Week at the Lodge - Winter Walks, Matt's Ordination and Time with Katie

Friday night, January 8th

After hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Walton and Mike and Carly - Ryan, Katie and I headed up to the Lodge. It was Katie’s first time seeing it and it was fun to walk through every room. We stayed up late having a little devotional and doing some stretching until Dad and the kids walked in the door at 12:30am. They started driving after school and work and made good time. Once everything was brought in and everyone was headed to their rooms then Chris and I sat in bed and I talked and talked about my day and reviewed all of the fun conversations I had had with the kids on our drive, with Marilee at the girls apartment and with my parents at their house. Love my man for all the listening he does.

Saturday, January 9th

I woke up at 8:00 and sat out in the living room enjoying the sun streaming in the windows and on to the grey chairs. We are loving the Lodge and being here this week is such a blessing. So grateful to have a weekend with my family — at home but on vacation at the same time. Our new happy place.

When Chris got up we worked out as a family and then sat in the sauna while we planned out our day. Everything we do as a family is fun when we do it together. I went grocery shopping at the local store, Katie did some BYU class prep, we ate lunch together and then played a loud game of 7 Wonders — all eight of us — which makes it quite chaotic. Cassie came in and watched us finish and then we headed on a Winter Walk through Midway… down the street and to the park. It was cold but the sun definitely helped.

Love this cute little gazebo overlooking the park — and my cute girls. Definitely LOVE having my three girls together again!

As soon as we got back to the lodge we warmed up with blankets on the upstairs leather coach and watched Frozen 2, which is one of the movies Katie was anxious to see. Chris picked up Pizza from Junction Pizzeria and then we enjoyed some Just Dance upstairs. Chris mentioned that one of the highlights was watching Cassie get the giggles at Ryan’s dancing face. It was a good day!

Sunday, January 10th

Chris got up early and logged on to his zoom Stake High Council Meeting. Katie hopped on at the end to report about her mission and Chris said she did such a good job. She explained where she served using a google map and then talked about experiences in each place. They were able to ask her questions and she talked about the challenges and blessings of serving during Covid-19. Proud of this girl.

Dad made Christmas breakfast and we ate around the big table as a family. At 10:30 we logged into our Cordera zoom Sacrament Service and then paused to have the sacrament in the Lodge. Sister Garlock gave a great talk about Humility. Once it was over we asked Katie to redo her mission report for the family. It was fun to hear about experiences, people, and companions and each of us took turns asking her questions. When did you decide to serve a mission? What is an STL? What was your favorite food? Were you ever homesick? We then gathered around the table for our Come Follow Me discussion about the First Vision.

Katie worked on her mission video. Dad and Ryan worked on spending spreadsheets and included Emily and I in their financial discussions.

We ate chicken corn chowder and sour dough bread for dinner, did the dishes and cleaned up the main living room, and then gathered to watch Dad confer the Priesthood and ordain Matthew to a Deacon. Some of the things I remembered were Chris blessed him with an understanding of the priesthood and his duties, that he'll be a good example to his peers, that he will follow the example of his older brothers and Dad and later talked about the examples of his sisters and Mom, that he'll use this as a springboard to strengthen his testimony, and that he'll look for ways to serve in the home. When the ordination and blessing was finished Matthew said 'WOW' and then declared that he had never felt the spirit this strong ever before. He was so amazed and so happy and it was adorable! It was special to have all 8 of us together for this event.

Love these girls together!

At 4:30 we headed to John and Nikole's house for Tyler's 18th Birthday celebration. We got there early so we had a little bit of time to talk with John and Nikole — which was nice. It was so good to talk to Lindsey and Rob since we hadn’t seen them for most of the last year. We sat in a corner and got caught up with them and we loved it. Katie loved seeing all her little Johnson cousins.

Monday, January 11th

Chris and I exercised and the kids got right to work with their online school — all six of them with different schedules spread throughout the house. I made grilled cheese for lunch - the kind we love with pepper jack cheese and red pepper jelly. At 3:00 we headed to Provo and stopped at the Shops at Riverwoods to check out Called to Surf and a few other fun boutiques. Katie used some of her Christmas money to buy a new shirt. We stopped by SWIG to get drinks and then headed to the BYU bookstore and Megan bought a black long sleeve shirt. We carried Katie’s suitcases and boxes up to her room and helped her unpack a little bit — which was good since there were a few things we couldn’t find — like bedding! — so we ran to Target and had fun picking up a few things and splitting the bill to get her all settled. Then we picked up dinner at Sweeto Burrito and then dropped Katie off at her apartment.

Tuesday, January 12th

I exercised, journaled and then logged on to watch a town hall for the Middle School. Chris spent the morning putting up some shelving in the garage. In the afternoon we watched Deja Vu with Emily, Megan, Luke and Matt. Ryan, Cassie and Katie’s 7 Sisters joined us at the Lodge for dinner. So fun to see the girls all together and hear the nonstop talking about funny mission experiences, and group memories. So much laughter! Chris, Ryan, Cassie and I played a few games and then they left. Katie stayed up at the Lodge and she and Chris and I stayed up and had a great talk. I know she’s pulled between roommates and family but seeing her throughout the week was so much fun.

Wednesday, January 13th

Chris, Megan, Luke and Matt went skiing at Park City and then enjoyed the hot tub at the indoor pool. They said the snow wasn’t perfect but because not a lot of people were there they were able to get SO many runs in and had a blast!

I drove Katie down to her apartment and dropped her off and then headed up to go get my hair colored with Elisa — so fun to catch up. Then I headed up to Fashion Place Mall to shop for a couple hours by myself. Then picked up Ryan, went with him to rent his ski’s and then headed back up to the Lodge. We ate quesadillas, played Splendor with Emily, headed on a spontaneous MILKSHAKE run with everyone!, watched MAVERICK upstairs, played DOMINION with Ryan and then watched an episode of the CROWN. Fun day. Meanwhile… Katie stayed down in Provo for a Wednesday night date and had a great time!

Thursday, January 14th

Chris, Ryan and Matt spent another day skiing - this time with Scott, Foster, Nate and Owen. The highlight of the day was creating a race down the hill - which they loved.

Em, Meg, Luke stayed home to do online school. I made them pancakes for breakfast, cleaned up, ordered prints for the Lodge, listened to a few podcasts, and called to talk to Katie about her date.

In the afternoon I went on a masked winter walk with my parents who came up from Provo.

At 5:00 Mike and Carly came up to spend the evening with us. We headed straight to the pool and mostly sat in the hot tub and talked. Back at home we ate spaghetti, watched the Walton’s video of a recent canyoneering trip and stayed up late talking with Mike and Katie about her mission. Fun.

Friday, January 15th

We used up our remaining pancake mix, eggs and bacon for breakfast and then started washing sheets and cleaning. Mike and Carly taught us how to play a new game AZUL and it was really fun so we played again and again. Definitely excited to buy it for ourselves. Fun to have Mike and Carly up to the Lodge — especially since they weren’t able to come when everyone was here over Christmas.

By 4:00 the kids were done with their on-line school and we had loaded the van and cleaned everything. We spent an hour at Costco with Ryan and Katie helping them get all stocked up with groceries for their apartment and then Ryan headed back to hang out with Spencer, Brinnley and Cassie for their WANDA VISION party. Katie came up with the rest of the family to Grandma Johnson’s house overnight.

Cute Senior Emily

Saturday, January 16th

Shelley came with me to drop off some packages and buy a few things from Deseret Book. On the way home we grabbed some hamburgers and fries from In ‘n Out and the kids were thrilled. Grandma provided fun strawberry soda floats as well. Then Chris and I and the kids launched into a deep clean of Shelley’s kitchen including her cupboards and pantry. Ashlyn and her boys arrived and the boys immediately headed downstairs and we didn’t see them for hours. Ashlyn helped get Grandma’s new Christmas present -an ECHO- all installed and ready. Ryan came up to spend the evening (Cassie was working) and we played some games of Dominion while Katie worked beside us on her homework. That night we ate pizza from THE PIE and then watched LITTLE WOMEN with Katie. So cute!!

We said goodbye to Ryan and Katie after the movie. Excited for Katie to go to her new ward with all her cute roommates! Both of them are going to have such a great semester!! Exciting things ahead.

Sunday, January 17th

We logged in to Shelley’s ward and enjoyed her Sacrament Meeting. Then we gathered around the table to study Come Follow Me and ended with checking out some pictures of Chris and family when he was young. Fun to do with Grandma. At 3:00 we packed up and headed home - through a scary snowy blizzard through the mountains. Glad to be home and finally tackle some Christmas take-down and organization. Our ‘Happy New Year’ arrives a little late this year!