May 2023

I love living near Marshland. It looks different every time I walk down there. High or low water, stormy or sunny skies, busy waterbirds or baby ducks. Seriously, having the trail back up to our house with such easy access - a ten minute walk! - to absolute open space is so good for my soul. 

I have been having circulation troubles in my left ankle for the past couple of months. One of my blood vessels is often engorged, and my ankle is sometimes stiff and painful. I have determined to step up my cardio game to try to help improve my heart health and blood flow and am hoping it will fix this little situation. I kickstarted my goal with an old Jillian Michaels DVD, which kicked my butt. I have added kickboxing, Zumba, and HIT workouts, mostly at home. It has been surprisingly easy to commit to this past month, probably because I'm so motivated to help my ankle stop hurting. I hope I can keep it up when the kids are out of school for the summer. 

We planted our garden. The kids worked hard turning the soil, adding fertilizer, and digging love pockets to tuck our tomato and pepper plants into. We found maggots as we went, and the only explanation I can give for what happened next is that Hazel is Todd's Mini Me. Within minutes, Hazel had gotten agreements from Todd, Gemma, and Jack to pay her if she would eat a maggot, and then not only did she do it once, but I mistakenly didn't hit record when trying to video it, so Hazel repeated the feat and ate two maggots for us. We heard a nasty little POP in her mouth as she bit down. Sometimes I wonder about that kid ... Evidently, she bragged about it at school and convinced another student to pay her five bucks to eat a maggot in front of them, so within days, Hazel had eaten three maggots and earned fifteen bucks. She thinks it was worth it! 

 Mother's Day was nice, low-key and sweet. The family gave me cinnamon rolls and strawberries for breakfast, dark chocolate and some bright pink flowers for the table, and of course, love notes. We watched old home videos and reminisced about the good old days when the kids were tiny.  

Hazel's school volleyball ended. She has been going to the high school two afternoons a week for high school volleyball open gym, and to a basketball club practice twice a week as well. Also, she and Jack are on the school track team. So, she's been super sporty lately, and it's a little overwhelming for me and Todd, but Hazel loves it. 

Jack and Hazel had three track meets for the season. We lucked out and got lovely weather for all three, breezy and 65-70 degrees. They both tried long jump, and Jack ran the 4x100 relay, the 200 and the 800. Hazel ran the 1600 (mile), 800, and the 4x400 relay. 

I got to go with Gemma and her 4th grade class on an all-day field trip to Sacramento. We toured the state capitol building, which I found super interesting, and also checked out the Railroad Museum and did an Old Sacramento scavenger hunt, with gold panning, which was Gemma's favorite part of the day. I enjoyed seeing her with her classmates. She is a lot less shy at school than she used to be, which I love. 

Todd and Jack went on a fathers and sons beach campout with the ward. Jack wore my wetsuit and did some bodyboarding. No one got much sleep, but they had a fun time. 

Hazel left for a ward youth council one Sunday before I came out of my room, and Gemma was already dressed. Turns out all three of us happened to dress in blue and white striped dresses. We were totally coordinated without meaning to! 

While Hazel went to a staff meeting for her summer job manning the entry gate to the Rhonewood pool, Todd, Gemma, Jack and I went to their volleyball games and then went to Brentwood to pick cherries. We came home with 8.5 pounds of pure scrumptiousness. While the kids were up on the ladder, we set a bucket on the ground in front of them and challenged them to try to spit a pit into the bucket. It took quite a while, but Jack ended up the Spit Pit King and felt pretty triumphant. I think anyone who gets to eat 20+ cherries straight off the tree is a winner, whether or not your pit lands in the bucket, although I would have been pretty excited if any of my pits landed inside the bucket (which they didn't).

Gemma had a piano recital and played the William Tell Overture and A Million Dreams from Greatest Showman. The Million Dreams song was especially fun for her to perform because she tried out three different versions of the sheet music, searching for the right sound and difficulty level, and ended up merging the parts she liked from each. Her teacher, Judy Pickett, introduced Gemma and her song saying Gemma had made her own arrangement. It was a proud moment! 

Hazel and Jack had a fun and strong track championship meet. Jack took off like lightning in his relay, and Hazel took a medal in all four events she participated in. She also broke her own personal record at the mile, running it in five minutes and fifty-two seconds. 

Hazel got some exciting news while she was at the meet that made her burst into tears. She tried out for the elite chamber orchestra at the high school next year, figuring it was a long shot but would give her experience for next year's tryouts. She made it! Third chair, second violin. She is one of only three freshmen who made it into chamber. She said she had prayed to do well at her tryouts and at the meet, and was overwhelmed with the feeling of answered prayers that day. It was sweet to hear her say that. 

Hazel and Jack had their spring orchestra concert. Hazel played a group piece with some of her 8th grade friends: Kaitlyn, Lucas, Nolan, Kate, Hazel, and Sophia (who also made chamber). 

Hazel and Jack also performed a Greatest Showman medley they had been working on for months. They sounded phenomenal! I love listening to my kids play music!!! 

This was probably Jack's last time playing cello. He is not doing orchestra next year. We have decided he needs the time in the morning for his 45 minutes of piano practice, so that's not competing with his homework and sports time in the afternoons. Until this year (with early morning PE) Jack has always woken up and gone straight to the piano to play first thing in the day, and it made him so happy, calm, and centered. He has struggled with his time management all year long, so we are looking to simplify his routine. 

Gemma is considering her options for her musical future, and got a percussion tour from Kaitlyn Zoerhoff after the concert. She is intrigued ... 

We went to the cabin for the Memorial Day weekend. There was still snow on the roads! We snowmobiled for (hopefully) our last time this season, did some repairs around the cabin (the fronts of the deck were pulled off by the weight of the snow, played lots of games, watched Top Gun with the kids, ate good food and enjoyed the slower pace of life. 

We took a picture of the kids at a signpost when we were in Bear Valley in April because the snow was so high they were taller than the sign. We took another picture at the same place this weekend (five weeks later). Lots less snow - but still tons of it! 

Todd and Hazel, though, can't maintain a slow pace for an entire weekend. They tried to convince the rest of us to do a polar bear plunge in the lake with them, but Jack, Gemma, and I only came for moral support and filmography. 

Gemma and I went on a waterfall walk. It was tough going, because the snow on the road was slushy. It was exhausting - like walking on the beach. But it was worth it to listen to the babbling brooks and imagine fairy houses hidden in the crevices. 

We took a snowmobile ride up to a high point in the neighborhood to bask in the view. Jack and Hazel are both getting quite confident with driving the machines. I'm still really intimidated by them. 

We went back to the lake and Gemma had fun stirring the slushy soup with her stick. 

On our drive home, we saw a baby bear! Todd saw it run across the highway, and pulled over. Everyone was lucky enough to spot him in the woods, but admittedly, he's super hard to spot in the picture. He's right in the center. It was exciting! 

April 2023

For Jack's turning 12 Adventure week with Dad he decided to do a cruise!  The cruise left from Los Angeles and visited Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan.  It was a great adventure!

Getting onto the boat was a breeze.  The boys decided to splurge for the faster to fun perk, getting them on the boat first and it turned out to be a great idea.  They got onto the boat, explored the ship, found the great lunch spots, and did the sky ride and ropes course before most of the other passengers had even gotten on.  Over the course of the cruise, the boys enjoyed the ropes course numerous times but never again was it as clear of people as it was on day 1.   

One of the first activities they got to do was a pasta-making class.  There were 12 people in this intimate pasta class where the ship's head chef taught them the ins and outs of making pasta.  The best part was after finishing making the pasta they were able to eat their creation.  It was tons of fun.  

The main pool on this ship was generally very crowded.  But another "secret" they decided to do was book a room at the back of the ship in the "Havana Club".  There were a few dozen rooms in this Havana Club area all of which had access to a members-only pool and hot tub at the back of the ship.  So while the main pool area was full of cruisers, Jack and Todd would slip on out to the Havana pool and hot tub.  There were never more than 2 or 3 other people in the pool or hot tub in this area, and often they found themselves all alone looking out across the ocean at the infinity pool.  It was a definite crowd-buster and a big highlight to the time spent at sea. 

The first port of call was Puerto Vallarta.  They had a few hours to kill before their zip-lining tour so they caught a taxi downtown and climbed to the top of the famous lookout point with a view of the entire city.  It was a very steep climb but well worth the view at the top. After the lookout, they walked down to the shore to walk along the boardwalk and make a quick call home to Mom to report all was well. They also enjoyed some passion fruit ice cream, which tasted as good as it sounded.  It was so delicious in fact that they lost track of time and realized in horror that they had to be back at the ship in 15 minutes in order to catch their zip-line tour.  They hailed the first taxi they saw and implored the driver to make haste back to the ship.  Good thing Dad spoke Spanish and was able to explain the situation to the driver.  As they ran up to the ship they saw a line of about 12 people heading away from the ship to a small dock nearby.  This was their tour about to leave without them!  The cruise ship sent an agent running across the dock to get the waiver signed and they jumped on the boat just in time for their adventure.  What a relief.  And a good thing they didn't miss it as the tour turned out to be the highlight of the whole trip.  

It started with a 30 minute boat ride across the ocean to a small inlet.  They then waded ashore and jumped into the back of a giant pickup truck and rode up the mountainside along some small and winding roads to the start point. 

After donning harnesses and helmets and receiving a quick safety briefing, yup you guessed it.  They jumped onto the back of mules to head out.  Because who doesn't start off a zip-lining adventure by riding a mule up winding and steep dirt paths to the top of the otherwise unreachable mountain.  They were a bit temperamental as all mules are but everyone arrived unbitten and safe and sound to the top.  

The first zip was a massive one, running a few thousand feet across a deep gorge.   There were 3 other zip-lines in quick succession, all of which were full of fun. 

After the third they then got to rappel down a waterfall and pause for a few in-the-moment pictures.  The next few zip-lines were short. running over the river, with 2 of them ending in the water.  It was a bit chilly but lots of fun.  

The last zip-line was the roller coaster zip-line. It was a bit different from the other zip-lines in that it did turns and dips and jogs all over the place.  It took you zipping over the top of the river for a 55-second exhilarating ride, complete with ups and downs that had you floating weightless a couple of times.  At the very end, it took a dive down to the bottom of the river and drop you directly into the chilly water where a guide awaited to unclip you and ensure you didn't follow the line down to the bottom of the river.  The last 20 seconds of this ride were so wide and crazy it had you swinging crazily across the river wondering if the cables were going to hold.  After finishing the ride, "Only in Mexico" is all Dad could say about it.  Jack thought it was awesome.  

Another fun and unique zip line was the surfing zip-line where both Dad and Jack clipped on and rode an oversized surfboard across a deep ravine.  

To finish the course off, what else but another "Only in Mexico" ride.  When they hand you a lacrosse helmet to put on when you get onto a water slide you know you are in for it.  The drop at the top was so steep most everyone found themselves airborne for a few seconds before entering into an enclosed tunnel and hurtling to the bottom on a serpentine route.  It was the second to last turn where Dad realized why they had handed him a Lacrosse helmet when he whipped around the turn going way too fast and hit his head on the side of the slide so hard he says he saw stars, or at least a donkey or two. 

The final slide was a nice rollercoaster ride that again started out good but ended a bit wild with Jack and Dad tangled up at the bottom with their sliding mat 20 feet behind them where they left it after launching over a few bumps.  

It was an awesome adventure, not to be forgotten!  The ride back to the cruise port on the boat was great as the guides took them on a sightseeing tour on the way back. Complete with a perfect sunset.  

The Next port of call was Mazatlan.  This port they decided to take matters into their own hands.   They walked into town for a quick look around and then rented a car and headed out into the hinterlands on a do-it-yourself adventure.  They headed up to a small town about 45 minutes north, exploring the area as they went.  Had a quick lunch and did some sightseeing.  On their way back they attempted to get to the ocean twice taking small unmarked dirt roads that were "definitely going to get us to the ocean". but never quite did seem to make it there.  After their second failed attempt and with the day drawing to a close they headed back into town having experienced the local side of Mexico.  But prior to heading back to the ship they stopped by the cliff diving spot just at the right moment to see two divers leap off the cliff. to the waves a hundred feet below.  It was quite a site.    

Another quick stop to the Devil's Cave before heading back to the ship.  They swear it wasn't planned but take a look at Jack's head on this selfie....

The last port of call they visited was Cabo San Lucas.  Upon arriving in port they grabbed a quick taxi and headed away from the beaten path to a less frequented beach 15 minutes south of town.  

The beach was perfect.  Not too crowded and perfect for a nice snorkeling adventure.  The reef was right there offshore teaming with all kinds of fish.  It was a nice relaxing few hours well spent.  

Mexico is definitely not complete without a nice photo of a cactus or two.  This was a perfect lookout spot within Cabo San Lucus where they stopped to snap the perfect picture.  It's nearly the size of a tree!

While on the ship there were many fun events and activities to attend.  One of the highlights was the art auction.  Luckily they didn't register for the auction in time so they didn't come home with a bunch of expensive artwork, but instead were able to enjoy the auction without worrying about which piece of art would go best on Jack's bedroom wall.

One of the greatest things about a cruise ship is the opportunity to try so many strange and unique foods that you may not try otherwise.  For instance frog legs.  And what better venture to enjoy a frog leg than at the back of the ship overlooking a wide expansive ocean.  For the record, the frog legs tasted like chicken and while tasty, were best enjoyed free of charge on a cruise ship as a one-time deal. 

There was so much food to be had on the ship in fact that both the boys gained some serious weight.  Or at least experienced a fair amount of discomfort as they continually stretched out the waist bands on their pants.  There was ice cream to be eaten at least 3 times per day.  Pizza to be enjoyed at 9pm or 11pm and probably at 4pm as well as a pre-dinner snack.  They tried so many fun new things.  Lobster, alligator, duck, and numerous delicious desserts.  Creme Brulee, chocolate volcano lava cake, and strawberry bisque to name a few.  

To top the cruise off, as they were disembarking the ship they ran into the Cruise director, Marty.  Whose cheerful voice had been booming around the ship numerous times daily for the past week detailing all the ship's activities and inviting the guests to participate in as many fun events as they could.  When the boys came home they would randomly shout "Good Morning Carnival Panorama Family, this is Marty your cruise director" in a heavy British accent and chuckle to themselves in honor of Marty.  As the local ship celebrity such a sighting of Marty had to be captured in print, and here it is.  

They had such a great time, nobody wanted to leave the ship.  It was indeed a grand adventure!

While the boys were on their cruise, the girls and I drove out to Utah for spring break. When we made our plans, we had no idea that we were going to be dodging snowstorms in the canyon and sledding with cousins! The weather played a major role in our plans, including our leaving a day early to beat a storm. 

Our priorities were grandparents and new babies. Lucky for us, Julena lives only five minutes away from my mom, and my Grandma Holley moved in with my parents last year, so we could meet Baby Sophie and visit Grandma without having to drive much in the snow. Sophie was so cute, red hair, blue eyes, and dimples. Beany offered to take Hazel thrift shopping, and I offered to stay home and babysit. It was an arrangement that made everyone happy! 

We also went out to eat with Beany. We decided to try Angie's, because every time we drive past it in Logan, we say we should try to eat there, but we've never done it. We thought it stood a chance of making the boys a little jealous even though they were glamming it up in Mexico. We had ridiculously delicious breakfast food. I had a cheesecake waffle, and it did not disappoint! 

Poor Julena. This is not the most flattering picture of her, but is to document that Hazel was taking pictures of everyone from this angle all week long, even Grandma! 

We went sledding with Scott's crew. The kids had a great time together. I think Gemma, Ethan, and Elise would have kept going nonstop for another hour if we hadn't lured them into Mom's warm house with promises of hot chocolate and donuts. 

As always, it was wonderful to spend time with Grandma. Hazel does such a good job of connecting with her. The three of us had a couple of sweet conversations. Grandma definitely seems discouraged a lot, and I feel so much compassion for her, stuck in a body that can't do half of what it used to. I'm so grateful we still have her with us, but I think it would be hard to be 95, still with strong mental capabilities, but knowing you can't remember or do what used to come so easily to you, and losing your sight and your hearing, too. 

Hazel and Gemma spent a lot of time making music together. They worked on a duet, and Hazel showed Gemma how to do a difficult left hand section of A Million Dreams from Greatest Showman. I loved seeing them work together. Usually Hazel and Jack connect over music, so with him gone, it was sweet to see Hazel put in that time and attention with Gemma. 

My mom set up a pour painting project for the girls. They enjoyed the experience very much, and now each have their piece hanging up at home. 

We made it over to Midway to visit Grammie and Poppa, and Luna and Vlad also came over. The kids made slime, and my girls had fun looking for Todd in the old family photos on the wall. 

Then we headed to Kelsi's house to meet baby Miles. He was super new when we had the family reunion, so they didn't come out then, and because of illness, they weren't at Thanksgiving, either, and Kelsi had to cancel a trip they had planned to come out and visit us. I was determined to meet Miles before his first birthday! 

Chris treated us and Jodi to a Jazz game. It was lots of fun to be there together. Chris spouted off basketball intel for us, and Jodi led the group in rousing cheers in British accents: "Let's go Jazz! Fence of the D!" Chris spoiled us with Chick-fil-a and ice cream, too. It was a special night. 

The drive home was looooong and exhausting. Thankfully, we had a sweet road trip mix that Hazel put together for us to sing along to, and we had a book on CD about Harriet Tubman to enjoy, too. 

We reunited with the boys just in time for Easter. Todd hid the baskets and I made the feast. 

My favorite part of our Easter this year was going around the table and asking everyone which name of Jesus has been most personally meaningful for them lately. Everyone had something sweet to share. 

The kids wouldn't let the holiday pass without making resurrection rolls. Every year I swear I'm going to make them with homemade dough the next time, but I never do, and they're always just okay for me with Pillsbury crescent dough. 

We took our scooters for a ride at Sycamore Grove park and spent some time skipping rocks in the stream. The poppies were out in full force and it was a beautiful afternoon. 

My girls make my feminist heart happy. I caught this little editing gem on Gemma's homework - changing the pronouns from he's to they's - because girls can be California gold miners, too! And Hazel painted a flower pot at Young Women's and painted "Empowered women empower women" on it. It's 'been in our windowsill ever since and is a great reminder to speak up and speak out! 

Jack and I have been having evening Uno marathons lately. And he still gives the BEST hugs! 

We had a ward temple day. Todd went with the youth to do baptisms while the primary kids had an activity at the interstake building. I did my favorite - initatories - and then spent some time up on the rooftop garden. 

I drove with Gemma's class on a field trip to Mission San Jose. It was interesting! I'd never been to a California mission before. 

Hazel played volleyball and fit in practices with the track team whenever she could. Jack joined track under slight duress: Todd and I told him he had to join track or golf because we didn't want him just sitting around all afternoon. He'll drag out his homework for hours and never move his body. Lucky for him, he had several friends on the team as well, so although running isn't his favorite pass-time, he had a good experience. 

My favorite tree on the trail was blossoming all month long, so I found any excuse I could to walk or bike past it and breathe in deeply. It smells so amazing! 

We went to the cabin for the weekend. Todd was distressed that we hadn't been in five weeks. Our weekends have been so busy! It was nice to slow down for a couple of days. It was nice and sunny, which was a lovely combination with the snow. The snow was too packed for safe sledding, but we did plenty of swinging and snowmobiling and game playing instead. 

Jack was confused as to why he could unlock my phone with its face recognition technology until I took this picture and showed him how much we look alike. Now he feels powerful as my face twin! 

This is a stinky picture, but it's all I've got of Hazel's basketball tournament she had in Santa Clara. She is getting better, and Todd enjoys helping out with the coaching. They're committed to every Monday and Wednesday night, so Gemma, Jack, and I have experimented with how to spend our evenings without them. We'll have read-a-thons, or watch a show, or have a game night. Or sometimes Jack uses the time to catch up on homework and Gemma and I get some one-on-one time.