Alfie's Blessing

Dear Summer, why can't we just get along? You know I don't like Winter with its cold and snow. I love your warm, blue skies, food growing in my garden, and more evening walks with my husband. But everyone has to suck every second of you up, and I sure don't get along with Busy. Maybe someday people will learn how great it is to go camping in September, and go on family vacations in April, and have indoor celebrations in January. And just maybe (Oh, I know I'm dreaming), but just maybe the public school calendar will not rule everyone's lives. Wouldn't that be nice?


Since I've barely had time to breathe, you're going to get about 5 blog posts from me today to catch up on all these important events consuming our lives. I believe I am receiving a wake-up call to resume my simplification process. I must have gotten off track somewhere. At least we've been doing worthwhile activities, and no one will argue with that. So, to start with... Alfred. Ross & Melanie decided to give him a name and a blessing. I don't know what the delay was, but we were sure excited to get to attend this special event. We went to Logan on May 24th -- had to leave super early to get there in time, but thankfully I'm a morning person.

After the blessing and church, we went to Ross & Melanie's for lunch and quality family time.

I was trying to take some photos of Alfred, but his cousin was being super "helpful." I tried to appease her by taking one with her in it first.

I also tried to get some of him with his brother, but that didn't work out quite right. Maybe someday I'll be interested in learning how to pose people.

But until then I'll settle for Chloe and her natural talent for looking good.

While I was trying to take pictures some others were playing in the hammock. That looks way more fun. I must have chose the wrong hobby.

Then I got a shot of the grandparents just as it started to rain.

The rain was a good excuse to go inside and fire up the Wii. "Just Dance" was the game of choice, and Jason rocked it.

A Baptism and a Funeral

Guess who we got to see for the third time this year? Yup, all the way from Indiana. Jessica's sister got married, so they were able to make another trip out. Dallas was stuck at a conference in Dallas (yes, you read that right), so he joined them later, but before he got here we were able to have a picnic at the park with Jessica and the kids.

Once Dallas got here, he was able to come spend nearly two whole days at my house. I guess I didn't get my camera out (he probably would have broke it, hehe)... but, while he was here, we got a semi-surprise visit from grandma and grandpa. We knew they were coming down for the weekend, and we knew they were coming to get the last few things of Lark's left here, but we didn't know when, so it was a surprise. And I think they were surprised because they didn't know Dallas would be at my place. Somehow I found a photo on my camera to document their visit.

The next day, Saturday, was Eli's baptism. Unfortunately, it was the same day as Jessica's sister's wedding so they weren't able to make it, but the rest of the family (well, the Utah dwellers) was able to be there to support Eli. After the ceremony we went to his house for brunch, and played in Jason's new kayak.

Since the Hoosiers couldn't make it to the baptism, it was decided we needed another get-together so we went back to Tooele the next day for a picnic. Dallas' family got to come to church with us first, and the girls were so excited to get to take Makiah to Young Women's with them. At our picnic we rescued the frisbee off the roof of the shelter, ate some food, watched kids cry, took some silly pictures, and then did an adult group shot to show the kids how easy it can be.

The next day we left for Laramie/Cheyenne. Brandon's grandma passed away, and we were so fortunate to be able to make it to her funeral. We knew we had a full weekend so I was praying the funeral wouldn't be on Saturday, but the following Saturday was Sophie's best friend's birthday party which would have killed her to miss -- but the funeral ended up being on Tuesday so we were able to make it to everything! It was just a quick trip. I know it was a funeral, but it was still a lot of fun to see everyone -- some we may never see again. Sophie said she is determined to keep the reunions going, and one of Brandon's uncles told her he is going to make sure they do as well. Let's hope so! After the funeral on Tuesday we went over to Cheyenne so we could spend a little more time with Brandon's family. We went out to eat at Olive Garden (Sophie's prayers got sent through a special direct line). And we found an awesome hotel to stay in -- no more questions about where to stay when we're in town.

This should have been at the beginning, but I decided to save the best for last. You remember when Brandon had to go to Atlanta for a week? Well, he did, and I got to work. I went and bought paint -- and painted my hallway, the stairwell, the ugly ceiling in the stairwell that got ruined during construction, and the bathroom. And you know the cupboard hidden in my hallway? I painted it pink. I really wanted some pink in my house. I wasn't sure where to put it, but I jokingly told Brandon I was going to paint the whole hallway pink. I talked myself out of that one, but Sophie wouldn't let me give up on my pink dream. She encouraged me to stick with it, so the cupboard door got it. And I love it!

Fourteen

I should be in utter shock that I have a 14 year old, but somehow I'm not. And while I'm keenly aware of the short 4 years I have left with her in my home, she views it as a long, tortuous 4 years that she is going to have to endure. Yes, this lovely young woman was sent here to help me learn the song of persuasion -- and the second verse to "Long Suffering." [See Elder Andersen's talk] No, you can't see a bit of that in these beautiful photos, and for that I'm grateful. She has an amazingly sweet spirit that just shines through.

She really wanted a birthday party this year. She started planning it months ago, so I was fine with her doing all the work. She made her own invitations, designed and printed out her own "happy birthday" bunting, everything! She wanted pizza for the party (but made me choose most of what we ordered), and she settled on cheesecake for her cake.

We started off playing "The Name Game" outside on the carport. She'd had grand visions of getting the yard just perfect so we could have her party outside. The snowstorm we got this week kind of put a damper in us doing much yardwork, but it was nice enough on Saturday to enjoy some time outside. After two rounds of the game we went inside for pizza.

The guest list changed almost daily -- no fault of Chloe's. In the end her friend, Emily, from our neighborhood came and lots of family (Jason brought Elsie and Archer, Grandma & Grandpa ended up being able to come down, and Lark).

She got a lot of fun gifts from everyone. She meant to put "please no gifts" on the invitations, but forgot so she just told people but they didn't listen. That's OK, she enjoyed being spoiled is grateful to be so blessed.

We played the game "Telestrations" at our friends house on New Years Eve and enjoyed it so much that she added it to her wishlist. G&G Nicholls got it for her, so that changed the party plans. We had to play it -- immediately. And it was just as much fun as the first time we played it.

Then it was time for cheesecake! It took her two breaths to blow out all those candles. Maybe she can still have her wish?

She got a kite as a gift, and the windy day was perfect to take it out to try. They made several attempts to get it up out in the field, but we thought it would be a good idea to take it somewhere a bit more open (and no power lines in sight), so they went to the park.

I went and met them at the park after a while because I was supposed to be getting some photos of Archer. That didn't work out as well, but the kite flying was perfect. They had a blast, and Emily was happy to stick around for hours. Everyone else eventually took off, but they spent the whole day with Emily. I'm so glad she was able to make it! At one point they were coming upstairs and I overheard Emily say, "this is the most fun I've had since..." And then she stopped! I told her I wanted to know since when?, to which she thought about it and then said, "well, since last summer." So, I guess the party was a success.

The girls wanted to walk to the library, but I pointed out that it closed in less than half an hour, so I offered to drive them there and then let them walk home. They called me on the way back to see if they could go to Emily's house, which I was fine with. They reported that in YW's today for "good news moment" Emily said "I got to spend 8 hours yesterday with Chloe and Sophie." Do you think she had a good birthday? I do.

And did you hear what she chose for her birthday dinner? I told her we could go out to eat on Saturday night or do something special at home on her actual birthday. She chose to stay home and have salad. Man, I must have done something right!

Really, It's About Easter

I was going to post all the fun things we've been doing in the last month+, but I didn't take many photos so I don't have a whole lot to show for it.

Lark moved out on the first. I think she was more than ready to be in her own place, but we sure miss having her around. One of her last days here I realized I needed something to show for her time here so I grabbed my camera when I saw them coming back from a bike ride.

I took Sophie to another STEM fair. I think she's had all the exposure to those she needs for awhile. It really is not her area of interest, so I think we'll focus more on things we know she likes for now. It was a 3 day event, so I was hopeful that the crowds would be a little more spread out than the last one, but no. It was very likely worse. Sophie was so frustrated with the kids who don't know how to be polite and wait in a line. We agreed that the public schools could do a little more training in the manners department, but they don't know how to fit that into a science, technology, engineering or math course, so it gets neglected :)

One of the girls favorite things about moving to Riverton is that they're not too old for Easter egg hunts. They have a teen hunt the night before the little kid one. They do it in the dark, and they have to bring flashlights to hunt for them. Here they are getting ready, all huddled in with the crowd, and then a photo of the field with the goodies spread all over. I wasn't able to get any good shots once the lights went out -- the kids were scrambling everywhere and it was very dark.

The next day we got to listen to General Conference. The girls dyed eggs while we listened, and during sessions they wanted to do their own egg hunt at our house. I just spread them all over the yard and let them go find them. Brandon worked on the garden during this, and I was worried he was going to come along and mow all the eggs I had just "hid." I don't even have to fill the plastic eggs, they're just happy to search for them.

On Sunday they woke up to find their baskets filled. Chloe must have been worried her mother wouldn't buy any junk food (I have been known to do that), so she went out and bought everyone her own gifts. No junk for me -- I got a new whisk! And yes, Brandon got a mop bucket. I know, I spoil him too much!

Chloe got her cast off! The doc said it healed perfectly. He was showing me on the x-ray how he can tell from her bone positioning the she is not yet done growing. I found that fascinating. And a little worrisome; well, not really, but aren't moms supposed to freak out at their babies getting so big. But then again, she's not a baby anymore, is she?

We got to go take Eli's baptism pictures. I thought we could go a little early and take some of Chloe for her birthday pics, but the lighting wasn't right that early so we just had fun walking around temple square.

The girls got to spend Lark's birthday with her. She took them to Tracy Aviary and then to get gelato. She sent them a "thank you" card afterwards (for spending the day with her), but they were a little confused -- they thought they were the ones who got the special treatment. Either way, I'm glad they could all have fun together.

Alfred Carl

I have been dying to meet my new nephew, Alfie, so when I heard they were going to be in Tooele on Saturday we made plans to go join them. Melanie directs the USU color guard and they had a performance. We actually met at Jason's house, where Sophie hogged Alfie and I didn't get to hold him at all, and then we all headed over to the high school for the show. Ross led us astray and had us park on the side the staff goes in, so then we had to walk all the way around the school (and of course we took the long way). It wasn't too bad, but we were concerned about making it on time since USU was the very first performer. We made it just in time, and got to see her "freaky" show (it was called Cirque de Freak).

I tried to get a group shot of us at the performance, and loved this one where Nigel was the only one who seemed to have a clue what was going on.

Then Melanie was able to come join us for a bit, so I had to get another one with her in it. Alfie is there, sitting in his carseat. I should have had Ross hold him up, but that thought came a little too late. That's ok, though; I got lots of other shots of him.

I was trying to get a photo of Alfie and Ross, but I was at a crazy angle on the bleachers, and Melanie leaned in to kiss him, so I got this adorable one instead.

This photo is for Lark. She needs this shirt. Her shipper didn't have room for all her stuff, so she had to leave some behind in California.

Here's Sophie hogging Alfie some more.

We only stayed for about an hours worth of shows. The thing went on all night long, so we went back to Jason's to hang out. My girls sure love their cousins.

Lark finally got to open her Christmas presents. They had been shipped to Tooele, thinking that's where she was going to spend Christmas, but then her car broke down and she had to stay in California all alone.

Chloe finally decided she would hold Alfie. I think she was a little nervous with her cast, but I helped her set a pillow up on top of it that he could rest on.

I finally got my turn. I had to wait for him to get fed so he would be happy for me.

Emergency Room

Most of you have heard about our fun adventure a week and a half ago, but I still need to get it recorded. Lark had come home from work pretty late, so the girls were fairly wound up. They were supposed to be getting ready for bed, but when they get like that I find it better to just go in my room and shut the door -- and let Lark deal with their noise! I guess Lark had done the same thing, though, because she was locked up in her room when Chloe decided to go get her pajamas on. The girls had moved my ottoman over by the stairs so they could do burpees after getting pj's on, and Chloe was trying to jump over the ottoman to get into her room. She didn't make it and fell on her wrist (bending it backward), and somehow smacked her feet on the stairs. They got a little bruised up. I wasn't sure if she had broken anything, but when her arm started swelling up really fast, and then she started running a fever we thought we better take her in. It was almost 8:30, so we took her to urgent care. They x-rayed her and confirmed it was broke, and then sent us over to the ER to get it set.

That was mostly just sitting around, waiting for all the experts to come in and give their opinions. One physician thought they might be able to do a hematoma block, which is a local anesthesia and would avoid having to put her to sleep, but when the orthopedic surgeon came he realized she had bent the wrist the less common direction so it probably wouldn't work on her. Finally at midnight she got an IV, they knocked her out, and took about 2 seconds to reset it. Then she got all bandaged up. We made it home a little after 2 AM.

The doctors were all very funny. They may not teach them much about nutrition in med school, but they apparently have some comedy classes. They teased Chloe about all the secrets they were going to get out of her while she was under the medication, but unbeknownst to them she was just typical Chloe (when she's not being shy). All the crazy things she said were 100% her.

Before she medicated, she was just hooked up to a machine monitoring her vitals. I made a comment to Brandon about maybe having to take the next day off work, if he wasn't able to get any sleep that night. Then I just made the observation that it would be his first day he'd taken off. Chloe looked confused, so he explained "the first day -- at his new job." The thought of Brandon having a new job was enough to send her into cardiac arrest (well, not quite), but her heart rate spiked from 80 to 120 in just a couple seconds. We had to calm her down and let her know he doesn't have a new job, it's the same one he's had for a couple months.

The doctor who had teased her about asking questions about boys while she was medicated, came back in to check on her after she was waking up. He said to her, "So, Chloe, who's this John guy you were talking about? Is he a boy at your school?" He obviously didn't know she is homeschooled. Chloe didn't skip a beat though, she just replied, "John Green?" If you aren't familiar with him, he's the guy who makes the Crash Course videos on YouTube that we use occasionally for history.

She was sent home with a temporary cast on, and told to be very careful and come back in a week. If the bone had moved at all they were going to have to do surgery and put pins in it. Scary! But when we went back on Thursday, they x-rayed it again and found that it had not moved. The doctor confessed that he was really surprised about that. He hadn't expected it to stay put. But then he said he didn't want to mess with it if it was doing OK on its own, so we have to go back again this week to see about getting it casted.

All Clean

I recently added "activity days" to my list of callings -- we plan activities for 8-11 year old girls twice a month. The first activity of the month we all meet together, but the second one we break off into two groups. I get to do the younger girls, which is good because a few of those older girls were LOUD. I am also the girls camp assistant leader for this year, and the leader is also one of the other activity day leaders. I hope she doesn't get sick of me. We are trying to do some "beach" theme, to go along with the yearly theme of "Embarking in the service of God" -- and we're not getting condos (drats!), so if you have any ideas of beachy things we can do pass them along!

Charity Lighten is our stake young women's president, and she runs a website with lots of good recipes. She was doing a giveaway on instagram one day for a 3-day juice cleanse, which I happened to win. I wanted to do it right at the start of the new year, but the owners of the place were opening up a new store, and I kind of got lost in the shuffle. But I finally got my prize:

For three days I drank those 18 bottles of juice -- and nothing else. It was awesome! I think I could do that everyday. The best part was just knowing that I didn't put a single bad thing in my body. It's been a little bit of a challenge, but doing the cleanse has helped me to avoid sugar and cheese (my biggest downfall) since.

The Stephens invited us to go out to dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe with them, and then go see Woods Cross High perform "Mary Poppins." It was such a fun night, and the girls got to spend it with their friends. But the best part is they are also vegetarians, but Kellie is lucky enough to have a disdain for cheese. She's not vegan, just never liked cheese. She fits in the same category as my brothers who don't like chocolate. So, we go to this pizza place and I always have to put in a special order for a veggie pizza, then it dawned on me that Kellie would have to order one without cheese. So I asked her if that's what she got, thinking I might be able to snag a piece. Her husband actually had the last piece, but he was generous to let me have it. And I am so thankful he did, because it was delicious! And now I knew I could possibly give up cheese. This was the Saturday right before I started my cleanse. So, during my cleanse I was able to think about all the things I could still have, but just leave the cheese off. And that's what I have done. I've had a grilled cheese sandwich - with no cheese, and I found a vegan lasagna recipe that wasn't too bad. I still don't want to give up my eggplant lasagna, but we'll see if I can't tweak that one as well.

On the last day of my cleanse we got to take Sophie to an Oakcrest Camp Kickoff. It's a special girls camp for 7th graders only. Chloe chose not to go last year, but Sophie is much more social and really excited about it. We went and got her signed up for it, and our YW stake president just happened to be there, so I went and told her how great the cleanse was going. She suggested to me that I save the bottles (which I had), and then just copy the ingredients list to make my own at home. I thought that was smart, so I still have those 18 bottles laying around. I may have to make this a regular thing.

I had signed Sophie and I up to go see "Swan Lake" at the Capitol Theater, but I did a terrible job of planning. I kept ending up on streets that were one-way when I needed to turn the other way. It took me way longer to get there than I had planned, so we missed it. I felt bad, but Sophie seemed OK about it. But then when we got home she let Brandon know how upset she was. Then a few days later someone had tickets to "The Crucible" at Pioneer Theater -- just happened to be 3 of them -- so I took both girls to go see that. I planned way ahead, and even though parking at the U is a giant pain, we were still able to get there in plenty of time. And that play was soooo good. I loved the play when we read it in my 11th grade english class, but this was much more real. If I had to choose between "The Crucible" and "Swan Lake" I'm so glad I got to see "The Crucible!"

We squoze in another trip to Salt Lake to go to RootsTech. Last year just Chloe and I went, but this year Sophie accompanied us. They obviously don't love family history as much as I do, but when they put Studio C and David Archuleta on the program my girls are happy to come long. We didn't get to meet Studio C or David, because they cut the line off before we got there, so the only picture I got was outside the Salt Palace.

Lark moved in with us for a while. I guess California isn't as awesome as we are, so she came running back to us. The girls are in heaven having her stay with us while she looks for a place of her own. I think it will be hard for them when she moves out, but at least she'll live closer to us than she ever has before.

Last Saturday we got the privilege of cleaning the church again. It was a rare Saturday when we didn't have much to do, so Brandon decided we should have another family party. Chloe actually was in charge this time, but she wanted to do something not in line with our expectations for a family party, so she wasn't that excited. She still came up with an activity, but I did the treat.

Today was free day at the zoo. I thought we would venture out. We've been so spoiled with our weather this winter, and even though today was over 50° it wasn't that nice out. We didn't stay a real long time, but we got to see some elephants, lions, sea lions, a couple monkeys, polar bear, grizzly bears, a maybe a few others.