March Wrap-Up

Our biggest event in March was the arrival of Stella. We are almost one month into her three month stay and all has settled in. We got her enrolled at West High, which is an enormous school with 4,000 students! Coming from a small school, and English being her second language, I was so impressed with her courage to jump in and do her best.

A very friendly and darling student we know from church, Kate Baron, showed her around and befriended her that first day, but since then Stella has made a steady stream of her own friends.

Overall, the transition to a new person in the house has gone smoothly. When Tennie comes home on the weekends we are most definitely a full house, but we have loved getting to know Stella and the process of weaving her into our lives.

Geoff and I did a 3-day juice fast. I never got to the point of feeling good on this cleanse, but I'm sure it was good for me.

Just a few days later I got sick and have been sick since (nearly two weeks). I think allergy season has kicked in, even though nothing has bloomed yet, and I may be developing (or reviving) a cat allergy, which doesn't bode well for Mila. Whatever it is, I am not only stuffy and coughing, but have asthma-like symptoms (having one very scary acute asthma attack), pink eye and have several canker sores down my throat. My immune system is still fighting away valiantly!

I have no idea why Tennie was dressed up like this, but I captured it.

One weekend these three declared an errand a "secret mission" as Russian spies.

Those wigs! Stella even joined the fun!

We went to Mozart's A Magic Flute, which was disappointingly one of the most torturous few hours for all of us. I have made a vow never to sit through it again, although maybe at a different venue it would be better. I'll never know...

Stella had Spring Break this last week. We went to Park City to Main Street and the outlets, visited Tennie in Provo, she shadowed Adele at school one day and joined Adele with her friends a few times, and overall has kept herself quite engaged.

We also took a couple Apple Store free photography classes, which was awesome! I learned so many tricks on my phone!

Babs and I finally completed a life story!

And this weekend Ingrid and most of her kids came down for a visit. Most of the gathering took place yesterday. A parking lot isn't the most glamorous backdrop for a cousin photo, but there most of them were!

We spent the afternoon at a park and then gathered at Zulu Grill for dinner.

While we adults finished eating, I'm pretty sure every cousin fit into Britt's car with dog Fynn. It was pretty squeezy.

And some of our car rides to and from various places were a bit crowded too, as everyone always wanted to be in the same car.

Geoff and Ceci made it home from Morocco, Stella's and Ceci's Spring Break is over, cousins went home and tomorrow life will go on as normal.

It was a good month.

Morocco - Part 5

In the germinating phase of a Spring break daddy daughter trip, Geoff and Ceci were looking for a fun place to surf. South Africa? Costa Rica? Spain? And then there it was. Morocco. But Ceci wanted to explore Morocco and not just surf, and then the availability at the surf place was tricky, and then they only ended up spending two days there. But it was a glorious two days! Surf and yoga in one spot? Geoff was in heaven.

Location: Surf Maroc, Amouage. Dreamy. Geoff and I might go back to this place in the Fall for our own 20th anniversary celebration.

Ceci is working her way smaller as far as surfboards are concerned.

Winter skin's first exposure!

So much happiness. And then Ceci got a 24-hour flu. She threw up thirteen times their last night, and with an empty body she had to drive the four hours back to Marrakesh and then get on a plane for Casablanca. Not fun. Not fun at home, and definitely not fun when traveling.

Not an ideal way to end an amazing adventure, but the memories will far outlast that darn flu, so all is well.

Morocco - Part 4

As these two explorers arrived in Marrakech, they decided to slow down their pace, as Ceci was still not feeling great. They never did make it to the big, famous market there (although they had been to other markets and didn't really want all the bustle). But they did make their all-day desert tour.

Their driver first took them to the last oasis on the edges of the Sahara Desert, a town called Ait Ben Hammoud, a town along the old caravan route.

I love these pictures capturing Ceci's laugh. I wonder what was so funny? And that background could be Southern Utah!

This is the oasis part.

Someone got a little lazy with the tile work here...

And an old classic...

And of course...

And a little artistic fun...

They ventured out a bit into the Sahara, and then I don't think the landscape changed much. Just lots of nothingness.

They made the 4+ hour ride back to Marrakesh. Sometimes things got a little silly.

The next day they wandered around the city a bit. Just enough to pop into a local pharmacy.

What is all of that colorful stuff?! I want to sit and watch in there for a couple hours!

Ceci also held a snake...

Or two... (I love the token hat they put on top of her other hat. Must be a charmer getup. She looks super excited to have it on.)

Geoff kept his distance from the cobra.

And then on to their final stop, a surf and yoga retreat.

Morocco - Part 3

Geoff gave this description of the bus ride from Chefchaouen to Fez:

We started in mountains like the South of France, with rocks and green shrubs, then descended through pine trees and have spent the last hour along a flat valley with green rolling hills on either side. This is still a very pastoral society with sheep, goats and shepherds every 300 meters, people riding donkeys and using them to haul produce, and men in the villages wearing long, flowing, hooded robes of the Berbers. Green, green everywhere. This valley is well cultivated, in organized rows, while the mountains were cultivated anywhere they could find space – among the rocks, pines and olive trees. There are olive trees everywhere, both wild and cultivated. They seem to let any wild one spring up that will survive – often several in the middle of a field at odd locations, with rows of wheat or mustard swerving left and right to miss the tree.

He added this:

The people are very kind and gentle and there is a peaceful feeling. Ceci and I keep commenting on how good and peaceful it feels, which is also what I remember from when I was here for a month while I was at Harvard. (Geoff spent three week working on a housing development there for his thesis paper in grad school.)

In Fez they visited the Bab Jou Jalud (the gate at the Western entrance to Fez).

They explored the Bou Inania Madrasa (the oldest university).

They toured Nejjarine Fondouk, a merchant house...

And Al-Attarine Madrasa (where they didn't take many pictures).

A quick walk through the market let them know the bigger cities are definitely more in-your-face. The mentioned wishing they had spent more time in Rabat or the Blue City.

This next beautiful door and tile work caught my eye, but mostly I noticed the jewelry stands. If Adele was with them they would have stopped for an hour!

And back through the gate again.

Ceci was feeling pretty sick at this point, so they took it easy in their fancy Marriott room and got a good, long night's sleep.

Before leaving Fez they made a stop at the tannery.