the tadje family: May 2020 - another long post!

During the month of May, most things were still closed down so we spent A LOT of time outside - hiking, biking, and enjoying all the beauty Utah has to offer.

I joined a hiking group with some women in my neighborhood and our first hike was to Horsetail Falls in Alpine. Nate and I had done this hike before but it had been a few years. It's defintely one of my favorites! And it was fun to get to know some of the other women in my neighborhood better too.

We continued online school until the end of May. It got pretty old and my kids still missed regular school but we did get into a better routine of it.

Stores and restaurants and life slowly began opening up again and with that came playing with friends and neighbors again. The kids (and I) were very excited to be with friends again!

My mom was nice enough to buy each of us a mask. Costco started requiring them so we practiced wearing them one night.

We continued at home church. Some weeks went smoothly and some weeks...not so much :)

Graham still loves his trike but he started riding his bike a little more too. I love living by a nice path...we love family walks and bike rides on it.

Our nephew Joe came home from his mission early because of Covid so we went up to welcome him home. It was fun to get to hear about his mission and visit with the Howards.

My mom treated us to ladies to pedicures for an early Mothers day gift. Most spas and salons had been closed for Covid so it was so nice to get pampered again!

For Meg & Ty's birthday, we went kayaking at Highland Glen. We always love spending time with the Brewers!

Nate and I hiked to the G one night for date night. It's a super steep hike and even though it's just a mile there and a mile back, it was a good workout!

When we bought our house, it had a turquoise door that was a little too bright for my liking. So one Saturday, Nate painted it black! It looks SO much better as a neutral color and I love how it turned out!

We also worked hard to fix up the plants in the front yard and it looks so much better than before! Especially as things have grown bigger, it keeps looking better and better.

I also planted some pretty flowers to beautify our yard. I love making our yard pretty and working on my gardening skills!

Mother's day was wonderful and I felt so loved! Nate and the kids made me breakfast and spoiled me with kind cards and gifts. Being a mom is truly the best job in the world!

I came outside to enjoy some quiet time and before I knew it the kids were outside with me. Callie wanted to take a picture of me...she loves being a little phone photographer these days :)

Then she joined me in the hammock for a picture together and then we just hung outside enjoying the peace and fresh air. It was one of those moments that I felt so present and so blessed for all I have in my life!

We are so blessed to live so close to both our moms! We are so lucky to have such loving and kind mothers and grandmas to our kids! We spent the rest of Mother's day visiting with them.

Nate and I have been a lot better about weekly date nights lately. It's a lot easier now that Aiden can babysit our kids! It's actually a pretty awesome milestone in parenthood :) We went mountain biking with the Brewers & Aaron & Samantha one night and had a fun time! I'm definitely more adventurous than I used to be and I love when our date nights involve something active.

After doing Horsetail Falls I wanted to do it again with the whole family. The Brewers came with us and we had a great time...for the most part ;) It's a really steep hike and pretty long for little legs so by the end of the hike, Callie and Graham weren't too happy about it. But we all felt accomplished doing it and I was so proud of the kiddos!

On the hike, Graham scraped his chest on a tree trunk and when we got home Brennan very cleverly gave him this note and present. We were all laughing pretty hard. Kids are the best!

Grandma T usually come over once a week for dinner and we love having her! It's always a fun time. And we noticed on one of the weeks that Aiden is getting awfully close to passing her up!

A few days after our hike to Horsetail Falls, we did another hike to Stewart Falls! This time we went with the Grubers and had a fun time! The hike is not as steep and just as pretty as Horsetail. Another favorite hike of mine!

With Covid, my grandma Blackham has stayed far away from anyone because she is extremely nervous about the virus (as she should be because of her age!) But one afternoon we drove up to visit her - social distancing style - and loved getting to see her again! Sadly her fake tooth fell out while we were eating popsicles (of all things!) so my mom spent a lot of the time on the phone with the dentist. But we still loved getting to visit with her for a while.

My garden started to slowly grow! A few of my cucumbers didn't make it but some of the spring veggies were doing well.

For Memorial Day weekend we headed to Moab! We had an amazing time! It was incredible weather. Even though Arches was closed, we still found plenty of hikes and fun things to do there. One of our favorite hikes was to Corona Arch (ironic name, huh?!) and the kids did awesome on that hike. I love this hike and the gorgeous views so I took a lot of pictures :)

Swimming at the hotel pool as a big highlight for the kids. There was a little slide there and they went down dozens of times and never seemed to get tired of it!

There were bunkbeds in the hotel room which was a highlight for the kids too. The hotel wasn't the cleanest we've ever stayed in and I'm not sure I'd want to stay there again but the kids loved it. We had fun doing a movie night and playing games in there when we were taking a break from the heat.

We also loved hiking the Grandstaff trail. It was fun because it wasn't too big of an elevation gain and we got to cross a stream quite a few times. It ended up being pretty long (especially because Graham likes to look around and take detours) but it was a favorite for sure.

At the very end the kids legs were very tired so this is how they got around :)

Nate took the boys on a fun mountain bike ride while the littles and I hung out at the park. They loved biking around Moab!

After their mountain bike ride, we met up with them to go on a bike ride on the paved trail up the canyon.

We didn't have room to bring Callie and Graham's bikes so they both got to ride in the trailer and they loved it.

The Moab park right by our hotel was a hit too! We played football and aerobie and played on the playground and swings. Playgrounds had been closed the last couple of months so it was nice to have them open again!

When we got back home, we made sure to visit Grandpa T's grave. He still doesn't have a gravestone yet but it was good to reminsnce about his life and some of the memories we share.

Another day, another hike! We headed to Bridal Veil falls with Katie & Brooklyn one morning and loved walking along the path and enjoying more time in the mountains!

We received the saddest news in May that took us all by surprise. My sweet sis-in-law Rayane found a lump in her breast and thought it was only a cyst or something minor but she ended up being diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. She is only 30 and healthy and active as a mom of four kids so it didn't seem possible. She received the news with grace and determination to fight and beat cancer any way she could! A few days before she started her treatment, we did a special girls night to honor her. We went to a yummy dinner at The Harvest at Thanksgiving Point and then did some shopping. We loved spending that special time together before her next few months of treatment began. Callie and Savannah wanted to join the girls night and we loved having them come along too.

We have had her kids over ocassionally while she's been at the doctor and my kids always love when they come to play! It's such a blessing that we live so close and can be there whenever she needs us.

Brennan finally started his flag football season. They had to hold off on it for a while because of Covid. And once it began they had to take temperatures before games and make sure no players high fived each other, but I'm glad he was finally able to participate this season. He loved it and loved being on a team with a few school friends.