Mesquite round three

This was our third trip to Mesquite for soccer. Normally it's a moms/daughters trip. This week Brooke and Mylissa were in Florida chaperoning a drill team trip with their older daughters so this particular soccer tournament ended up being me with the two dads (Darrin and Rob). Pool time, meals and soccer sidelines...the six of us (plus little brother Caleb) hung out all weekend. Chatting revolved around politics, Coronavirus concerns/preparedness, a bit of sports, a bit of religion and work travel. A little different of a dynamic than discussions about drill team, who's dating who, motherhood responsibilities, etc. It was an interesting and fun change, and we had a wonderful time. I'm so thankful for this team and the unity amongst them, but also the friendships between our three specific families, and especially the sweetest bond Lilian, Sophie and Julie share. 

Even  though the first game wasn't until late Thursday afternoon, Lilian and I decided to drive down Wednesday evening, partially so we could sleep in Friday morning and not have to make the long drive the day of play, but also so we could stop to visit Julianne and Jordan in Provo and have dinner with Brandon and Abbie in Cedar City along the way. 

What is it about palm trees that immediately makes you feel like you are on vacation, even if you are only a 5 hour drive away from home? The 7 of us spent a lot of our downtime in this pool and on these lounge chairs under those palm trees. 

Lilian was laughing so hard while trying to float upright on this lounge chair as it continually flipped...

But really we were here for soccer...

Interesting enough...I posted this picture after we arrived home from our trip and received a comment from our next door neighbor in our old 'hood in Centerville that said, "Hey...that's our Ellie in your picture!" We lived next to each other for something like 7 years and got to be pretty good friends. But it's been 12+ years since we moved away and these two girls were just babies...it's no wonder we didn't recognize each other's daughters out on the field. I just wish we had seen each other on the side lines. What a fun reunion that would've been. 

One last picture of the team and the sideline cheerleaders, and we were on our way back home. 

The goings-on of January

January is one of my favorite months. I have mentioned this before, but maybe you still think I'm odd? I love winter, I love the feeling of fresh starts and goals, I love how un-busy it all is. This January is kind of exciting in that 2020 marks the start of a new decade. So many ideas of new things to try and accomplish. 

This month we welcomed Ethan home from his mission. This picture represents the reunion between a Sister Croft (England London Mission), a Hermana Croft (New Jersey Morristown Mission), and an Elder Croft (Michigan Detroit Mission). 

(A shot of a bunch of the cousins at Ethan's missionary homecoming a few weeks later.)

Lilian convinced me to allow her to dye her hair purple. You can tell she must be the youngest child because I'm pretty sure there is no way I would have agreed to this with Rebekah or Julianne. We compromised on weaving it into the lower half of her hair rather than the whole head, and I had my hairdresser, Elizabeth, do it so that it would be a professional job rather than something we attempted at home from a box. Lilian was pretty excited about the results. 

Melissa, Julianne and I had the opportunity to see Bernadette Peters in concert at Utah Valley University. We were more than a little giddy...Bernadette Peters is a Broadway icon. I kept flashing back to my college years sitting on my couch wearing out the VHS tape of Into the Woods as over and over again I watched her play the Witch, a part she originated. My roommate was a huge fan of any and all things Stephen Sondheim and Bernadette Peters, and this combined the two. Into the Woods was on repeat most days in our apartment. Bernadette Peters, now 71 years old, was prancing around on that stage like she was still in her 20's, even lounging across the top of the grand piano. I wish I looked even half as good as she does! She was in phenomenal form and we were treated to a glorious evening. 

In January The Leonardo Museum was hosting an exhibit about Pompeii. I've always been fascinated with what happened there, and visiting this site in Italy has on my travel bucket list for awhile. So one day while Lilian was in school and Bryan at work, I bought myself a ticket and wandered through the exhibit on my own. One of the major draws of course is seeing the casts of the people who died (as morbid maybe as that sounds.) Apparently as they were excavating, they would find the absence of volcanic ash in the shape of a person. They filled those with plaster and were able to create the molds of the people who were caught in the devastating destruction. But beyond these, the exhibit also featured so much of what life was like back then before Mount Vesuvius erupted. It was such an interesting display! 

Lilian and her friend Gavin convinced me to take them ice skating one January weekend. I haven't stepped foot (or should I say skate) on the ice since I got a concussion from my spectacular fall a few years earlier. This rink was the exact spot where it had all happened. So after helping them rent their skates and making sure their laces were tied tightly, I left them to it. Which truth be told I'm guessing they weren't too upset about. I'm not sure either one of them wanted me hanging around and skating with them. 

Hey look! Snow! Our winters are becoming warmer and drier every year. A good snow dumping is always a happy day and I will shovel without complaint.   

Road tripping to Goblin Valley and Four Corners

I was desperate to take a trip over Fall Break this year. Not sure why...it's not as if I hadn't done a lot of traveling over the summer already, but for some reason I couldn't get it out of my head. A road trip of some sort. And what I was really hoping for was a drive up to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. I knew Bryan wouldn't have much interest and so though I did ask him first, I wasn't surprised when he turned me down but gave me the green light to take Lilian on my own. I floated the idea past Melissa and to my surprise and delight, she jumped on it immediately. Her husband Scott was going to be out of town that weekend anyway and so she loved the idea of a Fall Break girls trip. But then as we sat down to make official booking plans, we noticed a red flag on the website for Mount Rushmore that hadn't been there when I'd looked before. Renovations, it warned, were being done through the fall and winter. And though the park would still be open, the museum and main viewing area would be closed. That was a bit of a blow. But by this time Melissa was even more determined to road trip than I was. We'd visit Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt another year, she said. But in the meantime, why not find a different locale? We debated various ideas until Melissa came up with the winner. How about Goblin Valley, then a quick stop at Four Corners on our way to Mesa Verde in Colorado? I'd been to none of those places and a quick google search just made me that much more excited. We booked a motel near Goblin Valley for our first night and then two more nights at a lodge inside Mesa Verde and started counting down the days.

I checked Lilian out from school an hour early on Wednesday and with suitcases already packed and in the back of the car, we left straight from there to meet up with Melissa and her daughter, Maddy. We made it to our motel in Hanksville after a four hour drive filled with snacks, girly chatting and singing along to musical theatre soundtracks. {Throughout the course of our four days on the road we sang our way through Wicked, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away, Waitress, Freaky Friday and Tuck Everlasting.} We had dinner at a local cafe and then settled in for the night. Our road trip was officially underway!

The next morning we continued the short distance back to Goblin Valley. And then...WOW! The place is incredibly beautiful in a kind of otherworldly way. It's no wonder they used the locale for filming an alien planet scene in Galaxy Quest. {Side note: The girls had not seen Galaxy Quest and while describing the plot, mentioned that Tim Allen was in it. We were surprised to realize they had no idea who he was either until we referenced Buzz Lightyear. ha! I think a viewing of Galaxy Quest is in our future. Such a hilarious movie.}

Goblin Valley is truly a delight. The girls had a wonderful time clambering all over the rocks. We adventured up, down and all over that place and even after spending multiple hours down in the middle of it all I still couldn't get over the view.

{The sky and clouds were so amazing that morning...especially against all that red rock!}

A couple of outtakes:
1) We decided this rock formation looked like a face and the girls convinced me to give it a little kiss.
2) Melissa the photobomber!!!

After leaving Goblin Valley we drove through Glen Canyon which equally knocked my socks off. I made Melissa pull over a few times so as to take it all in more thoroughly. I forget sometimes what a beautiful and varied state Utah is.

We pulled up to Four Corners around 5:30pm and found the place closed. What?! It hadn't occurred to me that a place like that could close. I didn't realize that Four Corners was on a Navajo reservation. Somehow I'd had it in my head that it was a monument in the middle of a little town on the border and that you could pull up any time of day or night and happily position yourself in all four states. Research fail on that one. Also strangely, the sign said that it closed at 4:50pm. A bit random? We missed the closing by 40 minutes and found ourselves a little baffled along with a few other carloads of families who were in a similar predicament.

Disappointed, we could do nothing but head on to Mesa Verde to check into our hotel, but decided to get up extra early the next morning to make the drive back out to Four Corners. Out of our way at that point or not, we couldn't be this close and miss it. A bit of a silver lining? Or maybe I should call it an orange lining...the drive up to the top of Mesa Verde was absolutely beautiful and we were rewarded with a stunning sunset.

So the next morning we woke the girls earlier than they would've liked {but later than we had originally planned} and drove back down the mesa and south to Four Corners. Because we were there shortly after it opened, it wasn't very crowded. There were signs limiting groups to three pictures each so that lines to stand in the coveted spot marking Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona wouldn't get too long. But we ended up being able to spend plenty of time taking as many silly pictures as we wanted. Around the perimeter were booths set up with Navajo crafts, art and jewelry for sale. The girls wanted to buy some jewelry as a souvenir and took their time at each and every booth. I don't think Melissa and I really minded, especially seeing as we ended up buying ourselves a few souvenirs as well. Who would've guessed that standing in four different states at once on an Indian reservation would've given me such a thrill, but it really did. I'm so glad we went.

Up next... the spectacular Mesa Verde.