Category: Uncategorized

Lily told me that she and Clark have been pondering in disbelief how it is that they are half Philipino and they have never been to the Philippines. Truly this trip was long overdue, and it has been a powerful experience for Lily. Today and the day after (all in this entry due to time zone differences), Lily learned a lot about her father’s native land, including one reason why her dad wasn’t more intentional about exposing her and Clark to the Phillipines and Philipino culture. All that to be found in this entry.

One theme that is running throughout the Manila days is the trauma Philipinos have faced in their history and the hardship they continue to face today. They have been colonized and recolonized multiple times over the years, and the Japanese occupation was particularly horrific, as was the bombing by the United States to try to free the Philippines from Japanese control. Life is still not easy in the Philippines for many people as rampant poverty exists. And yet, there is such a beauty in the people, the food, the culture, and the way everyone has moved forward. Art is one of the beautiful expressions of the Philipino people, and Lily and the girls joined family members to go to the Museum of Modern Art early in the day to start things off.

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After the modern art museum, everyone went to Jolibee’s and then they went shopping. Lily, Lydia and Mary are all having so much fun being with their relatives!

The next day (still the same day in the US), they went on a tour of Manila. They had an outstanding tour guide! This tour was hugely impactful for Lily. Manila has faced so much destruction over the years, and the buildings were severely bombed by the United States to end the Japanese occupation. Lily told me that Manila used to be called the Paris of Asia because it was such a beautifully stunning city, with outstanding architecture and features. But, after all the city has endured, like the US bombing to end the Japanese occupation, very few pieces of the historic beautiful city are left. And the new city has been built up without reflecting much of the old city. Lily told me that the Philipino approach to the past has been to just move on. I believe this church below is one of the very few old beautiful structures still standing in Manila:

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Here are more pictures and videos from their tour:

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The tour caused Lily and Clark to both reflect on how the Philipinos have just moved on from the past without overly memorializing, remembering or recreating it. There is a culture of forgetting and moving forward. Lily and Clark realized that is exactly how their dad handled his Philipino past, and a big part of why he did not connect Lily and Clark more to his native country. This was sad to reflect on, but also in a way satisfying. Because Lily and Clark realized that their unrootedness is itself a part of the Philipino culture. Lily and Clark are experiencing authentically what it is like to be Philipino by not being overly connected to the past. I think that thought was a bit comforting to Clark and Lily as they questioned and mourned that their relatives visit the Philipines so much more often and are more connected to the language, land and culture. But Ben’s childhood was so traumatic (burying bodies, abused by parents, ran away from home, saw Philipinos tortured by the Japanese etc) that it seems he just needed to leave it behind. There is such rich history on Lily’s Philipino side and I’m so glad she could connect with it.

Back in Utah, people played the Switch a lot. Even Ken played!

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Mostly Ammon and Clarissa played with Jere joining a lot while I worked and [mostly] blogged.

Then we all had an awesome outing. Suzanne took us to all see the window decorations inside the Grand America.

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After seeing the displays, we had a delicious dinner at Via 313. Then dad, Suzanne, Ammon, Clarissa and I spent some time at the mall and we came home.

Jere and I played lots of Nintendo with Ammon and Clarissa (Suzanne joined a game too!) and I put the kids to bed way too late. Then I played Mario Kart with Jere and went to bed myself.

It was another good day!

Lily, Lydia, and Mary are loving the Philippines. It is so amazing that they get to connect with their roots in that way. They are even getting to meet family members Lily had never met before (Betty, Louie and Benji’s mother) and ones she hadn’t seen in a very long time (like Tita, Betty’s sister).

On Christmas, they went to a giant family party hosted by Ginny’s family. The party was an absolute blast. There is a huge food culture in the Philippines and it has been fun to hear about all the pork Lily has been eating even though she usually doesn’t opt for Pork. Benji has been guiding her around to the important, tasty and authentic foods she needs to make sure she eats while she’s in the Philippines. Also, there is also a big culture of performance in the Philippines, meaning people love to have family members perform for the family and friends, and they especially love to have kids perform for the family and friends. Mary got to play the piano for everyone! Lily and Clark were over the moon with delight as they learned that Louie and Benji also had to recite Shakespear at dinner parties in their household and that it wasn’t just Lily and Clark that had to do that growing up!! The party was such a beautiful family and cultural experience for Lily and the girls. What a priceless experience!

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Back at the homefront, we also had a wonderful Christmas. In the morning, we started with stockings. It’s amazing what one can do in a blitz 23 minute target run. The stockings pulled off great. The only hitch was that one of the oranges exploded in Clarissa’s stocking so I had to deal with that lol.

Ammon also got a stuffed copperhead snake which had shipping complications (today he just got a printout of his gift). Ammon is really into Snakes right now, and that is one of the more famous snakes in North Carolina, where we are moving to. Clarissa also got a Barbie doll and a Ken doll. We watched the new Barbie movie as a family a week ago, and since then Clarissa had been asking for Barbies. Thank you Amazon for shipping so quickly!!

Here are the kids opening their stockings:

And here is Ammon taking a video of his stocking contents:

It was so sweet seeing Suzanne look through Clarissa’s new stickers with her.

Here is Ammon opening up his “Copperhead Snake” and his box with a dragon eye on it and Clarissa opening up her stuffed bear from my dad and Suzanne. Clarissa also got a unicorm box from Santa and Ammon got a Lego set my dad and Suzanne which will be so great for him.

Clarissa opening her Barbies from Santa and Ammon opening up his legos (from my dad and Suzanne)

Also, my dad made delicious waffles for breakfast. The amazing fruit sause was from my aunt Andrea I believe.

For the big gifts, I had been planning them for a while. Ammon and Clarissa were introduced to the Nintedo Switch and Smash Brothers on our Alaskan cruise this year and they absolutely loved it. I’ve been plotting ever since to get the family a couple of Switches for Christmas. Nintendo was a part of my life growing up too, and I had visions of us enjoying the Switches as a family. So I got the family two Switches with Mario Kart and Smash Brothers. Ammon and Clarissa were so excited when they opened the presents, and the literally played almost every available second for the rest of Christmas. At one point, Suzanne offered to play a game or something else with them, and they replied something like, “no, we are stuck on the TV”. I also played endless hours of Mario Kart and Smash Brothers with them, and Jere too. We all had so much fun. It is one of my favorite Christmas memories ever. It was so nice for me to relax and have fun amidst all the work I’ve been absorbed in and to play Nintendo with my kids and brother, Jere, was just the best. David also sent us a lot of tips about the Switch since he has one, and is helping us get some things that will make our experience even better. Jere also got a Switch for Christmas from my dad and Suzanne (part Christmas, part late birthday present), and our friends Morgan and Jessie gave their kids a Switch for Christmas too (which they loved!). It is a very Switchy Christmas!

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Around 11:30, David, Olivia and Ozzy came over and it was so cute to see Ozzy open his present.

Then I played more Nintendo with Ammon, Clarissa and Jere (so fun!). Then we got to catch up with Lily, Lydia and Mary in Asia. It was so wonderful to have a good chat with them and hear about all their adventures!

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After that, Suzanne and my dad served an incredible ham, potato, vegetable and jello marshmallow salad dinner. Jere also made cauliflower soup that went so well with the ham and croutons. Jeff, Lauralee, Jeff, Marylou, Henry and Steve were in attendance.

It was so nice to visit with everyone and after dinner and visiting family members, we played “Are You Dumber than a Box of Rocks?” We lost to the rocks the first game and I begged for a rematch, to prove our intelligence was higher than that of rocks. Fortunately we won the second game (all this while Ammon and Clarissa still played Nintendo). After that, I played more Nintendo with Ammon and Clarissa. I then put them to bed after reading them each a book, and I then played Nintendo with just Jere.

What a seriously happy, full and yet so relaxing day. It has so wonderful to be with family, and the Nintendo has been so fun.

These are questions that Clarissa has been asking Alexa and me for the past 15 or 20 days, and as we get closer to Christmas the frequency of her questioning gets higher and higher. In the last week, she probably asked Alexa 20 times how soon Christmas was, and me about 10 or 15 times what she was getting. She really loves Christmas!

Lily, Lydia and Mary, I think were mostly in transit to the Philipines (with their flight getting very delayed) and then dealing with more jet lag. I assume this because they had no pictures today.

On my side, I spent the morning sleeping in (I didn’t fall asleep until late) and then putting the house together, and packing and preparing for our trip to my dad and Suzanne’s house.

We got to my dad and Suzanne’s house around 5:40 and had an incredible fondue dinner and desert. Then we did the traditional Miner Christmas program, which of course, would not be complete without singing the 12 days of Christmas. Ammon and Clarissa both participated!

We then had an abridged readers’ theater reading of Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carol. I got to be Scrooge (and I tried to read with inflection) and it was especially fun to interact with Ammon who was the boy who I paid to go get the giant turkey from the butcher’s’ window for the Cratchet family.

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After the program was over, we visited more and then I put the kids to bed. My dad had fun reading to them, and then I also enjoyed reading to him. It was very nostalgic, because the books we read were the same ones I had read to me as a kid and even the blankets on Ammon and Clarissa’s beds were made by my grandmother and ones I used growing up. They are Raggety Anne and Raggety Andy blankets and it was fun to read them a Christmas book featuring Raggety Anne and Rattegy Andy. It was a very beautiful evening and a very good time.

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OK, I’ll start with this. Ammon and Clarissa were goofing around with a suitcase and we (my dad and I) got these great videos:

I also packed the container almost all day today. I and seemingly everyone else that sees it for the first time thinks there is no way we can fit all of ours and Georgia’s things into three of them…..but they can fit a deceptive amount of things, and I’m now thinking we will make it. I packed for a lot of Saturday and still was not even close to half done filling it. Then my dad and Jere came around 2:30 and helped me until 9:30 or so. Together we cranked out so much good work and go the thing 85% full. There help was so game changing. I had so much fun being with my dad and brother (and we enjoyed Via 313 pizza together), but the thing I’m most grateful for is the way they helped an underwater family member get more on top of the task at hand. Thank you again dad and Jere!

Lily, Lydia and Mary had another 24 hours or so in Hong Kong en route to the Philippines so they got to have more time there. They really love Hong Kong and Lily raved about their tea. They got to do a high tea experience and it was a wonderful experience for them. Apparently Hong Kong really knows how to do tea. Not only do they have incredible tea there, but they are very expert on how to seep, how to have the right size cups etc etc. Lily was raving about the whole tea experience.

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Here are more photos from their time in Hong Kong:

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Lily, Lydia and Mary continue to love everything about Japan and this was their final day there.

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It appears they went to a museum about technology and the planet. Lily told me robot pets are all the rage in Japan:

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Then they got to play with cute little animals. I’m not sure where that was or if it was in the same place:

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It appears they also went to some kind of market or mall. Lily has told me you can’t get bad food in Japan. It is all so good!!!:

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They sure have been loving Japan!!!

Back at home, I had our friend Randy Blosil over for breakfast. I always love catching up with him. He’s on a no carb diet and brought bacon, and I also made eggs and then also waffles with berry sauce and whipped cream for the kids.

I felt very tired today, and so I got some good rest in, but when I wasn’t resting, I was packing the container that was dropped off at my house this week. I very specifically call it a container, because when I kept calling it a “pod” on the phone to the sales person, he kept correcting me saying that “pod” was a branded name used by their competitor, and these were “containers” not pods. When I continued to make the error on the phone, he went so far as to say something like a little piece of him just died when I said “Pod”. It was very amusing.

We had Georgia over for dinner, and we had a delicious (bagged) salad (from Trader Joe’s), leftovers, and also berries and whipped cream for dessert (which everyone loved!). It is always so nice to see Georgia and to have her kind Spirit in our home.

Also, a note on Ammon and Clarissa. They occasionally have their moments of argument, complaining or sneaking candy, but those things are by far the exception. Almost all the time, they are getting along perfectly and politely. They have watched a lot of TV, but they have also had hours on end of deep play making a fort, or casting magic spells (using our Mah-Jong pieces and Wingspan pieces in their imaginary magic game scattering them all over the basement floor), or drawing (they made actual coloring books of their own drawings) or making an incredible creation like this truck (look at the detail!)

They have been such incredible pals, it’s just amazing to see how they treat each other and get along. Also, a quick annecdote about Clarissa. Clarissa is very good listening to her conscience and she often confesses things at the end of the day. Here is the annecdote as I related it to Lily over text:

Clarissa: “Dad, I don’t want to tell you this, but I will. I’m feeling a little bit on the bad side.” “Why is that Clarissa?” “Well I had candy, and there is just this part of my brain [points above her left eye] that is the bad part of my brain and it tells me to do bad things. But the rest of my brain and my heart are my good part and they tell me to do good things.” We then had a whole discussion about good and bad choices, how healthy her self-awareness is, learning and empathy. That girl is amazing.She is really cute and chatty at night when I tuck her in. I’m so glad I captured that one.

Lily, Lydia and Mary are still absolutely loving Japan. They started the day by visiting this museum:

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Then it appears they had tea and went on a nature walk. I think these experiences were at the location of the museum they just saw, but I’m not sure:

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This appears to be a gift shop for the museum they just saw:

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Here are more scenes of their adventures before going to the next museum:

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Then they went to another museum. Here are the pictures:

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Then they had fun at Shibuya Crossing which reminds me of Time Square:

Here is more content from their adventures that evening:

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Check out their sleep pods!!!

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The next day for them (but still the same day for us), they went to the Team Lab Museum. Lily said it was one of the most amazing experiences of her entire life. They girls also loved it immensely. Lily described it as “euphoria”. I don’t know exactly how it all worked, but I know they downloaded an app, and the exhibits were highly digital, but also included natural elements like water. In one exhibit, you walk through water, and when you touch fish (digital), they turn into flowers. It was incredibly immersive, and it was a major life highlight for the three of them. There is one in Miami we are excited to all go to as a family. Here are the pictures and videos from their time there:

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This next part had the water and fish that turned into flowers:

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https://youtu.be/8OnVEXahWFQ

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Meanwhile, I was having fun and Ammon and Clarissa at Hang-Time (at literally the exact same time Lily and the girls were in the Team Labs museum):

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This was day 2 or 3 for Lily, Lydia and Mary in Japan. It’s hard to keep track especially since with the timezone changes I’m probably mixing up their days a little. For example, in my Google photos I think some of the below pictures are in Kyoto, but I thought their Kyoto day was yesterday. Then again, it probably was both yesterday and today here because of how the timezones work. Anyhoo, here are some more pictures of all the fun they have been having, including a veritable crab feast which they all truly loved:

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Nothing too much to report back at home. I’m working like a devil in all directions and started meeting with the new managers I’ll be working with. We also got our new oven today (we switched out the last one when we didn’t like how it looked). Also, the picture on the right made me chuckle. I’m not sure if someone arranged the coffee beans and reindeer intentionally this way, or not, but it made me laugh.

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Here are Ammon and Clarissa eating in our Christmas home. We miss you Lily, Lydia and Mary!

I did not have too much to report from my side today, so let’s dive right into Lily, Lydia and Mary’s first day in Japan!

[Writing this from the next day] Yesterday I talked to Lily right after my massage and learned that they took a bullet train to Kyoto, and Mary fell asleep on the train. Lydia moved from being next to Mary over to sitting by Lily, and when the train stopped and Mary had awoken, she didn’t see anyone, thought Lily and Lydia had gotten off the train, and so she got off too. Lily and Lydia continued on 89 miles to Kyoto and when they were going to exit they realized Mary was not on the train! Lily was panicked, but not for long, because the train station officials were quickly able to help her (after navigating the language barrier and possibly never fully understanding why Mary was 89 miles away from Lydia and Lily). They called the station where Mary got off, located Mary and brought her to Lily and Lydia. We were worried that Mary would have been very afraid and sad, but actually she was just fine. She found an official, and they sorted out the situation, and then Mary talked to a lady who spoke English about nails and was shortly reunited with the family.

Lily, Lydia and Mary were already in-love with the city, but this incident just drove home the point. Japan is so safe, so organized and so helpful. It is literally one of the only places in the world where this type of situation could have gone so smoothly.

The language barrier is intense (even more intense than Hong Kong because even fewer people speak English), but everything is safe, clean and organized, and the people are wonderful. Lily did tell me it was hard at times to eat though as you aren’t allowed to eat on the streets, and places close promptly after lunch time, and don’t open up for afternoon tea until later, so if you are looking for food in the wrong time window it can be difficult. Food is also expensive and Lily has been stressed about that, but I hope she stops worrying. I think Japan is just a little more expensive of a place to be. They loved the iconic scenes that they saw both in Tokyo and Kyoto. Here are some pictures and a video of them at the dog cafe!

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Lily, Lydia and Mary went to Tong Hall today. They are still loving Hong Kong. The Kom Tong Hall used to be a building for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but now is a museum of sorts for Chinese Nationalism. Lily said it was full of propaganda, yet she had such a powerful peaceful feeling come over her that she said he had a profound spiritual experience.

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Here are other scenes from the day:

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Then it was time for Lily, Lydia and Mary to pack up from Hong Kong and head to Japan.

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Lily told me there was some drama at the airport. Lily accidentally timed things wrong and got to the airport late and there was a huge line. Lily asked an airport worker for help, and the worker said Lily was too late and that her ticket had already been given away. Somehow she knew that without knowing any information about Lily or her ticket it seems. Then Lily explained she was traveling with two kids, and the worker declared that surely she still had her tickets and they weren’t given away and that person fast tracked her through the line and Lily, Lydia and Mary caught their flight. Due to this drama Lily planned on doing things differently in Tokyo (her next flight) and going to the airport at night and resting in the airport before her early morning flight. Sounds exhausting!

In other news, the kids wanted to go to Burger King and I obliged. I completely forgot about how much I love their impossible whoppers (I got another one the next day for myself as well), and we all enjoyed dinner. Clarissa cracks me up with these videos Ammon recorded of her. I walk to Burger King…..

Today was a turning point for Lily in Hong Kong. After going to Disneyland (not sure if it was the same day or not), they rode what Lily describes as the most amazing cable car she’d ever ridden. Here are pictures:

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Here is what Lily told me over text days later: “That is the glass bottom cable car on the way to the big Buddha. It goes a long long way over forests and over the bay. Over hills of jungle. Leading up to the big Buddha. This was the turning point for me. I loved it! And then Hong Kong became more manageable. Because we figured out the subway. Which is the nicest subway I have ever been on. In some ways nicer than Japan even.”

I was so glad that Lily truly fell in love with Hong Kong. By the end of her time there she was raving about it even though the beginning started out rocky. Here are pictures from their visit to the Big Buddha:

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More fun

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And lots and lots of pictures of Lydia and Mary having fun at their meal:

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Cable ride back:

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Shopping:

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Eating:

Being cute:

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