Author: Abe Darais

Today Lily and the kids met up with Amy and her kids at Antelope island and had a really great time. Here are some pictures from their day-trip:

After their super-fun day, they went to Nielson’s Froze Custard (now a family favorite!)

I was up very late working, but we were able to get out of the house by around 9:30 or 10. We got to the North Shore around 1:30 (and stopped for Del Taco and then shakes on the way).

The weather was perfect. It was unreal how many people were there at North Beach, but found a spot. The sand was amazing and the water was the perfect temperature. The whole experience was divine.

Lydia and Mary had a lot of fun stalking me in the water.

Of course Ammon made friends and played with them!

Some other highlights were when I led Mary around in the boat, floating on stars next to Lily, sitting in chairs with Lily soaking it all in, eating avocado and pbj crackers and other fun snacks and listening to “All the Light You Cannot See” to prepare us for France.

It was a hefty day trip that took it out of me and Lily, but we agreed it was worth it.

I was up late working, but we managed to get out the door around 8:15. Amazingly, we made it by 10:00 and got to see the train “Jupiter” arrive. Anthony and Malika arrived with their kids about the time that we did. We were SO happy to see them. They are in town from Switzerland.

After we watched the train arrive, the kids worked in their Junior Ranger books while the grown-ups chatted.

At 10:45, we saw the reenactment of the ceremony for when the East and West railroad track-lines were brought together.

Afterwards, we all went to the Spiral Jetty, the most famous piece of art in Utah.

After seeing the spiral, we went to the lake, which was a half-mile hike because the water is so low. When the lake is more full, the water would be all around the jetty.

Afterwards, we all went to Nielson’s Frozen Custard in Bountiful. It was delicious, although it was very hot outside when we ate our refreshments.

We then went home and Lily and I napped. I then stayed up past 2 working.

Today Lily, Lydia and Mary repeated the Primrose Point hike with Amy, Emerson and Isabel. Here are the pictures!

I had hours of meetings in the morning and mid-day (mostly my leadership quarterly business review) and then I rested and worked on my to-do items until very late. Work is exceptionally heavy right now and stressful because my team is not performing well.

I was in New York this week for a customer meeting with Shake Shack. The meeting went very well (it was yesterday). I tried to line up some more meetings for today, but did not get any so I worked from the SAP Hudson Yards office. It was a really neat experience to be there.

Back at home Lily took Lydia and Mary on a long outing together. Lydia and Mary were so disappointed about coming back from camp early (just too hard to manage Ammon and Clarissa alone at camp), and Lily wanted to make it up to them. Lily said they had an amazing time and it felt like their Chicago trip.

They also visited Georgia!

Today was another glorious day at the Community of Christ reunion. After breakfast, we attended an adult session of church while the kids had kid’s classes. The adult class was all about the vibrant discussion within the community of Christ right now about non-violence. It was a beautiful lesson about how the Community of Christ includes everyone in the direction of the church and about the current emphasis on discussing non-violence which is so important in today’s society.

The kids had a cool craft where they decorated bottles for their orange soda.

Then we had the main church meeting where we sang, had communion and listened to a sermon about taking action, and believing we can make a positive difference in the world (as opposed to being like the John Maher song that says we are waiting on the world to change).

Lunch was a delicious variety of Mexican food (all the food has been fantastic) and afterwards we had KP duty. It was so fun to do my part along side Lily, Lydia, Mary and other wonderful people (Ammon and Clarissa were off playing). I had a flashback to when I was the dish-boy at Gepetto’s and that made it extra fun for me.

After lunch was swim-time (super fun!) and then we hung out until after dinner just talking with people and loving everyone’s company. The kids wanted to stay soooooo badly, but I had a trip to New York the next day so we had to get me home. But Lily also enjoyed her time so much that she told the kids she would go back Monday, so we left the sleeping bags and some other things in the cabins with Lily planning to return with the kids. We have loved Reunion!!

I went to bed after midnight last night because I was working, but we woke early to meet Courtney on 800 N just after 7:30. Lily and I got as much rest as we could so once we got up, it was a mad dash to get everyone in the car, and no one had breakfast.

But the hike was so so so beautiful. Courtney took us to Primrose point and the kids all did very well (I did carry Clarissa a bunch, but she walked almost the whole way back). The whole loop was just under 4 miles. It was a bit mentally exhausting coaxing Clarissa along, but honestly, I loved every minute of it (and Clarissa is seriously so cute). The rest of the kids were truly great hikers.

We got some neat footage of a butterfly just before getting to the overlook.

The overlook was breathtaking, and the grandeur reminded us of being in Glacier.

On the way back we loved the sound and sight of the Aspen leaves quaking in the wind.

We also met a furry friend!

Also, the mountain flowers were breathtaking.

After the hike, Courtney showed us Icebox springs where you can drink mountain spring water that is coming right out of the ground. It was delicious!

Basil loved it too!

We are so grateful to Courtney for taking us on such a wonderful adventure!!

Because everyone hiked on an empty stomach, we treated everyone extra nice for lunch. We went to cafe Rio and then got Menchies. Yum! Menchies is one of my all-time favorite deserts. I love designing my desert just the way I like it 🙂

Then Lily and I went home. I quickly packed everything for the Community of Christ Reunion, and then we jumped in the car and headed to Camp Red Cliffe (up Ogden Canyon). We got Cup Bob to eat on the way.

Immediately when we arrived, there was the most beautiful Spirit. We stayed up talking with people until 10 PM. We met and became friends (or closer friends) with so many beautiful people, including one lady who was just divorced by her husband a few days ago (because she left the church). The bond and the spirit there was so strong. I love that community so much and I know it is my home. The kids all found friends to play with and played so happily while all the adults talked.

Today we hosted Courtney, Rebekah and Tyler, Heidi, and their kids. Lily made the most wonderful dinner for everyone (bratworst, fruit salad, corn, Caprese salad). The group REALLY gelled, especially when Lily invited Rebeka to share her faith journey and then everyone else shared their in-turn. I felt so much love, acceptance, warmth and strength. Others might use different words to describe what I think we all felt, but to me it felt like God was surely present. Heidi also taught a values lesson to the kids about asking for help when you need it. We also all roasted s’mores. What a truly heart-warming evening it was. I really love that group of people.

Today I had a very intense and stressful day back at the office. Meanwhile Lily was cooking like crazy at home. It was Georgia’s birthday today and she requested a family favorite: BBQ chicken Cobb Salad. Georgia came over mid-day and Lily told me everyone had the most wonderful time with her.

What a feast! It was so nice to have my mom and Jere join as well.

Jere stayed until around 10 chatting with us and playing with the kids. I caught a quick video of him outside with the kids because it was so touching to see him play with them. He also helped Ammon for 15 or so minutes on his spelling master swords game. What a great uncle!

It was so fun to all celebrate Georgia’s birthday today. I feel so grateful to have Georgia as a mother-in-law. One thing I have always deeply felt is her care for me and all my ups and downs. It’s a care that I draw strength from. She’s thoughtful, kind, loving and a fighter. Health has been challenging for her, but it’s so inspiring to see her smile through it all and still find ways every day to show love, be cheerful and uplift others. You are an angel Georgia and we love you! You are such a sweet presence and such a wonderful nana to our kids. We are all better for having you in our lives. Happy Birthday to the best Nana ever!

Today was the last day of our amazing Mesa Verde trip. Lily did such an incredible job planning everything.

We drove to the trail-head for Step House and Long House and had lunch.

It was a little rainy, so the kids played a new game Lily bought for them while we waited for things to clear up.

Then we set out for Step House

After seeing Step House, we hiked to Long House where Lily scheduled a tour for us.

The kids had a lot of fun doing foot-races on the way.

In the link below, we are hiking the final segment to Long House.

https://youtube.com/shorts/aMgo7uKoUT4?feature=share

Ammon has been over-the-top social on this trick. At one point he stopped a lady on the trail and insisted that she needed to see my magic trick where I can remove my thumb. It was awkward, but she stood there, and I showed it to her, lol. Ammon is talking to everybody all the time. At the hot springs, He had someone singing “Never Gonna Give you Up” by Rick Roll in the bathroom with him. He stops to say hi to everyone and tries to be every dog. It’s honestly too much because he’s always throwing himself into conversation with others whether they want it or not, and we’ve had to coach Ammon about thinking about what other people want and not just always demanding people’s attention all the time. But even though Ammon is learning how to reign it in, the reality is, it is such a beautiful trait to make friends everyone. Within minutes of arriving at the Long House, he found a five year old boy named Luke and they became friends and held hands. They had so much fun together, and as a result, Lily and I became friends with Luke’s parents and we all chatted on the way back to the car.

After Long House, we drove home. We surprised the kids by stopping at Pasta Jays in Moab, one of our all-time favorite spots!

On the way home we had almost an hour of lightning. It was hard to catch much on video, but some of the lighting bolts were breathtaking. It was like having another night of fireworks.

On the way home I finished listening to a Mormon Stories podcast about the great Salt Lake. Lily is so good at pushing great content my way. Before that Podcast, we all finished Book 1 of How to Train Your Dragon which as family favorite, and maybe even THE family favorite audio book. My favorite line in the whole book is when Gobber the Belch tells the young soon-to-be Hooligan Vikings to read a book to learn how to train their dragon, and one of the youngsters says, “but what if you can’t read?” Gobber quips back, “no boasting! Get some idiot to read it to you.” Lol, it still makes me laugh! It was such a wonderful trip.