A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

Can anybody name the musical?  If you guessed Fiddler on the Roof, you are my new favorite.  Fiddler was the first musical I sang in during high school, and in my opinion, it's one of the very best.

Life around here has definitely been a little bit of this and that. 

Annika has been losing teeth like crazy.  Look closely and I'm pretty certain braces are in her future.  Eli just got an expander (phase 1 of orthodontic treatment), and Brooklyn recently got her teeth scanned for invisalign.  Talia got a new retainer because one of her front teeth was sliding down.  If that doesn't work, she could end up back in braces as well.  All in all, we are trying hard to put our orthodontist, Dr. Goldsberry's kids through college.

November 2nd was election day.  I was so tense about all of the political nastiness that I intentionally escaped to someplace remote to avoid watching the polls.  My retreat?  Frary Peak, the highest point on Antelope Island out in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.  If you ever need a get-away for solitude and a higher perspective, this is a great choice.

Plus, bison.  

Ultimately, I'm grateful Joe Biden pulled off a victory.  At least in his campaign speeches, he emphasized his desire to respect and represent all Americans, no matter who you voted for.  After years in an antithetical political clime, I'm grateful for this glimmer of hope.

I pray that somehow our nation can heal from the divisiveness of these past years.  We need to move forward together.  We also need Mr. Trump to grow up and concede the presidency.  His refusal to acknowledge election results is an arrogant undermining of democracy.  His behavior doesn't surprise me, but it still disappoints me.

On a happier note, after many months of waiting, Jason got a new iPhone 12.  It takes great pictures!

Other happy thoughts: cereal!  If I let the supply dwindle, Jason will take matters into his own hands.  (The kids love it when this happens; the selection is always sweeter than when I shop.)

Nothings says "fall" like a giant leaf pile...

...or a bike ride with my Easy E.

Our mild fall weather couldn't last forever.  With snow imminent, we headed up to Silver lake for our last hike of the season.  

You can see the ice already starting to form.  Presumably it's all frozen over by now.  Brighton ski resort opens tomorrow.

A snowy school day 

I've always thought our neighborhood looks like a snow globe after a fresh snowfall.

I expected the whole world to turn white, but the damp snow brought out the color in this sycamore... 

...and Talia's coat.

As of late, the kids and I have been participating in Sunday services remotely because Covid case counts are so high.  As bishop, Jason attends in person.  At first, it was a bit surreal sitting on the couch watching the broadcast of him speaking at the pulpit.  It was eerily reminiscent of General Conference.  Fun, as long as it is not portentous.  

Our stake is a bit unique in that we have been holding in-person sacrament meetings since the beginning of June.  All are invited, but attendance is usually around 40.  On this snowy Sunday, we trekked down to the chapel because I was speaking about overcoming adversity and hope.  If nothing else, 2020 unites us in the challenges we are facing together while apart.

Like most of the U.S., Utah sure has its challenges.  About a week ago, we spiked to 4000 new daily coronavirus cases.  I remember when I panicked back in June because we surpassed 300. 

Governor Herbert has declared a state of emergency, creating a state-wide mask mandate and limiting social gatherings to immediate household members. The hope is this will help contain the pandemic a bit before Thanksgiving.  Either way, I'm gearing up for a long, hard winter.

Here's Talia's crocheted version of keeping us all safe.

Perfect for juggling as well.

Some days, the only way I keep my anxiety in check is through long walks in the foothills.

Jason didn't find this as hilarious as I did.  True blue Cougar fan or not, it's best not to bite the hand that feeds you.

Speaking of biting, the Cheetah looks pretty ferocious.

In this picture, we have a couple of Private Eyes working to solve a library ghost mystery.

This crew brings so much joy.  Here we are enjoying a special dinner that Brooklyn prepared for her Girl Scout Journey.  To create a healthy, environmentally-responsible meal, she focused on butternut squash from Grandpa Charles's garden.  Can't get more local than that!  

Meanwhile, Talia has been characteristically busy with her art.  (The blue-light glasses are meant to counteract all the screen time.)

Love this bird.

She also knits with toothpicks.  Doesn't everyone?

As for Annika, her latest crafts center around balloon animals like this unicorn.  Tonight she also made a balloon dragon and an ocelot.

While Annika likes to play hard, she does not like to go to bed.  Periodically I will find her in the strangest places in the morning.

Sweet dreams, world!  May the "this" and "that" of your lives include the joy of dolphins and mermaid tails. 

Once in a Blue Moon: Halloween 2020

2020 brought a special treat this year.  Halloween fell on a Blue Moon!  According to the internet, the last time that happened was 76 years ago.

This picture was actually taken at Red Butte Gardens during their Bootanical event, not on Halloween.  It's also not an actual moon.  But we actually did have a really nice time.  The whole family went to see the lighted display on a Monday evening and had the place practically to ourselves.  It's such a different experience at night and really well done.  We especially enjoyed watching the dance performance groups, who seemed to enjoy us being there too since Annika danced right along.

To get into the Halloween spirit, we swapped our meatloaf for a rather grotesque footloaf.

Disturbingly realistic with its onion toes.  Crazy thing is, this was perhaps the tastiest meatloaf I've ever made.  I plan on saving the recipe to see if we can't make it look a bit more appetizing next time.

Annika dressed up as a witch for her class Halloween party.  Eli was Harry Potter, but I forgot to grab a picture.  Note all the different Frankenstein drawings on the fridge.  After learning how to draw them at school, Annika gave us art lessons with very rigid instructions.  Papa Kay was nearly kicked out of the class for not following directions, but she let it slide in the end.

The kids could have gone as punk rockers.  This is what they looked like on Crazy Hair Day a few days prior.  Just for the record, that hair glitter is hard to get out!

Little witch gets some exercise by running down the hill at Popperton park.

Big girls like to play too.

Halloween dog pile!

Halloween 2020 looked quite different from prior years due to Covid concerns.  A statewide emergency alert was sent out to every cell phone on the 30th, letting Utahns no that transmission rates are high in nearly every county.  Case counts are escalating (2292 on Friday) with positivity rates rising as well (18%).  Definitely a frightening Halloween, but not in the way we'd hoped.

Eli was still able to get together with his friend Sohum at Sugarhouse park.  

Meanwhile, Annika thought feeding the birds and climbing trees was a great substitute for her cancelled Girl Scout bridging ceremony/Halloween party.

Extremely resilient, she said, Mom, this might be the best Halloween ever!  I don't think I'm going to frown at all today.  By the way, on the 31st she wanted to be a black cat.  Can you tell she painted her own face?

Meanwhile, Talia, Brooklyn, and Jason played in the Halloween Hat frisbee tournament.  The tournament directors tried to make the even safer by dividing into small groups and insisting that the players must wear masks the entire time. 

Brooklyn and Jason's team went undefeated!  Congratulations, Buttermilk.  Brooklyn played with the head Krakens coach, Sean Graff, and scored several times.  The only downside is that she wanted to stay to the end to play in the finals.  I needed to pick up Talia earlier and Jason was already gone, so she ended up walking home from Riverside Park.  In cleats.  Ouch!  That's four miles.  She's nearly as sore today as her forty year-old father who only played a couple of games, but doesn't recover quite as quickly as he used to.

While Brooklyn was winning the tourney, Annika, Eli, Talia and I were at Reservoir park carving pumpkins with a couple of neighbor kids, the Orme's (all masked, of course.)  I wish I had some action photos--it was a picture perfect, warm afternoon.  You can see a couple of our finished pumpkins to the left of Justin and Brianna's in this photo.  

Speaking of Justin and Brianna, we headed over to their place for a final Halloween celebration in the backyard. 

Chili, cinnamon rolls, and oh-so-much fun!

Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles also joined us for the celebration.

Hunting for candy.  Why save all the fun for Easter?

Brooklyn made a very sophisticated Ravenclaw.

Talia's rocking the Dorothy costume, with Toto in hand and ruby-red slippers.  Note the pirate with Harry Potter glasses behind.

As for Annika and Ruby, they'd been planning for weeks to be matching black cats.  It wasn't until I looked at this picture that I realized Annika had her shoes on the wrong feet!

Last but not least, we even got to go to a few homes for some masked and gloved trick-or-treating.  All in all, it really was a delightful Halloween.