Recently, Lily and I have gone to a couple of taco places, and they have been amazing. But, Lily and I have had multiple conversations that we think there is no match for what we can make at home. Tonight we put the hypothesis to the test. And I’d have to agree. I’ve never had restaurant tacos as good as what we had tonight. Our typical go to is rockfish, vegan fake chorizo, and sometimes beef steak. We use delicious veggies for filling and we use both corn and jamaica tacos. It was so so yummy! Lily even bought some of the simple, but fancy taco holders that you usually see in restaurants.
Lily also made delicious potatoes and an unbelievable fruit salad!
This evening Lily and I lined up a sitter and went biking together. Lily wasn’t feeling super great, but the beautiful weather, scenery and time together kept her wanting to keep biking. I had such an amazing time with her. It made my whole day and was a huge bright spot in the middle of unusually high work intensity.
Today was another incredible Sunday. This morning I walked Basil, rested some more, and then had a wonderful deep values prayer/meditation. I’ve had a lot on my mind around my work-life balance, and if I have the right perspective about what really matters. One of my favorite sayings from Thomas S. Monson is that the most important lessons in life are those lessons around what is most important and what is not. Lily and I also had such a good time meeting up with Matt and Diana last night and Matt and I talked about work a lot, and that triggered even more pondering about my job, and if I’m giving too much, or if I’m having the right perspective about work. My prayer/meditation yielded a lot of clarifying thoughts that I spent a lot of time putting in a journal, and that was a wonderful way to start the day. In short, I reconnected with the awareness that my family, and doing good for the world are the most important things to me, and that my job, as much as I enjoy it and love throwing myself into it, is primarily a means to serve my family, and I should never let it become or feel more important than my family.
After meditating, the kids and adults listened to church, and I made waffles for everyone for a yummy brunch. Also, Lydia made caramel and custard, and even though I was too hard on her about the mess, I really am impressed at her initiative to keep learning so many skills, like baking.
Mid-day, the kids watched TV, and I watched an episode or Mr. Rogers with them, which I love to encourage because it is some of the most positive behavior and thinking modeling I have ever seen. Mr. Rogers was brilliant! We watched the last episode of season 1, which had surprisingly amazing special effects, being that it was a kids show from the 1960s.
Then we all went to the park near our rental property to fly kites, let Basil run around, bike, scooter and see friends. Liberty came with her dog peaches. And Eli, Meghan, Emily and Matt came with their dog Daisey. We also saw Michelle Jaramillo and her son. It was so much fun. I love that park. I get to see friends, as do the kids, and people get to do a variety of activities while Basil runs around with other dogs. Since many friends from the old neighborhood live minutes from the park, its super easy to meet up with people whenever we go there.
We did have some kite drama. Eli let go of the bird kite and I had to get on top of someone’s garage and use a rake to reach it (in a tree) to get it back. That gave me enough kite drama for one day, but our kite troubles weren’t over. Clarissa then let go of the bird kite, and it floated away until I couldn’t see it anymore. I gave up on it, because I had my hands full with 4 kids and Basil (Lily was catching a break at home). But Matt and Eli didn’t give up. They got in their car and hunted it down. Eli spotted it in the sky several blocks from the park, and drove until they found it wrapped around a powerline in somebody’s street. Matt told me where to meet him, and when I got there, neighbors had already erected a ladder to help with the cause. We eventually got it down. It was so heroic of Matt and Eli to chase it down for us, and I was very suprised to get the kite back. It’s been a great kite, so that was very happy. Thank you Matt and Eli!
We had subway for dinner, and then went to menchies, took some to Georgia, and at a bunch of it at home (ice-cream cake). Then we watched the Disney Hunchback of Notre-Dame, which was beautiful and all started settling in for the night. It was really good to chit-chat with Lily before retiring as well. What a great Sunday!
Today was one of the most crazy work days I have had in a while. I was working by about 7:30 and I had 13 or so straight meetings (with no breaks except the occasional bathroom or food run that made me late for my next meeting). I barely pulled away in time for Alexander’s Birthday party (leaving around 5PM), but even then I took a meeting or two in the car on my drive down. Lily stayed home because she was feeling strained and needed to recover for a bit.
Once I arrived, the party was so much fun. It was so fun to see Andrea, my dad, Suzanne, Christian and his daughter, Isabella and Ali, Ed, and especially Alexander, the birthday boy. It had been a while since I had connected with him and we had a great time catching up. I learned that he is pretty plugged into the rap community and even had a renowned rap writer (Kocaine) write a song about him. But the most fun part for me was playing basketball with Alexander, my dad and Christian. We played horse and pig. For the most part, my dad and I got whipped by Alexander and Christian who are by far the best shots of the bunch. But one game, I was shooting really well and had a chance to win everything. I made it to the point of being just me against Alexander, and I was ahead! I did a trick shot where I was sitting on a cement wall, from three-point range or close to it, and I shot the ball while remaining sitting. The ball went in and I was sure I won the game. But I couldn’t believe it when Alexander matched my shot and then proceeded to hit an even harder trick shot over power-lines from very far away and I couldn’t match it, so I lost. It was very, very fun.
I also at 6 or so slices of pizza. The kids had an amazing time too. Isabella chased Ammon around and showed Lydia and Mary her guinea pigs. Clarissa liked playing in all the plants in the garden area. It was very fun to connect with everyone. I wish I would have got a picture of the birthday boy, but I did manage to take this picture before leaving:
Ed was in very high spirits today and said he has just been feeling grateful
Andrea drove home with us and it was very fun talking with her.
At home, I collapsed on the couch and woke up around 11PM, a couple of hours later, and then transferred myself to the bed. I was very, very, very tired.
Today I: 1. worked out on the bike for 38 minutes 2. showered 3. dropped Lydia off at school 4. picked up glasses from my mom 5. dropped off my mom’s glasses at the eyeglass store 6. shopped at Trader Joe’s 7. helped Mary practice her piano for an hour 8. helped Ammon practice his piano for 45 minutes 9. fed the three kids at home fish and salad for lunch 10. brushed and braided Mary and Clarissa’s hair 11. did 40 minutes of reading practice with Ammon 12. cleaned up lunch 13. picked up Lydia 14. went to Starbucks twice 15. made pizza with all of the kids (caramelized onions, cut a pineapple, rolled dough, and cleaned up after them) 16. helped Lydia with her harp for 70 minutes 17. read books with Mary 18. read books with Clarissa 19. read books with Ammon 20. washed two loads of laundry 21. changed Mary’s sheets 22. folded a load of laundry 23. walked Basil 24. texted with my friend Jean about her summer trip to visit me 25. cajoled Lydia approximately 20 million times to do her homework before bed time 26. gave in and ordered Chip cookies to eat after the kids went down
On Saturday Abe was still not feeling well. That second Covid shot is a beast.
Here he is listening to Willie Nelson on the Alexa after crawling to this spot from the kitchen.
He did watch Kung Fu Panda with the kids while I went for a swim. Then I came home, showered, and did three hours of music practice with the girls. Oh, and I took Mary and Clarissa for haircuts!
On Friday Jen was going to come give me some oils I had ordered and so I figured why not invite the Tiemanns and Heidi too? And then Lydia had a surprise play date with her friend Katelyn (who was darling beyond belief)–making a total of twelve kids and 7 grown ups.
Abe was literally flat on hi back from the Covid shot all day, and I told him he did not need to come up. He managed to come up a little after six and was a total trooper.
We had a huge taco bar with rockfish, smoked brisket, grilled steak and chicken, vegan chorizo, crumbled cotija, cilantro, radishes, pickled onions, tomatoes, spiralized cucumber, and all different tortillas–including our favorite jicama wraps. It was a feast.
The kids ran around in a pack and we didn’t even need to feed Basil dinner because the little kids gave him so many treats! He was a star.
When we finished visiting with our last friends around 10:30 pm, we discovered Clarissa had passed out long before.
On Thursday I literally could not do anything almost the entire day. I got my second shot on Wednesday and by Thursday I was completely incapacitated. My whole body hurt and I realized after dropping Lydia off at school that I would not be able to do more during the day.
Abe has been very slammed at work and was unable to take the day off, so our kids watched tv all day while I lay in bed and he did his best to manage the rest of the day’s pick ups and drop offs.
By dinner I started to feel a little better and moved to the couch, where I witnessed a fun dance party with Abe, the kids, and Basil.
Lydia made a castle for Clarissa in the evening, and Clarissa was so proud of it. Lydia enjoyed watching Clarissa enjoy her creation.
Early in the day, Ammon reported his dream from the night before.
Here is Ammon telling his dream to me from the night before
On Wednesday I tried three times to get my second shot, and I kept forgetting various things and having to go back home for my ID and wallet. Finally I made it, and I was one of two people in the clinic getting a shot. When Abe went a day later, he was the only one. Utah Valley folk appear not to be really interested in this vaccine. Regardless, I was very happy to get mine, and on the first day felt very few side effects.
The kids had fun while I was running back and forth to the clinic. They did a lot of puzzles today.
We also loved watching Ammon and Clarissa dance.
Ammon Dancing
Clarissa Dancing
We had my mom over for dinner too, and everyone loves it when she comes over!
