*This post is written in partnership with My Place Hotel St. George. All opinions are my own.

I've only been to St. George a handful of times in my adult life, and if you're a long-time follower of this blog you might remember the time a few years ago when we went for a long weekend with some friends and I got bamboozled into hiking Angel's Landing. That experience has haunted me for years (😂 only kind of joking) so when Stephen and I were presented with the opportunity to go down to St. George a couple weeks ago and be hosted by My Place Hotel for a few days, I was ecstatic! . . . And also determined to stay FAR FAR away from any national parks/potential hiking situations that may come about from being in such a highly "outdoorsy" area. 

Thankfully Stephen had had the opportunity to go hiking with a friend a few weeks prior, and he also knows his wife and is a very understanding and supportive husband ;) so he didn't push me on this issue in the slightest.

(I've never been one to claim a love for hiking, as a matter of fact, I think I've made it abundantly clear that I'm NOT a fan.😂 ..Also did I mention I'm currently 6 months pregnant?)

Needless to say, we've been back from our little getaway for almost two weeks and I'm happy to report that all National Parks and subsequent "day hikes" were safely avoided and we had a FANTASTIC TIME nonetheless. 😂

Just in case you, too, are headed to St. George for a couple days and you happen to share my aversion to spending hours and hours in the hot, hot sun, huffing and puffing, stinking and sweating, all to see a 'lovely' view that could have been just as easily enjoyed by looking at a postcard (I'm certain people like me exist!) THIS POST IS FOR YOU. 

TUACAHN

I'd heard about Tuachn, St. George's outdoor live theatre, for YEARS but had never had the opportunity to attend a performance there. Although the tickets can be a little pricey, we were treating this little getaway as a "babymoon" of sorts and decided to splurge so we could finally experience outdoor live theatre with the striking red rock that almost surrounds the stage. The setting was unbeatable. We ended up getting a little more than we bargained for when it started POURING rain only a few hours before the performance. The show ended up being delayed about 40 minutes, time which we spent sitting in our seats with trash bags on as ponchos. Despite the rain and the delay, the show, as they say, "MUST GO ON!" and it did! And we were very grateful!

The acting and special effects were INCREDIBLE. The script of the particular play we saw (The Prince of Egypt) wasn't my favorite, haha, but the undeniable talent and jaw-dropping special effects (we're talking fireworks, projections, flooding the stage) AND the fact that they had live animals, was all enough to make the experience well-worth it and I would definitely go back.

Did you know that St. George is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States?!! I know it seems hard to believe, but it's true according to this USA Today article! As I'm sure is the case with most rapidly-growing areas, there is NO shortage of restaurants to try, and it seems like new ones are popping up all the time. Keeping with the mentality of "taking it easy" we ended up eating out for every meal, despite the fact that our hotel room had a mini-kitchen that we could have easily used for making a few quick meals. 🙈 (For the record, this is very unlike us, we're usually all about saving a few bucks!)
Overall, we loved our time in St. George and honestly can't wait for another little getaway like that one! We keep joking that literally the only thing we would have done differently was make it a few days longer! (..except, we're not joking 😜).

BOOK WITH MY PLACE HOTELS ST. GEORGE USING USING THE PROMO CODE "HANNAH15" OR CLICK ON  THIS LINK  FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS AND GET A 15% OFF DISCOUNT!! (valid through 10/17/2018) *Your stay does not need to take place in the next 30 days, it just needs to be booked!*

_ _ _
han.

It was late afternoon when I heard the news, but it took a few hours for it to really sink in. By the time Stephen arrived home from work I was sobbing. 

Lydia was playing outside while I made dinner, and in the middle of chopping up some onions I glanced over to the living room where I saw her stuffed monkey, Kiki, laying on a pillow, tucked neatly and particularly underneath one of her blankets. In that moment, the news hit me and it pushed me beyond the brink of misty-eyes and the big, heavy teardrops broke loose.

It was about that time that Stephen came in through the garage door and saw me standing in the kitchen, weeping. I could barely get out the words to explain.

Earlier that morning, one of our precious nursery girls, sweet little two-year-old Ivy, passed away in a sudden and heartbreaking accident while on a family vacation.

I got out the little information I had been told and erupted into heavy tears, again, as Stephen hugged me and processed the devastating news. 

I haven't had a lot of experiences with grief thus far in my life (for which I am truly grateful) but of the experiences I've had, none have pierced my heart quite so deeply as this one. Being a mother myself, with two children so close to Ivy's age, made this tragedy hit exceptionally close to home.

I glanced over at Kiki again and imagined coming home from a family vacation, without Lydia, walking in the house to see the particular way she had laid out her toys before we'd left. It made me shudder and an influx of tears tripped over each other and fell, overflowing from my eyes and pouring down my cheeks.

While I didn't know Ivy intimately, I did have the opportunity of spending a few hours with her each Sunday and observed many of her interactions with her peers. Just days before her passing from this earth life, I had held her in my lap and helped her jump to the tune of 'Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam.' Although she didn't sing along, she communicated she knew the words by prepping for a jump each time the word "sunbeam" approached. I think she may have even let a few shy smiles escape while we sang.

Ivy was a quiet and mild-tempered little girl, and to say she had a sweet and nurturing spirit is an understatement. She loved carrying around various baby dolls and had a knack for sneaking Elliott's bottle out of the diaper bag and delivering it to him without me noticing😂. She loved to give hugs - and often persisted on giving them, totally oblivious to the notion that the recipient maaaay not have been particularly fond of the idea. (I can remember multiple occasions when Lydia ended up in tears because of Ivy's very persistent hugs after church 😂.)

Ivy's smile was one you really had to work for. On the occasion she flashed one in your direction, it was extra-special knowing they weren't easily come by. Her whole face lit up when she smiled, like a ray of sunshine. It was beautiful.

She was the youngest of 5 children, and after nursery was over and it was time to go home, I would often see Ivy's older siblings fighting over who got to retrieve her from the nursery room, their love for her easily apparent to all.

Although she didn't have much time here on the earth, the impact Ivy had on those she came in contact with was profound. 

My heart is still heavy and my eyes still sting from this tragic loss, but ironically I am filled with gratitude. There are a lot of things I don't know or understand, but there are some truths that I feel certain of, and I'm clinging on to them more tightly than ever right now.

I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us. 

I know that this earth-life is just temporary.
I know that Jesus understands every part of our heartbreak and has the power to heal broken hearts. 
I know that through the sealing power available in holy temples, we can be with our loved ones when we die.

I know that God's plan is perfect. 

Ivy will be missed, and I'm fully aware that the sorrow that I feel for her leaving so suddenly is only a small fraction compared to those in her immediate family. During her funeral services her mom expressed that the love they have felt in the time since the accident has been greater than the pain, "And the pain is so, so great" I imagined her to add. 

This experience has been a sacred reminder to me of just how precious life is, and how important it is to savor every moment I get to spend with those I love.

Ivy's middle name, Rae, has never been more true than now.
Jesus wanted Ivy for a sunbeam, and a sunbeam she is and always will be.

_ _ _

han.

I filmed this video days after finding out we were expecting and before the sickness kicked in! Unfortunately it didn't take long for the sickness to put me out for a few months during which time editing this video was the FURTHEST thing from my mind! I'm glad to say that I'm safely in the second trimester and feeling approximately 1000x better, so I finally got around to doing something with it! I really do hope to use video to document this pregnancy more so please hold me to it!

Watch the video for answers to questions like "Was this pregnancy planned?!" and "How many kids do you want?!" You just might learn a thing or two you didn't know ;)

_ _ _

han.

P.S. On a scale from 1 to vain how bad does it make me that all I can think about while watching this video back is how much I miss my eyelash extensions?! 😂🙈

*I started making this list before Elliott's birthday and Lydia's half birthday, so even though many of these no longer apply, I figured I better post them before everything has changed! It is seriously crazy how quickly their mannerisms change at the current stages they are in.

LYDIAISMS...

...Smothering Elliott with "cuddles" dozens of times daily.

...Responding to "O'Lydia" and "Lydia" interchangeably.

...Nearly constant nose picking 🙈.

...carrying around purses and "diaper bags."

...saying, "Watch this, mom!" and, "See mom! It's not dangerous!" every time she successfully does something I asked her not to do. 

...overemphasizing the "k" sound on the end of words ("parkk," "workk," "walkk," "backk," "awakkke," "milkk," ).

Lydia, "Ya, mom! I'm just gonna get Elliott's sippy cup!"

Me, "I already got his sippy cup!"

Lydia, "Oh you did?! GREAT!"

Walking home from the park she noticed my shoes, “Mommy you're cute for wearing Daddy's sandals.”

Me: "It looks like you're missing finger nail polish in some of your nails! Where did it go?!"

Lydia, "Uh, Maybe the wind."

"Our car is really dirty. I tried to clean it with sand, but it didn't work."

ELLIOTTISMS...

...dancing when he sees me peeling an banana.

...dancing to the sound of the blender and the water draining out of the bathtub.

...smiling at strangers.

...waving and almost blowing kisses.

...sleeping like a champ (both at night and for naps. BLESS HIM).

...climbing up the stairs. 😱

...being deeply offended when Stephen gets home from work and doesn't pick him up first thing.

I know I'm about a month late 😅 but it's never too late to post some adorable photos of a chubby one year old eating some cake AM I RIGHT(?!) so here we are! Elliott's first birthday was super low-key (even more low-key than Lydia's - which is saying something because I thought hers was about as bare-bones as they come, haha). We had some neighbors over to eat cake and ice cream and sing Happy Birthday. 

Funny story about the ice cream - when I opened our freezer the day before the party I noticed that there were a lot of things that were melting. Frantically I texted around to a few neighbors to see if anyone had some extra freezer-space for us to stash a few things before it spoiled. Thankfully a neighbor had a spare freezer in her garage that was practically empty so I hurried and moved it all over there. I put the gallon of ice cream I had purchased for the party and other things into her freezer and said I'd be in touch when I needed them. The next day a few minutes before the party started I texted to see if I could grab the ice cream and she said they would be out until late that evening! Oops! I panicked and made Stephen run to the store and get another gallon of ice cream...needless to say, we still have looooots of ice cream in our freezer from his birthday over a month ago. 😂

The month of May 2018 was a big deal in the Olson household. Two members of the family celebrated birthdays (Elliott and Stephen) AND we added two additional members that I'm 100% certain will make their mark (literally and figuratively) on our family forever. 

ADDITIONAL MEMBER #1: OUR VERY FIRST GRILL!

We knew this summer would be our year to finally have a grill. We looooove burgers, grilled chicken, and kabobs (who doesn't?!) and now that we have a backyard it seemed silly not to take advantage! When it came to actually purchasing the grill, however, we didn't have a clue what we were doing since neither of us know much of anything about grills and they can get pretty pricey. After a lot of searching and researching (and multiple phone calls to my dad) - we found this baby on facebook marketplace for $75 and we were sold! We've used it almost everyday since we bought it and we 👏🏻 love 👏🏻 it👏🏻. We're determined to be burger-making masters (like my dad) by the end of summer! He swears the key to a good burger is to cook them low and slow and give them a healthy (or not-so-healthy 😜) dose of Lawry's garlic salt, haha. We've still got work to do, but I'd say we're starting to get the hang of it!

ADDITIONAL MEMBER #2: A VERY WELL-LOVED [and panic-inducing 😜] SWING SET!

One evening Stephen was chatting with one of our neighbors who was getting ready to move to a new house. During the conversation they offered to give us their swingset before the move. Lydia loves swings and slides and without hesitating Stephen said we would absolutely take it. When Stephen excitedly told me about our recent acquisition he mentioned that it was a little old and broken but he was certain Lydia would be thrilled. When the beloved swingset showed up in our backyard a few days later, he was right! Lydia was THRILLED! ...her mom, not so much 😜

Needless to say, this swing-set has already made it's mark (or two 😳) and I often feel like I should probably have liability waivers for parents to fill out before they let their children play in our backyard 🙈 but Lydia and her little friends absolutely love it, and I try to keep my anxieties to myself for the most part (although I will say this is not a strong-suit of mine - especially while being pregnant) 😂.

Since moving to a new area of Utah in January, we haven’t done nearly as much exploring as we initially planned. (Poor weather/the first trimester of pregnancy + lots of puking are valid excuses for this though, no?!) Since I'm finally feeling much more like my usual-self and Stephen had the day off work, for Memorial Day we decided to head to the mountains for an adventure! Well, we mostly just set out for a fun afternoon in the mountains, but we maaaay have gotten a little more than we were looking for ;) 

Our plans were pretty simple: Meet our friends Bryce and Melissa at Silver Lake, build a campfire, and visit while roasting hotdogs, cooking *the world's best* tinfoil dinners, and indulging in s'mores. The perfect plan!

Perfect, perhaps, but not particularly adventurous...

Not long after loading up the car to embark on this afternoon in the mountains, it started raining. Mother nature loves to give you those little surprises! (In her defense, when Stephen checked the weather forecast earlier in the day, he accidentally checked the forecast for "silver lake" in exactly the opposite direction of where we were headed, hahaha, so the rain shouldn't have actually been a surprise at all...)

We weren't sure how this rain would affect our plans, but since our friends had gone up the canyon earlier in the day and didn't have cell reception, we decided to just head in their direction and make the most of it (all the while hoping the rain would dissipate). After getting lost multiple times, off-roading in the rain, and getting our car caked with mud, we found our friends, who had, unfortunately, gotten a flat tire! 😂🙈

Bryce, Melissa and Landon jumped into our car and after a bit of driving around we found the perfect spot to set up "camp" and start our fire (thankfully by the time we made it to this point the rain had stopped). After unloading the car and an intense search for kindling (which proved difficult due to the recent downpour) Stephen and Bryce successfully got our fire going!…just in time for a ranger to come inform us that -- despite the fact that the fire-pit we were using had been there long before us -- no fires were allowed in that part of the park. 🤦🏻‍♀️

15 minutes later the fire was doused, four adults + three children and a heckuva-lotta stuff were re-loaded into the car, and we resumed our search for a prime spot to *legally* start a fire. A spot was found and we again unloaded all the people and supplies. Starting a second fire (after using most of the trash we had in our car as kindling for the first one) proved to be even more difficult. An excruciating 20 minutes later we were in business with a campfire! (Did I mention that Stephen and I had spent all afternoon working on our masterpieces of tin-foil dinners and in all the excitement forgotten to eat lunch?!)

As you may have imagined, the whole getting-lost-dealing-with-a-flat-tire-moving-camps-and-lack-of-kindling situation set us back...a bit. At this point, as soon as there was a flame, we scarfed down the hotdogs, made some s'mores and then started packing everything up to go home 😂 (after Stephen took the drone out for a quick spin). 

With three curious children under the age of three, a free-flowing river just a few feet in one direction and open flames a few feet in the other, "visiting around the campfire" was, unfortunately, forgotten, along with the tin-foil dinners that we were certain would be unlike any the world had ever before seen (in the best way, of course ;)). 

Despite the craziness and things not exactly going to plan, we had a ton of fun and are surprisingly more motivated to do the whole thing again now that we have all the kinks worked out! haha 

_ _ _

han.

PS We ended up cooking our tinfoil dinners in our oven the next day and...they basically tasted like meatloaf?! hahaha Neither of us have ever made meatloaf before but turns out if you throw all of the "most delicious" things in your fridge into some hamburger that's basically what it is. Who knew!

PPS Although we didn't do much in the way of "Memorial Day" on Monday, later that week I took Lydia and Elliott on a walk to the nearby cemetery where we looked at all of the decorated headstones and talked about veterans and our country's flag. I realized how important that is to do after listening to this podcast episode and I hope to incorporate more education into patriotic holidays in the future! 

In case you haven't heard the news yet, I'M PREGNANT!

Although I'm sure many people think we're crazy to be having another kid while the two we have are  both still so little -- we are simply CRAZY EXCITED! 😜 We can't wait until this baby joins the family mid-November! 

Updates to follow, promise ;) 

_ _ _

-Han