Mainly March

While characteristically chaotic (particularly for Jason who is swamped at work), March was blissfully routine for our family.  We celebrated pi day with chicken pot pie, apple pie, banana cream pie, pineapple pie, and even a shaker lemon pie. Yum!

We must have been inspired because later in the month we even made meat pies for the first time in years.

A few days later it was time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as well.  Naturally we had green pancakes for breakfast.

Jason wanted to be sriracha sauce with the green squeeze top. Love it! As for Eli, he donned all of the bows that Annika didn't want to wear.

NomiAnn and Papa Kay provided the delicious corned beef and cabbage. Thank you!

Here we are visiting the Taylorsville temple on a March Saturday morning. This trip was kind of miraculous. The temple baptistry is typically very crowded on on Saturdays. We didn't have an appointment and were running late, but decided to go anyway. As we walked in, we learned that a couple of large groups had cancelled and the baptistry was literally empty. We were able to walk-in and participate right away. It felt like God both needed us there and helped us get where we needed to be.

Feeling blessed!

Eli's feeling blessed to have a closet door now as well.  He did a great job painting it!

On March 20th we all went to see Project Hail Mary at the Clark Planetarium. I'm not sure this alien display captures the essence of Rocky, but it was fun anyway. Eli was a good sport and didn't begrudge Jason, Annika and I for going to the same showing where he had already purchased tickets for himself and a friend. Thumbs down?

In more performance notes, here is Ruby performing as Hades in her elementary school musical.

A fiery neighborhood sunset.

Jason celebrated his birthday in March as well. I love how Talia and I gifted him the exact same package of peanut M&Ms. Rumor is that they are all gone already. (Annika helped.)

We started off the morning with meat pie. Yum!

Jason had to travel to Southern Utah for a bid opening that day. While there, he got to see the beautiful space that ASSIST designed as an addition to the city offices.

Plus, driving into Zion is never shabby.

On the way back to Salt Lake, he attended Talia's BYU Symphony orchestra concert. I surprised him by getting off work early and joining him there as well. The concert was amazing! They performed Beethoven's Fifth.

The birthday boy and the violin virtuoso. We love you, Jason!

Talia's friend Clara came as well.

We sure love being this gal's parents.

A few final March mementos: our entire house is filled with Annika's drawings and artwork. We love it all!

I've starting visiting the Family Search Library downtown to scan dozens of binders of old letters, papers, mementos and photos from high school and college. Heaven to betsy, I certainly was a prolific writer! I don't know how my family ever endured reading all the novels I sent home from Austria. I'm not sure I'll ever read them myself, but I feel better about scanning them before pitching into the trash.

Thanks to a Community Exploration Pass, we were able to take the Wilhoits on a trip to Red Butte Gardens and the Natural History Museum.

The exhibit on bugs was intense! Nothing like walking through a lifesize exhibit on the jewel wasp that does brain surgery on a cockroach before turning it into a zombie that will become a host for the egg it lays in its abdomen. Or the Japanese honeybees that kill invading hornets by trapping them in a bee ball and vibrating their wings until the hornets die from heat. It kind of makes the orchid mantis seem quite civil. 

Leaving that gore behind, I'll finish with a couple photos taken above the Natural History Museum during a peaceful jaunt up to the Living Room with Zion.

I hope others likewise found moments of peace and rejuvenation, not only in March, but in the present as well.