May 2023 + Capitol Reef

It was finally starting to really get warm. Thank heavens. Because of the record breaking snow fall of the winter, there were a lot of flooding concerns for the change in season. It seemed like there was a big to do about prepping for flooding, but then I don't think I ever heard about people's houses flooding (except in David's ward). I guess this is maybe because it was prepped for? We never had any issues with flooding. Our state really, really needed that relief from the drought, but it would be even better if we could get multiple years with extra water. That would be amazing. We all still need to pray for water. 

This was our first spring in our Provo house with plants and flowers. It was delightful to see the bulbs that we planted the previous fall start to shoot up and eventually bloom. It gave us a false sense of success to plant other type of tubers/bulbs that were not successful at all. Live and learn, I guess. 

We mowed the lawn with a borrowed lawn mower and then spread our some more grass seed to help it thicken up. I think it thickened quite a bit through the winter and then adding more seed only helped it too. It was pretty frustrating to see how the sprinklers were not watering consistently, especially along the edges of the grass. Randomly there are still bare patches in the grass that hopefully fill in as time goes on. Adding grass seed made for kind of a weird time with our grass. We couldn't mow the grass because we can't step on the new shoots, but we also can't spread weed killer either because it might prevent it growing. What that meant was that we weeded the grass by hand, hopping from thick spot of grass to thick spot of grass. It was a lot of work, but made for some quality time with my girls. 

On the first day of May our first tulips bloomed! Kristina Davis brought us ice cream and flowers over for May Day. We ate it on the patio while we did value night. Doing our cheer loud for the whole world to hear was awesome. Also, that day we took Darcy for an eye appointment. It was very encouraging to find out that her eyes are improving and the prescription strength could decrease. 

On May 2nd John and I went to the temple. I loved having that time to contemplate my covenants. Also, listening to the Follow Him podcast really blesses my life. Also, naps with Darcy on my bed blesses my life. :)  

Reading lesson + self applied eye liner by a two year old.

We got Holland a better fitting baptism dress! She is lovely. She spent a lot time choosing her perfect dress. She made an excellent choice. One Sunday it was her baptism interview. She was hilarious and smart. "Can I have full access to the church after I am a member?" 

Darcy is still learning how to choose matching clothing. 

Parent child dates in May included Holland going with John to the Rec Center. They played at the indoor playground, racquetball, climbing wall, and just explored the whole rec center. They came home and watched a show. 

Miriam and I went to Pioneer Book to use the gift cards she received for winning Battle of the Books. She had a great time picking out a lot of used books including one for everyone in our family. She was so generous. We also picked up donuts for her good grades and picked out presents for Lizzy and Kayla because they are having some pretty big challenges right now with Lizzy's health. 

Surprisingly Mom's amaryllis sprouted a bloom after moving to our house. It is truly a stunning bloom that is bigger than my hand. It was fun to share that with my mom. 

The weekend of Holland's eighth birthday was the Spring MCO Concerts. Because she is in Children's Chorus, her rehearsal time wasn't as long as her sisters'. We were able to play around Temple Square. We visited the Family History library first. We pretty much just went straight to the children's area, where we made pictures of temples from big blocks, colored temple pictures digitally, played with the flower garden, and pretended to speak in General Conference. That was only a fraction of the activities that we could have done. There is a ton of things for kids to do there. 

After the Family History Library, we walked around Temple Square to see the flowers. It is only a small area compared because of all of the construction right now. We were able to slip into the Tabernacle and watch the Tabernacle Choir practice. It was interesting to hear the conductor remind them to do things or pronounce words differently. They sounded perfect to my untrained ear. Then we explored the Salt Palace which is where the rehearsal is. 

Holland was sent Crumbl Cookies from her Primary teachers for her birthday. They are so kind. Unfortunately I tried a piece of one and had a peanut reaction. 

MCO concert weekend is kind of a thing, but the concerts are so phenomenal. That is how they keep us coming back year after year. On Friday night John volunteered and was able to be a door holder and hear the concert again. He also got a cute photo of Holland up on the balcony. While they were at the concert, Darcy and I walked over to the park. She loved, loved the climbing slope and was so proud of herself for climbing it. She climbed it again and again. Bicentennial Park is particularly good for that age of kid. Darcy told me, "I love this slide. This is a great Park. I love this park."

On Saturday, it was Holland's birthday. It was a little bit crazy, but we had a good time. We had a fancy breakfast. Her call time was after our other girls', so we played a little bit downtown. We explored City Creek and got pizza. We also stopped by Deseret Book and got her a little birthstone flower necklace. We thoroughly enjoyed the MCO concert. The big heavy hitters this performance was "I am so Blessed" and "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."

The next day was Mother's Day. The girls all made me sweet cards. I am so blessed to be their mother. This Mother's Day was kind of hard because it was right when the call was made to put my mom on Hospice despite a lifetime of her hating/fear Hospice. She considered it a death sentence. It was difficult for me to think about her being betrayed this way and not even knowing it. Yet, I am not a doctor. It seemed like everyone thought it was the right call. Who am I to contradict everyone? 

I was pretty sad that day, but my family was all really kind and loving and tried to make me feel special. 

One day in May, John and I had a fun, yummy date to Cubby's. Despite it being a head-achy kind of day, being with John was so nice. I love playing games with him at restaurants. Darcy was pretty cute that day. She told me first thing "I had a good dream--I dreamed about you!" Later she told me she wanted to trade me for a cat!!

Another day at 8:45 am, Darcy told me "Did you know I am already bored?" It was so funny. 

One day Darcy saw us kiss goodbye in the morning and said, "You guys are falling in love!"

Another day Darcy called me "One tough cookie." That about sums me up. :) 

Darcy exercising with me is about the cutest thing ever. The only thing is that she requires at least 2/3 of the mat. Occasionally I hear her pretending to lead a exercise class as part of her play. One morning I heard her talking to herself from the other room. "Easy workout time today. Are you with me? Are you sweating yet? One, two, let's go! Get you bod ropes! One, two, let's go. Are you burning yet? Are you working? Let's go!" All while jumping and pretending to life weights. 

The girls really wanted to finish their book before school.

Our next door neighbor thinned her iris and gave us some. My sweet friend, Sarah, helped me plant them. One day we also went up to my parents' house and got a few plants to transplant to our house. It was nice to see them especially because my mom has had a hard time recently. 

Miriam graduated elementary school. Eliza never had an end of elementary school experience because of covid, so this was new to us. I was surprised at what a to-do it was. In the year and a half she was at Provo Peaks she made some really great friends. I am glad they were so welcoming to her.

Miriam helps me so much everyday! Loading dishes, taking care of siblings, helping make food, cleaning up things. So grateful for her!

While Miriam graduated from elementary school, Eliza was having her last day of middle school. There was a school carnival, and she and some friends wanted to walk home from school via the Creamery on Ninth. I am so grateful that she has such a solid group of friends. 

Miriam, Temperance, Isabelle

Miriam, Mary R, Lucy, Vinnae

Top Row: Isabelle, Coco, Temperance, Stella
Bottom Row: Mary R, Mary S, Miriam, Maelle

Miriam and her teacher, Mrs. Fiatoa

On Memorial Day we really debated what to do. We were going to go to a close hike, but then there was too much snow and ice still. Then we were going to go on a day trip to Goblin Valley, but then we read about how there are often multi hour what times to get into the park on Memorial Day. We landed on making it a day trip to Capitol Reef National Park. It is one of the less popular national parks in Utah. The crowds were not an issue for us even though it was a holiday. 

Here are some fun facts about Capitol Reef:

Capitol Reef Has Been A Homeland To People For Thousands Of Years

The Earliest Explorers Of Capitol Reef Were Dominican Friars

John Fremont Came To The Area In 1854

The Earliest Settlers Of Capitol Reef Were Mormon Pioneers

In 1869 The First Known Successful Rafting Expedition In Wood Boats Was Led By John Wesley Powell

Two Businessman Were Instrumental In Making Capitol Reef A National Park

Capitol Reef Was Originally To Be Named “Wayne Wonderland”

Capitol Reef Is Home To A Natural Bridge

58 Species Of Mammals Have Been Documented Living In The Park

More Than 230 Species Of Birds Have Been Documented In Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef Is An International Dark Sky Park

At Capitol Reef National Park, You Can Actually Pick The Fruit

We started the day at the Visitor Center and then paid with a little envelope at a drop box on the side of the road. I couldn't believe there wasn't even a booth we had to stop at. Then we headed to the Grand Wash to head up to Cassidy Arch. The only tricky part was noticing when to turn off of the wash and onto to the trail heading up the side of the canyon to the arch. It was a wonderful hike full of lots of opportunities to take photos. The only thing I didn't like about this trail was that there were pretty severe drop off regularly. I mean, the views were amazing, but I didn't like not being able to hold everyone's hands to make sure you were being safe. We played many, many rounds of "I am thinking of an animal." Another happy memory is remembering all of the super heroes that Holland would make up. Darcy was so content to ride and nap in the carrier. She is so sweet. 

Snack spot in the shade!

We made it to the arch! It seemed like a particularly dramatic arch because the ground just opens down to this big hole in the cliff. We could even walk out onto the arch. It looks scary but it is actually pretty wide out there. 

We love shade on a sunny hike!

This is the view looking back from the top of the arch. 

I loved the cactus blooms!

There is a lovely picnic area in Fruita. We enjoyed our packed lunch and then explored the historic buildings there. Next was a hike along the Grand Wash from the top. We just walked a couple miles down and then back to the van. It was such a beautiful walk!

We looked and looked for heart rocks.

Darcy took a nap on this part day.

I love these girls so much. I love their conversations. It is hilarious when they talk love triangles. They are so much fun. I am so lucky to be their mom. It is way better than I ever imagined. 

Panorama Point viewpoint

Chimney Rock!

It was such a spontaneous day trip. We loved it! I had a red sand tan at the end of the day. Whew, my feet are white. I had to scrub and soak and scrub and soak (repeated 5x) to get the red stains out of Holland's clothes. Definitely shouldn't have let her wear cute lighter colored clothes to climb red rock. 

Darcy is doing so well at reading lesson. She is so close to being able to sound out CVC words. It makes such a difference that she loves doing it. One day she wanted to do it first thing in the morning and after her nap. She loves doing the preschool book too. Mainly I am trying to teach her how to use/hold a pencil, but I wouldn't call that an immediate success. But she loves it even if she doesn't have much of an attention span. 

By the end of May we decided that we needed to start buying plants that were already rooted from the nursery. Those pretty much all survived! One day we went with Holland Darcy to Home Depot and let them pick out plants. They were so enthused--running through the plant aisles.