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Today was a pajama day for Mary’s class. Lily begged Mary to also take her pigs, but Mary was too shy and embarrassed to take them. She was so shy and embarrassed, in fact, that when she arrived at school and noticed that only 5 kids were in pajamas, and that the rest of the class was not, she immediately changed out of her pajamas. Isn’t she adorable!!!

The highlight of my day was going on a date to Park City with Lily. She will be out of town for our 12th anniversary and this was our time to celebrate. Lily has been feeling a little blue lately, but she really lit up as we explored Park City together. It was a truly memorable evening for both of us.

First we went to the Riverhorse on Main restaurant. We loved our waiter, and we talked all about life, and even walked down memory lane thinking about times in Hyde Park we had together.

They gave us chocolate covered strawberries since it was our anniversary celebration!

After dinner, we walked around Main Street. Lily was thrilled to see Meredith Marks’ (from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City) clothing store. We later found out from the worker at Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory across the street that she left her store right before we went to it.

We walked up main street talking all about life, art, how much we love Park City, how it reminds us of Silver City Idaho, as well as some Colorado towns. We were totally charmed and we want to spend more time in Park City. Then Lily felt like she found her soul-mate restaurant when we went into the Grappa so she could use the restaurant. The ambiance and vibe was so lively, warm, and colorful. We can’t wait to try it soon!

We had such a good time together and listened to Vienna Tang and Rhiannon Giddens on the way home. We admired the beautiful landscape and felt very fulfilled by our time together in such a wonderful part of Utah.

Lily, I love you even more today than I ever have. You are my companion, my friend, my romance, and my song. Thank you for twelve perfect years!

Happy Mother’ Day Lily!

Today Lily took Basil on a walk and admired the chirping birds. On her way home from the canyon, she picked up Georgia to come eat French toast with us at the house.

Back at the house, the kids and I worked double-time to try to make the house nice for Lily. Everyone help and it was fun!

Ammon made this castle/factory and then gave it (and all his money) to Clarissa when she passed certain tests in a game that they were playing. I took a picture before throwing it away when we were cleaning, but Ammon still cried over it being tossed.

I was running late with the cleaning and Lydia and Mary came to the rescue. The completely made the batter to dip the brioche in while I was cleaning so all I had to do was cook them. They came out amazingly, possibly our best batch ever. The only mistake was I forgot to run the fan over the stove while cooking them so the house smelled like French Toast for a few days.

After brunch, Lily took some downtime while I watched “Leap” with Georgia and the kids. I then took Georgia home and enjoyed chatting with her. She is so kind and nice to talk to. She always has such a good and sweet attitude, and it is such a gift to have her in our lives. All the kids loved having Nana over, and they loved showing and telling her updates about their lives.

Then I spent about an hour planning for the summer with Lily. I love playing house with Lily and making plans together. I think a really good vision for the summer came together!

For dinner we had leftovers and greens. We’ve been loving our leftover Mo Betta’s!

After dinner, the kids shared a presentation for Lily. They all love her so much and it was adorable to see all they did for her without any prompting from me. Here is a slide-show that Lydia made.

Then the kids danced to a Mother’s Day song:

Then Clarissa didn’t cooperate for the poem she was supposed to read (which Lydia wrote):

Then Clarissa sort-of cooperated:

Then Mary presented a GIANT Mother’s Day card the kids all worked on.

Then Ammon danced for Lily:

Then we all danced for Lily:

When I think about being married to Lily, one of my VERY FAVORITE things about her is the way she parents our children. They are always on her heart. She has vision for what she wants them to become and she makes decisions intentionally and acts sacrificially in order to help them become what she wants them to become. I’ve been calling her the family Prophetess lately because she is so wise and instigates so many good things for our family that I never would have had the sense to do. Getting ski lessons for the kids, engaging the kids in serious music practice, international travel, moving into this home we love, getting a dog, getting fruit trees, moving beyond a religion that didn’t fully fit our values, filling our home with books, finishing our basement and so so so many family trips and experiences (symphony, plays, musicals) that we owe to her. She is architecting such beautiful lives for our children and she’s told me directly that architecting a beautiful meaningful life for our kids is her big passion. I could never ask for a better mother for our kids.

I think about how beautifully, gracefully and maturely Lydia played the harp at her festival just yesterday. And Lydia deserves a ton of credit for that since she’s the one that had to learn the pieces. But it’s also so important to acknowledge the countless hours and nerve-racking sessions Lily put in to help Lydia learn the work-ethic and tolerance for practice that has gotten her to be the person and musician she now is. The exact same is true for Mary who is also blossoming on the piano.

Lily, your intention, your love, your investment in our children means the world to me. You need only look at how wonderful they are to know that what you have been pouring into them is good. I know Mother’s Day is a bit hard on you as you often reflect on your imperfections this day. And yes, no one is perfect, but one thing our kids will always know, and never doubt, is that your heart is in it, that you poured yourself into them and that they are and always were cherished, loved and treasured. They owe so so much to you, their love of books, their love of learning, their love of culture and travel, their sense for social justice and morality, their critical thinking, their love of plays and theater, their instincts for safety, their understanding of correct and kind social behavior, their love of cooking and baking, their exposure to dance, music, tennis, skiing, ice-skating, their love of travel and adventure, the list goes on and on and on. Please hear me when I say you love our children with intention, with vulnerability, with beauty and with deep vision, and I marvel and love you all the more for it. Happy Mother’s Day my love and thank you, thank you for the mother that you are.

There is so much to report on today. First, I slept in until 9:30 (thank you Lily!) because I was up until 1:30 the night before working. Lily also walked Basil (again thank-you!!). Lily LOVED her walk and was especially taken by all the lilac and blossoms she saw:

All morning Lydia was choreographing dance numbers to a Taylor Swift songs with her siblings. Here is a recording of their performance:

Then I went on a two hour bike ride (And again, thank you Lily!). It was a major highlight of the day for me. I’m obsessed with road biking and all my intense work stress just melted away while I was peddling in the beautiful Utah landscape.

While biking, I stopped in my tracks and hopped off of my bike to take pictures of this dog who looks soooo similar to our dog Basil. Her name is Dotty. She’s an Aussie-doodle (mostly poodle).

While I was gone, Ammon performed to, “I’m Proud to be an American”

As soon as I got home, I took Lydia to her festival competition. Lily was particularly proud of how hard Lydia prepared and said it didn’t even matter to her how the competition went because she was just so proud of all the preparation Lydia put in. I have to say that Lydia has really come into her own with the harp. She’s mature, does her practice, has been focusing hard on improvement, and she is blossoming as a harpist. We are proud of you Lydia! And I’m also so grateful for all Lily has put in to get her here.

I almost felt like crying at the competition because Lydia’s Minuet was so beautiful. Her technique was so good and the song was so emotive. I felt the Spirit, and I felt my heart touched. It was a wonderful moment to experience my daughter playing something so beautiful. After Lydia’s competition, I bought her a harp necklace which I felt she more than earned with all her hard work.

While I was at Lydia’s recital Lily was doing the hard part and took the other three kids to the library to check out books for Mary for her Canada report. I’m guessing Ammon and Clarissa were a handful in the library as they are still at a very chaotic age.

Ate home, we ate an early dinner and I worked on the house for about an hour. I set up crafting tables, cleaned the poop in the yard, purged the kids sock bins (it was so satisfying, I’ve been dying to do it), and took out trashes etc. Lily worked on music with the kids. Here she is practicing with Ammon:

Then Lily and I went swimming with Ammon and Clarissa. Since I already had such a nourishing bike-ride, I happily played with Ammon and Clarissa while Lily swam laps. She said it was so wonderful for her. I had a great time with Ammon and Clarissa. We rotated between the lazy river, the slide (Clarissa can go down herself now, I just help her to the side when she comes out at the end. Also when I lost my glasses coming out of the slide, Ammon found them for me and even dived and got them), and the shallow play area. A good time was had by all.

Then we did some shopping for meals tomorrow, went to the bank, and got burgers.

Today we had Heidi & her kids and Matt and Courtney and their kids over for a dinner party. It was so much fun! A true highlight of the week. I let Clarissa help me put molasses on the pineapple before grilling it which was almost mess free.

When Matt and Courtney arrived, I chatted a lot with Matt outside while he grilled. We talked about interest rates, their new home they are building, campers and cars (and their prices), the stock market and more. I really enjoy chatting with him. For dinner we had amazing chicken tacos, pineapple and Matt and Courtney’s amazing Tres Leches cake for desert. The whole things was so pleasant. When the party was over and everyone went home, Lily and I put the kids down and watched the new episode of “Under the Banner of Heaven.”

Today Lily and I got a slow start because we were up very late the night before. Well, I got a slow start and slept until 10:30, but Lily finished a book while lying next to me. Then I worked out while Lily took Basil on a long walk and we then cleaned the house and got it ready to host our Community of Christ group again.

The gathering was wonderful. Someone who attended had her significant other pass away that week, and it was amazing to process what she was thinking and feeling all together with her. She was very vulnerable and came with a very open, reflective and loving heart and we all felt edified by the time together.

Afterwards we ate dinner with our friend and Pastor Tyler, and then we played Bananagrahms with him, and then we played more games together as a family after he left. All in all it was just a great Sunday.

Today I worked from about 7:30 to 12:30 to get caught up. During that time, Lily took Basil on a 6+ mile walk. The kids were amazing entertaining themselves with making deviled eggs (Lydia), making chocolate chip cookies (Mary), building a fort and dressing in a colonial costume (Ammon), and getting beautified by Lydia (Clarissa).

Then Lily and I took the kids biking. First I spent time with Clarissa trying to help her learn. She gets very scared of trying to peddle and balance on her own, but we are making progress.

Then Lily stayed with Clarissa at the playground while I biked up the Provo river trail with the other kids. It was so fun!!

When we got home, we immediately got ready for a Luau for our friend Micah that his wife Betsy hosted for his birthday. It was so exciting to get to see them because they are some of our favorite people. We all got ready and jumped in the car and left and just before arriving, I asked Ammon a question. It was silent. “Was Ammon asleep?” we asked. Within seconds, we realized that Ammon was not in the car. We immediately turned around and turned to the Alexa and got a hold of him by dropping in. The poor kid was sobbing. We were shocked that we left him and so concerned until we contacted him, but everything turned out ok. He bounced right back and even told us that Basil comforted him. The party outside was so nice, and a great stress reliever after the events with Ammon. We learned about a new wilderness park in Provo, which we loved, loved talking with Betsy and Micah, and enjoy the fantastic weather. A great time was had by all.

I love the way Clarissa announces what she is going to do for her sliding in this video!

Also Lily has been struggling emotionally and feeling down on herself. We found an amazing new Netflix show called Magicians and loved escaping into it for a bit, and then we stayed up talking together. I love sharing life with my soul mate!

Today I dropped Clarissa, Ammon and Mary off at school (Lydia is still sick) and then worked from about 9 AM to midnight. It was a very intense day with a big fire-drill for one of our customers, as well as loads and loads of tasks I’m trying to catch up on as my team tries to turn things around. Lily was super supportive and did the entire kid routine until they went to bed while I was at work. It’s now Saturday morning and I’m still trying to dig out of my work pile! In the middle of all the work though, I did see Ammon’s school play which was a giant bright spot in my day. I was a bit distracted because I was right in the middle of working on the big fire-drill with a customer at work so I was on my phone some, but when it was Ammon’s turn to perform, I checked-in and could help, but to smile. He was dressed as Thomas Jefferson and so into the performance and danced and moved his body much more than anyone else (80% of kids didn’t move at all). He made the whole performance so fun to watch! Jamie, who runs the front desk at Arches, said Ammon was her favorite to watch. I love him!! Also major kudos for the teachers and students who all performed so well. It was a great and very enjoyable production.

I haven’t been sleeping much and I’ve been working extra hard at work trying to get back to a good spot, so I was incredibly tired today. That said, I did have a really nice time at the park pushing Ammon and Clarissa on the swing, chatting with Amy, and relaxing on a tree while Mary had tennis lessons with Emerson and Isabel (Lydia stayed home from school because she wasn’t feeling well). At one point, the kids saw how many of them they could get on the swing….

Lily worked on her book today and researched people’s experiences who are half white and half Filipino as she explores what character she wants to create for her book. Their experiences had a lot in common with Lily’s and a lot of what she learned about others’ experiences was very troubling in terms of the racism.

Lily and I both got good sleep this night, so that was great.

Today Lydia was Clarissa’s beautician. She painted her nails, did her hair etc. What a fun sister!

Today was very busy and stressful for both me and Lily, but it was a good day for sure.

In the evening, I went to see the Jazz game at Qualtrics with Lydia and Clarissa. The Jazz got completely blown out by Dallas, but I still had fun because I love watching basketball so much. Lydia told me she loves watching basketball too (to my delight!). Clarissa at a bunch of popcorn and sweets and then passed out in a chair.