Month: October 2023

Driving, Santa Barbara, and Mochi Donuts

On Saturday morning, we packed up from Oceanside and drove to Santa Barbara. Here are some videos of how Ammon and Clarissa passed the time in the backseat while the rest of us were listening to the audiobook The Lemon Tree which is about the conflict between Israel and Palenstine. I’m glad Ammon took these videos, because I am curious about what they do to pass the time in the back seat.

Lily has been wanting to go to Santa Barbara for a long time, and it definitely lived up to her hopes. We had brunch at the public food hall and Ammon played on a public piano on the streetside when we were done. Mary also took a turn and played her song, “the top.”

Then we walked around the city. Lydia has told us one of her favorite things to do is to walk around cities with her family and I’m so glad we could do that with her. I think everyone had an amazing time. I certainly did. It was so fun to see the different interesting shops, like this cat cafe. They were too full for us to go in, but we looked through the window.

Then we went to this Turkish delight shop, which was a highlight for everyone, especially for Lily, who later said this Turkish delight shop was a highlight for the whole trip for her. She loved the beautiful colors, flavors and culture expressed in that shop.

Then we stumbled into an archives museum which had some really cool things!

Then we arrived at our Zachari Dunes at Mandalay Beach Hilton resort. We loved it so much there and we are hopeful to go back someday. Everyrthing was great, the room, the resort, the beach (the resort is right on the beach), the food, EVERYTHING! After we dropped our things, we went to the beach, and had so much fun. It was one of my favorite beach memories. Lily and I (but especially Lily) held hands with Lydia, Mary and Ammon, and walked into the waves and ran back too shore when ever a big one came, over and over again. Clarissa was busy building things in the sand. I helped Ammon and Clarissa build a huge walled castle we were trying to protect from the rising tide by fortifying the walls (a favorite game of mine I used to play as a child with my friend Anthony in his sandbox). I also played cornhole with Lydia and Mary. I played left-handed and we had funny rules like they would get three points for hitting me (I couldn’t move), and also, if they won a game, they could throw all there bean bags at me as hard as they wanted (which they did with hilarious on-target results). I laughed so hard playing with them. It was such a fun time.

After the beach, we ate at In-N-Out and then got mochi donuts (meaning very soft and chewy) donuts. They were delicious!

Legoland and Oceanside Pier

After enjoying a delicious breakfast at the Broken Yolk Cafe, we all went to Legoland to celebrate Ammon’s birthday! We loved observing all the decorative lego creations and riding on all the rides.

  • Ammon has this lego set!

Everyone’s favorite ride was the underwater submarine adventure. They had real sea creatures in their and we saw sharks, rays, and a puffer fish!

In my opinion, this was the best coaster (Technic, see below). It had a great first hill, and then the rest was very tame.

Then we spent a lot of time observing all the incredible Lego creations. They used 60 million Legos! That was my and Lily’s favorite part of Legoland for sure. The creations were incredible!

  • Abraham Lincoln
  • San Diego
  • MGM Grand
  • San Francisco
  • SF Lombard Street
  • SF Chinatown
  • SF The Pier with sea lions that we like to visit
  • SF Golden Gate Bridge
  • DC – Lily and I think this might be the historic house with a garden where we kissed.
  • New York
  • A Mission in So Cal, we think the one we visited.
  • Record-breaking football stadium
  • The inside

Then Ammon picked out some lego sets and we got these pictures on the way out. At the end of the trip, when all the kids shared their favorite parts, I think every kid mentioned Legoland. What a great day! Also, the weather was perfect and the crowds weren’t bad.

Because Legoland closed at 5:00, we had time to go to an amazing vegan restaurant Lily found called the Plot. They even let us tour the garden in the back where they grow a lot of their own food. The food was incredible (Liy and I each got the meatloaf, and Lydia got the shepherd’s pie) and Ammon got a special desert. Lydia and Lily particularly loved The Plot, and Lily is feeling inspired to cook more vegan food!

Then we all went to the Oceanside Pier and had fun walking around and watching all the fishers.

It was such a fun day!

Filmore & Missy

Today we left for California. On the way, Lydia told us about how Filmore used to be the capitol of Utah, and that there was a Costa Vida there that was always super packed because everyone stopped there on their way South (all according to her history teacher). Lydia captured our imagination, and we pulled off in Filmore. Lily and I didn’t know it, but Filmore was the capitol of the Utah territory for a brief moment under Brigham Young. The capitol building was never finished and only one legislative session was held here, but the completed wing still stands today and at one time was a Presbyterian school, and before that I think it may have been an LDS-run school (see the below rules for teachers and punishments).

  • Design for finished capitol
  • Completed Wing
  • Prisoners were chained to the floor since there were no doors to the prison.
Ammon playing the piano in the old Utah capitol assembly hall.

Today was full of delightful surprises. As we were approaching Las Vegas, Lily remembered that she has a close friend, Missy, who lives there. We called up Missy, and on a whim picked up Thai food and visited Missy for an hour. It was wonderful! Missy was a treat to visit with, so warm, engaging and friendly, and her kids were so polite, kind, and delightful. And our kids were out of their minds with interest at Missy’s chickens. See the videos below!

We pulled into our Super 8 in Oceanside late at night. On the way we listened to a mind-blowing book called The Lemon Tree about the relationship between Israel and Palestine (charting both their general histories as well as the relationship between a Palestinian family, and an Israeli family that moved into their home after the Palestinians were kicked out of Israel. ***Spoiler alert*** A member from each family becomes friends and they turn the home into a school for Arabic children.

Happy Birthday Ammon!

Today our beloved Ammon turned 8! To start the day, Lily made delicious waffles while I ran to the store and cut up melon so we could give Ammon his breakfast of choice in bed. Here is a video:

We also downloaded Minecraft for Ammon, and he was glued to it almost the entire day. He was so happy to get Minecraft. At one point he told someone it was his favorite game, even though he had never played it before. He has asked for it multiple times, and it was fun to see how much he loved playing all day. I also watched him play for a bit and that was fun. During the day, I went on a run, and did some yard chores, and then around 5:00, we all went to the Korean BBQ place that we just went to a couple of days ago. Ammon fell in love with it and requested it again. He was also delighted when their staff sang to him with music, and brought him cake.

We had a great time wtih Georgia, who joined us for dinner, and then Lily took her home before we all enjoyed Menchies together. Ammon got a massive wallfe-cone concoction and we also let him buy a Menchies stuffed animal. Then we went to Target and bought him a Millenium Falcon Lego set for his birthday present.

At night, Lily and I both spent time tucking him in and giving him a back massage. We told him about the things we love most about him which are his outgoing, warm, and friendly nature and his beautiful dancing.

Ammon, we love you so much. You brighten up our family and make us smile every day. We love you!

Farmer’s Market and Hike with Baps and Bapa

This morning I was very tired, but once I finally got out of bed, we all rolled out to the Farmer’s market. The market was so fun. There was a dog costume contest we got to watch (one dog had a Jack Sparrow costume), great food and smoothies, fun produce to buy and great weather. After the market, we dropped off a smoothie to our friend Lauren who lives in downtown Salt Lake.

Then we went to the Living Room trailhead where we met up with my dad and Suzanne. It was so fun to hike the trail with them! Not only did they bring great snacks including grapes from their vines, but they were awesome trail company. Also, my dad spent a lot of energy trying help calm Ammon down in a kind and graceful way. Ammon was losing his mind and sobbing because of the wasps on the trail (and there were a lot), and I was struggling to be creative on how to help him. My dad talked to him and told him a story of when he got stung and patiently encouraged him along the trail. It was very sweet to see. The weather and the scenery were all so gorgeous. Utah is so beautiful!

At home, we let the kids fend for themselves while Lily and I went on a date to Red Tacos, and we also got desert. It was so fun to have deep time with my Lily, my heart, especially since I’ve been traveling so much!

Utah is Gorgeous in the Fall & Lucas Birthday Party

Here is a picture I took from Qualtrics. Utah is so pretty in the fall. After work, Lily and I went to the Homestead in Midway for my old boss’s 40th birthday party. Lily and I spent most of the time talking to old Qualtrics connections, Benji & Aubrey Wohan, Dan and Christina Watkins, and Chris Adams and his wife. It was so fun to relive old times with them, and all share the latest thoughts and insight into the company currently. Lily and I had an awesome time and were some of the last people to leave. We also got to chat some with Lucas and Kim who we love so much. They are such great people, and it is no surprise so many people showed up to celebrate Lucas today!

Visiting Nana and Korean BBQ

Lily and Mary visited Georgia during the time between dropping off the other kids and dropping off Mary at Foothill. They had a wonderful visit, and Lily gave Georgia a foot rub.

I had an insane day at work and was delighted to see the family arrive at Qualtrics so Lydia and I could go into Qualtrics to get our flu shot. Lydia and I didn’t get ours when the rest of the family did because we had her harp competition that day.

Then we all stopped by Zion’s bank so Lily and I could take care of some business there, and with the 40 minutes we had until Ammon’s math tutoring, we stopped into a Korean BBQ place we’ve been eyeing for a while. It was delicious!

Home at Last!

Today I got home from being away from the family for a very long time (I left the Saturday before last, and have had only one night home since then), and it has felt amazing. I feel like a different person at home, flooded with good feelings, comfort, security and love. It was so so nice to be back. To top it off, Lily prepared shrimp scampi and a delicious salad for everyone.

Also, Lily has been thinking and researching deeply about the conflict in Israel and researching it extensively. She will no longer travel there as planned in December due to the conflict. We hope deeply for peace there and the safety of our friends who are there.