Abe pics – Page 7 – Darais Days

Happy third birthday, Lydia!!!

Happy birthday, Lydia!! We tried to make this the happiest, most fun day for Lydia we could think of. We started off by watching videos of when she was a baby while we cuddled and I told her how exciting it was to meet her this day three years ago. Abe headed downstairs to make pancakes with pureed strawberry syrup, which both girls had fun dipping their pancakes in.

My mom went to the church to fulfill our cleaning assignment so we could have the morning with Lydia together. She is the most selfless person I know. We are so happy to have her here!

Then Lydia and I baked the other half of Lydia’s cake while Abe played with Mary.

Abe did all the dishes while I read to the girls. Then my mom gave the girls matching dresses to wear for Lydia’s birthday. We took Mary’s off so she wouldn’t get it dirty climbing around the movie theater, but they played at home in their matching outfits (my heart pitter-pattering the whole time).

When Abe and I were both finally dressed and ready to go, all of us (including my mom!) headed to the Gateway where we had Dairy Queens before going to Frozen.

Tom joined us for the movie, and he was a great help when Mary escaped near the end and started climbing the stairs at the movie theater.

After the movie, we played outside in the sunshine for a while and let the girls run around. Lydia loved twirling in one of the new dresses Nana gave her for her birthday.

Then we headed to the library and read Lydia a book about birthdays. The protagonist was not only her favorite thing in the world–a cat–but she was wearing a startlingly similar dress to Lydia’s. Then we checked out some pink books in honor of her birthday and headed to the store to pick up some things before going home.

At home, we made frosting and assembled her yellow and strawberry cake. The strawberry turned gray when Lydia dumped in the sprinkles (THE essential ingredient of her cake, in her opinion).

I basically injected pureed strawberries into a regular buttercream icing, and while the result was tasty, the texture left a LOT to be desired. Basically, it fell off of the cake. But Lydia didn’t care since the cake was pink and full of strawberries, and after dinner she enjoyed the whole song-candle-blowing-cake-and-ice-cream-eating process.

Pinterest fail. Maybe I'll learn how to make a successful, fresh, fruit icing when I take my baking and pastry classes. — Pinterest fail. Maybe I’ll learn how to make a successful, fresh, fruit icing when I take my baking and pastry classes.

Then Abe gave the girls baths and changed them into jammies before we opened presents.

Mary was dying to wear a costume, too, so she got to wear this hand-me-down shirt from a family reunion we had years ago. It made her SO happy.

For the last hour the girls have been playing with Lydia’s new presents, and right now Abe is trying to make sure they sleep in tomorrow by playing vigorous games of chase-and-throw-the-children.

Then Clark, Swathi, and Balu called from New York and wished Lydia a happy birthday. She relived her whole day in their conversation and kept repeating that she had a fun birthday. She especially loved telling them repeatedly about how the game of chase made her laugh and giggle.

I am beyond ready for bed, so I’m blogging early and will be retiring as soon as I hit publish (hopefully). Happy birthday, my sweet and beautiful Lydia!!!

Birthday Eve

Hello all, it’s Abe again.

The day started by me leaving to work, and Georgia babysitting Lydia and Mary while Lily went to a yoga session. Yoga is one of the few really great ways Lily can excercise without aggravating her shin splints. After Yoga, Georgia got a ton of things done on her t0-do-while-I’m-in-town list and Lily started the festivities with Lydia. They baked her cake and made cupcakes together.

Meanwhile at work, I found out that I am interviewing for promotion on Monday. I am very excited to take the next step in my career and I hope it goes really well. I also hope that I don’t have to interview with a case of pink-eye. Lydia came down with it today and I’m hoping to last at least three days until I too have the bug!

On my drive home, I finished Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Of the four C.S. Lewis books I just read, I would say it is my least favorite, which is interesting because C.S. Lewis says it was his least favorite book to write. He said it was fun in the beginning, but after a while it was not fun at all for him to have to spend so much time thinking and writing from the point of view of a servant of satan. My reading experience echoes those sentiments. In short, it was insightful, but not uplifting.

Then I met Lily at school and picked up the kids. Lydia was in a better mood than Mary on the ride home in the beginning. Lydia was cheerful as she talked about the fact that she is going to watch Disney’s Frozen on her birthday tomorrow and as she had imaginary conversations with her cat (which was at home, not in the car). Her mood soured later in the ride, though, and she got really upset because Mary was crying, and Lydia said that Mary was being too loud and just woke up her cat. I started to explain that Mary could not have woke Lydia’s cat, because Puss (the cat) was not in the car. Lydia didn’t buy it, so I just kept driving while they both fell apart…..I think my tolerance for crying is increasing!

We then stopped at Smith’s to get Lydia’s eyedrops and animal crackers. We got the ceremonial free treat at the bakery and made our why home where we had a great pasta and brocolli dinner with Georgia. Mary was crazy about the brocolli Georgia made (it was delicious) and screamed when her plate ran out. Although I was not happy about her antics, I was happy that her antics were over wanting more brocolli.

After dinner we had family home evening where I taught a lesson about the organization of the church. We have Stake Conference Sunday and I wanted to try to explain a little bit to Lydia about why this Sunday will be different. I’m not sure that I was able to communicate anything meaningful to Lydia, but it felt good to be spending time as a family and talking about meaningful topics. After the lesson I drew a cat on the chalkboard per Lydia’s request. Before drawing the cat, I whiped the chalkboard clean and Lydia had a complete meltdown because there was a red mark on the board that simply would not come off. It completely threw her off her emotional equilibrium and it was a few minutes before we were able to calmly move forward with the cat-drawing.

Pictures!!!

What will be will be

This morning was beautiful outside, so I packed breakfast snacks and let the girls eat in the jogger while I took a two hour walk. We walked up to the part of City Creek Canyon where bright green clovers grow in the creek; ever since we’ve moved here, that’s what I look for every year to tell me it’s Spring. And wow, is it Spring! The clovers were lush, bright green, and much more abundant than I’ve ever seen them. Too bad I didn’t take my phone–I wish I could have taken a picture. The birds were chirping, the creek was gurgling, and that bright green clover made me really happy.

The sad part is that I have had shin splints for over a week, and the two hour walk (with a couple short jogs in the middle) exacerbated them to the point where I spent the rest of the day in a mild state of pain. Happily, on my walk home, I ran into Aria and Anique, both avid runners with lots of shin splint experience, and they gave me some tips. There’s hope!

Then I came home, cleaned the house, fed the girls, and gave Lydia a piano lesson. We make such little progress in these lessons that sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. But then I always conclude that it is worth it, just because Lydia and I get so much one-on-one time, and, if nothing else, Lydia is learning to sit and focus at the piano. At first I’d give her a treat when the lesson was done, but then I started to worry she’d confuse sugar with happiness, so now at the end of our lesson we take water breaks and read together. It’s my favorite part.

Then I finished my book, fed the girls, practiced the piano, and cleaned the house. Abe and I had planned on going to the temple tonight, but as soon as Abe brought the baby-sitter over, he checked his wallet and could not find his recommend. He searched for fifteen minutes and finally gave up. Truthfully, I was so disappointed. I had been looking forward to going to the temple all day, and I almost suggested that I go by myself–but then I didn’t know what we’d say to the babysitter, who was already at our house. We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory, since Abe’s mom gave him a gift card there a while back. When it came time to pay, Abe found his recommend behind his credit card. I guess it wasn’t meant to be a temple night, and even though I was initially disappointed, I always love talking to my husband, so it turned out okay.

The flash on the camera phone is BLINDING. Abe took a picture of me, but my lopsided squint in the face of the flash made me look inebriated, which I was not. — The flash on the camera phone is blinding. This is Abe enduring it. Abe took a picture of me, but my lopsided squint in the face of the flash made me look inebriated, which I was NOT.

Mary has a new word!

Today at church we talked about Abraham’s sacrifice and what that means. During the course of the discussion, the importance of personal revelation came up. One woman made a comment dismissing the importance of revelation, and I could almost see Abe’s allergic reaction to her words. He controlled himself and didn’t allow himself to respond, but afterward we spent a long time discussing how grateful we are for personal revelation.

Then Abe bore his testimony in church. Lydia was perfectly behaved and sat quietly on the bench the whole time, but I missed most of what he said because I was chasing Mary around the halls the whole time. She has a lot of energy.

This afternoon my lovely visiting teacher, Erika, came over. I always feel bad because I talk to her for such long periods of time, but she is just so fun to talk to.

After she left, Anique called and invited us on a walk to a playground. Mary had just woken up, and it was too early to break our fast, so the timing was awesome.

The girls had so much fun playing, and Anique and I spent the whole walk back talking about food. I get so hungry on fast Sunday that I was literally drooling while we talked. It was a little embarrassing. We made plans to start a monthly lunch date. I’m so excited.

Then we went home, ate dinner and Face Timed with Clark and Swathi. They amused Mary with funny faces and listened patiently to Lydia ramble on about whatever was on her mind. Then I talked their ears off about the culture at culinary school and the drama of preschool hunting. At one point, I laughed so hard I cried. That felt fantastic.

Then we played with the girls until Tom and Suzanne came over for a visit.

They all had "princess hair," including Abe and the cat. — They all had “princess hair,” including Abe and the cat.

It was so fun to see Tom and Suzanne. Suzanne taught the Sunday School lesson in her ward today, and it was interesting to hear where her ward went in the Abraham discussion.

And now Mary is crying because she doesn’t want to go to bed. She’s saying a new word! “Daddy! Dad! Daddy!” Awwww…Abe can’t resist and is going to her. I wish she would learn “Mama” one of these days…sniffle.

**I’m adding these last pictures a day later because I just now received them from Abe’s phone:

preschool and Abe’s birthday party

Today I finally enrolled Lydia in preschool. After calling Challenger this morning, I felt so relieved to find a preschool that had a philosophy that fit what I’ve been looking for. Originally, I was going to go down tomorrow to sign Lydia up, but then I got scared the open slots would fill up, so I rearranged my schedule, picked up Lydia’s immunization forms and headed down to sign Lydia up.

From the moment I pulled up to the school, I had a good feeling. I would go into detail, but it’s late and I’m trying to hit my bedtime goal, so basically: we feel good about this decision, and we think Lydia will thrive at Challenger.

Then I took the girls grocery shopping, after which it was nap time and cooking-time. Abe had his birthday celebration a month late because Dan’s in town and staying with us, and so we took advantage of the situation to have Kade, Brittany, and William over too. It was a fun evening. The only way it could have been better is if Preethi, Nat and Kina could have been here too.

Mary napped from 1:30 to 6:15pm today. That made it possible for me to cook dinner, but I felt sorry for her because she woke up feverish and miserable. We think/hope she’s teething, since thus far she only has four teeth.

To bed, to bed.

Another preschool tour–and the sun!

Yay for the sun! It’s back, it’s beautiful, and it felt gooooood today. After touring another preschool this morning, we went to play group at a nearby park.

Lydia kept claiming she couldn't climb up this hill and would fall down every two steps. Mary kindly went down to help her up. — Lydia kept claiming she couldn’t climb up this hill and would fall down every two steps. Mary kindly went down to help her up (my interpretation. Lydia said Mary came over to hit her…).

Then we came home and I fed the girls lunch. Then I cooked, cleaned and gave Lydia a piano lesson.

Then Lydia took a nap. When she wakes up from naps at home, she usually is a little…touchy. So I baked chocolate chip cookies while she was asleep, and as soon as she started to wail, I told her there were cookies downstairs for her.

She's had a "winky" eye since she was born. That means, when she takes a big bite of something, her right eye flies wide open. It's pretty cute. — She’s had a “winky” eye (at least, that’s what I call it) since she was born. That means when she takes a big bite of something, her right eye flies wide open. It’s pretty cute.

After Abe came home, we had dinner and FHE. I mainly sat on the couch in a tired stupor, but Abe taught the girls about Moses, and they drew pictures of Moses parting the Red Sea.

Outside pics and a happy dinner

We kept Lydia and Mary home for all of church except Sacrament since Lydia was still sick. After church, we came home and napped (and joked about how much our family naps–except Lydia, of course).

I took these after Abe and I got up. We took Lydia outside because it was a beautiful day.

Lydia spontaneously lay down and soaked up the sun.

Then we woke Mary up so we could go to dinner at the Andersons’. Paige made the most delicious meal I have eaten in so. so. so. long. I am still thinking about it. And we enjoyed meeting their friends, Shad and Jenna. Shad told us all about the new fantasy novel he’s writing, and we are excited to read it when it gets published. We had a ton of fun–it made our whole Sunday feel happy.

Then we came home and might try to catch the closing ceremony of the Olympics before going to bed. Abe asked me if I felt rested (after our many naps) and ready for the week. The fact that I don’t want the week to start made him exclaim that I must be slowly dying if I’m not recovered after the excessive amount of rest this weekend offered. The more likely story is that I’m a wimp who’s behind in homework, housework, and piano practice, and I don’t want the consequences of my procrastination to catch up to me this week.

Abe, on the other hand, feels great and ready to work. He gets significantly less sleep than I do, so I don’t understand. But I love his new job for making him so happy, and I’m glad that at least one of us doesn’t dread Monday!

February Camping trip

We just came back from our St. George and Zion camping trip. I took ninety-five pictures, so I will try to whittle them down (somewhat) and just post the highlights here:

Our neighbors left us some chocolate covered strawberries on our back porch right before we left on our trip. Here's Mary chowing down at a gas station en route. — Our neighbors left us some chocolate covered strawberries on our back porch right before we left on our trip. Here’s Mary chowing down at a gas station en route. (Lydia just finished hers — with evident satisfaction.)

We borrowed Lydia's friend, Cole, for the afternoon and evening. The first thing we did was go to Abe's cousin's soccer game. — We borrowed Lydia’s friend, Cole, for the afternoon and evening. The first thing we did was go to Abe’s cousin’s soccer game.

Charlie won his game! Posing with the victor.

Then we went back to our campground to set up tent. The kids shared a bag of chips, ran around, and even helped a bit.

It looked a little wonky because we didn't set up the vestibule properly. But it was huge! This is the first time we've used it, and we fit a queen sized air mattress AND a twin air mattress (I have a bad back) in there with plenty of room to spare. — It looked a little wonky because we didn’t set up the vestibule properly. But it was huge! This is the first time we’ve used it, and we fit a queen sized air mattress AND a twin air mattress (I have a bad back) in there with plenty of room to spare.

The next morning, eating granola bars and fruit.

After breaking camp and attending Sacrament meeting, we went to Zion National Park.

Entering Zion National Park. The pictures do not do it justice at all. The majesty, splendor, and vast scale of the rock formations just took our breaths away.

Abe wears an adventure hat, and so Lydia does too. Here she is before hike #1 with a pine cone and leaf.

Abe in his adventure hat. I have so many versions of this picture, and they are all so cute.

Oops! I'm supposed to be taking pictures of the scenery!! — Oops! I’m supposed to be taking pictures of the scenery!!

This is what's behind where we're crouching in the last shot. The kind man who took our picture focused on the people instead of the view (hey! That sounds like someone I know!). — This is what’s behind where we’re crouching in the last shot. The kind man who took our picture focused on the people instead of the view (hey! That sounds like someone I know!).

Early Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! Well, it was for Abe and me. We celebrated early since babysitters are booked on Friday. Pre-date, the day was so relaxing. Lydia was exhausted from all the highs of yesterday and took an almost three hour nap. Mary slept too. Abe got home by 5:15 and we left on our six hour date right away–which just might be the longest date we’ve ever been on.

Here are the pictures from early in the day:

Mary dancing (before her outfit change post-messy meal).

Playing "fish, fish, fish, fish, FREEZE!" We learned this game yesterday, and Mary especially loves putting her hands together and pretending to swim like a fish. — Playing “fish, fish, fish, fish, FREEZE!” We learned this game yesterday, and Mary especially loves putting her hands together and pretending to swim like a fish.

And from our date:

We went to a restaurant called Cedars of Lebanon. The food was amazing. I would love to work here (part time) and learn how to make that yummy food sometime down the road!

Then we tried to go see Saving Mr. Banks, but it was only showing in Layton, and we were late. So we saw Catching Fire instead and have talked nothing but rebellion, revolution, and fantasy lit ever since.

Olympics obsessed

Church this morning was incredibly inspiring and uplifting. In Relief Society, we had a lesson on adversity, and then in Sunday School, we talked about Noah’s Ark–and again, hit upon the theme of adversity. The whole time I was thinking about Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book, David and Goliath, wherein Gladwell argues that people who suffer great adversity or battle huge disadvantages in life sometimes find the key to their success in those very problems. Noah probably suffered a lot of loneliness and social isolation during the course of his long, long life–but he also walked with God; I wonder if that experience of isolation helped solidify his relationship with God, since God was his refuge.

Speaking of social isolation, we were hermits today. The Andersons invited us over for dinner, but we reluctantly said no because we thought we were going to Suzanne’s family party tonight. I realized too late that I didn’t have time to make the dish I promised to make if we attended, and so we just stayed home and watched the Olympics instead.

I love the Olympics. In the next life, I want to figure skate. I hope there’s a rink and some patient coaches waiting for me in heaven. In the meantime, Mary watched the screen and alternated between lifting her arms in triumph and trying to balance on one leg. Maybe I can be one of those scary moms who lives vicariously.

Here are the pictures from today:

I heart matching (ha! there are hearts in their dress...and Abe's punning has rubbed off on me). — I heart matching (ha! there are hearts in their dress…and Abe’s punning has rubbed off on me).

After we ate lunch, Mary napped and the three of us headed to the basement to make Valentines for preschool tomorrow.

Abe rearranged the treadmill yesterday. I was complaining (again) about how difficult it is to find time to work out, and so now I can! This way I can see the girls, and there's even a TV monitor set up on the wall so I can see what they're doing in the part of the basement that's out of eyesight. — Abe rearranged the treadmill yesterday. I was complaining (again) about how difficult it is to find time to work out, and so now I can! This way I can see the girls, and there’s even a TV monitor set up on the wall so I can see what they’re doing in the part of the basement that’s out of eyesight.

And now back to the Olympics. I don’t want to miss the ice dancing pairs!

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