What I think is the problem today is we keep trying to normalize things that aren't normal. This isn't helping anyone. And in fact, is actually making things much worse.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Friday, March 24, 2023
No Sleep for Me
We have so many BIG exciting things this summer!
Here is what life is looking like now:
1. Helping Miles working on mission papers and things. He is SO funny about it. I am getting texts though from his seminary teachers telling me they love having him in class. So that is sweet and makes me happy. Last year he was a little frustrated with school in general and not wanting to do seminary and it just took reminding him how Grandpa Adair was a seminary teacher and how important it was to him and he changed his attitude (and getting a new interesting teacher helps too).
2. Getting Miles graduated. And yes, this is taking mental effort from me. Getting Miles to do something he doesn't actually want to do is incredibly difficult and requires me to remember to "check-in" with aka nag him often. Hopefully more on this someday when he's a millionaire and we can all laugh about what a little turd he was about going to school.
3. Monet's birthday next week and then she graduates from BYU in April! She still has spring classes so she feels like graduation isn't real until she is really done just before she gets married. She is applying for a job using her exercise science degree and hoping she can at least get an interview. She's working as a CNA right now.
4. All the prom and fun senior things for Miles--gotta get him a suit for Prom! Harder than you'd think because he is so tall and his arms so long, no regular stores carry his size. And the arms on regular suits don't have enough length to let out even. And the ones that are practical are "boring" to him. He asked Josie this week. She is the cutest.
5. Lacrosse season for Simone lots of climbing too. Simone is doing great! Lots of playing time, lots of goals. And having so much fun with the social part of being on a team. She just found out that Nationals is in Salt Lake! Yay! We are so excited. With Elise's baby due shortly after this makes one thing easier. Plus her friends can come.
6. Spring Break and Easter planning. CAN'T WAIT for sun! And the beach, and hopefully some Pickleball and bingewatching the season 3 of Ted Lasso. We booked the Beachcomber fire pit for one of the nights. Hope the weather is good.
7. Planning Trek Activities for 500+ kids. Right between Miles's graduation and Monet's wedding we are going on Trek and planning the activities for our huge stake. To be honest I would've politely declined this job when they asked me in November if I had known I was going to be planning a wedding and also having a grand baby, and dealing with another relapse in the Meniere's issues. But I also think its a great opportunity for me to grow and learn to do something that intimidates me. I'll be a family reunion pro if I keep having these camp assignments every year. We had two nights of Pre-Trek Square dances and it was a lot of fun and really turned out well. I think I just stress about things when I haven't done them before and don't have a clear picture of how it is all going to come together. I wish I could just hire someone to do my calling. ;)
Our cute neighbor loves horses and made this backdrop!
Good job Tornows!
Kids one of the nights!
8. Getting all the basement and house things decluttered and ready for Elise and Ethan! Thanks to Angelas guy Trevor we have replaced so many ugly light fixtures, colored sinks, plumbing fixtures and finally doing some things that we've procrastinated around the house.
9. Wedding planning for Monet! She is actually very chill about a lot of wedding things! She picked the 3rd dress she tried on from the one and only place we went. We are hoping to get all the vendors in place this week before we leave for Spring Break.
10. Collecting baby gear and ordering random baby things. I just bought the CUTEST bassinet. And some pretty adorable baby shoes. Its really fun. Also while Elise is dreaming of baby clothes for her baby, I'm also making sure my baby still has clothes. I remember being pregnant with her and having literally nothing until my big sisters sent me a huge box of maternity clothes that were so nice. They were always looking out for me! So we shopped online a couple weeks ago and she's feeling like a new person with leggings that aren't sized XS from when she was in high school. And we went through my closet and my jeans that are now too small for me fit the 21 week pregnant daughter just perfectly! So glad I hung onto some of those longer than I should have.
11. Switching rooms! We moved Jared's office to the main floor and I'm excited to see more of him and he'll have more space. I went to the Alice Lane warehouse sale with my friend Tonya who is their #1 biggest fan. Honestly the deals weren't worth standing in line for 2 hours in the snow but it was fun to be with Tonya! And I did get a chair for the office.
Rug is now too small but he likes it like this so it doesn't hit the chair and bunch. And the dogs are happy they have so much more room to spread out!
12. Soren started his lacrosse season last week! This week it was so cold and snowy all his practices were cancelled. But he did great last week. Three goals I think and he is looking good with the stick skills. He is rusty though! It took him a game to figure out where he needed to be and to start hustling. I think the team they played was pretty bad so its hard to tell how they will shake out this season. He's having fun and is excited about it. We had to get new pads. I can't believe he's already outgrown them.
13. Putting everything on the calendar NOW because I'm not sleeping very well with all of these things converging in the next couple months! My brain is on overdrive and all my dreams are about Trek and wedding details.
Monday, March 20, 2023
Monet and Carson are Engaged!
Monet and Carson are engaged!
So happy for these two! They are so cute together. It is a good feeling to see Monet so confident and happy. A few weeks ago we were talking about wedding details and she said there were a few things she wasn't sure about, but she was 100% so happy and sure about Carson. That's the only thing that matters really. And such a good feeling to have that.
Carson planned the cutest proposal. Last summer they went to a wedding and they were just talking and he said something about proposals. Some people now hire photographers and have the whole family there etc. Which is fun in its own way but he just asked what Monet thinks about it all. And she said she thought the classic kind with just the couple sounded good. And she wasn't thinking of that being them but maybe he was who knows!
And anyway, fast forward seven months and she got what she said she wanted! He and his friend put a tire swing in a remote location up the canyon. It was actually a lot of work to hike in with this big tire and ropes, chains, etc. But they got it all installed and sometime during the pandemic when Carson was on his "intermission" when all the missionaries came home and waited for reassignments he took Monet there. They were just friends at the time.
When they started dating again at the end of last summer he took her there again and that was where they maybe made it official, meaning they weren't dating anyone else.
So this week they finally finished 75 hard (Which is really a pain during a snowy wet winter like we have had) and the next day he mentioned that they should go snowshoeing before it warms up and the snow melts (ha we will probably have snow til July this year).
Anyway, she knew the ring was getting made and she thought it would be awhile til he proposed. Cause he tricked her into thinking it was still a week or two out. Monet is pretty clever so he really had to do a solid job of that!
He told her they were going to dinner after so she should wear something nice, but she was like, nah, its just snowshoeing so I'm going to wear a sweatshirt. Haha.
She said it was a pretty remote location and a little tough to get to. But once they got close to the swing she saw something colored in the snow and thought it was trash (Monet has really bad vision). And as she got closer she saw this cute scene with flowers in the snow, a little loveseat carved out of the snow, lights, a cutting board with a little cache of food and treats underneath and pictures of the two of them.
And when he started asking her to marry him he couldn't speak properly. So she kissed him and then he could talk again.
And finally he pulled out the ring and she didn't even say "yes," she just grabbed the ring out of his hand and put it on her finger. This is actually so funny to me. I can picture this so perfectly. Monet is obsessed with her beautiful ring! They had it custom made and it is perfect for her. She didn't want something that would have pointy prongs because she will be wearing gloves for a good part of life. And so she wanted a low profile style. It is very unique and beautiful! Finally she remembered to say yes!
They talked for a long time and finally realized they had to hurry back to make it to dinner.
Carson's dad and friends had gone up earlier while he was at work to set up the whole thing and it was sweet to see the effort that they put into making it just perfect for them. They even carved steps out of the snow.
These two had a lot of things to think about with wedding dates! Elise's due date in the middle of the summer, plus Miles and Carson's brother both putting in their mission papers for mid August. So she decided they would bump up their date to June. But then Jared and I are on the Trek Activities in June, and we have a family reunion/trip to Pagosa that's been on the books for awhile, so she was extra limited. Good thing we finally all settled on June 30th! Very excited for them.
These two dated in High School when Monet was 16. Carson was a Junior when Monet was a sophomore and Elise a senior. Elise had gone on a canyoneering trip with him since he was friends with some of her friends. She thought he was funny and cool and told Monet she should date him. And she told Carson to date Monet, and he told Elise that he was "working on it". I remember these conversations so that is funny. A couple months later Carson asked Monet to prom. Carson was always so nice and such a gentleman. They hiked Timp once but it was snowy so they went back a few weeks later and did it again. Later that fall they started dating and she took him to Sadie's.
She wasn't super serious about relationships back then and it was high school, and they broke up after 5 months. But she always admired him and just thought he was so nice. I was also impressed with him and one time after he dropped her off I said, "Monet, that's the kind of boy you marry." I did not think they would end up together because high school relationships don't have great odds, I just liked how well he treated her. He was also a lot of fun and I liked all the fun active things they would do together.
Here are some fun throwbacks just because!
Last summer she ran the AF Canyon Half and he ran it as well with some of their mutual friends. Me, Elise and Monet were standing around at the finish and I saw a cute guy walking up. He didn't have his shirt on and had a bandana around his forehead. I didn't recognize him at all, until Monet said, "Carson? Did you grow?" Elise and I were making eye contact and laughing at how dumbfounded Monet looked. He invited her to come to his house for pancakes with a big group of their friends who also ran. And it was pretty funny cause she wasn't going to go and we were like yeah Monet, you need to go. Haha.
Anyway, after that we went to Italy. And Carson told Monet to call him when she got back. Apparently he didn't think she would. But she did! And it was pretty funny to see how quickly she was into him after that.
She had been somewhat hesitant to want to date seriously for awhile. She was looking forward to her friends coming home from their missions and just having fun. But even though she was trying to be all chill about it, it was apparent pretty quickly about where this was headed. He told her that she'd always been like his "celebrity crush." He was very charming and sweet to Monet and always so polite and kind to us. Every time we'd see him he text us a thank you. My friend used to coach him and said that for the last ten years he had texted her a "Happy Mothers Day." Which I think is very cute.
Carson is very active, and that is perfect because Monet needs someone that can match her energy. He loves mountain biking, skiing and fishing. And he will also run as well, but he doesn't love it like biking. I think Monet has been loving having someone to ski with and learn new things like biking and fishing.
We are all so excited to plan this wedding and celebrate these two! It feels really great to see my daughter with someone who so obviously loves her very much.
Sunday, March 12, 2023
This week in March
This week I went with Soren to the Aquarium for his field trip. Soren, along with the rest of my kids, LOVES the aquarium.
The cutest part about it was how he was really excited for me to sit by him on the bus. I'm just going to soak that in and hopefully he will always be a mama's boy. But I really love having a little guy that is excited for me to come to his class and attend his field trip. I had the cutest group of boys in my group. They were all so easy. He has a great class.
Today Miles spoke in church. I think this was his first talk! He did such a great job with his delivery and although I'm pretty sure ChatGBT (Its so Miles to do that) wrote his talk, I loved it. I love hearing his voice. He seemed pretty comfortable. I would love to hear him speak in more of his own words next time cause he is so funny.
I got my three Orange Theory workouts in this week and it was tough! I do not recover well from these. I also hiked on Thursday. Then my knee hurt and it was hard to sleep. And then the following night I also couldn't sleep from a headache. We hosted a baby party for cute Lexi's first birthday at our house yesterday and I got way behind and didn't eat much til 5 when I hungrily snarfed up some pizza and I ended up with vertigo again today. Dang. So at least I can confirm that getting enough recovery, sleep, and low sodium is working and its not just random luck that I haven't had vertigo as much lately.
The hike was incredibly beautiful. Even if there is sooo much snow. There was a huge avalanche in Provo canyon this week. Its kinda sketchy! Even looking up at the mountains they look different and more snowy than usual in the peaks.
Soren finished up his basketball season. Jared is such a great coach. This was an inexperienced team. But such cute boys! They really improved. And we will have to keep improving over the off season. Soren worked hard by going to our neighbors indoor court to practice a lot. It helped a ton. His dribbling got so much better. Some of the kids on the team said Jared looks like a "Nice Thanos" haha. He gets the Thanos thing a lot.
We went on a date! To Antica Sicilia. We got the giant ribeye and it was so delicious and the owner/chef and server were so warm and friendly. We loved it.
Simone had her first lacrosse game of the season! She's playing JV and so she gets to be in as much as she can handle really. She did so great. Lots of fast breaks and she has the longest strides. She scored 4 goals.
I did a rose gardening class yesterday and they had a drawing for a Peace rosebush that they passed around for everyone to enter. There used to be a rose garden at Sugarhouse park and when I was young I went and decided the Peace Rose was my favorite kind of rose. And when I entered the drawing I just knew I was going to win, and I'm usually not optimistic about things like that. But I had a feeling. It was so fun to win something. I feel like it's the first time ever.
And we had cute Lexi's first birthday! So fun! Savannahs cute little girl. Savannah made everything so cute! Savannah is such a thoughtful and cute mom. It was fun to see all the effort that went into Lexis first birthday. And Taylor is the most hands-on, cutest dad. Very happy for them.
And Simone decided to rehome her goats. They are fun but a lot of work and she found a person locally that has a nice barn and pasture for them. And they took all three. So that is a bit of a relief. We are down to two dogs and a cat! We are still probably going to need another outdoor cat. We are for sure getting a female this time! No more super nice cuddly cats. Haha.
Monday, March 06, 2023
No more Braces for Awhile!
Simone is officially done with braces!
She looks so cute!
She was only estimated to have them for a year so she was really bummed that it took another 6 months, especially when that is in high school!
We have slow forming teeth around here and all our kids have braces in High School. Soren will definitely also need braces late with how slow he is losing his teeth.
Anyway, we won't have a kid in braces for awhile! Yay. One less thing to have to remember.
California in Winter
I think going to California in the winter once a month is a really good plan. But unfortunately either driving or flying runs the risk of winter storms.
We had another little trip planned for Cathy's 70th birthday party that we were really looking forward to!
We were supposed to fly in the night before, but then everything went wrong. Storms, delays, a crew that didn't show up etc. Our flight got delayed by 6 hours. So we kept getting updated by email and decided since it was in the morning to try to wait it out in the car in the parking lot at the airport since we still had so much time and there was some uncertainty.
We went to check in at 2 am (90 min before projected flight) and TSA was closed! They closed a half hour ahead of schedule and just went home. So we had to be put on a flight for the next day. They didn't have room for all of us but little by little the gate agent got us tickets.
We went home finally after trying to figure out solutions with the nice gate agent and slept at 3:30am and then came back at 1pm that next day for our 3pm flight that got delayed again until 8 (something about the plane hitting some birds?). And then Jared had been opening packages with a knife that he stuck in his pocket and forgot about so he had all this TSA stuff. Miles and I were standby at that point. So we had to wait and wait. And not know if we would get on. Finally we arrived at LAX (the worst airport aside from CDG) and we had to wait a full hour for our bags. It was pouring rain out and we finally got the Uber to get to the party when we got stuck in LA traffic.
We didn't get to our hotel until about midnight. It was such a long marathon journey but a bit of a comedy of errors. We were bummed that we missed the party and the fun stake dance all the teenaged cousins were going to go to together. But at the end of the day there are a lot of worse things than being stuck in an airport. We were just tired.
The next morning we were in the car ready to go to Coby's homecoming when the car battery was dead! We raced around to find someone to jump it quickly. It was cute to see how Miles enjoys knowing all about these kinds of things. I had to snap a photo of Miles getting his face somewhat shaved by Jared. Soren looked on in amusement and I just had to relish the moment. Instead of telling him to pack church clothes, I packed them in my bag. And I bribed him to shave with a burger. I think it was a good move he looked handsome and no neck beard yay.
We still had the best Sunday and we got to see Coby's awesome homecoming talk and hang out at Aaron and Kristens for awhile with the whole family. He just returned from Cameroon! Its so cool to see how much these kids grow and mature on missions. A few of us left after a couple hours cause we didn't bring good clothes for the cold weather. But the boys stayed longer and had so much fun. Then we went to Crystal Cove and looked for beach glass and played a couple rounds of our new favorite game (thanks Angela!).
Simone had to leave Sunday night to make it back for lacrosse tryouts! Monet and Carson had to go home for school. I was so glad they came! They are so busy with school and work that its hard to get a good amount of time with them. They had flown into SNA Friday so they had a little time there with Nana and Papa which was so fun. And they got to go to Nana's party.
Monday we just had Soren and Miles with us. I gave them lots of options of things to do: Knotts Berry Farm, San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, Beach (it was rainy), etc. But the option that sounded best to them was the La Brea Tar Pits! I thought that was hilarious that all the boys were so excited about the skeletons of the tigers, wolves, mammoths, etc that were trapped in the tar pits. I am seeing a little shift with Soren and Miles. Soren really understands Miles's humor more and they kinda stick together a little more. Like they'll watch basketball and Soren wants to do what Miles is doing. So the boys all went to Papa's to hang out with him for the evening and I stayed back and read. Sometimes its good for them to all have some uninterrupted guy time.
Tuesday we went to the Beachcomber for breakfast and the boys went to the beach for the first time just for an hour or so and we found more beachglass. We were about to leave when we decided to see tide pools. Miles didn't really want to do the tidepools but as soon as he saw how interested Soren was he wanted to go too. I thought that was sweet.
We dropped them off and then had two days to ourselves. Its funny to add on days to a family trip. Because I pack completely differently for trips with just Jared than I do with family trips. We spent a very rainy day binge watching Outer Banks (which isn't my favorite wish it was a movie instead of a whole series but honestly fun for teens who it was made for). We watched Game Night and that was a funny one!
We went to dinner at Pelican Grill which was so beautiful. And just kinda relaxed! We stopped at some places at Lido Isle later. Lots of cute shops and brunch at Malibu Farms.
It was a fun trip with lots of family! Again, we got lots of rain and it was 50 degrees even when it was sunny. But that beats Utah right now. We are all a little burned out of this extra long winter.
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