Jan 2, 2022 – The day that everyone in our household is finally two weeks post second vaccine (for girls) and two weeks post booster (Justin and me)!
Avery was also vaccinated; however, she was very nervous…so our goal was to get through the shot…taking a picture was the furthest thing from my mind!
December 30 – The last day my dad walked into his office and walked out. In late summer my dad mentioned he was thinking about retiring. We tried to get him to do it in a phased approach knowing he didn’t have any hobbies and truly we were worried about him being bored. Work for him was not only work, but much of his social life; working with a friend, eating lunch out every day.
A few months after he initially mentioned it, he told us he had matter-of-factly made up his mind…the end of the year he would be retiring it. He felt it was time; he no longer was enjoying the daily drive, and at 72 he felt it was time.
So while I think we all wished he would have gone to part time just to stay busy for a year or two, in the end it was his decision and I supported him and am happy for him.
Sunday evening we threw him a surprise retirement party…theme was hoodies as my dad rotates between the same three hoodies during cold weather.
My mom made lasagna, which she rarely makes anymore, so my dad knew something was up when he heard she was cooking! We got him a hoodie that said “The man, the legend, has retired”, a T-shirt that said “I worked my whole life for this” and some gag gift toilet paper that said “Leave that S**T behind” and “No job is finished until the paperwork is done”. My sister gifted him with some of his favorite beer.
We gave him cards and toasted. We spend our whole lives working to provide for ourselves and our families, to create the life we want. He created a good life and should be proud.
Congrats Dad! Enjoy this next part of the journey!
Not sure how, but a few weeks ago, my mom turned 70! She doesn’t seem 70….in my eyes, she is still in her 40’s which is technically impossible being that I am 42. Nonetheless, with her blond hair, her wrinkle free face, and her pep in her step and her vibrant and busy daily schedule, she proves 70 is merely a number.
Still, it is something to celebrate! And so we did! My sister, Gabriel, Noah, and Elias came into town two days prior to her birthday. That in itself was amazing since we hadn’t seen them since last December and I had never met my newest nephew! Mary and Russell came into town for the occasion and stayed with us – Harper gave up her room and we turned her room into a guest room oasis with freshly painted walls.
Saturday morning we enjoyed a girls mani/pedi experience followed by and afternoon playing with Noah and Elias. Mary and Russell came into town Saturday evening. Justin and I, and Lauren and Gabriel escaped separately for adult events leaving the kids to my parents and Mary and Russell. Emerson spent the night at my parents helping to babysit for Noah and Elias. She was a major help and even got paid for her services.
Sunday morning we hosted a brunch in our new kitchen. Mary was a huge help in setting up especially since Harper woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and not feeling well, what we believe was a reaction to her COVID vaccine from two days prior, since her COVID test came back negative.
We enjoyed quiche, salad, bagels, lox, and fruit. My mom was adamant we not have too much food so we wouldn’t spoil our appetite for dinner. Hosting in our new space, being with our family truly felt amazing.
We took lots of pictures with the B-I-G 7-0 balloons!
We surprised my mom with a 5 diamond pendant necklace representing her five grandchildren. She wasn’t expecting it and she shed happy tears.
Sunday evening the party got even bigger at Bazins, where in addition to the brunch crew, Stewart, Lynn, Tony, and Shelia joined in the celebration. There were 17 of us together…family and my mom’s closest friends joining her in celebrating 70 years around the sun.
It was truly a great celebration.
Hannukah came very early this year starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Sticking with tradition, we celebrated the first night at my parents with brisket and latkes. We said the blessing and lit the menorah each night, followed by presents daily, usually clothes and other practical gifts.
We spent one Friday celebrating the sixth night with our neighbors, The Goldmans and The Rackisanys, eating great food, experiencing the Hannukah traditions, and enjoying each others company.
This year Harper was brave enough to light the menorah a couple of the nights! And in our new kitchen!
We spent the day with my parents. A little morning walk followed by a little Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade watching and a lot of Thanksgiving skit planning.
We arrived at my parents around 2:00 and enjoyed charcuterie appetizers along with bacon wrapped goat cheese dates and brown sugar wrapped chicken bites. All delicious. Needing to digest, we watched the annual dog show and went for a leisurely walk in the neighborhood enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.
Dinner consisted of a spiral ham, turkey, my mom’s amazing stuffing, and more! Dessert featured two pies…one blackberry and one apple.
My favorite part of the day was most definitely the girls skit. The girls first put together a skit with Lari’s help three years ago and have continued the tradition even without her. Harper was still the turkey struggling to fit into the paper bag without ripping it. Emerson was the narrator graciously introducing Avery, who was the star of the show with her beautiful dance moves autobiography of her life especially as it related to her nystagmus. The three days that the girls spent planning for the skit at home were equally as great; seeing them creatively work together truly makes me so happy.
Since 2015, we have been taking family pictures every other year. This year was our 3rd time in the row having Allison Kuykendall take our pictures. We chose Leesburg, VA as our location and we settled on October 30 as mid-November was just too cold for outdoor pictures the last session two years prior.
Selecting our family outfits always takes me weeks to do; buying and then returning lots of clothes and shoes. I loved all their outfits this year…really felt like they grew up in their jeans, vans, and Dr. Martins.
Weather could not have been better for end of October. We topped off the pictures with a delicious dinner at Tuscaora Mill.
Girls’ cooperation was great. Their love for one another, which I often question at home, is so evident in these pictures.
I’ve only looked at them about 100 times!
Love my family!
Dottie from “A League of Their Own”…
A flapper…
A cheerleader…
And a creepy guy and a lady with a witch hat…
The girls were thrilled to be at home this year for Halloween. Harper and Avery appreciated and furthermore liked my attempts for the Halloween scavenger hunt last year in Asheville for Halloween. While Emerson appreciated the gesture, it didn’t make up from her missing out on the neighborhood activities.
This year we arranged for families to gather in our cul-de-sac at 5:00. So many families wanted to gather—we ordered 26 pizzas and all were accounted for!
The kid group pictures shows just how many elementary and pre-school age students we have in the neighborhood…CRAZY. And there were probably a few more missing,
Here are the 5th grade girls….
And Harper and Zara….
The girls were on a mission to see how much candy they could get. Many families left candy on tables so their whole families could trick or treat together or hang out with the adults. The kids liked the ability to take more than a few or select their own candy and not having to walk up the long driveways of some of the houses was an added bonus.
I walked with the girls and as usual always enjoy the extra exercise on Halloween night!
The girls had a great time trick-or-treating. The sugar rush Sunday and Monday and Tuesday was real with little monitoring of how much was being eaten. Tuesday evening we gathered up the candy and put it away for future enjoyment.
Halloween 2021 is a wrap!
13 Years
Similar to two years ago when we were on our annual beach vacation in TopSail, NC, Justin and I started thinking why not go away for a vacation just the two of us to celebrate our anniversary. After a generous offer from our friends to stay in their home in Utah and my parents yes to watching the girls, Justin and I booked our Utah vacation.
With COVID, we purchased fully refundable tickets, and up until about two weeks prior to our departure, we were concerned the trip wasn’t going to happen due to the horrible air quality. Thankfully, things started looking up and the weather forecast couldn’t have been more perfect.
We took the 7:30 a.m. direct flight, which meant we arrived at 10:30 local time, giving us almost a full day! We were concerned about flying with COVID; however, we felt fairly safe with the masking requirements. The flight only served snacks and not a full meal which also minimized the time that passengers had their masks off.
We rented a car and were talked into upgrading to a Subara Outback which I am so grateful we did as the car barely had enough pick-up going up the mountains. I think the crazy high rental price kept me from renting something with even more horsepower.
We hiked, ate, and enjoyed quiet mornings without lunch packing or breakfast making for a party of five.
Hikes:
Heber Valley Overlook: We were looking for a local shorter hike since it was late in the afternoon as we did this the day we arrived. We also wanted a short hike to get us acclimated with the altitude. By the time we got in our car to drive the 10 minutes for the hike, it started raining and was windy! We waited it out a few, put on my awful orange raincoat, and explored for an hour.
Brighton Resort Trail to Lake Catherine: I didn’t anticipate the drive to the hike would be so terrifying. I was so glad once we made it to the parking lot. I felt myself moving my body in the car as a way to steer the car from the passenger seat.
The hike itself was amazing. Pure uphill for at least 30 minutes of a steep incline and then a steady incline the remainder of the ascent. We climbed over 140 flights of stairs on the way up and the entire descent, we clocked 3 sets of stairs. We passed some other hikers; however, overall, this was a quieter trail. We enjoyed lunch on a rock on the way down. A spectacular hike!
Phosphate Trail Loop: After the scary cliff driving yesterday coupled with wanting to be dressed in real clothes when we went to Park City later in the day, we decided to do a trail closer to home. At only 10 minutes away in Midway, it seemed like the perfect choice. It was a common trail for bikers and the first few minutes of the hike we were concerned, we were going to be spending the entire hike letting bikers pass by. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and after us thinking we may have selected too easy of a trail, we enjoyed a beautiful peaceful challenging continuous 2.5 hour hike on the mountain with the sun shining bright. We started the hike wearing a winter hat and by the end of the hike, I was wearing a tank top and hoping my sun screen was working!
Bryce Canyon National Park: Queens Garden to Navajo Loop thru Wall Street and Upper Rim Trail: When we knew it was a possiblility we would be coming to Utah in September, I looked up hotels in Zion. Availability was limited; however, I found one. Not knowing the exact dates when we would be traveling I did not book it. When we finally did book our Utah trip, the Zion idea escaped my thoughts until two weeks prior to our departure, when I was beginning to think why not go to Zion, despite it being a 4.5 hour drive each way. I hit the jackpot when I found a room at Flannigan’s Inn in Springdale, which was less than a 10-minute walk to the entrance of Zion National Park. Once we had the room at Zion and would be making the drive, I thought it made sense to also go to Bryce Canyon National Park, which was about an hour and a half away from Zion.
We stopped at the Visitors Center to ask some questions about our hike. We forgo the free shuttle and instead walked the 1.2 miles to our starting point, which the park ranger said would be quicker than riding the shuttle. Since the park is a bowl known for its hoodoos, you actually can’t see the park until you literally walk right up to it. Walking up to it was breathtaking. Our hike was basically all downhill at first and we were beginning to wonder if we were going to gain any elevation. We did the latter half of the hike an not only did we gain elevation, but we climbed Wall Street, which was A LOT of stairs. A great workout, hike, and view. Amazing place!
Zion: Riverside Walk to the Narrows
Kayenta Trail to Emerald Pools (Upper, Middle, and Lower)
West Rim Trail thru Walters Wiggles to Scouts Lookout
We came up with our hiking route the night prior in our hotel room and we hiked 10 amazing challenging miles. We saw views and sights that were extraordinary, and I just truly couldn’t believe we were where we were. I felt so fortunate and blessed. Hiking I felt great knowing my body was in great shape and that health and fitness is a priority for me and it enables me to challenge myself. Seeing a beautiful view is amazing but there is nothing better than working for my view!
Had we planned more in advance, we would have had even more time so we could have rented boots and polls and done the narrows. We could have done that, but I was concerned if we went that route, we wouldn’t be able to complete any more hikes. We started our journey early, took the free shuttle to Stop 9, the last stop at Zion and did the Riverwalk to the Narrows. Although we weren’t doing The Narrows, I wanted to at least be able to see the beginning. If we ever go back, we will for sure do the Narrows! We did the Upper, Lower, and Middle Emerald Pools via the Kayenta path. Personally, I did not think the pools were as amazing as the views during the hike to get to the pools. The hike was great and challenging! Temperatures were rising quickly, the sun beating down on us, and I stripped down to my tank top. We brought some cheese, salami, and crackers with us that we had purchased at Hoodoos Market by our hotel, Flannigan’s Inn. We stopped a few times at the restrooms and for a water refill. We had a limited amount of time so we weren’t sure how far we would get with on the West Rim Trail to Walters Wiggles and Scouts Lookout, but we hustled, and we made it to the top in just shy of an hour. The top was extraordinary. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do Walter’s Wiggles due to my fear of heights, but I did and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We did not attempt Angels Landings. From where I was standing, the beginning didn’t look that scary, although I am sure it was. We were short on time if we wanted to not be driving home in any dark (which I didn’t) so we did not even attempt it. We truly were just happy that we made it to Scout’s Landing in an hour. We made the descent in 30 minutes. We logged 10 miles in the 5 hours we were in Zion. Another day in Zion would have been amazing but I am so happy we got to experience it.
Food:
Breakfast: In Midway, breakfast was always at home. We had gone to the local store Rally’s the first day and picked up some breakfast and lunch items. Breakfast alternated between sunny side up eggs and fruit and Greek yogurt and fruit. Our leisurely coffee was in the cards every morning and we enjoyed drinking our coffee and not having to make breakfast for anyone but ourselves!
Lola’s Kitchen: Lola’s was in Midway and it was an order at the counter place. Great vibe and quick; we were able to eat outside for lunch the day we arrived. Justin ordered a hot sandwich and fries, and I had the steak salad. The salad was okay…I was honestly expecting a little better, but it wasn’t bad. I would eat there again if I wanted something quick and that outdoor vibe. Lola’s was on the main strip in Midway, which was a 7-minute drive from Pat and Bill’s…always good to support the local places.
Midway Mercantile: This too was in Midway and it came recommended by Pat and Bill. We had dinner reservations and I’m glad as the place was busy! We started with the bacon wrapped dates. They were superb! I can still taste the bacon and goat cheese…yum, yum, yum! I ordered a green and ferro salad with salmon, dressing on the side. Good ingredients, yummy, but a salad with dressing on the side isn’t going to create an award-winning dinner experience for me. I wanted greens and protein though and Midway Mercantile certainly delivered. Justin got a pasta dish with pork tenderloin and bacon…it was very good. The balsamic reduction was probably a little too much for an entire dish…still good though!
Current Oyster and Fish: This was rated the 3rd restaurant out of over 900 in the Salt Lake City area. I had to give my credit card info to secure the reservation, so my expectations were very high. The drive to the restaurant in Salt Lake took us close to an hour and a half. In hindsight, we went the long way! We had a chance to see the city. I had thought we would walk around; however, the city is much more spread out than I was expecting and while we could have walked, it wouldn’t have been the city walking experience that I was looking for. Instead, we drove around, we saw The Capital, the Mormon Temple (which was under scaffolding), the Mormon Temple Office (which was a huge skyscraper) and many other signs for corporate banking. We arrived at the restaurant early so we did a brief walk before seeing if we could get seated slightly early. We were very hungry after eating a small wrap for lunch around noon and nothing since. We shared the crab cake, burrata, and caesar salad for appetizers. Burrata was good, the other two were okay. Justin ordered the shrimp and grits while I had the cod. They were very into presentation, which was good, but I expected the food to wow me. It was good, but not the wow factor. It was pricey too!
501 on Main: After our hike Saturday, we went back to Park City, where we were planning on spending the rest of our day. Park City was such a cute place and we enjoyed going into some of the shops and browsing. For lunch, we had a few lunch spots in mind…granted it was almost 3:00 so this was really going to be a combined lunch and dinner. A few of the places had waits so we put our names down and figured we would eat at whichever one was available first as our stomachs were growling. We ate outside at 501 Main where we were the only straight couple. I was beginning to think we picked the wrong place, but it turns out this was one of my favorite meals. We both ordered the bison burgers; mine with the beet and goat cheese side salad. The beet salad was amazing! A lot of people were ordering the larger version. We ordered our burgers medium, and they were more on the well side. I never eat the bun of a burger; however, this bun was a thin homemade ciabatta bun and it was superb. I know I was hungry, but I ate every last bite of both the salad and burger and was making my wow noises that I frequently make when I really enjoy a dish.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop: I stopped in here to see what goodies may be worth getting to bring back home for the girls. I found some chocolate covered oreos and while I was in there, I decided to get a small scoop of chocolate ice cream; it was delicious.
Distillery: This was one of the places we had our names on the wait list. We decided to go there for one drink. Justin ordered a whiskey; I ordered a hazy IPA. Cool spot.
Spotted Dog Café: This restaurant was part of the hotel. There were many other restaurants to choose from in Springdale; however, with this being the #3 rated restaurant out of 21 in Springdale, I went with this one. Reservations were limited a few weeks ago so I took the 8:15 time slot. With the drive and our days activities, turs out that was the perfect time. Justin was expecting a hole in the wall place as he hadn’t looked up any reviews on that place. It didn’t disappoint. I had blackened ahi tuna with a risotto cake and spaghetti squash. Justin had a garlic pasta dish with shrimp. We shared the spinach artichoke dip for appetizer. Delicious dinner and good service.
Hoodoos Market: The market right next to our lodge in Zion. We got our salami, cheese, and crackers here and we each got a scope of ice cream after our 10-mile hike…me the chocolate, Justin the huckleberry. While not as good as the chocolate ice cream in Park City, it was good and a well-deserved treat after our 10-mile hike.
Café Galleria: After hiking in Zion all day, we were famished by the time we got back to Midway. Since it was already 7:20 by the time we drove into Midway, we decided to go somewhere where we could eat outside. Like many other restaurants in the country right now, they didn’t have enough servers to seat all their tables. We each ordered a small salad to start…Justin the caeser and me the pear and goat cheese. We split the pesto chicken pizza. Both were very good and I would definitely recommend. For some reason we ordered dessert…perhaps it was because it was our anniversary, perhaps it was because we hiked 10 miles. Not sure, but I do know that when our server said dessert, I didn’t hesitate. We ordered the tira-mi-su, which historically I haven’t like but have grown to like more over the years. Justin had a few bites and I ended up eating mostly all of it myself. It was good; however, I do regret ordering dessert. A piece of chocolate at home likely would have done the trick.
Filler-Up Coffee Station: We visited here the morning we were leaving to get some coffee for Pat and Bill. Such a cute local place. The cashier offered me a sample of their ice cream to try. Holy sample…she practically gave me a size small! Justin and I also ordered a coffee. Kind of wish we had found this place sooner!
Red Iguana2: This place was very highly rated and has won a ton of awards and even been featured on Diners, Drives, and Drivethrus. Being only 15 minutes from the airport, this was our last meal before heading home. I had carnitas, Justin a burrito with salsa verde. It was good, but I don’t think either us had the dish that made all the hype.
The weather was amazing…we could not have asked for more perfect weather. The only bad weather was for about an hour the first day we got there just before our hike and on the ride home from Zion. The temperature in the car drop from high 80’s to high 50’s in the matter of minutes. The sky next to us looked ominous, the wind was blowing, and the tumbleweed was spinning in circles. It looked like mini twisters. We had thought about stopping, problem was the nearest town was 30 miles away. So we silently prayed and continued driving. Fortunately, the storm kept moving and away from us, though we were probably right next to it for close to 45 minutes.
As for driving, it was scary! Not into town, but just about everything else. Perhaps if we rented a car with a little more horsepower or perhaps if I lived in the area and was more accustomed to it, but seriously I was constantly praying almost every time we were in the car. We drove to Springdale through Zion…a 30 minute drive of amazingness and holy shit moments at the same time. Not having to drive the same way to go home to Midway from Springdale was a blessing.
The drive to Bryce Canyon took us through Provo, where Bringham Young is located. I’m glad I can see we saw some of the buildings of Bringham Young. It was early Sunday morning when we drove through and we saw a number of students dressed up on their way to church.
The people we encountered were a mix of locals and tourists. In some areas, everyone is masked up and in others Justin and I were unicorns wearing masks in public. It really is crazy the different mentalities that everyone has when it comes to COVID and mask wearing.
We had an amazing trip and I feel so fortunate to have experienced another vacation with Justin celebrating our anniversary. My parents watched the girls…they were in good hands albeit spoiled, but that is what grandparents do! We made the most out of our 6 days. I’m grateful for the experience, for Pat and Bill’s hospitality, for my parents taking care of the girls, for the financial means to do such trip, and my forever date who is my partner in this amazing journey called life.
Dear Avery, Emerson, and Harper,
My sweet precious daughters. When I first decided to create this blog in 2012 and decided to keep it a secret until you were older, I knew this was going to be my greatest gift to you. I loved every moment of being a mom from the moment I was pregnant, to the moment that motherhood meant becoming a mom to two babies at once and then adding a third baby girl to the mix not even two years later. The moments, the experiences, the feelings, the smells, the tastes…all of it was so vivid and beautiful and I never wanted to forget a moment. I knew the details would fade over time and I always wanted to remember. More importantly, I wanted you to know how I felt being your mom and re-live the moments again.
The last few years there have been questions about what a certain event was like or what your first word was, and honestly I can’t remember some of the details like I thought I would. Every time I am asked, I think to myself I can’t wait until I share this gift that I have been working on in secret all these years.
I had a rough timeline of how long I would blog and I feel that we have reached that milestone. I’ll still continue to write or document in some capacity as you get older, but for now it’s time that themaddlife.com be a part of history you can enjoy.
I love you with all my heart and I truly hope that you cherish this priceless gift and these moments and memories forever remain close to your hearts.
Love, Mommy
This year the Foundation Fighting Blindness Vision Walk was again virtually. I decided it was time to share Avery’s story with some of the other neighborhood moms. The support was amazing…having received support from all, from joining us in the walk, to donating generously, to joining us in an evening “afterparty”.
When I told Avery I had shared her story, she naturally asked to read it. While I knew she needed to read it, I was a little concerned about her knowing how I felt early on. I shouldn’t have been. Avery slowly and carefully read her story and when she was done, she looked up at me and said so graciously and matter of factly, “Mom, I love my story.” It was so heartwarming. Later in the evening, I asked her what she meant by that. She said not only did she love what I wrote, but she truly loved her story because it was her life. Its been a few weeks since that moment and I think of it often.
Below is Avery’s story:
Avery was born alongside Emerson at 37 weeks, both weighing a healthy 6 pounds 7 oz. Avery rarely opened her eyes her first three weeks and when she finally did, we noticed spots. Several doctor visits later, she was diagnosed with congenital cataracts. Avery had surgery at 5 and 7 weeks old to remove the cataracts, one eye at a time. Surgery went well; we began daily eye patching and she began wearing specialized contacts made for kids without a lens. When Avery turned three months, she started rolling her eyes. I remember it vividly thinking what in the heck is she doing, not realizing at the time that she had no control over it. Back to the ophthalmologist we went and after seeing a specialist, Avery was diagnosed with nystagmus, an involuntary eye movement.
During the course of the next few years, we visited many specialists, traveling to various states to figure out the cause of Avery’s nystagmus because nystagmus is actually a symptom of many other underlying conditions. Avery was diagnosed with a number of other symptoms in addition to the cataracts and nystagmus to include microphthalmia (small eyes), small optic nerves, and low vision. She had bloodwork, genetic testing, and we seemed to be ruling out certain eye conditions, but not necessarily narrowing in on one.
Early on, Justin and I were an emotional roller coaster thinking our daughter could be blind and not knowing at the time what that meant or what her future would look like. While we continued to see specialists and search for answers, we became involved with the Foundation Fighting Blindness, not knowing what our little girl’s future held and wanting to do something. Our first Vison Walk was when Avery and Emerson were 9 months old. Justin and I did the 3-mile loop in Reston while pushing the double stroller.
Avery is now 9 and thriving. I wish I knew then what I knew now. Avery would have challenges just like every other kid, but she wouldn’t let her vision limit or define her. Avery dances, does gymnastics, rides bikes, played soccer, and even played softball for a season. She is smart, funny, always making new friends, and will talk your ear off given the chance.
We still have not been able to pinpoint an actual diagnosis; however, it isn’t something that pre-occupies us anymore. We continue to participate annually in the Foundation Fighting Blindness Vision Walk and to date we have done so fairly quietly.
Avery sees the world differently than most people. While that reality was initially devastating, it turned out to be a blessing. Avery taught me to see beauty where I didn’t know it even existed. She taught me to be more in tune with all my other senses…to appreciate the details, to feel, to truly smell the roses. Avery taught me to open my heart and my mind wider than I ever knew possible.
**Coincidentally a few days before the Vision Walk, Avery had her 6-month regular ophthalmologist visit and Dr. Seidman believes with a prescription change (increasing Avery’s bi-focal from a +2 to a +4 and decreasing her distance power from a +23 to a +21, Avery may be able to see even a few lines better than she is now, which by the way was 20/125 with both eyes! We are in the process of getting her new glasses now!
