We celebrated Mary’s birthday again tonight, this time at the Miners’. I baked a cake and filled the pan too full, so now the bottom of the oven is chock full of burnt cake. I will have to clean that tomorrow…
Anyway, Abe and I are trying to get to bed early, so here are the pictures:
When Abe got home, he tickled the girls until they begged for mercy and bedtime.
Just a real quick plug for coconut oil, since it’s 12:47 a.m. I have been drinking it and applying it regularly ever since the lice debacle, and I have noticed a HUGE difference in my skin/internal functions…um, TMI? But seriously, that stuff is amazing. Grandma, I hope you and mom find a way to acquire some. You need to buy the cold-pressed unrefined virgin coconut oil. It should look white and smell like coconuts. Here is the article that converted me to coconut oil.
Anyway, my hair is practically ruined from my lice treatments, so today I soaked my hair in coconut oil all day. I also used it as an all-over moisturizer and even took the brave step of using it in replacement of deodorant! It was risky, but I took the leap. I thought it was working, but to make sure, I had Abe smell my arm pits when he got home from work. All sorts of risks taken today…but guess what? The coconut oil works! It is a total natural deodorant!! I am now considering purchasing a 5 gallon vat wholesale, but in the meantime, Mom and Grandma, you really need to try it!
The rest of the day revolved around cooking dinner for Karin’s birthday dinner. And Jere’s in town, so we got to visit with him after dinner. That was so nice. It was very sweet to hear him and Abe discuss how much they love their jobs, especially since they both transitioned to their jobs from working situations that were extremely taxing.
I should have taken a picture of the dinner, but just so I can have the recipe on file, I stuffed each person a pumpkin with this. Things done differently: I cooked the rices separately in the rice cooker. I cooked the wild rice in chicken broth and the basmati in a combo of water and apple cider. I added 3/4 lb (!) of Irish cheddar, a kind that was practically wet and very crumbly. I moistened the individual stuffed pumpkins with a couple tablespoons of heavy cream and more cider before baking. This was the best variation I’ve had on this idea to date. Again, should have taken a picture. Drat!
My cake was a total flop, but Karin was so nice about it. I asked Abe to buy a replacement cake on his way home from work, but he convinced me that it’s the thought that counts. I sort of agree, but when it comes to chocolate cake, I kind of prefer that it’s done right. Thankfully, no one spit it out in disgust. I need to write down recipe corrections in my cookbook so those same mistakes don’t happen again!
I have thirty something pictures of today, so let’s get to it!
It was raining, so we went to the aquarium instead of the zoo.
Then we came home and had pizza for lunch.
After lunch, Mary refused to nap. She didn’t want to miss a minute of her birthday! Instead, she ran around the house in the bugaboo necklace you gave her for Christmas, Grandma!
She also played the piano…
Abe took the girls outside to jump in puddles in the rain.
Then I made dinner, and we celebrated Mary’s birthday with Tom, Suzanne, Clark, Swathi, Balu, and Mom.
Then, gifts!
Happy birthday, Mary! We adore you!
Today I baked Mary’s birthday cake, made dinner, folded laundry, and did some errands. It was so, so wonderful to have my mom around during the day. That made everything feel like a celebration.
We had dinner with Clark, Swathi, my mom and Balu. We tried to go on a walk afterwards, but we got caught in a torrential downpour. Abe and I decided to take the girls on some last minute errands, so we did that instead.
And now…happy weekend, and happy early birthday to Mary!!!
Mary has been waking up at 4:30am a couple times a week recently. I have conflicted feelings about this. I miss not sleeping through the night, but I absolutely adore cuddling with Mary. Last night after I rocked her, I was so awake I couldn’t fall back asleep. Finally at 7 am I leaped out of bed to get a head start on the day.
I raced to the market and Tony Caputo’s for produce and cheese, then headed home to pick up the girls. Abe had an Elder’s Quorum move this morning, so I took the girls to get Lydia some more school clothes and her new preschool uniform (which she has to wear every Tuesday).
After that outing, we drove home, ate lunch, and took naps.
When we woke up, Suzanne came over to pick the girls up for a Miner family party.
In the meantime, Abe and I went on a date with an Amazon Local deal to one of our favorite restaurants.
Then we bought Lydia more clothes, because honestly, she is growing so fast and I just can’t keep up. Once we’d purchased a whole new wardrobe at Kid-to-Kid, we went grocery shopping.
Suzanne dropped the girls off, and while Abe bathed them, I steam cleaned the carpet in their room. I am in love with the new cleaner! I cleaned the house for the next three hours (with the neighbors’ permission), and our floors and carpets have never looked cleaner. Once midnight was upon us, I stopped steam cleaning and just vacuumed, but still–it looks great, and I can’t wait for Monday because I can steam clean every last inch of the house that I didn’t get to today! Yippee!!
This morning I set my alarm early so I could bake cookies for the cub scout car wash. Then Abe took Ada and Lydia to ballet while Mary and I headed over to dry some cars. I was scared to put Mary down near the cars, so I carried her while I dried and called it my work-out o’the day.
Then it was time for Liv’s birthday party at Liberty Park (by the Seven Canyons splash pad/rivers).
After we came home and napped, our friend Sharon Harris joined us for dinner. I didn’t take any pictures during dinner because every second with Sharon was precious. She’s from New York and has spent a couple weeks in Utah for the Neal A. Maxwell symposium. We were so glad to see her, even though the time flew by.
After dinner Tom and Suzanne took the girls to a Miner family party while Abe and I stayed home and did homework and lesson prep. We also took a beautiful walk to the grocery store. The sun was setting and the weather was gorgeous. We saw a neighbor slow dancing to Jazz music with his garden hose. That was truly delightful.
The Miners’ had a carnival of sorts going on because so many family members were in town.
Then it was home to bed. I have an early morning meeting tomorrow, so I should get to bed. Abe’s already asleep!
It’s late because we had a long night out with family and fireworks, so just pictures today. Abe has to get up at 5:45 am to take the train! Oh, I guess I should mention that he took the train today and realized the Provo bus was cancelled because today is Pioneer Day (a Utah state holiday, potentially bigger than July 4 here). He walked six miles to work. And then at the end he forded a river because he couldn’t find a bridge. Balu pointed out Abe had his own little Pioneer Day trek!
This morning the girls woke up early, so we raced down to the church for the Pioneer Day breakfast.
Then we went to the parade:
Isabella babysat the girls this afternoon so I could go swimming. Then I came home, made a salad, and headed over (with Abe and Balu) to the Miners’ family gathering for dinner and fireworks.
On the way home, we parked by a hill and watched the Liberty Park fireworks and were blown away. They were definitely better than the 4th of July fireworks, and we thought those were pretty good! Well, it is Pioneer Day. In Utah. Light the sky on fire! (I can see and hear sooooooo many fireworks as I type…)
Happy belated 4th! We were so exhausted by the time we got home that I am just now blogging.
In the morning while I was at yoga, Abe and the girls had a flag hunt. The girls would hide flags and then go find them, over and over again. In fact, that’s what the three of them are doing now as I type:
After I got home from yoga, I watched How to Train A Dragon with Lydia. Abe and I watched it Thursday night and loved it, and it was fun to watch with Lydia. Afterward, Abe gave me a massage and the girls helped. Mary loves to pound my back with her little fists. It’s really cute.
Then we went to the Darais picnic down in Provo. We picked up Balu on the way there.
At the Darais picnic, there was a lot of reposing going on.
There was also a fair amount of rolling down hills.
After the picnic, we headed to Sugar House Park for fireworks. We got a great view, and it was a beautiful night. By the time we got home, Lydia and I were asleep, but Mary was still as excited as could be. She was the first person to wake up this morning. I think yesterday was a happy day for her–and everyone!
This morning was my first Sunday in my new calling. I enjoyed the Primary, although I am a little overwhelmed at the prospect of learning everyone’s names. I also am not quite sure how to make myself most useful, but I’m sure that that will become clear in time.
We left church soon after Sacrament meeting (our last meeting) because Mary was inconsolable. We came home, ate, took naps, and then had a family council. Abe loves to plan for the week, and he really wanted to plan as a family. This is what it looked like:
A little hectic.
We Skyped right afterward with Clark and Swathi. The sound on my iPad broke last week, so Skyping is a lot more complicated now. Nevertheless, it was great to chat with Clark and Swathi. We love them so much.
Then we headed to the Miners’ for birthday celebrations.
Today was another 5:15 am day. I have an unlimited Bikram yoga pass for a month AND today is the last Saturday that my studio offers a 6 am class. There was no way I could miss it! After that, I came home, showered, scarfed down one of Abe’s fabulous pancakes, and took the girls to the market. (I had to wake Abe at 5:30 to help me find his car keys, and so he needed a nap.)
After the market, we came home and rested for a minute. I had to play the piano for a baptism at 12:30, so it was a quick rest. Abe was really sweet and gave me a shin massage because yesterday’s 10,000 steps gave me shin splints. Pathetic, I know. With the greatest reluctance, I cut the massage off and headed over to the baptism.
The baptism was absolutely wonderful. I sat down with Jessica Felix (who got baptized) afterward, and she told me her amazing conversion story. She kept referring to how wonderful “that Mormon book” is and even quoted passages to me–spontaneously, with great enthusiasm. She was incredibly inspiring. I’m so glad she’s part of our ward family now.
Then it was errands and a wedding. Abe’s cousin got married today, and since we couldn’t make it to the sealing this morning, we headed up to their reception in Midway tonight. Midway is so beautiful. For a minute, I thought maybe we should move there…and then I thought about how cold it is (it’s up in the mountains) and how Abe would have to commute through a canyon everyday. No thanks. But as the setting for a reception (it was at Susie’s aunt’s house), it was perfect.
Since the reception only had desserts, Abe and I took the girls straight to Whole Foods afterward and filled up. Lydia kept running around saying, “I’m so healthy! Who’s a healthy girl??? Me!!! I am!!! I’m so healthy!!”
We also discovered that Mary looooooves pepperoni pizza. Since we were so late, Whole Foods sold us a leftover pizza for a discounted price. We didn’t break it open until the car ride home, and Mary went totally nuts. She can’t even say three syllable words yet, but in the middle of the ride she said, “pah-pah-roh-nee” and pointed vigorously at the pizza box. She ended up eating an entire slice by herself.
I comforted myself about the late hour on the way home by thinking, “Oh, well. If we’re fifteen minutes late to church tomorrow, no big deal.” And then I remembered that I have a calling now that requires me to get to church on time. Sorry to say it, but darn. Guess I’ll get to bed ASAP so the morning isn’t quite so painful.