Month: May 2019

On Friday Abe and I slept in until 8:46 am. I know the exact minute because when I looked at the clock I was in shock. I literally can not remember the last time we slept in that late! But we were up until 3am binging on Game of Thrones, so I guess we needed it.

We took pictures of the cabin before heading to lunch at The Foundry.

After the glorious ski lift (which might have been my favorite part of the day because we were right next to the birds and birdsong and sitting in the sunshine for hours), we hiked Stewart Falls.

When we got home we were so tired but so thrilled to see everyone. Tom and Suzanne and my mom did an amazing job with the kids, who were all so happy. Thank you, Tom and Suzanne and Mom! We could not have had this beautiful day without you!! We love you.

On Thursday I deep cleaned the house, baked a pie and made some eggplant rollatini. I found this note Mary wrote to Lydia while I cleaned:

It says, “Dear Lydia Wiye (why) Do You Read So Much!!!”

Sometimes Mary gets really frustrated when Lydia reads and doesn’t want to play. I thought it was an adorable note.

At 4:30 Abe came home so we could go to Sundance for the night to celebrate our anniversary. Tom and Suzanne were so sweet and spent the night and babysat the kids so we could get away.

On the way we stopped at Harmon’s and picked up stuff for our Friday picnic, and then we drove to the Tree Room at Sundance.

They don’t allow you to take pictures in the Tree Room, but it was such wonderful ambiance. We got to snuggle at a “booth” that was so incredibly comfortable. The food was seriously too rich, but we still ate almost all of it.

We were so delighted by our Sundance Cabin called “Lower Hollow.” Abe took some pictures:

We binge watched Game of Thrones and spent an hour in the outdoor hot tub breathing the clean mountain air.

We also gave each other gifts. I always give Abe audio books for our anniversary, and he always gives me jewelry and a poem. This year I gave him David Brooks’ The Second Mountain and Bill Clinton’s new mystery thriller.

He gave me this necklace of a kite, and this poem:

My Kite

You are my kite

Soaring through sky

Heavenward gusts

Calling you high

I feel your tug

To let out more string

The wind has caught

The wind is king

It once caused pain

The string unreeling

Your heart from me

The sky seemingly stealing

But there are some things

I have come to learn

Though you can seem far

You always return

Trailing clouds

As I’m gleefully winding

The string never fails

Near or far, it is binding

Reunited, deeper, closer

You help me to see

The things that you saw

And you whisper to me

The gift of our love

Enables my flight

I whisper back

We honor that love

When you fly with your might

I will my sweet love

But tonight I’m with you

And tomorrow you’re the kite

Abe took this picture of Clarissa greeting him through the window after work on Wednesday.

Wednesady was our anniversary and since we were officially celebrating by our Sundance trip on Thursday, we spent Wednesday evening driving around doing errands with the kids.

On Monday we drove home in rain and snow! This has been the craziest May.

When we got home we just relaxed and then I deep cleaned the car. It really needed it.

Soren and Ammon enjoyed watering the garden.

Today was an amazing day, maybe my favorite of all the days. Because it was supposed to be super cold in Bryce, we called an audible and decided to explore Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We made two stops.

 

 

Friday morning we woke up and headed to Snow Canyon. To get to Snow Canyon, you just take exit 8 in St. George and go about 15 minutes Northwest. I’ve always made a bit of an assumption that national parks are inherently better or more dramatic than state parks. Today snow canyon completely changed that assumption.

We started off with a hike up Jenny Canyon.  Below are the pictures:

Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the central feature of the entire hike which is a narrow passageway between giant cliff walls on each side so I pulled this picture of it off the internet (we did no have the dramatic lighting).

After Jenny’s Canyon we did the lava flow trail. On this trail we saw multiple lava tubes. A lava tube is a hollow part of the earth (ie cave) surrounded by lava rocks where molten lava used to flow.  We also hiked up a very fun lookout peak.  On the way back Mary was tired and whining, but I tried to cheer her up by telling pretend stories of what we saw on the hike like an In-and-Out burger that was run by Mojave Desert Tortoises (that this park was created to help protect in the 1950’s.) Pictures below:

After Jenny’s Canyon and the lava flow trail, we ate at Tiffany’s Crepere in St. George. We took turns monitoring Ammon in the car as he slept through lunch :). Here are some pictures and a video of me and Clarissa hanging out outside while we monitored Ammon:

After lunch we went to Red Cliffs National Recreation Area. We did the Red Reef Trail, and we were blown away both by the trail scenery, and the beautiful campsite that the trail starts from. Below are pictures!

Also, here are some videos from the day:

Hanging out with Clarissa at lunch.

Soren and Mary crossing the bridge

Ammon saying, “I’m all wet” (totally staged)

Clarissa being too tired to even be excited about water.

Yesterday was very intense with three hikes, so we decided to take it easier today. I went to be early last night, but didn’t sleep the whole time because Clarissa was wide awake until 10:00 rearranging the room and babbling to herself (it was adorable). I still got quite a bit of rest and woke up naturally at 6:30. After resting a bit more, I blogged the two previous days.

Then we all left to Red Cliff National Conservation Area.  The hiking was fun, although this area was more for lunching and hanging out than for going on a dedicated hike from what I could tell because it was still quite in town at St. George (off exit 8, and just 5 minutes away).

Red rock quenches a thirst in me. I don’t know how to explain it, but being immersed in it satisfies a thirst I didn’t even realize I had. I was so fun to be immersed in it again.  The hiking was nice and afterwords right in the same park, we found ourselves at the conservation garden, and that was my favorite thing of the the entire day. First of all, because I got to learn the names of things that we actually had been seeing on our hikes, but second of all because it was so well presented, and beautiful. The plants were so pretty, and even thought it ended in a meltdown by Clarissa, it was soooo worth the visit. Pictures below:

After the hiking and gardens we went to lunch and went back our place for swimming. The rest of the day was a lot of relaxation meaning TV and playing for the kids, and napping and relaxing for the grown-ups.

Our beloved family Clark, Swathi, Soren, Meera and Mani flew in last night and stayed in our home.  This morning we all woke up and drove to Southern Utah for our family vacation.  Today was our Zion’s day!

Zion’s canyon is very convenient to get to from Orem Utah. Orem is exit 269 and the ext for Arches is exit 27, so it is literally just 242 miles south (3 hours). Once you exit the freeway, you take route 9 East towards LaVerkin for about 40 minutes, and then you are right at Zion’s/Springdale.

Zion’s has been very rainy for us recently. We came as a family two months ago and it was completely downpouring. On that trip, I bought a bunch of umbrellas and ponchos so that we could still do some hiking. I felt very blessed to remember to bring them all on this trip as well, because as it turned out, we really needed them! It rained on and off throughout the entire day.

The first hike we did was our go-to at Zion’s, the Riverwalk trail.  It never dissapoints, even in the rain!

Here is an adorable video of Clarissa splashing in the water.

Here is a flashback to two months ago when she did the exact same thing 🙂

After hiking we drove to our Airbnb in Washington (40 minutes away) and we all had pasta which Swathi made and went to bed.

Well, we didn’t actually go to bed. Lydia, Mary, Ammon and Soren, were having a blast in their room (with two bunkbeds next to each other) and Lily and I stayed up and watched Game of Thrones.

After yesterday’s over-activity, we made up for it today. The kids didn’t step foot outside of the house all of this cold, rainy day, and I only left in the evening with Abe to go to our coaching session with our friend, Jill. We figure we need all the help we can get during this transition, and we feel so lucky to have such a competent friend and neighbor to help us through.

Clarissa is learning to say new words every day. We played a game where we touch noses and say, “nose!” and she squeals and laughs in delight because she can say “nose” too.

The girls did their practices without any screaming this morning and I felt so happy and peaceful at our morning routine. I also did a ton of laundry–although even with that, we are still behind.

I also watched my friend Lumina’s webinar on how to do Kundalini yoga with your family. I am so excited to start doing this as a family! I feel so blessed to have such gifted, kind friends to influence me to grow. Lumina literally radiates light and it was so inspiring to participate in her webinar.

On Monday Mary said she wanted to go to the zoo, and I had totally forgotten to give the girls snuggles on Sunday night, so according to a deal we made that meant they got to skip their music practice. So the zoo was perfect! We had lots of time for it and the weather was sunny and crisp. I have no pictures because my phone is acting up. 🙁

On the way down we listened to Hamilton and I tried to explain the story to the girls. I was a little nervous about explaining the whole sex scandal part, but then I figured we gave the girls the sex talk when they were practically babies and have tried to keep the dialogue going, so, er, why not discuss what it means to have an affair (and also why this is such a bad, bad decision)??? I tried to sound really casual explaining it, but I must not have been thorough enough the first time because when I said, “any questions?” Lydia replied that she didn’t understand anything I had just said and could I please try again.

Aside from Hamilton, we had the BEST time at the zoo. I was over the moon in love with my kids, who were darling (okay, except for Ammon who would not listen during the bird show and kept trying to wander off and explore the bird habitats on the side. But I still love him anyway.). The girls cuddled with me during the show, I think because it was cold, although I prefer to think it was because they just love me that much. Clarissa kept saying, “HUG!” and leaned in to give me a big hug each time, which prompted the girls to ooh and ahh over how cute she is and pile on the hugs.

We did the carousel, and it was really fun to hold Clarissa who kept saying, “Wheee!” in between looking solemnly around without cracking a smile. She reminded me a little of Baby Lydia.

I also worked out a lot. In the morning I did an hour and a half of bikram yoga, after which I raced home to shower, get everyone and everything ready for the outing, walked acres in the zoo, came home, cooked dinner, cleaned the house, and then went to cross-fit with Abe. Cross-fit was SO HARD. I felt really out of my comfort zone and sometimes wondered if I was going to die. But we powered through and then came home, at which point Carolyn Blosil came over with rhubarb dessert for me. She is the Relief Society president, and I have been dying to give her a hug ever since I decided to leave church. It was so wonderful to hug her, visit, and eat her dessert. It felt like grace on a plate.

Then I gave my mom, the girls, and Abe massages before falling asleep. It was a big day!