Rest & Recovery

It was a good rest and recovery day today. I didn't exercise this morning. I got dressed to go, but then just started cleaning my bedroom. I didn't even go downstairs, and soon it was past noon and I still hadn't had breakfast, but I was feeling good so I just kept going. Peter and Katharine were playing so sweetly today so they were happy and content, so I just kept going cleaning. Everyone ended up cleaning their bedrooms today, so it was great. Around 5 I still hadn't eaten but still felt great and fine. My mom came over to wish Natalie a happy birthday. I told them to have dinner and they could have the cake later. I went on a 7pm ride on my silver bike (nice bikes are still in the shop after our salt water mistake in Newport). I made it to the ruins - pretty flowers there today!

The silver bike has more gears so I can go faster if I want, but it also has no shocks or dropper  post, so I did not take the trail home, but instead got off the trial at Lisa and onto the road. 

I saw my first rose today! Hooray! It was super small compared to the big ones we got in years past, but I'll take it. 

There were a few that bloomed last week when we were in California, but this was the first one I saw. Back at home - time for oreo cake - Natalie got her slice first - 

Then the rest of the kids ready for a piece.

Peter showing me the legos he's been working on - making his own Spiderman city on a table next to Katharine's princess lego kingdom.

In this pic below, there's a dynamite booby trap for the green bad guy who is tempted by the television and comes to watch it, then sits on the dynamite and dies.

Good job Peter, you are very creative.

Natalie is 13 & Drive Home

We are back home after a long drive all day. Corey and I had Peter and Katharine with us in his Honda Pilot, which still has no AC (going on 3 years I think?) After driving all day, we stopped by the local grocery store and got a small cake and ice cream. The older kids were 40 min behind us, so it worked out perfectly. I cleaned off the counter and set up her cake and candles by the time they pulled in. Everyone helped unload the car but we told Natalie she could play her b-day card and sit around an not work, but she had to wait for us to sing to her before she had cake, so she could help if she wanted too... She decided to laze around and not hurry things along by helping us, but that's ok. Soon we were all singing, and with Hyrum and Wes helping out, I'd way it was our best Happy Birthday to you ever sung.

Dig in!

A small cake was perfect, and two types of chocolate chunk ice cream - Death by Chocolate and Moose Tracks. When we were getting off the freeway, the kids were passing Lindon

We kept checking in on them through the drive, trying to keep our lead haha. We left an hour before them but they took a long break going to Costco for pizza, and then we were almost 2 hours ahead of them, so they caught up quick. We had Peter and Katharine in our car and Hyrum Wes and Abi all took turns driving the van, van passengers HWALSNOD. They almost caught up to us. We left early to try and beat the heat, but I saw the forecast and knew that we'd be hitting it no matter what, unless we left at like 4 am which we didn't want to do. So we got a good nights rest, took most of the luggage in our car, and left at 7:40 and let the older kids finish packing up the food and their stuff in the rooms. Peter and Katharine did great. 

We gave them lots of ice chips and picked up some ice cream when we got gas in Baker. When we took our bathroom break there, Katharine said "I can't sit for this long!!!" I feel you Katharine. I was not looking forward to sitting all day on the drive home. It makes my left hip hurt. I'm so glad we are home and that we survived that, whew! The hottest it got was 111° degrees from the cars reading of the outside temps. Get this - as we were driving in Las Vegas, I was listening to "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" and it was actually 107° as I sang the line "107 and you're looking for shade that no palm tree can provide" - pic of the temp on the car - 65 mph on the Vegas freeway. 

The door button broke on Corey's back right side, so it thinks the door is always open. That's one of the many things that needs to get fixed on the car. I'm also so glad that the car didn't have any issues today on the drive home. We left 3 bikes in St. George at our friends house and stopped there to pick them up, and let Peter and Katharine take a rest at the McDonald's play place. Happy meals gave them happy faces. They were also excited about their tiny squishmallow FIFA toys, Katharine got Deborah the hippo and Peter's was Benny the monkey. Those two little toys were a tender mercy that kept them entertained the rest of the drive home.

and I went to Albertsons for sushi, grapes, and yogurt parfaits. 

It wasn't the best birthday for Natalie, but some birthdays are like that (last year was too at Oakcrest). I don't know what they did in their car to celebrate her, but we'll try to make it up to her soon. Natalie, we love you and are so happy that you were born! Today marks 13 years of fun Natalie in our life - 1 year - 2 years - 3 years - 4 years - 5 years - 6 years - 7 years - 8 years - 9 years - 10 years - 11 years - 12 years.

Beat the Heat

We woke up nice and early today to get on the road and try to get some miles in before it go too hot. Corey and I are in a Springhill Suite with Peter and Katharine. We let them sleep in while we loaded the car and gathered some of the free breakfast stuff for them to eat on the drive. Corey and I fasted today for fast Sunday.

Cute pic of these two when we were ready to end their peaceful slumber and put them in the car. 

They got up great and K put on her boots.

We took a gas stop in Baker. Corey got Peter and Katharine both a milkshake. 

Nice relief from the heat, which wasn't too bad yet. 

We wanted to go to church, but also wanted to keep going before it got hot. If we stopped for a 10 am church, we'd be back on the road at high noon. So last night and this morning we kept looking for different wards to attend and see if their locations worked with our travel. The two most tempting options were a YSA ward at 1 and a Spanish branch, which was at 11:45 CA time, 12:45 based upon our  7am St. George departure time. We decided on that one, which meant we got 5 hours in and through most of death valley, yay. We stopped for church in Apple Valley for the Spanish branch. Then we discovered they had Sunday school first, sacrament meeting second. If they had done sacrament meeting first, we probably would have taken off after that, so it's good they had it second, cause we stayed for both hours. The branch president asked Corey to share his testimony in sacrament meeting, which he did. One other brother's testimony that I enjoyed was how he read the Book of Mormon when he was in prison. He got out of prison at 24 years old and wanted to serve a mission. He was excited when they told him you could serve up until 25 years old. He filled out his papers, but then was told he could not go on a mission and he was really sad and didn't understand why he would be told no when he had such a strong desire go serve. "It's cause you have two children." "Oh, ok, that makes sense..." He shared his testimony of how the gospel has made his life so much happier. It was a good meeting and I kinda understood most of it, though my Spanish is muy rusty. Most of us did not wear the Sunday clothes that we had brought. Hyrum was trying to believe what he told people who tried to excuse themselves from church cause they didn't have nice clothes to wear. He's tell them "We don't care! Just come!" so, we didn't have nice clothes, but we came. (Good job Wes for being prepared.)

Back to the hot cars for the drive home. I want to go explore these rocky hills someday on the drive down the Cajon Canyon from Hesperia to San Bernadino. 

I can't find what they are called on a map (maybe the Pacific Coast National Scenic Trail #2000?) these big rock hills looked so cool from the freeway. There was an accident on I-15 that added 30 min to our trip, so I was able to take time looking around as Corey drove. Got to the hotel right at check in. Kids went to see a magic show tonight at 7. Katharine raising her hand hoping to be called on. 

He didn't pick her, so sad.

They got to look at the white rabbit and albino snake after. 

Our room this time is in building 2100, we are room 2133, married and not living at home kids are in room 2121. We are close to the playground, so that's convenient.

Mel and Christian made a delicious curry and rice dinner for us. They flew in yesterday and went to a baseball game and got stuff for dinner, so that worked out nicely. Tomorrow we pick up Ethan and Bella and Alvie at the airport around 8, then we'll do a Costco run and it should be a chill day at the hotel, we'll go to the beach, Disneyland on Tuesday!

America's 250th

Happy 250th America! We are in St. George right now on our way to Newport tomorrow. Abi took a few of her siblings to try and find fireworks and they did, she got some great photos. 

Owen sitting with Katharine on top of the car - 

Abi took Owen, Peter, and Katharine. 

It's nice that she did that. She's doing a good job making memories with her younger siblings before she leaves the nest at the end of this month, crazy.

Corey and I are getting to bed later than we want (still waiting for them to get back) but that's ok. We are taking Peter and Katharine with us to the Springhill Suites. The rest of the kids are staying the night at the Worldmark Resort (room capacity 8). We left home for our drive down at a decent time, 2pm, and got her in time for the kids to swim and have fun before dinner and bedtime. 

This morning was the usual fun Granite Community 4th of July Breakfast and Parade. 

Corey took the kids to breakfast while I went on a short quick hike at Lisa. Rumor has it that this will be the last breakfast. The breakfast used to be sponsored by Jiffy Lube, but then "they" said you can't have it sponsored (I'm not sure if they is the church or Sandy city?) and so then they charged for breakfast, but then they said if you charge you need to pay taxes so they just did it for free this year, and yeah I heard that this is the last time they'll be doing a breakfast. Our chapel that we start at might be gone soon, so next year, if there is a parade, the route will start down there and go north instead of south. There was no carnival this year either, lucky people who didn't have to be in charge of that like Corey was in 2024. The parade was great. Kids ready to collect candy. Hyrum and Wes helping me not lose any children. 

I was on Katharine duty.

So Corey and Abi were going to be marching in the parade, as I mentioned yesterday. Abi wasn't too excited about practicing this week because of her cheeks and still numb lips, but she did and she sounded good. She was looking and feeling better today now that she's a week post surgery. She and Corey and Owen were told to wear white shirts and brown pants. They went into the church to get their costumes on and then she got excited about it cause their outfits were legit and this was going to be cool. 

They were at the beginning of the parade, right behind the Sandy City mayor and the parade's Grand Marshall. I got in the road to take a few videos. It was the best. Here's a pic I got at the start of the parade. 

Corey and Abi playing the fifes, neighbor Spencer on the drums. Owen and his friend Oscar holding the banner. 

Hyrum saw them and said wishfully "I want to dress up..." followed by "...I slept in this..." haha!

I had several people text me afterwards and say that the continental march was the highlight of the parade for them too. Our neighbor Brox arranged all of this with his family. He was George Washington, he had all the flags, his sister made legit costumes for them all, it was awesome. Abi teasing Corey by taking .5s ~

So the parade started, Mayor went by on her horse with other riders on other horses, some cute colts, and then the Grand Marshall was Elder Christofferson and his wife Kathy. So fun to see them!

Two pics that a neighbor sent at the end of the parade. With banner - 

And without so you can see the drums better. 

Definite highlight of the parade. I'm so very grateful for our founding fathers and the patriots who fought to give us the freedom we enjoy in this blessed country. Good job you three, I'm glad you were able to be a part of that. 

We did most of our packing last night, and after the parade, since there was no carnival, we were able to come home and finish getting ready. Grant came to the parade and picked up Edmund there. They came to the house to play for a bit before leaving to pick up Steph and Daisy at the airport. Then we left for St. George. Abi/Hyrum took turns driving the van with SNODPK and we had Wes and Lily in our car. Lily isn't feeling great, might have strep, had a sore throat all of last week at FSY, hoping she didn't get her friends sick and that she doesn't get any of us sick. Corey Wes and I were the most at risk today, but hopefully the open windows on the whole drive helped with that. We had open windows the whole time cause Corey's car still does not have a working AC. We were feeling it today - 

We'll be feeling it tomorrow, so plan is to leave dark and early if possible. Yay, Abi is back, we're at the Marriott Suites. I thought Peter and Katharie looked so cute walking in, our little girl in her princess dress, our little boy in his Jurassic Park shirt with his stuffed dinosaur. Cute boy and girl.

Good night. Oh, Bella sent a pic tonight - poor Alvie had a fall and scrateched up his nose real good! Poor little guy! 

He's ok and they will still be coming to Newport. They fly out Monday morning to join us. Ok, heading to bed, hoping to leave at 7am tomorrow morning. Happy birthday America.

Alta to Brighton Loop

I went on a hike with some friends yesterday morning, with Elasha, Jill, Steph and Jess.

We started north of Alta, took a trail up Grizzly Gulch up to the Honeycomb Cliffs where you can see Brighton and Alta on either side of the mountain peak. Brighton behind us here -

The rocks on top were really cool and I can see why they call it the Honeycomb cliffs. 

You can see the top of Milly's in this pic below (mid-bottom left), which is the top of the lift by our friends cabin. 

It was a really lovely hike. The wildflowers were amazing. 

It was a great great way to start the day. Jill shared some cheese with dried cherries and nuts with me, an organic extra sharp cheddar cheese that she got from Trader Joes. I went and bought some yesterday after I picked up Natalie from Frontrunner (she went to work for Uncle Mark in Layton). I think will be a good mid-day meal on the go next week when we're in California. After I got back home from the hike, Abi and I went to pick up Corey's car which he dropped off on Wednesday - I had to interrupt her from living her best life, playing minecraft on her phone... 

(I think it's time to get this girl out on a mission...) In her defense, she is still recovering from her wisdom teeth surgery. She's still swollen, still numb, and still has pain if she doesn't take the meds. I hope she doesn't get an infection and that the numbness heals. We will call them again for advice. They said that the roots of one of her bottom teeth were really entangled around the main nerve that goes along the jawline. So, yeah... Ok, Corey's car: it got $2500 in repairs done that we've been putting off for a while. We decided they needed to be done before our road trip. We picked up his car and left the van for an oil change and tire rotation and that was done in an hour. We're praying that they'll both do well on the trip. I also put my dollar store skills to work and I fixed Corey's side window that I broke at Park City. Before: 

After: 

Is that decent for an $8 bucks job? Better than nothing, right? Plus nothing probably isn't legal. I spent some time yesterday and today reading the 12 hour walk book. I like it, good stuff. I plan to do a 12 hour walk sometime, I think I'd like to walk from home to Park City, or from Park City to home. And after the hike yesterday I now know how to go from Guardsman to Little Cottonwood Canyon, so I think that I could do it!  

Nothing to report from Wednesday other than a 6 am ride to the ruins. I think I'm being extra lazy cause my mind and body know what's coming and are in preparation for the high cortisol that I'll be experiencing on our vacation over this next week, thus I was just relaxing and spent most of the day reading "The 12 Hour Walk" (I really like it!) So yeah, not much else going on most of this mid week except trying to chill. We had a lovely sunset last night: from our house - 

and from our neighbor's backyard on the ridge and looking over the valley, wow!

Corey went on a ride this morning. I took Natalie to frontrunner again and then shaped dough, baked dough, and got more dough ready to make tonight or tomorrow morning. I haven't exercised yet. 2:30 pm and kids are out jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler going on underneath it. 

Corey and Abi were practicing their patriotic fife music for the parade tomorrow. 

They will be the first in the parade line up. Abi can't feel her lip all the way so she can't quite play properly. She's deciding what she'll do. I'm trying to get the kids packed up so we can leave right after the parade tomorrow. Tomorrow we drive to St. George, then to church in St. George or Vegas on Sunday then finish out our drive to Newport on Sunday. 

So now it's 6:30 pm. Abi and I went to buy her some temple garments so that's she's ready for next Saturday when she goes to the temple. We check out next Friday from Newport, and the plan is to drive straight home that day. She'll be going through the Jordan River temple the next day in the afternoon or evening. That gives us a little bit of a flexible window in case unexpected things come up. I've been helping kids pack and Corey is at his dad's, so I don't think date night is happening tonight. I haven't exercised yet today, so I'm going on a ride. We're kinda ready to leave tomorrow. I might stay up a little later to get other things organized, but as for right now, I need a break so I'm leaving. Hyrum just got here from Idaho, so he and Abi can be in charge.