I’ve been quite motivated lately to do the things I want and often don’t take time for. I’ve gone fishing (I’m slowly learning to fly fish), gone out on the lake on the paddleboard, Tiny Tot Triathlon with the little kids, gone to the temple, the park, had friends and cousins over, gone to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point, went to Lagoon with just my husband so we could ride all the more extreme rides we can’t with little kids, hiked five miles to Silver Lake with Curtis and Henry, and went on a 20 mile bike ride to Bluffdale.

Highlights: I’ve now done all the rides at Lagoon. Colossus might be my favorite: no line, love the loops. But there’s a good variety of rides there. We fished up at Silver Lake, and Curtis said it was the prettiest place he’s ever fished at.

Lowlights: Our goal destination was a splash pad for the bike ride. It wasn’t open when we got there. And we ran out of battery on the way back. Also, it’s been hot and smoky.

I’ve found that the reason I don’t do things is often not because of a lack of time, but a lack of determination. You make it work when you really want to do it.

Summer started off quickly. Our first adventure was an overnight trip for Joe and me to Fifth Water Hot Springs. Beautiful place, and worth the five-mile hike in the mud.

Joe and I were then in charge of Trek for our ward. (Translation: It’s a reenactment of handcart pioneers done by our church youth group.) It was a lot of planning and work, but not as much as it could be. We kept it simple and went to This is the Place for their program. After, we did a ward campout. It was a great experience, and I’m also happy it’s over.

Summer so far has been parks, library, fishing, playing in the backyard pool, watching excessive TV, basketball camps, space center camp, and work.

We’ve been fishing some more, and fish have been caught. Not by me, but by Curtis, who loves fishing. He even went off on the bike by himself to catch some fish when he was bored. I’ve enjoyed a few hikes for wildflowers and waterfalls. The native flowers in my own yard are doing great as well.

There’s been a lot of time spent at Lagoon. We’ve already paid for the Lagoon passes and then some. Amusement parks are more fun in small doses.

We finished up the school year. Zack lost his first tooth and finished up soccer, and Peter’s done well in basketball tournaments. And we have also been building a DIY stock tank hot tub that is nearly complete, just in time for summer vacation.

Beautiful days of spring that are full of bipolar weather, and time for outdoor fun. We visited Red Butte Gardens and tried fishing out on Utah Lake (no fish were caught). And I hiked to Horsetail Falls with my sister.

Easter week was nice. I did activities throughout the week, like dying eggs, flying kites, stopping by the Lindon temple open house, and learning about Jesus. We ended with a family Easter egg hunt and General Conference. On Easter, we also took off and traveled down to Mesquite for a mini-vacation. We swam at the hotel, ate fast food, played at an arcade, and watched TV. There was a good amount of chill time for a few days.

But I never plan that much chill time. Monday, we visited the Valley of Fire. Gorgeous park, especially if you get out on the trails. The kids weren’t enthusiastic about it because of how hot it was. (Mid 80’s for the high, which isn’t that hot, but I think we are still used to winter.)

The next day, we hiked Kanarra Falls. It requires a permit and some fore-planning because you walk through water through a good portion of the trail. Neoprene socks kept the feet from freezing, and I did carry Evie for the back half of the trail. All that said, Peter called it the best hike he’d ever been on, and it’s definitely in my top handful of hikes I’ve done as well. Beautiful slot canyons, multiple waterfalls, and at four miles round trip, it wasn’t too long. The pictures don’t do it justice: there are four separate waterfalls, and huge towering slot canyons.

The rest of spring break was spent doing smaller activities around home, like the park, library, and a short trip to Lagoon at the end.

I was a bit buried in March. My business started up a bit. I’m mostly waiting for my landscape contractor license to go through so I can do some installs this spring. I did have a couple of projects to keep me busy, though, and started on garden maintenance. The flowers came out, and we had record-breaking hot temperatures. There’s been track, kids play, and basketball. And annoying things like chores, check-ups. For fun, a bike ride, a fishing trip, a jet lag game in Daybreak, and going out to Thanksgiving Point occasionally. We’ve been working on preparing for Trek, which is two months away (I’m basically in charge…). And finally, a trip to the opening day of Lagoon, where we did lose a kid, but not for long. We have season tickets there this year, so we’ll go back and try not to lose anyone next time.

I didn’t get to go snowshoeing all winter. There was never enough snow. We went out to Utah Lake. Henry did not want to go, but by the end, he was enjoying himself immensely. Going on adventures is often like that. It was a good hike: with tree climbing, birdwatching, hide-and-seek, and throwing rocks in the water.

Later, we went up into the mountains and found a small bit of snow to sled and make a snowman. It was a bit lackluster compared to other times I’ve been to this location due to the lack of snow. The final hike of the winter was to a waterfall up Provo Canyon. It was a beautiful hike. But also, no snow. I quite enjoyed spending time outside, but next year I’m hoping to enjoy a winterwonderland every once in a while.

We had a good Valentine’s Day. I always make Valentine’s for the kids and Joe, and we’ll do something fun for breakfast. This year was coffee cake muffins and donuts. Basketball season has wrapped up, Peter’s really done well, and Curtis has improved a lot. We went up to the Olympic Park, which is a fun thing to do during the Winter Olympics.

January went quickly. No snow the whole month, which is odd. I spent so much time going to basketball games: between Curtis and Peter, there were at least four games a week. They are both doing well. Curtis is scoring more, and Peter has worked his way up to play in the JV games consistently. We also did a two-week karate stint with Zack, which he enjoyed.

Adventure-wise, we went to Brigham City to visit Grandpa and attend the temple there with the three oldest boys. Henry wanted to go back there: we lived two blocks from the temple for years, and now that he was old enough, he wanted to go inside. We also stopped by the local museum and a park.

I went on a hike with my sister and parents up by Donut Falls. It was a beautiful winter hike, unfortunately, a little too long for Evie, who was cold and hungry and not happy on the way back. A dish of mac and cheese cheered her up.

We also went to the local high school for a Chinese New Year celebration. The kids loved it: a performance with Chinese yo-you, aerials, dances, and music, followed by some food and booths with Chinese-themed activities.

Lately, I’ve been going through a bit of a shift in my thinking patterns. Maybe it was the free mindful course I went through, years of various dives into meaningful non-fiction, growing up a bit, or the various goals and intentions I set for myself. Whatever it was, I’ve felt more content in life.

So we’ve had the winter with the least amount of snow ever: It’s okay, I’ll enjoy warm days and never having to shovel snow. My to-do list always seems to get longer: That’s not a problem, I’ll do what I can and try to prioritize. My business isn’t really progressing: I’ll pivot to something that will more closely match what people need instead of what I want to do. Children can be frustrating: I’ll focus on being patient and firm and not controlling their behavior when I really can’t anyway.

Acceptance of life’s disappointments is very hard to learn. Serenity seems so out of reach sometimes. But I find that if I focus on living the best I can and not worrying over everything that isn’t important, to truly give myself grace, it is possible.

We did go up to Tibble Fork again this year. So little snow, but we did get some play time in.

What do you do when winter break has no snow? It’s been the warmest winter, so plans to play out in the snow haven’t happened. But there is still a lot to do.

We planned a day trip. The plans underwent many iterations, and what we ended up doing was going out to the West Desert. We haven’t explored that area much, and it isn’t too far away. Our first stop was to Paul Bunyon’s Woodpile, which is a short hike to an amazing rock formation. It takes some scrambling to get into it, but it’s well worth it.

Next, we went to the Little Sahara to play in the sand dunes. My kids like sand, and we were even able to get a little sledding in. What is not pictured is the fact that it is still winter, even if it’s warm and quite windy. The wind made our stay rather short.

The next stop was probably our family’s favorite and the best for the weather, Baker Hot Springs. The trick about going to hot springs in the cold is to stay in long enough to get your body temperature up so you don’t feel that cold when you exit. We stopped at the Topaz museum, which was excellent, and ended with dinner in Delta. Great little day trip.

Other places we went over the break included a game of Jet Lag with cousins, an indoor playground with the three littlest, the park, a trampoline park with everyone, Costco, which is way fun if you think of games like find the most expensive item, the butterfly and dino museums at Thanksgiving Point, the Zoo (go when it’s cold, the animals are more active), a New Year’s overnight party at my sister’s, a short hike, more time with cousins, a double date with my sister to make chocolates, and a train ride to the Planetarium. We fit a lot in! And I loved it.

When we were on our way home from the Planetarium, we were running to catch a tram car and missed it. Except for Henry. Henry got on by himself. Luckily, the tram was only two stops away from the train stop, where the tram car sat for 15 minutes before turning around. The train stop was a short walking distance away, so we took off in search of Henry. He’d gotten off at the next stop, we met up, and all got on the train together and successfully got home. There was mild panic, but it all worked out.