Saw a bald eagle just out of town on our way home. Pretty sure that means a good 2025. It definitely meant we'll be back to Kanab because this was an amazing family vacation with everyone happy.
Don'r forget the good times and when playing Hearts - Do you have the 3? No. Pause. But I have the queen for you. :)
And no on can play Block Blaster now without saying, "Cleared the board."
Kenzie said it best tonight, "How did we do nothing and yet run out of time?" It really felt like we did nothing but we had so much fun in the nothing. Also the nothing looked like:
Hide and seek, dinners made by kids, Dr. Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Brothers (a lot of SB, Freddy's, puzzle, ping pong, hot tub, sauna, Hearts (a lot of Hearts), Bang, 5 Crowns, multiple different board games, Among Us, and more. Plus outside stuff - dino tracks, neighborhood hikes (Bunting and Cottonwood), sand caves, golf, Orderville slot canyon, Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
A little sand dunes and snacking today. Mason and I made our way over to the sand hole. Snapped a blacklit photo of all of us. More ping pong and hut tub and all the things we've been doing and are loving. This has been full time family togetherness fun.
Beautiful morning walk with a rabbit. And the morning sky was beautiful. KTown brings the skies. A little exploring but mostly house hanging.
Listening to the kids play Mario Kart is always a favorite of mine. And then they pulled out Super Smash Bros. Good times.
Chef Cam and Chef Sadie prepared dinner. I can already tell this was a great move to assign kids to dinners.
I'm so excited for our family vacation. The house is going to fantastic for our togetherness.
Merry Christmas! What a wonderful morning with Darren and the kids. They gave each other the best gifts that were awesome and funny with smiles all around.
Quite the relaxed Christmas Eve. We had all of us for a bit. Lots of games were played, a puzzle was done, and mines were crafted. My favorite part was playing pickleball. 2 hours of so much fun. Don’t forget Rylie’s whiff and Cole saying “Eat my ace.” :)
We had a sibling party tonight. It’s been nice having everyone around tonight for bethleham, sibling gifts, and games (Camel Up was the game of the night). It has also been nice some kids around this week. Made granola, watched a movie, played so many games, girls make cookies and gingerbread houses and more.
Along with Richfield, I wanted to go to Capitol Reef and hike. Started the day with seeing a bald eagle by Glenwood. Then a sunny hike of The Knobs. I love this hike. Post hike lunch at the Sunglow Cafe in Bicknell with delicious fries. It was winter solstice at its finest. I needed a day like today.
I’ve been on the verge of tears all week as I am really missing my parents. Decided to come to Richfield. Had a good cry here. By cry I mean sob. I just really really miss them. I should have done more things with them like take them for a drive to see the Christmas lights. I’ll always wish for more time.
For a regular ol’ Tuesday, there sure were a lot of little highlights:
All day I’ve been thinking about the Christmas Darren gave my dad some slippers and he was so excited. It makes me smile and yet miss him so much. (2019)
I’m getting old. Mason beat me in Dr Mario. Granted I took it to 5 games but I was not as quick as usual.
I’ve been reading talks given by Elder Maxwell. The one from April 1976 is so good! (Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King)
-In our first estate Jesus was the incomparable individual among all our Father’s spirit children. He helped to prepare this planet for us and led—not pushed—us from our premortal post. I thank him for the untold things he did, across the ages of that first estate, to prepare perfectly for his unique role—while I was doing so very much less. I thank him, further, for not deserting those of us who are slow or stragglers.
Today was a good day. This morning was a fabulous hike to Lake Blanche with Lorien. The conditions were favorable and we had a good time. This afternoon somehow Cam, Sadie, Jessie, and I ended up getting shakes at In 'N Out. I got a strawberry shake and strawberry shakes always make me think of my dad. Often if I wasn't feeling well when I was growing up, he would stop at the Ideal Dairy and bring me home a shake. It always did the trick.
"Our minds have a marvelous capacity to notice the unusual. However, the opposite is true as well: The more often we see the things around us—even the beautiful and wonderful things—the more they become invisible to us.
That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds—even those we love.
Because we see things so often, we see them less and less.
Those who live in thanksgiving daily, however, have a way of opening their eyes and seeing the wonders and beauties of this world as though seeing them for the first time." Elder Wirthlin BYU Speech October 2000
This made me think of some of my favorite hikes this year. It has been an amazing hiking year.
Future self will always thank present self for going on a run in the cold even though present self really doesn't want to.
Tonight D and I went to Ephraim for Rachael's Messiah performance. We love that new tradition. We met M and R before the performance for dinner at Route 89 Grill (mmm) and a walk around a park with a few Christmas lights.
Fabulous winter hike this morning to Dog Lake. It was so refreshing! Blue skies and fresh air for the win. (Our valley is thick with icky smog right now.). We stopped a few times in the sun to just breathe in the air. On one of our stops we saw a weasel run across the opposite hill with its white winter coat on. Awesome!
It’s crazy to look back at last year at this time. It was so hard. Like SO hard. I have no idea how I made it but I guess you just do - one minute at a time with the help of Jesus because it’s certainly not your strength that gets you through. Maybe I had a little help from these two as well - my grandparents Christensen. Picture taken on my blessing day in August 1973.
Breakfast burritos from Paco’s Tacos are so delicious. Just sayin’.
Merry Christmas time. I love the church video to bring in the Christmas season (it brings happy tears to my eyes every time) and I love signing Christmas songs at church.
