Today I got home from being away from the family for a very long time (I left the Saturday before last, and have had only one night home since then), and it has felt amazing. I feel like a different person at home, flooded with good feelings, comfort, security and love. It was so so nice to be back. To top it off, Lily prepared shrimp scampi and a delicious salad for everyone.
Also, Lily has been thinking and researching deeply about the conflict in Israel and researching it extensively. She will no longer travel there as planned in December due to the conflict. We hope deeply for peace there and the safety of our friends who are there.
Today Lily spent time in the canyon and captured these beautiful photos:
Here are the kids, I assume they are eating their after-school snack:
Today Ammon and Clarissa saw a pigeon in our yard and they were very excited about it.
Here are Ammon and Clarissa talking about the Pigeon:
I’m away on business, busily working away at the HLTH conference. I got a video of how the laser works on the luggage bag tag giveaway we had at our booth.
Today Lydia crafted beautiful felt purses and the rest of the kids had fun marketing them to Lily (see video below). The brand name is “Purse”
Meanwhile, I was at a networking dinner at the Wynn or Encore hotel (they are adjoined sister hotels and styled the same, and I’m not sure which one I was at). In the video below, you can see the new sphere everyone is talking about. You can go inside for concerts and right now U2 is playing for just under $600/ticket.
Today was just what I needed. Last night was the first time I slept in my own bed for 6 nights. I slept very will (and loved cuddling with Lily!) and then we went on a family hike on the Summit/Primrose trail (where Provo Canyon and American Fork Canyon connect).
On our way up, we took a quick stop on the Squaw Peak road to see the beautiful colors there.
Then we proceeded to drive to our trailhead. We were blown away by the fall colors on the drive up and we were fortunate to get a parking spot right where the trail started (parking was crazy). The weather was perfect for hiking (low 60s) and the colors were unbelievable. Here are some pictures and videos (I’ll try so hard to be selective!).
We had an incredible time and afterwords we went to Chipotle with Georgia, and then we split up for desert. Lily got Starbucks and then took Mary and Clarissa to Sweet Tooth Fairy for cupcakes, and I took Georgia, Ammon and Lydia to Cold Stone for ice cream. Ammon got black cake batter ice cream (a special Halloween flavor) and it made his mouth all black!
At home I packed and went to the airport and got into Las Vegas late. I Traveled to Vegas for the HLTH convention.
Today was my final day in Philadelphia. I can’t wait to get home tomorrow. Here is a picture from home today. I love how much everyone has been reading. I love that our kids are taking after their mother and being bookworms!
This is such a sweet note below from Clarissa. I miss my family and can’t wait to be home!
The report from home today is that the sky was dramatic and absolutely beautiful. I love Utah skies! Also, the kids were fascinated and concerned for a cat that they saw stuck in a tree. They talked a lot about it when I connected with the family by phone.
Here is Clarissa at harp practice. Lily said she is doing so well at learning the harp!
On the work front, today was a very difficult day at Qualtrics, because we laid off 780 people. I’m grateful that I was not affected, and my team was also not affected. One team member is going to another team though. It was a stressful day for all of us, and especially stressful because we were in a room together trying to have our QBR when all the news was coming out. None of us knew ahead of time who would be getting laid off. It was a very stressful day, and it was fun to blow off some steam together at Top Golf!
Today I had an onsite meeting in New Jersey and then worked from my computer for the rest of my meetings and tasks. In the evening, I met up with some team members at the Xfinity sports bar to watch the first wild card playoff game for the Phillies. They played the Florida Marlins. I’ve been wanting to get back into the sports world, and this felt like a great onramp to me becoming a Phillies fan. The game was fantastic (Phillies won), and the atmosphere (and pizza) was great. I also loved having one of my team-members, Reggie, tell me about the Phillies and show his passion for them. Go Phillies!
Today was a very happy day for me. A highlight in my whole year. Before I get into it though, here are some pretty pictures from a rainbow at home that I assume Lily took.
Today was special because I ran the Portland Marathon and got to hang out with Clark and everything just went perfectly. I slept great and woke up 5 minutes before my alarm. The weather was perfect, and I packed my nutrition without a hitch. My body felt great. I planned to stick with the 1:50 pacer (just a hair faster than my last practice run), but I was feeling so good that I stuck with the 1:40 pacer the entire race. My final time was 139:19. It felt so good to push my body and feel the results of my training. It was so fun to run with Clark. We ran the first half of the race together then he took off ahead of me. It was also so fun to see Portland through a half-marathon and to do it in perfect weather (fifties). The whole thing was magical and a treasured experience for me.
As if my day wasn’t magical enough, I then played at Top Golf with Clark and then even played a game of Wingspan with him at a gaming lounge. I had such a good time hanging out with him.
At night I relaxed, went on a walk, talked a lot with Lily, talked with Lydia and Mary (Lydia told me more about her Mistbourne book series) and watched TV. It was an incredible day. Here are some scenes from my walk.
Also, I’ve discovered the digital version of Wingspan, and I’m loving it! It has also clarified some rules for me, like you don’t tally the score every round!
I am so grateful for the way Lily has supported my training and running in this event today. She is such a perfect companion. Training and running for this half-marathon has helped to keep me happy and mentally/emotionally afloat during a very challenging year. Thank you honey for your goodness to me!!
Today was exactly what I needed. Today was the last day of my sales quarter, but being a Saturday, my deals (thankfully) already came in yesterday. I was exhausted from the push of yet another quarter, so sleeping in and playing 4-5 games of Wingspan with Lily was totally my speed. It was incredible. Then I had lunch and listened to Lydia tell me all about her Mistborn series for a good half hour. She’s very into it and she loves talking about it, and I love connecting with her in that way. When I left, Lily did music and other work with all of the kids, and Lydia got her harp practice in. Lily and the kids have really been cranking hard on music, homework and reading, and it’s really showing! For me, I was then off to the airport to run the Portland Half-Marathon with Clark! When I arrived in Portland, Clark ordered some delicious Chinese food for us at Dough Zone, and we completely loaded up on carbs before the race. It was a great day!
Also, I just got these pictures and videos from Arches showing what Ammon and Clarissa have been up to there. They are very cute!
Today was effectively the last day of the quarter for me (30th is tomorrow, but it’s Saturday and my deals came into today). I was exhausted, and it was so perfect to have Daniel and Amanda invite us to the Gina Bachauer concert tonight. The pianist was Aristo Sham, and we were very impressed with his performance. We also loved the pieces so much. Here are the pieces he played:
It was a wonderful time. After the concert, we ate at Settabello/Capo for food and gelato. Their service was incredibly fast and we had a great time talking. What a wonderful evening!
