Beach Haven

Happy Holidays!  It is time to wrap up this crazy year!  All I can say is GOOD RIDDANCE!  Of course, with my luck things will be crazier next year, but we'll just look forward with hope that things will start to look up.

October began with another virtual General Conference.  You could tell that the brethren missed having the conference center filled and having to broadcast from a smaller room on temple square.  Hopefully, we can gather again soon.  The messages were wonderful as usual and even though I didn't hear a lot of it (thanks to 4 rowdy kids), I felt the Spirit there.  It was also kind of fun, because during the Saturday evening session they were using performances of choirs from prior years and one of them was mine!  I had fun watching familiar faces popping up on the screen and watching my kids have fun playing “find mom in the choir”.

As the month progressed, the main event everyone was getting ready for was the arrival of the newest member of our family.  The new little guy would be arriving on the 19th.  In order to help us adjust to the new little one, my mom would be coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks.  As part of her visit, she went to stay with her dad for a couple of days.  She invited Enna and Aijah to come up and have a sleepover with her at Grandpa's.  They were really excited and helped to pack their bags while I was taking a required COVID-19 test (thankfully negative).  When I arrived home, they were already standing outside waiting for me so that they could load the car and go.

With the girls gone for the night, Ryan and I were able to enjoy some time with just the twins and (when the twins were asleep) with each other.  One thing for sure:  the house was a LOT quieter!  :)

The following Monday morning, we headed to the hospital so that we could welcome the new guy.  It was a long drive as we stayed with our same doctor we had from day 1 and she was currently with a hospital in Riverton.  So we had to travel for about an hour to get there.  It was nice to just talk and relax.

After arriving, we had the normal changing, poking with needles, and heading into surgery we have had every time.  I absolutely hate it, but I just kept reminding myself “Last time, last time”.

It was really cold in the operating room and so I started shivering a lot.  Thankfully, one of the doctors noticed, and I got a heated blanket to help keep me warm.  That felt nice.

As they pulled little Erick out, the doctors said, “Wow, that's a lot of hair!”  He ended up being the only non-bald kid at birth we had.  The hair was really dark too.  So I hoped that the dark brown would stay.  Only time would tell.  He also ended up being our biggest kid at a little over 8 lbs.

Once we arrived back in our room, both the baby and I slept while Ryan read/slept/played.  Over the next few days, we got used to each other and got feedings solid.  However, the day before we were scheduled to leave, the pediatrician told us that his jaundice levels were too high and would need to be put under the lights to help it go down.  We were also told we might have to take the lights home if the level didn't get low enough by the next day.  We hoped that one night would be enough.

Thankfully, the level did go down enough that we didn't have to take the lights home, but we were supposed to take him to the doctor a couple of days later and make sure that the levels continued to decrease.  So we went home a few hours later.

Upon arriving home, the older girls wanted to love on him and cuddle him as much as they possibly could.  We had to make sure they took turns with him because this time there weren't two babies to share.  The twins more or less ignored him, so at least we didn't have a 4-way fight.

Due to the level of COVID infections still being high a couple of weeks later, the city canceled their annual Halloween trunk-or-treat.  So instead we dressed up (except Celeste, she wasn't interested) and hid candy around the house for the kids to find.  They loved it!  They ran from room to room looking for their favorites.  The only thing we really had to do was remind the older kids to let the younger kids find some too.

November began with an unexpected twist.  Ryan's back had been hurting him for a bit, so he finally went in to see the doctor.  At the consultation, he was told that he would have to have surgery, so it was scheduled for later in the month.  We weren't too worried about it, but Ryan was saying that he would know how I had felt after all the c-sections that I had.  It would mean a little creativity for a bit because basically right after I would get the all clear to lift things (assuming nothing went wrong), he would lose his ability to.  So he did all the lifting until I was cleared and I did all of it after.  It made things interesting to say the least.

Once again due to COVID and the uncertainty of when things would open up again, we decided to talk to our bishop about doing Erick's baby blessing over zoom instead of waiting for church meetings to be allowed again.  He gave the OK and came to our home to help do it.  It was a bit of a last minute decision, but it ended up working out alright.  While the bishop was there, he also gave Ryan and I a blessing and did our tithing settlement.  It made for a bit of a longer visit than we originally intended, but I think that it was needed.

The next day we headed down to the Salt Lake area for Ryan's surgery.  Due to the distance from our house and the length of time for the surgery, I decided to just hang out in the parking lot.  It was a bit rough trying to keep 5 kids calm for the whole time, but I figured it would be more efficient than traveling home, sitting inside for 15 minutes, and then coming back.  Although, after all was said and done, the surgery and recovery took longer than originally planned, but I had no way of knowing that, so oh well.  He was a little loopy on the way home, so he said some funny things, but otherwise he seemed alright.  When we got home, he just went into bed and rested there.  For the next few weeks as he got back to normal, he just took it as easy as he could.  I had to do a lot of reminding to the kids that daddy wasn't for climbing right now.

As Ryan was in no shape to travel, and we couldn't meet with family because of the pandemic, we had our own family thanksgiving for the first time in our married lives.  So that made things interesting.  We didn't do a ton of food as we have picky kids, but we still had a good amount of leftovers for a few days.  I think it was a bit more relaxed than normal though, so that was nice.

The beginning of December was pretty laid back, the only major things we did were school for Enna, decorating the tree (or in the twins' case un-decorating), and DDIvantage meetings.  I think that the meetings for the twins have really been helping as we are starting to hear a lot more words come out of their mouths.  We aren't getting a whole lot of sentences yet, but we are getting more words instead of screaming.  That alone has brought the stress level in the house down.

About mid-month we had the fun of watching Ryan's niece Elaina perform her dance recital over Zoom.  We were sad we couldn't go in person, but she did a good job.

The next week we decided to go up north and enjoy some time with family while they were in town.  The girls had a lot of fun sledding down the hill with Grandma and Grandpa.  The twins weren't really into it though, so they played on the playground instead.  It was funny watching them slide in their snow suits, but it worked pretty well.

Christmas day came and unfortunately Ryan had to work the night shift.  So as soon as he got home, we opened our presents and had breakfast, and then he went to bed while the kids played with their new toys.  Erick ended up sleeping through most of it and had pretty much no interest in even trying to open gifts, but I wasn't really expecting anything different.

The next week we went up again and enjoyed New Years Eve and Day with family as well.  While there, the girls got to go with Dad and Grandpa and enjoy a tubing resort.  They had a blast tubing for a couple hours.  Especially since they didn't have to climb the hill (there was a moving sidewalk instead).


We played games, enjoyed family and food, and the girls even got to sleep in a tent in the house (Dad's idea, he made sure to OK it with Great-Grandpa though)!  After everyone woke up, we cleaned up the house so it was nice when Great-Grandpa got back, bid farewell to my folks (as they were leaving for home), and headed back to our place.  We were a little tired, but we had fun.

That's it for this installment!  See ya in 2021.

July started with a trip for a VERY belated birthday present.  We had already planned on taking Aijah to Build-a-Bear to make her own new friend for her birthday.  However, that became an impossibility when everything shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  So when the store finally opened, we went ahead and took her there to get her gift.  She loved being able to pick a new friend and watch the stuffing blow in.  She decided to make a unicorn and to pick out some PJs for her.  It was the first time that she had been able to go and do that, so she had fun.

A few days later, we had the fun of gathering with our family so that we could be introduced to Ryan's future sister-in-law.  We were all very excited for his brother that he had found someone he could be happy with.  We also loved the time with cousins as it was the first time we had been able to gather together for anything fun.  We had dinner, played in the water, and then everyone enjoyed the show as Ryan made cotton candy with his machine.  The girls didn't want to leave.

The next day, we were able to participate in the baptism of Ryan's niece via zoom.  As the gatherings were restricted to 20 people, it was just easier to gather virtually.  She had a pretty good turn out both ways.  Enna loved being able to watch even if it was by computer.

That following day we were able to reach the long awaited day of our basement renovation:  the inspection.  Ryan had been working on it on and off for a good year to year and a half.  As we wanted to move it along after our family vacation, we scheduled it as soon as we could.  Thankfully, the inspector's schedule was open enough for us to accomplish that and he came over and had a look.

From start to finish the inspection took no more than 10 minutes, and happily when he was done looking, he told us we had passed.  Hallelujah!  We were told that he would need to come back and inspect again once our insulation was in, but Ryan was certain that wouldn't take that long.  At least most of the hard work and all the little builds were now behind us.

After waiting for a long time (in Enna's words - forever!) it was finally time for the Beach family reunion.  This time, it would take place in and around Yellowstone National Park.  As it was a closer destination this year we thankfully did not have to fly.  It only ended up being about a 5-hour drive.  As the path would take us right past his sister's house, we also decided to stop in and say hi on the way up.

We packed up our suitcases and car and headed north.  When we stopped at his sister's house, she and her husband weren't sure if they wanted a visit.  We told them that whatever they chose was fine by us (this was just due to the high possibility of passing on COVID if one of us had it).  After some discussion, they did let us in.  We spent some time touring their new house and then just talking.  The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins and their cousin's toys.  We were probably there for about an hour and half, but fun was had by all.

Once we left there, we had another hour-ish of driving before finally arriving at our destination in Island Park.  The girls immediately began running around checking out the cabin rooms and playing with Hazel (the only cousin there that was about their age - the rest were still coming).  Meanwhile, Ryan and I unpacked and hung out with the adults just talking.

The following day was a Sunday and we got to watch as my brother blessed his first child.  We had a church lesson and a game night full of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” games.  There was a lot of laughter and jokes to be had by all.

For the next two days, (now that all the family had arrived) we spent time in Yellowstone.  The first day we saw Old Faithful.  The girls liked how far into the air the water went, even if they didn't like the rotten egg smell :).  Then we went on the paths that went around them.  When the path split into a longer & shorter path, the moms, kids, and a couple of the guys went one way, while the rest took the other.  When all was said and done the shorter path only landed us back about 5 minutes before those on the long path, but that was mainly because kids kept wanting to stop and take breaks.  A lot of the kids ended up taking power naps on the way home.

The second day in Yellowstone led to lots of driving to see some of the canyons and waterfalls that fell into them.  Due to most of the stops requiring us to play “follow the leader” it lead to a few tense moments, but we were still able to have some fun.  Enna and Aijah loved hanging out with their new “friend” (their cousin Alia) and held hands with her whenever they could.

Wednesday brought horseback riding day.  As three of our kiddos were too young, I was pregnant, and Ryan gets hay fever around horses, Enna went by herself with Alia and the adults who wanted to go along.  While she rode, Ryan and I played with the other three on the playground and even on a boat that was in a little pond on the ranch.  The twins were apprehensive of the water especially since they had to wear a life jacket the whole time, but they made it through.

About 2 hours later when Enna returned, she told us how much she had loved going and wished she could have gone longer.  Her Aunt Em also told us that she had tried to rechristen her horse “Prince” to “Sparkles”.

Thursday we spent most of the day inside as we moms were more or less outnumbered by kids.  This was due to the fact that all the guys (and one of the girls) plus the older kids had gone white water rafting.  Since they would be tackling rapids categorized as twos and threes, Enna and Alia didn't join in even though they were technically old enough.  Instead they played, watched Disney movies, and ran around while the moms talked and took naps.  Thankfully, it wasn't too stressful, but we were definitely glad to let the dads have a turn watching kids when they got back.

Friday turned into an “individual choice”/picture day as a lot of people were played out or had to leave early the next morning to start heading home.  We chose to spend it at the ranch again where we again went on boats, used the swing set, and the girls jumped on the water trampoline.  We were there for about an hour and a half.  When we returned home, we made everyone lunch and then pulled out some squirt guns.  The kids had a blast shooting water at Grandma and Grandpa and each other.  Ryan ended up getting me involved even though I wasn't originally planning too, but it was fun.


After dinner, while people roasted marshmallows, Mom and I headed into town to see a musical.  Jake and Kanneisha had bought tickets to celebrate their anniversary, but then due to plan changes had to leave that morning instead of Saturday as they originally planned.   So rather than let them go to waste, they offered them to us.


The show was pretty good and had good moments of laughter, but it was really hard to breathe in there as it was really hot from being so packed.  Mom and I eventually had to move back a row to not feel like sardines so that my nausea would go away.  Other than that though, it was a fun night out with my mom.

The next morning was a flurry of activity as everyone that was still at the cabin was packing, cleaning, and getting ready to head out as we had reached the end of our vacation.  We all wanted to get an early start as there would be a lot of driving for some to get home, so we moved as fast as we could.  We all said our final goodbyes and headed out.  All in all, it was a fun vacation.

When we arrived home, it was right back to normal life as we had a doctor's appointment that Monday and an evaluation meeting with DDIvantage on Tuesday.  Both went well and everything checked out OK.  Now we'll just see if the DDI program can get our twins using actual words!

The first event of August was another inspection.  This time, the person only had to come out and make sure our insulation was put in correctly.  So this one went even faster than the last.  However, we apparently missed some places to put insulation, so we didn't pass this time.  But at least all we would have to do was put those few pieces up and then send him pictures rather than having him come out again.  Then when the pictures are cleared, we can do sheet rock.  We are slowly making progress!  Hopefully, it will only be a year or so left of work to do, but who knows.

The following Saturday, Ryan was gone all day as he was helping his brother move into his new condo.  Most of it was spent on the road as he had to go about an hour between the old house and new, and then another hour (one-way) to pick up a washer from his future sister-in-law's house.  Needless to say, he was pretty beat by the time he got home, but I'm sure that his brother appreciated the help.

A couple of days later we were able to celebrate a birthday as Enna turned 6.  I can't believe it has been that long since we became parents, but it has been fun to see her grow into the spunky, mischievous, creative girl we have now.  She excitedly received a dinosaur and an air rocket that she loved.  Now if we could just get her as interested in school coming up.  :)


Finally, the long awaited day arrived as we headed to the temple for Ryan's brother's wedding.  Due to COVID restrictions, only a handful of people could attend in person, so while Ryan went in, I stayed with the kiddos outside.  They loved how there was a huge hill to roll/run down, so they were able to burn some energy while I chit-chatted with some of the bride's family.  After we talked for a while, they expressed that they were feeling more comfortable about the marriage once they had a chance to get to know our family.  The dating/engagement had been a pretty short whirlwind, so they had been a little nervous about it.  I was glad they were feeling better as it seemed to me that the couple meshed together well.


After the sealing, we were treated to lunch.  The girls were excited to get to go somewhere new (especially since they got ice cream).  We chatted, ate, and enjoyed each other's company before going our separate ways.  Since the reception wasn't until later that night, we headed to the spot to help with set up and talk with family.

The evening was enjoyable and we were able to chit-chat with some of our friends from our old ward.  The only problem was that the kids got grumpy when we were trying to leave, so they were making us drag them to the car.  Thankfully, some of our friends who were also leaving saw this and helped us to hold their hands and walk them over to it.  Then Ryan realized he had forgotten his backpack and asked me to go get it.  When his sister-in-law saw that I was walking back for it, she grinned and said that she was going to “have some words” with Ryan for sending the pregnant woman instead of coming himself.  I just laughed and walked back with his bag.

The next morning, Ryan had the fun of loading all of his little sister's college stuff out of our basement and into his truck, and then driving it down to Provo and helping to move it into her dorm.  It took pretty much the whole day, but she was glad for the help.

A few days later, it was time for school to start again.  The difference this year was that Enna would be going all day as she was now in first grade.  That was definitely going to be different.  The district had decided, due to the virus, that the kids would go in person Mon-Thurs and then Friday would be virtual at home in order to let a deep cleaning take place.  They would then reassess the situation if the virus became too prevalent.

This year would also be different as she was enrolled in the dual-immersion program.  That meant half of her day would be in English and the other in French.  I was a little worried she would freak out when she had no idea what was being said, but she seemed to take it in stride.

Life continued on with the school routine and suddenly August turned to September.  We had a few adventures this month.  The first was the twins' second birthday.  While they both knew what to do with their cupcakes and shoveled them down, only Dallin really tried the present thing.  After he succeeded opening his first, he dove right into the rest of them excited for new toys.  Celeste took a bit longer, but once she saw what Dallin was doing, she enjoyed it just as much.  There was wrapping paper everywhere!  Oh well.

The next adventure was 4th of July fireworks.  But why in September?  Due to COVID, the fireworks that the city had ordered in February (right before shutdowns) didn't arrive in time for the 4th.  So they petitioned the state to allow us to shoot them off when they did arrive.  The request was granted.  So we set up chairs in our driveway and enjoyed some belated fireworks.  The girls absolutely loved it.


Our final adventure was having to replace our TV.  It had been getting really touchy and no matter how hard/how much we tried the power button, it just wouldn't turn on.  So Ryan unhooked it and took it outside.  The girls followed him thinking he was just going to open it up to repair it, but watched with horror as he placed it in the trash.  He told me (as I had been at the doctor) that they kept asking him for the next 30 minutes to an hour when he was going to fix it.  They couldn't believe he was actually throwing it away!


Well that does it for this quarter!  See you after the Holidays!