Month: February 2023

Today was a very happy day for all of us. In the morning, the grown-up sans Lily played Pickleball. It was Louie, Ginny, Clark and Swathi’s first time and they fell in love with it. I played to and as usual, had a complete blast.

After pickleball, we all got our snow gear on and went to Soldier Hollow for snow tubing. It was such a blast. Some of the highlights were:

• The gorgeous weather
• Soren and Ammon (who have been such good buds the whole trip) paling around, and going down together, and even putting their arms around each other while walking.
• Going very fast and enjoying the thrill of tubing
• Socializing while waiting in line (lines were not a highlight) and listening to the fun music

Everyone had a really great time. Pictures and videos below!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We then all went to Park City to walk around for an hour before dinner. People mostly spent time in the Park City museum. Clarissa had fallen asleep in the car, and stayed asleep while I carried her around Park City. She continued to sleep in the Park City museum where I found a comfy seat. She was very very sleepy.

We all had a delicious dinner at Ghidotti’s. The kids had their own table and even though they got a little (or a lot) loud at moments, the grown-ups did our best to control their joyful noise. We were so happy at how happy they all have been together this whole trip. They really get along so magnificently and love spending time together. It’s abundant joy and laughter for hours on end when they are together.

Today was a very eventful day! First, Soren turned 8 today and we celebrated over Krispy Kreme Donuts for breakfast. They were delicious!

Then we all had family photos. Lily booked a room at Shade just five minutes from our house and we used our favorite photographer, Sarah Severson.

At home, the kids, Lily and I got our valentines from Georgia. They arrived on time, but I just today got them from the mail. Thank you Georgia!

Then everyone except Clark (who had a work meeting), Clarissa, Ammon and Meera went snowshoeing. The weather was incredible and the snow was so gorgeous. Swathi, Soren, Louie and I even saw a moose when we split off for a longer hike to see the frozen Stewart Falls. Everyone had fun! The kids who took the shorter route spent time playing in the snow and “renovating” dwelling places in the trees.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After snowshoeing we ate sushi. Lily and Swathi were at Georgia’s during that time because she has been feeling unwell due to a medication change. We love you Georgia and are sorry you weren’t feeling well today!

Then Louie and Ginny did the nicest thing ever and went to Blickenstaff’s to not only buy Soren a birthday present, but also to buy chocolate for all of the children. That was so kind, thank you!

I believe this is Ammon enjoying Soren’s new toy

Then we had more singing and cake for Soren’s birthday.

The highlight of my day was learning an amazing new game with Louie, Ginny, Clark and Lily. Clark, Louie and Ginny had played it before and they helped Lily and I learn. It is called Wingspan. It was so fun and we stayed up until 1AM playing and Louie won!

Today was the first full day with everyone in town, and we seized the moment by all going to Sundance. Meera, Clara and Bea all had ski lessons. Clark, Swathi, Lydia, Mary, Soren and I all skied while they were in lessons. Actually, I snowboarded, as I really wanted to keep learning how to do it after trying it the last week with Chris.

Meera is the cutest skier ever!

After the kids’ lessons, we had lunch, and then they all wanted to keep skiing so we all skied more.

Clark and Swathi helped with Bea and Clara, and I was able to get some time with Meera. She was doing so great, she even went on and off the left and skied to the bottom.

When skiing was over, the fun didn’t end. There was a little snow slide that was way more fun than taking the stairs as we were exiting.

Back at home, the kids played while the grown-ups helped Lily finalize the preparations for the Harry Potter feast (Lily had been working on it all day while we were skiing):

Lily served spoon beef, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cucumber water, pumpkin juice, hot chocolate, French onion soup with cheesy bread and chocolate cake, much of which was from her Harry Potter cook book. The food was divine and I think everyone got a kick out of the ambience. Thank you Lily for such a magical evening!

In the evening, the kids had fun together and played Junior Monopoly.

Everyone had a ton of fun today!

Today Lily and I got the kids off to school and then finished preparations on the house.

Around noon, Louie arrived with Bea and Clara. There was instant connection. The kids immediately disappeared and played for hours while Lily, Louie and I had riveting and deep conversation for hours. We covered topics of word history, family history, religion, spirituality, geopolitics, the NBA and more. A highlight for me and Lily was to learn about the beautiful way in which he practices his Catholicism. We also had a delicious salmon, rice, salad, and cauliflower.

After Louie and his kids went to sleep, Lily went to pick up Clark, Swathi, Meera and Soren from the airport. When they arrived, Lily and I enjoyed great conversation with Clark and Swathi after their kids went to sleep talking about skiing, plans, how their travels went and more. It has been so fun to see everyone, and we are excited for the days ahead!

Today I had a very heavy work day, and Lily worked on the house to prepare for our guests. We both worked together to prepare the house in the evening.

All the kids had Valentines Day parties at school, even Clarissa, who usually doesn’t go to school on Tuesdays. After her party, Lily brought Clarissa home and Clarissa made a big valentine for Lily.

While picking up Clarissa, someone at Arches commented on how much Lily and Clarissa looked alike. That made Lily very happy, and at home, we spent time admiring all the ways they resemble each other.

Today was a very long day at work for me, but it was heart-warming to come home and be a part of the kids making their valentines boxes and valentines for school tomorrow with Lily. I think the prize for most creative must go to Lydia for her chicken valentines box 🙂

Today I worked out again, walked Basil, listened to church and then helped around the house, including setting the mattress for our newly built trundle bed. We are are thrilled with the result, including Clarissa! She thought the mattress looked like an ocean so she used two of her toys (one was a dolphin) to play an imaginary game in the “ocean.” It was really sweet.

Also, below is a project Clarissa did in class showing her veins and heart etc. So cute!

Lily also did a ton of work around the house today (cleaning and tons and tons of laundry folding) and she is still loving her audiobook My Brilliant Friend.

In the afternoon, Lily and I went to Target in preparation for our guests coming. Target trips are always more eventful when the littles come, lol…

We played more games in the evening, and had an overall great day inspire of some of the wear and tear the grown-ups were feeling.

Lily and I were both totally worn out from our long weeks. To recover, I slept in (deliciously). Lily turned to cleaning out her pores as a methodical therapeutic activity. She actually had a dream about cleaning her nose pores, and was thrilled to bring the dream to fruition. At first her nose looked very sore, but it soon faded.

Lily has really been in cleaning mode in preparation for our guests. She organized the pantry and fridge and has been working on the house. I’ve been helping too. After a workout, I built our trundle bed and helped with other things around the house (and planned and booked our California vacation).

Lily has also been listening to the My Brilliant Friend series by Elena Ferrante. It is one her most favorite books and authors she has ever read. She loves the masterful artistry in the book and the piercingly honest social observations brought to bare, and it has rekindled Lily’s desire to also write. I’m so happy for the joy, meaning and inspiration Lily is drawing from that book.

On the topic of beautiful artistry……

In the evening, Lily and I played games with the kids, one of our favorite things to do lately. We taught Clarissa to play 7 Wonders!

This was a long week for both me and Lily. I traveled to Philadelphia and as usual had a crazy schedule trying to balance travel logistics, inflowing work demands, sub-optimal sleep and being on for client meetings (though I did get to have breakfast with my friend Andrew). Lily also had a tough week with all she had going on, including hurting legs (she could barely walk after we played pickleball two days in a row). She also hosted Chris and his kids a couple more days after I left (which was a delight), and also took her mom, Georgia to a doctor’s appointment Wednesday, and then Thursday because Georgia still has not been feeling (we are so sorry Georgia!). Below is a cute video of Clarissa working on her valentines craft in the doctor’s office yesterday.

On the way home yesterday, I gave up my seat on an overweight flight for $1,650 in flight vouchers (yay!), but that also meant I took a late flight home and didn’t get to sleep until 2AM and I had a heavy work day starting at 8AM. The next day. I was completely fried by the end of my work-day, and Lily was burnt out too, but we were so delighted to hear my dad and Suzanne were in town. We had some of Lily’s amazing turkey bolognese left over which we served, and we had such a great time talking and playing 7 Wonders with them. What a great and happy thing it was to see them at the end of a long week!

We are so excited to have Chris and his kids stay with us for a few days. Today was Lydia and Mary’s last day at ski school and when I let Chris know I would be with them late afternoon-evening skiing with them and that I’d love for him and the kids to join, he took me up on the offer. None of them had skied or snowboarded before, and I was so excited to help them get a taste.

In the end I thought Chris would like skiing more than snowboarding and I offered to swap equipment with him. He picked up skiing remarkably fast, and I was over the moon learning how to snowboard for the first time. Caelen did amazing snowboarding (used the lift multiple times with Lydia and Mary and made it down) and Gigi was a star on the bunny hill and got really comfortable going down over and over again. There were a couple of stressful moments, but all in all, everyone had an amazing time. The snow was perfect (some of the best I’ve ever skied in) and I was so happy to share their first winter-sport experience with them!

We came home to Lily’s delicious Spaghetti with turkey Bolognese sauce. She had already gone to bed because she has been in a ton of calf and achilles pain. She was in so much pain, she just wanted to sleep to stop feeling it. I really hope things get better for her as I’m leaving on a trip early tomorrow.