Author: lilydarais

On Sunday morning, Clarissa woke up at the crack of dawn. She struggled falling asleep in the tent, and Abe and I spent a lot of the night shushing her and trying to figure out how to cuddle with each other without waking up Clarissa, who was between us. In the morning I ended up taking all of the kids to the car to get them dressed and ready for the day while Abe took the tent down and Tom made everyone breakfast.

Here is everyone at breakfast. Lydia was sleep deprived, and as you can see in the picture, was not in a very cooperative mood. But I loved how colorful everyone was, and you can see the AMAZING campsite Tom snagged for us in Zion National Park.

After breakfast, we got our National Park passport stamps, a junior ranger packet for Lydia, and boarded the shuttle for the Temple of Sinewava hike. I wish I had more chances to practice my photography skills, but I had my hands full the whole time. Most of our pictures are of our kids, but hopefully the glorious beauty will live on in our hearts, if not in our blog. 🙂

Then we drove home. Lydia said that I say that every national park is my favorite, but honestly, this time, I have to say that if I ever say anything has topped Zion, it’s just because I forgot how amazing Zion is. Zion is a wonder. We are so blessed to live so close to this magnificent beauty.

On Saturday my mom was a huge help getting us out of the door before noon so I could drive the kids down to meet up with Abe, Tom, and Jere in Zion National Park. On the way down, we took a detour to Cove Fort. I had read about Cove Fort in President Hinckley’s biography because President Hinckley’s grandfather was told to build it by Brigham Young. It was interesting and all of the kids enjoyed the stop quite a bit:

We had an exceptionally beautiful drive from Cove Fort to Zion because my GPS added two hours to our route unnecessarily. Unfortunately, I didn’t pull over to take pictures. But we had a wonderful time listening to Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Beyonce’s “I am Sasha Fierce” album, Bela Fleck, the Poulenc trio I am learning, and Vivaldi’s violin concerto as we drove.

We entered through the back end of Zion, which is the best part of the whole park. I did stop once and take some pictures, but I should have stopped at every single pull off. Honestly, every vista on the road is stunning. But Clarissa was crying on and off because she was trying to poop and couldn’t quite do it, and so I only pulled over once and took pictures lightning fast before getting back in the car.

In the meantime, Abe, Jere and Tom were biking in Zion and its surroundings.

Then I pulled into our meeting place just as Abe and his dad and brother were biking into it. Perfect timing! It was great to have Abe’s help because Clarissa was a mess. She adores Abe, so seeing him gave her the impetus she needed to perk back up and keep going.

Then we ate dinner at a pasta and pizza place with awesome pizza, and then the kids got ice cream. Afterward we drove to our campsite in the Watchmen campground in Zion National Park. We got the kids all bundled up in preparation for the cold night and morning. They were so excited to camp and sleep in their sleeping bags.

On Friday Abe left to go biking in southern Utah with his dad and brother. Tom and Jere came by to pick up Abe in the early afternoon. Ammon and Clarissa took that as their cue to go outside, where I got these pictures:

After school I let the girls play outside instead of doing their usual routines. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and I don’t know how many of those we have left!

Then I basically ran around inside getting everything ready so I could take the kids down to Zion and join Abe the next day. I did a bunch of laundry, vacuumed and tidied, and got everyone fed and in pj’s. After that was all done and the kids were in bed, I met up with Emily, my sweet neighbor, and we went to Pizzeria 712 for dinner.

I should have gotten a picture of both of us, but we were so deep in conversation that I completely forgot. We talked for almost two hours, and then Emily was super nice and came to Target with me so I could grab snowsuits for the kids. I am SO blessed to have the best neighbors in the world. Emily is such a gem. I feel so grateful for her friendship and had an awesome time grabbing dinner with her.

On Thursday I met up with Jessi to check out one of her favorite nature trails. We had fun talking, and Ammon and Henry were such great pals together. Clarissa was a weeping, wailing mess by the end, but it was beautiful and worth it.

It was a lovely walk. I hope we get to do it again soon!

We had a laid back Halloween morning. I made meat loaf, read a bunch to the kids, and took a nap. Also, Chelsea visited! It is so fun whenever she stops by to chat. I just love her.

Then I got the babies in their costumes, picked up the girls early from school and took everyone to downtown Provo to trick or treat the Center Street stores.

Trick or treating the businesses was really fun. The weather was beautiful, and I just enjoy seeing my kids have fun. Ammon wanted to hold my hand a lot, which made me really happy. I love how he always points exciting things out to me. It makes me feel special.

Anyway, after we finished trick or treating down town, I had the kids all buckled into their seats when Mary announced she needed to pee. I could have unbuckled everyone, hunted down a bathroom, and somehow helped Mary out of her costume to pee while still keeping track of Ammon and managing Clarissa…but that sounded crazy. So I ordered Mary to hold it until home. She didn’t make it, at which point I got really frustrated and angry with her for not being potty trained yet. Then she cried and said I was the meanest parent ever who loved everyone but her. It was a sad situation. Luckily Abe was home when we pulled in and he immediately took care of Mary and made it all better. Thank you, Abe.

I also have this picture of the kids with Eliza and Lucy, who trick or treated with the kids after dinner. They asked a week ago if they could take our kids trick or treating because they feel too old to go by themselves. Of course we said yes, and, as the picture shows, our kids were thrilled:

And now Abe and I are on the couch waiting for their return. We thought we would rather miss taking the kids around ourselves…but this is awesome. We’re warm and about to watch a movie. Thank you, Eliza and Lucy!! We LOVE you!!!

Also, looking at that picture made me remember a cute anecdote from today. I pointed out to Mary that her headband looks like a button you press for a gum ball. As soon as I said that, she took her head band, turned the button upside down and said, “out of order!” Lydia commented wistfully that Mary got a lot of compliments on her costume at school. It’s so ironic because compliments about how cute Mary is embarrass Mary and make her uncomfortable, whereas if anyone compliments Lydia she savors it like a treasure. In light of this ongoing irony, I made sure to give Lydia lots of (very sincere) compliments this evening.

This morning we had a play date with Blair, James, and Hannah. Blair and I enjoy commiserating over our husbands’ struggles at Qualtrics and just talking in general. Blair is a nutritionist and gave me great advice for Clarissa’s constipation. Apparently, Clarissa is drinking way too much whole milk. We need to cut it back and or change over to two percent. That was so good to learn.

Ammon and I have been watching art history documentaries during Clarissa’s naps lately. Ammon fell asleep in the middle of learning about John James Audubon, and I fell asleep sometime in the middle of a Whistler documentary. When I woke up, I had no idea how to extricate myself from this comfy, warm situation without waking up Ammon. If there was a solution, I couldn’t find it. When I got up, Ammon woke up. On the upside, he was in a terrific mood for the rest of the day.

Then we got Clarissa and picked up Mary and Lydia from school. For the past little bit I have been developing a new technique to be efficient with our post-school afternoons. On the way home from school  I drill the girls over and over on what they will do upon entering the house. I ask them if they have any questions approximately two million times, and then I answer whatever questions they have. I lay out the rewards and consequences for following or not following our afternoon routine, and then for good measure I have them recite their routines one more time each.

Then we come home, I run inside to get everything ready for them (e.g., I tune the harp, set up a show for Ammon, bring in stuff from the car, etc.), and then the minute they come in I set a timer for their reading. When that dings, I set a timer for their music. When that dings, they know they have until 5:30 (when Abe gets home) to finish their homework, pack their backpacks for the next day, and clean up any messes they made while doing homework.  While they work, I clean the house, cook dinner, yell out practicing instructions, and answer homework questions. It’s actually really fun! Today I managed to make fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms, roasted broccoli, and an apple pie during this time. My goal is to be more available for practice, though, so in the future I want to somehow get dinner done either more quickly or ahead of time.

Honestly, I feel so slow. This routine feels so easy and insanely OBVIOUS. As in, I am sure every other mom on the planet has this figured out. Just tell the kids what they are doing before they enter the door!! But it’s taken me years to get to this place of an effective routine. YEARS.

I guess instead of beating myself up about that, I should just be grateful I figured it out at all.

 

Abe told me he wanted to carve pumpkins on Monday because he had to help organize tithing settlements on Tuesday. So after school on Monday we picked pumpkins up from a local farm stand and the girls got all of their homework and practice done while I put a dinner of chili, kale salad, tomato soup, and gorgonzola croutons on the table.

After dinner we all had the greatest time listening to Halloween music and carving pumpkins. I  also baked a pumpkin pie and roasted the pumpkin seeds after I helped Ammon carve his pumpkin into a sad face, per his specific request.

Mary drew an incredible witch silhouette onto her pumpkin which Abe somehow turned into an even better work of art. Lydia was so proud because she designed and carved her pumpkin all by herself.

After everything was carved and cleaned up, we put the pumpkins outside, lit them, and watched the kids go crazy with joy. Ammon and Mary raced around the yard holding hands as they pretended to run away from her witch pumpkin. Lydia pretended to be the witch they were running away from, and somehow everyone ended up on the porch eating pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie. The kids ended by spontaneously singing “Silent Night.” I don’t know how they made that particular song selection, but everyone was so happy and the night was so beautiful that it felt completely appropriate, even if it was, er, unseasonal.

I should have taken more pictures because everyone was SO HAPPY this afternoon and evening. It was one of those cup-runneth-over events. We all felt so, so cozy, familial, joyful, and, above all, grateful.

On Sunday we had Abe’s team member, Paul, and Paul’s girlfriend, Kiva, over for dinner. I was on my period and really struggling to get everything cleaned and cooked on time, and I told Abe we can’t do anymore of these dinners.

But when Paul and Kiva arrived, I forgot all of my aches and pains. They were so delightful and interesting. We couldn’t stop asking them questions about their amazing childhoods. Paul shared a lot of his homeschooling experience, and Kiva grew up on a mountain ranch in rural Idaho.

When they left, we had an FHE that my mom and the girls had worked very hard on. I should have taken pictures of Mary, who wrote and drew an entire book about the plan of salvation. Each stage of the plan had a full page picture of a wrapped gift preceding it–to show that each part of God’s plan is a gift. She also conducted the opening song. We love seeing her in her element, which appears to be teaching.

Abe and I used to go to Moab and Arches National Park all the time because of his old job. But we realized recently that it’s been FOUR YEARS since we last visited! The last time we went, Lydia was just three years old, Mary was two, and Ammon and Clarissa weren’t even born.

Moab and Arches have such a warm spot in our hearts. On Saturday we finally visited them again. The drive there was beautiful, our hikes in Arches were peacefully nostalgic, and our dinner at our favorite Moab restaurant, Pasta Jay’s, was delicious–although it was, er, more expensive than I remembered. We used to go when Abe’s company paid for his part of the meal and all we had to pay for was mine, which I shared with the girls. Turns out it’s a lot different when we’re paying for two adults and three of our four kids!

Anyway, here are the pictures:

 

We went to see delicate arch next. The kids were all so tired that they initially didn’t want to get out of the car and see the arch, but when we told them it was their school logo, they got out of the car and walked the short walk to see it.

We finished by hiking to double arch. These short hikes took us a looooonng time because Clarissa wanted to walk and the kids stopped a lot. Either they wanted to play in the sand or they asked me to take their picture. All of the pictures below were per their requests:

 

 

Then I gave the camera to Abe so he could take some photos of double arch while I stayed behind with Clarissa, who was so hungry she was stuffing pebbles into her mouth. I couldn’t photograph her and keep her mouth rock-free at the same time.

Abe took this great photo of double arch.

 

After our hike to double arch, we headed to Moab so the kids could get their their ranger badges because the visitor’s center was closed.

We also wanted to eat at our favorite Moab restaurant, Pasta Jay’s. I did take a minute to wonder what it would be like to just go to dinner here with Abe and without having to deal with the chaos children generate, but then I realized my kids were actually behaving really well. I’ll keep them.

On Friday my mom, the kids and Abe all went to the ward Halloween party. I skipped it to go to yoga. Just as I was about to leave, I got a text from Jessi, who was skipping her ward Halloween party to go to an oboe and bassoon concert. She invited me along, so I did the math and realized that if I RACED after yoga, I could do yoga and still make it to the concert.

It ended up being a most wonderful concert. The bassoon is such a comical, delightful instrument. Jessi is a professional bassoonist and worked for a while as an adjunct bassoon professor at BYU-Idaho, so she knew everyone performing and, it seemed, half of the audience too. I loved the people I met and asked Jessi if she could give me the music to the Poulenc trio so we can play it together (with an oboe player) sometime.

When we went in for the trio, we started talking, and we didn’t stop talking for the next several hours. We talked about faith and marriage. There were a lot of tears and it was one of those conversations that I will probably never forget. I love Jessi and admire her so much.

Here are the pictures from the party that Abe managed to take. He didn’t take a lot because he had his hands full. Ammon was, in the words of my mom, on a very long leash. At one point, Abe decided he should actually try to locate Ammon, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. He discovered Ammon pushing through the second set of doors to leave the church building. It was a good thing he checked!