Hiking
I am a part of a homeschooler hiking group and took on leading their first hiking event. I don't know a lot of trails, but the Carnage Trail in Ballard is pretty easy and well marked, so that's where I chose to take everyone. I was so pleased my family readily agreed to go with me- Steve, Amara, and my mom, even Pippin. I was pretty sure no homeschoolers were going to show up because that's my experience with things like this, and I was totally okay with that. There were a couple people that showed interest, though.
We waited a few minutes since we were the only car there, and just as we started on the trail, a truck pulled up, a mom with her 2 girls and a dog. So, we enjoyed getting to know them as we hiked along. The dogs were the first to give up. They were both little, and their dog, Buddy, was overweight and wanted to be carried. That wasn't working real well, so we turned around after going less than a mile. That's not real far, but we sure enjoyed being in nature on a beautiful day! And it took us an hour to go that far.
I like to find heart shapes on my hikes and Amara found this perfectly shaped rock for me. I have never seen one so perfect, ever. She wins. And she gifted it to me. Nature itself is a compilation of love notes from God to us, and finding the actual heart shapes just brighten my soul.
Supporting the Arts
I have several students that are involved in Legacy Performing Arts, run by my friend, Lianne. She recently acquired the Altamont Theater and reopened it for performances. One of my students asked which night I was going to their play, and I honestly didn't have plans to see it and didn't have tickets, but not because I wouldn't want to. She told me the play was that weekend, so I asked Amara if she'd like to go, she said yes, so we planned a girls night out and invited my mom to see Into the Woods Junior.
The play was phenomenal and we had a great time. Opening night had lots of funny moments, some planned, others not... like Cinderella's shoe flying way to fast and far off her foot into the audience and hitting a lady in the chest (everyone was ok). Or the 12 inch knife meant for a different scene falling out of the baker's pocket while he was talking to the boy about selling his cow, he picks up his knife and just keeps taking to the boy while brandishing this huge knife. So inadvertently funny! Or Rapunzel's hair that didn't get cut off all the way. Though there were those things, the production really was well done. Great set, costumes, well-practiced, comical scenes... I loved seeing so many of my students, and watching them shine on stage.
Spring Blooms
I love the blooms of spring! My bulb flowers only last about a week each, but they take turns, so daffodils bloom and die, then purple tulips bloom and die, then fire tulips. Their beauty, variety, and form are yet another one of God's love notes.
My mom joined me to check out the new disc golf course in the desert. We didn't stay long, but I had to stop and get a pic of this tiny flower because the center of it looks like an even tinier flower. God delivers in the details!
How's Lily?
Lily is doing well on her mission. She started with home MTC and transferred to Provo mid-August. She loved the MTC and her companion! In September, she flew to New Hampshire where she met her mission president and his wife, then a couple days later was off to Camden, Maine where she spent her first several months as a trainee and missionary. She loved both her trainer companion, Sister Jones and her next companion, Sister Christensen. She learned that there are a lot of old people in that area and a lot of tourists, all dressed up like they walked of a hallmark movie set. In fact, the area looked like it was straight off a hallmark movie. Sadly, not many were interested in talking with the missionaries, though that was expected.
Now she is in New Hampshire serving in a different way as a social media leader. She and her companion get to make all the social media posts, film missionaries, edit videos, keep track of numbers, train missionaries how to use their content, etc.. It is a very busy position and she travels a lot, every week. She loves it. She gets to be with a lot of other missionaries, which her first area lacked, and she gets to use her creativity. I'm so glad she got to do this because she really wanted to.
Above is a pic of early morning clouds, a view from our backyard. Lily loves clouds, so I send her pics of them. She doesn't get to see as much sky because of al the trees in her mission.
Meet Suki
Amara beefed up her hamster mansion and bought a new hamster. Meet Suki, a tan and white puffball. She is much bigger than Amara's last hamster, and she seems to love Amara's set up. She loves to burrow in the day and come out at night and run on her wheel. After a couple of days listening to the wheel squeak all night long, Amara invested close to 50 of her hard-earned dollars for a prime squeakless wheel. She gets to sleep better now.
Work
I've been working at Alliance teaching 5 classes- 2 teams for teens sessions, social dance, geography, and creative writing. It's been a lot of planning. Almost constantly I'm planning because I make all my own curriculum for everything. I try to make everything engaging as well. Next year, I'm changing things up and only offering leadership and dance courses, but I'm adding a couple more of those. I have great hopes for my new offerings, Creative Leadership, and Folk&Line Dancing. I could see myself just loving teaching those and seeing the kids develop in positive ways.
Easter
Have you seen those Easter Lamb cake fails? I didn't even know making lamb cakes was a thing until I saw a compilation of the fails. Hilarious. Amara and I thought we should have a go at our own lamb cake fail. We didn't have a cake pan mold, so we just baked a confetti cake mix in 2 loaf pans. Then Amara stuck them together vertically and started cutting away to make a lamb shape. She used leftover chunks and toothpicks to create a nose, ears, and legs. Then I crumb coated the cake with cream cheese frosting before we took turns piping squiggles all over him. I think he turned out so cute. Amara said it looks more like a cow, but still cute. I mark it as a win. And the green colored coconut we added for grass tasted good with the cake.
Easter dinner was really lunch after church. Mom made her famous Crab potato salad and we had ham, rice, salad, deviled eggs, and jello eggs.
The Easter bunny decided we should try the joyride candies. I am more of a chocolate gal, so they didn't appeal to me much, but I liked the texture and taste of the gummy kids the best.
I made the Lauret traditional chocolate fudge eggs this year using a 3 ingredient walnut fudge recipe. yum.
The Easter bunny went easy on us this year and hid baskets pretty openly.
My jello eggs turned out cute. I made the gelatin with less water than usual so it would be really stable, and it worked out great.
Easter morning I like to get up and do a sunrise devotional. I'm usually all alone with nature, but this year, Lily called and talked to me! I got to watch the sunrise with her and take pics of the pretty Easter morning.
This year, there were clouds on the horizon, so the sun took a little longer to be seen.
Apple blossoms were budding on Easter morning.
I liked the way the above picture showed things that represented the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, stones, and a wood cross. The picture below was reminder of the crown of thorns. Each of these objects seemed to me to want to be photographed that morning, without my drawing any connection to the Easter symbols. It wasn't until later when I was looking through the pics did I see the story they wanted to tell me that morning.
Prom Proud
Amara decided she wanted to get dressed up and go to prom this year, her SENIOR YEAR! That's right, this girl is graduating and I'm in a state of mourning seeing my kids' childhood in the back window. But, I am SO PROUD of Amara! She hoped to get asked, but didn't, but she didn't let that stop her. She gathered her best friend by her side and they dressed up and went to the dance.
Proud prom moment two is admiring that Amara chose a dress that was beautiful AND modest. Styles today tend to lean toward more revealing fashion, and as a result, it can take more confidence to choose a look that feels different from the mainstream trends.
Proud prom moment number three is she earned all the money to buy everything- her custom-made dress, her hoop skirt, heels, ticket, and whatever else. It all costed close to $140.
Amara said she had a fun time and hung out with lots of her friends at the dance.
Random Happy
There have been so many beautiful sunset clouds around here!
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| My purple and white tulips are beautiful! |
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| Pippin is a pure-bread dog! |
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| Amara posing for our BeReal at Alliance. |
Adult Prom
I saw an adult prom advertised on Facebook by pastor Carl in Duchesne. It was a free community event and was SO FUN! I'm glad we went! It was Steve's first prom and he had a really good time. His dancing outlasted mine! We bought corsages and boutonnieres at the door. I'm glad my mom came too and joined us for a grand time.
I asked Steve if he'd wear a vest if I bought him one. He agreed to it, so I got one off Amazon, and this particular one was in a set that came with slacks and a tie. Steve looked so good. I searched high and low for a dress that would fit my standards and found NOTHING. So I wore one I already had, which I wore to a dance in high school and on our formal night on our honeymoon cruise.
The prom was themed "Prom Through the Decades" and you could dress up in any attire from any decade. The pastor and his wife wore colonial dress. The winner of best dressed wore a 20's flapper costume. We just dressed up, like most of the people there. The evening started with a dinner hour and then they dimmed the lights, turned on the disco party lights, and had a 2 hour dance. It was seriously LOADS of fun! They announced that they hope to make it a tradition. I hope they do!
More Sunsets
Amara's Job
Amara babysits an adorable little girl who is 2 now. She's been watching her since she was 7 months old.
Alliance Student Showcase
At the student showcase this year, my display included the choose-your-own-adventure stories from my creative writing students, our Geography/Cultures class' version of the German Easter tree with their reflections from the past year, our high school teen's class' kindness chronicles, and a QR code to view the teams classes videos.
Not pictured is the performance by my social dance class. They danced the cha-cha, 2-step, a circle mixer dance called you belong with me, and country swing. They did great. I also took a moment at the end to call my daughter up and thank her for assisting me with that class. I employ her to learn the moves with me and demonstrate them to the class as well as compile appropriate music.
Amara's Art Award
Amara takes a stained glass class at the high school and one day she came to class and her teacher handed her an award she won at the art show. Her teacher wanted her to submit her stained glass of Pippin, though Amara thinks other pieces of hers were better than that one. But, she submitted it and won a prize!
Basking in the Warm Sun
Spring Break
These pictures are in reverse order chronologically, but that's ok. We'll just start at the end of our trip. We all went to Chick-fil-A before heading back up the canyon to go home. I wish they had a chick-fil-a in where we live!
We had 3 main things planned for our Spring Break- 1) Eat at Sukiya Japanese Buffet. 2) Go see Prince of Egypt at Hale Center Theater. 3) Go do baptisms at the Provo City Center Temple while April was working as coordinator.
April and her boys joined us for lunch at Sukiya, as did my dad! I love that place. Eat all you want sushi and sashimi and all the other things. I was smart and didn't order a sushi roll so that I could eat a piece of everyone else's and try them all. My favorite was the one with lemon on it.
We went to target and found lots of things we didn't need and came home with some Easter gifts.
Temple Baptisms
We did it! Micah and his boys, Devon, me, and Amara all went to do baptisms during April's shift. It was THE BEST! It was a crazy busy night and we only had one appointment, but we all got in. I loved it. April even got to be present during the baptisms and confirmations as she switched around some people that night. Jay did some of the baptizing and so did Micah. It made me so happy to see Jay baptize Devon and Dev went under the water so fast that the water splashed everywhere and Jay's whole face and glasses were soaked.
Prince of Egypt
Hale Theater does amazing plays. The tickets ain't cheap, but there's not a bad seat in the house. Although I loved the play, I was really hoping they would have the burning bush be a real fire, but no. And they also had a bunch of additional songs that weren't in the movie that were ok but I think I would've preferred dialogue. That said, there was one of the additional songs that was sung with such emotion that I loved it.
IKEA
We hit up iKEA on our way to the play and ate dinner there. It's been awhile since we've been there. The prices have all gone up.
Amara actually was at the aquarium with Sarah and her family. She had gone earlier that week with them and was having fun without us.
Pippin's New Bad Habit
Pippin has now started interacting with/ barking at the TV. He loves the trail cams on Youtube, but now anytime I make comments at the TV, he gets up and starts barking at it. I have to remind him that I get to talk to the TV but he doesn't. At first we thought it was so cute and funny, but now it's gotten out of hand. We're trying to train it out of him, and we're making progress, but it's gonna take some doing.
