Author: lilydarais

On Thursday my mom had her kidney stone surgery. It was very scary and painful for her, and we had a little commotion at the beginning because the nanny’s car broke down. I dropped off my mom at the surgery center, dropped the kids off at school, dropped the other kids off with the nanny (who borrowed a car to come over), and then went back to the surgery center to be there when my mom woke up.

It took a while for her to feel like she could move again, so she ate some snacks before she was ready to leave. On our way home we picked up some medicine and things she needed for recovery.

Then Maggie stayed with my mom while I picked the kids up from school. It was a really pretty day and the kids were so cute outside after school. I took a picture of them all playing so sweetly together on the trampoline. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because honestly, these kids are so unbelievably good. I am so lucky.

In the evening the Giles, some of our new neighbors, came over to bring my mom chocolate and tell her they were thinking of her during her surgery. They were SO nice. Sometimes I struggle in Utah County, but the people are the kindest. We were all so touched.

Also, Abe got back from his trip! He arrived close to midnight because someone accidentally took his carry-on off the plane, and so he had to track the person down at a train station to exchange luggage. It’s so great to have him back.

On Wednesday everyone woke up so sick. I was feeling awful and debated throughout the day whether to take the antibiotics the doctor gave me on Tuesday. When Abe heard how sick we all were, he felt bad for being so far away and ordered us all smoothies.

I don’t remember what we did or didn’t do this day. The kids didn’t go to school, and I think the remote control was missing so there wasn’t much television. They probably played and read all day. I have been really focused on relearning German, studying ancient Greek, listening to lectures about the Bible, and getting back into the piano, so I did those things in between being completely useless on the couch.

Abe had a really productive day in North Carolina learning about how to use partners better to sell deals. He said that the North Carolina is really social and spends a lot of time together outside of work time. He gained a new appreciation for the family friendly culture of the Provo office on this trip.

On Monday Mary and Ammon had parent teacher conferences. My favorite parts were 1) when Mary reached over to hold my hand while Mrs. Issa talked about what a good student she is and 2) Ammon’s whole conference.

Ammon’s whining has been hard lately, but talking with his teacher gave me a whole new perspective on him. She gushed about how delightful he is, how life is a musical to him (he spontaneously bursts out into song all the time), how the girls in the class love him because he is always complimenting them (and if he misses one she will demand to know if she’s beautiful too, to which he always replies that she is!), and how he proposes marriage to the girls regularly, on bent knee, with great flourish. His last proposal took three tries and finally, when he qualified “Will you marry me?” with “…when we are grown up?” she said “Yes!”.

She also said his favorite game is dress up, and he is always wearing flowing dresses, flowers in his hair, and sometimes a vest over the dress. He likes playing family with the girls. Sometimes other boys will join in to be the dad, but then they say they have to go to work and promptly leave the game. I thought that was funny (and kind of sad).

Also, Ammon loves to tell stories. Recently he recounted the Princess Bride in the first person from the perspective of Buttercup. Every time he referred to Wesley he said, clutching his hands together, “My sweet Wesley.” I about died when she told me that.

It was also fun to see Ammon racing through the halls popping his head into each teacher’s classroom and greeting them all by name. Even the teachers that aren’t his all know him and stopped their conferences to say hi to him. He is such a social child.

Then I took the kids over to Lydia’s school so I could teach art to her class. I volunteered to be the art mom when Lydia asked me to the other week. I remember loving when my mom was the art mom, and I volunteer so little because of the babies that I thought it was probably time. I was soooo nervous but it ended up being really fun and I fell in love with her whole class. They are all such delightful kids!

On Sunday we went for our first meeting at the local Community of Christ church. It was so, so wonderful. The kids all loved the art project (they were supposed to create something that symbolized what God is to them) and Lydia and Mary both met girls their ages there. Lydia especially loved her new friend and couldn’t stop talking about her afterward.

The format was so nice too. We all ate pizza and then discussed what Lent meant to us. The groups was small and very thoughtful. The majority were ex-Mormons, but there was one Presbyterian there who was completely mystified by the whole Mormon dynamic. At one point he asked us what happened with our old church (because that came up regularly during the conversation). One of the guys there was so funny. He offered to explain it to him over breakfast…and lunch, and dinner. When your whole identity is your religion and then you find out your religion betrayed you, it feels like a lot to explain.

The Community of Christ organizer was awesome, though. She tried so hard to keep the tone of the conversation productive and positive, and since she has never been LDS she feels no bitterness towards the LDS Church. It was so strange to sense the lack of animosity in her. On our youth trip to Missouri we had an entire testimony meeting about why the Community of Christ was not the true church, and I can not even count the number of times I have sat through lessons where the teacher or class disparaged other faiths. It was kind of a shock to see a church leader who had the opportunity to just totally rip apart a rival church but who instead used the moment as a peacemaking moment. It was a new experience for me. (Also I catch the irony here that I am disparaging my old faith instead of being positive and kind like the leader in the Community of Christ. Old habits die hard, I guess.)

Afterward we all went out to Menchies to celebrate this new exciting step for our family.

Tuesday Lydia had a stomachache so she stayed home from school. After her practice and reading a book, she spent most of the rest of the day watching The Great British Baking Show. Ammon and Clarissa played all day, and Mary joined in both practice and play after she came home from school.

The only picture I took was a video of the repairman fixing the vents so I can know how to do that, so I won’t post that here.

In the evening we tried out nanny #3 for Bora Bora while we went to do errands to Target and Best Buy. I just love spending time with Abe, and even errands felt like a party with him. He’s my favorite.

Abe left Tuesday morning for a North Carolina work trip. 🙁

In other news, Clarissa was terrifically cute all day. (The girls like to dress her up in their old dresses.)

I went to the doctor in the morning to get a prescription for antibiotics for the sinus infection I’ve had for MONTHS. Sadly, this week we got a virus on top of that, so I didn’t take the pills right away. It’s going to be tiresome reading about how sick we were this week, but truthfully the illnesses have kind of shaped our days recently. Summer, please come soon!!

Even though there wasn’t much snow on the ground, the kids woke up to a snow day Monday! The first thing they did was do a puzzle together:

Then the girls each got an hour of practice in. Mary put the first section of Allegro hands together:

Lydia baked blueberry muffins, which we all devoured. And then we watched a LOT of The Great British Baking Show. Lydia wants to move to the UK so she can be on that show someday. I think everyone else is a little tired of moving, but she can dream!

On Sunday we did another couple rounds of family yoga. Clarissa joined us this time and was so cute! (Ammon also took every downward dog as a signal to crawl under everyone. He is also very cute.)

Abe and the kids sat next to a couple at church who had a son named Ammon. Ammon got very excited when he learned this and must have told them so. After church they took a walk and introduced themselves to us, whereupon Ammon declared his love for Mary, the wife. This is not surprising because Ammon pretty regularly declares his love to strangers, but it was still charming to watch.

Also, Clarissa peed in the potty!!! Right before her bath I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty, and of course she did. (Clarissa has a passion for water, and toilets contain water–so naturally she has always been a big fan of them.) She sat down…and she peed! We were all so excited.

In the morning we tried out the nanny who will watch the kids for the second half of our Bora Bora trip. Because she came in the morning, Abe and I went out to brunch at Communal. We both ordered the avocado eggs benedict and a bruleed grapefruit to share. It was so fun to just be together and talk.

But by the end I was not feeling well, so when we got home I went to bed and basically never got out again. Abe was a hero and took care of the kids all day. Lydia baked both brownies and cookies, and so Abe helped clean the kitchen a million times.

These are the pictures he took while I was down for the count.

On Thursday after dropping the kids off at school, I drove to Salt Lake with Ammon and Clarissa. We met up with Sara, Lennon and Madeline to do the Silicon Slopes service project at the Salt Palace. The service project was to pack a million meals for the homeless, and it was so fun and kid friendly. We even made the paper! (Well, Sara, Lennon and my hand made the paper. Here’s the link: https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/1/30/21114050/tech-summit-mark-zuckerberg-debate-silicon-slopes-governor-candidates)

My hands were very tied up so I could only snap one picture at the very beginning when we were getting trained. (Near the end Clarissa started crying so I had to hold her with one arm while filling bags with the other.):

Afterward Sara took Ammon in her car with her kids and Clarissa and I picked up the girls from school. We came home and then Sara, her kids and Ammon joined us for dinner. We had Abe’s birthday dinner again: borscht, smoked salmon blinis, cabbage pie, and bruschetta. Visiting with Sara and her crew was so, so fun. And she brought me the most beautiful picture to hang in the living room! Her mom and her mom’s friend were artists, so Sara has a ton of extra beautiful art. I am so excited about the picture she lent us. It is perfect.

Abe had a training after dinner and then went to basketball. I forget what I did at home–I think I put the kids down and read a book? Or maybe I went to bed. Either way, it was a full, fun day.