June 2014 – Page 2 – Darais Days

Gym, hugs, and sky

I went to the gym today, and Mary stayed in the child care the whole time! I can’t say how liberating that is–I can actually work out now! It’s an option!

Other than that, it was a rainy day so we stayed inside a lot. I had a lot of work to do for school because tonight was the last night for Garde Manger. All we did was clean the kitchen, but I had a bunch of stuff due.

Abe had fun with the girls tonight. Lydia has been an angel these past couple days, and we can’t get over how easy and delightful she’s been. This morning she got dressed, brushed her teeth, used the potty and washed her hands all by herself–without me asking! I couldn’t believe it. She’d actually gotten half way through that routine before I woke up, so she woke me by saying, “Mommy! I got dressed all by myself and now I’m going to go brush my teeth and use the potty!” I was both dumbfounded and delighted.

Lydia and Mary got in a hug fest while Abe was watching them, so he ran to get the camera. By the time he got back, Mary wanted out, but Lydia wanted to keep posing for the camera. The following pictures document Mary’s attempt to escape Lydia’s death-grip pose:

In other news, it was really cold today–and it snowed in the mountains! The sky was unbelievably beautiful; I almost drove off the road on my way home because it was so distracting. I didn’t take a picture, but I thought it was notable enough to mention. There was even a full rainbow at one point. I missed Lake Michigan when I first moved here, but the Utah sky feels like it performs a similar function in my life as the lake did in Illinois.

bath and fruit day

Today was pretty uneventful. Abe and I were even more exhausted than usual, and neither of us has any idea why. At least, I don’t know why I am so exhausted–I get plenty of down time these days, and I definitely sleep more than Abe.

This morning I gave the girls a bath, and aside from doing their hair, feeding them, playing with them, and reading to them, I really didn’t do much else. I had big plans to go work out, but a big nap edged those out…

Lydia loved making Mary's hair white with bubbles. — Lydia loved making Mary’s hair white with bubbles.

Then at school tonight my class made a fruit platter:

We got out hours early, which was especially nice since I had made myself practically sick from gorging on fruit and dip. I came home and had a long chat with Abe. Usually we just have five minutes of interaction on my school days, so it was nice to talk so much–it felt like a luxury.

Happy Father’s Day, Abe!

Happy Father’s Day to the greatest dad I know! I think the kind of dad Abe is was epitomized today at Red Butte Gardens. We had gone there after church for a picnic, and Lydia really wanted Abe to go through the vine tunnels with her. Abe enthusiastically followed her, and he tried to convince me to join by saying, “Look, Honey! These are perfect for grown-ups, too! All you have to do is squat really low, grab these bars, and hop your way through.”

I am so glad the girls have Abe, because I’m just not that good a sport.

I give thanks every day of my life for Abe. He is such a genuine, kind, fun, funny, enthusiastic, optimistic, loving person. I could trot out a hundred more adjectives to describe him, but I have a feeling that wouldn’t quite do him justice. Anyway, Mom and Grandma, you both already know what a fun and wonderfully creative dad Abe is. He’s the best.

Here are the pictures from today:

We had a picnic at Red Butte Gardens right after church.

Abe took this picture in the tunnel after he had hopped through quite a bit of it. As you can see, it was a short tunnel.

We celebrated my birthday tonight at the Miner's. — We celebrated my birthday tonight at the Miner’s.

Lydia refused to join the pictures because she was standing watch near the cakes and goodies.

We celebrated Grandpa Miner's birthday today, too! — We celebrated Grandpa Miner’s birthday today, too!

Lydia was excited to sit on a chair that was "just her size." — Lydia was excited to sit on a chair that was “just her size.”

The boys wrestling while Lydia hammered a roc.

Saturday in June, and thank-you, Grandma!

Pretty much a typical Saturday here. I went to cooking school in the morning and made up one of the classes I missed. I’m failing my Latin class because I’ve missed so many classes, so I think after today at least I will pass.

Then Abe and I recovered from the week while both girls took marathon naps. When everyone woke up, we headed to the pool.

After we came home, we ate dinner and then I did some errands while Abe put the girls to bed. I think we’re going to try to watch The Book Thief right now, so I’ll post the only two pictures we took today. Mom, remember how Lydia has always hated the sun in her eyes? I think one of her first sentences involved communicating to us that the sun was in her eyes while we were all on a walk on 12th avenue together. Anyway, she is very attached to her sunglasses because they solve this problem for her. This is before and after our swim:

Oh, and I forgot to mention to Grandma how the girls love their pillows and blankets she made for them. Lydia loves her pillow and blankets so much that she won’t even allow us to put any other blanket or comforter on her bed. She has also dismissed her former pillow. Mary loves her blanket and pillow just as much. She moves around in her sleep, but she always seems to bring her pillow with her–her head is usually on it when she wakes up. They also play with the pillows and blankets during the day. Usually the pillows and blankets make it all around the house before ending up back upstairs on their beds. Thank-you, Grandma, for those gifts! They are very loved–just like you!!

I love June too.

I love June. It is my favorite month of the year. The weather right now makes me so, so happy. Sometimes I wonder if I have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder because when I read my childhood journals, half the time I think I might as well be reading a daily blow-by-blow of the weather report. At any rate, the good weather has been lifting my spirits all month long, and today we celebrated by going to Red Butte Gardens.

After we got home, we headed straight to the home of Abe’s friend, Andrew Walker. He and Abe have been trying to get together for over a year, and we finally got around to it tonight. It was so nice to visit with Andrew and his family, and Andrew told us amazing stories about his dad, who is a church historian. Apparently, before President Hinckley died, he wanted the whole story of the Mountain Meadow Massacre researched and told in its entirety.

Andrew’s dad was the first professor in the history of BYU to get a two year leave to write the book, and he researched every single fact surrounding the massacre. He studied all of the original documents out there and unearthed secret journals in the process. Every single sentence that he wrote is meticulously documented in the footnotes of his book, which comprise two-thirds of the final work. I can’t wait to read the book, and hearing his account of what actually happened cleared up a lot of questions for me.

Here are the pictures I took today (mostly from the gardens):

"Hi Fishies!" Mary was especially enthused by her encounter with the fish. She kept begging to go back. I was afraid the girls would slip and fall in. Next time they're not going to wear their jellies! — “Hi Fishies!” Mary was especially enthused by her encounter with the fish. She kept begging to go back. I was afraid the girls would slip and fall in. Next time they’re not going to wear their jellies!

Lydia needed frequent breaks from all the work of pushing the stroller.

The Three Bears' Cottage. — The Three Bears’ Cottage.

We pretended to have tea inside the cottage of the three bears.

Thank-you June

I honestly don’t know too much about Lily’s day because I only saw her for a couple of minutes. My day went really well at work and I may even close some deals this quarter that I did not expect to.

At home, I enjoyed the beautiful June weather with the girls over dinner and then we painted and colored. Lily had one of her last classes tonight for Latin cooking. She absolutely loved her group tonight and her cake turned out fantastic. The other food pictures are from her team.

Pictures!

Quick Post

It’s getting late, so I’ll mostly focus on pictures (Abe here):

I had a great day a work, listened to Huckleberry Finn in the car and went on a great run at home.

Lily had a great time playing with the girls, got to see some more Downton Abbey and made a delicious Samon supper.

Lydia has been darling and extremely well-behaved.

Mary has been super cute and shouting the few words she knows at the top of her lungs “No!” “Buuh!” (for bird) etc.

We are all loving the weather and we spent time eating, painting, playing and enjoying icecream outside. Pictures!!

A picnic, a final, and some really gross pictures

Lydia begged me to have a play date with Sophia today, and since Misty’s play group was having a picnic at noon, it worked out. Mary loves Sophia too, and after the play date on the way to the library she kept saying, “Mama, Fia!!” (“Mama, I saw Sophia today!”) They had fun.

Then I had my final for Garde Manger tonight. It was stressful because I was running late, but I managed to turn everything out, and the chef really liked it!

I made the tuna tartare canapes on the silver tray in front.

This was my sample plate for the chef. It looks sloppy, but I was running late because I was the only person who had to make forcemeat yesterday (I was gone when everyone else did that), so I got behind in my prep work. That's what my final chicken galantine looked like when sliced. There are also the two tuna tatare toasts, and some breakfast sausage. The sauce is a balsamic vinaigrette that I dipped my beets in. — This was my sample plate for the chef. It looks sloppy, but I was running late because I was the only person who had to make forcemeat yesterday (I was gone when everyone else did that), so I got behind in my prep work. That’s what my final chicken galantine looked like when sliced. There are also the two tuna tatare toasts, and some breakfast sausage. The sauce is a balsamic vinaigrette that I dipped my beets in.

Six of us made this food in an hour and a half. Well, we prepped yesterday, but still--it felt like a ton of work! — Six of us made this food in an hour and a half. Well, we prepped yesterday, but still–it felt like a ton of work!

Finally, I thought I would include pictures I forgot to post Saturday. While I made my practice galantine Saturday, I thought I’d take pictures to show how gross the process is:

This is what sausage looks like before it's cooked. Feel free to swear it off forever. We spread this nastiness on a chicken skin, throw internal garnishes in, roll it up, poach it, and then try to fry the sliminess away. — This is what sausage looks like before it’s cooked. Feel free to swear it off forever. We spread this nastiness on a chicken skin, throw internal garnishes in, roll it up, poach it, and then try to fry the sliminess away.

Chicken Galantine--who knew disgusting could reach such heights? — Chicken Galantine–who knew disgusting could reach such heights?

Not much to report

Today was not super eventful for either Lily or myself. I had a pretty typical day at work and Lily had a pretty low key day and enjoyed more Downton Abbey. She reported that the girls were very happy and well-behaved today.

When I got home, I changed into athletic clothes and went straight to the park with the girls. I jumped rope while I watched them climb on the playground and was a very joyful experience all around. When I finished jumping rope, we went to the other bigger playground that requires my closer supervision.

At home we had chicken and cheese quesadillas outside, with of-course a bannana on the side for Lydia. Today she and Mary were both pretending their piece of bannana was an elephant trunk, and they were both making awsome elephant noises. It was so cute!

Then it was bath and bedtime for the girls. Right before going to bed, Lydia announced that when Mary turns three she would be able to sleep in the toddler bed with Lydia. It was so nice to see this declaration of sibling adoration, especially since our playground outing completely melted down when Mary was playing with the jump-rope and Lydia fell apart because she then wanted to play with it.

After Lydia’s declaration, Mary jumped in the bed and they generated some cute photos!

Church, Friends and Sunshine

It is very late and I get up quite early so I will be brief. Today was a fantastic day. Everyone woke up late (I think we are all sluggish from allergies), but we made it to church before the end of the first meeting. In Elder’s Quorum, I learned about the power of the Book of Mormon while Lily tended Mary in nursery. Eventually, Lily was able to slip out, so we both met up in our gospel doctrine class where we learned about the story of Ruth and Naomi in the old testament. Lily made the great observation that Christ and David were decended from Ruth and both displayed incredible faithfulness, loyalty and devlotion just as Ruth did to Naomi. Sacrament meeting was mostly dominated by Lily and I taking care of the girls and minimizing screaming.

After church we ate and then Mary went down for her nap. During that time, Lily continued getting some R&R to get over her bug and enjoyed Downton Abbey and I read scriptures and learned some very neat things. Specifically I learned that to fully embrace truth, we must often unlearn things we thought were true in the process (to make room for the truth and to not contaminate it by mixing it with falsehood.) Truth cannot be fully operative in our lives if it is constrained by competition with falsehoods were are also holding onto.

When Mary woke up, I took her into her bedroom where Lydia was watching Veggie Tales on the laptop. Lydia was so sweet to Mary when Mary entered! Lydia said, “Mary, come here! Come sit with me in this tent, here I will make a place just for you. I have your special pillow right here Mary. Mary, do you want to come in the tent and watch the show with me?” Mary obliged and joined Lydia in her tent (see below). Lydia was so excited to have her buddy, Mary, watch the show with her and it touched my heart to see her enthusiasm to spend time with her sister. Sure, it devolved into crying on both ends within fifteen minutes (Mary thought the laptop was a touch-screen, which it wasn’t and Lydia was very distraught about Mary’s misuse), but Lydia’s initial intent was very touching.

Later in the afternoon we all went to Bobby and Ashley Bassett’s home where we had dinner with them and Caleb and Marissa. The food and story telling were all great. We exchanged stories fo how we all met our spouses, where we grew up etc. and it was all so delightful. Dinner was an amazing Mexican casserole with Crepes for desert and the rolls Lily brought for our contribution were fantastic.

Well, so I guess I wasn’t so brief. Writing is fun!

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30