We took a lazy slow day today because I was feeling very worn. Lily and I played Wingspan in the morning, then Georgia came over, and it was really nice to have her over. The highlight for me was when she beat me and Lydia in Chinese Checkers. Also, Lydia played the harp for her and sounded beautiful.
Then we went to my dad and Suzanne’s house for birthday celebrations, including Lydia’s. It was really fun, and I particularly enjoyed playing Seven Wonders with Charlie, his new fiancé Brooklyn, Henry, Lydia, Mary and Lily. Here are some photos and videos from the evening:
Lydia is 12!Henry is turning 16!David’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s day!
This morning, Ammon built a world in his room that he and Clarissa played in. He was so excited about it that he took a video and showed it to me and Lily. He also took all the photos below. He was so proud of it!
Then Lily and I blitz-cleaned the house in preparation for Lydia’s party.
Lydia’s party went perfectly, and it was so fun to watch it all unfold. It was spa themed and all the guests got party favors like brushes, spa robes, headbands, nail-polish etc.
First everyone did each others’ hair, including adding color.
Even Ammon got his hair colored!
Then everyone made Chex muddy buddies (so yummy!)
Then there was nail painting.
And then everyone watched the Princess Bride while eating the yummy Chex-mix.
I left the party early to take Ammon and Clarissa to the school play. Clarissa had a major nose bleed back stage and I helped take care of that because her teacher texted when it wasn’t stopping. Clarissa had also had a major poop backstage that was hard for her to clean, and between the nose-bleed and the poop, she dramatically proclaimed this was the worst day ever. It was fun to see her backstage and I snapped this photo.
Ammon and Clarissa were very cute in the play!
When I got home, I found Lydia giddy after her party. She was showing me her gifts, and so happy for how everything pulled off. Lily and Lydia collaborated on the vision, the set-up, and Lydia really made the entire thing happen once the party started. She’s so good at adulting, and we are so glad she had such a great time!
Today Clarissa was feeling sick, so she stayed home from school.
Georgia was also not feeling well, and she and Lily spent much of the day going to different appointments for tests.
Later in the day, Lily went to Mary’s play and Lydia’s open house for Junior High.
Ammon was also in a play (Clarissa skipped because she was sick). Lily had such a full day going from place to place, and by the end of the day she felt completely stressed out. I was still downtown hosting clients for X4 and was very sorry to hear how difficult today was for her. Lily did a lot of research to try to understand better why she feels she doesn’t have the self-control she wants when she’s triggered with stress and she made some discoveries. I finished with clients around 9:15, caught 30 minutes of the Killers concert at X4 and then came home and collapsed so I could wake up at 5:45 the next day for more client hosting.
Today Lydia turned 12. I can’t believe it! Lily kicked off her birthday with a German Pancake breakfast. Over breakfast, Lydia talked to Georgia and opened some gifts.
In the evening they had cake!
I was sad to miss Lydia’s birthday after school. I was in Salt Lake hosting clients until late. I thought of her today and what a special girl she is and wrote her the below birthday note.
Hey Sweetie, As I now lead an enterprise sales team, I’m downtown with clients while they are all at our annual conference. I’m so sorry I won’t spend this evening with you, but I know we will have a lot of fun skiing and going to Brian Regan and so I truly hope you know how much I love you. I could not have dreamed or wished for a better daughter. You are responsible, deeply sweet and compassionate, humble, self-aware, hard-working, smart and persistent. Most important to me though, is your ability to grow and progress. The harp is just one example of how you have started with something you didn’t know how to do, worked very hard at it, even when you disliked it extremely, and now you create sounds that are hard to believe exist (because they are so beautiful!). Mrs. Mason was so blown away she told me three or four separate times with great excitement how beautiful and amazing your harp playing was. I am so so so so proud of you. But it’s not just the harp that progress at. you progress at everything in your life. When you determined to get good at reading, you put in the work and got good at it. When you have been less than kinds in the past, you listen humbly when you are corrected, you apologize sincerely, and then you correct your behavior. This regular pattern of self-awareness, humbly growing and improving yourself with each day has led you to become the most magnificent, golden, talented, smart, kind and capable 12-year-old I could ever imagine having. You take care of your siblings and set an example for them of responsibility. You entertain them. You orchestrate plays and dance numbers to involve them. You play with them. You are kind in your social interactions. You love learning. you care about being good. You apologize when you are wrong. You are endlessly forgiving of me and mom when we are tired, grouchy or just aren’t being our best selves. You are also so fun! I love to ski with you, listen to comedy with you, play dolls with you, talk with you about the universe, and hear about your school and social life.I also love to hike and backpack with you and the list goes on and on. I also love how much you get excited about celebrating holidays. You are so festive! You are so fun to have in our family, and our family is more loving, more beautiful, more happy and more complete with you in it. Again, I’m so sorry to not be with you on your special day, but I hope this note lets you know how endlessly proud I am of who you are becoming and how much I love you. May this be your best year yet, and just know that mom and I are always always always here for you. Love, Dad
Tomorrow is Lydia’s birthday and Lily made her a special shepherd’s pie dinner with amazing strawberry cream pastries for desert. I’ve been focussed on hosting customer at our X4 event for Qualtrics, and was sad to miss this evening with Lydia.
Also, Mary wrote the cutest pen-pal note to her friend Lilly.
Today Lydia had a medieval festival at school and Lily attended some of it and got pictures. Lydia’s cake was served, and she also played the harp. My role was to transport the harp to and from school, and when I picked it up, her teacher, Mrs. Mason effused (3 or 4 times) about how remarkable Lydia’s harp playing was. She even had Lydia play specifically for the principal so the principal could hear her play. It warmed my heart to hear such praise and we are very proud of Lydia!
Also, here is a fun shield Lydia made to represent herself. It hung up at the medieval festival and is now on a wall in our home. I love it!
Work has been very intense, including a recent tragic occurrence on my team. I spent a lot of time today working, however, I peeled away around 3:30 to have sushi with the family, and go to Blickenstaff’s together.
During the day, I caught Lily playing Barbies with Clarissa. I think it is one of Clarissa’s favorite things.
After work today, Lydia showed me an incredible coat of arms she made for our family. Everyone in it has a symbol. The jester hat is Basil, the chef hat is Mary, the tiara is Clarissa, the helmet is Ammon and the pink and green hat is Lydia. I am the blue dragon and lily is the green dragon. I love it!
I was also admiring how beautiful our children are over dinner. I love them!
