Spring Break!

 Nothing like a 2 long day road trip to reset everyone. We needed to get in the car and drive to "the land of freedom" as my friend called Utah recently. Our Covid numbers here started going up the last 2 weeks before spring break. Erik got tested the Monday before we left because he had a cough. Karissa got tested the Friday evening that we left because she had an exposure to someone on Tuesday, outside with masks on, who had tested positive. We probably wouldn't have gone if we had known earlier in the week, but after we had everything ready and I even did the major push to get Karissa to Austin's school so she could catch her bus on time to her school, when I got her text after she had been at school for only 15 minutes that she had to go home, I decided that we would still start the drive out after her Covid test. If the results came back positive, we would figure it out from there. She only went to the bathroom at stops and never had contact with anyone. Plus, after having been exposed to Covid from 3 of my students, with masks on, I have decided that masks do the trick. They really make a difference. 

Her test came back negative on Saturday, as I thought, but with my brother traveling to Hawaii with his family on Wednesday and we were going to see them Tuesday, she took a rapid results test on Monday in Utah, just to make sure enough days had passed.

 On the way, we really did just enjoy sitting and driving and listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is a nice and long one. We didn't stop much on the way there and even less on the way back. 

Our favorite stop where the prairie dogs are super friendly!

We got there Sunday evening in time for turkey dinner at Grandma Pat's and Grandpa Jim's. We thought it would be later when Erik was car sick that morning in flat Nebraska, but his Dramamine kicked in and we plowed through.

After dinner, Victoria went off with Mariah and Natalie (19 and just about 17). They chat every day and were so happy to be in person together! Austin was off with Peter, just a bit younger than him, and Erik and Karissa enjoyed being around everyone else. Erik palled around with Nikolas who's about his age and with the other boys, but he also enjoyed his time playing with toys at Grandma's.

Unfortunately, it wasn't their spring break the same week, so my kids spent as much time with their cousins on the days they missed to school as they could. 

Monday, they went to school, so we hiked the Y and went to the BYU Creamery. It had been a while since we had done those things. Tuesday, the younger boys took off school because we went to my brother's house in Draper. He took us on a hike to a waterfall near his house, in between his meetings, with his youngest son Izaak. By the time we got back, Kallie was home from school, and then Layla and Jake not far behind. Derek and Missy were so nice to let us all invade their house the day before they went to Hawaii. They even turned on their pool heater and hot tub (it was in the 20s that day), so those who were brave enough could swim. We sang karaoke, hunted for Easter eggs, danced, and had pizza for dinner. We took the younger kids home to Orem by 7 so they could get ready for their trip, but the teenagers hung out in the hot tub a little longer.

Grandpa Jim was up bright and early and ready to garden!

Crazy hair day! (It literally was for Peter and Nik, you'll see Nik's hair in a few photos)

First hike of many!

Post-hike and school

Nik's cornrows, done by Victoria. Erik's hair was crazy because it needed a cut!

Koki and Karissa

Ghost Falls hike in Draper.

Draper Temple, behind us.

The Fabulous Trio!

We made it!

I was freezing. We had nice weather in MI before we left and it was pretty cold in UT the first couple of days, plus windy. 

Victoria 16 and Jake 14. I think we decided that Jake was taller, but not in this picture!

Miniature golf in their very own backyard!

Karaoke queens!

The water must have felt good, but I never even felt it. I was warm inside!

Slide!

Easter egg hunt group, all the youngest grandkids.

Teens in the hot tub

Wednesday is a "virtual day" for school in Orem, but there it means no school for the jr. high and high school, is what I understand. So guess what we did? We went on another hike! Actually, Victoria hung out with Mariah and Natalie and did whatever they did, including shopping and Natalie's track meet, but the majority hiked up Rock Canyon. Karissa was in charge of Koki, which she loved and they were BFFs, but the boys loved exploring every rock and crevice on the way up with no bossy teens telling them to hurry. As we got higher, we left Grandpa and Grandma behind so they wouldn't slip on the ice and snow that we encountered. The higher we went, the more there was. Imagine that! This was the very same hike that Erik tried last summer as our first hike and didn't get far. Thanks to Covid, he's a seasoned hiker now and made it with flying colors! Since 4 hours of hiking wasn't enough, they put on a little show on the stage at the bottom of the trail. We went back home to make it to Nik's soccer game, before a yummy Cafe Rio dinner at Karina's. After which, the Primary boys went on another hike to Bridal Veil Falls!!

BFFs

Mountain goat kids, even Koki loved these side trips.

Austin's head is hiding amongst the rocks.

Erik was hot, so he stuck his head in the snow!

Austin's head again!

Show time!

I think they finally got tired!

The kids went back to school the next day, so my mom and I took my kids to the Orem Rec to climb the rock wall and swim. Jason had to work Wed and Thurs, so he missed those fun days. But we had a blast being active again. We went to Natalie's track meet afterward, which she took 3rd place in the 800 in State, I believe. We timed it perfectly to see her! We went to Calvin's soccer game after that. It was a tough one!

Murdock trail ride waiting for the kids to get home from school, because why not?

Victoria and Natalie

Oldest granddaughters!

The next day was our day to leave so we could make it back in two days for Easter. Since the four days we were there I worked out every morning super early (staying on Michigan time) and were active the rest of the day, then went to bed kinda late (on Utah time), I was pretty tired when we left. We had to wake up very early to make up for the lost hour the first day and the 13 1/2 drive. But it was worth it!

We enjoyed listening to Harry Potter the first day, which I have a new perspective of now. Now that I have three teens (including 1 preteen), who often put their homework off till the last second like Harry and Ron often do in this book, I almost felt the anxiety for them while listening. I'm so used to feeling that with my kids! Also, the Ministry of Magic's issues in believing that Voldemort was back, somehow reminded me of our government issues now. It's such a well-written book! They all are!

Even better was listening to General Conference the next day. I got so much out of it while in the car and took very good notes. I think we should often go on a road trip while listening to General Conference. Even the kids got a lot out of it. We decided that the first session encouraged kindness in so many ways. We have a new kindness project in our home now. 

We made it home in record time, early enough for me to pick up some Rice Krispies at Kroger so I could use our melted marshmallows for Rice Krispie treats to bring to my friend who just got out of the hospital after being there for 3 weeks on a ventilator for Covid. I may have gotten very stiff legs from so much driving, but we recouped nicely while celebrating Easter and watching more General Conference. We definitely got more out of it in the car, but we enjoyed coloring Easter eggs and eating jelly beans while watching. We had a nice spiritual FHE on Christ's atonement and resurrection that we all took part in participating in. 

We had bunny pancakes for breakfast.

Egg hunt outside. We even hide the baskets out there too because it was so warm!

Rice Krispie Nests

She painted this free hand.

I'm grateful we could end such an active and exciting vacation with General Conference and Easter!

The Blender

 We had a nice Vitamix blender. Jason found it for a good deal a few years ago, otherwise we wouldn't have bought one. They're pretty expensive and I don't like to spend that much money on something like that. Though, as I said, we got ours for a good deal. I was excited for my expensive, fancy blender. 

One day, my blender stopped working. Why would a nice expensive blender stop working after only a couple of years? I've had others last a lot longer than that! 

Luckily, I had saved our old one (a KitchenAid) as an extra one. Sometimes I would actually use both blenders if I was making hummus and a smoothie, or a soup and a smoothie. 

I pulled out the old blender to blend up some figs and almonds for some energy bars. Yes, figs are sticky and hard to blend. The Vitamix did it very well. The old blender, not as well (but it's still working, btw, so the figs didn't break it). 

When I was struggling to help the old blender with the process, I had to put my hand in so couple of times to help unstick the figs. One time, the last time, I turned off the blender, stuck my hand in, and after about 10 seconds it started to blend again! Maybe the sticky figs started to make it not respond properly and that's why it started to blend my middle finger, I don't know, but it hurt like crazy! 

I always have had this vision in my head when I put carrots in the blender that they're very much like fingers and there I was, with a blended finger!

The miracle about it is that the blender was so old and dull that it didn't cut my finger very deeply, it just bruised it. More like it got hit super hard by a small piece of metal, rather than sliced and shredded by a blade. Also, something I didn't realize at the time, was that it hit right where my nail bed was. Although I was bleeding and had a pretty bad cut (I didn't get stitches, nor did I even go to the hospital), my skin healed very well. What was scarred was my nail.

I didn't take any pictures at the time, but as I was realizing the blessing in all this and watching my damaged nail grow out, I started to observe it and took a couple of pictures to show the progress.

This happened a week or two before Thanksgiving.

This was in February.

This was last week.

We have another nice blender (a Homgeek) now that Jason found for another good deal. I like it even better than the Vitamix. But I have to say that I do have a slight fear of blenders now. I have to always unplug it before opening the lid, or at least double check that it is off, before lifting the lid ( I had a couple problems with explosions from the blender with the lid off as well). I did make those bars again and they blended nicely in my new blender, but I don't make them as often as I was. I just don't always feel like it. 😊

Another Year Older

I think this past year has been the fastest year of my life, by far. My birthday is on March 12, the anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the US which makes an easy reference point. I guess most stuff didn't start closing till the 13th, but on my birthday is when we found out things were going to close, at least temporarily. I remember that day so vividly and pretty much the whole year up until my birthday on Friday. It's amazing that it went by so quickly. If you had told me that we were going to have a whole year like this, I would have thought it would have been the longest year of my life!

Here are some changes I've noticed in myself.  Mostly because of the pandemic, but maybe because I'm now 43, who knows?

I went from wearing earrings daily, to not wearing them at all, to now only once a week at church. Since the day I got my ears pierced when I was 11, I wore earrings every day, though I never slept in them. For the first part of the pandemic, I slept in studs and wore them 24/7. At some point, I noticed that my ears needed a break from them and I had to clean the earrings really well. My ears are sensitive to fake jewelry, but these ones are real, I just couldn't wear them for months on end, so my ears got a little crusty. Then, I couldn't wear any at all. Between the face mask that I was wearing more because I was actually going places and the earrings themselves, my ears kept having problems. I have found that I can wear them to church now, and it's been pretty good.

Another change is I don't know how to dress anymore. I started wearing big sweatshirts and leggings like my girls were wearing, or work-out clothes over the summer, and then when I started to work I was wearing scrubs. I still wear my scrubs, but am going a few more places than before and I don't know what to wear as a 43-year-old mom, and still look cute!

I don't wear eyeliner anymore, I was just trying to wear the minimum makeup, without looking too scary on Zoom meetings, or whatever, but I haven't started wearing eyeliner. Actually, I take that back. I bought myself some white eyeliner for the bottom of my eyes, for my birthday, and I wore it on Sunday. It looks very natural.

I just decided to start parting my hair in the middle. Victoria says it's "in". I needed a change and decided to try it. I like it! I've been parting my hair on the right since I was a teenager!

When the Pandemic started I was around all my knuckle-cracking kids (who I think were cracking them more than usual), and I started cracking more and more of my knuckles. I went from only cracking my thumbs, to cracking my index fingers constantly and then my middle fingers. I had to start weaning myself off of that habit again when I realized how obnoxious it is and how big my knuckles were getting again.

The last big change I've noticed in myself is more mindfulness, which is a very welcomed attribute, nowadays. I enjoy going on walks more, not to work out, but simply to be outside and clear my head. Jason and I will walk together, or I'll pick up Erik from school, I'll walk with a friend, or just go by myself. I need it! I also do Yoga once a week. I've always liked Yoga, but it has never been a preferred workout of mine. I don't sweat a lot and I'm blessed with a very strong and flexible body, so Yoga has never been something that has felt like a workout to me. After running more over the summer than I had the previous couple of summers, my body needed a deeper stretch. I found that Yoga does the trick. Even though I don't always "feel" like it's a hard workout, I know it is. There was one pose I couldn't do very well because my hip flexors were too tight (thanks running), but I did that same workout the next time and was able to get it.

 We went through a mega puzzle phase and I worked on a couple of them a lot. I actually sat down and would work on it for long periods of time while listening to podcasts or audible books. Lastly, I no longer fold laundry while watching a movie on the weekends, even if I've seen it. I like to sit down and relax to enjoy it while drinking my hot chocolate!

On my birthday, I enjoyed a good strength training workout after being able to sleep in a bit, it being a day that Victoria has independent study for seminary. I had a great morning at work and had fun talking to most of my family members when I returned home. I received many fun little gifts from friends who dropped them off, plus gifts and cards from loved ones from afar. Thank you all!

Jason and I signed on our sunroom that we're putting in, along with our new roof and siding (yes, we're doing it all! More on that later). He and I made tikka masala and rice with peppers for my birthday dinner, one of my most favorites of all time! We went on a scavenger hunt at the park with the kids for a St. Patrick's Day activity that the Summit is doing for the kids. It was pretty much dark by then, but we found all the locations from the clues given and the kids had a blast running around in the dark at the park. 

When we returned, we had some raspberry cheesecake or cinnamon pull-apart (for those who don't like cheesecake or for Victoria who now has a dairy allergy). Then we watched Mom's Night Out, a hilarious Christian movie about a mom needing a night out. It was so funny, I highly recommend it! 

Let's see what this next year will bring in my life!

When I returned from work, I had this cute hat to open up from my neighbor, Cathy. It says "Proud Plant Mama".

Here's an angle that shows my flowers from Jason and where our sunroom will be.

My middle part and my shoulder angel!

The pavilion was a location for the scavenger hunt.

A trail map was another location.

The Summit at night.

Not bad for 43 and almost 45!

Shower bombs are awesome!

My new dress for church on Sunday where we sang, with masks on, for the first time!

Winter Camping

 Jason has always wanted to go winter camping. I did for a time, but then I changed my mind after living here for as long as we have. I do love to play in the cold and snow, but sleeping in it, probably not.

Jason got to go a few years ago with the Young Men and had a blast! The past couple of months he helped plan and carry out another one, this one Austin was able to go on! They had a few Zoom activities to prepare and talk about how to keep warm while sleeping. Jason did a good job with that.

At first, we were worried about the fast rate the snow had melted around our house the few days before the campout. We had a ton of snow, but some temps in the high 40s and low 50s, plus a little rain, and that snow melted fast!

It turns out, there was plenty of snow for them there and I think it being a little warmer than expected (temps in the high 20s overnight), made it a good first time for Austin and some of the other boys.

They played snow football the night before and had a campfire to go along with the food they each brought for themselves, (chili for Austin). They slept well with all the right equipment, including warm water bottles. There was a big breakfast the next morning, provided by the leaders, and then they went sledding. Apparently, Austin was too tired to go sledding, so maybe he didn't sleep as well as I thought!

Meanwhile, that morning, I took Erik on a little hike at Maybury because I heard it's fun in the winter and we hadn't gotten over there yet while there was snow on the ground. We had so much fun! Erik said he likes it better hiking there in the snow than at other times. We ended up getting home right after Jason and Austin, and we took more pictures than them:)

The moon at the campout.

The layout of the tents. See, plenty of snow!

We could have gone down the paved path.

But Erik wanted the real adventure, so we hiked on the dirt path, which was covered in snow and some ice, but it wasn't too slippery.

He was hot of course, but I was cold!

I tried to get a picture of the black squirrel before he ran away, but I was too slow with my gloves on.

P.S. For my last post, I had forgotten about the pics I snapped after the huge snowstorm we got. They were hiding in my phone, somehow, and I couldn't remember exactly what pics I had taken, though I thought I had taken more of the crazy snowfall. So here you go!

Unfortunately, we had our canopy up because our neighbors leave theirs up and we wanted to try it since we're home more often and can use it when the weather is decent. We were removing the snow as it came, but we just got too much that night and I don't think we had cleared it right before. Ooops!

They say we get 20 lbs. of snow per square inch here.

Very deep!