Hawaii--With His Brothers, Not His Lover

Andrew went with his brothers on their annual hike recently. This year marked their 20th "All Brothers Hike" (ABH), so they did something epic and went to Kauai. These brother's hikes started the year Andrew's dad passed away, and it's special they commemorate him. I'm not going to pretend I was thrilled by the fact that Andrew went to Hawaii without me. I wasn't. I am glad he was able to bond with his brothers though. Also, I think he missed me because he came home saying that the next time he goes to Hawaii will be with me. Thank goodness! 

Vaughn (BIL), is the only brother who didn't go.

From left to right: Logan, Brent, Kelly, Andrew, Ryan (BIL), Birch

What about the coronavirus pandemic?

Covid-19 is not over and was a concern of mine (and Andrew's). Andrew booked the trip with his brothers thinking that things would be settled down by October. For a long time, Hawaii required a 2 week quarantine for incoming travelers. Andrew and his brothers actually changed their flights, so they would arrive in Hawaii the day that the 2 week quarantine was lifted. Instead of a 2 week quarantine, Hawaii now requires that you show a negative COVID-19 test proving you're healthy. (They are very specific about which Covid tests they accept.)

Andrew had a Covid-19 test delivered to our house and took it in front of someone over Zoom, then sent it off to New York. Andrew had not received his results by the time he was supposed to fly to Hawaii which was stressful. He decided to get on his flight anyway. It was a miracle that Andrew received the confirmation email while on his flight saying that his Covid-19 test results were negative. It was pretty scary and a huge miracle!

How long was Andrew gone? How did I survive?

Andrew was gone for a week! Surprisingly, it went by pretty fast. I like to keep busy. After dropping off Andrew at the airport, I headed to my parent's house with the kids. We stayed with them Thursday-Sunday. While there, we did a lot. 

I'm not going to bore you with all the details, but eating fabulous food consumed a lot of our time. I met a friend at Leatherby's and of course ordered my favorite peanut butter sundae. Another day, we had "The Pie Pizzeria" which is the best pizza in UT (in my humble opinion). We also made peanut butter delights and I lost count of how many I ate. I could go on. I enjoyed using my parent's workout equipment in the mornings and attempted to build up an appetite after all the good food.

While at my parent's, we spent time with lots of family! We saw my cousin Jake and his wife Hailee who are currently living in my parent's basement. Jeff, Lindsey, Simon, and Esther came over for dinner one night. James was ecstatic to see his cousins and ultra hyper (let's not talk about the marker situation). Side note: James has big ears... He has heard Andrew and I talk a lot about the election lately. James told Esther, "I voted for you!" Esther cheerfully responded, "I'll vote for you too." It was adorable. I'm glad James understands the importance of voting. 

We were happy to see my grandparents, Giggi and Go-Daddy (outside). It had been a long time and Grandma made superb cinnamon rolls! Izzy loved their dog Scout, and James was terrified of him. Joel joined us for Sunday dinner. I spent a fair amount of time at Jessica and Chris' house. My mom graciously watched the kids while I helped Jess paint her house which was a nice break! Staying with my parent's was so helpful and we were all sad that our time with them went so quickly. On our drive home, James wept, "Look mom, even the mountains are sad we're leaving Nana and Papa's house."

The remainder of the week was spent at our house. I have some good friends who watched out for me and set up play-dates, dropped off cookies, etc. I also indulged and got myself a pint of Cold Stone ice cream to power through. That was worth it for sure! I promise food wasn't the only thing that helped me survive my time without Andrew. I read and liked, "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone" By: Lori Gottlieb. The book referenced an essay, called "Welcome to Holland" which I LOVED. You can read it HERE. My parent's and I also watched the newest episodes of "The Great British Baking Show." I'm so sad to be caught up. I now have to wait until Fridays to watch new episodes. 

Who knew mowing the lawn could be so fun? Reason #2890410 why I want a backyard.

What's it like to have Andrew home?

It's amazing! We sure did miss him. Isabelle seems to be holding Andrew's absence against him though and has been quite clingy to me since his return. She's definitely making him earn her love back. Andrew brought us all home souvenirs which was really sweet. I was impressed by how well he knows the kids and me! (He even got all of us the right clothing sizes!)

Look at their sea turtles and Hawaii shirts! 

I'm drooling over these pictures and can only dream about warm Hawaii as I sit here freezing--covered in 3 blankets, wearing fuzzy socks, and my warmest sweater. You're lucky Andrew! (You deserved it though.)

General Conference

Earlier this month, we watched General Conference. This fall especially, I've been yearning for peace. The messages during conference helped bring me hope during this pandemic. Since conference, I have been off of social media. As a result, I feel like I've been able to feel the spirit more and I've been happier. 

The birth of my newest niece, Daisy helped put things in perspective for me too. Things were very scary in the beginning. It's a miracle she's alive. The election and coronavirus are short-term things that don't really matter eternally. Daisy, and my other family members mean the world to me and I was devastated at the thought of losing Daisy.

I had some questions and thoughts going into conference. There were various themes, but the one that stood out to me was: racism. This was validating and has been a topic I've been thinking a lot about. Here are quotes from 3 speakers about racism:

1) Elder Oaks' talk really resonated with me. Titled, "Love Your Enemies," he said: "This country should be better in eliminating racism not only against Black Americans, who were most visible in the recent protests, but also against Latinos, Asians, and other groups. This nation’s history of racism is not a happy one, and we must do better."

2) Elder Cook said this: "With our all-inclusive doctrine, we can be an oasis of unity and celebrate diversity. Unity and diversity are not opposites. We can achieve greater unity as we foster an atmosphere of inclusion and respect for diversity. During the period I served in the San Francisco California Stake presidency, we had Spanish-, Tongan-, Samoan-, Tagalog-, and Mandarin-language-speaking congregations. Our English-speaking wards were composed of people from many racial and cultural backgrounds. There was love, righteousness, and unity. Wards and branches in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are determined by geography or language, not by race or culture. Race is not identified on membership records."

3) President Nelson said: "Each of us has a divine potential because each is a child of God. Each is equal in His eyes. The implications of this truth are profound. Brothers and sisters, please listen carefully to what I am about to say. God does not love one race more than another. His doctrine on this matter is clear. He invites all to come unto Him, “black and white, bond and free, male and female.” I assure you that your standing before God is not determined by the color of your skin. Favor or disfavor with God is dependent upon your devotion to God and His commandments and not the color of your skin."

I was grateful to hear these messages and hope that members of the church and people everywhere can be more united. Throughout this year, I've done some reading to gain more understanding about racism. Here are some of the books I've read:

"Just Mercy" By: Bryan Stevenson

"American Dirt" By: Jeanine Cummins

"The Vanishing Half" By: Brit Bennett

"How to be Antiracist" By: Ibram X. Kendi

"Let's Talk About Race" (Picture book I read with my kids) By: Julius Lester, Illustrated by: Karen Barbour

I want to focus more on the good, eternal things that surround me. (Which might help explain why we want to move even closer to my family and just attempted our 3rd offer on a house.) I want to be bold enough to change the subject and avoid getting into constant political conversations. I miss talking and laughing about naughty kids, latest TV binges, and best food joints. I'm done letting politics and loud opinions run my life. Thanks to baby Daisy and the prophets and apostles for opening my eyes. Here's to keeping the peace!

Grannie Visits Utah

Grannie made a trip to Utah! The kids were thrilled and so were we. We did a lot while she was here. I cooked like crazy on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday evening was pretty low key and we ended up watching SuperNanny. (I promise we weren't trying to scare Grannie away.) Sunday, September 20, we went back to church for the first time since March. They've split our ward up by last name, so we don't all go the same week. It was nice to be back! Sunday night, we had a dinner with Alex and Alexa, Alysee, and Malia. (who happened to be in town to shoot a wedding). We shared lots of laughs and played 2 new games... Rook-O-Lee and Making a Million. I was a fan of both.

Monday, we went to a nearby park in the morning. Later, we stopped by the library. Andrew had an early work meeting, so we were able to drive through the Alpine Loop in the afternoon. The fall colors were breathtaking. For dinner, we had Cubby's and to top the evening off, we got Cravings Alisha's Cupcakes for dessert. Malia joined us for Rook and cupcakes which was a highlight. Andrew and I didn't get killed in Rook again, thank goodness.

Tuesday morning, we picked up free Crumbl cookies (for showing that we have the app). After quiet time and nap time, we went to a pumpkin patch. It was deserted. Yay! There was only one other car in the parking lot. James had the time of his life at Hee Haw Farms. He was so daring and went down a HUGE slide (at least 2 stories high) all by himself which shocked me. Jill had baby Daisy Tuesday and we had an emergency fast. I was pretty exhausted and weak after chasing the kids around at Hee Haw Farms. Let's face it, I typically nap my fast Sunday afternoons away... We broke our fast with takeout from a local restaurant-- Kitchen 88. 

James had a soccer game Tuesday evening and Alysee joined us which was a treat. James decided he wasn't in the mood for soccer which was unfortunate. It was pretty tricky to even get him on the field and once he was there, he didn't last long. At one point, he said he was mad that his team was yellow this week instead of maroon, so we switched his jersey and he played with the other team for all of 2 seconds. Watching 3 year olds play soccer is hysterical. Lots do summersaults and have no idea which goal to kick the ball into. They have no concept of out of bounds and have continued into other soccer fields interrupting other games multiple times. Given how crazy COVID is in Utah county, we just got word that James' soccer league is now requiring masks. Good! We'll see if we make it through the rest of the season due to lack of enthusiasm. We ended up leaving the soccer game before it ended. We spent the rest of the evening playing games (once again) with Alysee and Malia. The yummy Crumbl cookies made for an excellent dessert.

Grannie has plenty of grandchildren (34), yet she still manages to have unique relationships with each of them. She brought James a board game about red and green lights which he wanted to play constantly. She also gave us a box full of fresh peaches which we gobbled up. Izzy followed Grannie around nonstop and wanted to be held by her at all moments. She also demanded a bite of anything that Grannie ate. We were all disappointed when Wednesday morning arrived and Grannie left. Until next time, Grannie!

Disappointing Week

This week brought 2 huge disappointments.

Disappointment #1: COVID-19 spiked here in Pleasant Grove.

In fact, they shut down the High School to readjust the schedule due to the high number of infected students. Our house is a half mile from the High School. James' preschool shares a parking lot with the High School. He was supposed to start preschool next week. I don't know who was more excited about it, me or him. Truthfully, probably me. 

Now it doesn't matter. I withdrew James from preschool. I had been feeling uncomfortable about sending him and was unsure about what to do. 2 years of preschool isn't necessary and I didn't want to put my family at risk. James will do preschool next year. I feel like the covid outbreak so near to his preschool and our house was a pretty clear answer for us. The preschool was very gracious when I let them know James was dropping. I was pleased to get a refund. I did buy James a preschool workbook a few months ago, and we do several pages in that together every day. He loves to learn and is so smart! (Coming from his unbiased mother.) We're still bummed though.

Disappointment #2: We ALMOST bought a new house!

Last weekend, we toured a home and decided to put in an offer. We tried not to get our hopes up too high, but it had good bones and was a rambler. Here is the cover letter I wrote that we attached to our offer: 

Saturday, August 29, 2020

To the Owners of the Riverton Property,

We walked through your property yesterday evening. Wow, it is everything we dream of in our future home. In fact, I was so excited about the prospect of owning this property that I didn’t sleep much last night. I grew up in the area and I’m eager to get back. Your beautiful home is in the ideal location for my family. It’s a half-mile from my parent’s and 5 minutes from my sister. We have been looking for a long time to find a home near our loved ones.

My husband and I have 2 young kids, James (3) and Isabelle, (1). The instant I saw the spacious backyard, I was sold. My kids have lots of energy and our current yard has no fence. I can picture countless evenings spent in that gorgeous backyard. The mature fruit treats caught my eye as well as the grapes. I’ve always wanted to say I made this pie using the fresh fruit from my backyard! Living here would finally give me that chance. James has been asking for a trampoline for as long as I can remember and, in that beautiful yard, he could finally have his trampoline.

As we toured your house, I was in awe of all the custom designs and finishes, the vaulted ceilings, gourmet kitchen, massive dining area, and glass french doors in the entry room add so much character. My husband is excited about the 3-car garage and special lighting in there. The layout is perfect for our needs. I can see our family living in your property for many years. Your home could be our forever home. It checks all our boxes and then some.

Please consider our offer and know that we would care for this home with the love and attention it deserves. We are so excited to think that our search for the perfect place near family could become a reality with your amazing home. 

Sincerely,

Jenna and Andrew Ditto 

It's noteworthy to mention that the home is in a cul-de-sac and 3 of the surrounding homes have boats. This was a big selling point for Andrew. We joked that in the mornings, Andrew would just wait on our driveway in his swim trunks ready to hop on and join one of the boats going out.

It seemed very likely that we were going to get the house, but we didn't. It didn't help that the sellers really led us on and made us believe they were going to accept our offer. Example #1: The seller's agent requested that we write a new offer changing 1 thing which we did immediately. Example #2: The agent called our loan officer. Why do that just to turn around and tell us no? Dun, dun dun.. The plot thickens. The home currently had renters in it which made getting a loan extremely challenging. (Especially since their lease went through April 2021) At the last minute, the renters decided they wanted to buy the home and we didn't get it. Yes, we too are wondering why this was not decided before listing the house.

Clearly, the home wasn't meant to be. It did have a few flaws too, so maybe the perfect house is going to pop up and we won't have to buy it and let renters live in it through April. Maybe we were being overly optimistic, but we even had a professional come in and take pics of our current house, so we could list it.

Wanna see this said house? I've built it up a lot. I think I'm too sad to show you pictures of the perfect backyard.

Life goes on. These cuties in their matching Daniel Tiger pajamas help me get over the disappointments and smile.

Camp Na-Bor-Lee

My sister recently had several mishaps while traveling. As she recounted her car troubles, airbnb issues, and more, my dad's response was: "that's why we don't do fun things." 

With that lead, I'm sure you're expecting to hear something went astronomically wrong on our camping trip. I'll put your mind at ease. No, we didn't crash. Our tires remained in tact, and we have yet to get the dreaded COVID. (Knock on wood)

Our colossal, bad thing was: a long drive with 2 young children. This might sound silly, but it was challenging. How long of a drive was it? It took 11 hours to get there. Camp Na-bor-lee added extra distance increasing our drive time home to 12 hours and 45 minutes. I will note that Andrew doesn't speed (thank heavens). Thinking about the drive makes me cringe. Isabelle did her fair-share of screaming. 

We left Utah on Friday, August 7 and returned on Wednesday, August 12. We tried to align our drive to Washington with nap/bed time to alleviate some entertaining on our part. Our rough drive to WA definitely inspired our spur of the moment decision to leave Washington after dinner Tuesday and drive through the night (instead of waiting until Wednesday morning). Leaving was a good call, even though it was risky and we had to miss seeing Tyler get set-apart as a missionary. (Many of the awesome pics of the trip are because of him!)  I'm grateful we didn't hit a deer in the darkness. The drive home was much more bearable. The kids only woke up for the final 2 hours. I even got a turn driving (seeing that Andrew hadn't slept in hours) and drove the familiar freeway from Idaho Falls back to Utah.

When choosing how to vacation and use Andrew's precious, now limited vacation days, CAMPING would never make it on my list. Add small kids and it's my dream vacation (just kidding). As predicted, getting Isabelle to sleep was no easy feat. She wailed anytime we put her in the pack and play. We gave her part of a sleeping aid gummy the first night which worked like a charm. The downside was that it caused her to throw-up the next morning 4x. Once we all got to sleep, we slept well. Our kids even slept in until after 7am both mornings! My parents let us use their super cushy camping pads and we finally broke in our brand new tent! It got cool in the evenings which was a nice change and I actually wanted and needed to use covers (aka my sleeping bag) for the first time in months. Side note: James called it a "sleep bag" which was so cute.

We were in charge of dessert one night and stopped and bought cookies. Lots of strangers were impressed Izzy had a mask on. I'm surprised the mask lasted.

Isabelle loved all the extra attention. Aunt Tavia played with her lots.

Candid moment

Staying with Logan and Julia before we went camping was an excellent choice. Our kids, especially Isabelle, LOVED their dog, Maggie. Izzy wouldn't leave poor Maggie alone and chased her around at all moments. Seeing Isabelle play with Maggie was priceless and has made me consider becoming a dog owner someday. Julia knows me well and ordered pizza one night, so I felt right at home.

Saydee and Izzy are about 7 months apart!

Our nephew, Dallin was baptized on Saturday and we were grateful to be there. Granny gave a talk and used a stuffed animal dog as an object lesson. Isabelle was so excited and couldn't contain herself. She said "doggy" loudly, so many times throughout the message. I ended up having to take her to the back/out. It was adorable.

James had the time of his life being around so many playmates. He definitely wore himself out and played hard. I was so proud of James for being brave enough to go tubing. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that. He even went tubing a second time, so I think it's safe to say he was a fan.

James and Eliza walked around the campsite holding hands. Precious.

James loved playing with Rhett

In other news, Andrew achieved his goal for the year... He went water skiing! My dad is an especially goal-oriented person and we were once talking about our aspirations for the year. The only thing on Andrew's mind that year was water-skiing. I still like to tease him about it.

Approved by Andrew. He likes that it shows how well he cut around the buoy on the slalom course.

I did not grow up doing water sports and haven't had much success getting up when attempting water sports in the past. I was relieved to hear that a "beginners only" boat full of people went out to learn how to wake surf. I happily joined. All I wanted to do was get up and I did this time! I struggled to stay up and am definitely not at the point of being able to let go of the rope, but I'm one step closer.

Yes, Andrew sent this pic to my family. Yes, I knew he was going to and was totally ok with it. My face says it all. He says this will be his new phone screensaver. As you can see, water sports are very relaxing for me.

Despite the inconveniences that come with traveling too many hours in the car and camping in general, we made some wonderful memories. James' prayers have been extra sweet since our return and he randomly will pray for members of our extended family. That being said, I can see why my dad said he doesn't do fun things. Fun things are a hassle and require lots of work, but they are usually worth it.