Florida Snapshot

We've been here *almost* six months! We've been creating and reworking so many of our old routines into every day life here, and we're feeling a good flow again in this chapter. Which had me thinking about past chapters, and how that was always an evolving thing too. I want to remember the "every day" and am beginning a tradition of "snapshot" posts to remember a recap in one spot. Like a little glimpse into the daily routines. I think I'll aim to do these at the first of each year, but this one begins in April as our "Florida snapshot."

Max is growing. A couple weeks ago he walked into the kitchen with this shirt that didn't even cover his torso and his shoulders occupying the part where the arm sleeve should be. I couldn't help but laugh. It was one of his back-to-school shirts we'd purchased at the beginning of the school year! We took a trip to the Nike outlet (probably his favorite store). He was a little hesitant to hand over his % of paying for new clothes, and was quick to find the bargains, but is now happily wearing shirts that fit.

Alexis tidies up her room every night before going to bed. I love watching her scurry around, give everything a place, and then brush off her hands with a little clapping sound once she's done. 

Sometimes I have to slam on my brakes when driving so that an iguana can cross the road safely. 

Tayler is a bookworm. It's the first thing she does when she comes home from school. She jumps for joy when it's time to go to the library. She takes books EVERYWHERE. She has so much animation to her voice in every story. Abigail LOVES it.

Our car is a disaster of books. 

"That's awkward" and "so disgusting" are two of the funniest phrases I hear from Abby throughout the day.

Socks full of sand end up all over the floor. Never in the laundry.

The girls and I ride bikes to/from school every day. Mike surprised me with a cruiser bike for Christmas and I smile every time I'm on it. My heart is so grateful. In our one day of house hunting and purchasing a home, we didn't know what the to/from school routine would look like, and I say a little prayer of thanks every day to God for being so mindful of little routines that matter so much and that bring so much joy.

I give as many hugs as they let me.

Max's school starts and ends about 2 hours later than the girls. The mornings he doesn't have bball practice, he uses that time to get ahead in homework, or we chat about current events or watch a Studio C clip. It's been awesome. 

I probably say "no thumb" or "take your thumb out of your mouth" to Abby at least 50 times a day. I figure at some point it will sink in. Work in progress.

Mike travels around a week out of every month, although it's broken up into smaller trips throughout. Initially, he was traveling a lot more, but things have settled into more of a consistent routine. I'm so grateful for how he just jumps into life with us as soon as he's home. And cleans the floors. It means the world.

Max received a basketball hoop for Christmas and we knew he would use it like crazy, but had no idea he'd utilize any moment. Anytime we pull into the garage, or get ready to leave, he grabs a basketball and gets a couple quick shots in. He practices every day after school, and his shooting and ball handling have really improved.

Max, Alexis and Tayler are all taking golf lessons. We started the older two in January and Tayler just started last week. They are all in the same hour, and Abigail and I hang out on this grass spot while they have their lesson. We read Elephant and Piggy books, she eats loads of snacks and plays under the trees. We look forward to it every week.

I don't remember the last time I unloaded the dishwasher. Or set the table. Or cleared the table. Or emptied the bathroom garbage cans. Or replaced toilet paper in the bathroom. So grateful to be in a chapter of hands helping and contributing in a variety of ways.

I also don't remember the last time I walked into the little girls room and it hasn't been covered with clothes, dress ups, books, dollhouse toys and all other things. I try to take a big breath as we tackle it each day.

I teach Alexis piano. She's diligent with her practice, and I feel so grateful to be able to do that with her. She wants to learn how to play the violin, and I feel like sometime over the next year we might find a teacher and add that in.

Our car now holds just two car seats. And technically it's one seat and one booster. 

Max builds PowerPoint presentations in his spare time. On all kinds of topics.

I am so grateful for the many different "hats" I've been able to wear during this journey of motherhood, and how much of a team of support Mike has been through it all. From working from home part-time, to teaching group fitness, to starting my own business, to volunteering on PTA boards, my heart is full with the variety of experiences and people I've met and learned so much from. And while I have many thoughts on this, and the flexibility we seem to embrace as women, I will say that I am continually discovering and finding peace with letting go of "hats" from other chapters, and wholeheartedly focusing on life here and now, and the "hats" I am currently wearing. I am hoping to take some time to piece these thoughts together in a way that makes a little more sense for a later post.

The girls play on the playset in our backyard every day. I'm soaking in the time I push Abby on the swings and find that more and more she prefers to be with her older sisters, immersed in whatever creative game they've come up with for the day. And it's absolutely okay.

Our backyard always has a football or soccer ball laying around. 

Max cracks his knuckles relentlessly.

Mike and I wake up around 5:30 for early morning workouts and scripture study, although we've done the same workout videos so many times he and I were just screaming with boredom. This last week we shook up the routine a bit and are both pretty excited about it. 

The girls are always humming or singing something.

One of our favorite moments in the day is to walk into the kitchen in the morning and see the kiddos up and reading their scriptures. It's been a two-year goal-setting work-in-progress in our family, and it still is far from perfect, but it's feeling consistent. We really wanted to create space for them to study on their own and to feel that personal connection first thing. 

Our family Scripture study still happens at night. For now that seems to be working.

We eat out once a week as a family. Usually it's Saturday night. I remember this tradition with my own family growing up and it has been so fun to continue. 

Our "morning devotional" is going strong while the kids eat breakfast. I most often alternate between the Friend and the New Era Magazines. 

I'm making and packing lunch for all three kiddos in the morning. That's a routine that needs to change with ownership handed to them, but we haven't quite gotten there yet. Work in progress.

We are so grateful for the opportunities we have to serve in our church no matter where we live. We think fondly of the time Mike was able to serve as a Bishop for our church congregation in Utah. Currently, he is the Young Men's President (he leads the boys 12-18) and they are in the middle of planning a fundraiser for summer camps. I'm currently serving as a Service Leader. It's been fun to connect with folks in an out-of-the-box way. We're in the midst of a fleece-blanket-making project.

We do our Family Home Evening lessons on Sunday nights. 

Monday nights are "game night." We love it. Transamerica is the game we play most right now.

Max loves scouts. He's set a goal to earn his Eagle.

I can't believe how quickly food disappears. 

Alexis loves attending activity days (girls 8-12 from our church congregation meet together a couple times a month). She's learning all kinds of fun things and loves that time with other girls.

Family movie nights are something we really look forward to. And it feels like we’ve finally entered a chapter where we can all sit and enjoy a movie together.

I look forward to reading parts of a chapter book each night with the kids. Some nights are getting trickier to squeeze it in, but I'm still trying.

Since the girls and I have around a 2-hour window before Max comes home from school, we usually use that time for homework, and do things like tea parties, a weekly "art time" and playing outside. Love the endless summer!

Friday cleaning day is going strong. Grateful for hands that help with cleaning, and while sometimes it happens begrudgingly, it sure is nice to have things clean. At least for a few minutes. 

We started up the jobs and boxes thing we do for money and personal management up again in January. And overall, it's going well and is building consistency. 

We're all making friends with neighbors, folks in the community and in our church congregation. There are good people everywhere.

Max has started babysitting for us and we go out about 2 times a month. He has created a "camp fun" where he's the "coach", Alexis is his "assistant coach" and Tayler and Abigail are the campers. The girls jump with excitement when they hear he's in charge. And we are so, so grateful to be entering the chapter of having an in-home sitter. And we head out on a weekly walk once the girls are down.

This is the first house we live in that doesn't have baby items throughout. I have a lot of thoughts on this that I hope to write more on, but in short I am so grateful for those years, and so grateful for the current chapter.

Saturday afternoons are still our set "family activity" time. We started that tradition years ago, and it has stuck! In Florida, we seem to almost always head to the pool. We love it.

Mike is still doing his monthly 1:1 chats with each kiddo the first Sunday of each month. 

For the first time in my adult (and teenage life), I'm experiencing more consistent clear acne-free skin. Sounds a bit silly to even write about, but it's been a huge confidence killer for me for many, many years. I didn't think I would ever actually see clear skin in my life. I was told about a gal that focuses not only on skin care, but nutrition and better understanding the source of acne. I went to her, learned a ton and started implementing her tools. It's taken nine months, but I'm starting to see more consistently clear skin. And I'm hopeful it will continue! So grateful for folks who see problems, and find true solutions rather than quick-fixes and that we can learn from their wisdom! 

Abigail is swimming on her own, as long as she can hold her breath. Still working on the swimming and breathing part. 

Family dinner is a constant. Alexis helps regularly with the prep and actual cooking. I'm hopeful that one day Abigail will actually eat dinner. Until then, I'll continue taking big breaths.

The kiddos all bring down and put away their own laundry. I'm still washing/drying the loads for everyone, but feeling a nudge that Max is ready to take full ownership of his. Work in progress.

I've found a yoga class at the gym that I love to go to.

Mike and I are trying to learn Spanish. But gosh it's hard to set time aside for it. We try to text one another in Spanish only. Which is fun. But the study in general feels really sporadic. Definitely a work in progress.

We talk about nature all the time. The sunset. The clouds. The trees. The flowers. Bugs. Animals.

While we haven't made it to an allergist, I'm 99% sure that some of us have a tree pollen allergy. It's been a beast these last two months with higher pollen counts, and I need to learn tools in the long-term to navigate and prepare better for it next year. Gratefully, the season seems to be changing. Work in progress.

I read/listen to multiple books at a time. I try to squeeze in bits and pieces whenever I can. I have a long list of ones to get to - but most books center on personal growth, learning tools to teach to the family, messages on resilience and the value of work, and spiritual growth. My nightstand is an explosion of books. So much goodness.

Whew, and I guess that's the everyday life in a nutshell!

Florida Keys

Just prior to our Disney World trip, Mike and Max kicked off Spring Break with an overnight scout camp down in the Florida Keys. They camped on the beach, fished, and explored the area. Max loved the tide pools, and Mike did some snorkeling. So awesome to experience!

Random Pics

Max has a great ability to make something out of nothing with his imagination. If there is ever a moment of pause in the day, you'll look over and here sounds and hand actions as he's "creating" whatever is in his mind. On this day, he was helping dad mow the lawn. Hilarious to watch as he held his own fertilizer and walked up and down the entire backyard with Mike.


It seems like the only pics I can get of Alexis are when her mouth is full of food and she's buckled in her chair - but that's how it goes when you have a toddler! I did manage to get her to stand still for the next one - only because she loved telling me about her "pretty" skirt she had that day...

State What?

Everyone around here is so helpful in telling us about things to do in the Twin Cities. And consistently, The State Fair, fell into the top 5 of most mentioned places to go/things to do.

Really? The State Fair? This place is chuck full of museums, parks, quaint towns, and the State Fair is at the top of the list?

Don't get me wrong. I have great memories of going to the Utah State Fair as a child - seeing the farm animals, wanting to touch all of the little bunnies but being told by my parents about the time my Uncle touched a bunny through a cage and had his finger bit off (literally, he has a partial stub for a finger), walking by all of the craft booths (which felt like the Quilted Bear on steroids), riding that spaceship ride where you stood against the wall and the faster it spun you were pulled up toward the ceiling, seeing all of the beautiful photography work, going through the little fun house, and of course seeing the traditional American Indian dances.

I really felt like I've seen it all, and thought, how different could a state fair actually be? But, then we heard it again...from someone else.

So, we thought, why not? And talked some of our fellow transplant neighbors to go with us. If nothing else, it'd be good people watching.

I was completely surprised with the entire experience.

Original Thought: Pick up advance discount tickets at the grocery store. No big deal, I'll just grab some milk and pick up my tickets.
Actually Happened: I had no idea there would be a designated check-out line ONLY for buying advance state fair tickets, and that I'd have to wait just to get them.

Original Thought: Pay five bucks and park in some lot relatively close to the fairgrounds.
Actually Happened: Research the entire transit and parking lot system throughout the city and surrounding suburbs to figure out where to park to catch the free shuttle to the fairgrounds.

Original Thought: See a few animals, maybe a few more on display than Utah since this is the Midwest.
Actually Happened: Spend 45 minutes in just the "Miracle of Life Barn" watching a baby cow that had just been born in the barn, enjoy it's first few moments of life. Pet all kinds of newborn farm animals (including the cutest little pigs!), and see all of the mamas-to-be lying in their stalls, just waiting to deliver (at this point, Max, who was looking at one of the very pregnant cows, turned to me and said, "mom, her tummy is big like yours was when Alexis was in it." Thanks, son, for comparing my tummy to a cow). Then head over to the horse barn where hundreds of horses are in their stalls, with the owners, welcoming you to visit and sometimes, pet the beauties (Max's favorite). Stop in the area for the rodeo and catch the tail end of a high school rodeo competition.

Original Thought: Grab a bite for dinner.
Actually Happened: View about every possible item fried and on a stick. Bacon, Twinkies, Snickers, Cheese Curds, Alligator meat, you name it. Decide on the unlimited chocolate milk (Max drank 4 cups!), a Texas BBQ on a stick (yum!), and munch on fresh made mini-donuts for dessert!

Original Thought: Walk to another part of the fairgrounds to let the kids see the tractors and go through a mini-pretend farm.
Actually Happened: Over a 20 minute walk to get to the other end of the fairgrounds! Spend another 20 minutes with the kids climbing on all of the cool tractors and trucks. Take kids through the mini-pretend farm (Alexis is very much a little helper, and the idea of feeding animals and putting food into the grocery store was a hit for her!).

Original Thought: See the bulk of the exhibits in a late-afternoon/evening.
Actually Happened: Realize how HUGE this thing really is!

After about 4.5 hours, Miss Alexis was worn out. So we headed home. As we pulled into our driveway, we ran into our next door neighbors (originally from MN, and have gone the State Fair for years), who rattled off a list of things that we didn't even get to. He then said, "the State Fair is something that takes a few years to figure out where to go and what to see - because you just can't do it all!"

Next year, I think I'll try some of those fried cheese curds.

Minneapolis--My thoughts thus far

Well, we've been in the Twin Cities for just over a month now. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by! We are finally getting settled in our new place and it's finally starting to feel a little more like home. To be honest, this place is really starting to grow on me. I know, I know, I'll let you all know what I think when it's 20 below zero in the middle of January. But seriously, this place is actually pretty cool. We're very excited to have some family come out and visit us soon! While the kids absolutely love Skype and think it's the coolest thing ever, they still can't wait to see their nanas and papas in person. A lot has been going on lately, so I'll try to update everyone on a few of my observations thus far:

Work

The new job is going quite well. I feel like I'm adjusting quickly to the new job duties. The people I work with are all pretty nice and have all gone out of their way to make sure that Sara and I feel at home and welcome! My boss is a super cool guy and really makes work fun.


Here I am with Chris Nelson, our facilty supply specialist. We make janitorial chemicals sexy, don't we?



I had the opportunity to visit our branch in Fargo last week. Not a bad little town. Bigger than I thought. No one speaking Fargo-ese with the obligatory "Oh ya, don't ya know". I was disappointed. Might not be a destination point come winter time, though.


The Weather


The weather here in the Upper Midwest is sort of trippy! I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Just to give you an example, last Tuesday we had a huge thunderstorm roll through and drop 4 inches of rain at our house. As if that wasn't enough, Thursday night another storm stopped by and dropped an additional 3 inches of rain. Just to give you an idea on how much rain that is, Salt Lake city only receives 16.5 inches of rain in one year! On top of that, it seems like every week we are glued to the TV checking to see if a tornado warning is going to hit. We've already had a close call ( a tornado touched down 5 miles from our house). Sara's mom was here when the tornado siren went off! Hopefully she'll come back again. It scared her pretty good!

Check out this video of a tornado that hit western Minnesota last week. Amazing!

Tornado

Cycling

When I first moved out here, I thought I spend most of my time lamenting the fact that I had moved away from one of the best cycling cities in the US. However, after my first month here, I'd have to say that the Twin Cities is quite the hot spot for cycling. The roads surrounding my neighborhood are quite possibly the best cycling roads I have ever rode on! There is a cool bike shop in my town (Erik's bike shop) that has regular group rides. I've made it out to the Monday and Thursday night rides pretty regularly lately (thanks Sara!) and I finally can feel my fitness starting to return! While the road biking is great, the mountain biking leaves a little to be desired. Nothing beats the trails of Park City or Draper. There are some pretty decent trails not far from my house, but I haven't had an opportunity to try them out. I'll try to get and give 'em a go here soon! There are bike paths everywhere! You seriously could go anywhere you want to go in the Twin Cities without ever having to set foot on a regular road. Amazing!


Here's the St. Paul Cathedral. It's huge! (insert Michael Scott quote here)

Down by the river (Mississippi) in St. Paul. Again, tons of bike trails.


This is the Gateway Trail. It is an 18 mile bike path that stretches from the Wisconsin border to downtown St. Paul. Very pretty!

The kids

Max and Alexis have actually adjust to things a lot quicker than I could have ever hoped! Max has already made a few new friends and regularly tells us that he "loves Minneapolis" and "likes this house better than our South Jordan house". Funny kid! We've really tried to do a lot as a family and we've actually been out to see a couple cool spots around town! There is so much to see here! Max always asks us when we are going to go see the "american mall" (Mall of America). I'm not dying to go there, to be honest.

Here are the kiddos at St. Croix Bluffs State Park not far from our house. Max loved looking for seashells!

Overall, things are great! We feel so blessed to have this opportunity to try out life in a new state for a while! I think everyone should give it a go if they ever have the opportunity!

Conversation at Dinner

We were at my parents house for dinner recently and the conversation came up about an upcoming house hunting trip Mike was going on.

Max: "Hey dad. How do you like this house?"

Mike: "I like it buddy."

Max: "Well, let's just take this one. We can move it on a trailer truck to Minnesota."

Oh, if only it were that simple.

Sunday

Taking these photos of the kiddos prior to church gave me an enormous sense of accomplishment. Maybe it's because I do the whole Sunday routine solo since hubby is at meetings. Maybe it's because I leave a 1/2 hour early to get our seat and start playing the organ prelude. Or possibly because the task of ironed, no toothpaste on the white shirt, tights that actually fit my little girls legs, headband staying on the head, hair that actually still looks combed with clean faces while having the baby bag packed for Sunday is a tricky combination. And getting myself dressed. Or walking out the door when it should be nap time and little girl is actually smiling.

At this moment, many may ask, who would even notice? Why the effort? No one. And, oddly, it's actually a bit fun getting them to look so stinkin' cute. Maybe that's why little girls like to dress their dolls (or in my case, it was my childhood cat, Rusty, who endured many cabbage patch clothes and story times while in headlock. Yes, he loved every minute.).
And, what happens when little girl misses above mentioned nap time. She just couldn't stay up for dinner.Once they were tucked in for the night, Kermit felt exhausted. Because it's a lot of work supervising.

New ride. No ride.

It's 2:00pm, Saturday afternoon. I should be trying to catch my breath after riding my guts out for 50 minutes at the cyclocross race in Heber. Instead I just put my little girl down for a nap and Maxman is in his room playing with his dinosaurs. Yep, no race today. One thing that I've learned in my 7 years of being married is that marriage is a game of give and take. Sara has been on the "give" side so many times throughout the years of me training for Lotoja or some other bike race, that when she asked me to stay home with the kiddos today so she could take a yoga certification class, I knew what was the right thing to do. I actually love playing with the little guys! They are a lot of fun, and with Max riding his own pedal bike now, we can go out and ride our bikes, together! Fun stuff!

It's probably not a bad thing that I didn't race today. I've been in Denver all week attending work meetings and didn't ride the bike once. I would have gotten smoked for sure! Next week will be better. I'm taking pretty much the whole week off and should have plenty of saddle time.

I've also been meaning to post some pics of my new ride! Yes, I am the proud owner of a brand-spankin' new Sabrosa crosser! I'm so stoked! I've actually had the frame for quite a while now, it has just taken longer than I thought to get it all built up the way I like it! If you don't know about Jon from Sabrosa, you will soon! He is definitely an up-and-comer on the hand-built bike scene and his craftsmanship is second-to-none! Like many other custom bike builders, he's starting to amass quite the wait for one of his frames. If you want one, you better get on the list quick! You won't be disappointed! He's in the middle of updating his website, but in the meantime, check out his blog for more info and pics of his handy work!

Here are some pics:

September

Here it is. What can I say, I'm on a roll today, or maybe I'm just excited to get to those halloween pics.

Max has been in swimming lessons on and off for awhile. Here's a photo I took when he completed on his last lesson in September.


Alexis LOVED watching him at the pool. Between watching the kids and screaming as loud as she could (it was an indoor pool), she was the happiest baby around.

We finally made it over to Wheeler Farm. We met my dad on his lunch break one afternoon and headed over. We hadn't been there since Mike's cycle cross season last year, but I was amazed at how much Maxman remembered (true, when we lived in Murray we would often stop over, but he was such a little guy!). So, with a year lapse, I thought his memory would be rusty.

I was completely wrong. When we drove into the parking lot, he said "are you going to sit on the green tractor or the yellow tractor?" (remembering one time when we'd sat across from each other on opposing tractors). He then managed to take me on a tour of the farm, which was pretty funny.
Max calls all tractor attachments a "combine harvester." He learned it from this truck book that he's memorized. Funny enough, my dad actually knows the actual names for all tractor attachments (thanks to those childhood days he spent on the farm in Tooele), so in this photo my dad is actually explaining what that attachment really does...

By the time we made it to the wagon ride, miss alex was hungry. Here's a half shot of that unhappy face.
Many, many hours were spent at this sandbox over the summer.
Trading glasses.
And my happy girl who LOVES seeing her daddy-o as soon as he walks in the door.

Sandpaper

Last night:

Max: "Dad, could I sleep with my sandpaper tonight?"

Mike: "Yes." (LONG PAUSE). "If you only hold it. NO sanding on the walls, bed or anything else. You can only use it to sand your forklift in the morning."

Max: "Okay. Thanks, dad."


This morning:

Max: (Comes running into my room in a panic) "Where is my sandpaper?"

Me: "Probably in your bed."

Max: "I need it!"

I then search the entire bed for the now crumpled piece of sandpaper in the bottom corner twisted between the sheets.

Max: "Ahhhhhh, thank you!"

Our little builder loves the latest project he and papa worked on over the weekend. And, the wooden forklift is pretty cool too.

4th of July weekend we headed up Butterfield Canyon. Bee-utiful and green thanks to all the rain in June!

The boys heading out on the lake on the 4th (also my bday!).
Inside Timp Cave just after the lights turned back on. During the cave "blackout" where the guide shows how dark it really is inside, Max shouted "I'm all done! Turn the lights back on!"


Just exiting Timp Cave.
Max CATCHING his first fish! Cooking up the trout that night, Max said, "tastes like chicken!"