Month: November 2022

Clarissa and Ammon have still been sick and one of their chief symptoms has been extreme lethargy. It’s very different for these two kids who are normally bouncing off the walls to be so…….immobile.

In other news, Lydia had a check-in today with her speech teacher and she graduated! The teacher said she has made massive improvement, passed the tests, and no longer can be classified as having a speech impairment (essentially kicking her out of speech therapy). Recently, Lydia really started focusing on correcting her “R”s which was her main challenge, and like what always when Lydia commits to something, she conquered.

In the evening, Ammon and Clarissa fell asleep early, and then Lydia and Mary kept an eye on things while Lily and I went to Communal. It was so yummy and I loved talking with her! We got their chicken & dumplings, funeral potatoes and beets. Afterwards, we brought Menchie’s frozen yogurt to Jessie Vandagriff’s house and ate it together while we caught up on life, including the midterm election results (including the great news that Orem is not becoming its own school district). Jessie is so fun and full of life, and we had some good laughs with her. Morgan was at a meeting almost the whole time, but I was able to say hello and give him a hug before we left.

What a great day!

I had a good day at work, but Ammon, Clarissa and Mary continue to be sick. Mary did have fun today planning the items she would like to help prepare for Thanksgiving (all vegetarian of course!) Lily was agreeable to the request, to Mary’s delight.

In the evening, I enjoyed puzzling with Lydia, Lily and Mary and sharing songs on Alexa while we puzzled. Lily was feeling a lot of anxiety, and it was nice to process it with her over a puzzle. I love this family! Also, thank you to Suzanne for giving us the puzzle which is one of my favorites I have ever done!

Today is the birthday of my friend, Nick Barnes. I called him to check in and learned that things are going incredibly roughly for him right now, even more-so than I was previously aware. My heart is with Nick today as he wades through deep waters.

On the home-front, Lily loved her swim today. I was at home with Ammon and Clarissa while she swam. They were home today because they were sick. She also made a healthy dinner for everyone and a lovely English gingerbread desert.

Lily got this great shot of the sunset.

In the evening, we puzzled and had a nice conversation with Clark, Swathi, Soren and Meera.

All the kids except Lydia have been sick (Ammon and Mary have vomited). I’ve somehow dodged any sickness and Lily recently got over her cold. All of that gave us the perfect excuse to bundle up and have a cozy, relaxing Sunday together.

I slept in, which was divine, and then Lily and I did a few more chores in the morning. I was feeling very tired, so I enjoyed watching some Curious George with Clarissa on the couch.

Clarissa was extremely lethargic. She took two naps today and still went to be on-time.

In the evening, we cooked up some of Lily’s homemade lasagna that we saved in the freezer. It was SOOOO GOOD. We also puzzled as a family, and played Operation and Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza together. It was such a happy and hearthy evening of family fun. It was just what my soul needed and I was so so happy all day today.

Today I woke up before 6 to meet my friend Randy Blosil at Denny’s. He’s one of my good friends that I keep up with from my old Orem neighborhood. He’s just about to launch a new luxury dark chocolate milk called DrinkShogi and I’m so excited for him.

Back at home I went back to bed. This week really flattened me at work and I just needed more time to rest. I finally got up around 10:00 and then started working on the house. I didn’t go to bed until after midnight and Lily was cranking on the house until late as well. We got sooooo much done. It was especially nice to clean up all the garage chaos that aggregated across all our family trips. Part of the cleaning up was sorting through papers. Here are some key finds:

Mary wrote the following two cards to my dad and Suzanne, as well as Andrea. She wrote them I think around Spring of 2022, shortly after she decided to be a vegetarian.

My aunt Andrea made the below banner for me for the day I came home from my mission. It’s a funny story because it was hanging in the front of the K street house in the avenues, but the wind flipped it up onto the roof. When I pulled into the driveway from my mission, I commented, “maybe we should make a sign for Jere [who arrives from his mission next week]” since I figured sign-making for us wasn’t a thing at the moment. LOL! Isn’t Andrea a great artist!

Tonight Lily and I had dinner with Emily and Matt Kahler. It was so nice to catch up with them because it has been a while since all four of us got together. It was nice to get updates on each other’s lives and also learn about all the progress of their new home that is being built. We even drove past it on the way home! They are such good people!

Lily and I have been very charmed by Clarissa lately. It is not hard to see why!

In the evening, Derek, Chelsea and their friend, Annie came over for Indian food. We had a great time chatting over dinner and then we all went to go see the Utah Symphony at the Noorda. Andrei Korobeinikov performed Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto and he was magnificent! I confess it was especially riveting because he had a cold and there was a moment went his nose was dripping quite noticeably. I was taken by his poise and focus to play through so majestically and with so much feeling. No wonder he has won so many awards. He received a standing ovation at the end.

We loved Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, and we also liked the Patriotic Sounding Symphony from Ives. It was so fun to share the experience with the Marshalls and Annie.

After school today, Lily took the kids, including Lydia’s friend Mia, to Color Me Mine. They had fun!

After work, I got to eat at Communal. I was treated by Keith and Chris, who own Fabric, a new partner that I have never worked with, but whom I was was grateful to learn about. They were also very fun to talk to.

Today Lydia stayed home from school because she was sick. Lily watched “The Good Place” with her after she did her harp. It has been so wonderful to rediscover this amazing show with Lydia and Mary.