Not so springy break, conference and something that bugs me

I am obsessed, obsessed, I tell you, with tulips in my yard. I have like 100 of them in like 6 different beds and they are blooming at different times and it brings me so much joy. Here are the first of the flock and I just want them to last forever. If they are especially dense, I cut a few and bring them into the house.

 

We did not do much this spring break. Sarah had to work and Justin had some deadlines plus the weather was just cold and wet so not worth taking time off. The kids slept in and watched TV each morning which is their favorite thing anyway. They all played with friends a lot, we ate out a lot, went shopping, did some deep cleaning, cooked some fun foods. I made raspberry jam and it is up there in my top 10 bestest creations. I had a bag of frozen raspberries in my freezer from last year and when the great freezer deaths of 2024 occurred last May, they defrosted into a big mass and that's how they refroze when I saved them. No longer good for smoothies--just jam. Great jam.

Sarah had to work one night when we took the middles to a Thai restaurant so we took her out to lunch just the three of us. (James went to the zoo and Chick-fil-a that night so I don't feel like I had to make up anything to him.) We went to a restaurant where you order over the phone. We all ordered breakfast food which is Sarah's favorite restaurant food.

That week we also painted our wooden eggs for the year. This is our 6th year doing it so we now have 36 eggs around the house! They are so cute and fun to spot on bookshelves and other places. My Easter decoration collection is slowly growing. More on that in my Easter post.

We ended Spring break week with general conference. I gathered up some treats that I had in the house and bought a few more. I also printed some activity sheets and bought a few easter craft kits at Hobby Lobby to make 18 speaker treats. This year I added 3 for women speakers.

The kids do so great these days. It wasn't that long ago that I considered myself lucky if I could hear one talk uninterupted. The littles still like to do the bingo cards and we pulled out a few jigsaw puzzles.

It works best if we spread out as much as possible, especially for Henry.

And of course the best part of conference weekend (besides the talks of course): cinnamon rolls! I'm so glad I finally found my go-to recipe. I betcha I've made more than a dozen different recipes over the years but I've made these 3 conferences in a row now. I sub in some gluten for some of the flour and they are so, so good.

Saturday afternoon was Mason's birthday so we went there for cake. He's such a great cousin and friend to Henry.

Justin's aunt gave us a free-standing hammock and the kids have had so much fun with it. I told them it is for sure not a rough-housing hammock like our blue one in the trees and they have done a good job just relaxing in it. Yard stuff is the best stuff.

Alrighty, spring break is over and Sarah is a student of the month! She was nominated by her biology teacher Mr. Hyer. He said some very kind things about her like how she is so happy and helpful, is never late or absent, does all her work and even does the extra credit assignments even though she doesn't need it.

Justin took the priests and oldest YW class on a hike in southern Utah. They left Friday night and started the hike Saturday morning. Here's a picture before they started.

It took a lot longer than they expected since it was a larger group than he's done before but all the kids seemed to enjoy stemming through the narrow canyons.

And here's a picture of them at the end. Very tired and very dirty.

I have been watching this house being built on the way to school and as soon as the framing was done I knew something was wrong. To me, at least. It will always bug me that this window is not centered in the triangle of the house.

Like the windows are centered in the houses right across the street.

 

Anyways....thus begins my favorite week counting down to my favorite holiday. Candy is bought, church clothes mostly arrived. Now we just get to settle in and retrace the steps Jesus took His last week.

March, the second half

Erica had her very last indoor field hockey game. Her coach was a no-show which was really weird. Sure, he'd missed half of the games but he always at least emailed the parents to tell us he wouldn't be there.  

They didn't need him. With Ethan's older brother calling the subs, they creamed the other team. Erica got 2 goals! Her first goals of the season. It was so exciting. I would watch 3 hours of indoor hockey over soccer, any day. (Well games are only 45 minutes so that's not really a thing.)

Christmas is officially over folks. We gave the kids and my parents tickets to the Utah Symphony for Christmas and the day finally came! First we went out to dinner then headed to Orem. The symphony plays at UVU regularly and it sure beats driving to downtown Salt Lake.

James got especially bored but if you ask him about it, he'll tell you he liked it. There was a lady handing out suckers and pamphlets in the lobby. They came away twice with suckers and zero pamphlets.

While Justin took the biggles and the youth in our ward to an overnight youth conference at Sundance, I had fun with the littles at home. I love the biggles, don't get me wrong. But hanging out with them is full of them wishing they had something better to do. The littles? Give them Chick-fil-a and it's the best night ever. James later went to a trampoline park with George and Delaney came over to play with Erica. That means I got to eat ice cream in my room and watch a British mini-series. The next afternoon they went off to play with friends and I got to see some aunts and my uncle at my mom's house.

Just two brothers being so cute on the swings after Sunday dinner.

James and his friend George are both picky eaters. And they are picky in their own ways so there is very little they will both eat at my house. Quesadillas is their one crossover food so you better believe a quesadilla is made every time they eat at my house. I took this picture because it cracks me up they are sitting on the same chair while sharing the same quesadilla.

Friday night we entered a new phase of parenting: leaving our children alone overnight. No baby-sitter, no grandparents. Not since James finished potty-training have I been so excited to turn a page in my parenting journey.

Justin and I made an epic return to one of our favorite restaurants in Salt Lake City, The Copper Onion. We didn't have a reservation so we got there minutes after it opened. We could wait an hour for a table OR we could be seated at the chef's counter. Um yeah, we'll take the chef's counter (or whatever they called it)) We've sat here once before and it was the best time. Dinner and a show.

Justin and I didn't talk much besides wowing and commenting on what was going on in front of us. Our server explained this kitchen is run brigade style. I don't know exactly what that means but it is fast paced with lots of calling out by the chef (black hat) and answering by the crew.

This blur of a man on the right runs 6 burners at a time. No timers, just pure instinct. Or just experience. I don't know. It was fascinating to watch.

Check out Justin's pork chop topped with fried egg.

This cauliflower. We always get it. We've tried to replicate it but theirs is better.

The view atop Main Street. You can see the temple on the right half. We had a mile walk downhill to the west. Across Main Street, past West High School, across all the train tracks to the scary part of town.

Who's this, you ask? Just Gary Lightbody and the rest of Snow Patrol.

The concert was awesome. Could only be better if they had played "Youth Written in Fire." And if I was 6 inches taller.

I'm pretty sure it's impolite to be as tall as the man in front of me. 

After 3.5 hours of walking, standing and kind of dancing, we headed back to our bed and breakfast. The downhill walk became an uphill walk. Oh my goodness! We did pretty well, thanks to our sensible shoes. We could stop for a photo at this point again since the worst of the incline was over.

Our view that night.

The next morning we stopped for doughnuts at Fresh Doughnut and Deli. Then we went to the biggest Costco. It was twice as big as our Costco. Well don't quote me on that but it was huge and has things our Costco does not have.

Like goat carcass.

Whole pigs.

And wheels of cheese the size of a bike tire.

It was a good time but I'm glad it's not my Costco. Despite it being lunchtime on a Saturday, there were only a couple of free samples. And it's too big and overwhelming.

We did not buy the goat or the pig but we did buy a quarter wedge of parmesan and a huge box of hamburger patties.

We've just begun our spring break. (Woohoo!) It's going to snow tomorrow. (Boo!)

March, the first half

Erica scored us tickets to the Utah Hockey Club game (there needs to be a shortened name for the team) on the 1st of March. We decided to make an afternoon of it too so we stopped at Fresh Doughnuts and Deli to show the kids what a really good doughnut is.

That late in the afternoon provides slim pickings but we each got a doughnut and then two dozen doughnut holes to share. The doughnut holes are the highlight so the kids were convinced.

From there we drove to the trax station and got on the train to take us downtown. The train was empty but that didn't stop the kids from standing and balancing. They liked the circle hinge point between train cars.

Most of temple square is still under construction but the Church History Museum was open so that's where we went. They have a lot of interactive displays and artifacts from church history which was especially meaningful this year as we study Doctrine and Covenants. 

Gold plates replica complete with characters.

We saw lots of art. I like that James stops to look at art longer than my other kids. He can be my museum buddy.

Then they have a large childrens section that is all temple themed. The kids spent a lot of time in here. Seven years ago we spent a lot of time up here killing time between a wedding and a reception. The display is all different now.

From there we walked to temple square to see how the temple was coming along. No workers today, just scaffolding. We then walked to Crown Burger near the Delta Center because that's what you do on game nights (even though I never have). The restaurant was packed! But apparently they know what they are doing because even though the line to order snaked all the way around the restaurant, it moved quickly. We got our food quickly and even scored a large table next to the fireplace, just like I hoped.

And then to the game!

Erica wore her jersey and was so excited.

The section was mostly people from Mapleton who got their tickets from the same deal as Erica for playing in the city rec league. That made it more fun to see people we knew.

The kids saw their very first hockey fight and thought it was weird or flat out didn't like it. I think it's silly and barbaric. (I don't think we've really evolved much from the gladiator era.) The game was fun even though they lost.

Erica continues to surprise herself and us by really liking street hockey. Just a couple more games of the season. They don't keep score but I think they've won most of the six games so far.

This morning I took James to his friend's baptism. I love their family. Henry is good friends with his older brother and his little sister is in my kindergarten class.

These boys are so dang cute. This is the last of the crew to be baptized. It's been a fun year.

That about wraps up the first half of the month. This evening and tomorrow we have stake conference and then I have a women's broadcast to attend tonight.