The Narrows

I've always wanted to do the Narrows in Zion National Park and I finally got my wish. Saturday before last, we decided spur-of-the-moment to to head up to Zion after Isaac's soccer game. We did one of our favorite easy hikes at the Temple of Shinawava and when we got to the end of the paved trail on a hot hot day, that cool cool water of the Virgin River looked very enticing and we decided to head on up the river and into the Narrows.

Everyone happened to be wearing old-ish shoes that could get wet and and ruined if need be and we were all up for an adventure. I read on a website that the Narrows hike is like walking on slimy bowling balls - and that proved to be a pretty accurate description. But once we found some cast-off walking sticks and got used to the challenging footing, we all did pretty well. The kids were pretty excited about the novelty of hiking in water (at least until their teeth were chattering uncontrollably - that's some COLD water) and we all loved the unique beauty of the river-carved and beautifully-colored walls of rock that surrounded us. Mostly the water was only up to our knees but there was one spot where it got up to my waist and the twins got to do a little swimming.

See Silas swimming?

Superboy!

Liza's one tough little hiker - didn't complain once, even when she
almost got swept away when she tried to cross at a deep, fast part of the river.

See how narrow it gets? Nothing like those beautiful red walls stretching up
and making the sky small up above! See Oliver and Liza getting a cold at this point?
Nothing a few jumping jacks can't fix - Jared had them doing aerobics
to warm them up and they got lots of encouraging comments from hikers passing by.
It's so cool to look up and see those rocks almost coming together

What a fun day!

Wow, that's a gorgeous place! We only went a couple miles up into the Narrows so we'll have to do the whole 16 miles one of these days. But not for a while. Oliver told me about 20 times during the last shivering part of the hike, "next time, wets stay on the path and not walk in this cold water anymore, ok?" All the kids are such good hikers and it's so fun to have them all big enough that we can enjoy some great adventures with them!

As we were leaving the park after our hike, the lighting was gorgeous - everything really came to life and took on extra beauty in that evening light. Here's my favorite shot at the end of the day:

NYC for Tal and Anita's Wedding

What a trip we had! My brother Tal married the fabulous Anita this last Tuesday in the Manhattan Temple in New York City (the place where they met and where so many of their friends are - plus it was the half-way point between SLC where my parents are and Switzerland where Anita's family lives).

The travel distance and nature of the wedding festivities led to everyone leaving their kids at home and we could all barely contain our excitement at being able to enjoy an adults-only weekend of fun in the Big Apple - a city we all love dearly (many of us have lived there - starting with my dad who served his mission there - and all of us have spent significant time there over the years).

Here are the highlights of the trip:

• We wandered through endlessly interesting (and wonderfully distinct) neighborhoods where the architecture and people-watching and street entertainment was better than what you get at most fine museums and shows.
• We ate fabulous food in picturesque spots - from beautiful fancy restaurants to lip-smacking bagel or falafel joints.
• We rode subways and buses and walked and walked and walked - always so much to see and experience even when in transit.
• We saw what is now one of my all-time favorite Broadway shows - In the Heights - and enjoyed the excitement of Times Square at midnight.
• We went running in Central Park
• We checked out some of my favorite art at the Met.
• Jared, Saydi's husband Jeff and my brother Jonah "geeked out" over all the cool airplanes and equipment on an old aircraft carrier made into a museum - the USS Intrepid.
• We had a fancy brunch with Jared's sister Michelle who was in town with some friends and got to meet up with one of Jared's best friends from his MIT fraternity and his family.
• We celebrated with just Anita's family the night before the wedding - lovely dinner in a garden near the place Tal's been living for the last while - really enjoyed getting to know her wonderful parents and siblings.
• We talked and laughed together until late at night at the great accommodations my brother Noah and his wife Kristi (who live in the city) set up for us (a whole brownstone belonging to some of their friends who were out of town).

My photographer siblings have way more - and way better - photos than I do - but here are some of the highlights of our wanderings around NYC from my little point-and-shoot:

After seeing "In the Heights"

Times Square - all four sisters reunited!

It's been so long since we've all been here together.

Jackson Pollock at the Met - had to take this for the kids -

we studied his work in our little art class
The roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - cool organic sculpture, city skyline, and Saydi

Washington Square in Greenwich Village - art, music, great food, interesting people all around
on the USS Intrepid

taking the bus to the wedding

By far the biggest and best part of the trip was Tal and Anita's wedding day (which was also me and Jared's 11th wedding anniversary). We enjoyed a truly perfect wedding day with Tal and Anita complete with the sweet solemnity of their temple ceremony, photos in Central Park with ideal weather and lovely backdrops, and a classy ring ceremony and reception. Anita looked truly gorgeous in a wedding gown that seemed to be made for her and with Tal's height (and good looks) and Anita's beauty along with an enterage of photographers (I've got a lot of siblings whose "third arm" is their fancy big black camera), we ended up with a lot of tourists wondering out loud who this famous couple was.

At this lovely restaurant in Brooklyn, Tal and Anita treated us to a beautiful evening including a great mixture of scripture readings, music, poetry, amazing food, laughs over photos of them growing up, and heart-felt toasts from such a diversity of friends and relatives. It was wonderful to be with loved ones and to get to know Anita better through her wonderful family and her devoted friends. I'm so grateful to have Anita as a new sister!

How many wedding photos at the temple have taxis and buses in them? Truly unique.

Walking from the Temple to Central Park
All the Eyres - even without all the grandkids, we're still a pretty big group!

If you want to see some of the great photos caught by some of the more professional photographers at the wedding, here are Eva's photos (Eva's our Bulgarian "sister" - I just had to bring her back from my mission with me - and an amazing photographer). I'll link to Shawni, Saydi and Josh's stuff when they post theirs. With 4 professional photographers who know and love them, I think Tal and Anita will have the most beautifully documented wedding ever!

It was so nice to have such a beautiful anniversary day all planned out for us so we could just go along and enjoy. We got to relive our own wedding through Tal and Anita's. Here we are, enjoying their day while remembering our own 11 years ago:

Lest this post come off as entirely and unrealistically exuberant, I do have to say that we had some serious logistical issues that caused more stress than we care to dwell on - messed up flights causing waiting time when we could least afford it, a cab driver who mysteriously couldn't find the airport until we found directions for him, a wonderful babysitter whose sister is dying of cancer and took a turn for the worse while we were gone causing a little scrambling for babysitting to cover the end of the trip, so many things turning out to be so expensive, the usual issues in trying to coordinate schedules with 20 other people who you really want to be with but who have a variety of different things they really want to do...But it really was a wonderful trip and I wish I could go back and do it all over again!

One Last Day at Bear Lake

Jonah and Aja's daughter Ana got baptized right on her birthday (August 29th) in Bear Lake and while that 7-hour drive was daunting, we just had to be there to enjoy this wonderful event and and say goodbye to Bear Lake for the year. There's nothing like a baptism in the lake - the calm beauty of the early morning lake colors, the Spirit that comes of being right in nature. We were so glad we made the trip.


Wrapped in the "comforter" that Ana's grandma gave her to help her understand the Holy Ghost

Here's our last Bear Lake sunset for the year

A big bonus of the trip was spending Sunday afternoon with some dear friends from Boston and enjoying great connections between adults and kids alike. The Ransoms and Topphams are such wonderful people and there's nothing like finding whole families of people that "click" so nicely with our whole family. We'll plan another get-together soon. Who would have ever guessed all those years ago in Boston when we knew these people as single people, then as young married couples, that we'd all somehow converge in Alpine Utah some day with 14 kids between us!

My New Haircut

So I got my hair cut - a lot - I had the hairdresser chop off maybe 8 inches or more and I sat there in that chair surrounded by hair and felt very pleased about the whole thing. Then I went and picked up the twins at preschool and was excited to see their reaction. They didn't notice - not right at first - and not ever! Even after I said "Hey guys, do you notice anything different about me?" and pointed at my hair, they just looked at me with puzzled expressions on their faces. Oh well! The big kids all noticed right when they walked in the door after school and Eliza was pleased as punch that she and I now have the same length of hair so we took this picture together (I need to take another one with her because I've mostly been styling it curly and Eliza thinks we're "totally twins" when my hair's curly now).

It has been heavenly to be able to take short showers and only have to spend about 30 seconds brushing out my hair after a shower. It has been so nice to run a little curling potion (or whatever this stuff is called) through my hair and let it dry and have it dry pretty nice most of the time. Why didn't I do this years ago?

Photo Album Magic

The other day the twins pulled out an old photo album and wanted to look at it with me. We looked at all these great photos of Ashton and Isaac when they were younger than the twins and photos of Eliza's birth. The twins were delighted to see their big brothers and sister as babies.

After school, the twins were excited to show this photo album to the big kids as well. As we sat snuggled together on the couch, looking at photo after photo of things like Ashton and Isaac playing super heroes together and laughing with brownies all over their faces and glowing as they met their new baby sister, there was a spirit of love and family togetherness and joy that was so strong. The big kids loved seeing their former selves as such little, cute babies and toddlers. The love and fun that shone through in so many of the photos seemed to seep out into our present life as I told them stories about the things they used to like to do together and how much I loved them back then and how very much I love them now.

After our little photo album session, the tone in our home was different all evening. I overheard Ashton and Isaac (who have been bugging each other and being rather mean to each other entirely too much lately) laughing and talking and playing together so nicely. I saw Eliza walk in on their play and heard them invite her to join in. Everyone seemed to be looking at each other a little differently - and remembering how much they really do enjoy each other's company.

That photo album and that 1/2 hour on the couch turned out to be magic.

Really looking at ourselves - as we were and as we are - can be so powerful in so many ways. I'm so grateful I took all those pictures and I'm going to pull out those photo albums more often!

Cascade Falls

Weekend before last we decided to get out of this heat and explore some new places. We went in the mountains above Cedar City - a gorgeous drive - and drank in the beauty and coolness of a new favorite spot called Cascade Falls. The views along the hike were breathtaking and it felt so good to need a sweatshirt!



After driving over an hour and having a hard time finding the trailhead we were looking for, we were pretty disappointed to find a "danger - trail closed" sign when we finally found the trail. But Jared went up ahead and found out that there was just a minor little wash-out in one spot of the trail so we forged on. The possibility of "danger" thoroughly thrilled the twins. Around every corner, they kept saying "is there danger here?" in these excited voices. We've definitely got some thrill-seekers in these little boys of ours!

We finished off the day by going to a pre-show at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City (the kids aren't quite ready for a full show but the free "Greenshow" they do there each night with acrobats and singing and dancing was just the right thing for them). Oliver was particularly taken with the music and all the kids were delighted by the old English fare we sampled - jam tarts and meat pies - they were so excited about it. They also loved seeing the displays of costumes and photos from different Shakespeare plays and it was fun to teach them a bit about Shakespeare as I reached way back into my high school and college English days.

Beauty and culture always makes me happy. This was a great day. There's nothing like getting out and exploring new places and exposing the kids to exciting new things to make me fall in love with my family and the beauty and variety of the world all over again.

Sitting Here in my Workout Clothes...

I'm sitting here in my work out clothes. I've been in them since first thing this morning when I thought I'd head right down to the clubhouse and work out as soon as I got the kids off to school. But somehow after replying to a few emails and getting some phone calls, I ended up having to rush down to the club house to meet up with friends for our weekly swim morning and I figured I'd just stay down there after they left and work out then.

But a couple hours later when the swimming was done, some people were having a meeting in the clubhouse so I couldn't really work out in there right then. So I headed home and decided to work out at home. But then I saw another couple emails I that seemed somewhat urgent. Then the big kids got home from school and brought 3 friends with them. I thought 4 boys made a lot of noise and ruckus but now there are 7 boys in the house and I see that 4 boys really don't make much noise at all. So here I am at 4:30pm, still in my workout clothes and feeling quite unaccomplished. I guess it's good I didn't work out so I didn't have to wash my hair yet - I just got it cut yesterday and I'll never be able to style it as well as the hairdresser did - wish I had somewhere fancy to go with this nice new hair. But I bet the girls and leaders will appreciate it tonight at Young Women's. I've got a LOT less hair on my head now and so far it feels great.

So that's my day. Some days are just like this. But as my work-out sessions during the day get increasingly hard to cram into everything that just keeps on happening, I've come to terms with the fact that I need to get up early to exercise. I did it for quite a while last year and it was painful every time when that alarm went off but once I dragged myself out of bed and got going, it always felt great to get my workout in first thing. OK - I'm ready - there's no other way - I can do this! I'm going running early tomorrow morning. I will, I will, I will!

Then I'll wash my hair and see if I can figure out how to do this seriously minimized head of hair of mine without professional help. Just thinking of how much faster and easier it will be to wash and brush out my hair now makes me feel so good. For years now I've dreaded the long painful brushing out of my hair after showering - finally that's one "dread" put behind me!

Some Day I'm Going to Miss This

After a whole summer of trying (often very unsuccessfully) to make shopping with 5 kids a somewhat pleasant "field trip," it got pretty old. Yesterday, I dropped off all 5 kids at school and preschool and headed to the grocery store and Costco all by myself. It was heavenly. There were no kids to almost get lost or almost tip over the cart due to their unquenchable desire to stand on the side. There was no begging and pleading, no crying or whining. There were no squabbles between kids to referee and no distractions to keep my brain in a fuzz. I enjoyed doing some price comparisons on various foods, planned side dishes in my head while selecting the nicest seasonal veggies, and contemplated the pros and cons of different types of shampoo. I got everything on my list and even had the presence of mind to remember a few things that didn't make it on the list. I felt for the moms I saw towing their rowdy little kids through the store and smiled sympathetically at the mom with the yowling baby.

Then as I waited to pick up photos at Costco, a mom behind me in line was biding her time by playing with her two little boys (a baby about 9 months old and a little guy who looked about 2) who were seated side by side in the shopping cart (how I've loved those Costco carts where you can buckle in two kids!). Again and again, she'd say to the baby "I bet you can't give me a kiss!" and lean her face close to the baby and he'd grab her face and give her a big slobbery kiss and the toddler would laugh his head off when she'd say "Oh, you got me again!" It made me miss my babies. And it made me feel so very grateful I get to be a mom.

As I continued my shopping, it hit me that someday I won't just be seeing a mom with a baby and feeling a little nostalgia that my kids have grown past the baby stage now. Someday, I'll be a mom of grown up kids who are off on their own, living their own lives - and when I see these moms with little kids, I'll think back nostalgically on this whole phase of my life. Aloneness in the grocery store will become a norm at that point. Fielding 5 comments and requests at once will be a thing of the past. And I'll look at those moms towing their kids along in a whole different way - I'll think about how lucky they are to have those cute little kids and I'll miss my own. I'll probably get the urge to stop those hassled moms and tell them to love this small window in their lives when they are so needed and so wanted by such lovely little people. I'll want to tell them that time goes by quickly and that the melt downs and crying really only lasts a few minutes at a time (even though it can seem like an eternity when you're in the middle of it). I bet I'll want to tell them that they'll even miss the hard stuff because without that, you don't appreciate the good as much.

So I'd better listen to my future self and cherish this phase of my life a lot more. As I was shopping and people watching and thinking of this stuff, a song came to mind that my sister-in-law Kristi shared with us this summer - "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins. I'm generally not very interested in country music - but Kristi said "I challenge you not to cry when you listen to the words of this song" - and I have to say I didn't quite meet the challenge. Someday we're all going to miss a lot of things that seem pretty commonplace and even rather bad right now. If you feel like it, listen to the Trace Adkin's song and these other two songs I like below - and think about your own life and what you're going to miss someday. Then try to enjoy the present just a little more!

Star of the Month and Baptism Boy - Isaac

OK, it's been a while since I spotlighted Ashton but now is the perfect time to spotlight sweet Isaac who turned 8 this summer and got baptized in Bear Lake. How did he get so big so fast?

The night before each kid's birthday, I tell them all about their original birthday and let their siblings listen in as I show them pictures and tell them all the details I can remember. They eat it right up - who doesn't like an adventure with YOU as the star of the story? It's so fun to relive those beautiful days and tell the story with all the excitement and suspense I can muster up.

Isaac was the most exciting, most amazing and in many ways, best delivery. It started to dawn on me that I was in labor when I sat down in the midwife's waiting room for my regular check-up and those Braxton-Hicks were starting to feel more like the real thing. The midwife took a quick look and confirmed my suspicions - I was already at a 6 - and sent me across the street to the hospital - she said she'd be right behind me. I frantically tried to call Jared who was in some "clean room" checking out the computer chip-making machines he sold for work and had no cell phone reception - argh!!!! They were so SLOW getting me admitted while the pains were quite suddenly quite serious. I finally reached Jared and he rushed over. I asked about an epidural and a call was put in to the anesthesiologist - but things were happening fast and the midwife told me she'd talk me through everything and it would be fine one way or another. Isaac was born about 1/2 hour after I got to the hospital - and about 15 minutes after Jared arrived. The labor was super painful but the midwife talked me through the pain and when that little boy popped out, I've never felt such an amazing natural high. Something about really feeling that intense pain seems to heighten the joy just a bit.

Isaac came out perfect - calm, sweet, and beautiful. He was as dark as Ashton was light and I felt I'd got my wish -I'd hoped that with two boys so close together in age they'd be really different so there'd be less competition - and I sure got what I wanted - these boys are so different from each other in wonderful ways!

Ashton took to Isaac immediately. One of my all-time favorite moments was when Ashton first saw his little brother and there was this beautiful look on his face that seemed to say "There you are! I've been so excited to get you down to this earth to be with me!" Ashton reached out his chubby little arms and pulled Isaac in tight and instinctively started rocking that little baby back and forth. Isaac and Ashton have heard this story plenty of times - they get to hear it whenever they aren't getting along - I'm always reminding them that they were best friends even before they came to earth - so they'd better act like it!
Isaac was the best little baby - the best nurser, the smiliest, cutest little guy, never a moment's trouble - other than the massive amounts of spit-up and drool he constantly put out!

Check out that drool - and those eyelashes!

What was true in the delivery room continues to be true. Isaac is as sweet and loving as a child can be - plus he's proven to be a super hard worker, a great athlete, and an all-around great kid. I loved seeing him with all his little cousins this summer - he loves little kids (especially babies) so much and he's so good with them. He and Grace totally took care of little 1-year-old Lyla for a day and had so much fun with her. Lucy (who seems quite discerning in who she likes to have around) and Elsie (who used to yell out for Isaac in church when she lived by us) couldn't get enough of this Isaac. He treats everyone - especially little babies - with such interests and respect that they can't help but like him. And enthusiasm - Isaac is always up for anything from hard work projects to fun hikes to challenging bike rides to anything else. Isaac is always fun to have around. He loves good food - states that guacamole, baby octopus and sushi are his favorite things - along with cookies and candy and anything sweet - he has a serious sweet tooth. He's very thankful and very friendly - two really great and somewhat rare qualities in kids. These traits make him quickly liked by adults and kids alike. Oh how we love our Isaac!

Isaac's "second birth" - his baptism this summer - was much like that first birth in many ways. It was unique (he was baptized in Bear Lake), it was Spirit-drenched, it was beautiful, and it left me with a natural high. But it was sure a lot less painful and crazy! There's nothing like seeing your child go into the waters of baptism with their worthy father and come out literally glowing with joy. Isaac was so excited to get baptized and took his preparation for his baptism very seriously. He really understands many important concepts of the gospel and has an earnest desire to be good and to make others happy.

Being somewhat in the middle of our family, Isaac sometimes doesn't seem to get enough special attention so it was extra nice that his baptism could be so extra special. It worked out perfectly that he could get baptized with his best friend and cousin Grace in Bear Lake with every one of his Eyre relatives and many of his Loosli relatives as well (more than would have been able to attend if we'd held the baptism in St George so it worked out pretty well for everyone). Plus it was pretty cool that Isaac got to wear the baptism outfit that my grandma made for my father - and it was fun to see that it fit him exactly - fun to picture my dad with the very same build and height as Isaac at 8 years old.

Isaac with Jared's brothers Aaron and Brian and their families
With Grandma Loosli
With Grandma Great - my dad's mom who made that little baptism outfit for my dad

We had a lovely little program with freshly returned missionary Charity giving a talk on baptism and a bunch of the grandkids sang a song.

Then we went down to the beach. It was quite early in the morning so we were able to avoid all the commotion of boats and jetskis and four-wheelers on the 24th of July weekend. It was quiet and beautiful on so many levels.

Gracie went first.
Then Isaac.

Nice to have a strong dad who can carry you when your wet pants are so hard to walk in!

Then we all headed up to my parents' house on the hill for Isaac's confirmation and a big brunch. Gracie's Pothier grandma gave a beautiful talk on the Holy Ghost and then Grace and Isaac received the gift of the Holy Ghost from their fathers with their uncles standing in the priesthood circle. I loved seeing Isaac surrounded by all these wonderful men who love him and who he looks up to so much - what a beautiful sight! I love how the priesthood works and how it provides such meaningful ways for the male members of a child's family to be such an integral part of that child's rites of passage.

These kids will be getting baptized in a couple years - they were paying close attention
- so great to have older cousins and siblings who are good examples

Isaac and Gracie - Best cousins who now share a very special baptism day

With Ana whose birthday didn't quite come in time to get baptized with these two -

she'll follow them in a couple weeks.
Here are the same three kids when Ana was 2 days old (on the right).
Where did the time go?

What a day! What a wonderful son we have in Isaac. I'm so grateful for this excellent boy of mine!

First Day of School!

Here are the kids heading off to school this morning! One of the casualties of all our travels this summer is that I can't seem to find the charger for my camera battery. Until it shows up, I've got the camera in my phone which isn't great - sorry about the quality of this photo. But I'm grateful I could get what I got! Isaac was way excited but he looks a little weird here. I cut everyone's hair day before yesterday - despite the boys' protests. I just don't know how to make long shaggy hair look presentable - even if it is sort of the style.

You know, I was a little sad to see the kids heading back into school - I've enjoyed having them around so much all summer, the big kids have been so good about entertaining the little kids, and it's been so nice to be unhampered by any particular schedule. But this morning, after I saw the big kids off and read stories with the twins (uninterrupted by three other kids' needs) and now, as the twins play happily together in the other room and I sit here catching up on piles of stuff, I'm realizing how nice it is to have school start up. I love having the opportunity to really focus on my little guys for part of the day and the big kids were so excited to get back in school. Summer was long enough. We're ready. This is good.

Last night I helped with the PTA open house at the school - I need to learn Spanish! I helped at the membership table and so many of the parents who wanted to join PTA only spook Spanish. Many of them had kids with them who could translate for them - it's interesting watching a little role reversal go on as parents listen intently to their kids' translations. After a couple years of busy and frustrating times sticking with the PTA as it limped along with way too few people willing do to much, it looks like we've got a great group this year and there's a lot of new energy at the school with the name change going through - we're now Dixie Sun Elementary, not Dixie Downs - and there's definitely a "sunnier" feeling going on!

The kids all have great teachers this year - many I know from past years which makes things easier in many ways. And the twins can't wait to get back to their beloved little preschool next week. The teacher there has adopted the Joy School curriculum for this year and she's so excited about it. This is going to be a great year for everyone!