Month: March 2022

Lydia and Mary didn’t have school today and Lydia went skiing with Eli all day. She had so much fun! With just Mary at home, Lily and I (but especially Lily) took the time to really focus in and dote on Mary. Mary went shopping with Lily.

Lily and I played Sleeping Queens with her.

Lily cuddled with Mary and watched a show with her (that was Mary’s favorite part of the whole day).

I slipped in a couple games of Race to the Treasure with Ammon and Clarissa before wrapping up my work day. Clarissa really really really loves to win and gets distressed when things aren’t going her way. The nice thing about Race to the Treasure is that everyone is on the same team trying to win together, so we didn’t need to worry about any competition drama like we did when we played Chutes and Ladders the other week.

Here’s Lydia from her awesome day of skiing, working on her splits. It was so nice of Emily to take her along skiing with Elia and Chloe.

Mary made some wonderful picture I wanted to capture.

Lily loved her day with Mary so much and has talked to me repeatedly about how much she wants to spend more time with her. I think they really bonded.

Also, Clarissa continues to be incredibly talkative lately. Here are two audio clips, I think spaced 20-25 minutes apart of her talking in her bed while I’m lying next to her trying to help her fall asleep (which is failing miserably).

To start the day on Sunday, we had breakfast again at the roadhouse and then I took Lydia, Mary, Isabel and Emerson on a wildlife tour with my dad and Suzanne, and Lily spent time in the cemetery (I think) with Ammon, Clarissa and Amy.

I loved the tour so much because the tour guide was so knowledgeable. I learned that the white stuff in pigeon poop is their pee. I learned that ravens are insanely smart and communicate with each other and can hold grudges for generations. I also learned that minks are super vicious and that they typically are very unhappy at mink farms because they are too violent to be allowed near other minks, so they are caged alone.

We loved lunch so much yesterday that we ate again at the Best Friends cafeteria. We ate on the back porch. What a view!

We then said goodbye to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and hit the road. My dad and Suzanne hit the road and Amy followed us to Pipe Springs and Colorado City.

We were blown away by Pipe Springs. We learned that between about 1850 and 1900, Pipe Springs was a point of conflict between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Piute Native Americans and the U.S. federal government. The church was at odds with the government because of polygamy and having their prophet be their governmental leader among other things and the fort was often used as a place for polygamists to hide their wives so they wouldn’t go to prison. And the church was also at odds with the Piute Native Americans because it moved in and took over (with the fort) a spring (Pipe Springs) that the Native Americans relied on for survival. The church controlled it with their fort at Pipe Springs leading to fights and ultimately almost causing the Piutes to go extinct in that area. Also the new ranchers and farmers who moved in changed the land by planting farms and allowing their livestock to eat all of the wild grasses. Today the area looks very barren and has mostly sage brush.

After Pipe Springs, we drove right next to Colorado City, which Lily knows about from her study of polygamy. There are still many polygamists there and we saw a billboard advertising family services for plural families. We heard that you can often identify polygamist families by the simple, but very large houses, which we saw.

I have to say thank you to Lily for organizing the trip. She planned every aspect. I think she is the world’s best trip planner and I enjoyed ever single second. Thank you Lily, and happy birthday Lydia!!

We started the day with a simple, but yummy breakfast at the Best Friends Roadhouse.

This is the gentleman who works at Best Friends. He is very nice and we remembered him from the last time we visited.

After breakfast, Lydia, Mary, Emerson, Isabel, Suzanne and I all volunteered at one of the cat houses at the animal sanctuary. People loved the cats.

While we were cleaning, Amy worked on the book she is writing about the Doctrine and Covenants, and Lily took Basil for a walk while my dad kept an eye on the kids. Then Lily and my dad visited the pet cemetery. We all met up at 11:30 and had lunch at the Best Friends cafeteria. We loved it! Not only did we get to eat outside in the fresh air, but the food was all vegan and it was so healthy and delicious.

Then we all went to the pet cemetery. Basil barked at this statue as though it we a real dog.

Clarissa fell in love with the wind-chimes and turned the below gazebo into her music shop, where you can pay her money and she will play songs for you on the wind-chimes. Meanwhile, Emerson started crying because she felt the loss of all the animals in the cemetery so deeply. We joked that while Emerson’s tender heart was break, Clarissa was turning a profit on the wind-chimes for the deceased animals.

After our stop at the cemetery, we all went to Pink Choral Sand-dunes State Park. Lily and I both agreed that it was our favorite time ever going. There was no wind, we had the right equipment, it was beautiful weather (almost 60 degrees and sunny) and we thoroughly enjoyed all the people we shared the experience with.

After the amazing time at the Dunes we ate all together at the Peak-a-boo cafe, which is our favorite place to eat in Kanab. It is only a block away from the Best Friends Road House where we were all staying. We loved it!

After dinner, we took Basil to the dog park, where I think the kids had even more fun than Basil did. There were big murals the kids posed in front of, and they played and played until it was time to go.

Back at home, everyone got clean, and I was amused by how much Ammon and Clarissa love TV.

While I was hanging out with Ammon and Clarissa, Lydia was having a party with my dad, Suzanne, Amy, Emerson, and Isabel. They all had gifts for Lydia to open which was beyond sweet.

I loved today so much and I really think Lydia and all the party did too. I think it is a day all of us would repeat in a heart-beat.

Lyida asked for a trip to Kanab to volunteer at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary with family and a friend for her birthday. Today Lily and I finished our respective crazy days around 4:15 and loaded the car with kids. Lily has been extra busy and stressed starting up the internship program she is directing which involves setting up accounts, sending out acceptance letters, making sure everyone got them and replied and knows next steps etc. I think Lily and I were both ready for a get away.

Joining us on the trip was my dad and Suzanne and our friend Amy and two of her kids, Emerson and Isabel. Lily and I were running a little behind, but we were all able to leave from our house around 4:45. Emerson spent the entire trip in our car, and it was a joy to have her.

Today Lydia wore her new earrings that Lily got her for her birthday. I think they look great on her!

Also, after school, Mary spent a lot of time with Ammon making him a very fancy superhero custom with accessories. Ammon was over the moon with the outfit, and loved acting like a superhero, and he was so sad when it was time to change his outfit so he could perform again in the Arches play.

The main event of today was watching Ammon and Clarissa perform in the Arches play James and the Giant Peach. It was fanciful, creative and fun and the kids did an awesome job bringing the story to life. Ammon and Clarissa were very cute and were able to spot us in the audience and wave before the play was over. Being in kindergarten and preschool, Ammon and Clarissa had minor roles, but they seemed to really enjoy being a part of the production. Ammon did his part with gusto, and love waving at the end. And Clarissa had her five seconds of fame. At that very end when all the cast was receiving their applause, they trotted the preschoolers across the stage from one side to the other. Clarissa broke away from the pack at center stage, and kept slowly walking forward until she was the center of attention and just waved to everyone who was clapping with a dazed awestruck look on her face. The teacher who was shuttling preschoolers had to go grab her hand and pull her off the stage with the rest of the preschoolers. Lily and I were besides ourselves with laughter. To top it off, when I picked up Clarissa at the end of the play, she ran into my arms and squealed with delight, “I felt like a superstar!!”.

Clarissa has been exceptionally talkative and precocious lately. Today it felt like she woke up and started talking and didn’t stop until she finally fell asleep at 10:00 PM. Below is a video and three audio files of her talking between 9 and 10 PM. I took the three audio files while she was in her bed and she was supposed to be going to sleep. I was cuddling with her during the first two and right outside her door on the last one.

Lydia was born in 2011 and now she is 11 years old. A couple nights ago, I asked Lydia what value she wanted to affirm on her 11th birthday. Declaring a value every year starting at age 9 has become a tradition in our family. When I asked her the question, she asked me something to the affect of, “how would you describe studying, and researching and working hard to understand and learn things?” She decided that “education” was the best word to capture the concept, so now Lydia’s running list of values are determination, fun and education.

I think those three words describe Lydia perfectly. In this past year, Lydia became determined to get good at back-bending and doing the splits and now seeing her do either of those things is a regular occurrence in our home. When Lydia sets her mind to something, she absolutely follows through. She also has repeatedly made the decision to stick with learning harp and she has made major strides in doing good practices on her own initiative.

Lydia is also incredibly fun. She is always up for an outing, an adventure, karaokee or family games. She loves to organize fun for the family like our annual family Olympics. When I got all excited about taking the family on a backpacking trip, it was Lydia who was equally excited and even helped make a list of things to buy at the store to help get us ready. Lydia finds so many ways to enjoy the world around her. She sings, does ballroom dance, plays the harp, has many friends, skis, loves listening to comedy, and has a great sense of humor.

Lydia also is a great thinker and loves education. She plugs into conversations at home about current events, politics and history. She is a voracious reader, and loves listening to meaty audio books that Lily picks out on our road trips. Lydia has a massive appetite for learning about Greek Mythology, and she has a genuinely curious and active mind. She is obsessed with reading like her mom, and because of that she is always filling her mind with adventures and knowledge from books. She also continues to do well in school.

We could not be happier with Lydia and the values that she is starting to feel are her identity. It is so fun to watch her grow up and I couldn’t be more grateful to be her dad. I have so much fun with her. Skiing with her and listening to Bill Cosby’s stand-up comedy on the ride home was such a memorably good time.

As for the events of the day, Lily and I woke up early to make Lydia a special birthday breakfast. Lily made incredible lemon ricotta pancakes and then went to work on the syllabus that she is in charge of for her internship in preparation for a meeting she had today. I finished breakfast preparations by making a fruit-salad, cooking hash-browns and the pancakes, and making a fruit sauce. It was all delicious. Lydia also opened presents from her siblings and the book Lily bought for her.

After school, Lily took Lydia to Nordstrom to buy shoes and earrings. Then they went to the mall to get Cinnabuns. Meanwhile, at home I finished work early and played Sequence and Spot-it with Ammon and Clarissa until our Thai food arrived. When Lily, Lydia and Mary got home, we all ate dinner and Cinnabuns together. Then I took the kids to dance, picked them up, got Cold Stone cupcakes with them and came home.

We sang to Lydia and then ate our Coldstone cupcakes and then Lydia had calls with Emerson, Clark, Swathi, Soren and Meera, and then my dad and Suzanne. After that Lily got her wish to stay up and watch “Cheer” with me and Lily. Lydia’s true celebration will be a trip to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary with my dad and Suzanne, and Amy, Emerson and Isabel, but I think and hope Lydia also felt very happy, loved and celebrated today. We love you Lydia!!

After work today, I met up with Lydia and Mary for our final post-lesson ski outing this season. I was feeling good, and loved spending time with the girls. I also was in heaven because I had some skiing breakthroughs. I landed the jump twice, and I also finally started skiing with my weight truly forward. I had so much more control and it felt like a whole new experience to actually have my weight over my feet and not behind them. We all had a great time. Lydia and Mary had Kit Kats in the car, and Ovalteen at home.

At home Lily told me all about what she’s been learning about democracy, and how we can’t take it for granted. She’s been reading and learning a ton recently. She just finished the two books below.

I woke up feeling very drained today, but a little after 8, I dragged myself out of bed to take Basil on a walk. It was a gift really. It was snowing, and for most of the time there wasn’t another soul on the nearby track, so I was able to walk Basil extensively without a leash. While walking I was able to ponder and pray and have some much needed time to myself and God. Everything was so beautiful and white. It was a treat. My biggest takeaway from walking was to try to be more receptive to the gifts in life, and to be more appreciative and grateful. It felt like a meaningful insight.

Basil got lots of running in and accumulated some rather impressive snow-balls on his paws that Lily and I had to clean off when I got home.

Then Lily took Lydia to the puppy store as we are starting to celebrate her birthday week. Here are some pictures from their adventure:

At home I listened to church while Clarissa colored on my lap. Then I rested a bit. After catching my breath, I got the kids in their snow-gear and I met up with Matt, Courtney and Heidi to go sledding. The kids had so much fun sledding. It might be my favorite sledding place I’ve yet been to. Here are some videos of the sledding action.

Matt and Courtney even brought donuts and hot chocolate to share with everyone.

At home, I put dinner together for everyone while Lily had a call with Cammy for her refugee non-profit that she volunteers for.

Both while I was making dinner and after we ate, Mary, Ammon and Clarissa built and played in a fort. Mary has been playing with her younger siblings throughout the day. You can see Ammon holding his handcuffs from a prisoner game they were playing earlier in the day.

After we all ate, Lily came upstairs and gifted me with a quiet evening to myself while she put all the kids down. I played guitar, cleaned my office, assembled a new exercise-ball chair and got ready for the week (and blogged).

Lily and Lydia have both been reading like crazy. Lily is reading all about Russia and Lydia is reading a fantasy book.

Today I woke up feeling completely dead. I rested until after 9 until I finally got up to do the budget. Lily was also super tired. I then met with my financial advisor Dave Cotrell to get conversations going about a life insurance policy that is also an in investment vehicle. That was fun, but also mentally taxing. Afterwards, I finished the budget, had lunch and just rested.

While working on the budget, Ammon and Clarissa colored in my office.

Lydia and Mary played Bananagrams in the morning. I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that last night Lily and I played bananagrams with Lydia and Mary. It was so much fun!

When I finally felt some energy, I did my 500 workout (though, more like 300, since I only did 6 repetitions). Ammon was dressed like a ninja, and he was busy exercising with me and trying to be stealthy like a ninja all around me while I exercised. I was grateful for the chance to incorporate him into my exercise so I could both spend time with him and get my workout.

Then I cleaned the dog poop in the yard, and then showered and got ready for the day. After being ready for the day (at the bright and early hour of 4:30 PM lol) I wanted to both make dinner and also play with the kids. I got an idea to turn dinner into a restaurant and involve the kids in running the restaurant. Ammon and Clarissa helped choose the restaurant’s name: Agua Ninja Sidekick Princess Restaurant. I made and printed menus and Ammon and Clarissa colored them. Mary put price labels on everything. Lily and Lydia were having a girl’s night out at the bookstore and other place and the idea was that they would come home to the restaurant. Clarissa helped dry the lettuce, and Ammon and Clarissa toasted the hamburger buns. Ammon helped set the table, and Mary helped train Ammon and Clarissa on how to run the service aspect of a restaurant. It was so fun! Mary even made a menu for Basil and put Basil in a tie for the occasion. When Lily and Lydia came home, it all came together (see video below).