Today we all went to Antelope island. It was so fun!! First we had a picnic right on the side of the lake.
Then we spent some time on the shore.
Then we went on a fun hike!
At home we decorated Easter eggs!
We continue to have so much fun with Clark and Swathi in town with their kids!
Last night Clark and Swathi and their kids arrived by airplane. We are so lucky to have them in town!
Today, I had work, so I don’t know all the detail of what happened today, so I will report the best that I can.
Ammon and Soren got haircuts together.
Then everyone went to Cascade Springs, but it was closed for the winter still, so they went to another area that had an amphitheater.
Near the amphitheater, there was a sizable steep drop-off with big rocks on the bottom of it. Lily saw Ammon giving himself a pep-talk (as if he was trying to convince himself that he could do something difficult) and she sensed he was considering jumping off the drop-off. Lily said, “Ammon, please don’t do anything silly.” Ammon didn’t hear her and proceeded to jump down the drop off. He tumbled and hit a rock at the bottom, and scratched up his side. This nearly broke Lily’s nerves, and she called me quite distressed, but right now both of them are doing fine.
Back at home we got babysitters so that Swathi, Clark, Lily and I could go to Block restaurant. It was so fun to go out with them and we loved the food!!
Lily made this cake in honor of Meghan Markle, who made the same cake that week.
Today was gorgeous weather. I feel bad for Lily who has been sick, and didn’t join us for the outings today, but I do think she had some needed downtime to herself with all she invests in the children day in and day out.
After church, I took the kids back to the trail at Squaw Peak that we were at yesterday. This time, we all hiked it. The one difference between today and yesterday was that the trail was sooooo muddy. Lydia thought it was hilarious when Basil plopped his belly down into a very muddy part of the trail. I was not amused at all, and was griping about how we’d have to clean him. Lydia pointed out that I’ve been very grumpy lately. I reflected on her feedback and realized she was right. Thank you Lydia for your honesty. I think having that feedback helped me to loosen up a little bit more and enjoy the rest of the hike more. Here are some pictures:
After the hike, we visited Georgia, and then went back to the same park we were at yesterday. We saw Blaze again (red lab owned by Reid and Shana), and we also invited and saw the Kahlers (and their dog) and Josh Jackson. The kids biked (and scootered for Clarissa) and played with their friends, the dogs played, and the grown-ups talked. Weather was gorgeous. It was a really really good time.
Lily and I had a date planned for tonight at a restaurant with friend and my mom was available to babysit. We’ve had a bug going through our house, so we wanted to make sure it wasn’t covid, so we all got tested this morning before my mom came over.
The kids were terrified that they were going to have the nasal test, and were so relieved when they learned they could take the spit test. Ammon, misunderstanding, thought he had to drink the chemical solution in the vile instead of add his spit into it, but Lily helped him know what to do. I took the rapid nasal test so we could get at least one result back quickly. Lily would have done a nasal result too, but they had already keyed her in as a saliva test and they couldn’t change it.
After getting tested (my result was negative which made us think everyone else would be negative too), we got breakfast from Kneaders and Roxberry Smoothie and went up to a parking lot at Squaw Peak were I took Basil on a trail and ran with him while the family stayed in the car (people weren’t dressed for a hike because we all mostly rolled out of bed and went straight to the car for the shots).
Here are some fun videos of my hike with Basil:
Later in the day, I took the kids to a parking lot to ride on their bikes (and Clarissa and her scooter). I took Basil too and he found some dogs to play with. Lily stayed home as she has been sick lately :(.
Just before 5:00, my mom came over to babysit the kids and Lily and I went to Block restaurant with our friends Matt, Courtney, Jenn, Chris and Heidi. We had such a wonderful time with them (I almost died laughing hearing about Matt’s goat that would pee in its own face), and the kids and my mom had a really great time together. It was a magical evening all around!
Last Week Ammon learned how to ride on his bike. Today after work, I took him and Mary to the church parking lot to practice some more. Today, he learned how to take off on his own. He still struggles with braking, but otherwise, he’s got it down! He whipes out a lot, but I think his fearless nature is how he learned so fast. Mary also did wonderfully!
Here is a picture that Mary made with paint and sculptor’s clay. The clay started to break off, so I threw it away, but I had to get a picture first of such a beautiful work of art:
Also, Lily hasn’t been feeling super great lately, but she looked so content and cozy in her blanket that I had to take a picture!
Basil had his final obedience school class today.
At home Ammon colored in his bed in his Sharky blanket.
Towards the tail end of my work-day, Lily suggested I try to walk into a nearby vaccination location to get my Covid shot. She got hers last week. I gave it a “shot” and even though there were multiple signs outside the building that said, “by appointment only” when I walked in, they took my right away. I’m so grateful for Lily’s recommendation!
Here are some happenings with the children today.
Today, Basil was really mouthy and had a lot of energy, so I let him take it out on my blue play gloves.
Today Clarissa was still sick and Lydia and Mary started to feel sick as well so something is definitely going through our home.
From my side, the most eventful thing was I had a team activity at 2:00. It was a virtual Airbnb experience for which an Italian chef living in Florence taught us all how to make home-made gnocchi, ravioli and pesto.
I had so much fun! I was blown away at how simple it is to make home-made pasta. It is literally an egg and 2/3-3/4 cup flour (depending on the size of the egg) for the pasta, and gnocchi is just boiled potato shredded and mashed mixed with flower. That’s it! The filling for the ravioli was ricotta cheese with lemon-zest, salt, pepper, nutmeg and I think thyme. The pesto was simply olive oil, basil leaves, pine-nuts, and some other stuff I’m now forgetting (salt and pepper?) to the consistency of honey. It all turned out so good!
It also gave me a way increased respect for all the cooking Lily does in our home. I had to get her help just to figure out how to assemble the food processor, and when I was done, there was a giant mess everywhere that took about an hour to clean. Lily, thank you for all of the incredible meals you bless us with. This was such a good reminder of the amount of work that goes into all of that!
Lily learned a lot about her dad today from talking with his first wife, Shirley and it was a lot for her to process. Lily called her mom to talk through it with her, and in the process, we invited her to join us for our home-made pasta dinner. It was so fun to see her! We also had fish and an incredible beat, lentil, and feta salad that Lily made and some mind-blowing cowboy cookies. The whole meal was incredible and I ate myself silly. It’s now past 9:00 the next day and I’m still not hungry.
