Oregon Coast Road Trip

2019-11-152019-11-16

We took a road trip to Oregon in the fall of last year. It was one of those trips I wanted to take for years, and one I often think about since.

Sometimes we even dream of buying a little cottage along a river nestled in those pines and wild blackberry bushes, minutes from the coast, even for just a year or two. It’s a happy thought I dream of from time to time.

Someday we’ll be back, if for nothing else than to feel the thrill of our heart’s content.

This was a last minute trip (as most of our trips are). We had hardly a plan except to explore and enjoy, which landed us on top of a volcano, through the cityscape, and to the sands of the pacific just on day two. We struggled to find a place to stay each night (it was Labor Day weekend) but ended up with just what we needed.

In four days we totaled 31 hours of driving in the car, but we mixed it up with park stops, beach play, and lots and lots of snacks. And the drive was half the fun with all the beauty we got to see together!

It was an incredible trip, one of my very, very favorites.

Oregon Coast Road Trip | thatwemighthavejoy.com

When Mother’s Day Doesn’t Go Your Way

2019-05-14

“Mom remember this morning how Thea had poop on her finger and we couldn’t figure out where it came from? Well we found it! It’s in your closet!”

Jake and I slumped on the couch together at 9pm, wondering, with partial desperation (but mostly just exhaustion) why the day was so hard. Except we knew largely why. It was Mother’s Day and the twins’ birthday and a whole clumpful of mixed expectations and efforts along with all the usual mess and mishaps (and lots of noise).

Add in my efforts to try to get a nice picture of all four of them together (because they were already dressed and looking nice for church) and everyone’s frustrations festered. I still didn’t end up getting it, at least not in their nice clothes.

It was funny (and not funny) throughout the day just thinking about everything that was happening. The twins fighting over their new toys, Ava yelling that she hated me, and Hyrum locking himself out of the apartment to pout. Esther was crying most of the day because she didn’t have the other stroller or she couldn’t fit her baby in just right, and the other kids whined and teased each other enough that I just laughed when we all sat down to eat brownies and ice cream because it was the quietest the house had been ALL DAY. We cringed at the thought of what our neighbors were thinking. We were all in need of a reset.

That reset came today. Jake and I got up before the kids to get ready for the day, and when Hyrum came into my room after waking I just held him. “I love you Mom,” he said, hugging me back.

I hugged them all as they woke up, looked into their little wanting eyes, and really looked, really listened. I moved along with their ideas and shooed away any thoughts of expectation. We fetched balloons from the grass, watched the wind move the leaves, and built train tracks. We still had tears and complaining and fits about strollers, but we were calmer, we had space to be calmer. And I really tried to hold that space too.

When Jake pulled up at the end of the day, we were already playing on the field. He joined in our frisbee throwing while the twins giggled holding hands and Hyrum rode his bike.

This is parenthood, I thought. It’s a mix of a lot of things, and certainly a lot that is hard. But a lot of it is fun and more of it is filling and all of it is growth. All of it is love. All of it is worth it. And I really love it all.

#mamanotes

Can you See Mt. Rushmore?

2018-06-282018-06-28

This time last year our girls were one month old, suffering from severe reflux and needing to be soothed around the clock. Summer had arrived and was entreating seemingly all but us to its pleasant reprieve and active adventures.

We were barely keeping our heads above water and rushed our tired bodies to bed each night as soon as the babies were soothed long enough for their first stretch of nighttime sleep. Free time was like the faint sighting of land while treading in a grey ocean. We weren’t discouraged or unhappy, we adored these babies with the biggest of grateful hearts! We were just tired, so tired.

I don’t remember what sparked the idea, perhaps some longing for a sense of normalcy, but we decided to take a trip to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore in the midst of all this. I don’t know how we managed to pack for our weekend trip, but somehow we made it on the road for a six hour ride and the aid of the car to soothe our girls to sleep. We figured we’d just be at home soothing them, we might as well take a ride in the car somewhere.

I remember the peace in that drive, the waves of prairie grass and the different colored cows. I grew such a love for driving through open spaces while living out there.

We visited Mt. Rushmore, and I remember being more intrigued with it than I thought I’d be. I would’ve even stayed to watch the movie about it if the babies weren’t crying and Hyrum climbing over seats. My favorite part though was driving through the surrounding Black Hills. It was so beautiful there!

At one point we stopped to eat and hike around a bit, and when we got to the top of the rocks we discovered a stunning view of the hills with Mt. Rushmore tucked right in the middle of them! That was a highlight for me. And just before we left, a mountain goat leaped across the rocks a few yards away from us. I think that was a highlight for Jake.

I don’t think we have ever been more exhausted on a trip, hardly managing a solid hour’s sleep. We forgot the babies’ rock n plays— the beds they are so accustomed to, that help with their reflux.— So we improvised an inclined bed in the base of their stroller, and although they looked cozy, we were up with them almost constantly it seemed.

But it was a taste of normalcy, this trip, just being out somewhere, especially somewhere new. Jake took the kids to breakfast and a park so I could sleep, and the older two got to swim with him at the water park hotel. And despite the exhaustion, we loved it and are so glad we went!

And oh to think how far we’ve come! Our baby girls are now our best sleepers! We are taking picnics, running through sprinklers, visiting family, and going away on the weekends. It is such a glorious time with these four little ones.

The other day I was at Trader Joe’s as the temperatures were first starting to warm, and I walked past a barrel of watermelons and a group of people barbecuing by the doorway. I smiled from ear to ear walking through those doors! Summer had arrived and it felt so nostalgic to me, so wonderfully, joyfully nostalgic, as though it had been a long while since I had played in it. But it really hadn’t been that long! Last summer was just so different.

Now the fun we are all enjoying this summer—the swimming, the smells, and the whole laid back feel of it—is somehow conjuring up the sweetest of summer memories from years ago. I am loving summer like never before, or perhaps all the years before, and that has been such a gift. #mamanotes

mama notes

2018-06-28

We walked through the garden in the park to this shady patch of trees. My favorite places are the simple ones we find, places we can run free and play without a lot of people around— off the beaten path you’d say. They become special to us, we return again and make it that way.

The babies muddied their toes in piles of dirt and yellow petals and the older two climbed the little stone wall to be closer to the sprinklers. They’d dance and laugh in anticipation, then squeal in delight once pummeled with spray.

I watched in delight too. It’s one of my favorite things watching my kids play together.

I’ve been so happy lately. It’s as though every plant or person or cloud in the sky lights me up inside, and the hard things aren’t getting me down as easily. I’m just so grateful! It’s my season perhaps. Maybe it’s the sunshine, the outdoor play, or our time with so many loved ones. Perhaps so many other things too, but I am finding such joy in this time of our lives I hardly have time to find anything else. #mamanotes

We took the Trax to dinner tonight, all six of us. Jake and I were a little nervous as we set everyone up to the table, hoping we’d all finish eating before the babies started squealing. They eat so fast. But they all did so great! —and we all really enjoyed it. We were so happy about that. We love being out and about together.

We headed back on the train and split up at the mall. Jake walked with the kids to the grocery store to get some snacks and treats for our movie night, and I walked around with the twins. The babies were tired and restless, but as we walked closer to our building I heard the echo of singing at the street corner. I strollered the twins toward the girl singing on the corner, and we stood there and listened to her sweet music along with the couple on their bikes and the men in their suits and the theatre guests on the outside balcony across the street. So many people coming and going and stopping to listen. She had such a gift!

The evening air was warm and breezy, not just the feel of it, but the color of it too, all amber and warm. The sun was on its way down, and I just stood there taking it all in— the music, the people, the feeling. The babies sat there too all calm like me for those few minutes we paused, and I just couldn’t help but feel so happy. Perhaps they were enjoying it just as much as me. #mamanotes

Minnesota Road Trip

2017-01-092017-02-11

A few months ago we decided to take a weekend away exploring some more of these northern parts of the US. So, we packed up and explored Minnesota and the north shore of Lake Superior! It was such a great trip. Unfortunately my morning sickness kicked in during the tail end of the trip so anytime I even thought about it (the whole trip) I would get a nauseous feeling and my mind would go back to those fig newtons and oat bars in the back seat. You know how sometimes you associate nausea to something you ate while sick? Well I did that for the WHOLE trip! And I didn’t like feeling that way, so I made a little video of our time there together and all the fun we had and now that nausea is completely replaced by good feelings.

In just four days we packed in so much and had a really great time together exploring so many new places– Mall of America, Duluth and Lake Superior, a mansion tour, an iron mine, hikes and waterfalls, and so many fall colors. I think it’s a pretty popular place to go and see fall colors in this area of the North. And, you know what people are called who go somewhere to see fall colors? LEAF PEEPERS. Ha! I just learned that the other day and thought it was kind of funny. So just think, you are a leaf peeper if you go up into those pretty canyons to see colors each fall. How great.

Anyway, I wrote down a few notes in my notes app on my phone while we traveled. This is what I do when I really want to remember something but don’t have time to write out mama notes or a journal entry–of course, intending to make these notes into something like that soon after.

Well, I never got around to writing those entries, so I’ll just share these raw little notes I wrote along the way. My memory probably wouldn’t be able to piece them together very well anyway (it’s why I write these things down! :)) It’s funny how reading over these I was reminded of things I had forgotten already!

On our way to Fargo. Over-researched hotels. Hyrum frustrated with Legos. Ava whining of boredom. “I just want to be there.” Drove past combines harvesting grain at night. Lights on, dust.

Mall of America–Hyrum’s excitement. Ava just wanted cotton candy. Braved the roller coasters. Finally had Mexican food. Yum! Flying over America. Dried breadsticks and pizza. Byu football in the hotel. Kept curtains closed with a pen and cap. We all slept until the morning. So well.

Duluth–Glensheen mansion tour. Hyrum wanting to go everywhere and touch everything but can’t. Skipping rocks on Lake Superior. Jake liked the boat dock. He said, “Someday we’ll get something like that. And a big boat.” Ha! Kids excited about hard hats at the Soudan Iron Ore Mine–considered the Cadillac of iron mines. 6’8 tour guide–very knowledgeable. Hyrum: “Eeeya!” Getting rust all over us as they run around everywhere and we struggle to keep them by us. Very cool tours though.

General Conference on the radio while driving through tunnels of fall colors. Talk on Joseph Smith. Felt the Spirit witness truth. Lost service while driving through the woods, the colorful trees. Listening to conference on the way home–through the north woods, the area with many lakes, leaves kicking up behind

One thing I do remember particularly–On our trip we listened to a lot of the LDS General Conference that was streaming live that weekend. It was pretty neat listening to all these inspiring, uplifting talks and songs while we drove through such beautiful places. However, we lost service quite a lot. While we were driving up the north shore of Lake Superior, we lost service right before the Prophet spoke. I remember feeling so sad about that–I wanted so much to hear what he had to say. By the time we got service again, conference was over and we were about to stop to get something to eat anyway.

The next day when we headed home, we played a lot of the talks that we missed during the previous days, including the Prophet’s talk. I just remember feeling so grateful that we have a Prophet, and we can hear or read –through His chosen leaders–what God wants us to know for our day anytime we want! It’s such a blessing.