Improvisational Mother's Day Adventures

A disturbing number of our camping blog posts revolve around this theme: What are you going to remember in 10 years? The trips that went exactly to plan? Or the truly improvisational adventures? Regardless of your answer to this question, we're going to go with B because so few of our excursions go according to expectation (example: this selfsame trip last year).

Well, our Mother's Day camping trip started fine. 2 Westys, 2 dogs, 3 generations. But as completed the major climbs on Highway 6 it became obvious that Rainy (our van) wasn't going to make it. So we did some quick thinking, moved stuff betweens vans, and Mom and I, with the girls and Chorney, carried on to Goblin Valley while Steve and Dad and ChenXing stayed behind to diagnose and repair Rainy.

By the time we got to Green River, the guys had decided to return home to complete the repairs in comfort and we pressed on, hoping that the guys would join us the next day. There's no cell coverage past Green River, so all communication would be with notes left on bulletin boards and chance meetings in the millions of BLM acres. It was a foolproof plan.

We made camp in the beautiful desert sunset, did a little climbing, and wondered at this magnificent state we call home. #GirlPower

The next morning was super duper windy (as forecasted) and so we decided to do some slot canyon hiking to try and avoid the worst of the blowing sand. So we packed up and headed out to Crack Canyon, a hike we've started twice but never completed.

Hiking into the canyon

The girls love their rock climbing!

Going up and over one of the slots that was filled chest-deep with water

The tunnels and subways in Crack Canyon are so fun!

Almost to the end!

We did it! We made it to the very windy end of our hike!

The wind still hadn't really calmed down after our 6-mile hike, so we headed back to our campsite to see if the guys had arrived (they hadn't), take a quick snoozer (we didn't sleep particularly well the night before because of the wind, so a nap was a great way to pass the afternoon), and cook some dinner (we voted against cooking over the fire because of the aforementioned wind). So, we hung out in Scratchy (Mom and Dad's van) for the afternoon, caught up on our rest, and pan fried some very delicious steaks.

By the evening the wind had calmed down a bit and we decided to drive into Goblin Valley State Park to do some climbing and romping. Goblin Valley at sunset is one of the most beautiful places on earth (and one of the most fun to explore!).

Morningstar girls enjoy the sun and brave the wind

Goblin at sunset

The girls declare themselves (rightly) queens of the hill. Nobody was there to argue.

By now we figured the guys weren't coming (remember: no cell coverage). We gave the girls the option of going home, but everybody was having a lovely weekend and they wanted to stay until Sunday, so stay we did! Here we are cooking Mother's Day breakfast for ourselves... we had leftover watermelon and blueberry muffins and cooked s'mores and crescent rolls over the fire since the wind had finally calmed down enough to make a fire. It was a fantastic celebratory meal.

S'mores and crescent rolls!

And we capped off our weekend with a few miles in Little Wild Horse Canyon before hitting the road. Chorney was limping a bit and we were all feeling the previous day's miles of climbing and hiking, but Little Wild Horse is such a beautiful hike that we couldn't miss it!

So, there you have it, another Morningstar vacation gone awry. Or, as we like to think of it, another perfectly lovely improvisational adventure.

Oh, and the guys made it home safe and sound. They did a few hours of tweaking and diagnosing but ended up deciding that they had to order a part so they didn't make it down. But that's ok, there will be another chance for a "what are you going to remember in 10 years?" adventure soon. And maybe we'll actually end up wherever we intended to go in the first place.

A Mother's Day Safari

After church today we spent a rainy Mother's Day at the zoo. The rain was a bit of a bummer for us, but it turns out that the rain was just perfect for the afternoon's special surprise - Rhino Encounters!

It turns out that Hogle Zoo has these super cool programs where you can meet a keeper and help feed or train animals. I think Steve chose the very best one - rhino feeding.

The rhinos were especially frisky given that their world was a giant mud puddle (their favorite!), which made for great entertainment for all.

Grammy feeds Princess from a distance (she was exceptionally slobbery)

WanYing gives George a treat

Sasha gives George his lettuce palate cleanser

The keeper said I could feed George by hand, so we tried out a banana

It was quite the experience!

We had a superfun time feeding the rhinos...

...and giving them scratches.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Mother's Day Perfection - Dirt, Rocks, and a Whole Lotta Nothing

As previously described, our April was pretty hectic. So when given the choice of how to spend Mother's Day weekend, the decision was easy - I wanted to be out in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception, a book, my family, and plenty of rocks for that family to climb. The choice was easy - we were headed to Goblin Valley State Park!

Goblin Valley is surrounded by miles and miles of basically nothing - BLM land in the San Rafael Swell. It's great - you just follow one of the nameless dirt roads until you find a place you like, let the dog and children roam free, and set up camp! And the bonus is that if you decide to romp in the BLM lands that surround the state park there are plenty of hoodoos for kids to climb and explore while the adults sit. Ah, marvelous sitting. I've missed just sitting.

If you like dirt, rocks, and a whole lotta nothing, it's paradise.

Ben's unicycling skills allowed him to explore the dirt roads around our campsite

Hoodoos provide endless climbing opportunities, and our children have endless climbing energy

We did also save a little energy for some card games

My perfect view

Heading into Goblin Valley for some more romping

Sasha manages to make even goblins look sweet

Last stop - Little Wild Horse Canyon

The perfect hike to finish out our Mother's Day weekend

Did I mention endless energy for climbing?

Our Mother's Day weekend was a total success - plenty of sitting, great weather, fun hikes, and all surrounded by my very favorite people. I am one blessed mama for sure - on Mother's Day and every day!

Mother's Day Musings

Saturday was the day of my big Mother's Day celebration - my first full century of the season! Coach Tam (the kids' cross-country ski team coach) and I buddied up on Goldilocks 2014 and, I have to say, killed the course.  Keep in mind, of course, that surviving 100 miles is the same as total victory in our books. Extra awesome points for doing most of the last 45 miles straight into the 20 mph wind.

Yeah, we rock.

I love doing these big rides. I love pushing hard, having ample excuse to snarf down as many Oreos as possible, and feeling the satisfaction of doing something really tough. I love riding with friends and I love the hours of alone time to think and pray.

But you know what I love the most? My family's support for every training ride, every 6 am drop off, every sore muscle at the end of the day.

Steve and the kids were the Papa and Baby Bear organizers of the 55-mile rest stop and I have to say they were the cutest  bike rackers, bell ringers, and snack distributors (and consumers) on the course.  It was so stinking fun to look forward to seeing their smiling faces and coordinating shirts at mile 55.

I've been reading Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, an excellent book about women and leadership (I promise, this digression eventually leads back to bike riding).  My journey follows many of the same stages as Sandberg's (although my own story has been several notches less glamorous!) and I've become increasingly concerned with the gap in female leadership in our world's companies, governments, and institutions. How will we build solutions, policies, products, and systems that are fair and good for all with 1/2 of the population vastly underrepresented?

Over the past couple of years I've gotten more interested and vocal about the need for women in leadership and especially women in technology - I'm tired of being the only woman in every workgroup! And through work with NCWIT's Aspirations in Computing award, DevFest Family, SheTech Explorer, and others I hope to invite more young woman into the amazing, exciting, in-demand, super-fun world of technical careers.

But will those young women choose technology and, even more importantly, embrace rich and upwardly mobile careers that bring them into leadership roles?  Right now, the statistics say no.

And that brings us back around to this Mother's Day.  Today I bear a renewed gratitude to the partner who makes it all possible - the bike rides, the career, our true partnership in our home.

In Lean In, Sandberg writes a lot about marriage and the importance of a spouse's support in a career and at home.

Of the twenty-eight women who have served as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, twenty-six were married... Many of these CEOs said they "could not have succeeded without the support of their husbands, helping with the children, the household chores..."

Not surprisingly, a lack of spousal support can have the opposite effect on a career.  In a 2007 study of well-educated professional women who had left the paid workforce, 60 percent cited their husbands as a critical factor in their decision.  These women specifically listed their husbands' lack of participation in child care and other domestic tasks and the expectation that wives should be the ones to cut back on employment as reasons for quitting.

Sandberg goes on to point out

Studies from around the world have concluded that children benefit greatly from paternal involvement.  Research over the last forty years has consistently found that in comparison to children with less-involved fathers, children with involved and loving fathers have higher levels of psychological well-being and better cognitive abilities.  When fathers provide even just routine child care, children have higher levels of educational and economic achievement and lower delinquency rates. Their children even tend to be more empethetic and socially competent.  These findings hold true for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds, whether or not the mother is highly involved.

I have to agree with Sandberg's advice in choosing a husband:

When looking for a life partner, my advice to women is... when it comes time to settle down, find someone who wants an equal partner. Someone who thinks women should be smart, opinionated, and ambitious. Someone who values fairness and expects or, even better, wants to do his share in the home. These men exist and, trust me, over time, nothing is sexier.

This Mother's Day I am filled with gratitude - for my kids, the astounding home and life we're blessed with, and our history and future as a family.  And I'm especially thankful for Steve. I am so grateful for a man who celebrates my successes, loves (not just puts up with, but loves!) the fact that I'm smart and ambitious and driven, and truly does embrace his pivotal, irreplaceable role in our home. Sandberg is right - over time, nothing is sexier.

Blessed Mama

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can

And the wisdom to know the difference

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace

Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it

Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his will

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

And supremely happy with him forever in the next

Amen

On days like today - warm sun, happy kids, beautiful backyard (that Steve and the kids cleaned up yesterday for Mother's Day!), planting veggies, gazing at the mountains - it's so blessedly easy to feel serenity and gratitude.  I think that the last year has taught me many lessons about enjoying one moment at a time, and I'm blessed to be able to enjoy this one.  And this one.  And this one :)

Mother's Day - It Didn't Suck

Despite, or perhaps because of, my fears, Mother's Day officially did not suck.  This is no small feat and no trivial item of gratitude for me - after spending my birthday afternoon sobbing in my cubicle at work, I was definitely nervous about the next Jamie-centric holiday.  But the combined power of preparation and prayer and a new haircut and planning a jam-packed schedule for the weekend worked its magic and I emerged unscathed from Mother's Day Weekend.

The major event on Sunday as an after-church bike ride up around the Deer Creek Reservoir. There's a new bike path up there next to the railroad tracks that I've been dying to try, and Mother's Day seemed like the right occasion for an excursion.

So, I made cucumber sandwiches and raisin bread and cream cheese sandwiches (tres chic) and packed up some cold pizza for the boys (they don't appreciate the finer things) and we headed up the canyon for a biking adventure.

It ended up being a rather brief adventure because I had a flat tire a mile into the ride, so we decided to stop there and eat our lunches by the lake while Mommy fixed her flat, but it was fun nonetheless and the kids had a blast throwing rocks into the water.  If one has to fix a flat, sitting on the bank of a lake isn't a bad spot.  Plus I got to use my new CO2 cartridge to fill the tire and that was very cool (until I forgot to discharge the cartridge at home before removing it and it sounded like a gun went off in our house and sprayed pump shrapnel everywhere, but that's another story).

Oh, and Sasha made me breakfast in bed (a juice box, banana, and packet of water), the boys redid breakfast in bed (water added to oatmeal packet and a fine cup of tea made), and Steve sent flowers and a balloon, so the morning was pretty cheery as well.

So it all goes to show that with the love of friends and some forethought, the Grace of God, and some pretty amazing kids, a (temporarily) single mom can survive something as traumatic as Mother's Day.  A super-cute haircut doesn't hurt, either.