January 31, 2023

January recap with me:

Did some running - more than I’ve ever done before. 

Worked at the library and didn’t mind going to work. 

Watched my kids laugh together and smiled myself. 

Spent too much on groceries and still didn’t have much for dinner. But ate amazing grapefruits grown by my father-in-law and delicious hashbrowns from The Original Pancake House. 

Wore sweatshirts as often as possible. 

Watched The Chosen. Wished there were more good movies to see in the theater. A Man Called Otto was an alright choice. 

Read a book or two but enjoyed The Book of Mormon best of all. 

Connected with a few people on BeReal. 

Saw some family. Had lunch with my parents in Richfield plus the hang out with my sisters-in-law and my mother-in-law in Beaver Dam. 

Snowshoed in the deepest powder I’ve ever been in. Only got out two other times in the snow. 

Printed my journal from 2022. 

Hung out with Baylie walking, at the park, running, and at home.

January 18, 2023

Hung out some with Sadie today. It was great. DI and Petsmart with friends (we found Darren a big glass container for his rocks) and then a trip to Costco for dinner. Love that girl. 

January 16, 2023

Today was a good Monday off. I very much enjoyed my morning run with Kenz. Darren and Baylie played in the mountains while the 5 of us (KTCSA) went to The Original Pancake House. “The hashbrowns just hit different.”  Delicious. Also hanging out with painting and Five Crowns. 

January 15, 2023

 

Draper girl’s getaway to Beaver Dam. Good times hanging out with everyone - lots of chatting, some Mesquite, plenty of treats, and an 8 mile run (gotta get that long run in if I’m going to run with Kenz). Sandee, Emily, Becca, Heather, Brooke, Jenn (and Noah) and me. It was nice to reconnect. 

January 8, 2023

Stuff from this week:

It’s always a little sad when Rylie goes back to school. It was nice doing a puzzle or two with her and playing Qwixx. The girls played a lot of Minecraft this week. Kinderlumper. 

I like our new Cali pictures I put up. Also remembering those sea lions. 

Quick little snowshoe around Granite Flat. So pretty with a little bit of blue skies and a lot of snow covered trees. 

“Sprite challenge” x 2. One with the younger 3 that led to some lengthy burps by C and S and somehow Rylie didn’t burp at all. Then with K and T where everyone regretted chugging the Sprite. 

Evening with K and T before R heads back to school. Dinner plus playing games (plus the sprite challenge). I may have won both Scout and SkyJo. 

Moose tracks ice cream tasted really good this week. So did Panda Express. 

My Bergen friends visited me at the library. 

“No matter how difficult or confusing the challenges may be, you can always remember that the answer is simple: it is always Jesus.” - Elder Ryan K Olsen. Oct 2022 GC. 

January 1, 2023

 

2022 incomplete wrap up:

Hike The Wave

Aquarium

Winter Lake Blanche 

Deer Trap Mountain in Zion

Backpack Coyote Gulch

Handel’s ice cream

SkyJo and Scout

Buckskin Gulch

Zion and sheep

Ragnar

Kansas City wedding

Camping x3

American Fork Canyon

Art museum

Bryce Canyon

Dinosaur Island

4 comedy shows (Nate Bargatze, Ryan Hamilton, Steve Soelberg, Alex Velluto)

Richfield visits 

Fruit pizzas

Bday 49

Roots 89 grill

Park time with Baylie

Alaska

Hatcher Pass

Denali 

Fishing the Talkeetna River

Fireweed ice cream

Glaciers from Whittier

Park City girls trip

Square top mountain

Daniel Wyoming and my favorite little house to stay in

Grand Teton NP (especially sitting in String Lake)

Bear Lodge at Brian Head

Mom/kid backpack

New roof

Red Castle

Hole in one mini golf

Great Basin NP and the heart of Ely, Nevada

Arches camping and Fiery Furnace

Hiking in canyon yellow

Birthdays

Kannara Falls

Zion girl getaway

Rappelling Birch Hollow

Pumpkin carving two times

Mini Snow gang reunion

Capitol Reef (surprisingly only once)

Luminaria 

Snow college Rachael concert

Birthday hike of some West Rim Trail in Zion

California

Channel Islands

Costa Vida (including Sadie’s first job)

Pink pasta

GTNP huckleberries plus homemade huckleberry shake

Pikas, moose, mountain goats, big horn sheep, dolphins (x3 species), bald eagles, condors, bear, swans, hare, island fox, sea otters, sea lions, seals, wood frog, mosquitoes

Not enough pickleball

December 31, 2022

Fantastic Cali trip with all of us is in the books! Things to remember:

"Camping" in Beaver Dam.  Seeing the Kynastons and having a huge Mario Kart tournament.  Rainy first evening at the beach. Movie and games every evening.  Taco trail for some.  Sunny beach day.  Panffles. Sea lion spot (they were so close).  The walk to the beach from our house was 1/2 block.  Channel Islands.  Island fox.  Poor sea sick Darren.  Cavern Point hike with awesome views plus hilarious kids. 3 species of dolphins (Risso's, common, bottleneck).  Sound of the rocks as the waves receded.  Unfortunately we were whaleless (Rylie's whale socks did not bring us luck).  Red Robin per California tradition. Kenzie sleeping in the living room. Ocean birds.  Beach sunset.  Mama and baby dolphin.  Acai bowl. Taking a bad family photo and not thinking to take a good one at the beach.