January Shenanigans

  I was feeling overwhelmed by getting caught up here on the blog and remembered that I write a weekly email to my missionary each week that does a nice job of summing up what we've been up to lately.  Mostly the letters are pretty boring, but sometimes they're a little silly.   This letter from January 24th falls on the silly end of the spectrum.  Here's a glimpse of our life...

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Hola Hermana!
I'm attempting to get off to an earlier start than usual writing my letter to you. Partially because I'm really tired and would likely write you a nonsensical diatribe filled with useless tidbits about the square root of pi ( because I hang out with Adam) if I wrote to you at my normal time. Or I would fall asleep writing it and it would say something like:
"This week was ajfjkjfjjjjjzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" phhonahgenn
and you'd be left wondering all day if our week was good, bad, or full of crazy shenanigans.

Don't worry, it wasn't any of those.

So here I am, attempting to be coherent. Plus dad's on a ward council zoom call right now (yes, it's 10pm) and I can't go in the bedroom, so here's me being all productive in the living room instead of wasting my time getting ready for bed and all that kind of useless jazz.

This week was.....

normal.

It wasn't exceptionally good or bad, and shenanigans were all on the minor side of things.

Here's a glimpse:

The good:
There were no broken bones, the food was exceptional, Rocky stopped eating his own poop (because we now watch him like a hawk every time he goes in the backyard and run out in our barefeet to chase him away if he so much as gets within a yard of his poop), I got rid of some crap sitting around the garage, and we got 3 more Christmas cards in the mail.

The bad:
Adam cut his foot on a tape gun.

 Ellie sliced her leg open with the car door. I ate wayyyyyyy too much of that exceptional food. I'm pretty sure that Rocky isn't actually a puggle, but perhaps a puggunk (part pug, part skunk).

Things I accomplished:
I sewed a boatload of masks and helped Ellie earn over $200 for her HEFY fund. Never mind that I've spent about $500 on fabric and have a long ways to go before we ever break a profit; it's just the project we needed to help us stay engaged and creatively motivated. Plus I'm pretty sure all the fabric store employees are starting to recognize me now (even though I try to vary the mask I wear each time), so don't be surprised if I get nominated Joann's favorite customer of the month soon. I'm pretty sure that's a thing. And I'll be so flattered, I'll probably buy another $200 of fabric.

Things we ate:
burgers with guacamole, grilled cheese and cauliflower soup, garlic chicken pasta with sundried tomatoes (over zucchini noodles), tomatillo chicken chili, hearty chicken pesto pizza, chicken and cheese enchiladas with roasted tomatillo sauce, and the best dang green beans I've ever eaten (thank you, Ellie)

Random news of the day:
I think we may be going to Florida this weekend. This is a development as of today, because we're just that random and just that spontaneous....and tickets are super cheap and Kristina's family is going to be there too.


Some shenanigans:
We went on a 5-1/2 mile hike in the 28-degree weather. It was a lovely hike, but very cold. Adam talked about the square root of 2. Ellie had a good math day, then hated it again the next. We also played Clue and I lost. I sent some super random postcards...

See I told you our shenanigans were on the minor side of things.

News from home:
Did you hear? M.K. is starting her mission and has been reassigned to Temple Square? Oh, and last night I had a dream about N.Z. driving me in a car while he sat in the passenger seat... I'm pretty sure there's some good hidden meaning in there about you marrying him someday, but it also could have just been a random flashback nightmare about teaching all you kids to learn to drive. I don't know....you're the missionary...you decide the meaning.


Pop culture trend of the week that you may or may not have missed:
Someone snapped a picture of Bernie Sanders at Biden's inauguration that has gone viral in a hilarious way. It's him all bundled up in his very casual winter clothes, with a pair of amazing mittens on, and looking somewhat ill impressed. People are taking that image and photoshopping into famous paintings, scenes from movies, and just in general making it hilarious. It honestly was a bright spot in my week. I'll attach a few for you to enjoy.


Well, it's a good hour before I normally send off my weekly epistle to you, but I'm running out of things to tell you. And I'm afraid that my writing will quickly devolve into musings on the advantages of sleeping without socks on or about how Spence wants an air fryer and a cookbook for his birthday. Or I'll just... aahklhklhlkjlkjlkzjklzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Or I'll just sign off and say I love you (all) like crazy! Have an amazing week!
Love,
Mom

Riots and Scars and such

 Family update via letter to our missionary (dated January 20, 2021)

Hola to our favorite Hermana!
Como esta? How was your week?

I'm sitting here trying to think what to write to you about and I just have to say, it's been a super boring week. Everyone's back to their school schedule again, Ellie and I are fully eating keto now, and dad's looking hot and heavy for a job again. We didn't even do any cool hikes or anything

There were the riots at the capitol building earlier and I guess that wasn't boring, but it was depressing. Just another can of worms to get people contentious and up-in-arms again. I think it's a very good thing that inauguration day is coming very soon or the whole world may implode (as Trump does his best to throw the world a figurative hand grenade as he leaves office). Trump needs to just stop having power and to get out of the limelight.

Adam finally let us cut his shaggy hair.   That was kind of exciting.

Did you get to watch the Brandon Sanderson "Why I Believe" fireside on FB Live tonight? It was good. I don't know if you can watch it belatedly, but you should totally watch it if you're allowed. I haven't even read any of his books and I very much enjoyed it.

Speaking of Brandon Sanderson...Adam recently just finished his latest book, "Rhythm of War" and Dad just started it. Of course Spencer read it immediately and Garrett got it for Christmas, so I imagine he'll be reading it soon too. I just finished a light fluffy read, after two heavy non-fictions (one about cholera and one about the founding father--Benjamin Rush). I needed light and fluffy!

Well, you'll be happy to know that my latest hiking shoe injuries (I mentioned those, right?) are almost healed now. My elbow injury was pretty intense and is going to have quite a scar. It's been a few weeks, and the wound (which was actually deep enough that Garrett said could have used stitches, but didn't NEED them) has finally completely closed up. Unfortunately, it still hurts when touched and I absolutely can't bear any weight on it, which is surprisingly a common occurrence when getting up from a lying down position. Thankfully it doesn't generally keep me up at night anymore either, so that's good. My knee still hurts some, but is going to be totally fine. My elbow scar will definitely outshine Adam's when all is said and done.

Your cousin Jesus just turned 3. Isn't that crazy? Also, M & K's family just arrived to Kuwait this past week, so they're quarantining for 2 weeks. It's kind of entertaining to see Matt's facebook diatribes and super long Marco Polos that he seems to be doing to keep himself busy. The good news with the 10 minute long Marco Polos is that we're seeing lots of glimpses of their cute kids. Anna is talking a TON now and it's adorable. She often refers to herself in the 3rd person, which is extra adorable. They also got cats, which are kind of cute.

E.B. (from our new ward) is just finishing her at-home MTC learning Spanish and is taking off on her mission (to Mesa Temple visitor's center) on Tuesday. It's too bad you two didn't overlap. I think you two would be good friends. 

Tonight I made keto lasagna, roasted broccoli, and keto lemon bars...and we totally enjoyed it. Eating keto is hard sometimes, but it's definitely easier this time having done it before. My sweet cravings are starting to lessen a little at least.

You may be able to tell by the content and coherency of this letter, but I am SUPER tired and should probably be outlawed from trying to communicate right now. I think I'll finish up with a link to a talk that struck me earlier this week. It's a good one and if I could put my words together better, I would tell you what I liked about it. But that requires brainpower I do not currently have, so I'll just say, it's a good one and you should read it.

Becoming like Him

I love you a whole whole bunch and like a macadamia nut. (that's an actual quote from your older brother when he was a young child and why I threw that in here, I have no idea).

Hope I haven't said anything too stupid or embarrassing.
We LOVE you!!!!
Love,
Your tired mom

Christmas 2020

Letter to Emma dated 12/28/20:



Hello Hermana!
How is post-Christmas life? I hope you're excited about whatever transfer day has in store for you and I look forward to hearing all about it.

What have we been up to?

Well, mostly eating way too much crap,

 playing Codenames (a game we got for Christmas), and watching movies. 

The boys are playing Magic nonstop and they even taught Dad how to play, so he'll likely be absorbed by it too. I worry a little about Adam and he playing a little too much of it when Christmas is over. 

Today we had a very delicious cheese tray for dinner and WOW! It was tasty (and beautiful thanks to Cami). I decided that I need to get myself a wooden cheese/cutting board one of these days..

 

Today, I decided to wear Ellie's hiking shoes on a little walk around the neighborhood. They're the same brand as the evil ones I swore off after the unfortunate incident in Utah, but different enough that I thought they'd be okay. They weren't. I had the exact same issue with them and fell....HARD! It was quite cold, so thankfully I was wearing a thick jacket and sweats, but I still busted myself up pretty good. My knee is bruised and scraped, but my elbow is a mess. It immediately started dripping blood and apparently is busted open quite deep. Both Cami and Garrett said it is something that is deep enough to be stitched. They also said that the fact that it was my elbow, where the skin is loose and scarring isn't really a big deal, that it didn't HAVE to be stitched. So I am avoiding it. I had Cami and Garrett clean me up good, cover it with lots of antibiotic ointment and wrap it up in gauze and such. In the meantime, I am in pain and quite adamant that I never touch a hiking boot ever again. Maybe a hiking shoe, but maybe just tennis shoes since I'm kind of scarred at this point.

So we watched Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas night. It was stupid. I don't think a single person in our house enjoyed it. We watched Soul last night and that was a much better effort. You'll definitely need to watch that one when you get home.

I'm sure you saw the pictures on Hangouts, but we ended up going to Bethlehem last week. It was a cute little town and it was cool to see a glimpse of a place important to Dad's heritage there. Apparently they normally have quite a big Christmas market that's the coolest around. We missed it though... I'm not sure whether we were too late in the season or if just never happened this year because of COVID, but even without the big market, it was still quite a charming town to visit.

Tomorrow (Monday) is Cam and Garrett's last day with us, so we are trying to figure out how to spend it. We thought that we'd take them downtown, but they're not acting as enthused about that anymore, so we will see. I wouldn't be surprised if we just have another chill day at home. WE shall see!

Well, I hope you're having an awesome week! WE love you like crazy and are praying for you. Good luck with packing and such if you are getting transferred. 

Love, 
Mom 

PS  Here are some other random pictures from our Christmas...

Christmas breakfast...

One of many homecooked meals together....

Just chilling....

Dad, Cam, Garrett, and Adam ran a half-marathon at Valley Forge....

Christmas pajamas!!!!

Christmas Card and Letter 2020

 Here's a glimpse at our 2020 Christmas Card and letter: 

This picture was taken at the Jordan River Temple when we flew out to accompany Emma as she received her endowments.  She'd already been on her mission for a few months at that point, but temples had been closed around the world until then.  Even as it stood, they would not allow Cami to attend with us, since they were keeping the people in attendance to an absolute minimum (#covidproblems).  

I designed the card on Photoshop and had it printed at an online shop. 

I designed the newsletter on Photoshop as well and had great fun creating it.   I helped Kristina with their newsletter as well, and hers looks exactly like this, except with her updates in it!  :) 

Hope you had a great Christmas!  

Pre-Christmas 2020

A glimpse at our Christmas vacation through a letter to Emma dated 12/21/20:  

Hola!
We are soooooo out of routine here...I'm sorry I didn't remember to write your email last night.

Spencer changed his ticket and got here on Saturday, then Cami and Garrett arrived later that night too., so our house is full. C & G took over Adam's room, then we set up mattresses on Ellie's floor for Adam and Spence. Yes, that's as crowded as you can imagine and I don't think there's any floor space whatsoever. If you were here too, we would totally be using our bedroom floor for sleepover space too.

So far the boys have been playing lots of Magic and Ellie's trying to talk Cami into doing all the girly things. Face masks and nail painting have already happened. She talked EVERYONE into doing face masks (including Dad, Spencer, Adam, and Garrett), which was slightly comical. Sadly, some people washed theirs off before we got a picture of the whole group. It was pretty entertaining though.

We of course miss you like crazy! We are happy that you are doing what you're doing, but we definitely miss you. 

We are mostly done with shopping. Ellie is proving to be the hardest to buy for this year. Most everyone is just getting one big present they need and little else. Ellie didn't need the one big thing though and the list she provided us included several rather scanty items of clothing, $120 pair of leggings, and a lint roller. 

The kids had their friends over to make gingerbread houses right before all the out-of-towners arrived...

I'm sure you've been getting my package updates on Hangouts, and I'm sorry! The mail system is a mess and I'm frankly surprised that you got the other package when you did. I've been hearing report after report of packages that were sent in early December that STILL haven't reached their destinations. Sister L. sent a package to Katie (serving in the temple square mission) the same time I sent yours and hers still hasn't arrived. In other words, I am not super hopeful at this point that you'll get the second package with your actual Christmas presents in. There's definitely still a chance, but because it's still lingering here in Philadelphia three days later, I wouldn't hold my breath. Sorry your mom is a slacker and couldn't get things together any earlier. Most years sending a priority mail package 9 days before Christmas would be PLENTY of time to get there on time, but, you know, COVID. Everything is COVID's fault apparently.

 

I HOPE to finish up shopping for her today and running the errands we need to today and tomorrow, so we can relax a bit. I have some YW deliveries to make, we need to finish prepping for the 12 days deliveries, buy a couple neighbor gifts, and then enjoy. I imagine that eating way too much junk and not getting anywhere near enough sleep will continue for the duration.

The weather has stayed cold since the snowstorm, so it's kind of fun to have the snowy landscape as we approach Christmas. It definitely makes it *feel* more like Christmas.  It is supposed to get a little warmer this week, so it remains to be seen if we will officially have a white Christmas or not. In the meantime I am rather enjoying it...even if the snowstorm itself was a little underwhelming based on the hyperbolic forecasts of 12-20 inches. 

Well, I'm off for now. I look forward to our call later. Can't wait to hear how your musical number went. I was praying for you.

I LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!! Have an amazingly awesome week!
Love,
Mom 

Adventures in Southern Utah

For as much as I still like blogging when I'm in the middle of it, I definitely haven't refound my groove yet.  And, for whatever reasons, trips are the things I most want to blog about and to make sure we have a record of, but they're also the hardest for me to write.  WE always take a gazillion pictures that are fun, but overwhelming to sort through.   And, unless I blog immediately after our trip, I tend to forget the details of it pretty quickly (hence why I want to blog about them in the first place).   So, there you have it and, now, here I am trying to piece together a trip we took 2 months ago.   

We've really missed being able to travel since COVID kicked in, so we decided that we needed to take advantage  while we were in Utah to see Emma and see some sites too.   After we went through the temple and spent some time with her, we took off for Southern Utah.  We'd already been to some of the National Parks, but, for as long as we've had connections in Utah, there was still a surprising amount we hadn't seen yet.   

Right after our trip, a friend told me that she was visiting Southern Utah soon and asked for some advice.  The rest of this blogpost will be our pictures, interspersed with the advice I sent her.  

Goblin Valley--
1. You only need an hour or two for this park, but it's totally worth the stop (especially with kids).
2. This is one of the best chances to get up close and personal with the hoodoos and we totally loved getting out and exploring amongst them. It's super kid friendly, it's also a great place to fly drones, watch the sunset, and stargaze (if the moon isn't full). 

  

Capitol Reef --
1. Stay in Torrey, Utah--it's very near the park, has great views, and is just a cute little town. The restaurants were a little pricey, but surprisingly good! We ate at Rim Rock and enjoyed it. We heard that Hunt and Gather was one that people drove from hours around to get to.
2. take a backcountry jeep tour to see Cathedral Valley--we LOVED getting off the beaten path to see parts of the park that would be hard to see otherwise. Kevin--our guide with Fremont Tours was so knowledgeable and a really good guy. We'd highly recommend this as a way to see the depths of Capitol Reef.
3. Stop and see the Petroglyph Panels. This was a super short hike and totally worth the stop.
4. Take the Scenic Drive through the park (only about 10 miles long) and then take the little side drive into Capitol Gorge. Capitol Gorge was soooooo pretty and one of our favorite parts of CR!

Highway 12 --
1. This is a gorgeous scenic byway that will lead you from Capitol Reef most of the way to Bryce Canyon.
2. There are lots of cool places you could stop between the two places (including Calf Creek Falls, Kodachrome Basin SP, Escalante, etc)



Calf Creek Falls Hike --
1. This was a moderately difficult hike (about 3 miles each way) mostly on sand. The ups and downs are about equal both ways. The falls and the views along the way are gorgeous and I'm sure your kids would have a hayday playing in the water at the falls (although it was quite cold)!
2. This hike was right on the way from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon. 

Escalante--
1. Okay, so we only passed through this little town, but the food truck we ate dinner at was sooooo good and I highly recommend it. It was called Georgie's Outdoor Mexican Cafe and everything we got was delicious (and it had good gluten free options if that's something important to you).


Bryce Canyon --
1. Stay in Panguitch, Utah--it's about 30 minutes outside of Bryce Canyon and has everything you need here. WE stayed at the Blue Pine Motel and were actually reasonably impressed with it. We don't normally stay at motels, but this was clean, had great reviews online, and was close to everything in town.
2. Bryce Canyon is a park you only need a day to explore. You can park at the Visitor's Center and take a shuttle to all the overlooks, but with kids it's probably easier to just drive and park at the different overlooks.
3. We really enjoyed taking about a 3 mile hike to get down into the canyon and see the scenery from a different viewpoint--we started at Sunset Point, then took the Wall Street trail to Navajo Loop to Queen's Garden and back to Sunrise Point. It's a lot of elevation change, but totally beautiful and worth the walk.

After that, we headed home and spent the last day or two visiting good friends....

Spending time with Nana...

Dropping by my Aunt Zina's house....

And cursing my new hiking shoes, which apparently are evil and don't work with my walking stride.  I had gotten them right before the trip and quickly discovered on our numerous hikes that one shoe somehow catches on the other and causes me to "almost trip" a lot.   Walking on a sidewalk near my parents' house, I went from "almost tripping" to falling flat on my face and I was not happy.  

I haven't worn the shoes again.

After all that excitement, we flew home and have been here ever since.   I imagine that someday we'll travel more regularly again, but for now, home is where it's at!  

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