Category: Uncategorized

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.

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.

Early in the day, Ammon reported his dream 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.

We had my mom over for dinner too, and everyone loves it when she comes over!

Today, Lydia recommended that we go to Orem’s dog park at Mt. Timpanogos Park at the base of Provo Canyon. It was such a discovery! Not only did Basil play with some other dogs, but we got to ride our bikes on the Provo River trail that connects with the park. Lydia, Mary and Ammon all road with me and did an awesome job!

After the park, we had dinner and then went to Menchies to celebrate Mary getting into the A.L.L. program at Foothill elementary. As part of the celebration, we allowed her to buy the kiwi head stuffed animal you see up high in the background.

Today was an incredible Saturday. Lily walked Basil in the morning so I could get some extra rest and then I took care of the kids and cleaned, and made lunch before leaving for a bike-ride at noon. I had an amazing ride up South Fork canyon with Daniel Olsen.

When I got home, Lily and I left to Salt Lake and had an amazing time doing an escape room at get-out-games with our friends Matt, Courtney, Chris and Jen. We went to Barrios for dinner and Normal for ice-cream afterwards.

My dad and Suzanne babysat which made the whole thing possible. We had such a good time, as did our children with Baps and Bapa.

Also, here is a picture I took of a poster Mary recently made.

Today Ammon had a playdate with is friend/neighbor Casey

Today Lily mailed Meera’s toys that were left at our house when Clark, Swathi and family visited. They were really special toys to Meera that she missed. Lily took some fun pictures of the toys having adventures in our yard to send to Meera before she mailed them.

Also, just yesterday, we got a package from Clark and Swathi that had a Stephen Hawking book for me, a cook book for Lily and the whole series of Wayside School fir Lydia and Mary. It was such a kind thing for them to do. I was especially happy because I was literally researching Stephen Hawking books to buy yesterday, the same day the book from Clark and Swathi came!! It was such a kind thing for them to do, and we are all so happy with our books. The girls and I read our books over dinner tonight. Here is a picture:

Also, today I dropped Basil off to get groomed. I thought it was cute how he sat in the booster seat so I snapped a photo.

For school, Lydia completed a report about Esther Peterson, a remarkable consumer and women’s advocate from Utah. Here is a video that Lydia submitted to her teacher as part of the report. Great job Lydia!

Today was really nice because Lily and I both relaxed and spent a lot of time with the kids today. Here are some highlights:

In the afternoon, I took the kids to the park/church parking lot near our old house. We flew kites, saw the Kahlers, bumped into Jay and Liberty and their new dog peaches, and the kids biked.

I later played action figures with Ammon before bed and had so much fun with him.

It was a wonderful day!

In the morning Abe and Liem biked all of Slickrock together. It was a huge accomplishment, and I am so thrilled that they didn’t die in the process.

In the meantime I took the kids to a viewpoint on the way to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands. There was no one around, which I thought was ideal. The kids walked out to some giant boulders and played until Clarissa threw a tantrum and I had to drag her back to the car. Basil was pulling one arm, Clarissa was pulling another, and draped across both arms I had everyone’s coats. That was the highlight of our adventure.

When we got back we picked up Abe from Subway (he and Liem biked to Moab after Slickrock), ate, and then drove up to Hidden Lake in the La Sal Mountains. It was slightly hair raising because the roads were not marked and half of them were unpaved, but we were thrilled to finally made it to the lake! And just as we turned into the pull-off for the lake, our car sank cabin deep into the craziest mud we had ever seen.

Abe and Liem built a ramp for the van, and then Liem, Phuong, Phuong’s dad, and Abe all pushed the van while I drove in reverse. I honestly thought we would be stuck on top of that mountain forever, but after twenty minutes–the van was free!

After that everyone but Clarissa, who was taking the longest, deepest nap of her life, and I headed to the lake to fish. The lake was iced over, so Abe heroically jumped in and cleared a spot for fishing! All of the non icy part of the lake below was cleared by hand by Abe, who was chest deep in ice water.

People spent two hours fishing and caught five fish. Ammon was traumatized when Abe had to kill one because the hook was buried in it. He saw the fish’s head and burst out into tears.

Soon after a stray dog found everyone. Phuong, Lydia, and Mary brought the dog to the van and while they were there the owner happened to pull up and collected his dog. I cannot stress how remote this location was, so this was kind of a shock. But it turns out his ranch was on the mountain around the corner, so not so shocking when we realized that.

The dog, whose name was Betsy, was so sweet. She wandered back to us thirty minutes later again, and I let her play with Basil. The kids absolutely loved her because she was so sweet.

Then we drove home along Route 128 past Castle Rock and along the river. It was so stunningly beautiful. I took pictures resigned to the fact that they could not remotely do this place justice.

We stopped at a grocery store, picked up stuff to grill for dinner, and then let the kids eat in the RV in front of the tv while we joined Liem, Phuong, and Phuong’s parents outside of their RV for a candlelit dinner that was so delicious.

This was definitely the most adventure filled day of the year! We are so grateful to have such fun friends to share the day wit.