White & Red Pine

I just got back from a hike up Little Cottonwood Canyon and sigh, it was so beautiful. 

With each hiker I passed, I wanted to wave my arms to motion around us in every direction and scream "ISN'T THIS AMAZING?!?! DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE A PICTURE OF YOU IN ALL THIS GLORY?!?!? "

But instead I just thought that in my head as I smiled a big smile and said "Enjoy your hike!!" and they'd smile and say "You too!"

Can I just live up here?

One autumn outing a day doesn't satisfy, but I'll take what I can get. I think I'd like to follow the Savior's example here and try 40 days of solitude in the wilderness. THAT would be amazing. I'm willing to fast  as well if that will help make it happen. 

That would make it easier I bet if I don't have to worry about food. I'll just find a nice mountain spring to live next to. I'd be nervous at night about moose and cougars, so I might need something I can lock myself inside of. (I don't think I could ever ride my bike through dense grizzly bear country like Ty Hopkins did!)

I took a panoramic photo and sent a polo to the Hibbert's 

I had hoped to go with Corey or the kids, but Abi and Lily had homecoming, and Corey, Sophi and Natalie didn't want to go. Owen and Daniel had friends over, but it worked out cause Corey was willing to stay home with kids so I could leave. I probably could have made Peter and Katharine come, but I wouldn't have been able to get to where I wanted to on the trail if they were with me. The part that I needed to get to is where it turns south and at about 2500 ft elevation, and that is where you  have a view of the mouth of the canyon.

White Pine and Red Pine is a great trail. White Pine ends at Gloria Falls, but if you keep going west, you can get on Red Pine, which leads to Pfeifferhorn, which I've almost done once in 2009, but that is another one on my "still need to do" list. 

ANYWAY... I had a little over an hour tonight. I started just before 6pm and sun was going to be setting at 7:12. So I hurried along and made it to the spot with 10 min to spare, I was giving myself 30 min to get back to the car before dark. So it all worked out perfectly, and most of the autumn traffic in the canyon had cleared by the time I was back on the road. I hope I can get out with Mel and Christian next year, or that Wes will go with me after he's back from his mission.

Other things today: Corey and I went climbing at 8:30 am. Abi took Owen to his game cause Corey and I weren't back in time. Abi headed back home, I took Corey home and then I went to the rest of Owen's game. Corey took Peter to his game then took Sophi out for her belated b-day outing with him. Owen wanted some chips for his playdate. Abi was going to leave with the car at 2:30, but then said she actually didn't need to go until 3:30, so O and I hurried to the store for chips. Abi left her stuff in the car, so I made sure to lock it manually so nothing would get stolen. Upon returning to the car, I wasn't able to open it. Turns out I did not have a van key! I had Corey's key. The car started because Abi had left her van key in the van. My key was at home. I called Abi and she rode a bike down to Smiths to rescue us. That left her a little sweaty before homecoming dance and our ice cream a little soft, but all good. Just a 10 min fix to our problem. 

Then Abi left to go to homecoming with her friends, Jenna Tara and friends. Lily went with Micah. Corey took her to his house and she was a bit frazzled over her dress and all the steps of what you're supposed to do (boutonniere - Abi helped her order that). We felt a little bit like loser parents for not helping her a little more for her first date. But it's not in the budget, so... 

I gathered milkweed pods when I cleared out the milkweed. I was going to harvest the seeds, but I think I waited too long. They are too dry so the fuzz expands and flies everywhere with the seeds as soon as I try to open them. I got a little bit of seeds and some fluff for the kids to play with, but with most of the pods I'm just letting nature do it's thing this year. I still have a bucket of seeds from last year. Not sure where I should sow them. Our yard has more than it's share so I prob don't need to sow them here. 

Kids have been playing cutely. Natalie always the amazing big sister to Katharine. 

And Peter's working on the Arendelle forest. 

Time for bed. Church is at 11 tomorrow, so that is nice, we're enjoying that part of the ward change. Makes Sunday mornings a little more restful. Tonight K fell asleep at scriptures. I put her on our floor but then she'll probably come into our bed during the night. She's done that every night this past week (and coughed on me all night). I'm glad she's feeling better, but I'll prob keep her home tomorrow. Or we'll go to sacrament meeting but I'll take her home after that. She shouldn't go to nursery with how she's been. It was sad to see her sick this week but I'm glad she's almost better. 

A Little Better

Good news, little Katharine is still sick and still has a squeaky voice, but she's feeling a little better. 

Her sick voice is pretty endearing, super cute. Katharine has been playing with Peter since he's been home today, so that's been nice. When Natalie got home from school she joined in. 

This morning I went on a walk and hike along the Little Cottonwood Canyon moraine. So the boys didn't have school cause it's a teacher work day (after PTCs), so after the girls left to school, I put Owen in charge and walked to the Bell Canyon trailhead, then up along moraine until the stairs that go down to Catamount Ridge Way and Granite Slope Drive. It was nice and pretty, I love fall. 

I love fall roses too!

After Abi got home from school, I left for a ride in Corner Canyon, I did Clarks and Rush. Then Abi took the car to the football game. Lily was gone for a homecoming activity before the hoco dance tomorrow. Sophi and Natalie had a ballroom party at 7, so Corey and I went out at 5:30 for our date, to Aubergine in Draper. 

Today my last butterfly emerged/eclosed, and this was the first one that I saw. I called Daniel in and he watched it with me. So the monarch season is done for 2025. I didn't have any issues with butterflies after they emerged, so we have no butterfly pets this year. More good news is that I didn't have much caterpillar or chrysalis drama. I didn't do a great job recording the total number of butterflies that I released, but I'd say it was a dozen or so. I do have a record of the eggs I found: 

• 7/10 - 16 eggs
• 7/13 - 3
• 7/14 - 8
• 7/15 - 3
• 7/16 - 4
• 8/2 - 23
• 8/4 - 4
• 8/10 - 18
• 8/14 - 30
• 8/16 - 3

Total of 119, not bad! Hopefully we're helping the monarchs. The most I had emerge on the same day was 4 on Sept 14. I gave everything to Terry up until August. After we got home from reunions I gave some (like 20?) to Becky in Nephi, 23 to my soccer friend Alisha, and 13 chrysalides to our friend who's son passed away in 2022, hoping that wasn't too much and didn't cause any stress, but was enough to be enjoyable and comforting. I think it worked out good to give most of them away and I'm going to do that again next year. 

Something's Wrong

Well, our poor baby Katharine is sick. Or as she says it, "Something's wrong with me!"

Last night as she tried to sleep she said "My nose is not working." She's had a cough at night too. Natalie, did you get your little sister sick?!?

Natalie stayed home sick Tues and Wed but she went in today, but her voice has been gone the past few days. Funny story - Corey took carpool yesterday morning. I didn't know Natalie didn't go. When I got a text from the school that she was absent, I called and said she was there so go ahead and call her down to see why she was marked absent. Well, then Sophi called me from the office to let me know Natalie had stayed home. I looked in her bed and oh! She is home! My mistake, haha, this was around lunch time so that was kinda funny that I hadn't seen her and didn't know my child was here at home. So we've had lots of movies on for the kids. The kids are loving that I'm being chill about screen time. Natalie came home and helped her little sister feel better, giving her a hug and apologizing for getting her sick. I've kept essential oil "Breathe" in the air, keep putting peppermint on K's feet and chest, and I gave K Tylenol (despite President Trumps press conference warning against it). Ok, quick tangent then I'm done for today. The world in 2025 is crazy and it feels like it's falling apart. I'm grateful to live in our bubble, but if I watch the news or get on social media, I gotta brace myself, cause it's nuts out there. Which is why this article Corey shared by Jonah Goldberg made me laugh, I thought it was soooo good! This is how he and I feel ~ Calvinball haha! This is titled "The Boredom of Writing in the Trump Era" ~

Dear Reader (especially those celebrating Russia’s defeat in the eighth annual International Grave Digging Championship),

“You must be loving this.”

I hear versions of this sentiment from normal people all the time. The “this” I am supposed to be loving is the ridiculousness of our politics. “You always have something to write about,” some will tell me. “You must never lack for topics.”

I totally get why people might think this. But I cannot begin to describe how wrong this is. Well, I can begin to describe it. I just fear I won’t be able to stop describing how wrong this is. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to do something self-indulgent and just tell you about my, well, my feelings.

I am not loving this. I hate this.

Let me count the ways.

For starters, I like arguments about ideas. The only way to have a good argument about ideas is if the person or people you’re arguing with have some degree of sincerity about what they are arguing for—or against. Being a political commentator in the Trump era is like being a sportscaster covering a game of Calvinball. The rules change all the time, so arguing about them is an exhausting waste of time.

The only rule of Calvinball is that the game is never played the same way twice. As the theme song goes:

 

Other kids’ games are all such a bore!

They’ve gotta have rules and they gotta keep score!

Calvinball is better by far!

It’s never the same! It’s always bizarre!

You don’t need a team or a referee!

You know that it’s great, ’cause it’s named after me!

If you wanna have fun!

Play Calvinball!

da da buh dum!

While Trumpball is definitely always about Donald Trump, reliably bizarre, and has no referees (save in the judiciary), it is different than Calvinball in important ways. Unlike Calvinball, Trumpball has teams and is rarely fun for those of us not on one of those teams. More importantly, while the rules and goals change all the time, the underlying point of the game is really always the same: Will Trump win?

Whether it’s crushing law firms he doesn’t like, exacting tributes from universities or pounds of flesh from media outlets, the basic story is always the same. Will the baby get his bottle?

In other words, the MacGuffin changes on a near-daily basis, but every day is another rerun, every month a replay of the same franchise. If you think Trump is the hero, it’s like an endless string of Die Hard reboots. We’ve done Nakatomi Tower, Dulles Airport, and New York City, let’s put John McClane in the Mall of America or Comic-Con—the terrorists can dress like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or something!

If you think he’s the villain, every day is a Nietzschean eternal rerun of the same movie starring Lex Luthor reimagined as if Biff Tannen hosted The Apprentice.

From the perspective of someone who likes arguments, it’s all so monotonous.

Trump’s motives are not hard to decipher—he literally posts his stage directions on Truth Social on a near-hourly basis. He’s perhaps the most Aesopian character to ever take center stage in American politics. The scorpion cannot be anything other than what the scorpion is. Trump is not necessarily a simpleton (though that case can certainly be made), but the simplicity of Trump’s character is so obvious that I never cease to be amazed by people who think he’s a complex person. His interior life is like a vast Amazon warehouse with endless rows of empty shelves save for some golf gear, some bank account records, a lot of MAGA swag, and press clippings about himself.

To argue that Trump is a complicated man is like arguing about the resplendence of the emperor’s new clothes: It is an act of pure imagination.

And that is why the arguments are so unsatisfying. I can run through nearly all of them in a few sentences.

The president has the power under the Constitution to do X, so you must not like the Constitution if you oppose him doing X.

He won the swing states, so he has a “mandate” to be this way. If you object, you must hate Trump voters and/or democracy.

Democrats did it too, so you have no right to complain (even if you’re not a Democrat and condemned the Democrats when they did “it” too).

And then there are all of the cases where people confuse explanations for excuses. The president feels that he was wronged, so he is getting payback. Okay? I knew that. So what? He thinks TikTok helped him win young voters, so he doesn’t want to shutter TikTok as the law demands. Yeah, I heard him say that too. Again, so what?

Towering above all the others is the “argument” that Trump is a brilliant dealmaker, a 4D chess master, an economic savant, an anointed chosen one, so when his supporters can’t explain or justify what he’s doing is right, they simply put their faith in his judgment. His ways are mysterious; who are we to question them?

Finally, there is the all-purpose, shoot-the-messenger claim that if you bring any passion to your opposition or criticism, you are suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” By making Trump the measure of the new normal, you can dismiss anyone who dissents as being the abnormal one. Take him into your heart and find all doubts lifted.

The Trump Derangement Syndrome charge is the most exhausting. While it’s certainly true that he has driven many of his critics into a form of irrational discombobulation, he has also discombobulated his biggest fans, too. It’s truly exhausting how people who’ve changed all of their positions to get right with Trump accuse me of being deranged for not doing likewise.

I get a lot of grief whenever I say I’m exhausted with the news or politics. I get it. This stuff matters. It’s my job to care about it. If I can’t be bothered, why should normal people get worked up?

George Packer has a great essay in The Atlantic on this very point. Whether or not you agree with his contention that Trump is an authoritarian (though not in the 20th-century sense), Trump’s tactics rely on a form of authoritarian logic. If you can make caring about politics so gross, scary, or exhausting, normal people will retreat to their hobbit warrens, while the remaining combatants vie to be the less revolting option. Trump isn’t an ideologically sophisticated autocrat—he’s more Il Douche than Il Duce—but he does have an autocrat’s lust for praise and having his way.

Packer’s point about people retreating from public spaces to imbibe politics passively through screens is an important one because, in many ways, it inverts the formula of populist demagoguery. Willie Stark, the Huey Long character from All The King’s Men, famously said to the crowd: “Your will is my strength. Your need is my justice.” Trump’s relationship with his biggest fans reverses that. “My will is your strength. My justice is your need.” People watch him like a TV character they want to win, not for the audience’s needs but for Trump’s own needs. That’s just weird.

I get a lot of grief for writing so much about Trump (as I will again today). I also get grief when I don’t write about Trump. Indeed, the reason I’m writing this meta-meditation on writing in the Trump era is precisely because I looked deeply at the James Comey story and sighed, “I just can’t.”

Other than the specific facts—which Andrew McCarthy does a good job laying out—what new is there to say? Trump wants revenge. He’s using the government to punish his enemies. He’s undermining institutions to get it done. His partisan defenders are hypocrites—and so are many of his partisan critics. It’s the same plot, different episode of the same show.

My point isn’t to dismiss or diminish the importance of Trump’s pretextual attack on Comey, it’s just that some days it’s just too wearisome to add much to what everyone knows and has heard already, with a few different names or constitutional norms to check off.

That said, a while back I wrote about why we talk so much about Israel. The TLDR of my answer: because Israel is under threat. It’s in the news. I’ve never met an Israeli who wouldn’t love for Israel to just become like Denmark or Belgium—a normal, peaceful, prosperous country you occasionally read about by accident. The reason Israel dominates so many headlines and takes up so much headspace is that there are people who don’t want it to exist, and Israel has to deal with that reality. So it makes news, and a lot of people resent it for making news. The same holds for Ukraine. Ukraine would obviously like to just be a normal country like its Western neighbors. But Vladimir Putin has other ideas, and that forces Ukraine into the conversation.

There’s a similar point to be made about Trump. People ask me, “Why don’t you talk about the Democrats?” The short answer is I do. But the fact is that the GOP controls the White House and Congress and Trump controls his party in ways no president in living memory has. Moreover, he’s coloring outside the lines. He’s testing the system. He’s redefining conservatism in real time. He does everything he can to be the center of attention constantly. In short, he’s making news. He’s driving events. When people yell at me for writing too much about Trump, what many of them—not all—really mean is “Why do you have to criticize him so much?” Part of this response stems from the idea that conservative commentators are supposed to be partisan Republican commentators. But in ways that have never been truer in my lifetime, Republican and conservative are not synonymous terms.

It’s true, though: I don’t have to criticize him. But I do have to tell the truth as I see it. And I’m sorry to tell you this, but believing what I believe, telling the truth about Trump and criticizing him are pretty close to the same thing.

Rocky Mouth and White Pine

I'm 2 for 2 for fall outings this week (I was 6/6 last week). Yesterday I did a hike to Rocky Mouth with Katharine. I should have looked at the weather though cause we got caught in a downpour! Corey stayed home so I had his car and we drove along Wasatch while I tried to decide what to do. The rain began to sprinkle right after we started our hike (note to self: keep an umbrella in the car!) but it wasn't too bad... It started to pick up so I found a board from some bulk clean up on the curb in that neighborhood which I held above us, thinking it should be enough to keep us dry. But then it started pouring so we hid under a bush with the board over our heads too. The rain ran off the board and straight down my inner sleeve where my hand was holding the board! There was a stream of muddy water coming down the trail, and K was scared but I was laughing at the situation and soon enough it stopped. We left the board by a fence and finished the short hike. The Rocky Mouth was pretty.

Our shoes were wet and a little muddy, and my sleeve was soaked but I was glad we got outside again. 

I carried K for some of the hike down and let her walk a bit too. We held hands as we walked and we came to a circle puddle on the trail... I held her hand and stretched out my arm so she could walk on one side of the puddle while I was across on the other side. Katharine said "We're in love!" which made me laugh! She's so cute. I put the board back where we got it. Back home, that was an adventure that probably gave K a tiny bit of trauma. After Abi and Lily got home, Corey and I did a ride to the ruins. It was so pretty.

And with the lowering sun, the leaves on techy stopped me in my tracks! Wow!!!

I love where we live, sigh, and I love fall so much, it's my favorite. I went to the the temple this morning and did a quick bouldering session after that and then we went on a fall hike this evening with the kids. Today Sophi and Natalie both stayed home sick. Sophi threw up last night and Natalie sounds like she's lost her voice. It was nice having Natalie here because she is the best big sister ever and plays with Katharine so much. 

That worked out well, cause I was able to go to Books and Bagels with the ODP without having to wake up Katharine, cause Natalie and Sophi were here with her. I'd be ok with bagels for breakfast, but I don't love the kids having donuts and chocolate milk. Plus most people are NOT reading books there, seems like reading isn't the real purpose? Are you just tricking our kids to come here by offering them donuts? Well this time I was determined to read, so Peter and I read his library book. I also resent the school book fair cause the kids always try to make me feel bad for not buying them books. I don't want to buy books, cause we already have plenty, and we can go by the library if we really want to read something, but I hate that they have the book fair sync with PTCs and the books and bagels or dad's and donuts activities. I don't want to buy books, and this time I probably would have but we literally do not have any money for books. I felt bad for Peter, but said I'll buy him a book for his birthday, and I put it on my calendar for December to order him a book on Amazon before his Jan birthday. But ugh, I resent the book fair and his peer pressure to buy books and erasers and magic pens and stuff from scholastic there. But I made it out without spending any of the grocery budget there. Oh, and Sophi and Natalie told Daniel to bring them donuts, so he had already eaten two, but then got 4 plates with 4 donuts for Sophi Natalie Abi and Katharine and another mom was helping him bring the donuts to me, they found me and Peter in the book fair, and that was embarrassing, cause we can't put them back now, and I didn't want to be the one walking out with 4 donuts, so I squished them together, two together with the plates holding them as sandwiches, so then I had two paper plate sandwiches, one in each hand, which was a little more discreet, but I told Daniel that it was very thoughtful of him, but don't bring your sisters donuts next time, this activity is not for them, it's just for the elementary kids. I prob should have thrown them away after, but instead I walked home holding the 4 squished donuts as I tried to calm down. 

Ok, sorry for that tangent. So with Sophi and Natalie here, I was able to blog quite a bit cause Natalie kept Katharine entertained. Natalie thank you! You are such a good big sister. Sophi I think slept in and read books on her chromebook. S felt better after she threw up, and Natalie's felt pretty good she just sounds horrible. Yeah we prob have a bug going around. Peter went to school but when it was time for soccer practice he said his stomach didn't feel good and that his legs are too tired. I think he just didn't want to go, but I didn't want to go over there either so I let him sluff. Abi took Owen to his soccer practice, and while he was there, we went on a quick hike up the canyon, cause I still have a goal to get out everyday while the fall colors are here, and they are still here! I obliged most of the kids to go cause this was our FHE, which we didn't have last night, because we had parent teacher conferences. Oh, at PTCs, Daniel showed us his picture of his family. I was thinking "my poor kids when they are told to draw a picture of their family!! 15 people! Daniel showing me his drawing with everyone~

Tonight Lily and Sophi stayed to do something with Jane that they didn't get to last week and had scheduled today cause it wasn't supposed to be FHE on a Tuesday, so I let them off the hook since it was my bad that we didn't do this on Monday night. Owen was at soccer, so Corey, Natalie, Daniel, Peter, Katharine and I did the short hike that I did with K last week. 

It was too cold for Daniel and he didn't like it and let me know that he was experiencing discomfort.

After 10 min Corey Daniel and Katharine headed back to the car, while Natalie and Peter and I tried to hurry to the rock where K and I turned around last Wednesday. Made it. Lovely mountains!

Then we headed back. We tried to run and made it back to the parking lot in good time.

Now time to cash in. I told the kids that came that we'd have ice cream at Macey's after. Time to pay up.

Abi went to pick up Owen after his game, and then he saw our ice cream and was sad cause he would have come but he had soccer, so then I took him down and got him some ice cream too. But Natalie said Sophi and Lily couldn't have some, they didn't earn it. You gotta do the lame and boring family things or no treat!

Fancy Fall Dinner

I had in my calendar this weekend to prepare for a "fancy fall feast" on Sunday/today. I set that in my calendar in Feb around the time of our Anniversary Dinner, thinking it would be nice to have another feast together at some time of the year when there aren't other obligations, so not on a holiday. I thought doing it at the start of the fall season would be good since autumn is my favorite. I was hoping this could be like a family thanksgiving meal without outside demands. I asked Lily and Sophi last week to help me, and that didn't work, they didn't really do anything despite a few texts I sent over the weekend and the few times I asked today for help. I should have asked Abi or Natalie, but I wanted to give Lily and Sophi a chance to step up and contribute. I'll try again another time, but for this I ended up planning it by myself and mostly cooking and preparing it by myself. Daniel offered to help and he was sweet, he cut up carrots and set the table. Overall, it didn't really have the big deal feeling that I was going for, but still ok for our first time trying it. Instead of calling it a feast this year, we'll just call it a fancy dinner, cause we got out the fancy dishes and I brought up the box of fall decorations. Those few fake fall leaves and pumpkins helped make it feel different.

I spent 3+ hour prepping and cooking. Made Ethiopian cabbage dish and a sweet potato carrot ginger soup with lime pico de gallo as a garnish. Next year we'll try this again, but we'll have a pumpkin dessert or stuffing and turkey and some sparkling apple juice. Again, it was ok for our first attempt. I did the best I could by myself and I wasn't too sad that Lily and Sophi didn't get into cause we have limited funds at the moment anyway and I couldn't have bought all the ingredients they wanted anyway if they had fully participated. We invited Wayne to join us and he picked up some "local" produce at a little fruit stand on Wasatch blvd on his way here. It was pineapple. Hmm, you sure pineapple grows here locally? He picked up pineapple last time he joined us for dinner too. We joked then and this time again about it and we pretended that of course it is grown here as Abi said "Mmmm, Utah pineapple just hits different..."  

After eating I took a quick nap in the basement where it's dark and I can hide. Corey cleaned up (thank you sweetie) and then we did some charades. Last time we did that was for FHE last month. That time Katharine kept shouting out "Isabella!" which was her current favorite princess. Today it must be "Giselle!" from Enchanted cause that was what she shouted everytime today, so cute. It was funny to do it with Wayne. He got Disney princesses once and went and laid down on a cedar chest "Snow White!" We got it. A few said Sleeping Beauty, but it was Snow White. Peter did Elephant. Daniel did ice cream. When Katharine had a turn, Corey had her category be "princesses" to help us out, but then K got down on all 4s like Peter had been, then licked the air like Daniel did, then she laid down like Wayne, haha! We kept saying princess names. It was Elsa. She proudly cheered "You got it!" So she was just imitating all of us, cutie pants. 

Wayne left after that, and then we turned on The Sound of Music, which was fun to watch with Lily (she thinks Christopher Plummer was quite the "hot dad"). Mel and Christian came by, and Christian watched that with us while Mel got flowers together from a wedding bouquet she is pressing. She's got a little side hobby pressing flowers and framing them. Mel shared some pics of a hike they did yesterday - they hiked Timpanogos! 

Jealous!!! I wanted to go!!! Although they started their hike at like 2:30 am!

Yeah... probably would not have been realistic for me to go, hence why they didn't bother to invite me. sniff. But I want to go. Maybe I'll sneak away sometime. 14 miles though, yikes, yeah I prob can't do that. Not sure how I pulled that off in 2008. Maybe it's not too late to try it this year, but I'm cutting it close if I want to do it. The main one I said I wanted to do this summer was Hounds tooth, and I haven't done it yet, doh. Someday I want to go all the way up Bell Canyon to the upper Bell Canyon Reservoir. Maybe I'll see if Mel and Christian want to come do that before the snow comes! 

Since they are such the outdoor-sy couple!

Ok, a few more pics from this weekend - Sophi was gifted a sculpture for her birthday from Jane, she loves it, haha! 

A good joke between friends. Owen being a weirdo tonight - dressed up in Ethan's unicorn onesie, but he shoved a blanket in it to make him fat. 

Yesterday I took Peter to his soccer game. Corey was on a ride (I had a long ride on Fri, so it was ok) The Red Dragons lost a lot to 1, which was frustrating for Peter, but he handled it a little better. He's been practicing a lot with Owen in the backyard and you could tell, he did a good job going after the ball and kicking! 

Owen won his game like 10 to 0. He scored a goal too, which he was happy about. 

Team photo. 

And team cheer! Yay Black Diamonds!

Owen's games are fun to watch. I took Owen to his game cause Corey was gone looking for gear at a ski swap. After Owen's game we went by Walmart so I could get Daniel a watch. He really wanted a watch for his bday, and I thought my mom was getting him one. She came by this morning while I was at Peter's game and he got legos, so I went to get a watch to make his birthday dreams come true. Owen got one too with his bday money that he hadn't used yet. At home, Owen gave his watch to Peter, so now they all have watches and they are excited about that. Corey and I both worked hard yesterday and today, but I did take a time out to go on a hike in the afternoon to Bell Canyon. 

And we had our 3rd to last butterfly emerge today. We have had almost no monarch drama this year so that's been nice. 

Well, I did have two that got stuck as they tried to change to the chrysalis (like last pic here). But it's been a relatively calm monarch year.

Today a pipe broke in the property next to us. When I got back I saw the water flying up like a little Old Faithful. It was taken care of fine but made the kids nervous for about an hour when it was shooting out water. 

So that's about it for this weekend! One last thing - Wayne sent a text tonight after he got back home. "Thank you for dinner and the evening's entertainment. As I was driving home this thought came into my mind. The joy and blessings which come from living the gospel is reflected through the eyes of children sharing themselves with others."

I loved that, and say Amen! So grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and I thank and praise God for all the good that is in our life, especially our children. We're grateful to be able to share life with each of them.

Daniel is 9!

Happy Birthday to Daniel! 

9 years old today!! Let's light those candles.

Daniel's life has been captured here on the blog since day 1, so today on the Wride Nation chat, we shared a few favorite pics and posts. Joseph liked this one of Daniel as a little snowman on Halloween in 2017. Awww Daniel!! You're so cute!! I also remember this moment in 2020, when Ethan was sharing funny pics of Daniel with me and I cried from laughing. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to make a list of birthday links - let's see if I can keep up with this tradition... 9 posts for Daniel's 9 years with us:

1. 2016 Awake with my new baby at 1 am.
2. 2017 My two cute little boys with binky's and blankets
3. 2018 Daniel following Owen's lead with the pacifier
4. 2018 O&D are little twins
5. 2019 Mel captured Daniel doing an interpretive dance
6. 2021 Daniel doesn't want to stop skiing
7. 2021 10 stitches!
8. 2022 Daniel swallowed a penny
9. 2024 He likes free desserts

Aww, he's a good kid. Putting out the candle with his fingers. I gave him a cup of water to use to get them nice and wet.

So today the high school girls didn't have school, cause of a teacher work day (it was Parent teacher conferences this week). So since they were home, I took a long ride. Corey had his car, Abi needed the van, but I had my bike! I gave myself 2-3 hours to be away. I left at 12:30 and rode from home all the way out to Draper to the Peakview parking lot at the top of Rush. Most of the ride I was on the Bonneville Shoreline trail.

I wanted something fairly easy, low intensity. This was long but not a hard climb. 20.84 miles, 2 hours 43 minutes. And I saw the fall colors again, go me! I'm 5/5 for getting out this week!

Yesterday I did a ride up the canyon, only got to the 3rd bridge cause I had to get back home. I left early, but it was still dark. I miss the light morning hours, oh well. Fall is almost upon us. I guess that means sweater weather and warm comfort foods though, so I'm looking forward to that. Corey and I went out to India House on State street tonight for our date. Corey ordered the Lamb Tiki Masala and I got the Butter chicken, plus some peshwari naan. One butterfly came out today. I had Lily say hello to it before we let it go. 

The kids haven't been too interested in the butterflies, but that's ok. It's fun to have them care even if it's just for a moment. It's still magical. We have a lot of milkweed but today I cleared out a lot last night. It started cause I was cutting some milkweed for Daniel to use for his egg drop that was today (like Sophi's egg drop contraption in 2020, 5th pic) and as I was cutting stalks down for that, it came to my attention once again ALL the yucky gross aphids on the milkweed. We have sooo many oleander aphids, their population has totally exploded. Like huge clusters of tons of little yellow bugs all over the underside of the leaves, yuck yuck yuck, I don't like them, they look so gross. They don't wash off with the hose, and I don't want to use pesticides, cause that will hurt the monarchs, so when I see them I've just been cutting the milkweed and putting the whole thing in the garbage. But they really are all over the milkweed now, and since butterfly season is about over (I have three more chrysalides left) I decided to just clear all the plants out. Would have been good to do it before bulk clean up last week, oh well. Plus and I think some deer slept in the plants a month or so ago, and so one section of milkweed and the daisy's were squished and it just looks all trampled and messy in two spots, so I cut it all down. While I worked, Katharine played around me. Daniel was at a primary party and got his face decorated with purple patterns like a k-pop demon, and he came to work on the egg drop. As I cut him some milkweek stalks, he and K started acting out the Isabella and Mirabel scene from Encanto for some reason.

It was so cute. I was laughing, then I told them to start over so I could capture it on video. 

Yeah, she's watched Encanto a few times... I loved it when she, acting as Isabella, gasped at Daniel/Mirabel's accusation "SELFISH?!?!? I have been stuck being perfect my entire life!!" haha, that was perfect coming from Katharine! Poor princess baby of our family, she's stuck being perfect, ha! They played until it got dark, and I got the whole milkweed patch in the front cleared. The garbage is full, hopefully the aphids won't escape before the trash goes out next Wednesday. It felt good to get some yardwork done. Then we came in and I helped D with the egg drop contraption, time for bed now. Another week done, man, we're almost though September! Sometimes I want time to freeze, but I am also ok with time passing quickly, cause we're looking forward to these next few months getting over with so we can get to January when Wes comes home!