Table for Eight

Dave and J helping with our latest home improvement project. I have to be honest, sometimes it's hard for me to reconcile just how different my life is from other people's. I've been this way for most of my life: this thinking about " why do I have clean water and pets who get haircuts while other people have literally next to nothing ?" And while I know there are thousands of ways to make our lives have purpose and to do "good" with the time and circumstances of our lives here on Planet E., but really, it's hard for me to figure these things out. How do I spend my time and resources? Am I good to others? Am I fair? Generous? Should we really live in a home of X size and have Y number of cars? Should we donate more? Should we help others more? Do I need another pair of shoes? Are our children growing up with an awareness of the world's inequalities? Ahhhh! It's a little overwhelming. But my point. Despite my mental taffy-pulli...

February is one of my favorite months--especially in Utah because you never really know what you will get weather-wise. We've been fortunate to have a lot of "warmer" days this February. (And when I say "warmer," I mean 40-49 degrees F.) In the early part of the month, Bam, Papaya, and Jr. came back from Disneyland. They had a blast and are ready for another adventure. Bam started dating a super great guy she's known since before his mission. Jay and his gf M have been driving all over the state (that kids loves cars). Dave is preparing for a work trip to Europe (yes, Europe!). And me, Zu, and Lu are holding down the fort (trying not to let the animals take over the homestead). Papaya stopped by California Adventure to see one of my BFFs from Chino Hills. When we lived in CA, Papaya was 3--so it was fun to see these two meet up! Papaya stayed in California a little longer than Bam and Jr--so she could hit the parks with our BFF Heather...

Papaya and Bam at Disneyland, 2017. This week was a week of major firsts for us: three of our older kids took a trip to Disneyland ALL BY THEMSELVES. Now, granted, Bam is almost 20 and Papaya and Jr almost 18, but still, they did a great job navigating the whole trip: flight check-in, Uber ride, hotel check-in, and theme park time. It's funny to think how technology makes travel SO different than it was when I was their age. Not only could they "face-time" us if they had questions, but we could track their flight AND Uber drive real-time. (The Uber app shows a photo of their driver, the type of car they are in, AND a map with a tiny car driving from point a to point b. I was able to see their every move. Literally.) Isn't that wild? I'm grateful they were able to take this trip. (And I'm grateful Dave and I we were able to get a little peek into what life will be like as everyone moves out. Eventually. LOL.) Papaya, Jr., the character from T...

Add caption Having 6 kids is a little bit hilarious. Okay, a lot bit hilarious. The upsides far exceed the downsides, but there is one downside that just drives me bananas -- and that is the inevitable SOCK WAR that takes place any and every time we fold laundry. We are ALWAYS ALWAYS losing socks. And I've tried every solution I can Google to remedy the lone sock dilemma -- --Having kids do their OWN laundry so their clothes stay THEIRS --Creating sock BINS to hold single, paired dark, and paired light socks --SCREAMING and sighing loudly when my socks own are missing --Replacing socks monthly --Having the kids wear different "brands" of socks so they can stake claim to their socks And yet we still find ourselves with a sock dilemma . . . that is, until today. I hope. Beginning today each of us have our own "sock bag" to use to gather our dirty socks before they head to the laundry. Then we will wash and our socks IN OUR RESPECTIVE ...

Let the record reflect: I ate a lot of sugar yesterday. A lot! --a cupcake (from a bakery that won Cupcake Wars , so probably 50+ grams of sugar) --a cookie (a homemade Samoa cookie) --half of Papaya's chocolate shake (okay, 2/3) I'm basically taking The Hungry Caterpillar for a run for his money. The End.

Humph. It's a New Year and I've decided to try and write more often. I haven't been writing much and I've missed the daily practice. (Plus, I miss having the blog "current" so our kids can look through photos and remember parts of our lives.) So here I am. (Psst: I've also decided to change the URL and name of the blog. It just seemed like time for a change. The Deseret Housewife name was fun, but I like change too much to keep it the same. Especially since I'm not a company, just a regular person blogging/journaling.) So here goes . . . Lately I've been thinking about "the best way" to spend my time each day. I know every day is different and every person's situation is different, but by the grace of God (truly), I am able to take a leave from teaching this semester, and I find myself with a few more hours each day to DO or BE. And then there's the fact that this is a transition phase in my (and Dave's) lif...