February 2025

Ellie and Siqi had a ELA project that they had to make a movie at Bath and Body Works. Miriam went along to be their cameraman. 

February started out great with installing a bunch of undercabinet lights. We have been wanting to do this ever since we moved into this house. It makes such a difference being able to see things under the cabinet. And just the whole ambiance of the kitchen is nicer with that accent (but functional) lighting. 

We also bought a new computer! Spoiler alert: it had a bug and we sent it back. We couldn't bring ourselves to buy a new one because we had so many things to think about our upcoming trip. 

John and I went on a date to Jimmy John's which is delicious. I love a good cold cut sandwich. Too bad the lunch meat is supposed to be really bad for you. We went to Zeppe's in Springville after which was truly not that great. More meh. 

Even with the upcoming trip life had to go on. We got sick. I made dinner. I listen to the scriptures. I love listening to the Follow Him Podcast. I love the light and spiritual uplift I feel from the the discussions, teachings, and testimonies shared. 

I had lunch with Cindy Evans which was nice. I wanted to get a better read on what she'd like me to do as Secretary in YW. Truthfully I am not really doing that much in that calling, which makes me feel a bit adrift. I specifically suggested we meet up to figure what I should be doing more, which did not really work. But I tried! 

We picked Miriam's classes for high school! I can't believe she is that big! We also went to the Timpview openhouse and Seminary. Ellie is an old pro at that school now. I talked to her Spanish teacher about how I would really appreciate it if he would work with her on her make up homework for that class. (She had told me before that he wasn't very good at doing this.) This poor kid is in her first year of teaching, and he just looked so alarmed that I was talking to him, even though I was overly nice. Later we found out that he decided to switch careers after this year. I hope I didn't contribute to that decision. 

One Friday we had the funnest afternoon doing match a face with the kids. It wasn't very nice that I matched with crazy looking Leo Tolstoy. Ellie and I had a 89% face match! We also had a dance party and watched silly, crazy Zillow videos.  

We went to Miriam's masterworks concert. It was short and sweet. I love to see her so proud of what she is doing. She is a good little musician. I did a training for Miriam and the other YW youth presidencies. I couldn't resist including social psychology leadership principles: the Bystander Effect and the Group Think Effect. I find this stuff fascinating. Miriam teased me that I really lit up when talking about this stuff. Whatever I think my presentation was the most interesting. :) 

That evening we played games as a family which is the best. Darcy was so enthusiastic about playing even though she obviously didn't understand it.  She is the best. 

Some days I really appreciate my body. I have some frustrations too. I seem to be gaining weight for no real reason. My joints hurt sometimes. I am getting wrinkles. But also, I love being able to play pickleball. I love being able to exercise and move my body. Sometimes I don't really feel like exercising, but I feel so much better afterwards. It is good for my physical and mental health I am pretty sure. 

Valentines Day was coming up! I have to plan ahead and get my family's valentines ready. The to do list before this big trip was insane. But I love making my family Valentines, so I made sure not to skip that. Holland told me that she would give a crush a special valentine, but not sign it and disguise her handwriting (block letters). 

The next evening was book club. There was so much chatting and laughing about books and kdramas. I stayed up way too late but had a great time. We watched a sad kdrama episode with the big girls. The tears afterwards were so sweet and tender. But it always get more sad or intense right before it concludes. We finished Hometown Cha Cha Cha with the girls just a couple of days later. It was so fun, especially towards the end of that show. 

Of course, right before or after a trip, I always have to teach preschool. It's not so bad, but it seems to happen every single time. I did two preschool crafts for Valentine's Day. We made Love Bugs and giant hand print Valentines. I love how entertained the preschool kids were with Blue Songs. 

Complements at YW

Freshmen Orientation at Timpview

New office space at work!

Miriam and one of her long time friends, Maelle Homer.

Put together YW birthday gifts. Temple bag with toiletry items. 

Giant valentines from my preschoolers.

Which kiddo likes Valentines?

Darcy quotes from the month: 

"Look Daddy, the lights on the ceiling make a 'J.' And its for..." John: "John?" Darcy: "No, J, J, Jesus!" 

"First one to the kitchen is a good egg! I am the good egg! You're the toast egg, and Daddy is the rotten egg!" 

One day when I was meal planning, "Mommy, I am looking up milkshakes that don't have alcohol in them!" 

"Thank you for teaching me how to write well!" This melted my heart. She is so excited to read these days!

"I am going to miss your kisses and hugs." About when we were going to be in Paris!

Heart hairdo for Valentine's Day. 

Steak dinner for Valentines Day. Our favorite!

On Valentines Day, we started with Pickleball. It was such a happy way to start the day. In the afternoon Eliza and I went shopping at Nordstrom Rack. We tried on a zillion clothes, but got a couple a really great finds and extra sales. Unfortunately it took us longer than we would have liked so our steak dinner was a little later. It was still amazing though. We were all groaning because it was so good. Afterwards we exchanged cards with the family. 

The next day Ellie and I did a little bit more shopping. I loved the checked overalls that she found second hand. Shopping with that girl is way too fun. 

It was also Stake conference that evening. I loved chatting with the Charleses and thinking about singing the song of redeeming love. I also enjoyed drawing florals. The next day was stake conference again. I loved the messages and that the older girls came home happy from the youth session. I also took photos of baby Lucy Mena. 

The next day was Eliza's birthday! I will talk about that more on her bday post. But it was nice that it was also President's day so she had the day off school. 

The next day we had a silly conversation about how we should all have titles. "John the ...." A few we settled on: 

Miriam the Puny

Daddy the Bananas

Eliza the Wicked (?)

Darcy the Silly

It was so funny. 

We were leaving to France the next day! It was fun to pack but a little stressful because you never know what the weather will feel like. I am obviously going to do a whole post (or several) about that trip, but the younger kids had a ball in Utah too. 

Here is Miriam to tell you about what they did. 

The first house we stayed at was Aunt Miriam's house. That was pretty normal because I've stayed there before multiple times. We got their dad's office that was attached to a bathroom on the main floor. It was really comfortable and nicely separate. I got a lot of homework done and hung out with Anna. We had delicious smoothies and one time at dinner everyone was so crazy that we decided we needed to have an etiquette dinner. So the next night we all dressed up fancy and had a very awkward but fun etiquette dinner. I also met Jace for a few seconds. He isn't good enough for Anna. The next morning we went to a ward breakfast that was delicious. We also went for a scavenger hunt in a car and looked for all the things. We listened to their family playlist Voldemor-TEE. We got some donuts and went to their tiny library where they had SUCH a good collection of romantasy. I am EXTREMELY jealous. One funny thing that happened was that Darcy fell asleep on the couch at about five pm and woke up at about 10 am the next day. She was all tuckered out. We also built with legos and it was really fun.

The next house we went to was Erica's house. We came and I got Oliver's room all to myself which was really nice. Darcy and Brielle slept in Brielle's room. Oliver, Sophie, and Holland had a sleepover. I read a lot at her house and we went to the Thanksgiving Point farm. That was really fun. We also went to the park and rode around on scooters. The next house we went to was the Rheimschussels' house. I went to school that day. I was very stressed that day and went home a little early to unpack. We watched Noelle (the female Santa) at their house. I was really tired of our parents not being home at this point, which I think also probably had something to do with how messy their house is. Anyway, our parents came home and started to tell Holland, Darcy, and me what to do and I had this moment of being like "Hey! These are my kids, you can't tell them what to do!" But then I realized they aren't my kids. It was really fun to go to all these houses and so many fun places!!

Homemade Valentines from me. I forgot "in" on Miriam's card. Whoops!

Erica took my girls to Thanksgiving Point. 

They loved this climbing structure.

Darcy and Brielle Matchy!

Park time with the Davises too. 

Silly Miriam!

February 2024

A couple of things that I love--my mom's blooming Thanksgiving Cactus and Darcy's cute face. She things I am cute too because pigs are her favorite animal, and one day she went through each of my facial features and told me how they are like a pig's. I am sure she meant it as a complement. 

Holland started taking violin lessons from John's cousin, Heather Toone. She is giving us a steal of a deal at only $10 per lesson. Holland has been enjoying it so much, and it has been astounding to see how much she has improved in such a short time. 

Another thing I have been loving it playing the board game "Obsession" with John online. It is a fun way to connect throughout the day. 

We did an impulsive house project that made me very happy. We purchased cute pots and repotted our ugliest (referring to the pot) potted plants.  We also got an assortment of beautiful mugs and a new candle. It was a squealy day for us girls. 

Darcy gave her first talk in Primary. She did great. She spoke clearly but a little quieter than I would have guessed. She doesn't tend to be shy. 

She has been loving games recently--specifically Five Crowns and Deer in the Headlights. 

We have been having a recurring interaction with Darcy that makes us all chuckle. We like to tease her a little and say "Oh good" about exasperating things. She tells us "It's not oh good." So then we say, "Oh bad." To which she replies, "Don't say 'Oh bad.'" It is so predictable and funny. 

One morning it was brought to my attention how often I say yes to things when I am not listening very well. Darcy asked me, "Mommy can we catch the sun if it dies on the ground?" I replied yes, and then caught myself, "Wait, no, that's not a thing." I need to pay better attention! 

Darcy is already learning to compare, unfortunately. She complained to me one day, "Daddy always says it is Holland's turn for nighttime prayer." It kind of made me chuckle though. We can always have two prayers, but apparently that isn't adequate. I guess our complements before bed are working better than we thought it would to encouraging her to want to be the one to say a prayer. Another one day Darcy prayed, " Please bless that I love everyone except my family." I am hoping she meant, "especially" not "except" but maybe that is wishful thinking. :) 

One day Darcy was trying to convince me to get her a pet pig, when she made up, "When I was a baby, I had a pet piggy. We will take it to the potty to poop." Liar, liar pants on fire! 

Another Darcy lie, "I actually know that Moroni is a bad guy." 

"When you put your hand like this the middle finger touching the counter is the legs, the fingers on either side is the arms, and the thumb is the gun so you ca shoot people in the back." Preschoolers are scary.

"We didn't lose Grandma, she's only in a box." This was after I had told someone that we lost my mom in August. 

"Mommy you r face is turning really red! Maybe it is because you keep complaining about my silly sounds? Even your eyes are turning red." Oh boy. 

"It actually freaks me out when you say crazy things." Me too a little bit. :) 

First Primary talk!

I had to climb into her bed to cuddle her one day after her nap.

Writing letters during preschool time. She wrote all the letters for her sisters' names and a couple of friends and even their mom. Not actually her mom though. :) 

Eliza and I had a great date this month. We went to Mozz Pizza, which felt overpriced but yummy. We loved how cute the restaurant was. Then we went to Ross and browsed clothes. There were so many funny items to looks at--sweater tank top body suit, leather body suit, fish net shirts, etc. She found a nice birthday dress there. I loved the moment when we were walking to Mozz Pizza. We were walking with arms linked, and I looked down at our matching shoes and our steps were in sync. What a fun date!

We took Holland in for her Parent Teacher conference. Mrs. Clifford is so nice and called Holland a "Breath of fresh air." Holland is doing amazing at school. We're so lucky to have her. I love the bonuses they do at school. She has loved learning about the violin at school. She and the other 3rd graders at her school were invited to perform at the district's "Day of Dance" performance. They did a Samoan arm sitting dance, and I don't think that Holland could have been more excited. I took Darcy with me to watch her (everyone else was at MCO rehearsal). We stayed to watch the other dance companies from the district perform (the middle and high schools, theirs was the only elementary school invited). 

This is super random but I saw in the news that my namesake, Dwan J. Young, is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the oldest female water-skier at age 92. 

Another letter written for Miriam's name. 

My favorite recipe blogger posted a recipe for sugar cookies right before Valentine's Day and before I knew it we were inviting friends over to decorate sugar cookies with us (turns out I still don't love sugar cookies). It was fun to roll them out and cut them out with Darcy. The decorating was really cute too. I loved hanging out with Sarah. 

We saved a couple of cookies for our other girls to decorate. 

I love Valentine's with my family. It really is the best. John wrote me the sweetest note. I loved the Valentines from my kids. I love making them punny Valentines every year. The delicious steak dinner is always the best, and it is always fun and fancy to pull out the china. Such a fun day! 

We are making good use of our Thanksgiving Point Pass and are going to with Jenessa Bond and her little boy pretty regularly. Samuel and Darcy are definitely frenemies. They argued *so much.* Samuel insisted he was Mary and 7 years old. Darcy would let that slide, shouting he was not married and only two years old. They argued the entire drive to Lehi about it. Despite the ridiculous and hilarious arguing, we had a great time checking out the butterfly museum for the first time. It was so fun that apparently I talked about it so much that we went as a family the next day for Eliza's birthday. I think my favorite thing about the butterfly biosphere was the huge, lovely plants everywhere. 

Climbing on the large bugs were the little kids favorite thing for sure. 

Check out the size of the fiddle leaf fig tree and the monstera. 

Back to climbing the big bugs! 

On the way out to the car afterwards, Darcy found a stick. She lamented, "This was such a good day finding my stick, I hope I always remember it." This was a mild burn considering the fun museum we had been to, but also hilarious so I had to take a picture of the stick that she had to leave in the parking lot. 

John and I went to Olive Garden to celebrate Valentine's day. I love, love their shrimp scampi. I love being his forever date whether it is nice fancy meals or playing pickleball. He's the best. 

We had such a nice President's Day. We played Deer in the Headlights, made earrings, the Davises visited and we went to the Bean Museum. It was a fun day! 

We all did our nails!

Sometimes reading lesson isn't real productive.

Pretty regularly Darcy decides to sleep on her pile of stuffed animals rather than in her bed. It is funny to find her behind her chairs on a lumpy array of stuffies. 

I went to Ogden one day to take my dad to dinner with my siblings. It was in commemoration of my dad passing along the inheritance money from my grandparents. We helped him clean out part of the utility room too. It was good to spend time with my family. 

Spring flowers in February. 

One night, John took Eliza and Holland roller skating (it was a school sponsored event). It was a lot harder than they anticipated because they had had so much practice ice skating. Apparently it is not the same at all. Miriam was babysitting, and she came home after they left. She and I watched Tiny House Hunters while they were gone. When they got back everyone watched for a little while. It made me grin to see how invested the kids got over which house should be chosen. 

The next day our bishopric changed. It was touching to hear the bishopric's testimonies of Christ. I particularly appreciated hearing Randalynn testify of waiting on the Lord. 

John had to go to Arizona for a conference. He saw our old house and almost all of our plants are still alive from what he could see! there were a lot of weeds too. It was sad to see the weeds making it look so trashy. There were a couple nice things about going to AZ this time, John met up with some old coworkers and had dinner with them and their wives. They had a great time catching up. Of course he also had to go get Andy's frozen custard. He even brought me home some in his water bottle. 

While he was gone I got a bit of the crafty bug. We made a bunch of earrings (Miriam actually designed them). And we made some hair bows too. 

One interesting story from his trip was that one of his coworkers really wanted to take a self driving car to lunch one day. It was just like a normal car, but there was no one in the driver's seat and the wheel turned itself. The irony is that they ended up eating at a food truck that only took cash, so opposite ends of the spectrum. 

That octopus agave is looking a little rough. 

I spy an orange tree back there!

One of our agaves bloomed!

Our amaryllis bloomed! 

I took Eliza in for her well check. I am so grateful for our kids' healthy bodies.