Adventures of Seth & Manina and their six kids from 2007-2020
Note from Seth: if you haven’t read part 1 and part 2 of my driver license nightmare, you’ll want to start there.
When I saw the outside of the envelope with a PennDOT return address I thought my nightmare was just about over. Finally, I could be cleared to get a driver license. Then I opened the envelope. Continue reading “Driver license nightmare (part 3)”
We had another candy-filled Halloween this year. I am not sure what it is about this holiday, but I just love it. As overwhelming as it can be with costumes, candy, and class parties I still get super excited every year. I probably just love seeing the excitement in my kids’ eyes. That combined with the crisp-cool feel of fall in the air, I just can’t get enough!
This year was no different than the rest. We carved our pumpkins, attended several class parties, and made time for our ward trunk-or-treat and then more trick-or-treating later that evening. Overall we had a fabulous day. We hope everyone likewise had a Happy Halloween!
Jake as a BYU fan.
Megan as a vampire.
Katelyn as a scare crow.
Claire as Dorothy.
Drew as spiderman.
Ellie as an ice-cream cone.
Pumpkin Carving
My sister came to visit this past week. I haven’t seen her in over 3 years! It was nice to hangout and be together again. It is hard when you go that long without seeing someone you love.
The kids thoroughly enjoyed seeing her. We tried to fit in a few fun things while she was here. She went shopping, got her hair done, and we spent quite a few nights staying up late watching movies. We even ventured into the canyon for a hike in Cascade Springs one afternoon.
She packed up and headed back yesterday. We miss her already and hope that next time we don’t have to wait so long to see each other. Love you sis!
Cascade Springs
Erika and Megan
Summit
Note from Seth: This is a continuation of my earlier post. Make sure you’ve read part 1 of my driver license nightmare so you’ll understand just what I’ve been dealing with.
The morning of the 17th I got a phone call from Lucille at PennDOT. You know how sometimes you can picture the person at the other end of the line just by his or her voice? Well, let me just say that Lucille sounded like just the person for a DMV job. Our conversation went something like this: Continue reading “Driver license nightmare (part 2)”
My driver license expired on my birthday a few weeks ago. Usually, this isn’t newsworthy, it just means having to spend a few hours at the DMV dealing with entirely competent and friendly government employees.
Trying to minimize the hassle, I went online the night of my birthday to prepare all the documents and applications I would need when going in to get my license renewed the next day. The DMV was closed for a holiday on my birthday, so the next day would have to do. I felt prepared and confident when I walked in the doors of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) driver license division building. Continue reading “Driver license nightmare”
In February, we had an awesome family vacation visiting Disneyland. So in 2012, we’re also planning a vacation in February, but this one is going to be a little different — we’re leaving the kids behind, and Manina and I are going on a cruise!
The location should be great — we’re leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and doing the Eastern Caribbean cruise, with stops at St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Grand Turk. It will also be a great time to escape the middle of a cold Utah winter.
Manina and I have never been on a cruise, and we’ve heard mixed reviews. So, we’re hoping for the best. What has been your experience with cruises? And, do you want to come with us?
I have done a century each year I’ve been cycling. My first was the ULCER, around Utah Lake. Last year was the Heber Valley Century (which I didn’t even write about because it was so frustrating, but here are the stats). This year, with the family heading to St. George, I thought it would be fun to do the Watchman 100.
I hadn’t heard anything about the ride. It isn’t a big, popular ride. None of my riding buddies volunteered to join me. Also, given the business of the summer and with my recent involvement in scouting, I haven’t been able to train as much as I would like. So, I was a little nervous how I would perform.
Spoiler: I did remarkably well!
My previous centuries had been long affairs. I just wanted to complete them, and time wasn’t a factor. This time, I could go at my own pace without having to worry about staying with anyone else. I didn’t stop much this time. At the lunch stop I only was there for 15 minutes. Just long enough for a couple grapes, half of a PB&J, some water, and an orange slice. Other support stops along the route were just to top off my water bottles.
I carried some Honey Stinger waffles with me which were great. They were a little cumbersome to eat on the bike, but they tasted good and prevented me from hunger-bonking. I had a couple GU gels too, but only toward the end when I was feeling like I was running out of gas.
I also wasn’t scared to suck wheel. In cycling, you can save a lot of energy by tucking in closely behind another rider. I spent the majority of miles following closely behind someone else. At one point, around mile 65, I slowed way down to let a few guys catch up to me just so I could join their train, get out of the headwind, and save some energy. It worked great.
Manina and the kids had grand designs of meeting me at the finish. I had initially told them to expect me between 1:30pm and 2:00pm, since my goal was a six hour ride. Manina called me at about 1:00pm and told me she was just leaving to come meet me at the finish line. I was at mile 90 at that point, but I was out on my own and struggling a little bit. I told her she’d better hurry if she wanted to beat me to the finish line because I wanted to get to be done.
I came into the finish line without any cheers or cowbells or any other fanfare from my family. But, it was very nice to be done. I enjoyed some fruit, lots of water, and a soda. Then Manina and the kids drove up with some popsicles. We hung around the finish line for a while, with me eating and drinking anything in sight. It was nice to be done.
As I wheeled my bike back to the truck to load it up, the front tire exploded. Megan happened to be nearby and thought she’d been shot, but everyone was OK. My tire, however, was not. It had a cut in the sidewall about a centimeter long. The tube had been pinching out of that cut, and it finally exploded. The timing of this explosion could have been much worse — imagine this happening while going down a hill at 40mph. It certainly would have ruined what turned out to be a very, very good ride.
Here is a link to the GPS data for the ride.
This past weekend we packed up all the kiddos and went down to St. George. I have been wanting to take my girls to Little Mermaid at Tuacahn all summer and this seemed to be the perfect weekend. Seth planned it so he could do the Watchman 100 cycle ride the same weekend so we were able to make full use of our time in St. George. Seth’s mom, dad and his sister Rachel and their family went down too so we hooked up with them throughout the weekend as well.
We left Friday afternoon but due to a truck full of hay spilling hay all over I-15 it took us longer than expected. We didn’t make it down until a little after 7 pm. Seth grabbed his race packet and we headed over to my dad’s place.
The next day Seth did his ride (more to come on that later) while me and the kids hung out with G’pa Gary and G’ma Kathy. The kids did some cooking with G’pa and also took a few golf cart rides as well. Then later in the afternoon we met up with Haymond family and G’pa and G’ma Johnson for some swimming over at their timeshare. It was a great opportunity for Seth to relax after his long ride and for the kids to exert some of their energy.
Ellie & G’pa Gary making some cowboy beans for dinner.
Lucy & Claire at the pool
Drew Buddy playin’ in the sun
Then Sunday we went to church and then went over to the St. George Temple to take pictures and walk through the visitor’s center. It was really interesting to learn details about that beautiful temple. Later that afternoon, G’pa, Seth (along with Jake, Drew & Ellie) headed back home to Highland. Only the girls stayed for more fun.
All the kids on the stairs of the temple.
G’ma and G’pa Johnson with all the kids.
Then came Monday. We all woke up, got ready for the day and then headed out to the outlet malls for some shopping. We didn’t buy much but had a good time trying on things and doing silly girl stuff. After lunch at Paradise Bakery we went and got pedicures for the moms and toes/nails painted for the kids. At this point everyone was pretty tired so we went back to my dad’s for a rest before the play that evening.
The girls tried on most everything from the accessory department!
And then time to get our nails done!
Now off to do a little modeling.
At 6:00 pm that evening we all got ready and headed out to dinner before the play. We got to Tuacahn with plenty of time to use the restroom and get some pictures before the play began. The play was phenomenal. The special effects were great and it held the kids attention from 8:15 to about 11:00. The kids are still talking about how much they loved it. Of course the show wouldn’t be complete without some pictures of the cast.
The trip was a success and we had a great time. I am looking forward to going to Aladdin next year! A huge thank you to my dad and Kathy for hosting all of us at their home. Accommodations were terrific and the food was even better!
G’ma Kathy and Katelyn
The girls with Ariel and Eric
Me and the girls with Ursula
Cute Flounder with my little girls.
Less than a week after Claire lost her tooth she was chatting with me and I noticed she was missing a second tooth! I asked here when it fell out and she had no idea?! She was as shocked as I was. We searched all over for the tooth but no luck. Instead she wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining our dilemma. Sure enough, the Tooth Fairy was kind enough to leave her money anyway.
A few days later I actually found the tooth in the living room under the couch and Claire insisted she leave it for the Tooth Fairy in hopes of getting even more money. I assured her that wouldn’t happen! 🙂 Any guesses what Claire might be wishing for come Christmas time?!
Claire noticed her tooth was really wiggly last week and with much excitement, she came to show me. She wanted it get it out so bad but it wasn’t quite ready. All day long she wiggled it and tugged it and cried about how much it was hurting. Eventually I handed her and apple and asked her to eat it. Sure enough the loose tooth was even looser. It was barely hanging on and I popped it out.
I am not sure I have ever seen her so excited in my life. I am also pretty sure that every neighbor in our neighborhood got to see if firsthand as she went door-to-door showing off the gap in her teeth. She is the first kindergartner in her class to lose and tooth and she is pretty proud of that!
What a cute new grin she has!
MightyJohnsons 