Month: December 2017

On Saturday we had breakfast with Clark and Soren before they left to go home. We were so sad to see them go! It was such a wonderful visit, and I felt it was the first time I got to spend really quality time with Soren. We miss them, but we know they were happy to see Swathi again. Soren said, “I’m going to see my mom, but I’ll be back again soon, okay?” He was so cute.

After breakfast Abe instituted Saturday chores. The girls worked to clean their rooms and the basement while the rest of us worked on the other parts of the house. I folded some more laundry and put it away.

As soon as chores were done, Lydia practiced her harp until it was time to go to her recital. She tends to freeze up in recitals, so she played the piece perfectly many times at home as preparation for the sure-to-come brain freeze.

Then we headed over to Lydia’s recital. She did a wonderful job playing Silent Night and powered through her memory slips. I enjoy harp recitals. They are  beautiful and soothing, and everyone played Christmas pieces in this one. We felt very Christmasy.

After the recital, Mary practiced her piano until it was time for Abe to take Lydia and Mary to Coco. I stayed home and did laundry, which is honestly what I preferred to be doing. It felt so peaceful to have Ammon and Clarissa napping while I got on top of the laundry. Abe and the girls had a wonderful time, too.

 

On Friday we went to the Museum of Ancient Life in the morning. Ammon basically ran through it until he reached the play area. There he ate a lot of water and germy sand while playing with the toy dinos. It was so wonderful to have Clark there to chase Ammon. Clark noted that the first thing Ammon does in a new setting is look for an exit and make a bolt for it. Soren, on the other hand, sticks close to adults and comes wherever Clark tells him to come. Soren is a Llamzon/Namburi, and Ammon is a Darais, or at least has a LOT of Abe in him.

After the museum, we came home for naps before heading out again to Mary’s Christmas in the Village. It is an open house at her school. They had dinner, over two thousand gorgeous cookies, Santa, a craft, and caroling by the kids every thirty minutes.

After the open house, we headed home only to split up again. Two babysitters came while Lydia and I headed to her school concert, Abe and Mary went on a sushi making date with his Qualtrics friends, and my mom and Clark went to the movies to see Coco.

Lydia was absolutely gorgeous and did a wonderful job singing at her concert. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my phone and didn’t get any pictures. That was really disappointing, but I am hoping to get some from fellow parents and then amend this post. I love getting one-on-one time with Lydia, and I enjoyed every minute of watching her sing.

Abe and Mary had a great time at sushi. Mary gets a little shy around lots of grown-ups because everyone inevitably comments on how cute her glasses are. Afterward she told me that she wishes she didn’t have glasses because all of the comments about them make her feel shy. She also said people laughed at her. I explained that grown-ups laugh when children delight them, and I hope she understood.

My mom and Clark enjoyed Coco. Actually, it is now one of my mom’s most favorite movies ever, and so I think she really really enjoyed it.

It was a full Friday!

I love these two boys! They are so cute playing together. I had fun reading to them today.

On Tuesday we had a full morning at home. I baked cookies with the boys, practiced with Mary, read to the kids, nursed and changed Clarissa a bunch, and tried to nap with Clarissa. In the afternoon we had the homework rush followed by playing and tacos for dinner.

After the kids were all in bed, Abe, Clarissa and I went to Carolyn Blosil’s first flip and fix house, and we enjoyed the tour. We love the Blosils and always feel uplifted by their wonderful spirits. We are hoping that Jenn is able to nanny our kids in January when Abe and I go to Mexico. Fingers crossed!!!

On Monday morning the boys were darling playing chase and running around the house.

After Mary’s piano, Clark, Soren, Mary, Ammon, Clarissa and I ventured out to The Museum of Natural Curiosity. We all had a great time, and wow, it is SO much easier to do outings with another adult!

 

 

Sunday was stake conference, and I was still sick so I stayed home with Ammon, Clarissa, Clark and Soren. Ammon and Soren are so adorable playing together. I can’t get enough of watching the two of them interact. I especially love when they play chase or discover new games together. It’s really cute.

Later in the evening the kids all decorated the Christmas tree. Afterward we had pot roast and gluey mashed potatoes for dinner. Everyone was nice about the potatoes, but they were pretty gross.

 

In the morning Abe took the girls to The Christmas Carol. Chelsea gave us free tickets, which was so sweet of her. Abe and the girls loved the play.

In the afternoon my mom, Clark, and Soren arrived! Right before they came, Abe and the kids got a tree. I was feeling too sick to go with, but they were very sweet and picked out a tree everyone disliked except for me. I like the skinny sparse kind because they don’t feel like hulking clutter. I promised the girls we will get a nice, fat, bushy tree next year since they were so nice and let me have a skinny tree this year.

On Friday after school Abe came home and we packed everyone in the car, picked up our friend, Nick, and headed to Salt Lake for the Christkindlmarkt. It took us two and a half hours to get there because it seemed everyone was headed to Salt Lake.

The ride was a little hard on Clarissa, but Nick kindly kept putting in her binky and playing with the kids in between. Ammon would say, “TOOT!” and Nick would playfully bellow, “No toot, Ammon, no toot!” to which the kids would all break out into gleeful giggles. This happened over and over and over.

When we got to the Christkindlemarkt, we had just enough time to eat dinner from one of the food trucks before turning around and heading home. Nick had to work at 10pm, and we feared that we would make him late to his job. We made it with three minutes to spare!

The Christkindlemarkt was quite magical, but with four hungry, tired kids, I honestly couldn’t appreciate it. Maybe next year we’ll have a better experience. It was nice spending time with Nick, though.