Author: lilydarais

Today was a full day! In the morning we all went to look at a house that popped into my inbox from Zillow. I loved it, but there are things we would have to change for it to work for us.

Then Jean, the kids and I all went to the Provo Rec Center pool. Jean took the girls down the big slides while I watched Ammon. It was so nice to not have to watch all three kids by myself! I am going to miss Jean so much. I wish she could come back next week already.

After we finished at the pool we went home and got ready for Lydia’s harp recital. She did a great job. I was so proud of her, and I was so proud of how much she practiced for her recital. Tom and Suzanne came down to see her too, and of course Jean and my mom were both there. I taped the recital so Abe could see it when he gets home (in half an hour!!!!).

As if that weren’t enough excitement, we picked up Mary and headed to the Qualtrics work party after the recital. The girls got their faces painted, we ate food truck food, slurped up snow cones, and watched the fireworks.

It was a full day!

Yesterday we left Ammon with a babysitter while we drove to Sundance and rode the ski lift. Jean and I were deep breathing and trying not to panic as the lift rose high above the ground, but the girls were delighted. Mary turned to Jean and exclaimed, “Isn’t it wonderful?”

It was wonderfully beautiful, and there were many times when we rode in complete solitude. I loved hearing the wind and seeing the breathtaking views of the mountains. When we reached the top, we started hiking, but we only got about ten minutes down the trail before the girls decided we should head back. We were trying to catch the Heber Creeper, so we acquiesced and rode the ski lift back down.

The Heber Creeper was lots of fun. The last time we rode it the weather was quite hot, but yesterday there was a nice cool breeze blowing through the windows. Lydia decided she was not scared of the train “robbers,” but I still observed her snuggling close to Jean when the robbers boarded. Mary decided she was still scared and hid her face in my lap with her hands over her ears.

After the train ride we headed over to June Pie to pick up a shepherd’s pie and a sour cream lemon pie for the trip home. They were delicious.

The sad part of the day came when we got home. I realized I had left no instructions for our poor babysitter. She had to sit in Ammon’s room and listen to him cry for hours because she did not know to feed him or that it was okay to take him outside to play. I felt so bad. Hopefully she still wants children after that ordeal. Ammon seems slightly traumatized too. This morning he put his head on my shoulder and cuddled for thirty minutes. I just love him.

The best part of the day was that my friend, Jean Jones, arrived from Boston. I could not have survived grad school without this dear woman, and we had a chance to relive why at parent night tonight for Let’s Play Music!.

Jean came with me to see what the program was about, and off the bat we realized I had forgotten to bring a pen. Jean at first handed me a pen (just like old times!), and then when I kept dropping everything everywhere, she finally just took my papers and took notes herself–for me. I was sitting next to her feelings these surges of love and gratitude for my sweet friend while she diligently took notes on my behalf. I fondly recalled all of the times I borrowed her notes from class and all of the times she saved me by reminding me of upcoming events and what was going on when. She is the finest of human beings, and I am so grateful to have her as a friend.

I have one picture from earlier today. It’s of my mom and Mary snuggling in the morning. They were so cute that I had to get a picture.

We had a wonderful, peaceful Sunday. It felt like an actual Sabbath. The weather is cooling down, and that makes dinners so much more pleasant. Also, my mom went visiting teaching and got new near death experience books. Hooray! I am going to stop blogging now so I can read a bit before bed.

Harp practice went so, so much better today and yesterday. It felt like a switch had flipped in both Lydia and me; the practice sessions have been so positive and upbeat. I am so, so proud of Lydia for making that transition.

My phone is full and can’t take any more pictures. If I could have taken pictures, I would have taken pictures of the pickles I have been canning. I am so pleased with them! It was such tremendous fun to come down in the morning and realize the lids had popped while I was sleeping.

I also tried to follow a homeschool seminar for the past two days. I felt impressed that I should try to follow it, but I am a little confused about that impression because the seminar was very badly run. I did learn some things though, and if I put them into practice, then perhaps the lost time will have been worth it.

Abe and his dad went on the Elder’s Quorum camp-out last night. Abe as stressed because he had to coordinate the camp-out, but everything went really well. We are really glad to have him home.

Today was a whirlwind. The electricians came this morning and brought our entire house up to code. After they arrived, we left for yoga. I only went because I fear if I don’t go the class will get cancelled. There are usually fewer than three people in class–counting the instructor.

Then we came home, ate lunch, and had harp practice. Harp practice has taken three hours every day (except today, which took two) since we came back from the Tetons. Lydia was loving the no-practice routine that came with vacation. At one point Abe and I overheard her exclaiming joyfully, “It’s a whole new world without harp practice!”

It has been painful for everyone to get back into the grind, and therefore the majority of our practices are spent in time-out. We maybe get a good fifteen minutes of actual practice in. I can’t even imagine where Lydia would be if we actually practiced for three hours a day. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

After practice, I let the girls play while I fed Ammon. Then we read books and talked about how to tell time. We practiced counting in fives. After that the kids had some more free time, and then we had a reading and writing session. By then it was 5pm, so we tidied the house and I let the girls watch a show while Abe grilled dinner.

Abe had to leave after dinner to do Elder’s Quorum visits, during which time I put down Ammon and got the girls ready for bed. Then we cleaned up the kitchen and the neighbors came over to play for an hour.

It’s been a full day. I feel so, so grateful that I do not need a nap anymore. Not having to nap has made a HUGE difference in my life. I feel like there is a direct correlation between needing a nap and being pregnant/lactation/night feedings. Now that I have none of the above in my life, I actually feel functional. In Lydia’s words, “It’s a whole new world.” 🙂

Today Abe and I both had rough days. Lydia’s harp practice went very, very poorly, and the bottom almost fell out of Abe’s quarter. We were slightly stressed out.

Thank goodness we had our oil tasting tonight! The babysitter came early enough for us to slip in a swim beforehand. After the swim we were both already feeling better. After the oil tasting, we were completely rejuvenated. We learned so much about olive oil and tasted over twenty different oils and vinegars. We left with two bottles of olive oil from Spain and California, a butter flavored olive oil, a harissa flavored olive oil, and some truffle salt.

Then we came home and tackled our cucumbers. We started the pickling process today. I pickled in cooking school, but I have never canned before. This is new and scary.

We are out of the habit of taking pictures. Luckily my mom took one of Ammon and me. The girls dressed up Ammon today. We thought he looked cute.

On Saturday we had the rare opportunity to visit with Anthony, Malika, Emile, and Asphalta. They live in Switzerland, and so we jumped at the chance to spend time with them. We visited at Anthony’s mom’s house for a couple of hours and then we headed over to Liberty Park where we got gelato, fed the ducks, and played in the streams. The kids all got on beautifully, and of course Abe and I enjoy Anthony and Malika tremendously.

Last week we went on a trip to the Tetons. Clark, Swathi, Soren, Sruthi, Vince, Louie, Ginny, Clara and Bea all joined us. My mom hosted everyone at a beautiful cabin in Alta, Idaho.

The first two days after we arrived were a whirlwind of sightseeing the Tetons and Yellowstone, and the third day we all lay around on couches staring at each other. I liked that day the most.

My favorite part of the trip was Thursday night.  We all sat around and visited under the stars. I was wrapped in a fuzzy blanket and drank copious amounts of hot cocoa. We should have done that every night!

I am appalled that I don’t have more pictures. I am hoping that people will send me theirs so I can amend this post and add more. I was very lazy when it came to picture taking on the trip.

Oh, my mom just informed me Swathi has a lot of pictures on Facebook! I will post them below.

 

And here are my photos of Bear World.

 

On Sunday after church we headed up to Sundance for a hike. We got lost and ended up missing the lift that would have taken us to the Stewart Falls trail head. We ended up taking a short hike and then picnicking on the lawn while a live band played. Abe, the girls, Swathi and Soren all danced. I wish I had gotten pictures of that! But I did get pictures of the hike.