A Bit Emotional...

Sophi was the final kid who needed to have a night over with Ethan and Bella, and today it's finally her turn. She went down to Provo for the night and it looks like she's having a good time. They took her shopping and she asked to "borrow" $8. I shared that message with Corey and said I was not going to reply, and added "She sure blew that $50 from easter pretty quickly." These kids... She had fun hanging out with them. She went with them to a baby bump photo shoot that they had scheduled for tonight. 

Bella looks so beautiful! Ethan you're cute too. He wore the hat cause he just got a really bad haircut from a friend, who E thought was doing it for free, but then he charged him! Ethan was mad that he got a bad haircut AND had to pay for it! Ethan will have to share that story, but he said he'll be wearing this hat for a while. "Boy Dad"

Aww, they are so cute. 

Sophi got a few instagram worthy pictures for herself too. 

Pretty Sophi!

Ok, so today something else I've been a bit emotional about this week. I'm trying to have charity and calm down. This morning Mel and Corey went to a Deseret Soap assignment, and both of their phones died when they were there, but I knew they didn't have breakfast, so I was all trying to be thoughtful and make a lunch for them, and it was a good lunch, with salmon and salad and pho and maracuja cake, but their phones were dead when I tried to call to tell them that I had lunch ready for them, and I KNEW Corey would take Mel out to eat, cause of course he'd assume that I wouldn't have anything for him, BUT THIS TIME I DID, and I wanted to get credit! But Corey charged his phone once the soap assignment was done (it was 7am - 11am) and then I saw that they stopped at Aubergine. Ugh. So then I was mad, cause I had taken time to prepare food when I could have been blogging or doing something else and now they wouldn't want it and it would be wasted (the pho, I'd eat the salmon). When they got home though, they were hungry and they gratefully ate the food I had made.

Corey texted me afterwards: "Love you - it was perfect! I just got a small sandwich at Aubergine so I was hungry. Thank you!!!! Love you!" So yay, I got credit. But I've honestly been a roller coaster of emotions the past few days. PMS? Perimenopause?? I ordered some "Primal Queen" organ supplements today after seeing an add on facebook. Maybe I'm really having a problem of something, I feel like a mess. Yesterday morning I went on a walk with a neighbor, Katie. She reached out asking if I wanted to talk, after I was in tears on Sunday during her lesson. It was good to talk. I've been processing things the past few days, and I think I'm stressed out with life but talking to her helped. So, as you know, this past Sunday morning, I woke up at the Hibbert Sister's retreat and Corey was at Park City for the weekend with the rest of the kids (cause he doesn't like being left "home" with them, so he took them to Park City). A little bit of that morning, that led up to me crying at church - we had church at 9:30, so we had to get down to the valley before then. The night before I told him I'd be there at 7 to help get kids home. I was in the car almost on my way when I texted him (6:52am) - "Kids awake?" He replied "no." I decided to check of the plan we had made... "Are we going to our ward for church?" "Yes." Ok, I'll be there in 10 minutes. I parked in 15 min parking, went up to help get kids packed and to the car. Corey left cause he had ward council at 8:15. He took Abi and Sophi, who always take longer to get ready, so they wanted the time by going with him, I helped the kids clean up the room and grab their stuff, kinda irritated that we had this extra step of checking out of a hotel... Eventually got the car full of kids and was on my way home, and thought of how irritated I was for that 40 minute drive. We hurried and got ready for church. I didn't have time to get ready, but just thought I'd go as is and let it be real. But yeah, I was feeling frustrated that I had that extra stuff to do because he couldn't handle being at home. I took a break, but I can't take a break and life continue at home. If I take a break, life stops. That is DUMB. If I'm not there, there IS stuff they could all do! They could clean the basement, they could do yard work. They could get ahead as a gift to me! I don't know why a few days off for me means no one does anything. So at church I was just shaking my head and felt like I can't leave. I can't leave Corey, he can't cope. I can't hang out with my sisters. It's the first time we've ever done something like that, we were just trying it out, but I'm feeling like a victim and that if I participate, my family can't cope. I'm sure they loved the weekend at Park City, but it would have been nice for them to do something to help at home. That's all I EVER want for my birthday anyway. 

ANYWAY, so I was feeling pretty frazzled once we got to church, and felt for myself. I was kinda weepy during the meetings, not feeling supported when I try to take a break, and THEN in Relief Society, the lesson was on "Charity - a Sign of True Discipleship" by Elder Michael B. Strong, and we talked about having charity for ourselves and others, and I was feeling bad that I was NOT feeling charity for Corey (he's really just doing the best he can to cope, it was nothing personal that he didn't stay home... sure if he was feeling like Superman, he would have stayed and cleaned the basement for me, but usually I'm not feeling like that - so why do I expect that of him?") ANYWAY, again, I was just feeling all the emotions of tired, frustrated, not really feeling that the retreat was the best use of my time anyway, and it made it hard for Corey to get work done, and we're always going to not have money cause he can't get his business going cause of all these kids, etc etc, just all the negative feelings were spiraling out of control. I've been processing these thoughts since Sunday. I read a story to the kids from President Monson's book "Consider the Blessings" about the lady who lost her husband and buried her  four children (Pres Monson tells that story in this 2009 General Conference talk) and Daniel and I were crying

...and I felt so pathetic for not being able to handle my "big" trials, as if they are big. So I've calmed down, but I've been stressed. The walk yesterday morning helped, and so has all this rambling. So yeah, that's some of the feelings I've had the past few days. 

On a good news note, today I made the last payment of Katharine's hospital bills. 

3+ years later, yay. She's worth every penny. This was at the church today - I was changing the display board in the RS room, Katharine was so proud of herself that she made a "3"!

That's a good 3 Katharine! And yes, you are 3!! She's so cute and smart. One bill done being paid, a lot more to go (few more hospital bills for stuff, Corey endoscopy and stuff he's had done) and credit card debt. We need to get out of this situation. Stay calm Tiff, have charity for yourself and Corey, remember the blessings. 

Happy Birthday to Me

I had a nice birthday today. It didn't start off right, but that's ok. Lily and I left for climbing at 5:45, and that part was good. Then I dropped her off at school, and it started to get off track as I was pulling into the garage. Corey came out to take the car and run to the store because Owen was making me breakfast. Owen made me close my eyes as I walked through the kitchen. I went upstairs to clean up and soon Corey was back with the ingredients Owen needed. Wesley called, so I continued to not go into the kitchen and visited with him. 

Then Owen was ready for me. He had planned it yesterday. It was a good breakfast, I just prefer to skip breakfast. It's ok, it was sweet (Owen don't feel bad if you read this later, but to all my children, just know that you don't have to do anything for me, but if you do want to, just clean up anything in the house.) Owen had cleaned up a lot yesterday, so maybe he was ready go do other service. Abi stayed up late cleaning too, which was so nice to come downstairs to a clean kitchen this morning. So we continued to talk with Wes while I dutifully ate my sausage, eggs, pancakes, and fruit (this is not proper food combining, but it's fine.)

It tasted very good. It also ruined my hope of going to lunch with Corey. But it's fine. We said bye to the Wes and little boys going off to school. 

Wes said it makes him so happy to see Peter wearing the cowboy boots he sent to him. Peter had a field trip today. Standing in a Megaladon jaw!

They went to the Living Planet Aquarium. 

A neighbor went on as a parent chaperone and sent those pictures. That was nice. So, I didn't do anything fun cause Abi had the car. She took S&N to violin. I worked on our ward RS May newsletter, good to get that done. Did talk to Wes again. He got to see pics of his new niece. 

Little Mary is doing GREAT. He has a little nasal feeding tube to give her more food cause she keeps falling asleep when she nurses, which is typical for little preemies. My mom brought over a carrot cake and cherry chocolate chip ice cream. When Peter got home from school, he and Katharine went over to a neighbors to play with Lucy. 

Cute kids. The other ones at home kinda tried to be productive while they waited for cake. I worked on getting up the May/June calendar on the pantry door, then I went on a ride. Corey took our bikes in for a tune, so I wasn't sure I'd want to go if I had to use the silver bike (it's a hardtail), but then I did decide to go... feeling a little focused to work off the food I overate this past week. Mel & Christian and Ethan and Bella all came up to celebrate with us. I had just started the bike ride when they texted that they were on their way. I tried to hurry, but they all still waited for an hour. 

They cleaned and made dinner while I was gone. That was a good birthday present. I got home and cleaned up, then we ate dinner. Christian made a really good vegan sauce that was served over spaghetti - made of potatoes and cashews with seasoning of onion powder and nutritional yeast, everyone was very impressed, it was delicious. Then time for the carrot cake. We had a "4" candle and two 6s, so we turned the 6 upside down and put another candle behind it for us to light. Blurry picture Abi took ~

As the shirt says, "It's my birthday". Blowing out the candles.

I announced that I plan to live until atleast 100 years old, so I'm almost halfway there. Pretty exciting. Everyone enjoyed cake and ice cream. I did not, but I do have a whole Maracuja cake that Mel made for me tucked away for me to enjoy a little bit each day, yum... that will be worth waiting until tomorrow. Ethan and Bella gave me a sweet card. Then, for FHE, since I could play the birthday card, we did family service, which is my favorite FHE activity, and we cleaned the basement!!! It's my version of "fun". It was mostly me, Bella, and Owen and Daniel came down for a little bit. They all got distracted looking through old boxes of their papers. Trips down memory lane. Good news: Ethan took home a box of his stuff! His SBO sweaters and things, yay. I just want to be able to breathe when I go down there, but it's been suffocating lately. That mental to do list is pages long. Bella helped the most which was so nice. Corey, Mel and others were cleaning up in the kitchen. So the house looks pretty clean. M&C and E&B all drove up together and Sophi left with them to sleep over with Ethan and Bella. She's the last one that needs to hang out with them. She's going to miss two days, tomorrow and Wednesday. It's fine, it's just 7th grade. They only have 5 more weeks of school, hooray. Maycember will shortly be upon us, but I trust we will once again make it through the end of school madness. 

Mary Joyce Wride (We are Grandparents!)

Exciting news!! Joseph and Eliza welcomed a baby girl into the world this morning! She was born around 1 am, so we actually found out about this last night, haha, cause it was around midnight in Utah. But April 26th is her birthday, so let's celebrate!

Welcome little one! They decided on her name today - Mary Joyce Wride. 

Joseph and Eliza are both in baby heaven and I'm hoping we can get out there to visit them asap. She's an April baby! I get to share my birthday month with someone, yay! And what a fun person to share it with, my first grandbaby. Here's another pic from right after Mary was born ~

A pic from later today, some snuggle time with mom!

And Joseph studying her face. 

These pics were sent when Joseph told us her name, so this was probably when they decided. 

The only name they had told us a few months ago that they were considering was Wendy. There was no pressure from us to name her. We always take our time (well, Corey takes his time. I'm do try to put pressure on him...) Corey has told me many times "You can't just 'name' a child, like you're naming a dog... she already has a name! It has to be revealed!" 

Mary Joyce Wride it is. Isn't she perfect!?!? I guess I'm excited to be a grandma cause I was checking my phone quite a bit and sharing every pic and update with my sisters. For fun today we made some bead bracelets and para-cord things. 

Patrice's church calling in Texas is the "Just Serve Stake Specialist" so she's had a lot of experience and brought some things a lot for us to do to keep our hands busy while we visited. We went out to eat for lunch at a place in Park City called "Sammy's Bistro" which was on Diners Drive In's and Dives a few years ago (which I've never heard of, but good job Sammy!) 

It was very good. I had a salmon teriyaki sandwich with sweet potato fries. I want to go there with Corey soon. The waitress took a picture for us.

After we came back from there, they surprised me with a happy birthday banner and a b-day cake, awww...

Don't worry, I was not celebrating by myself. (Coconut backwards is Tunococ.)

A coconut cream pie, per Corey's recommendation of "She likes coconut" and they got me a fruit platter too. We did a little gift exchange before Amy left (she was leaving at 5 to make it in time for one of Mikey's school performances). I gave everyone a copy of Simple Abundance, which I had been gathering from thrift store shelves for several months. I have not finished this book yet, but I love it and think everyone should have a copy of it, so I'm gifting it to all the lovely ladies in my life (Already gave one to Bella and Eliza. My mom wouldn't receive it when I tried to gift it to her over casual conversation, but I'll try again as a b-day gift next month, haha, then she has to take it.) We took a group pic before Amy left. Steph's phone will take a pic if you hold up your hand to it, it will acknowledge a hand was shown then do a 3-2-1 countdown. Sometimes we weren't ready, but were still trying to get the phone in a good spot and would reach for it, it would see a hand and take a pic, haha, so there were a lot of bloopers but we'd try to hurry and pose when we saw it counting down again...

We tried without much luck to get the lovely view of Jordanelle in the photo. Oh well, I guess it's just us!

With that one we'll call it good. So then Amy was getting ready to head out, and I went over to Park City to take a ride with Corey. We had been texting back and forth all day trying to see what time would work. I was in the garage in front of Amy's car though, and I didn't want to ask her to move since she was leaving first. I told Corey he could come get me, but Abi had his car to take Owen down to his game. (Owen really did not want to miss his game.) Daniel went down too. 

Owen in the back row on the right in that pic - he must have been working really hard with that red face! Both Owen and Daniel scored goals today, good job boys. Corey got his car later, but he wasn't interested in riding up to Skyridge Peak. I liked it so hopefully he'll come try it this summer. I finally made it over for a ride at 5:45. Corey and the kids were making dinner so I helped out with that for a few...

Corey and I were finally on our way at 6:15, we had 2 hours until sunset, and as we started, Corey's rear end shocks were squirting out fluid... He didn't want to ride it and cause more damage. I had brought two bikes and suggested he could use one of them (trusting we could get the seat high enough for him...) but he said no. So I was totally bummed cause I had been wanting to spend time with him, but I was also wanting to exercise, so I did go alone and he went back to the room. I went along Freemason, which he and I did last year, but this time I turned back north to stay on it, which led to Lost prospector, Fox tail, and Lynx, which were all new for me. It wasn't a lot of elevation but it was fun and pretty! It felt like Ann's in Corner Canyon! I loved it. I was listening to "Closer to Fine" which I was reintroduced to after many years, when we watched Barbie last night. That will be one of my new biking songs cause they sing "I went to the mountains..." yay! I also really love the two lines "Well, darkness has a hunger that's insatiable, And lightness has a call that's hard to hear..." I've kinda been feeling that the past few weeks, just being in a bad mood/in a funk. You can just keep going down and down into a spiral when you're in a bad mood, and happiness/lightness can be heard to hear and see. That is why I love Simple Abundance, cause it helps me pause and see. I really need to start working on the book again. I'm still in at the beginning of March. 

So, I went on a ride, got back when it was pretty dark. I left both bikes with Corey for him to put on his car in the morning. I'm going back over tomorrow morning at 7am so he can leave and be back in Sandy for ward council at 8:15, and I'll help the kids clean up and check out of the Marriott. I was back on my way to Hideout at 8:45. Showered and played Cover Your Assets, which I've never played. We've had the game for years and I've picked up the cards for years, we probably don't have a full deck anymore. But yay, now I know how to play it. 

Corey sent me some pics of the kids going to bed tonight. Peter and Daniel asleep, cute, haha.

Daniel, his royal highness.

Ethan was telling stories about Finals Tag, a big game of tag that he and his friends do every semester during finals week. 

They were totally engrossed in his tale, as you can tell by this picture!

Ethan and Bella had work so they just came up tonight. Ethan said "did not expect this to be the place where everyone was when we arrived at park city hahah 

Everyone was pushing it in the gym. Funny. So Hyrum is in San Diego now, he arrived safely. Melodie flew to Colorado early this morning with Christian, they went on a hike, went to a Colorado Rockies baseball game, and then are at a concerto tonight, then they'll be taking a red eye back home. 

Good things happening. 

"It's a lot..."

There was a lot going on today (to quote the Killers (In the Car Outside) "It's a lot.") aaaand I wasn't there for most of it as I was up at the Hibbert Sisters retreat. I called home to wake kids up for school this morning and that was about it for my motherly duties. Corey, I am sorry I abandoned you. My sisters and I visited during the morning and then I escaped to explore on my bike and I went up to Skyridge Peak, which I enjoyed.

I called them from the top to see if they could see me on the mountain. They might have been able to if  I had been wearing red. 

After looking at the mountain through the binoculars myself after I got back, I was like "Yeah, there's no way you could have seen me." I might be in this pic... 

We'll need stronger lenses next time. While I was up at Hideout, Corey Wayne and Katharine went down to support Melodie at her BYU Convocation exercises.

They probably enjoyed the prettiest of all the convocation settings in that new music building!

Congratulations Mel! We are proud of you!

So, while they were doing that, we played games (Cards for Humanity) and that was fun. I vote for this!

"If I had a million dollars, I'd spend it all on ~ Some freakin' privacy". We had Neil help us make sure that they were both home by telling them he needed help with something, so they were expecting Neil  to show up and then we did! Hello Daisy Lu!

We were going to take my parents out to eat, but then decided to just stay at their house and visit there. Neil came and joined us. As soon as he walked in the door: "Where's Daisy!!??"

Everyone was loving on her. Steph said that Grant said he missed his girl, and Steph said "I know he didn't mean me!" He misses his little Daisy. 

She is such a sweet baby, she's really an angel. 8 months old. Jersh ordered door dash and got us all some chinese food. It was great visiting with them. Group photo before we left.

And goofing off.

Amy drove us all there and back to Hideout in her car. Jersh and I were laughing at reels in the back. 

Esp this one with this little girl going crazy for Texas Roadhouse cinnamon butter, haha!  We played a few games and watched the Barbie movie. While we watched that, I was checking my phone cause Joseph's wife Eliza was about to have a baby! She went into labor earlier today after they took out her cervical stitch (aka cerclage). Water broke Wednesday morning, two days in the hospital, got her steriod shots to help baby, after that was done today they took out the cerclage and she was ready to come. Right at the end of the movie, they said she was here. 

almost 1 am in Columbus Ohio, just before midnight here in Utah, so we became grandparents on Apr 25 but she was born on April 26th. Joseph said "Our own little alien!" haha. They do loo pretty hammered on delivery day. It's ok, little one! You've just been through a lot! "It's a lot!"

Corey and the kids are all in Park City, except Hyrum headed home tonight, cause he's leaving tomorrow for San Diego for an internship. I said bye yesterday, would have been nice to see him again tonight, but that's ok. He'll be back in July for the Hibbert and Wride reunions. So: bike ride, graduation, sisters retreat, kids moving on, and we became grandparents. It was a good day.