I got up at 5:10 so I could pick up the babysitter and get to yoga in time. After that, I got the kids ready and took them to the Aviary to meet up with Jen, El, Spencer, Laddie, and Natalie. The children were so cute and excited to see the birds–and more ducks, of course!
I came home exhausted and lay in bed for a while surfing the internet. One of the blogs I read annoyed me, and I made a rather nasty comment to the author (who I do not know). After I did that, I felt so terrible, and actually I’ve felt bad all day. I did send the author a heartfelt apology, and she was very nice about it. I felt grateful for human forgiveness today, although I’ve also felt terrible all day long that I did something that hurtful to such a nice person.
On the bright side, Abe and I are in love with our Hyde Park tenants. They are the nicest people, and Abe has been raving all day about his conversation with them. They are an older couple who are living there for the summer to be close to a new grandchild, and they are so sweet. They actually thanked us for the opportunity to fix up our condo. Abe couldn’t believe his ears. In fact, he’s talking about how much he loves them as I type.
After I had somewhat recovered from my bad behavior and its aftermath, I loaded the kids up and headed to Provo. Abe’s work team had a dinner at his boss’s house, and I really enjoyed meeting his coworkers.
I practically fell asleep driving home, and I cancelled the babysitter for tomorrow morning. I think I might sleep in…
Sorry to have been out of commission for so long! Friday was my birthday, and it was so fun-packed that I didn’t have any energy to blog by the end. The girls were so sweet to me all day. Lydia kept wishing me happy birthday and let me sleep in as a birthday present. I asked her if she could entertain herself so I could sleep longer on my birthday–selfish, I know, but she was so sweet! She went potty, brushed her teeth, and played quietly while I slept an extra hour. Mary also kept saying, “Happy! Happy!” to me all day long. That’s how she says “happy birthday.”
Lydia wanted to help Mary get dressed in the morning. Mary appreciated the help.Lydia and I baked this on my birthday.Mary spotted the cake upon awaking from her nap, and she refused to eat anything else.
Abe and I used a groupon to go to Cucina Toscana for dinner, and it was wonderful. Suzanne was an angel and baby-sat for us all evening. We were so grateful!
beef carpaccio.house made gnocchi in a stupendous tomato sauce, and a mind-blowing spinach lemon ravioli and a mornay sauce.a truly terrific Cesear.Sea bass with calms and shrimp.duck with macerated figs and spinach
On Saturday, I got up at 5:30 so I could go to yoga. Then I came home and we all went to the pool for a swim.
We got to the pool and realized it wasn’t free swim time. The lifeguard was so kind and let us put the kids in a swim lesson that was going on –for free! Mary and Lydia both learned to float, jump in, and kick!
Then we met up with Karin and Jay for lunch at Gourmandise. I have been dreaming about their creme brulee oatmeal ever since I got it when I went to breakfast with Aria a while back. Daydreams were fulfilled.
Mary cuddled with Karin for such a long time. We finally had to take her and try to make her eat something, but she looked pretty content here.Jay relaxing at Gourmandise.Lydia picked out this cookie after lunch. That’s a mouse cookie. It’s a chocolate truffle coated with ganache on a lemony cookie base with a bit of raspberry flling.Mary eating her half of the mouse cookie.
Then we went grocery shopping, took a nap, and got ready for our dinner.
Mary “drove the car” with Abe while I grocery shopped.
I made a ton of food, but whenever we have guests I always think we’re going to run out of food. Whenever my parents threw parties growing up, we would eat leftovers for weeks; my dad never wanted to run out of food at a party. I think I inherited my fear of running out of food from him. Anyway, I made Jamaican jerk steak, kasha (threw it out because I did it wrong and replaced it with cous cous), carrot salad, roasted veggies, balsamic blackberry gingered strawberries, corn on the cob, and chimichurri sauce. Candace brought Harmon’s bread and Emily brought a marvelous fruit salad. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun with everyone that I forgot to take pictures. Abe did manage to take a picture of the cake with his phone (Gourmandise had a Groupon for cake!):
Gourmandise had a Groupon for a birthday cake. This was a chocolate truffle raspberry cake. It was to die for.The girls played outside before our party.
We had to set up an extra table for the party since we had seven grown-ups and five kids. While Abe was taking down the table, he sliced off a good portion of the padding on his finger. He cut off the flap with a scissors, and it’s still bleeding (a full twenty-four hours later). He spent most of last night in excruciating pain. I was up until midnight talking with Candace, and I didn’t realize how much pain Abe was in until he called me up because he was struggling so much. I felt so sorry for him! Today it’s not as painful, although we’re going to douse it in hydrogen peroxide soon, and I’m sure that will be torture for him. Say a prayer for Abe.
We got to church half an hour late today because I was prepping for our post-church picnic.
After church we had a picnic today with Ben, Candace, Cadence, Bentley, Aria, Stephen, and Balu.The girls loved playing while we ate.
After our picnic, Candace and Ben drove back to Idaha. I hated to see them go and felt really lonely and sad with the house empty. I wish Candace lived closer.
I treated my sorrow with a nap, and when we woke up, the house still felt empty. We called Mike and Paige at that point and asked if they could come over to help us finish off the million pounds of leftover food in our fridge. They were wonderful and came. We spent hours discussing the disciplinary council of Kate Kelly and John Dehlin. It was really cathartic, and I felt like I learned a lot from the discussion.
Liv ate some pink paint today.Mary somehow got covered in marker while we were getting food out for dinner with the Andersons. Her face matched her dress.
Mike pointed out that Utah twilight lasts hours, and we enjoyed it all evening. It was a perfect night. This June has been so glorious.
I love June. It is my favorite month of the year. The weather right now makes me so, so happy. Sometimes I wonder if I have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder because when I read my childhood journals, half the time I think I might as well be reading a daily blow-by-blow of the weather report. At any rate, the good weather has been lifting my spirits all month long, and today we celebrated by going to Red Butte Gardens.
After we got home, we headed straight to the home of Abe’s friend, Andrew Walker. He and Abe have been trying to get together for over a year, and we finally got around to it tonight. It was so nice to visit with Andrew and his family, and Andrew told us amazing stories about his dad, who is a church historian. Apparently, before President Hinckley died, he wanted the whole story of the Mountain Meadow Massacre researched and told in its entirety.
Andrew’s dad was the first professor in the history of BYU to get a two year leave to write the book, and he researched every single fact surrounding the massacre. He studied all of the original documents out there and unearthed secret journals in the process. Every single sentence that he wrote is meticulously documented in the footnotes of his book, which comprise two-thirds of the final work. I can’t wait to read the book, and hearing his account of what actually happened cleared up a lot of questions for me.
Here are the pictures I took today (mostly from the gardens):
Braving the snake fountain.“Hi Fishies!” Mary was especially enthused by her encounter with the fish. She kept begging to go back. I was afraid the girls would slip and fall in. Next time they’re not going to wear their jellies!
Lydia needed frequent breaks from all the work of pushing the stroller.
The Three Bears’ Cottage.We pretended to have tea inside the cottage of the three bears.
It is very late and I get up quite early so I will be brief. Today was a fantastic day. Everyone woke up late (I think we are all sluggish from allergies), but we made it to church before the end of the first meeting. In Elder’s Quorum, I learned about the power of the Book of Mormon while Lily tended Mary in nursery. Eventually, Lily was able to slip out, so we both met up in our gospel doctrine class where we learned about the story of Ruth and Naomi in the old testament. Lily made the great observation that Christ and David were decended from Ruth and both displayed incredible faithfulness, loyalty and devlotion just as Ruth did to Naomi. Sacrament meeting was mostly dominated by Lily and I taking care of the girls and minimizing screaming.
After church we ate and then Mary went down for her nap. During that time, Lily continued getting some R&R to get over her bug and enjoyed Downton Abbey and I read scriptures and learned some very neat things. Specifically I learned that to fully embrace truth, we must often unlearn things we thought were true in the process (to make room for the truth and to not contaminate it by mixing it with falsehood.) Truth cannot be fully operative in our lives if it is constrained by competition with falsehoods were are also holding onto.
When Mary woke up, I took her into her bedroom where Lydia was watching Veggie Tales on the laptop. Lydia was so sweet to Mary when Mary entered! Lydia said, “Mary, come here! Come sit with me in this tent, here I will make a place just for you. I have your special pillow right here Mary. Mary, do you want to come in the tent and watch the show with me?” Mary obliged and joined Lydia in her tent (see below). Lydia was so excited to have her buddy, Mary, watch the show with her and it touched my heart to see her enthusiasm to spend time with her sister. Sure, it devolved into crying on both ends within fifteen minutes (Mary thought the laptop was a touch-screen, which it wasn’t and Lydia was very distraught about Mary’s misuse), but Lydia’s initial intent was very touching.
Later in the afternoon we all went to Bobby and Ashley Bassett’s home where we had dinner with them and Caleb and Marissa. The food and story telling were all great. We exchanged stories fo how we all met our spouses, where we grew up etc. and it was all so delightful. Dinner was an amazing Mexican casserole with Crepes for desert and the rolls Lily brought for our contribution were fantastic.
Well, so I guess I wasn’t so brief. Writing is fun!
I feel like I’m going to jinx myself by saying this, but today was another in what feels like a string of good days. Lydia and I started off by painting our nails (with me doing all of the painting).
Then I fed the girls and practiced piano. The girls played together.
Lydia had Puss give Mary a kiss!
After that fun, I dropped them off at Sarah’s house for a play date. Sarah volunteered to watch the girls while I slipped out to go to the temple. She lives about a block away, and it felt so great to get to the temple! I had a very meaningful visit, and I can’t thank Sarah enough. Mary didn’t even cry. I think I found myself the perfect swap buddy today!
Then I came home and rested for a bit while the girls had quiet time/nap time. After a while, I realized I had a ton of leftover tamales and other food from class last night, so I called Misty and invited her family over for dinner. It was the perfect ending to a busy week–and a perfect beginning to the weekend.
This was, hands down, the BEST Mother’s Day I have ever had. Abe did an amazing job making me feel loved and appreciated, and every part of the day felt special and meaningful. He made strawberry pancakes for breakfast, and both the girls and I appreciated the results of his morning effort. Abe hasn’t had a lot of chance to cook in his life, but one thing he does really, really well (waaaaay better than I ever could) is make pancakes and waffles.
He also gave me my favorite cookbook of the moment, Love Soup. I am so excited to have it. I have had it checked out from the library for weeks and have been debating returning it…now I finally can!
Church was wonderful, and Mary made it through nursery all by herself. That left Abe to teach his lesson and me to pay attention to mine. We had some inspiring classes, and the questions that provoked the most reflection in me was: What does it mean to love God with all your heart, might, mind and strength? Are those different types of love? What is a manifestation of loving God with your heart vs. loving God with your strength?
After church, we invited our friends, the Andersons, over to join us for lunch. Abe made veggie sandwiches and I tried out this recipe for strawberry rhubarb bars. I was busy talking and accidentally added the cornstarch to the crumble–oops!–but they came out okay in spite of that.
Ada and Lydia played so nicely together the whole time, and Abe and I basically just love talking to Paige and Mike. They are so interesting and fun.
After they left, we called my mom and grandma, Skyped with Grandma Forsyth, Skyped with Clark and Swathi, and went to the Miner’s for dinner. It felt so meaningful to catch up with our moms, grandmothers, and siblings–perhaps that’s one of the things that made this day feel so special. I just loved connecting with people I love and the mothers who have made so many sacrifices for us. Grandma Forsyth asked me to play a piece for her, and after I played, she told me that the Chopin Scherzo #2 made her imagine a little child stealing cookies from the cookie jar and being continually caught by his mother. It was an incredibly apt image, and I think I will never hear/play that piece the same way.
For the sad news: No pictures today. We were so caught up in each activity and in such a rush to get to the next activity all day long that we never had a chance to take a picture. So sorry! Tomorrow that will change.
To my mom and grandma: I know I say this a lot, but I love you so much. My life is this good only because of your beautiful lives and examples. I draw strength and inspiration from you every day. Happy Mother’s Day!
The most notable things about today were 1) Ina came over and watched the girls so I could do whatever I wanted for three hours. Ina is a saint. She is a woman in our ward who loves my children, and she’s been telling me for years she will babysit for free. I never want to impose, but I have been rather desperate to get to the temple, so finally I asked for her help. When she got here, I realized I’d misplaced my recommend, so I went swimming and grocery shopping instead. Ina is such a huge blessing. Abe and I have been fretting about getting to the temple more, and she was so genuine in her offer to watch the girls whenever we want that I think we will avail ourselves of her sweet help in the future. I am so touched by how much she loves my children, and I am impressed by her giving heart. I could tell she honestly just enjoyed serving, and I hope to be more like her when I grow up!
2) We had dinner with Jill, Ty, their four kids, Katie, Pat, and their three kids. Jill texted me this morning about getting together, but I have school on the other free night she suggested, so we just did it tonight. It was so fun. We forgot to take pictures, but when Abe went upstairs to gather the children, I asked him to take a quick picture first.
Also, I watched a Youtube video and decided to try a new hairstyle on Lydia:
I am at the climax of my book, The Family, by David Laskin, and I really want to get back to it. So here’s the run-down of today:
We started off by crafting all morning with Jen and her kids. I had a lot of fun chatting with Jen and making another Spring decoration, and Lydia loved wearing Natalie’s princess attire. Mary loved playing with Jen’s baby-proof iPad. We were going to go to Institute, but we missed it because paint takes a bit of time to dry.
Then we came home for lunch and naps. I spent the first hour and a half of quiet time devouring my book, and then I headed downstairs to clean and cook. Also, the piano tuner came today! I switched to a new tuner, and he did an amazing job. I loved chatting with our old piano tuner. He’d tell me stories and tear up quite regularly. He was a lovely, sweet older gentleman, but I wasn’t totally convinced that he was completely competent at tuning the piano. This new guy is amazing, and even though we didn’t sit around for hours chatting and crying (a la our old tuner, Doug,) he absolutely fixed the piano. I’m excited to practice tomorrow.
Then Jen came over for dinner with Natalie. One of her twins got really sick right before they were supposed to come over, so the boys stayed home with Eldon, but we had a ton of fun with Jen and Natalie. Jen regaled us with tales about the Samoan physique (Eldon is Samoan), and Abe and I came to the conclusion that she married a super hero. After one day of weight-lifting, her husband gets bruises on his back because the muscle has already grown that fast! She told us other stories that had our jaws dropping. I guess I never really thought much about the Samoan build before, but I am duly impressed by now.
Lydia told us that she spent the evening tumbling and climbing and giggling with Natalie, but she fell off a chair right at the end and had a little sad moment. We played a bit on the stairs, and I think she ended the evening feeling pretty good.
Abe had a great day at work, but he’s a little overwhelmed with his new job duties. This is his first week in his new position, and there is a ton of information to absorb. Qualtrics has a “clinic”; really just a red psychiatrist’s couch set up by the tech experts. Whenever the salesmen have technical questions with clients on the phone, they go sit on the red couch and get help. Abe visited the clinic several times today.
Right now he’s on a run past down town to retrieve our car from the auto shop. It’s been ready all week, but we never have time to go get it together. So tonight he just decided to run on foot and get it. Oh! There he is! I have to end if I want time to read my book.
Here are some pictures I took of Mary after she woke up. We played for a long time after she woke up from her nap because she was in a great mood. I tried to capture her fun on camera but failed miserably. She loved emptying her pack ‘n’ play of all contents and I kept putting her stuff back in to keep her going. We also played a lot with her binky. She’s only allowed to have it at nap time, and she thinks it is hilarious fun when I put her binky in my mouth. I put in two at a time and then blew them over her crib, and she about died laughing. I have a video somewhere of Abe playing that game with Lydia to the same effect.
Anyway, here are the pictures, such as they are. Mary was a lot cuter in person.
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.
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.
Drawing in the dirt.Lydia spontaneously lay down and soaked up the sun.
Checking out deer poop in our yard.Driving Daddy in the car.Checking out how the sun roof works.
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!
