Summer Uniform

On a summer day hike (Smithfield Canyon I think)

The first few days of Summer break, I ended up reaching for the same thing each day as I was getting ready - white t-shirts and jean shorts.  After a week or two, I decided to stick with it and ordered some more of my favorite tees. (This was obviously not a fancy uniform, but just fine for my days at home and adventuring with my family)

And I just wore that same thing every day, all summer long! (Except a couple times when I got behind on laundry, or camping trips, or church :)

And it was great! The only thing was that as school started up again and I had to actually choose clothes again, I kind of just wanted to keep wearing the same thing still (and I have when we've had more summery  days!)

This may very well be one of those things that I look back and feel a little embarrassed about (like my favorite 7th grade outfit: turquoise shorts + hot pink shirt + one tall turquoise sock + one tall hot pink sock... I can still remember my middle school p.e. teacher making some kind of comment 'Debbie, nice... socks?!") Also, when Ellie started to pick out her outfits to match mine, I wondered if this was maybe a little too silly?

But really, it brought me a strange amount of happiness this summer.

 The best parts --
+ I didn't have to decide what to wear every morning! (And summer's always tricky for me in that way, because I want to look like I'm not just rolling out of bed, but I also want to be able to go out on a walk or bike ride and not die of heat...) And something about not having to ever think about 'what do I feel like today' as I got ready in the morning was just so freeing/refreshing/great.
+ I never felt tempted to go shopping because all I needed were my cut-off shorts and my Target tees.
+ We had two little trips (one for a week to Montana and some other weekend thing I can't remember off the top of my head...) and packing was so simple! (Again, not having to think ahead of 'what will I be doing? what will I feel like wearing?)

So hooray for a funny summer experiment that turned out so happily!

Fall Break 2017 (St. George)

We've started making plans for Fall Break (Still more than a month away and we already have tickets, hooray!) So it felt like a good time to write down a few memories of last year's events :) Here are a few fun little bits: 

+ We drove to St. George, which was our longest drive in the last several years. We listened to Harry Potter and Isaac was a trooper and a year later, even the drive feels like a happy memory. 

+ Newsies is one of my all time favorite movies, and I was super excited to go see the musical for the first time at Tuacahn. The theater was beautiful and I'd love to go again. I loved the sets for the show, and the performers did a great job but I realized I still love the movie most. 

+ Kathie and Winslow and April joined us and it was great to spend the time with them. We stayed in a great basement apartment airbnb with a jungle gym in the backyard and a movie projector in the living room and fun toys in the closets for the kids to play with. :)

+ We visited a beautiful red rock area that I'm still excited to go back to sometime.  It was really amazing, and Landon was just in heaven - running and jumping and exploring and racing to see what was around the next curve ahead. And I was so happy for him... and also so anxious and stressed 'what if there's a drop off around the next curve? what if this or that or the other thing...? After a while,  Jordan came up with a super game of hide and seek -- he set the boundaries, and the grown ups sat up high where we could see all the kids, then they all ran and explored and enjoyed the beautiful place (while I could just feel safe and enjoy it too).

+ We went to a fun pool at one of the community center's nearby. And watching Landon (and maybe even Owen or Ellie?) do the water slide, I felt like I wanted to try it out too. (For the record, this was just a regular old water slide, nothing crazy or I would never have considered it. But still something I hadn't done in 20 years or so!) I was asking April about how it was and she said something like, "Let me tell you how it goes. You go in and then there are three curves and the last one is the quickest and then you'll be at the end..." And having her describe it all, knowing I would feel a little more confident if I could think through in advance what to expect... I felt just so loved and understood. And I did do the waterslide and felt so proud (and so sore for a long time afterward!) and more confident in knowing I could do it, and that  I really don't like water slides.  What I did love was this -- While all the kids were playing with Jordan and April and Kathie and Winslow,  I borrowed one of the extra life jackets and made it into a little floating chair for myself and floated laps around the lazy river and felt just about perfectly happy :)

+Ha! And something I forgot till I looked back at some of these pictures -- Landon had been saving up for a giant bear from Costco, so we stopped on the way home to pick it up. Our van was so full with luggage/stroller/etc. so Albert sat in the backseat with all the kids for the last couple hours of our drive (with no complaints at all about the big fluffy traveler!)

Farmer's Market Magic

Saturday morning blooms next to Logan's downtown Farmer's Market 

I went to the Farmer's Market a few weekends ago in search of apricots, and had such fun picking out fruits and veggies (and cookies) with the kids, that I've tried to go back the past few Saturdays too. This weekend, as I was heading out the door, Owen called out to me excitedly "Will you bring us back some fruit?!" (Of course!) So we've been eating all the peaches we can, plus plums and nectarines too :)

Last week, I asked around all the veggie stands, looking for the sunflower sprouts I'd gotten a few weeks ago. When I found the woman, she hadn't brought any that day, but she said "Oh, I'll grow some for you this week!" And she did! It felt like magic to show up on Saturday morning this weekend and see those sunflower sprouts made-to-order and ready for me! (Especially because I'd asked her how to grow them and the process sounded much more complicated than I'd imagined... I'm guessing if I tried it a few times I could get the hang of it, but it was much more magical for them to just appear there for me!)

Hooray for these yummy finds!

Food Friday

Earlier this week, Jordan and I were talking and thinking about the possibility of just the two of us going out to New York this Fall (I'm not ready to leave our kiddos, but even considering it was a big step!) Besides the experience of an extended date with Jordan, two things were most compelling -- first was just the feel -New York City in the Fall! (the best!) Second was the food (ha!) We could pick up lunch from the Halal Guys street cart, one of those best ever peanut butter cookies with the fudge inside from that one bakery, and try one of everything from Amy's Bread (above)... 

And here are few other fun food things I'm enjoying right now: 

+ I got Jordan these little fried egg ring things a few years ago, and every time I use them (like for my lunch a few minutes ago) I think how cool they are :)

+ My favorite lunch lately( a couple times a week) is a super quick huevos rancheros-ish thing: corn tortillas with cheese toasted on the griddle while a fried egg cooks, and a tiny bit of salsa + avocado slices. 

+ When I was a senior in high school, I once visited Jenny in the dorms and her roommate was making dinner - a BLT on whole wheat bread, cut in triangle halves with orange slices as a side. And so when I went to college the next year, I'd sometimes make myself BLT's on whole wheat bread, cut in triangle halves with orange slices on the side and I felt so grown up.  My kids all complain when we have BLT's, but I still think it's the best dinner to have with garden tomatoes!

+ When we were in Victoria last summer, we got some currant curry hummus from the farmer's market and it was so great that we went back and got it again the next weekend too. And I've still been thinking about it all this time, so this week I finally tried to make some by just mixing in some curry and currants to our favorite store-bought hummus. And it was great! Not perfect, but still really fun to try again!

Ten years!

Sometimes when we talk to the kids about 'when they were little', I'll tell them about when Landon was a baby and toddler, and Dad used to leave in the morning for work and we'd sing a song and wave to him out the window as he'd leave, and then it would just be me and Landon at home all through the day. And this little story feels so funny and different to all of them, because they've all grown up with Jordan just working in his office here at home. (It was only a few years ago when we were talking about rush-hour traffic one day with Ellie and she was a little confused because she didn't understand that people usually left their homes to go to work each day!)

I have this very clear memory of being at April's house(just over 10 years ago!), playing with Landon in her living room while Jordan sat at the dining table working on a take-home assignment from a job interview he'd just done.  And I was telling him something like, 'There is no way we're going to move to New York City, so why worry about finishing the project?" But he did finish it, and then they decided to try out letting him work from home (though they flew our whole family out to NYC with hopes of convincing us to move I think!) and then it was working great and kept on working great and here we still are!

(He stayed with Animoto for 6 years, then Bonobos in NYC,  LostMyName/Wonderbly in London, and now we're back to NYC with TeachersPayTeachers)

We both have felt so very grateful for the work he's been able to do for these really great places. And it has been so fun to have this little New York City part of our lives too for all these years now (plus a couple years of London in the middle!) I love that our kids have grown up with the little bit of New York mixed in with their Logan memories.  And it has been such a great thing for our family to have Jordan home with us all these days for all these years too!

Some fun NYC snapshots over the years  --

September 2008 -- Jordan & Landon at the Central Park Zoo

October 2009 -- Landon and Ellie playing at our NYC rental apartment

July 2010 -- Jordan, Landon & Ellie at Top of the Rock Observation deck

December 2010: Jordan, April & Nathan in Times Square

December 2012: A google hangout screenshot with Jordan at the Washington Square hotel. Whenever he'd travel on his own, he'd stay here. And whenever we'd talk, those famous actresses/actors would be his background :) He's had lots of solo trips like these over the years!

December 2011: Me, Landon, Ellie & Owen on a Sunday walk with Jordan in Central Park (+ testing out these wrist straps I had made to use in subway stations or crazy busy spots -- It looks pretty silly to me now, but I know I was pretty scared about keeping these kiddos safe when I was on my own!)

December 2013: April, Jordan, Landon Ellie, Owen & Porter (in the pack, warm inside Jordan's coat!) watching the Christmas light show at Saks 5th Avenue by Rockefeller Square

April 2015: Jordan, Landon, Ellie, Owen & Isaac at church/Manhattan temple

Our little garden

This was going to be called 'our poor garden', but then I went outside to get a quick picture and there were so many lovely little spots out there that I felt like I couldn't really call it names :)

This year each of the kids had their own garden box to take care of and work on each day. And they were super at going out there each morning all summer long, but still our plants have kind of  really struggled! Jordan kept mentioning that they looked like they could use some more water, and I kept telling him "I know the kids are watering every day" Then around back to school time Owen got into the conversation and mentioned something like 'Oh, I just water mine for about 1 second each day.'

And amazingly, in the 2 weeks since I took over everyone's boxes for back-to-school time, all of our plants have started to grow!  (You were right dear!)

I suspect that it will probably freeze before we do ever get any veggies (though I'm rooting for that tiny pumpkin up there!) But our empty harvest summer meant that we've enjoyed zucchini and other extras shared from our neighbors!

Also, our tomatoes have been great (Porter and I shared that box ;) and that's our favorite garden veggie anyway. We've also had one cucumber (that we enjoyed last night with falafel), and a few happy sunflowers too.

I almost think with it's super-slow growing this year that it was kind of even more magical for Porter - with a "Look, Mom! You have to come see!" along with each tiny bit of growth.  So thank you little garden for giving us these sweet little celebrations!

Labor Day Weekend

+ Landon's working on his cycling merit badge and getting ready for "Bike the Bear" - a 50 mile ride around Bear Lake next month. On Saturday, he and Jordan went for a 25 mile ride, ending at Lee's for breakfast. By the time they finished, he was still feeling energetic so he rode up the hills home, then looped around our neighborhood again and again to complete another 10 mile ride. It's been so fun seeing him getting more excited about biking! (And it helped that this weekend he got to try out his new road bike too! :)

+ After they got home, I biked to the farmers market and picked up peaches and nectarines and patty pan squash and pears. 

+ We've had a round of colds this past week, and poor Ellie was pretty sick for most of the weekend (plus two nights in a row up sick - Jordan took the first night and I took the next...seriously how did we survive the sleepless night years??)

+ I stayed home from church with Ellie and Isaac on Sunday. I was very grateful for Owen's nice teachers so quickly and happily agreeing to teach my class too. And it was so fun to see Ellie and Isaac together for the morning. They were sick, but not miserable so they played quietly together while I cleaned up the kitchen, then Ellie and I did some drawing videos while Isaac played and wandered in and out, and then they played magnatiles together some more while I got lunch ready... I wished I could go to church, but still it was just a nice and calm, happy morning. 

+ Sunday afternoon while Isaac napped and Ellie rested we played Agricola with the boys and it was just fun - Porter was learning to play and everyone was being a good sport and it was just a nice afternoon.

+  Monday we all rode to Kneaders for a breakfast/lunch (after a late start getting out the door!) then had a calm afternoon of checking things off our project/to-do list. (Mostly Jordan did this actually while I mostly recovered from the rough night before!)

+ And we ended the weekend with a fun labor day BBQ at Jen & Jeremiah's!

+ Also, this cute collage popped up on my phone from our Labor Day weekend two years ago -- A camping trip with baby Isaac!