Park City Ski Day 2

Today I did a great job, once again, and being supportive in my actions regarding this ski trip. And I did pretty good at not murmuring in private either. This morning I was feeling much better physically. I believe I'm almost fully recovered from my cold. Thus I got up and was helping kids get ready early. This morning, there were two things I needed to do, so I told Corey that I would take Katharine and Lily down to the valley and I'd be back to make lunch. I needed to go to 1) get feminine products and 2) get Lily home to check on her Sourdough starter cause she has her first catered event this weekend ... kinda a big deal! and she needs to make sure she has enough starter for 30 loaves of sourdough for Melodie’s reception. So that was my plan, with the bonus that I could bring K along and get her out of Corey's hair so he could get work done. I said I'd be back to make lunch for everyone after they went skiing - Abi could take the kids and stuff, so I made that plan started to execute on it and then people got wind of it and started taking their own initiative and trying to be all helpful or whatever and Melodie said she and Christian could go by the house and feed sourdough starter and that they could give Joseph and Eliza a ride home. Then Abi suggested if that didn't work, she could take Lily with her later when she went down for her flute recital and they could get the feminine products and she could feed her starter then. Ok, I guess everyone has intervened and I'm not going down to the valley right now. Corey was in bed while we're discussing (I'm sure tired from all he's done to make this trip happen.) then Abi asked if he was coming skiing! He said he didn't want to go skiing, I didn't want him to come, he needed a break from kids. He told Abi he just wanted to be left alone, but then he got up and started to get ready with a resigned and wave the white flag attitude. I heard him and I told him he could stay and get work done and I'd take the kids skiing, and then he said he didn't think that I could handle Katharine! What?!?! Whatever - I said "Well, maybe I can't, but at this moment I'm willing to try, so you better take it while I've got the right attitude..." But he got ready and the kids left and Corey and I were right behind them. When we started over to the slopes on the Town lift, Corey and I were on the chair with K. 

I "can't handle Katharine" Pshaw! The words were ringing in my ears. Corey was with her all day yesterday, so I said "Katharine! Will you ski with me???" And she said "No, I want to ski with my dad." Pleadingly I tried again: "Don't you want to ski with me?!???" and she was quiet and then sweetly and encouragingly said "You can ski by yourself~" Corey smiled at that and seemed pleased that he was the favorite. When we got off, Abi called Corey and said that Peter needed help from some situation, so Corey took off and K was stuck with me. I put my ski poles in front of her and had her in between my skis, in a wall sit position, the same way Corey did yesterday, and we went down Homerun. Soon we saw Corey on Homerun, his skis were off and he was walking up Homerun to get to Treasure Hollow, which was where Peter was. I guess I'll keep going with K. My legs were killing me by the bottom of the hill, I didn't see Corey or anyone, so K and I went over to the magic carpet practice area. Did that twice, she was bored or didn't want to stand anymore? She wanted to do a chair, so we went to First Time. That chair lift was fast, which she liked, and the hill wasn't bad. We took that up and took a sandwich break at the top. 

Did First time a few times, then took a snow break.

K would just pick up snow anywhere. She might be mineral deficient? Isn't that something, like if you crave ice that means you're low on iron? 

K seeing me snap a pic, so she strikes her princess pose with a knee pop.

So cute. We did the First Time lift over and over. On one of our runs down, Corey and the kids were at the bottom and saw us - look at how good we're doing! K and I have a good system going, she can ski!

(And also let it be known by one and all that I CAN handle Katharine!)

I'd been with K for over an hour. Corey said we could swap and offered to take her. And then Katharine said "No, I want to ski with my mom." I proudly looked at Corey and said "HA!" Katharine chooses me! I win!

So Katharine and I stayed on First Time, did that a few more times and then she wanted to go back to the hotel. We met up with Corey and he took her back to the room. I skied with Natalie and Abi and Peter. Lily and Sophi had already headed back (Lily's ankles hurt). And where are Owen and Daniel? I was nervous when Abi said that Owen and Daniel were skiing by themselves. Corey had instructed them to stay on the payday chairlift and home run. Yikes! Is that ok to leave two young boys alone on a mountain? Skiing at high speeds? I was pleasantly surprised when we found them later, and that they had followed those instructions and we’re just doing laps on payday in home run. Well ok! Good job boys. When we met up with the boys, they at the pb&J's that Mel made that I had been carrying in my hoodie all morning, then Abi and Natalie went back to the room (after I got a pic.)

Owen and Daniel and Peter and I went up Bonanza. Owen said "Dad said to stay on Payday" "Well, that's just if you are by yourself. If I'm with you, we can do Bonanza." "Oh!" So we took that up so I could show them the trees that Mel and I skied yesterday. They thought that was fun. Little video here. Then we got another pic with the gorgeous view. 

I wanted to show them Johnny's, but after we went that way, we saw it was roped off and a snow maker was on it. Then we had to keep going and ended up at another lift Pioneer, which I'd never been on before. The hills on that looked way steep, as we were riding up. I got a bit nervous, but it said there were blues we could take. They ended up being pretty hard blues for the 4 of us. We went down Red Fox and that kinda had mogles all over it. The kids did great though with a few falls and tip overs and a few moments of sliding down, but we survived, found a green trail Woodside, then to Flat Iron, and made it back to where we could see Bonanza then on to familiar territory - Payday and Homerun. We went down Treasure Hill, and Lil Belly (that was icy!) and made it safely down to Payday. Corey came back out to ski with us a few more runs. 

Owen and Daniel sped ahead, since they were back on their hometurf. Corey stayed with Peter while I tried to catch up to O&D to tell them to wait at the top and we'd head back to the hotel. They were getting on the lift when I got to the bottom so I yelled at them to wait at the top and hoped they heard me. They did, yay, they got on the town lift in front of us and Corey Peter and I were behind them and took the Town Lift back to the hotel. Great job skiing today Peter! You're an animal!

It was very pretty to see the city from up high, for 20 minutes (it's a slow lift). We had pizza for dinner, Corey worked, I am here blogging, and tomorrow we have a timeshare presentation at 11:30 and then I'll head back to SL with the girls before a bridal shower for Mel tomorrow night. SO - I wasn't thrilled with the timing of this ski get away, but it has been a good two days of skiing, so good job to Corey for making it happen. He's good at making memories for the kids. 

Park City Ski Day 1

We are up at Park City for a few days to ski. I am sick and was not feeling great this morning (I still am not feeling great, just woke up from a 7:30 - 9pm nap) but I helped a little bit to get the kids ready. It was a big and slow process to find everyone their clothes and gear. Hyrum Wes and Abi were all good helpers, but it's still alot. You're cute though, Katharine!

Even though I feel sick, I felt resigned to my fate. I have to be here and I have to ski. I would have preferred this trip was not happening and I could just focus on wedding stuff and/or rest, but here we are. So I didn't sleep great, but it wasn't terrible. About the same as the past two nights. I got up and helped kids, then got myself ready and headed out with everyone to the mountain. It was nice to be out and to be with the kids. I took the town lift over on a chair with Peter. He and I were ski buddies for most of the morning. My throat didn't bother me and coughing wasn't bad. I decided I was going to stay out until it was done (I don't believe in stopping for lunch - food can wait, no one is going to die, use your ski time wisely!) I went through the hassle to dress and get out there, I didn't want to come back in. Gotta get our money's worth, and our hassle's worth from this. The kids all came in for lunch around 1:30 and didn't go back out. I spent the morning with Peter and then after they all left, I skied the afternoon with Mel and Christian. They showed me a trail they went on that is called "Mel's Alley"! yay! Very appropriate to ski on that with Mel.

They were with Wes earlier, but then he took off and we didn't find him again, although we did try and yell "Hey Wes!" every now and then when we saw a person in all black, just in case it was him. 

We found out later that Wes got off the trail somewhere and got stuck in deep snow, and couldn't ski in it, so he took off his skis and was hiking for like an hour, then got to the road and walked back to the hotel. 

That was a bummer to not ski with him, even though I'm not that good or fast, so he prob would have been bored with me. He still has one more ticket to use at Park City this year. We'll try to use in February when he and Hyrum come home over Presidents Day weekend. Wes gave a spiritual thought tonight about the importance of paying attention to signs and of staying on the path. Today was the only day for Wes to ski, since he and Hyrum are headed up to Rexburg for school tomorrow. They are driving down tonight to sleep at home and will pack up and leave in the morning.

Ok, I just got the details from him about what happened. He said he was skiing Payday and Homerun with Mel and Christian, but was a little bored, so then decided to go a little faster, and then he was still bored cause he was alone. THEN he went under a rope (tsk tsk Wes!) cause he thought it would be fun. He said he ended up trying to ski for 30 min but it didn't work cause it was just bushes and trees, so then he took off his skis, spent a long time wandering, then found a ski path where someone had skied, followed that for as long as he could, eventually got to a road called King Road (just found it on google, that's a dirt/gravel hiking and running trail), skied on that for 5-10 min until it got to a paved road. He asked a few people for directions and eventually found his way back to our room at Summit Watch. So yeah, stay on the marked path! Don't go astray.

It was a miracle there was snow for us today. This has been a very warm winter, and as of last night, the mountains were pretty bare. There was some precipitation last night, but it was rain and sleet. The forecast didn't show any snow today, but God gave a miracle to Corey for his efforts to create memories for the kids. This morning around 8 am, it started to snow, and the snow was sticking, and the lifts were open and 2-5 inches of snow that came down during the day. We had snow in our faces and on our coats as we rode the chair lifts up, but it was all good. I had a good time with Peter and with Mel Christian. Selfie before out last run from the top of Bonanza ~

(side note - I was surprised at how I looked when I turned the camera to selfie - When we took a bathroom break at the bottom of Silverlode, I gave Christian my goggles cause the yellow ones kept fogging up for him, they were good for me, but I didn't know how I looked and gave myself a scare seeing my cheeks pushed down - looking like the Great Owl from The Secret of Nimh or something with big ol' saggy bags under my eyes! I'm getting old, but I shall strive to grow old gracefully.)

So we got the Bonanza last chair and went on our last run all the way down Homerun from the top. Townlift was closed by then, which we knew it would be, so we texted Corey from the top to pick us up at the bottom near the mountainside entrance. A much better idea than stopping our skiing short to catch the town lift last chair. Gotta get our money's worth! We came back, went swimming, then Abi left swimming and went back to the room to make dinner. We went back for dinner (sausage, potatoes, & veggies) and then the kids all watched Knives Out while I took a nap (cause I'm sick and just trying to stay alive). 

Joseph Eliza & Mary and Ethan Bella and Alive are all up here too, and Hyrum. They didn't go skiing but it was fun to be together. Joseph has FOMO and was considering buying a ticket for $245 or whatever obscene amount it is. Corey told him NO - just set aside that money to buy the discount tickets for next season when they are on sale. Hyrum and Wesley just took off. We all gave them a hug. 

So, Corey said he booked this trip two years ago and couldn't change it, but I honestly have been dreading it for a while. Just the worst timing with the wedding this weekend, isn't it? Is that just me making something out of nothing? I have been cursing this situation under my breath this whole weekend to cope, esp this morning, but then I had a great time on the mountain, so now I feel bad about that. It was a lovely day. I still wish the timing were different, but it's not, so just suck it up Tiff and try to be present. We have another day of skiing tomorrow (murmur murmur) then I will leave with the girls on Wednesday (after a timeshare presentation at 11:30am) for Mel's bridal shower Wed evening. Corey will stay up here with ODP until Thurs at 10. Shall I take Katharine with us or have her stay here with Corey? I don't know, maybe we'll let her decide, we'll see what she wants Wednesday.

Highlights of 2025

Goodbye to 2025! I was looking back at the "Highlights of 2024", and at the beginning of that year, one of our first highlights was Wesley starting his mission. Now at the end of 2025, we just welcomed him home!

That was the last of the highlights, but it made the top 3 for 2025. Highlights #1 and #2 were welcoming into our world two grandbabies. Mary was born in April. Here she is with her parents Joseph & Eliza ~

...and Alvin was born in May. A family photo that Ethan and Bella had taken this summer ~

My grandbabies are THE CUTEST!!! and my kids spouses are so amazing! With Wesley's return, we have had all 13 kids (plus some!) at home the past 24 hours and Joseph and Eliza and Mary won't go back to Ohio until after Mel's wedding which is in ten days! Oh! That's another highlight! Mel is getting married! Another amazing spouse joining our family. I guess that will be a 2026 highlight, so the 2025 highlight is that she and Christian got engaged!

So yeah, big eternal additions to our life this past year. We didn't get family pictures taken in 2025 except at the airport with Wes yesterday. That's ok cause we'll be getting a group family picture with everyone in a week at Melodie's wedding, so check back in to see for that. Here is some of the fun and memorable events we've had this past year  ~

January - College kids off to school again, Natalie joins the Young Women program, happy birthday Joseph, Peter is 6, Winter hike with the kids, Hibbert game night (where we met Mel's boyfriend)

February - Mel and Christian dating 1 month, Family anniversary feast, 26 years of marriage, sibling one on one outings with Ethan and Bella, art museum

March - Little Shirley Temple, St Patrick's Day rainbows, happy birthday Ethan

April - Family Vacation to California (Angels game, Six Flags, Pirate adventure) Mel graduates college, 1st grandchild Mary is born!

May - Tiff to Ohio to meet Mary, Mary home from NICU, my 3rd miscarriage, 2nd grandbaby Alvin is born, School's out, Katharine is 3

June - Cousin Emma's wedding, Happy birthday Corey, Wesley is 20, potty training Katharine, Lily is 16, sisters trip to Salt Flats, Alvie Baby blessing

July - Camping at Spruces, Natalie is 12, Hibbert Reunion at Bear Lake, Owen is 10, Wride Reunion at Park City (carpets cleaned!) plus tie dye shirts, Jordanelle, & Bike haul at Deer Valley

August - Mary's baby blessing, Happy Birthday Hyrum (belated bday dinner date), first day of school, princess legos (Aurora, Cinderella) 

September - Climbing for FHE, Abi is an adult!, Sophi is 14, Daniel is 9, Ariel's lego castle and I can move on with my life, Granite Ridge Ward discontinued, monarch butterfly 2025 stats

October - Hike the Y, BYU vs Utah game, Halloween

November - Mel and Christian engaged, Thanksgiving at Park City

December - Mel is 25, Christmas, Wesley is home!

It's been a full year with many blessings, and we look forward to receiving many blessings and opportunities for growth from the Lord's hands this next year of 2026! Happy New Year!

Wesley's Home!

Today is the day! We got to welcomed Wesley home!!! Corey got first the first hug -

then Peter!

Then Katharine, then hugs all around, so many people to hug!

Video of the moment below.

He flew in at 12:30 pm, and so after the kids played Mario Kart for a bit while I took Abi to a dentist appointment. She's working on her mission papers, and I was able to get her in for an appointment at a new place at 9am today. Suuuper nice dental office! "Sandy Center Family and Cosmetic Dentistry". We got there with 5 min to spare, and they got us back right on time, yay. Very kind and welcoming! I plan on taking the other kids there soon. They have a special for a family plan through their office for cleaning and x-rays for $250, so that would be a really good deal, even better than their 

She had no cavities, yay!! A bit of gingivitis though. I'm going to start getting us electric toothbrushes. She got back, played a game of Mario Kart, we've been doing very good at being lazy this winter break

Then I felt it was time to clean up (I wanted to leave at 11:45). Corey had told them they could play until 10:30. 10:30, I went to enforce, they said "let us finish this race" or something like that, and so I said ok. Hyrum was watching from the kitchen and said "The mother I grew up with wouldn't stand for that..." (he says I've gone soft). You're right Hyrum! So then I just went up and turned off the screen. Daniel protested "We were almost done!" I said "You ARE done." and Hyrum was satisfied. 

I put some music on the Bose and we started to clean up. We played songs that remind us of Wes, like "Falling for Ya". We might have done a bit more dancing that we did cleaning....

Lily said "I don't remember doing this for the others when they came home... do we just like Wes better?" Well, those homecomings were a little different (covid, landing at 2am) (After picking up Melodie from the airport, we all went out to eat after. We didn't do that this time, and it's not cause we like Mel more, it was just cause Wesley was being released at 2:30 so we had to hurry home. We've done different things so far, we'll see which traditions stick. This one is a pretty easy one to keep, so yeah, let's do this again. We'll take any reason to help the kids be motivated to clean. 

I went up to make a quick post for Mary and Alvie to hold. Then it was time leave cause ahh his plane was arriving early! Was arriving 12:37 but now it was 12:14. We were all pulling up at 12:16. I was worried he'd beat us to the gate and we'd miss him like we did with Mel. But we didn't have anything to worry about. We were watching and waiting....

We were almost ready to give up. 

He finally came out 12:59. See the pics at the top of this post. I got the final hug!

A lot of bitter sweet emotions at the end of a mission.

Group picture!

Photo with Mary and Alvie!

Peter getting some brother time. 

So it's been great. We went by my parents house on the drive home, so Wes could give my parents a hug and hello. 

My mom is sick, so she gave a wave from a distance. 

When my dad saw us, he thought were there to pick him up for the museum. My dad and I had been planning on going for a few weeks to see the current exhibit before it ends this Saturday, so it's been on my to-do list. But no not yet, but maybe later! The Stake President came by from 2:30-3 and Wes was released, then we had lunch...

...then Wes opened Christmas presents and Peter and Katharine opened gifts from Wes (he got both of them cowboy boots!)

Then the kids watched some AI videos Ethan has made. It's a strange world. Funny, but strange.

We talked about plans for the next few days. We decided we would go tonight to the Church History Museum at 5, then maybe climbing after that. We picked up my dad on our way out. I thought that was a good transition activity for a recently returned missionary. Joseph Eliza & Mary, Ethan Bella & Alvie, and Hyrum, Peter and Katharine came a long too. I was glad I was able to enjoy the exhibit even with the toddlers there. Wes was nice to keep them entertained in the kid area. Wes made an epic temple. The service missionaries said it was the best one they've ever seen. 

I enjoyed the exhibit and got what I wanted out of it - some inspiration, some resolve to submit an entry someday. Dad enjoyed it, then we slowly gathered and got ready to go at 7:45 (museum closed at 8).

We parked at the conference center. I went and got the car with the marrieds, who drove in a separate car.

I got the van then picked up Dad and WPK. There was a flurry of activity after we got home, with people asking what was for dinner at 8:30pm. Corey apologized for not having something ready - he said it wasn't on his radar. Neither of us were hungry after the big lunch we had. I don't think I can serve up two big meals a day! Plus yeah, 8:30/9 is past dinner time for me... everyone was cooking their own stuff - rice, steak, top ramen, wontons, veggies, sourdough bread, just a ton of activity goin' on, and I am up here recording the days events. I would have done a sit down dinner, but that got vetoed in my mind when we decided to do the museum. And after everyone started cooking and eating, I figured climbing wasn't going to happen tonight, so I came up here to blog. It's been a good day. I have started a highlights post for 2025 that I need to work on, and there's a lot from this past year that I still need to catch up on!! Ahhh.... plus a wedding next weekend! CRAZY! There's a lot to do!! Good day. 

Recover and Refocus

Merry Post-Christmas. We've been having a pretty chill day. Baby Mary showing how we all feel. 

The kids had their fair share of being lazy today via napping and playing Mario Kart. We've enjoyed lots of Mary time too. Everyone has been very good at sharing her. 

Around 4:30 Hyrum took Owen, Afton, Daniel, and Katharine over to the church to play in the gym. Thank you Hyrum, that was nice of you. Sophi went to her friend Kelsy‘s house, good job venturing out Soph. Natalie was sweet to play a dinosaurs vs. aliens game with Peter (a toy he got from his secret sibling).

With Christmas done, I guess it's time to start focusing on the wedding that is two weeks from tomorrow! I spent the morning working on side by side pics - got 10 years and 11 years done. Mel came over and I showed her the flowers I got on Tuesday. She approved and we decided that for fake flowers, we'll start with boutonnières, so I worked on those while we talked over other wedding details. 

I think this will work ok! Mel ordered some magnets that we will use to attach them to peoples shirts and suits. Those will be here Tuesday along with an order of more fake eucalyptus leaves. 

Tonight Corey and I took J&E&M to Nancy's house on our way out on our date. Nancy and her fam flew out at 5 for their trip to St Kit. That works out great for Joseph and Eliza to have their own space We do our best to be hospitable, but it's pretty crowded, and we need to buy new air mattresses. We have two broken ones. Last one broke somewhat recently with kids friends were jumping on it. Someday we'll have some good quality guest rooms for the adults,. Oh, but not so nice that any of them move in or think they can live here? Is that right? Then Corey and I continued on our way for a date night dinner at the Sugarhouse Aubergine. We were going to go climbing after that, but it got too late. We went by the new Trolley Square Momentum and discovered that there is no top rope there and only a small bouldering area. It's a Momentum "micro gym" which is prob good for college kids, and this one is close to the U, so that makes sense. We decided not to boulder there, but are glad we checked it out. The Trolly Square location does have a cold plunge, so that's good to know if we ever want that (you need reservations) and a sauna too. It was kinda late after that to start climbing, so instead of going to Millcreek we went home and we'll go climbing in the morning. I just finished a few more side by side pics - 13 14 15 years, should be good. 

It's been fun making these and looking at the two of them through the years.