7th and 10th

Another first day of school.

Emily is a sophomore this year - no longer low man on the totem pole. 

Jane, however, is in her first year of junior high. 

I wish I could tell them that life won't always be like high school (or junior high). But we all have to pass through this weird gauntlet in between childhood and adulthood. Some days will be rough. But I hope that home continues to be a good place for them - even if they have a lot more years of teenagerhood ahead. 

 

Not Missing the Dance

7 months ago, Chris and I passed the milestone of 20 years of marriage. And you know how we celebrated it? In the parking lot of Storey Gym eating Dairy Queen Blizzards and being approached by a homeless man who was either carrying a big gun or fake big gun. We drove away screaming and bemoaned how truly, truly awful our anniversary had been.

We decided to make up for it with Garth Brooks tickets for Frontier Days. At the appointed time, we both signed in to get tickets. I had the tickets in my cart, and then the system glitched. We missed out. 

Now I know it's not advisable to support scalpers. I know it just makes them bolder. But we have missed out on so much lately. So did I sign onto StubHub immediately after we lost our chance at tickets? Yes. I did. Did I pay $900 for a pair of tickets to see Garth? Yes, I did. Do I feel bad about it? Not a bit. Because I wasn't about to miss out on even more. 

We spent an absolutely magical night with Garth Brooks. It was worth every single penny. It was as if the pandemic never happened. 

Happy belated 20th anniversary, Chris! Next year will be better than Dairy Queen. 

 

Fiery 4th

After our trip, we were a bit worn out. 

But we still celebrated the 4th of July by making patriotic food...

lighting some stuff on fire, and watching the City light some stuff on fire. 

What more could you ask for?

 

Summer Vacation: Pivot! Pivot!

 We were supposed to go to London and Paris this summer. 

We got our shots. We thought the end of the pandemic was in sight. We were wrong. 

There's been a lot of discouragement surrounding the pandemic. So much life has been put on hold. We still had hope that this summer's vacation wouldn't be ruined, so we left the decision until a few weeks before we were supposed to leave. It became clear that the mandatory quarantine periods weren't going to be lifted. So we cancelled. It was heartbreaking. 

But we had the time off and we didn't want to skip summer vacation 2021. So with a few weeks' notice we threw together a trip to Yellowstone. And you know what? It was great. 

First stop: Devil's Gate. Our ancestors came across the plains and it was really amazing to see this history. I haven't been there since before they did the visitor's center so I'm glad we got the opportunity to go. 

Next we headed over to Independence Rock. This is the rock that the pioneers scratched their names into on their trip west. 

We chose to go through Togwotee pass, which affords some truly amazing views of the Tetons coming into Jackson. 

And, because I'm a Wyoming native, I'm allowed to say this: Jackson grosses me out. It is an abomination of inequality where insanely rich people shelter their money from taxes and don't pay the people who serve them enough to survive in this gross, gross town. There. I said it. It wasn't nearly as bad when I was a kid. There are some good memories there and I still wanted the kids to see it. We saw it. But just long enough to stay the night. 

And then... on to Yellowstone!

Yellowstone was still amazing. 

Our room reservations were last minute, so staying inside the park wasn't an option. We stayed at West Yellowstone, Gardiner, and Cody. We knew the crowds would be out in force, so we bought picnic lunches at grocery stores every night and then brought them into the park with us the next day. In reality, we barely felt the crowds. We did everything we wanted to do.

Old Faithful...

Grand Prismatic....

Mammoth....

including ice cream...

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone...

And a quick stop at Lake Lodge, where Emily purchased the perennial classic, "Death in Yellowstone". 

We exited the park through the east entrance after 3 memorable days and spent some time in Cody, where we ate at Bubba's, which continues to be mediocre but iconic. 

I'm glad we took this trip. I'm sick of missing out on things duetocovid. The kids needed to see Yellowstone before they fly the coop. The past year and a half has been about adjusting, pivoting and changing plans. But we refuse to let this pandemic trap us in the house. We'll still go to Europe. But now the kids will have had the experience of Yellowstone and Europe. We're doing our best to make the most of this. 

Camping and Dancing

 The girls were able to go to Young Women camp again this year. Last year was weird. We did the best we could, but it still ended up being a mix between virtual and in person. But COVID number were down this year and they were able to do a ropes course and then head down to Colorado Springs where they had the treat of showers and flushing toilets. Truly a luxury. 

The day after they got back, Jane had a recital. A real, in person, recital. She missed it last year because they rescheduled from May to August - duetocovid. It just so happened to fall during our trip to Disney World. 

But this year, she danced her little heart out. 

Things are starting to get back to normal. We want to be done with these strange times. 

Not Throwing Away our Shots

 

The whole family is officially vaxxed. 

As soon as the first shipments started arriving, I've coveted that precious shot. 

My opportunity came early. The hospital sent me a message in February telling me I qualified based on my unpleasant health history. I jumped up and down, celebrating like I'd won the lottery. Pfizer has become a more desirable brand than Gucci in the past few months. 

The first dose was easy. The second came with a high fever and body aches. It was totally worth it. 

Chris got his early too. He was on a waitlist at a local pharmacy and they called him one Saturday, asking if he could be there in the next 15 minutes. They had one dose left. He was still celebratory, but didn't indulge in a selfie. 

The kids finally got the green light in May. We took them to the clinic after school and it was almost all teens. 

I was even more excited for the kids to get theirs than I was when I got mine. They need to go back to normal life so badly. We haven't been hiding in our house this past year, and they've been attending school in-person since September, but things haven't been normal either. It's been tough. The girls miss regular church activities and in-person school activities. Emily has been competing at speech meets over video. It's surreal. We're done with surreal. We're ready to get back to real. 

Hooray for the vaccines! May they help usher out these dark times. 

Fifteen

Emily is fifteen. 

It's strange thinking that she's already been with us for a decade and a half. It's even stranger to think she only has 3 more years before she goes to college. 

We've been trying to give her responsibility and privileges a bit at a time. We decided that this year, she is finally ready for a smart phone. She was so excited to finally be able to have the internet in her pocket. 

She also got her learner's permit. That particular achievement is not pictured here, but just imagine her taking the wheel of an actual vehicle, her parents terrified on the one hand, but also very excited at the prospect of her being able to transport herself. 

For her birthday, she requested a movie day with her bestie and an Oreo cheesecake with a brownie crust. Fairly simple requests that were easily granted. 

Happy Birthday, Emily!