Month: June 2018

On Saturday Clarissa woke up at 5am, which was painful (especially since she woke up twice during the night) but a blessing in disguise. Since Clarissa woke us up, we were up and ready to hit the Valley of the Goblins before it got hot.

When we got to the valley around 6am, we were the only ones there. We had a little breakfast in the picnic area overlooking the valley, and then the kids raced down the steps into the valley to explore.

      

By the time we were done exploring the valley, it was already getting hot. We were so grateful for the early start. We went back to camp and Abe took down the tent while the girls explored by our tent site and I took care of Ammon and Clarissa.

After we broke camp, Abe and I discussed heading to Capitol Reef National Park for another adventure, but we decided to just head home and have a normal Saturday instead. We were amazed that Goblin Valley was close enough that we could have BOTH an adventure and a regular weekend all at once!

 

On Friday Abe came home after having a really great day with unexpected blessings on the last day of his quarter. Deals came in out of the blue, and he ended at a higher number than he anticipated. It has been a HUGE load for him to manage, though, so he was so excited to leave it all behind and drive straight to Goblin Valley State Park.

I had stayed up too late on Thursday night trying to extend my amazing Thursday, and the ironic outcome was that I was tired and very, very irritable on Friday. Poor Lydia tried to have a good harp practice but I lost my temper. We were all a sad bunch when Abe got home.

But as soon as we started driving, things got better. It is so fun to go on adventures as a family, and we were excited to finally see Goblin Valley. Once the muddy boulders that look like goblins started appearing, Ammon started to call them “glob-lins.” It was, in fact, a very apt term. “Look, Mommy!” he kept shouting. “A GLOB-LIN!!!”

Once we got to the campsite, the kids immediately started climbing up to the towers while I supervised and Abe set up camp. We were all thrilled to use our sleeping bags, and everyone was especially excited to see Clarissa use hers. She snuggled right in! …But she was too excited to fall asleep. She kept crawling out of it after snuggling and exploring the tent. Abe got her to sleep by walking her all around in the dark until she fell asleep.

After Clarissa was asleep, we ate s’mores by the fire and the kids tried to build a sandcastle out of heaps of soft dust around the site. When we got tired, we fell asleep in our tent which was open to the stars. The temperature was GORGEOUS, and I don’t know if I have ever slept under the stars before. It was a beautiful experience.

The kids saw a shooting star, and Lydia reported that she made a wish.

“What did you wish for?” Abe asked.

“I wished that Ammon would never kill his-self,” she replied seriously.

Abe and I laughed so hard. Ammon is indeed very adventurous so we are always commenting on how he tries every day to kill himself. Lydia has apparently overheard our jokes and has been concerned. She is such a sweet girl.

On Thursday Abe and I both had spectacular days. I woke up feeling amazing and happy and full of love. During Lydia’s harp practice, I was so excited to see her progress that we both had an incredible time. We focused, but with joy and excitement. It was amazing.

I was feeling so energized that I moved right on to Mary, even though I’m not officially her “practice parent” anymore. We sat down and inspiration started flowing. I had a lot of conversations with Mary’s thumbs and her wrists, and Mary’s beautiful eyes got wide with wonder whenever her hands “talked” to me. By the end, she was giving me big hugs and I felt so full of love for her sweet, innocent, imaginative little soul.

Then during Clarissa’s nap I let the kids help me make meatballs, after which I spiralized some zucchini noodles. By the time Abe came home, the kids had eaten, I had cleaned the house, done a bunch of laundry, and felt so happy. Abe had a great day at work too.

It was such a good day that we both tried to make it last longer. I stayed up way too late reading, and Abe read some Hugh Nibley and barbecued chicken for the next day. It was a wonderful, wonderful day.

After Abe came home from work, we put the kids down and went to see The Incredibles 2 together. I had been wishing Abe were with us when we saw it on Tuesday, and I just knew he could use a couple belly laughs after his stressful week.

Abe did cry with laughter at one point, so we consider the evening a success. 🙂

On Tuesday Amy and I went out to lunch with Heather. Heather is moving to Arizona. I am so, so sad about this. Heather is one of my favorite local friends and I will miss her so much.

While we were at lunch having a wonderful time, Heather’s husband and brother in law were babysitting all of our kids.

After lunch, I was still feeling tired from strep, so I got Abby Mugarian to come with us to help watch Clarissa at the movies. We watched The Incredibles 2 and we all laughed so much at Jack Jack, the baby. Mary especially convulsed with glee. Mary is at the stage where she is obsessed with babies. Whenever she and Clarissa look at each other, they both grin and begin to make excited sounds. So Mary was just in heaven watching Jack Jack do crazy things.

Then in the evening I decided to just go for it and make it a movie theater day. I went out to Oceans 8 after the kids were down. Abe was too stressed from work, but I loved the movie even by myself.

Today Abe stayed home from work because I was still incapable of doing anything. I did, however, go to the doctor and get my official strep diagnosis–complete with an antibiotic prescription. Woo-hoo! It was heartening to know that the end was in sight.

Abe did an incredible job taking care of the kids, helping Mary practice the piano, re-organizing our entire pantry, and laying down all sorts of new fabulous rules for the kids. When he’s home and sees how crazy it is, Abe can be counted on to come up with creative solutions to the problem. Now the kids have all sorts of additional morning chores and my pantry is organized.  When I came home from the doctor, Abe was busy throwing everything out of the pantry onto the floor and was muttering things about how the pantry was the real source of my stress and strep. 🙂

Then my mom was so nice and picked up my medicine, which I took so joyfully. I have been feeling gradually better ever since. Thank you, modern medicine!

Also, the unsung hero of today was Mary. Mary loves to be a “helper,” and wow did she step fully into that role today! She played beautifully with Ammon for hours, played with Clarissa, waited on me, helped bring in groceries, helped put things away, and did all of her chores without complaint. And to top it all off, she was constantly batting her beautiful eyes at everyone and telling them she loved them. She also doled out hugs and kisses to everyone. She is a dream.

All of the other kids were so good too today, but Mary really took the cake.

On Sunday I was feeling the worst I had felt all weekend, which was saying something because strep really takes it out of you. Anyway, I basically lay in bed while Clarissa napped and Abe took Ammon, Lydia, and Mary to the Crater. They had a wonderful time. Ammon’s life jacket had a bump on the back that acted like a pillow. At first it tipped Ammon face down in the water. Abe quickly corrected that and Ammon spent the rest of the time floating on his back, staring at the ceiling, and talking up a storm. The girls loved the outing and the crater too. Abe came home delighted with the whole experience.

While they were gone I eventually forced myself to pack everything up so we could get going and check out upon their return. After we checked out, Abe drove us to Provo River Falls, which is stunningly beautiful. It basically looks like Glacier or the Tetons in the Uinta National Forest. I couldn’t believe all of this natural beauty was right on our doorstep all these years!!! And yet, I was so sick I couldn’t really leave the car. I just looked at everything out of the window in between my writhes of pain.

On our way home everyone except Clarissa fell asleep:

At home I collapsed gratefully into my own bed. I had no plans on leaving it until Abe told me Jere was coming over.

Jere lives in California, so a visit from him is rare. I didn’t know if I could physically move, but Abe told me if I could make it down the stairs I could just lie on the couch. So I did until pain propelled me back upstairs. Everyone loved visiting with Jere. Lydia loves that he speaks German and makes him translate words for her, and Abe had a great conversation with Jere all about life. He came upstairs so happy to have bonded with his brother.

On Saturday Misty and I went to the Crater . I almost cancelled our appointment, but when I called Abe to ask him to cancel, he convinced me to go. Like I said, I felt so sick, but I didn’t want to disappoint Abe who worked so hard on every part of our itinerary.

So off we went! And wow, we were so grateful we did. The water at the crater was so warm. I floated on my back the whole time and prayerfully meditated. Misty and I both thought it was delightful, and just up our alley. Our personal effort was minimal (we floated and bobbed about the whole time), and the experience was maximal.

Then we came back to the hotel, washed up, and went out to lunch at Cafe Galleria. I talked Misty’s ears off about Ruth, Boaz, polygamy, and the sex stuff we discussed in book club this month. She is a very dear, patient friend.

Then we went back and met up with Abe, who had driven up with the kids. Misty chatted with the kids a bit before saying goodbye.

When she left, I collapsed on the bed and barely got up until the next afternoon. Good thing Abe picked up June Pies on his way to Midway. Even though the strep was going nuts, I still managed to eat some of the pie because I love it. Abe got a chicken pot pie, a cherry pie, and some chocolate and rice pudding hand pies.

After dinner we all watched The Incredibles in bed. That was a highlight for all of us.

On Friday I woke up feeling quite sick. I basically lay around the house until Abe came home early to pick us up and drive to Salt Lake, where I met up with Misty.

Misty then drove us to the Blue Beard Inn for dinner. It was so fun catching up and reconnecting, even if I did feel kind of ill. Also, I fell in love with Midway. Oh my goodness, it is so beautiful there. And the houses have a German/Swiss theme to them, so between the houses and the gorgeous mountain scenery, it felt like we were in Europe.

After the Inn, we went to the World Mark that Karin booked for us. It was the cutest World Mark I have ever been to! And it was very needed, too, because I did not feel super great. Even though I felt rather awful, Misty and I still stayed up talking until 11pm. She helped me with my current crochet project. I am crocheting the Goddess of Willendorf, but I didn’t know how to crochet her legs together. Misty took care of it, so the goddess has a bona-fide bottom now!

Then I proceeded to hardly sleep at all because my throat was on fire and I kept choking on snot. Disgusting, I know. But that’s when I figured out I had strep. Such sad timing.

On Thursday I was feeling tired, so I allowed myself to be lazy during Clarissa’s nap. While she napped, I put Ammon in front of the TV and let the girls play outside with the neighbor kids while I watched Gone with the Wind. Obviously, I had to skip parts of the movie in order to finish the movie before Clarissa woke up. I watched it to refresh myself on the plot before I go and read the sequel about Rhett.

When Clarissa woke up, we all went to Tibble Fork again–this time with Brittany and her kids. It was, for the first time, PERFECT weather there. It was almost 100 degrees in Orem, but the mountains were in the 80’s–just perfect for playing in the sand and water. Brittany and I both even took quick dips in the freezing cold reservoir.

After the reservoir, we drove to Chipotle to meet Abe. He won a gift card to Chipotle at the spikeball tournament at Qualtrics. Thanks, Honey!

At 8pm I hosted book club. I was a little nervous because I picked the book Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that will Transform your Sex Life. I figured the discussion would either be stilted and awkward or rollicking and awesome. Thank goodness it was completely and totally the latter! The ladies all stayed talking and laughing and sharing until 10pm. It was one of my favorite book club discussions of all time. I love the ladies in my book club, and discussions like that make me love them all the more!