On Tuesday Clarissa took her first steps!! Well, everyone else has seen her walk a couple steps before, but this was the first time I saw it happen. We got lots of pictures and videos.
After dinner Abe and I put the kids down and headed to the church to do our temple recommend interviews. I have been nervous about mine, but Moroni Hair, who conducted the interview, was amazing. He handled my issues and concerns with such grace, kindness, and spiritual sensitivity. Afterward Abe and I discussed how lucky we are to know the Hairs. They are such great people.
On Monday we went to the annual Qualtrics summer party. We thought these parties have always been incredible, but this year to top everything all off, there were elephants on the lawn. Qualtrics is really big on cancer research, and I guess there is an elephant gene that cancer researchers are interested in. So the elephants were actually relevant.
For dinner we ate some food truck farm-to-table burgers. The kids, including Ammon, were so perfectly behaved. In fact, Ammon was so well-behaved that he warmed my heart. He just sat there quietly eating his food all up, and he didn’t act crazy at all.
After we ate, I took Lydia to get her face painted like a unicorn. My phone was out of memory so I couldn’t get a picture, but she looked amazing. While Clarissa, Lydia and I were in the face painting section, Abe, Mary, and Ammon were waiting to ride the ferris wheel. By the time it was their turn, the rain had turned to thunder and lightning.
I have to admit, I was highly annoyed that Abe was going to ride the metal ferris wheel while there was lightning going on. I couldn’t watch so I stormed off to the car while Lydia screamed and cried. Lydia saw a movie recently where the dad gets hit by lightning, so she was terrified Abe, Mary and Ammon were going to die. When we got the prayer, she sobbed out that she wanted to say a prayer. She actually said several prayers and then calmed down. She then verbalized my exact thoughts, which were, “Why is dad putting Mary and Ammon in danger? He can choose to ride the ferris wheel himself, but why is he putting Mary and Ammon in danger?” My thoughts exactly.
Thankfully, they were all safe and no one was hit by lightning. We got home, got cozy, and had a great night’s sleep.
On Sunday I thought I was supposed to teach the lesson on the awesome talk, “Seventy times Seven” by Elder Robbins. I asked my friend, Betsy Croft, to come and share her thoughts on failure with the class. She is a potter, and during our dinner a couple weeks ago she had spontaneously started talking about how she has embraced failure because of her medium of expression and how everything often goes wrong in pottery. So I thought she would offer a really interesting angle on the lesson.
When we got to class, I was horrified to learn someone else was supposed to teach the lesson. There had been a mix-up in teaching schedules. Normally I would have gladly let her teach, but Betsy had driven all the way to the ward, had brought her pottery, and had already set up to teach. So I kind of told the presidency I needed to teach. They were all so nice, and so was the other teacher, Stephanie McAllister. She was absolutely the kindest person about the whole mix-up and let me teach.
The lesson went amazingly well, and Betsy added so much depth to the lesson.
After the lesson, we walked home in the hot sunshine with all of the kids. Abe and I wondered why we don’t walk to church more often. It is such a nice community exercise. Everyone waves as they drive past and it is a very fun and social activity.
When we got home, we released Clarissa’s birthday balloons into the sky. We think this is a good tradition going forward–releasing the balloons the day after the birthday.
Then we had the Crofts over to dinner for Thai grilled chicken and veggies. They brought amazing mango sticky rice that Micah learned how to make on his mission. We had a wonderful visit.
Then for FHE we played a board game Lydia created in the morning. Abe took some great pictures of it and all of the tiny pieces she made.
These pieces are so little–about an inch high. Aren’t they amazing? Isn’t Lydia amzing?!
Saturday was Clarissa’s birthday. Abe and Ammon were at the father and sons campout until around 3pm, but until then Mary and Lydia were over-the-top excited to celebrate Clarissa. Both Mary and Lydia woke up early and wanted to wake Clarissa up to tell her it was her birthday. Lydia went so far as to open the door…and then Clarissa woke up. The girls spent an hour playing in her room, singing to her, and telling her over and over again that it was her birthday.
After breakfast, I took Clarissa, Mary, and Lydia to go pick out balloons for Clarissa. Clarissa looooooved her balloons and the girls played with them when we came home.
Then it was time for her nap. During her nap I made pizzas and baked carrot cake. I made a little smash cake for Clarissa and cupcakes for everyone else.
Around 3pm Abe, Tom, and Ammon got back from the campout. They had gone on a hike in the morning and had had a wonderful time. Ammon was cranky again and Abe had to carry him the last mile. Ammon fell asleep in his arms. Good thing Abe has been working out a ton!
When everyone was back and Clarissa was awake again, we celebrated her birthday by letting her eat pizza, singing to her, and letting her smash her cake. She appeared to enjoy that last part. We didn’t get this on camera, but at one point she leaned forward and stuck her little tongue out as if she were going to lick or bury her face in the cake, but she pulled back at the last minute and decided to stay dainty. She loooooved having everyone sing to her and kept looking around at all of us to make sure all eyes were on her. She clapped a lot for herself. It was totally adorable. In these pictures you can see her scanning the room amazed that EVERYONE is looking at her. As the fourth child, she is just not used to this level of attention. It was so cute.
Then we took cupcakes outside to share with neighbors. We got to visit with our new neighbors and Meghan from across the street. Meghan was so nice and dead-headed our petunias while our new neighbors chatted with us. They are lovely.
Then we went back inside, opened presents, cleaned up the mess, and had a pretty low-key rest of the day.
We love Clarissa so much. She is so cute and lights up our lives. Her smile and nose crinkles send us over the moon. Every day her little personality emerges a bit more, and we are enchanted. She is so self-contained and content the majority of the time, and she only fusses when she is hungry, tired, or Ammon bugs her too much. She is very adventurous and is already trying to climb the outer edge of the stairs. Even Ammon did not attempt that trick until he was a lot older!
We love you, Clarissa! Happy first birthday, sweet baby girl!!
Today we went to Qualtrics in the morning. Abe actually had five minutes to chat and play with the kids. He pretended Clarissa and Ammon were basketballs.
After we came home and ate lunch, I chatted with Clark for a long time on the phone. It was so fun to catch up.
Then I went outside with Ammon and my mom to chat while the cleaners cleaned the house. We spent the next few hours mostly outside enjoying the nice weather. When Clarissa woke up she joined us. Ammon uses the word, “probly” (probably” a lot these days. One of his favorite phrases is to eye a food and say, hopefully, “It’s probly yummy?”
Then Abe came home, packed the car, and whisked Ammon off to the Fathers and sons campout in American Fork Canyon. Abe planned the event, so I am sure it will be amazing.
Dinner at the campout. Ammon was very cranky during this part, but Tom and the bishop helped calm him down while Abe organized everything.
Meanwhile, the rest of us ate a very understated dinner of cottage cheese, grapes, and, in my case, anchovies. Then I took the girls to Barnes and Noble to pick out some birthday gifts for Clarissa. It’s her birthday tomorrow!
Also, it thunder showered during the night, but Abe, Tom and Ammon stayed dry in the tent. That cheap Walmart tent turned out to be better than my REI one which totally leaks.
The rest of the neighborhood is back in school, so I can finally spend some peaceful time outside with my kids and not be interrupted. I know it sounds selfish, but oh well. I guess it is. I love having the peace and quiet back.
On Thursday morning I spent the gorgeous morning outside with the kids bird watching. It was peaceful, beautiful and so enjoyable.
Then we met up with my friend, Carlee, and her kids at Westmore park. Our kids all played while Carlee and I chatted for an hour. It was lovely weather and so nice to connect.
Then I took the kids home, fed them, put everyone in front of TV or down for a nap, and took a nap myself.
After quite time we all went to Scera Pool together. Ammon found a way to almost kill himself on the kiddie slide by jumping down it in such a way that he almost cracked his head open. Also, Clarissa puked on me after drinking copious amounts of pool water. I didn’t feel like I could stop her from drinking the water, so I just let her drink. I probably should have tried harder to stop her, but I think I learned my lesson when she puked on me.
In the evening Abe had to go grocery shopping with Steve Young for the Fathers and Sons campout, so I spent the time binge watching The Good Wife on Amazon.
On Wednesday morning Abe and I got up early and had a great run around the local track.
In the evening, I spent hours outside with the kids bird watching. That was so fun. We saw lots of hummingbirds. Ammon used his toilet paper roll binoculars, Lydia used her dog binoculars, and I used my mom’s bird watching binoculars. Lydia loved those and was amazed that real binoculars actually do help you see better. Lydia was particularly interested in the bird watching, although all of the kids loved it. We learned what hummingbirds do when cats come around. It was so neat to see nature at play! I hope we can make this a habit and a hobby.
On Tuesday we had the Tahoes over for dinner. They are the family Abe and I minister to, and it was really fun to get together with them. It is really hard coordinating our families’ schedules, so it also felt like a win. We had sloppy joe’s, boiled corn, cold watermelon, a giant salad, and desserts from Smith’s that Mary picked out on an outing with my mom.
Before the Tahoes came, I completely cleaned the house–except for the basement. It was really convenient to have Clarissa in the shoe basket while I vacuumed. I think one of the girls, in a moment of inspiration, put her in it.
On Monday I rolled out of bed at 5:15 am and made it to bikram yoga on time. The fact that Abe and I went to bed so early on Sunday really helped.
I kind of overdid it in yoga, though. Some kind lady asked me if I needed help as I was leaving. After I came home, I asked the girls to watch Clarissa in her room while I lay down and recovered in bed.
When I was recovered, Mary and Lydia practiced a ton.
In the afternoon I took the kids to the Arches splash pad party at Palisades park. I didn’t get any pictures AND I lost Mary’s glasses there. That was a huge bummer. But since I was blissfully unaware that I was about to lose Mary’s glasses, we had a great time at the splash pad. I did wonder why I was the only mom who was soaked from head to toe. It seemed like all of the other moms pulled the party off without getting wet at all. But I was with Clarissa and Ammon the whole time, so I got drenched!
On Sunday my friend Betsy agreed to come help me with my Relief Society lesson. The lesson was on failure and forgiveness, and Betsy’s work as a potter has taught her to embrace failure. Every step of pottery is filled with opportunities for failure, and failure is an inevitable part of the process. Betsy is incredibly articulate and her work added a beautiful visual component to the lesson.
Then we had Betsy, Micah, and Pippa over for dinner. They brought mango sticky rice, which I didn’t realize was dessert and so I made Thai grilled chicken for dinner. We ended up eating the rice as a side and it actually tasted great with the chicken.
After dinner we chatted for a couple hours. We just love the Crofts, and the kids love Pippa.
Abe and I went to bed right after the kids. It felt great to get to bed early at the start of the week.
