Birthday Weekend with Birds and Trains

Glen and I have a deal that we don't really go big for birthdays.   We celebrate them, but neither of us has any expectations for anything elaborate.   Good food is required, while gifts are totally optional.   We try to do something fun to celebrate, but honestly what we do is driven more by the birthday person than anyone planning something for the other.   That may make us sound a bit lame, but it works for us.

  Between all of the stuff going on with my family (Heather's injury and my Mom's new diagnosis), the extended family drama (which happily crossed a good threshold in the last couple weeks), Glen winding up working at one toxic job and beginning to transition to a new one (in essence working part-time at TWO jobs currently),  some health stress for our missionary,  and our very busy schedule serving in Provo, I hadn't really been thinking much about my birthday at all.  But when I realized it was on a Saturday, I decided we needed to do something...anything...to celebrate and relax a bit.    

Thus our grand birdwatching and historical birthday adventure began!   

We started the day early by driving up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.    Heather let me borrow her fancy camera for the day, and though most of my pictures turned out a little blurry, I did get a few good ones in the mix.   And I thought that having a good telephoto lens camera along with our binoculars really added a fun element to birdwatching.     Here are a few of our favorite shots from the day.  

These American white pelicans were just chilling in the water and were one of our first "exciting" finds of the day...

This ring-necked pheasant was gorgeous...

We saw several raptors, including American kestrel, Swainson's hawk, a red tailed hawk, and others...

This pretty little meadowlark looked like it was posing for us...

We thought these long-billed curlews were fascinating...
 

We did the auto-tour twice and did a guided walking tour as well, and after all that soaking in the beauty and peace of being out in nature, we journeyed onward to the Golden Spike National Historical Park. 

  The park marks the place where the Eastern bound railroads met the Western bound railroads in 1869.  Apparently Promontory Point became a bustling hub for a while, but eventually the railroads built a new causeway across the Great Salt Lake, which was a much more direct route, leaving it a ghost town. 

We were surprised to learn that during WWII, they ceremoniously UNdrove the golden spike, ripped up the railroad for steel for the war, and officially decommissioned the railroad line completely.   Everything there at the historical site  now is a replica of the original, including the two trains that made the official original trek.  

It was an interesting place to visit, though it was out of the way enough, I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon.  Perhaps someday we'll take Oliver (and other interested grandchildren) to check out the trains, but for now I think the long drive would be too much.  

After all that adventuring in the middle of nowhere, we were ready for some real food!   So on the way home we stopped by Smoked Taco (my favorite)...

And then found Milk Barn Creamery in Ogden for some ice cream.  We love finding independently owned ice cream places when we travel and this one fit the bill perfectly.  We've been searching high and low for Zwahlen's equal (our favorite ice cream ever near our home in PA), and this one was better than average, but still not quite as good!  Definitely a great way to end a relaxing day of adventures.   

After that we went home.   I very much enjoyed these flowers from an apartment of guys in our YSA ward (the Dutch boys) and lots of nice texts from friends, family, and ward members.  

It was exactly the kind of laid-back day of adventuring that I was craving and it made getting older feel not so bad. 
 
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The Conference Weekend and Easter Stretch

 Anyone who knows me in person or has been following along here on the blog for very long, knows that I'm a bit disorganized and pretty much the opposite of fancy.   I host a lot these days (between book group and YSA events), but I am definitely not someone who can host something and make it look put-together and effortless.  People come to our house and get a sense that it was a stretch for me to make it happen!   This Conference / Easter weekend was a case in point, with the struggle made  a bit worse than usual because Glen was in Denver visiting his parents all weekend long.  

On Saturday, Adam invited up a bunch of friends to watch Conference in our theater room and to eat all 3 meals at our home.  I had it all planned in advance and thought I was good to go, but somehow struggled even getting breakfast on the table.    I served cheddar cheese pancakes with fruit syrup, bacon (most of which I burned to an absolute char), scrambled eggs, and some fruit.   Besides the bacon, it actually turned out pretty well, but I ended not serving it until 10ish minutes before the first session began, so it felt rushed.  Conference was awesome (of course), and the other meals came together okay (croissant sandwiches for lunch and taco salad for dinner), with only minor omissions and mess-ups.   Most of the day we had about a dozen people there, with some trading places that happened along the way.   

On Conference Sunday, I very spontaneously opened up our theater room to our YSA ward for watching conference.   Over the course of the day we generally had 4-6 visitors there (not including Adam and Tia).  I fed lunch (croissant sandwiches again) to about 10-12 people.      

After all that came the hard part--trying to cook Easter dinner  by myself.  Normally Glen, Heather, and my Mom would make part of the meal as well, but, as previously mentioned, Glen was gone, Heather is still completely non-weightbearing on her broken ankle, and my Mom is struggling with stuff, so it was me.  Adam and Tia helped with some of it, but I was making things that other people normally make (like the potatoes, ham, and meat), so it was all only okay.   My Mom did set the table beautifully, which made me smile.  Neither Heather nor Spence felt up for joining us for dinner, so it just ended up being me, Adam, Tia, Mom, and my nephew, Andrew, so it felt very small.  

Here's a closer look at  what we ate:   Ham, roasted beef, glazed brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes, and Brazi bites.   I had also made some carrot cake (not shown) and a purchased Oreo ice cream cake was served for Andrew's birthday (which was also on Easter Sunday).  

We also got to talk to our missionary on Easter and on Monday!   She's finally doing a bit better after struggling with an increase in seizures over the last couple weeks.  It's been a rough couple weeks for our sweet girl and she still isn't 100%, but we are happy that there is some improvement at least!  I am getting so excited for her to come home in June!  

Also on Easter Monday, I got to go to Ashton Gardens for a YSA stake FHE night.  The weather was lovely that day and it was delightful to spend the evening with ward and stake members enjoying the beautiful flowers and amazing sculptures of Christ.  

I'll be honest...I was a bit exhausted after it was all over, but taking into account that I fed about 30 people five separate full meals (though never that many people all at once), I think I did okay.  It's fun living somewhere that we can host that many people and close enough that people actually come, even if it is a stretch for me!  

And I'll end with a quote from General Conference from Elder Bednar that really stuck with me: 

Enduring to the end is linked inextricably to the spiritual gift of charity. Enduring to the end is not merely a relentless determination to grit our teeth, hold on to the limits of our physical strength and mental capacity, and push through the challenges and adversities of mortal life; it is so much more than that.

Enduring to the end is the joyous quest of a lifetime—a pressing forward with faith in Jesus Christ in a gradual process of trusting in and receiving help from our Savior to become more like Him. As our love for Him grows ever stronger and deeper, we can be blessed to receive spiritual perspective, the Lord’s empowering grace, and exceedingly great and indescribable joy.


Life has felt a little heavy and hard lately and I needed this reminder about what enduring to the end is really all about.  I may not be crossing as many things off my own to-do list right now, but He's helping me to focus on what's most important.   💓

A Visit from My Favorites

Becoming a grandma was everything I dreamed it would be and I love the connection we are forging with Lucie and Oliver, despite them living across the country from us.   I have a goal to see my grandbabies at least quarterly and so far we've been able to stick pretty close to that, though we'll have to see if we can keep it up once we have a few more grandkids in the mix (someday).   We also strongly hope that one day they'll live a little closer to us...actually a lot closer!  

Usually we plan on visiting them, because it's easier and cheaper to get 1-2 of us out there than to fly 3-4 of them out here.   This year, we  thought they wouldn't come out here until Ellie gets home from her mission (in June!!!!), but Garrett's sister got married at the end of March, meaning we got a bonus visit from them this year!  HAPPY DAY!  

They came mostly for the wedding, so we had to share them, but I soaked in every moment I could with C, G, L, and O!   

Which meant we even volunteered to help watch kiddos (including some of their B cousins) outside the temple while the ceremony was happening.   We are good friends with Garrett's parents and are a bit jealous of the fact that despite them getting started on the marriage/grandparenting journey at the same time as us (with the marriage of Cami and Garrett and the birth of Lucie), they are now leaving us in the dust on the grandkid count.   That's okay though, because the two we have are pretty doggone amazing and adorable!  

Oliver had a toy car or truck in his hands almost the entire time he was here (sometimes even sleeping with one) and Lucie was as spunky and talkative as ever.   We told stories, read books, went on walks, played with Denali...

And went to the farm, so they could ride ponies and take a train ride.

We also went to visit Rosy-nanna and Heather.   They both were obsessed with the cats and with playing the piano.  It was very cute that whenever a low note was played on the piano, Oliver would get this slightly alarmed look on his face and say, "Scary," like it was a scary movie soundtrack or something.   We also spent a lot of time with Adam and his girlfriend, Tia, who quickly became a favorite of theirs too.   It was also very cute how concerned Lucie was with Heather's injury.   She asked her a lot of questions and responded with an empathy beyond her years.   It was very sweet.  

Their last night in town, we met Adam, Tia, and Spencer in Provo and had dinner and ice cream before dropping them off at the airport for their red-eye back home.  

In amongst all the heaviness of late, it was good for my soul to have them here and it was hard to say goodbye!   Thankfully it won't be too long before I see them again!    

Looking Back...

Alright, I interrupt the regularly scheduled updates of how intensely crazy life currently is (with a new stress about one of my kids thrown into the mix), to share these old photos we recently came across at my Mom's house.   My Mom has a new diagnosis that I'm not ready to talk about on here yet, but it's a doozy that requires a lot more testing and will severely affect her life in the future.  We are all still trying to process.    In the meantime, she's been trying to go through boxes and I thought it would be fun to share some of the treasures we came across.   

Here's a couple of me from when I was a baby...

I see glimpses of my kids in these....

And this one was with me and my Mom taken on the day before my younger brother was born. It was May 1974 in Germany and I was 13 months old....so basically still a baby myself!      

I love this sweet family photo from around 1977.  

This one was taken around 1979 or so in Oklahoma City, and includes my Uncle Mike (in back), Kristina, my cousin, Ashley, Pete, Nate, my cousin, Aaron, and me (in the front row).

This one is 1988 with me holding my brother, Tim.   My hair was clearly in fine form in the 1980's.  

These were taken around 1999...

Look at my sweet Littles, who are now almost 31 and 29!   

These pics are on display at my Mom's house...

Look at those cute little smiles...

I thought this old drawing of mine was cute and kind of funny.   I'm guessing that the teacher had written the writing prompt up on the chalkboard and I very obediently even added the blanks to show that I filled it in!   Haha!   And the fact that I was excited to "play around the house" for Spring Break is also kind of funny.   

Here is an old letter Cami had written to her Great- Grandma Hepworth.   She passed away in 2009, so it was sometime before then...

 My Mom has a very hard time parting with items like these, so taking pictures of them and sharing them here on the blog is a good way to preserve them for future posterity.   Perhaps I'll have to start posting these flashback posts more regularly again...


 

A Few Things that Have Been Making Me Happy

Life has felt extra stressful lately.   In between the normal busyness of life, Glen is in process of transitioning to a new job (again!), things are heating up with the extended family drama I'm helping with, we are trying to spend more time with my elderly aunt who is in the crosshairs of the family drama, I had TWO unexpected trips out of town (one to OKC for my Nana's funeral and one to Dallas to help Heather with her injury), we are worried about my Mom and are trying to get a referral to get her tested for some things (a process that is proving to be much harder than it should be), and we still spend 3-5 days down in Provo most weeks for our callings.   

All this means I've had very little free time to relax or to pursue my hobbies, but, don't fret, life is not all business!   Here are a few things that have been making me happy lately: 

1.  Time with old friends.   I recently got lunch with some of my dear friends from Virginia, most of whom have moved to Utah in the last few years.  We also watched Bella M. as Juliet in BYU's production of Romeo and Juliet and Logan N. performing in BYU's Young Ambassador's show.  It is incredibly meaningful for me to be able to spend time with people who know my kids, my story, and love me anyway.    It's a feeling that is very fleeting since moving to Utah, so I embrace it whenever I can!   

2.  It was our ward's turn to help with preparing and serving dinner at stake institute for 300-500 people, and it was so fun to be able to gather and serve together in that way!  

3.  Speaking of service, I love Christy and Alicia, two of the women I serve with at church...

4.  Entertaining isn't necessarily my forte, but I do love having our ward members to our home once a month.   It usually ends up right about 30 people and it's fun to give them a home-cooked meal and to find a good excuse to send some postcards afterwards.   

5.  I also love our ward temple nights.  There's something special about gathering together in the temple and I wish our home ward did this occasionally too.   

6.  I also love finding photos like this in our camera roll.    Adam recently ran a race with his friends...

 7.  And Emma had her own Branch Temple night in Boston...

Here they are gathering to watch the worldwide RS broadcast...

8.  I loved logging onto Facebook and finding this adorable picture of our missionary who comes home about THREE MONTHS!!!!!     

Speaking of our missionary, I totally look forward to our family phone calls every p-day.  The ability to be able to communicate weekly was the best rule change the church has ever made!  

9.  Adam and his roommates came up to our house for Glen to smoke them some steak!  I completely neglected to take pictures of them, but here's a glimpse of our delicious lunch that day! 

10.  These cuties are coming to visit soon and I can hardly wait!!! 

So, that's a glimpse of some happy stuff, though  I also need to be better about taking pictures.   Some happy things not pictured were book group at our house.  The discussion of "The Billion Dollar Spy"  was excellent, the turn-out decent (around 10 people), and all in all a great night.   We've also been lucky enough to spend a little more time with a special  friend of Adam's that I definitely need to take more pictures of. 

Will life continue to be stressful for a while?   Absolutely.   But I'm trying hard to look for the rays of light in the midst of it all!   

Have a beautiful day! 

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The Bullseye of the Storm

 A couple weeks ago, the Rhode Islanders of our family experienced perhaps the biggest snowstorm I've ever even heard of...and I grew up in Minnesota, so that's saying something! 

 Quite a bit of snow fell all across the Northeast part of the USA, but Rhode Island got over 3 feet of snow that fell within 24-hours...the literal bullseye of the storm!    

Luckily it wasn't anywhere near as cold as it had been during the 20-incher snowstorm that fell while we were visiting in January, so they could actually get out an enjoy it.  

They spent A LOT of time shoveling and are thinking a snowblower might be a purchase they need to make before next winter.  

Happily they all got to stay home for a couple days (something that's not a given when you work in the medical field)...

While Rhode Island had 5 feet of snow fall between 2 storms, Utah, on the other hand, has had an extraordinarily warm and dry winter.  

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