Healthy (like a horse)

Miriam is going to two separate organ camps/workshops out in Utah later this summer. So she'll actually be flying out to Utah by herself and then flying to Doha by herself (which is incredibly brave for a 16-year-old, I think). She's excited though! 

One of these events is a Pipe Organ Encounter, which is hosted at Timp Lodge up in the mountains, with trips to BYU and SLC to play on organs. She's very excited for this camp because they have at least one hike planned for the kids (which is one more hike than she got to go on at YW camp...not even joking). 

We had to turn in some permission forms for her (since it's several days of overnight stay and so forth). Andrew helped her fill out the forms on InDesign (so we could type on the forms) and under "current health conditions" he jokingly wrote "healthy (like a horse)":

Miriam reacted so strongly to that that he went ahead and submitted it in that way!

Miriam was aghast. 

Same vibes

It snowed today! 

We got an unimpressive dusting this morning, which was a little bit of a disappointment since the forecast said we should wake up to an inch or more. But then we got more in the afternoon, which was fun. 

Alexander was outside most of the day, and some of the pictures I got reminded me of him when he was a tiny baby boy (January 2019)...

One more sleep (and Rachel's concert)

The fact that Nevada is on Pacific Time really threw me off because for some reason that extra hour really makes a difference. By the time I was finished with conference stuff for the day it would be past bedtime for Phoebe, so I didn't get to talk to her until this weekend. The very first thing she wanted to know was how many sleeps she had left until I was coming home.

"You are coming home, right?" she asked.

"Yes!" I said. "Of course!"

"Thank you!" she sighed heavily. "How many sleeps?"

"Three."

She spent the duration of the (video) call hopping into the frame to verify "Three more sleeps?" every chance she got.

"Yes, yes. Three more sleeps."

On the first day I was gone she asked how many sleeps it would be—seven—and then proceeded to diligently count down until 7:00, which she felt was ample time for Mommy to be gone. She misses me, but to be fair, she's had a great time with Daddy! She's stayed in her jammies a lot (she does that with Mommy, too), she's eaten lots of carrots, she got to help make applesauce, she's had way more screen time than usual, and she hasn't had to do any reading lessons! Life is good!

*****

Rachel was in University Chorale this semester (and she plans on taking it again next semester). She didn't tell me about her concert (although it's good to know that it's broadcast—Andrew ended up being able to watch as well) but Naanii knew about it, so when she realized my trip would align with Rachel's concert she went and bought an extra ticket for me! 

Rachel also didn't tell us that she'd be singing in devotional today, at least not until, like, yesterday or something. But my mom and I were able to make it, along with Rachel's supervisor, as I perhaps already mentioned. When I met up with Rachel afterward she admitted to not feeling well. She had a light cough and an upset tummy, but eating lunch made her feel a little better. 

T-I-M-P-A-N-O-G-O-S! L-E-T-S-G-O! Let's go!

I'm not sure when Timpanogos became my mountain because I distinctly remember a time when it didn't feel familiar at all. It was foreign and mysterious, but soon became a comfortable presence, the backdrop of my life. My friends taught me to look to the mountain for signs of the seasons—the blush of red early in the fall and the first dust of snow warning of winter's approach—things I didn't know to look for before. 

Years later, I always look for "my" mountain as my plane comes in to land. How lovely to be greeted by a timeless friend no matter how long I've been away.

The plane ride from Las Vegas to Salt Lake was bumpy and the landing was so rough that the flight attendant popped on the intercom after we touched down (slammed down?) to sing into the intercom, "And that's why you wear your seatbelt, folks!"

Here and there

Our homeschool "not-back-to-school" party drew a pretty small crowd this year, perhaps in part because of how "chilly" it's been. The little hint of autumn didn't stop us from enjoying the pool, however! It was good to see so many of our friends—and to get to meet a few new families. 

Olivia's wedding (7/28)

 

Olivia got married on Sunday and it was truly a beautiful day!

Kelli assigned herself a few too many tasks to do and was a bit frazzled (to put it lightly). She decorated, she catered, she walked the bride down the aisle... And everything was wonderful—the food, the decorations—but it was a lot!

I was glad that I volunteered my mom, Josie, and myself to chop vegetables for her. We spent hours chopping onions and tomatoes and olives! But I wish we'd done more (because, Kelli did so much). 

We should have showed up early to help set things up, but then—I suppose—we wouldn't have had the energy to help out during the reception. I ended up in charge of the live stream recording of the ceremony (so family members too far away to attend could still attend), so I sat right behind my sister, which felt a little too VIP for my station. 

A Library Miracle

On the way up to the airport on Tuesday my mom and I stopped at the Orem Public Library to say goodbye to Josie (who works there). She took us through the new art gallery where I got to see an installation by my friend (?) acquaintance (?) tutor (?) colleague (?) AshMae (who taught the "Mine to Tell" course I took years ago, who I've visited with at BCC events, who I'm friends with on Facebook but don't truthfully know that well in real life). The theme of her exhibit was stay-at-home parenthood.  

It was fun to run into AshMae's work there. 

More museum pictures

As I mentioned, I had a few pictures of our museum trip that I was expecting to come from other cameras, and now they're here!

Here's Rosie trying to balance both of her daughters while eating lunch:

Monday at the Museum

We sure were worn out by the time we finished cleaning up at the wedding and made the drive home. And then we stayed up until around midnight putting food into the freezer and cleaning crockpots and things!

My mom and Josie were very happy they'd taken Monday off work! 

Somehow Kelli apparently managed to make it up to Idaho to go to Bear World with her daughter Amy (which was likely a needed break for her as well...but which also sounds like quite a lot of work, so I don't know). We decided we also needed to see some animals, so we went to the Bean Museum.

But first we made a stop at my Uncle Bruce's office, where he gave us the grand tour of the inner workings of BYU's OIT and gave him some lettuce (because we are giving everyone lettuce these days; Kelli prepared way too much food for the number of people we had, but that's okay...I suppose it's better to over prepare than under prepare and there are plenty of people to share around the leftovers with).

Here I am with Uncle Bruce:

Friday visits

I didn't take a single picture of my visit at Grandma Pat's place...but that's okay because Andrew's extended family is really not into pictures. Last time we visited we made people take pictures, but that was for Phoebe to have a picture of herself with her great-grandparents. This time I didn't have Phoebe...so I didn't press for a picture (as much as it hurt the "must take a picture every time the family gathers" gene I got from my Grandma). 

We met at Grandma Pat's senior living center. It was my first time going there and—man!—that place is nice. Like, I had heard stories (it's jokingly referred to as "the cruise ship") but I was seriously impressed. 

Her apartment is darlingly decorated. The amenities are plentiful—a pool, a gym, a games room, a theatre, a post office, a store, a bistro, a restaurant, a bank... You name it, they seem to have it! 

And all the staff were so friendly! 

I was, as I said, seriously impressed. 

Grandma Pat took us to lunch at the bistro (us = me, my mom, Grandpa Frank, Uncle Matt, Aunt Becky, and Aunt Nicki). The food was good and it was lovely to get to visit with everyone!

Getting to Utah

I haven't really taken very many pictures yet this trip, but I have had a few wonderful visits!

Andrew dropped me off at the airport rather than making me ride MARTA (like I make him do). My anxiety tends to go through the roof when I travel, so I was having a frazzled morning with lots of wonderful tummy aches (not that he was planning on putting me on MARTA, anyway). 

Not having to navigate the airport with any children in tow was certainly different than...you know...dragging a number of children through the airport. On the one hand, it was lovely. I didn't have to worry about whether anyone was going to wander off or leave anything behind or pee their pants or sit down and cry and refuse to stand up and walk again or...you know...whatever. 

On the other hand I had to stand in the regular, ordinary TSA line with everyone, rather than being put in the expedited line for those who need assistance, so that process took much longer (but I was all by myself so it wasn't all that bad).

My flight was delayed by about half an hour, but after all the news about cancelled flights this past week I was just glad my flight was going at all. I had never experienced Delta's system of assigning seats...when you get there...that was weird. They put up passenger's names on a screen—just the first two letters of your last name, followed by the first letter of your first name—with your assignment, but you have to read the list quickly because the screen will change and cycle through several different slides of other information before popping back up again for—in my opinion—an absurdly short amount of time.

My seat was 39F (the window seat in the very back of the plane) and I was in zone 8 (the very last zone to be seated) and ended up very near the end of the line because I was helping another girl figure out what seat she was supposed to be in (because the app on her phone hadn't updated to tell her which seat to be in, as mine luckily had since I didn't figure out the seat assignment chart until later). 

Heiss History Tour (June 11)

It was lovely to be able to walk to church on Sunday morning. Phoebe thought this was a particularly lovely treat, though we typically walk at least a few laps around the church building anyway (since Andrew and Miriam like to arrive early to get the organ all set up, and I don't like lingering inside with the kids that long). Anyway, Miriam played a lovely piece as a "special musical number"; it was fun for her to play for the congregation that heard her first fledgling pieces on the organ. 

Climbing trees

My children would love to have a good climbing tree in our yard, but we don't have one. The trees that would otherwise be good to climb have such a high canopy that their branches are truly unreachable. Loblolly pines, for example, easily surpass 100 feet in height and their branches usually crowd up near the top of the tree, leaving most of the trunk bare.

Trees grow upwards from their top, which means that their branches should stay wherever they first sprouted (and in fact they do), but they're often dropped as the tree gets taller. And in the case of the loblolly pines I've seen this is definitely true. All the branches are way up there. So you really can't climb them very easily. 

Tulip poplars are another tree that—at least around these parts—grow impressively tall and seem to shed their lower branches. 

Honestly, all the trees—maple, oak, whatever. They are all tall, tall tall. 

Finding good climbing trees can be hard around here! When I was young, I don't remember it being so difficult. Perhaps trees just grow...shorter...where it's cold and snowy a good portion of the year.

Nancy (center) with Kelline (right) and...either David or Abra (left (there's an ongoing family disagreement about whom))

Zoo trip (June 16)

Knowing that she would be doing a lot of entertaining this summer, my sister Kelli bought a fancy-schmancy pass to the zoo that allowed her a generous number of guest passes, so she treated our family to zoo visit while we were out in Utah. (Later she'd take her daughter Amy and Amy's three kids, as well as some other grandkids to the zoo; she sure is a lot of fun!)

We haven't been to the zoo since June 2019—right before we moved to Georgia—the trip that ignited Alexander's passion for all things owl. He's been quite the strigiformesphile ever since!

At first I thought it was interesting that we always take pictures of the giraffes when we very first get to the zoo, but then I realized that they're the first major attraction after the entrance, so it only makes sense to start with them.

So here we are looking at the giraffes:

Springville Museum of Art (June 15)

Uncle Rod has a lovely piece on exhibition at the Springville Museum of Art, so visiting the museum was on our list of things we had to do while in Utah. We unfortunately didn't get to see Uncle Rod in person, but it was fun to see his photograph. 

Goblin Valley (June 9)

First, I should warn you that there are a million pictures from our short stop in Goblin Valley. And although Goblin Valley is a whole lot of fun to visit...there's not really a big variety of things to do there. You just kind of...run around in the desert...and climb on hoodoos and things.

This means that pictures will very likely outweigh my text. This happens routinely with my Goblin Valley posts.

To quote from my 2012-self: 

Even though Goblin Valley is an interesting place to hike around and explore it's apparently not a very interesting place to write about—I believe I ran into the same problem while discussing Goblin Valley last year [when I said "the trip could be summed up as: we climbed on rocks—a lot"].

In short, we climbed on things, we jumped off of things, we played in the dirt, and we got hot and sweaty.

This year was no exception. We hiked around. We climbed on things. We had a blast. And...yup.

There are, however, a few important stories to share...

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and visiting Kayl (June 17th; A guest post by Miriam)

The drive to the Aquarium was pretty smooth. Even though it was our first "long" drive all being crammed into our van together, there wasn't very much fighting, and Phoebe was pretty good. We got there a little earlier than Naanii, Bumpa, and Josie, so we were walking around the outside, which had an interesting structure, a surplus stage from a U2 concert that the Aquarium bought.

Antelope Island with Auntie K (June 16; a guest post by Zoë)

Me and Ben went to Antelope Island with Auntie K because two certain somebodies thought it would be funny to make me and Alex stand on a fake geyser at the playground at the zoo.😒😒

[Mom edit: That was me and Dad. We thought it would be funny to tell Alexander and Zoë to stand on the fake geyser at the splash pad because they were being mopey-dopes. So they did stand on the geyser and it was kind of funny when the geyser went off...but, boy, were they mad!]

Alex couldn’t go in Auntie K’s car, because his car seat was hard to move, so Ben took his place. My car seat was easy to move, because it’s a Mi-Fold, so I went in Auntie K’s car too. 

[Mom edit: I'm not sure that this excursion was specifically to make up for getting the kids wet. I think it was more simply because Auntie K wanted to spend more time with those two. Below is a picture of them hanging out of the sunroof of her car after Zoë's baptism (the car was not moving at the time). They're just at the perfect age where they can have a lot of fun (aren't moody teens) and can buckle their own seatbelts and things (aren't toddlers).]

Pre-Birthday Celebrations (June 19)

On our last evening in Utah, we went to my parents' house for a little pre-birthday celebration (since my birthday would be happening somewhere in South Dakota). Kelli picked up some cupcakes from a place called The Sweet Tooth Fairy (or something like that, I think). She got an assortment of cupcakes, including some individually-wrapped gluten-free cupcakes for herself. 

They were very yummy!

My mom had the brilliant idea to take a group picture at the start of the evening—when everyone was (1) present and accounted for, and (2) relatively happy. My dad has a tendency to get peopled-out and sneak away, but we wanted to make sure he was there for the pictures. And goodbyes can get ugly and weepy. A third benefit was that we wouldn't end up forgetting to take them!

BYU Museums (June 12)

It's possible that my sister Kelline was the most excited person to have our family visit Utah. She must have driven down from Layton a handful of times! She came to Zoë's baptism, she came for "museum day," she came to the Heiss gathering, she drove Benjamin and Zoë back after their post-zoo excursion, she drove down to deliver birthday cupcakes and say goodbye—by my calculations, that's a handful of times! It's at least an hour one way, so that was quite a lot of driving that she did for us, not to mention all the fun things she planned for us to do!

On Monday she ended up having a couple of her grandkids for the day (long story*), so she invited us to visit some of BYU's museums with them. We ended up being late (which is quite the feat considering we were staying only 15–20 minutes away and my sister had to drive an hour), so they already enjoyed the Museum of Peoples and Cultures without us. We met them at the Museum of Paleontology. 

Here are pictures of my four youngest kids: