Shortly after Christmas, Emma went back to Rhode Island and my sister arrived with her entourage in tow—four of her kids, including Manuel, Isaiah, and Jesus who bring a bit of mayhem with them wherever they go. And right behind her came one of her friends, who brought her teenage triplets, increasing the number of people in our home by 200%. Within an hour, my house had transformed from a peaceful post-holiday sanctuary into something resembling a combination of a Dave & Buster's and a convenience store after a tornado. Actually it wasn't that bad. It really was loud...and messy...and a bit chaotic, but I have a good bond with all of Kristina's kids and genuinely enjoy having them around!
LESSONS IN FOOD:
I raised five kids and know a lot about feeding them, however I can never seem to get it quite right with the boys. I had stocked up on a bunch of their favorite foods before arriving, but I keep learning the hard way with them that there's a lot more to it than just picking the right kind of food for them. Last time they were here I learned that chicken nuggets cooked in the air fryer were inedible and that soggy microwaved ones were the only way to go. This time I learned that different brands of mac & cheese can vary in taste and apparently I picked the wrong one. I haven't eaten mac & cheese in approximately 40 years or so, so I was unaware of these nuances, but apparently it's a thing. Also, much to their happiness, I did manage to remember to get some of their favorite snack in the whole universe before they arrived--Blue Heat Takis. However they thought I was quite mean for portioning them out into serving sizes for them, as they wanted the whole bag at once! Ah, well! I'll try again next time!
THE SNOW THAT WASN'T
Kristina and her family (and their friends) live in California and came to Utah very excited to see some snow. Unfortunately for her and the record breaking low snowpack in the mountains this year, snow has been hard to come by this winter. It's been unusually warm (something I appreciate) and very dry with only a couple little skiffs of snow here and there. The boys were very disappointed by this and so Kristina went driving to higher altitudes in search of some. She found the jackpot up at Suncrest and the boys happily played in it! Sadly the triplets had never been to Utah or seen snow and it was all melted by the time they arrived. They were quite disappointed.
A TRIP TO LUMINARIA
One of my favorite parts about people coming to visit us, is that it gets us out of the house to see more of what Utah has to offer. We went to Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point a couple years ago and loved it, so Kristina and company coming to town was a perfect excuse to go again! It was as amazing as we'd remembered and I think everyone enjoyed it!
A TRIP TO ANTELOPE ISLAND
Another trek we took was to Antelope Island. To my knowledge, I'd never been there before and I was completely enchanted by this wild and beautiful oasis so close to civilization.
We saw this great horned owl...
We also saw bison (real ones) and this incredible bird, which was probably our highlight of the whole trip:
My niece, Madeline, and the triplets hope to come to BYU in the next year or two, so they all came to our YSA ward on Sunday to see what it was like. They weren't very excited that we meet at 9am and had a half-hour drive to get there, but they made it with smiles on their faces. I actually have no idea what they thought, but it was an excellent fast and testimony meeting and we were happy to share our wonderful ward with them for a week!
Denali is 100% a diva. She loves being the center of attention and there's nothing like more people being in the house to give it to her. Happily, the boys adore her and she gets lots and lots of attention when they're around. I daresay she goes into a bit of withdrawal when they leave...
I'll finish off with a few more random pics from their stay here. There's also a few more in this post about the Buttercup Neighborhood game.
Madeline, Kristina, and me...
Happy February to you!
