Month: December 2023

Clarissa and Ammon learn to ski!

Today Lily and the girls had the best time snorkeling near their resort at El Nido! Here are some pictures:

Here are some more pictures from their fun day today:

Back in Utah it was a very exciting day for us because Chris and I took all the kids skiing and this is the first time Ammon and Clarissa ever skied. Jen stayed home and bonded with Basil 🙂

Everyone were such champs. Clarissa, Ammon and Gigi all did lessons with an instructor on the bunny hill. I hung out with them some to get video and see them, and also got a few runs of my own up the mountain. Chris and Caelan also spent time on the bunny hill. Then we all had a delicious lunch. After lunch the kids wanted to keep skiing. After observing Ammon and Clarissa for a bit, I was convinced they were ready for the lift (Gigi and Caelen had already done it before). So I took Clarissa two times, Gigi two times, and Ammon and Caelen two times (Caelen also joined with Clarissa once). Everyone did such a great job and made it down the mountain with no problem. I was so proud of everyone!

  • Clarissa and Gigi with their awesome instructor Maggie
  • This picture cracks me up.

It’s incredible to track Ammon and Clarissa’s progress throughout the day. I put these videos in order so you can see how they progressed, from barely being able to stay upright on their skies to bombing down the mountain by the end fo the day. I’m so proud of them!

In the video below, Ammon is so excited to tell me about the progress he had made!

Look at him go! And he’s not even using an Edgie Wedgie!
Look at Clarissa go!

Lunch at the lodge was delicious!

After lunch we hit the slopes again. We spent time on the bunny hill until I felt Ammon and Clarissa were ready, and then we all spent time on the slopes. Here is footage from our time on the bunny hill:

This is one of my favorite videos from the day. Why is skiing good? “Cause I’m awesome at it!”
Ammon showing his progress

And here are videos from us going on the lift. This is Clarissa’s first lift ride and run down the mountain!! She went down the whole thing without falling once except for at the very end. She did so well!!!

Here’s is Gigi’s first run of the day down the mountain!

Here’s Ammon’s first chair ride and run down the mountain ever! Caelan was with us also, and he did great!

“He is flying, holy cow”

I was so proud of all of them. Gigi also progressed so much since last time, and Caelan was doing great on the snowboard, and I think snowboarding is much harder to learn at first than skiing.

It was such an incredible day. I felt true happiness skiing with all the kids, participating in Ammon and Clarissa’s first ski day, and seeing them all have such an incredible time and progress so much. It was a 2023 highlight for me.

Speaking of 2023, Jen bought a delicious French pie to celebrate New Years’ Eve. We took turns sharing a high, a low, and a high from 2023. The kids mostly all shared things from today or this week, which the adults thought was funny (a little recency bias). My highs for this year were running half-marathons and having my job situation work out, and my low was my challenges with mental health. It was so so fun to spend New Years’ Eve with the Deans and I’m so glad they chose to spend it with me! I had such rich conversation with Jen and Chris after the kids went down also. We talked about self care during challenging times and Jen had great insight that she has picked up in her demanding work with refugees. What a wonderful famly they are!

El Nido, Bacuit Bay and family parties

Right now Lily and the girls are staying with relatives at a resort in el Nido. I think they spent time during the day in Bacuit bay (according to Google Photos). They had fun both day and night!

Day:

  • Lily raved about the limestone cliffs

Night:

Today started early for me. I got some waffles going for the kids, and Jenn kindly finished making them while Chris and I picked up most all of Georgia’s furniture. I’m i love with his truck which has a huge bed. We were very proud that we fit all of her furniture in it:

Afterwards, Chris, Jen and their kids left to meet up with friends and family for the day. I worked on the house and packing and while doing that, I took this picture. I think it could hold its own with any piece of modern art, but what makes it special is that it is our kids crafting table (one of them):

This picture is just to remind me of all the time I spent in this garage (which I love) loading the containers. I love listening to the CDs of my youth on our garage CD player while I work.

Below are three videos of Loki playing with Basil. It is so good for Basil to have a playmate. Unfortunately, though, Loki is way more excited to play with Basil, than Basil is to play with Loki. Basil did enjoy some play with Loki, but you can tell by the third video, Basil feels totally done, but Loki felt like he was just getting started. It’s really cute because I actually put Basil in the car so he could relax and not constantly have Loki trying to play with him. After I put Basil in the car, Loki ran upstairs looking for him, looked left, looked right, even looked up on the couch. He was visibly sad that his playmate was gone. He is a very cute dog.

After working on the house, I took the possessions of my friend Nick Barnes to mutual friends house near my mom’s house. After Nick got kicked out of his apartment here in Utah, I helped him move out and I have stored his things for him, however, I am not taking the things with me, so Dan and Anna (mutual friends) were kind enough to let me drop his things off. Nick has had his disability payments removed, is hit with medical bills when he goes to the hospital for being suicidal, was hit by a truck (so lost his car and hurt his arm), has had trouble finding employment, was fired twice, was kicked out of a friends’ house, is struggling with massive psychological issues, spent time in a homeless shelter, and the list goes on and on and on. It breaks my heart to see all that he is going through. Although I am grateful there are a number of people in his life who care about him, and who have been investing in him and trying to help him move forward.

After dropping Nick’s things off, I went to my mom’s Christmas gathering. It was a week postponed becuase she has been so sick (she had Covid and another bug on top of it). It was so nice to see everyone including Kurt and Naomi, and Victor and Melody and their families. I hadn’t seen them in a very long time! I had fun giving Christmas gifts to people, and I was delighted to see that Ozzy loved the olives that I got him so much. He was really happy about them! He also played the magnetic drawing board I got him for a long time at the party and was really into it. It was so fun to see him enjoy his gifts! We also got Kizik shoes for my mom and Jay and I got Baerskin hoodies for David and Jere, and a Cotopaxi gift card for Olivia. It was super fun to see people enjoy their gifts. I should also note that David and Olivia got us the game Animal Crossing for the Switch and I’m dying to play it with Clarissa and Ammon.

After eating at my mom’s we went to see my grandma Forsyth and got caught up on life. It was so nice to see her.

Then we went to the ski shop to get everything we needed for skiing tomorrow. Clarissa was barefoot in the shop because she left her shoes at my mom’s (lol). I had to carry her to see my grandma and have her sit on my lap or on a chair so her feet didn’t touch the ground.

At night I was truly exhausted, but it was a very very good day. I also had a really good time hanging out with Chris before going to bed.

Also, this picture and video were of Lily, Lydia and Mary at the start of their next day (still the same day in my time zone):

Culion, Container, Burgers, Arcade, Furniture for Georgia

Today, Lily and the girls traveled with family to Culion by boat. Culion used to be a leprosy colony and it was where Lily’s dad was raised because his parents were there to help the people with leprosy. His mom was a nurse and his dad was an administrator. Ben, Lily’s dad, was always ashamed that he grew up there, but in truth, it is a beautiful place. Here are pictures of the boat ride to the island:

Here are pictures from their time on the island:

While in Culion, they went to the archives building, and learned all about the history of Culion as a leprosy colony. Lily took a trillion informative photos, but I’m capturing them all here because of how important Culion is to our family history.

Here is some related information from Ancestry.com

Here are more pictures from their time in Culion after the archives museum, heading back on the boat, and beach time at their resort.

Back at the home front, I finished packing our container (not Pod). I was very proud of how tightly I packed it, and I took this picture. I did start to worry that I was over the 6,000 pound weight limit though:

When the man from Pack Rat arrived, he picked up the container and weighed it and it came in at 8,000 pounds. My heart skipped a beat thinking I would need to unload a bunch of things, but he said that it was probably showing a little heavier than actual, and as long as he could lift it, he would take it. I was so relieved! I was also interested in how his truck worked.

After loading in the morning, and finishing work in the afternoon, I prepared the fixings for hamburgers (and Gigi peeled and arranged the oranges), and then Chris grilled while I picked up Georgia to come over for dinner. It was so fun to all enjoy dinner together!

After dinner, I dropped Georgia off and then Chris and I took the kids to the arcade. Clarissa went right to her favorite roller coaster ride and Gigi followed. Gigi and Clarissa played a lot of games to get tickets and they both got really fun prizes at the end and Ammon and Caelen played a lot of games together.

After the arcade, I borrowed Chris’ truck and loaded a ton of old furniture we are getting rid of, and took it over to Georgia’s place for her to use as temporary furniture since we are taking almost all of her furnature to Raleigh.

I will also note that it has been really fun having Loki over. Sometimes Basil, gets stressed out because Loki ALWAYS wants to play with him, and sometimes Basil also wants to play and they have a lot of fun together. In either case, I think it is great for Basil to have socialization. Loki is so darn cute!!

Also, as we were wrapping up our day in Utah, Lily, Lydia and Mary were starting their next day in the Philippines. I’m not sure what these photos are of, but here they are!

Palawan, Arrival of the Deans, Gregorian Chant, and playing “shop”

Today I found Ammon and Clarissa horsing around in front of the Alexa. Their recording reminded me of really off the wall Gregorian chant, so I texted this video to Lily so she could start her day by seeing it. She thought it was hilarious!

Today, Lily and girls left Manila and went to Coron, Palawan in the Philippines. It appears they had a nice boat ride and that their resort was extremely scenic. It looks so beautiful there!

  • Philippines Sea
Resort at Coron

Back at the house, I readied our house for our guests and continued to pack up our container. Ammon and Clarissa had used a ton of game pieces to play shop. They were so helpful to clean it up dutifully, but before they did, Ammon insisted on getting a video of his shop.

All clean!

Also, while I was packing, I found this cute sign above Mary’s desk. It made me smile. The Deans arrived around 2. After they arrived, I finished up work and then we all got Thai food in the evening, and Chris and I chatted at night. Our kids had so much fun playing together!

Fashion in the Philippines, Switch, and Darais Christmas Party

Today Lydia had her hair done. She didn’t want to get it done, but some good old-fashioned family pressure did the trick, and I think she looks great! Also, Lily is looking fantastic with her newly darkened eyebrows!

I’ve still been staying at my dad and Suzanne’s place, along with Jere. My dad and Suzanne have been beyond wonderful to us. They have fed us, played with the kids, given us very comfortable accommodations, and of course, they have just been so fun to hang out with and chat with. One of my favorite things I ate was a huge serving of my dad’s salad. He chops up so many different ingredients, and it’s delicious. I’m going to miss being farther away from them!!! But I am so glad we got this deep time with them before the move.

Today I worked and spent time lining up our home insurance and rental insurance. While I was knocking out tasks, Ammon and Clarissa played a little Nintendo Switch. OK, they played a ton of Nintendo Switch. Look at Ammon’s thumb!! I’m so glad they love the Switch so much!

In the evening we went to the Darais Christmas party. I had a great time talking with relatives, eating the good food and then playing basketball at the end. I’m sad I will be farther away from all these wonderful people who are such a beautiful part of my life, but I’m glad I got to spend so much time with them at the party!

Coming Home (rooted in unrootedness)

Lily told me that she and Clark have been pondering in disbelief how it is that they are half Philipino and they have never been to the Philippines. Truly this trip was long overdue, and it has been a powerful experience for Lily. Today and the day after (all in this entry due to time zone differences), Lily learned a lot about her father’s native land, including one reason why her dad wasn’t more intentional about exposing her and Clark to the Phillipines and Philipino culture. All that to be found in this entry.

One theme that is running throughout the Manila days is the trauma Philipinos have faced in their history and the hardship they continue to face today. They have been colonized and recolonized multiple times over the years, and the Japanese occupation was particularly horrific, as was the bombing by the United States to try to free the Philippines from Japanese control. Life is still not easy in the Philippines for many people as rampant poverty exists. And yet, there is such a beauty in the people, the food, the culture, and the way everyone has moved forward. Art is one of the beautiful expressions of the Philipino people, and Lily and the girls joined family members to go to the Museum of Modern Art early in the day to start things off.

After the modern art museum, everyone went to Jolibee’s and then they went shopping. Lily, Lydia and Mary are all having so much fun being with their relatives!

The next day (still the same day in the US), they went on a tour of Manila. They had an outstanding tour guide! This tour was hugely impactful for Lily. Manila has faced so much destruction over the years, and the buildings were severely bombed by the United States to end the Japanese occupation. Lily told me that Manila used to be called the Paris of Asia because it was such a beautifully stunning city, with outstanding architecture and features. But, after all the city has endured, like the US bombing to end the Japanese occupation, very few pieces of the historic beautiful city are left. And the new city has been built up without reflecting much of the old city. Lily told me that the Philipino approach to the past has been to just move on. I believe this church below is one of the very few old beautiful structures still standing in Manila:

Here are more pictures and videos from their tour:

The tour caused Lily and Clark to both reflect on how the Philipinos have just moved on from the past without overly memorializing, remembering or recreating it. There is a culture of forgetting and moving forward. Lily and Clark realized that is exactly how their dad handled his Philipino past, and a big part of why he did not connect Lily and Clark more to his native country. This was sad to reflect on, but also in a way satisfying. Because Lily and Clark realized that their unrootedness is itself a part of the Philipino culture. Lily and Clark are experiencing authentically what it is like to be Philipino by not being overly connected to the past. I think that thought was a bit comforting to Clark and Lily as they questioned and mourned that their relatives visit the Philipines so much more often and are more connected to the language, land and culture. But Ben’s childhood was so traumatic (burying bodies, abused by parents, ran away from home, saw Philipinos tortured by the Japanese etc) that it seems he just needed to leave it behind. There is such rich history on Lily’s Philipino side and I’m so glad she could connect with it.

Back in Utah, people played the Switch a lot. Even Ken played!

Mostly Ammon and Clarissa played with Jere joining a lot while I worked and [mostly] blogged.

Then we all had an awesome outing. Suzanne took us to all see the window decorations inside the Grand America.

Ozzy is the cutest!

After seeing the displays, we had a delicious dinner at Via 313. Then dad, Suzanne, Ammon, Clarissa and I spent some time at the mall and we came home.

Jere and I played lots of Nintendo with Ammon and Clarissa (Suzanne joined a game too!) and I put the kids to bed way too late. Then I played Mario Kart with Jere and went to bed myself.

It was another good day!

Merry Christmas!!

Lily, Lydia, and Mary are loving the Philippines. It is so amazing that they get to connect with their roots in that way. They are even getting to meet family members Lily had never met before (Betty, Louie and Benji’s mother) and ones she hadn’t seen in a very long time (like Tita, Betty’s sister).

On Christmas, they went to a giant family party hosted by Ginny’s family. The party was an absolute blast. There is a huge food culture in the Philippines and it has been fun to hear about all the pork Lily has been eating even though she usually doesn’t opt for Pork. Benji has been guiding her around to the important, tasty and authentic foods she needs to make sure she eats while she’s in the Philippines. Also, there is also a big culture of performance in the Philippines, meaning people love to have family members perform for the family and friends, and they especially love to have kids perform for the family and friends. Mary got to play the piano for everyone! Lily and Clark were over the moon with delight as they learned that Louie and Benji also had to recite Shakespear at dinner parties in their household and that it wasn’t just Lily and Clark that had to do that growing up!! The party was such a beautiful family and cultural experience for Lily and the girls. What a priceless experience!

Back at the homefront, we also had a wonderful Christmas. In the morning, we started with stockings. It’s amazing what one can do in a blitz 23 minute target run. The stockings pulled off great. The only hitch was that one of the oranges exploded in Clarissa’s stocking so I had to deal with that lol.

Ammon also got a stuffed copperhead snake which had shipping complications (today he just got a printout of his gift). Ammon is really into Snakes right now, and that is one of the more famous snakes in North Carolina, where we are moving to. Clarissa also got a Barbie doll and a Ken doll. We watched the new Barbie movie as a family a week ago, and since then Clarissa had been asking for Barbies. Thank you Amazon for shipping so quickly!!

Here are the kids opening their stockings:

And here is Ammon taking a video of his stocking contents:

It was so sweet seeing Suzanne look through Clarissa’s new stickers with her.

Here is Ammon opening up his “Copperhead Snake” and his box with a dragon eye on it and Clarissa opening up her stuffed bear from my dad and Suzanne. Clarissa also got a unicorm box from Santa and Ammon got a Lego set my dad and Suzanne which will be so great for him.

Clarissa opening her Barbies from Santa and Ammon opening up his legos (from my dad and Suzanne)

Also, my dad made delicious waffles for breakfast. The amazing fruit sause was from my aunt Andrea I believe.

For the big gifts, I had been planning them for a while. Ammon and Clarissa were introduced to the Nintedo Switch and Smash Brothers on our Alaskan cruise this year and they absolutely loved it. I’ve been plotting ever since to get the family a couple of Switches for Christmas. Nintendo was a part of my life growing up too, and I had visions of us enjoying the Switches as a family. So I got the family two Switches with Mario Kart and Smash Brothers. Ammon and Clarissa were so excited when they opened the presents, and the literally played almost every available second for the rest of Christmas. At one point, Suzanne offered to play a game or something else with them, and they replied something like, “no, we are stuck on the TV”. I also played endless hours of Mario Kart and Smash Brothers with them, and Jere too. We all had so much fun. It is one of my favorite Christmas memories ever. It was so nice for me to relax and have fun amidst all the work I’ve been absorbed in and to play Nintendo with my kids and brother, Jere, was just the best. David also sent us a lot of tips about the Switch since he has one, and is helping us get some things that will make our experience even better. Jere also got a Switch for Christmas from my dad and Suzanne (part Christmas, part late birthday present), and our friends Morgan and Jessie gave their kids a Switch for Christmas too (which they loved!). It is a very Switchy Christmas!

Around 11:30, David, Olivia and Ozzy came over and it was so cute to see Ozzy open his present.

Then I played more Nintendo with Ammon, Clarissa and Jere (so fun!). Then we got to catch up with Lily, Lydia and Mary in Asia. It was so wonderful to have a good chat with them and hear about all their adventures!

After that, Suzanne and my dad served an incredible ham, potato, vegetable and jello marshmallow salad dinner. Jere also made cauliflower soup that went so well with the ham and croutons. Jeff, Lauralee, Jeff, Marylou, Henry and Steve were in attendance.

It was so nice to visit with everyone and after dinner and visiting family members, we played “Are You Dumber than a Box of Rocks?” We lost to the rocks the first game and I begged for a rematch, to prove our intelligence was higher than that of rocks. Fortunately we won the second game (all this while Ammon and Clarissa still played Nintendo). After that, I played more Nintendo with Ammon and Clarissa. I then put them to bed after reading them each a book, and I then played Nintendo with just Jere.

What a seriously happy, full and yet so relaxing day. It has so wonderful to be with family, and the Nintendo has been so fun.

Alexa, how many days until Christmas? Dad, what am I getting for Christmas?

These are questions that Clarissa has been asking Alexa and me for the past 15 or 20 days, and as we get closer to Christmas the frequency of her questioning gets higher and higher. In the last week, she probably asked Alexa 20 times how soon Christmas was, and me about 10 or 15 times what she was getting. She really loves Christmas!

Lily, Lydia and Mary, I think were mostly in transit to the Philipines (with their flight getting very delayed) and then dealing with more jet lag. I assume this because they had no pictures today.

On my side, I spent the morning sleeping in (I didn’t fall asleep until late) and then putting the house together, and packing and preparing for our trip to my dad and Suzanne’s house.

We got to my dad and Suzanne’s house around 5:40 and had an incredible fondue dinner and desert. Then we did the traditional Miner Christmas program, which of course, would not be complete without singing the 12 days of Christmas. Ammon and Clarissa both participated!

We then had an abridged readers’ theater reading of Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carol. I got to be Scrooge (and I tried to read with inflection) and it was especially fun to interact with Ammon who was the boy who I paid to go get the giant turkey from the butcher’s’ window for the Cratchet family.

After the program was over, we visited more and then I put the kids to bed. My dad had fun reading to them, and then I also enjoyed reading to him. It was very nostalgic, because the books we read were the same ones I had read to me as a kid and even the blankets on Ammon and Clarissa’s beds were made by my grandmother and ones I used growing up. They are Raggety Anne and Raggety Andy blankets and it was fun to read them a Christmas book featuring Raggety Anne and Rattegy Andy. It was a very beautiful evening and a very good time.

Back to Hong Kong, Ammon and Clarissa being goofy and help from my dad and brother

OK, I’ll start with this. Ammon and Clarissa were goofing around with a suitcase and we (my dad and I) got these great videos:

I also packed the container almost all day today. I and seemingly everyone else that sees it for the first time thinks there is no way we can fit all of ours and Georgia’s things into three of them…..but they can fit a deceptive amount of things, and I’m now thinking we will make it. I packed for a lot of Saturday and still was not even close to half done filling it. Then my dad and Jere came around 2:30 and helped me until 9:30 or so. Together we cranked out so much good work and go the thing 85% full. There help was so game changing. I had so much fun being with my dad and brother (and we enjoyed Via 313 pizza together), but the thing I’m most grateful for is the way they helped an underwater family member get more on top of the task at hand. Thank you again dad and Jere!

Lily, Lydia and Mary had another 24 hours or so in Hong Kong en route to the Philippines so they got to have more time there. They really love Hong Kong and Lily raved about their tea. They got to do a high tea experience and it was a wonderful experience for them. Apparently Hong Kong really knows how to do tea. Not only do they have incredible tea there, but they are very expert on how to seep, how to have the right size cups etc etc. Lily was raving about the whole tea experience.

Here are more photos from their time in Hong Kong:

Final day in Japan, Breakfast with Randy, Dinner with Georgia, loading my “container”, and gushing about Ammon and Clarissa (Their truck and a story about Clarissa’s conscience)

Lily, Lydia and Mary continue to love everything about Japan and this was their final day there.

It appears they went to a museum about technology and the planet. Lily told me robot pets are all the rage in Japan:

Then they got to play with cute little animals. I’m not sure where that was or if it was in the same place:

It appears they also went to some kind of market or mall. Lily has told me you can’t get bad food in Japan. It is all so good!!!:

They sure have been loving Japan!!!

Back at home, I had our friend Randy Blosil over for breakfast. I always love catching up with him. He’s on a no carb diet and brought bacon, and I also made eggs and then also waffles with berry sauce and whipped cream for the kids.

I felt very tired today, and so I got some good rest in, but when I wasn’t resting, I was packing the container that was dropped off at my house this week. I very specifically call it a container, because when I kept calling it a “pod” on the phone to the sales person, he kept correcting me saying that “pod” was a branded name used by their competitor, and these were “containers” not pods. When I continued to make the error on the phone, he went so far as to say something like a little piece of him just died when I said “Pod”. It was very amusing.

We had Georgia over for dinner, and we had a delicious (bagged) salad (from Trader Joe’s), leftovers, and also berries and whipped cream for dessert (which everyone loved!). It is always so nice to see Georgia and to have her kind Spirit in our home.

Also, a note on Ammon and Clarissa. They occasionally have their moments of argument, complaining or sneaking candy, but those things are by far the exception. Almost all the time, they are getting along perfectly and politely. They have watched a lot of TV, but they have also had hours on end of deep play making a fort, or casting magic spells (using our Mah-Jong pieces and Wingspan pieces in their imaginary magic game scattering them all over the basement floor), or drawing (they made actual coloring books of their own drawings) or making an incredible creation like this truck (look at the detail!)

They have been such incredible pals, it’s just amazing to see how they treat each other and get along. Also, a quick annecdote about Clarissa. Clarissa is very good listening to her conscience and she often confesses things at the end of the day. Here is the annecdote as I related it to Lily over text:

Clarissa: “Dad, I don’t want to tell you this, but I will. I’m feeling a little bit on the bad side.” “Why is that Clarissa?” “Well I had candy, and there is just this part of my brain [points above her left eye] that is the bad part of my brain and it tells me to do bad things. But the rest of my brain and my heart are my good part and they tell me to do good things.” We then had a whole discussion about good and bad choices, how healthy her self-awareness is, learning and empathy. That girl is amazing.She is really cute and chatty at night when I tuck her in. I’m so glad I captured that one.