Month: January 2024

Lily, Lydia and Mary are still enjoying Bohol. They have really enjoyed being with Clark, Swathi, Soren and Meera. Here are some cute scenes of cousin time:

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Their two big outings today were going to the Tarsier Sanctuary and going to the Chocolate Hills. Keep in mind, these may have been on separate days for them (due to different time zone), but they were during my day here in Utah.

Lily told me all about Tarsiers. She said at first she wasn’t very interested in seeing them because someone mentioned they are a bit like rats, and they have a tail. Pictures of them really aren’t that cute. But after she saw them, she thought they were so cute. She said she just had to block out the fact that they had a tail. She really raved about how cute they are. Apparently their brains are tiny (in part because their eyes take up something like 2/3 of their head). And the funny thing is that even with eyes that big, they can’t see well! Yoda and other characters have been based off of Tarsiers. They just look so interesting. Here are some pics and videos:

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After the Tarsier sanctuary, they went to the Chocolate Hills. They are so beautiful. Many years ago they were all underwater coral reefs, and now they are the beautiful chocolate hills:

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After the Chocolate Hills, it appears they had an amazing boat, dinner, dance and cultural experience.

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All in all, they had a great day in Bohol!

Back at the home front, I continued to work towards packing the house. Ammon and Clarissa were very cute to have along at Lowe’s. We also got a board for the piano mover while we were there.

Here is a beautiful drawing that Mary made that I found while cleaning. The poem is very apt as Mary and Lily are getting so much time together and Lily has reported that they both have been perfect the entire trip. They really have both bloomed into such incredible people.

I finished clearing out the basement today!

This is one of the kid’s craft tables. I love it both because it makes me think of the hours they spent their crafting and also because I love it as a work of modern art.

Clarissa has done some fun crafting to pass the time. This is a house she made for Barbie. Clarissa was so intentional with each part of the house including the clothes rack, the couch (the bra pad) and more. Each item in there had a specific purpose (I’m just not quite sure what each one was).

And this is a house she made for Ken. She said Ken’s house is more plain.

Lily, Lydia and Mary went to Cebu with Clark, Swathi, Soren and Meera today. They took a tour of the city and had a really nice time. Lily said the tour guide was not super knowledgeable and she didn’t find Cebu to be as interesting as some of the other places she went to, except at the end, Lily was blown away by the church. It was a very old a beautiful church that had a lot of tradition going back to Magellan. If I understood Lily correctly, the church was associated with a Christian revival that happened in the Philippines when a relic (I think a cross) that Magellan gave to the Philippine Queen was found in a well. The Queen had rejected the gift and threw it out, but when it was later found in a well, it was interpreted as a sign of Christianity and that started the revival. Here are picture from their day in Cebu:

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Here are pictures and videos of the church Lily was so fascinated by. The placard on the church gives details about the story of Magellan’s cross:

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They also drove by the Philippine LDS temple in Cebu:

Back at the homefront, I had my first full-on day at work. I spent most of the day having one on ones meeting with my new reps in Provo. I really enjoyed meeting everyone. I also felt super fortunate, because the Jazz suite happened to be available tonight, and I arranged to take all of my Provo-based employees to the game as a team-building experience. It was such a great way to bond together, and the game was absolutely incredible. In the last 31 seconds, there were 4 back to back three pointers that sent the game into overtime. I was worried the game wouldn’t be good because the Pistons are the worst team in the league and only recently snapped a 28 game losing streak, but they came to play and it was the best game I ever saw live. The Jazz ended up winning and breaking a record for most points scored in a game at home, and they tied an all-time franchise record for points scored in a game and they also broke a franchise record for total points recorded in a game (across both teams). The energy in the building was great! (see the video below). What a game to be at, and what a way to bond as a team! Also, my dad and Suzanne watched the kids, which, once again, was so incredibly helpful.

Lily, Lydia, Mary, Clark, Swathi, Soren and Meera all recently arrived in Cebu. It has been a wonderful change of pace for them since their agenda has been so packed. In Cebu, they will get a lot more time to relax. Here are some scenes from the day, I think all from the resort:

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Below is footage of tinikling. Mary and Lydia had done it before in their elementary school and it’s so amazing they got to do it in the Philippines with professional dancers and their cousins. This is hard faught footage, because Lily tripped and strained her ankle while getting a video of Lydia tinikling. I should also mention that Lily and Lydia have been wrestling with sickness throughout the whole trip (especially Lily who has a raspy voice and cough almost every time I talk to her). But they are all very happy and loving their trip!

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Today was a really good day because I got a lot done, but (fresh on the heels of my self care conversation with Chris and Jenn) I stayed with in my limits, paced myself correctly, and found joy along the way.

I had so much fun chatting with Chris and Jen before they all left at 9:45 in the morning, and then I just relaxed for a couple of hours. I watched Top Gun Maverick which was an incredible movie, truly sensational. Then I got lunch for everyone and took the kids on a bike ride because the weather was nice. Just was we were starting we got to have a nice conversation with Lily:

Another great milestone is Clarissa just learned to ride on Lydia’s old bike. She’s a little small for it, but she will grow into it and she was getting too big for the purple Schwinn (which I will always love). Here are Ammon and Clarissa riding around the neighborhood with me!

After biking, I moved some things into the container and then blogged the rest of the evening. I didn’t push myself too hard and I stopped for breaks. Like when I found myself sitting at the top of the stairs, then lying down, then asleep, lol. It was a nice little nap. An I also played Smash Brothers with Ammon and Clarissa at the end of the day, which was so fun, it is at the level of of Wingspan with Lily for me. I really love playing Smash Brothers with my kids! I keep accidentally calling Ammon “David” lately and I think it is because when I play with him, he feels like my little brother. I’m having so much fun with them!

Also, I have loved our tree so much. It makes me happy every time I see it. Thank you Lily for reminding me to get the good tree to cheer me up while half of my loved ones are across the world!

Today Lily woke up early to go birdwatching with Swathi and Louie. She said the birds were amazing!

As a rough overview of their time in the Phillipines: Lily and the girls started in Manila, then went to a resort at Coron, and then have spent the last 4 days or so at the resort in El Nido. Today they flew to Cebu to stay there for two days, and then they stay in Bohol before coming home (via Japan which just had a major earthquake). What a trip they have had!

Here are some pictures and videos from their last day at El Nido in Palawan.

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