Starting the drive East: Today I left for the long drive East. There was light snow, but the weather was warm so the roads were just fine. Basil was the perfect travel buddy, and literally just sat calmly next to me the entire drive to Denver where I stayed the night at Chris and Jen’s. Here are two pictures of Basil and I still in Orem as well as a video of our stop in Rawlins Wyoming. I was sending Lydia updates about Basil throughout the trip.
Mary’s Patriotic Program: Tonight was Mary’s patriotic program and I was sad to miss it. She’s been talking about it, and really wanting Lily and I to go. She’s also been mentioning how “Oh My Darlin’ Clementine” is actually quite a dark song if you listen to all the lyrics. I’m so glad Lily could go!
Mary is sad to leave Utah: When I caught up with Lily at night, she told me that at Mary’s performance, her friend Charlotte gave her a scarf and a love note and drawing about how much she loves Mary. Sweet Mary was found later that night clutching those items as she sobbed in her bed. She is so sad to leave Utah. She has the most precious group of girlfriends and Mary leaving them is one of the things I’m most sad about in this whole move.
My old healthcare team got me a Phillies jersey as a going away present. I followed them closely and cheered for them after watching a playoff game with the team at a sports bar in Philly. I love it!
Visiting with Georgia: While I was working, Lily and the kids visited Georgia. Here are two pictures and a video from their visit:
Visiting with the Freestones: When I was done with work, the Freestones came over and we visited for two hours with them. It was a highlight of the whole week for me. Conversation flowed and the mutual excitment to spend time together was palpable. Lily and I had so much fun getting updates from the whole family and our kids love Emma, Katie and Eliza so much, and they had so much fun talking together. We also met Emma’s husband, who is super nice. What a treat to see them all tonight!
Georgia’s Incident: Last Friday, Georgia had an incident in which she didn’t wake up in the morning like usual. When the staff at her skilled nursing center noticed, they tried to wake her up by touching her and pressing on her chest. She was breathing, but when she didn’t respond, they center her to the hospital in an ambulance. Lily and I met her in the emergency room where they were doing tests and trying to figure out what to do. Eventually she woke up around 9:30. It was very scary for all of us, including Georgia.
Georgia’s Progress: Since that incident, however, Georgia has been doing well, and we are hoping a small tweak to her medication will help this not to happen again. So far Georgia has not had a similar incident, and she has even been making good progress on walking again after her surgery. Here are some
I love how Georgia brings a smile to every circumstance!
Chris leaves with our car: Our friend Chris Dean recently dropped off his car in Salt Lake (from Denver) for a repair, and it worked amazingly for both of us for him to drive our car (with the harps in it) to his home in Denver today. We met Chris and the friend he was staying with around 8:30, then went to the pancake house together (I went crazy for their apple pancake), picked up a second car for us to use from Suzanne (thank you), and then headed home (Lily returned a painting to her friend Sarah on the way home).
I sent this picture to Chris to help him know how to use the dolly. It was so nice of him to ensure that the instruments both made it inside his home without incident!
AXB reunion: While driving home, and while at home, I was on the annual AXB zoom meeting. It was so fun to catch up with everyone and share our funny gifts. Anthony got me a book about kayaking options in North Carolina, and I also really enjoyed the AI generated pictures of us 6 AXB members that Liem generated for Anthony. I love that group so much, and am so grateful to have them in my life. With a little luck, we may pull off another guys trip this year.
Nobody leaves the couch: Then I took a nap because my cold hit super hard today. When I woke, I played “nobody leaves the couch” with the kids. Some of my favorite memories of us in this home are playing that game, so I asked Lily to take some video to capture one more time playing the game. The kids are bigger now, and the new house is smaller, so we will likely never play again. In fact, Lydia had to be on my team this time so that it would even work, and that was a lot of fun. The basic idea of the game is Lydia and I win if we can get the other three kids all on the couch at the exact same time. Lydia and I didn’t win, but we all had so much fun!
Time with the Tiemans: Then Lily and I met up with the Tiemans at Courtney’s parents’ house in Orem. We were so touched that they came in from Heber just so we could meet up with them. We had the most enjoyable time talking and also heard about how Matt was doing with a recent death in his family. Lily and I enjoy them so much, and spent a fair amount of time trying to convince them to move to North Carolina so we could see them more!
Menchies and cupcake holder creativity: Then we all went to Cafe Rio and Menchies. Georgia was not feeling well enough for us to stop by, so we went home and cleaned as a family and then all watched Bluey together. Ammon was sad to clean up his cupcake holders, but we allowed him to take another picture and video of them before he did.
Clarissa was excited that purple and blue could be seen in the shadow of her sequins
Pantry help from Jessie: Lily and I have both been knee deep in house projects while the kids melt their brains on screens. Today, we got some extra support from Jessie who was so kind to come and help Lily make decisions about all her pantry food. By the end of it, the pantry was 100% emptied. Thank you Jessie and Lily! Morgan and Jessie are also giving us blankets so Lily and the kids can be warm after I pack all the blankets in the car for the road trip. We also hung out the Morgan and Jessie until late last night, so we have really been enjoying spending much time with them before we go!
Lily plays with the kids: In addition to endlessly driving around (an observation Lily quickly observed after being in Asia for a month with almost no driving and a lot of healthy walking), Lily has been reviewing old family photos and videos a lot lately (including last night when everyone, but Ammon looked at family photos together to cheer up Clarissa who was sad that she was not invited to Casey’s Pajama party, -where Ammon was). Lily and I have both been reflecting on many good memories, and looking at old photos and videos also inspired Lily to play more with the kids. I felt busy with projects and also unwell from my cold, so I did not join in, but I committed to play the next day. I think they played some kind of forest imagination game. The kids were grateful afterward and rewarded Lily with a foot massage.
Ammon’s Cupcake holder building: We are almost completely out of objects in the home for the kids to play with, but today, Ammon and Clarissa asked if they could play with the cupcake holders and we said yes. They are very good at imaginative play, and their creativity never ceases to amaze me. This is what Ammon built (I assume), while Lily and I visited her mom and went on a date for tea, chai and cider at a local coffee shop in the evening:
Lydia gets her braces off: Doesn’t she look great!
Tea with Jessie: Today Lily went out to tea with Jessie and told me all about what a good time she had while I walked around Vegas at night.
We have a home!: Ok, so it’s actually tomorrow (Friday) that the papers Lily signed Wednesday (using my power of attorney) will make it to North Carolina (delayed one day due to snow) and our home purchase will be officially recorded with the county. Hooray! It was a long hard-fought process (especially meeting all the mortgage lenders’ requirements since they can’t count my commissions or equity payouts), but we got there!
We almost got a puppy: Before we got Basil, we put $500 down at a burnadoodle breeder. They just had a new litter and even though it’s one of the most chaotic times in our lives, Lily almost decided she wanted a puppy right now just because of how cute this one is. Ultimately she decided against it, but it was a fun daydream.
Lily protects me: When I told Lily I was starting to feel sick on my trip, she said it sounded like the awful thing she has had and adamantly suggested I go find cold medicine with Zinc in it. I explained my schedule was insane, but she would have none of it. She basically ordered me to go find medicine and I agreed. I was bugged at first, but ultimately realized she was coming from a place of love and was trying to protect me. We went through a similar cycle when I wasn’t demonstrating the right amount of caution for my upcoming road-trip to North Carolina. I’m grateful that Lily is so protective of my wellbeing and helps me to take care of myself! I found my way to a gas station during a break, and reported back to Lily to her great delight:
First Time Gambling: My number one goal on this trip was to bond with my new region members, and tonight they were all playing Blackjack. Worth and Brent (from my region) coached me on Blackjack last week and guided to me a great app to teach me, so I was prepared. I pulled out $300, with $25 bet minimums and within 30 minutes I was up $125. More importantly, though, I found the game to be easy-paced and low key which made it easy to have conversation and relax while playing. I found it to be very enjoyable. I tried another table with the group and started losing money, but I was still $50 up on the night. It was a really good time!
Lily’s New Hair: Lily got her hair treated today and she doesn’t like it. I think she looks great, but she said her stylist wasn’t used to virgin hair and said, “I am shooketh” after the appointment. I literally haven’t given it a second thought other than thinking it looks great, telling her, and moving on to other things. But, I think it’s much more visceral for Lily, and she keeps thinking about it and loathing it. Mary provided her some comfort which we all think is rather funny. She said, “mom, I know this is a low baseline, and so maybe it won’t help, but I want you to know that you do look like a human.” LOL, what a cute girl! Here is my beautiful human:
Mary’s Party:
One of the things that is saddest about moving is Mary’s friend network. She has a group of girls that all went through 3rd, 4rth and 5th grade with her. Mary is truly sad to leave them. They did the sweetest thing today and all took her to a movie for a going away party. I think it was organized by Amy, Eloise’s mother. Lily took Ammon and Clarissa too and hung out with them in the back of the theater. Here are the pictures!
Left to right: Annika, Eloise, Lilian, Catharina, Mary
Getting things done: It has been a little stressful lately with all of the complicated moving logistics and situations and managing all of it while living out of suitcases. The house was getting messy and we were way behind on laundry so I worked last night and this morning helping get things in order. Clarissa and Ammon were so cute and helped me match socks. We made it a game. If they thought they were done, and I found a match, then I won! Clarissa said something to the effect of, “Hey, this is a little fun!” And Ammon and Clarissa did win, as I could not find a single match when they were done!
Family time: Since I was to fly to Vegas tonight and the kids have been on screens a lot while Lily and I have been handling moving logistics and Lily has been focussed on her mom, we decided to have an outing before I headed out. Lily suggested a walk, and I was a little nervous about how cold it was, but once we were outside, it was so delightful to walk as a family and get some sun! After the walk, we all ate a molcajete at Maria Bonitas and got one of their huge pina colada drinks the kids love. The walk and dinner were quick, but great experiences before I left.
I did a horrible job walking Basil while Lily was gone so I was so happy to see him get out!
Clarissa had fun trying on my glasses, and Ammon said he’d wear Clarissa’s pink coat because he, “doesn’t care what people think”
Molcajete
Pina colada
Maria Bonitas has very interesting paintings that recreate famouse works by embedding objects in the paintings.
Las Vegas: I caught an evening flight to Las Vegas. I had a really nice walk around the city before I went back to my hotel (MGM Grand) and worked on finances. I got to see a really neat fountain show in front of the Bellagio.
