Month: January 2019

Abe and I are having a tense time today. I think on our own we both actually had great days. I babysat my neighbor’s daughter, Chloe, and took her and my kids to the library for story time. We had a lovely outing and lots of fun when we came back. (Well, the kids played dress up and had fun while I cleaned and cooked. But those things are fun for me!)

I also had a great visit with my neighbor, Emily, when she picked up Chloe.

Abe had a great day at work. He didn’t feel great, but he got all of his stuff done, which is amazing.

I don’t know why we’re struggling at home. Maybe we are both still sick, generally stressed from life, and tired. I’m sure tomorrow will be better.

Clarissa looked so cute I wanted a picture, and of course Ammon wanted his picture taken, too.

On Wednesday we had our usual Wednesday marathon of homework, practice, dance, and then, for Lydia, activity days. And after I dropped Lydia off for activity days, I went to my friend Blair’s birthday party. It’s hard for me to go to things like that alone, and Abe couldn’t come because all of our sitters were at the youth activity Lydia was attending. But I actually had a decent time talking to Blair’s very nice friends.

Then we came home and worked on our finances. We got our stock payout from the SAP buyout, and that was good (except for the fact that we had overestimated how many shares Abe had, darn it). But it was still good. We linked up to Mint so I can be more involved in finances. Up until now I haven’t really been, but I want to be more involved and I remember Mint from my single days.

This morning Ammon woke up in extreme pain. His knee was hurting so much that he could not walk. I was terrified it was my fault for putting his shoes on in an angle that tweaked his knee on our way to Rodizio’s.

Abe took a sick day to help with the doctor since Ammon couldn’t walk. We ended up going from the doctor to the hospital so that they could get x-rays and also do some blood work. It turns out that the cold virus running through our family settled in Ammon’s knee and we just have to wait it out.

This all happened before 11:30am, which was so great because today is National Puzzle Day! Abe had contemplated taking a personal day today anyway so we could keep the girls home and do puzzles all day. But instead he got to take a legitimate sick day, and after we were done with Ammon’s hospital trip, we picked up the girls early from school, got Cafe Rio, and bought a bunch of puzzles at the Dollar Store. We went home to our house and had the most peaceful afternoon doing puzzles while Clarissa napped.

After we were done with puzzles, we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which Lydia finished before the puzzling.

Abe stayed up until 11:30 pm studying and hand copying out the Song of Nephi. He has not been feeling the best because work has affected his self esteem and is SO stressful. So he loved the Song of Nephi and spent an hour just drinking it in.

It was a much needed, very peaceful day.

Monday was Abe’s birthday! It was kind of a downer day for him, actually, because he has been feeling so gutted by work. But he did get a nice long chat with his therapist in, and after work we went to Rodizio’s with Karin and Jay.

We adore Abe. I feel like I blog a LOT about how much I love Abe, so maybe since I’m back blogging and I have to get the kids up for school, I’ll skip my usual long posts on this subject. But I have never been more in love with Abe, and I am so grateful he was born–and made it to thirty five!! I love you, Abe!!

Abe here. I was up until about 1:00 last night, mostly due to working on our basement. Our wonderful contractor, Moroni, finished fixing it after the flood, and I’ve been itching to get all the furniture back set up and rearranged, and it was so fun to do it!

But wow, when I woke up at 8AM, I was not ready at all for church. I think it was ward conference today because the bishop and the stake president were the speakers in sacrament meeting. I was chasing Clarissa most of the time, but can you believe that in three weeks she will be in nursery? It’s hard to know how that will go given her current stranger danger 🙂

While I was chasing her in class, I chatted with Josh Jackson. He is my good friend from across the cul-de-sac. One of his most defining characteristics is that he loves to share food with people. I would say that one out of every two times that I see him, he pulls some super interesting food out of his bag or pocket and shares it with me. Today was a first. It was the first time he ever gave me a piece of steak while I was at church. It was quite good and hit the spot since I hadn’t eaten breakfast.

There was a bit of drama that I heard about in relief society when the stake president made a remark that was not ill-intended, but reflected a more traditional and antiquated role-based family structure. That sparked a big discussion that Lily and some others were a part of. One of our favorite couples in the ward, Molly (who also participated in the discussion in relief society) and her husband Steve Spencer came over and bonded with Lily over the class comments and other spiritual topics while I was doing financial clerk stuff. I caught the tail end of a lovely discussion, and they also brought us desert! They told of us their three-step walz formula for letting God into your life. 1. I can’t. 2. God can. 3. I will let him.

Then I rested after delicious birthday leftovers, and now we are on our way to dinner with friends we love dearly, Rich and Misty Sorenson. We’ve kept in touch with them despite living an hour away now. I can guarantee it will be an amazing time. It always is.

Abe here. I’ve admittedly been a bit spoiled this go around on my birthday. On Tuesday, we went snowshoeing as a family which was my birthday request.  Saturday was a continuation of festivities. Lily is amazing when it comes to acknowledging people’s birthdays, and birthdays are always fun at our home because of her.

As soon as I rolled my bones out of bed, I became a drill sergeant and made everyone clean. The girls protested like I was asking them to walk to Canada barefoot, but I helped, prodded, threatened and promised a nice breakfast which Lily made and eventually their room, and most of the rest of the upstairs got cleaned. The German Apple Pancake Lily made was super delicious. Lily was still feeling very sick and also overwhelmed at all she had to do for my birthday dinner, so I gave her a quick massage and that turned into an engaging discussion about tithing.

About the time Clarissa went down, I went to to the funeral for Annalynn Cannon. She was my cousin who had spina bifida. She just died and she was only in 8th grade. The stories about her were amazing, about how she was not angry, or bitter after all she went through and countless surgeries. She wasn’t jealous about the lives that other people had. Even though she couldn’t dance, it made her smile when others danced.  She was an old soul, and already understood lessons that many of us, like me, still struggle with. Her uncle said in a talk that he felt on multiple occasions that she was put here on earth for those around her, and not for herself. Now she is heaven, no longer in a wheelchair, smiling brightly, and receiving the reward for her service here on earth. Annalynn, I wish I had gotten to know you better, but I know enough to know you were truly special. We love you!

After the funeral, I hit the store and got a haircut and then came home. Lily was grinding in the kitchen for my birthday dinner, and she was coughing and clearly fading. She and Clarissa are the two that got hit the hardest with the sickness going through our house.

Lily promised she would sit after the cupcakes, and then I stepped in to finalize everything. Lily, I’m so grateful for what you gave so that I could have my birthday dinner.

I have a tradition every year, that on my birthday, I eat my favorite food, borscht soup with people I love. Lily is an unbelievable cook, and her borscht is so good. This year, my dad, Suzanne and Morgan and Jessie joined us. Conversation was so incredibly fun! My dad’s job is going so super well for him (which is great to see after so many harder years at the state tax commission.), Jessie is starting a private library, and everyone just seemed to be doing very well. For my birthday, my dad and Suzanne got me a book of scientific answers to totally odd and random question. I can’t wait to read it!

After the party, I was stubborn and sent Lily to bed so I could clean up and move the furniture back to our basement now that Moroni, our contractor, fixed everything after the flood. I was feeling great and happy to do it.  It has been so hard for Lily to get better with the grueling pace she has with the kids, so it was good to see her rest. Lily, thank you, thank you, thank you, for again creating a memory that means so much to me, your delicious food, with people I love. Pictures below!

 

 

 

 

On Friday I had a Face Time chat with my dear friend, Thalia. I just love her and loved catching up so much.

Also, the girls went to school Friday! That was a first for the week. I’m still not feeling great, but I’m glad they’re mostly recovered.

I took the car in after school for a tune up, and after we picked up Cafe Rio for dinner. It’s so yummy.

Then we cleaned up, put the kids down, and watched a John Dehlin Mormon Stories video about the Swedish Rescue, and afterward we wound down with one of our art history documentaries. Abe didn’t have to stay up late working this Friday! That was so needed.

On Thursday I let the kids have ANOTHER sick day, even though Mary and Lydia only have colds and are really minimally affected at this point.

Clarissa asked for a dress up today! Well, she doesn’t talk, but she definitely communicates desire. So Abe submitted to her request.

And Lydia and I read Harry Potter in bed together. It’s been going 24/7 on the TV, and it’s so fun to re-read the books while Lydia reads them too.

On Wednesday we were all still down in the dumps, so I let the kids stay home from school AGAIN. I normally don’t like the background noise of television, but I’m starting to love having Harry Potter on all of the time because it feels like we’ve entered that world. I started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone so that I can catch up to Lydia, who is now on book five.

On Tuesday I let the kids stay home because everyone was still feeling yucky, but somehow we justified going snowshoeing in the afternoon for Abe’s birthday (even though his birthday isn’t for a week). The fresh air was good for us, right?

Abe and I had so much fun. All of the big kids thought it was an exhausting activity and had no problem broadcasting this opinion. Clarissa, on the other hand, cried until we let her participate.