Today I was on Long Island for a customer onsite. Lily took Ammon and Clarissa to the dinosaur park at Thanksgiving point:
At the end of the day, Lily interviewed Ammon about his school-year since today was his last day of school and she interviewed Clarissa about her day (it was her last day too).
Tonight I tucked Clarissa in, gave her a melatonin gummy and told her to stay in her bed and go to sleep. Well she got half of my instructions right. She didn’t stay in her bed, but she did go to sleep 🙂
Today Lily and I ran to Ikea while Lydia and Mary babysat Ammon and Clarissa at home. I had so much fun ideating and making decisions about the craft room with Lily. It was such a fun date and we were both reminded about how much we love Ikea (even their food!). I also feel very satisfied by this before and after photo of the craft room. We also have some more things to do, but this is a great start:
Also, while cleaning I saw this picture that I assume Lydia or Mary made and I was blown away by it. I think it was using a “how to draw faces” book.
Today was another ballroom competition. Legacy has been a great studio, but we are all burnt out on dance including the kids. They are probably burnt out on us as well because with all of the things that we have going on, we don’t always come to practice. Even today we were 25 minutes early for Lydia’s first performance, but we barely missed it because today they were running almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Apparently we were supposed to show up two hours early, which we were not willing to do with four kids. We showed up two hours early last time and it turned out to not be at all necessary that time. Needless to say, it’s been a great (although stressful) experience, but we are ready to be done.
The highlight of the day was Clarissa’s encore. I cannot believe I didn’t get a video or even see it! Lily told me all about it. Apparently at the end of the Charleston dance (video below), all the kids exited the stage. And then Clarissa came back on stage all by herself and danced for everybody to the sheer delight of the crowd. When I saw everyone exit, I turned off the video and turned around to walk back to where Lily was, missing everything. Still though, I can picture it in my head and the thought of it give me a good laugh.
Today I had a nice phone call with my dad. I caught him on a walk while taking a break from his work at his office. He was in wonderful spirits, is having great health, and was feeling very grateful for life. My dad is such a positive force in my life, and it was so wonderful to hear him doing so well on his birthday. Happy birthday dad!!
Also, I had a very stressful day at work today because one of my star employees told me he’s taking a job with another company. But weather is starting to get nice and it looks like Lily had a good time with Ammon and Clarissa at a park:
Tonight Clarissa really wanted to sleep in one of her fancy tutus. Isn’t she cute!
I went to the office this morning and partway through my day I got a call from Lily and she told me that both she and Mary were super sick. I came home a little after noon and found Mary resting on the couch. She hadn’t moved all morning, and she stayed there until around 3. Lily was also on her back almost the entire day. They both have a stomach bug that is making their stomach feel ill, stealing their appetite, and giving them extreme lethargy.
I wrapped up work early to pick the kids up from school and run the home routine (I grilled salmon for dinner) and I caught up on tasks after the kids went down.
Lily and I both agreed that the silver lining to her and Mary being sick is they got to be buddies in recovery together.
Lydia asked me to take this video so she could evaluate how her cartwheel is coming along. She was satisfied.
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.
