cheese at Kneaders afterwords and all just had such a wonderful time. Everyone was so happy and in such a wonderful mood. I swung by target on the way home (after Lily took me back to my car in the Qualtrics parking lot), and when I stepped through the door, everyone was merrily singing rounds of Frerer Jacques. It was one of those truly happy familial bliss evenings.

Here is a cute video of Lily reading to Ammon before bed time.

I felt particularly tired and went to bed early. It is end of quarter so work is a little more intense in some ways for me now as well.

Today was one of my favorite family vacation days I think I have ever had. Even before the trip, I had a daydream of waking up the family to the smell of pancakes in our yurt. Well, I may gotten out of bed after everyone, but I did eventually make a yummy pancake breakfast for everyone using the grill that Lily bought a few years ago to recreate our experience at Slappy Cakes in Portland.

Outside the Yurt, Lily and I saw Lydia sifting sand in her hands. We both thought of the picture we took in October 2012 of 18 month old Lydia sifting sand in her hands in Moab (see below 🙂 ).

After packing up (which is easy when you stay in a Yurt), we went to valley of the Goblins. It is literally a playground that nature has made for children. We spent about an hour and a half just going around and through the features with the children who were thrilled to be experiencing nature in such a fun way.

We finished up the hike by summitting a greenish mountain on the left-hand side of the valley (facing out from the pavilion). It was a bit steep, but super fun to climb, and the view was amazing. I had so much fun with everyone!!

We then drove home, cleaned up, and made our way to the Miner home to celebrate the birthdays of Olivia, Cam, Mary and Clarissa. It was so wonderful to see everyone, and it’s always so sweet the way the celebrate people on their birthdays. I love the Miners! Lily and I ate at David and Olivia’s table. It was really nice to see them since they just moved to Utah and I haven’t seen them in a long time!

The kids sure had a big day. It was evident just looking at them when we pulled in the driveway at night :).