Eras Tour!

December 25, 2022: Jim told me he and Andy tried to get us gals Taylor Swift tickets as a Christmas present, but it was pretty impossible for anyone to get tickets. Dang that would have been awesome!

March 15, 2023: Jamie texts me - "Andy said they are releasing more TS tix. Do you want to come? Mar 24 or 25"

"Ahh! how much time do I have to decide?"

"3 seconds"

"Ok get me a ticket"

"A? or 2?"

"Is Andy going? 2 I guess"

"No I was thinking Avery. I guess you still don't know that Jimi and Andy were trying to get us some for Xmas and couldn't. haha. for you and me and the girls."

"Oh yes! Get two."

It happened so fast, I wasn't sure how it was gonna work in one week...Would we all go? Just me and Avery? But it was actually very simple: me and Avery jumped on a plane one week later, non-rev, leaving Jim home with the boys. Easy!

And then when it started sinking in me and Avery were dying of excitement. All week. 

March 24: One week later, Avery ditched school, flew to Vegas and took Reese and Sammy out of class early -

Target selfie!

We went looking for Taylor Swift merch at Target. Duh there was none. 

Back home we had our "sun appreciation hours" while Jamie painted cupboards. 

Before I got out this blanket it was just me laying on the cobblestones - and Jamie's neighbor called to make sure the Kelvingtons were ok. 

"It's just my sister enjoying the sun. We are fine."

Nettie sent us a funny Trey Kennedy video about middle schoolers hitting the gritty at all minutes of the day. haha. 

This is us "watching" it. 

Then we painted our nails, one color for each Era.

It was so fun deciding what color/vibe to use for each album.

Remember earlier in the week when I suggested this activity and both Jamie and Avery shrugged their indifferent shoulders at it? and it was so so fun? haha

Collectively we decided that 1989 was our worst nail representation. 

Yep Taylor was playing in the background during all these activities.

This is when I heard "Enchanted" for the first time - so good. 

Remember Reese flinging the red nail polish around like it was actual paint? 

And Damon dipping his entire finger in the remover to get the red paint off his nails? 

Damon played Fortnite with Andrew. 

The next day:

This was us adding songs to our playlists, discovering songs I've never heard before. 

We had just got back from shopping for our Era look. 

Avery - Lover/Evermore mashup

Sammy - Lover

Jamie - Folklore/Evermore

Kelli - Folklore/Evermore

Also for lunch us adults went out to the middle of nowhere and ate at this cool old saloon. 

Good burgers take time, people! Like, an hour to cook! We sat waiting for an hour. 

I needed a nap. Jamie just laid there and took a picture. 

Getting ready for the concert: Me and Jamie wore our mom outfits because plaid is Evermore, bro!

Jamie french braided my hair.

Pre-concert In n Out.

Ahhh this was so fun, all the anticipation. 

Gosh I loved all of it. I loved fan-girling the day before and all the build up.

The openers were terrible of course and SO LOUD. 

We ended up going out in the hallways to save our ears. 

And then the show started and it was 3.5 hours of non stop entertainment! 

The radio songs were so fun - everyone singing along,

every era had a new costume and set and vibe.

I loved most when she would play acoustically - guitar or piano.

This was a ten minute long "All Too Well". So so good.

I loved the lighted bracelets.

Evermore and Folklore Era are my favorite (non live) eras. 

For a live show, they were time to sit and palette cleanse and enjoy. 

She started singing "Tis The Damn Season" - one of my favorites, and I kept standing (everyone around me sat) with my hand on my heart, holding Avery's hand singing along. haha 

That song reminds me of college days when you have one foot in adulthood and one foot in childhood and two different worlds of friends and personalities and identities and responsibilities. Remember what a trip it is to come home for Christmas? 

Other concert favorites:

Enchanted

Cowboy like me

White Horse

But it was all so good in all the different ways, so it's hard to pick.

I just love the feeling of being in a crowd, collectively watching this amazing art together - everyone feeling the feelings attached to our favorite songs. 

I love the last era - Midnights - but by then I was so exhausted! I wish I could rewatch that era fresh. 

Our "after" pic as we walked back.

When we got home at midnight, we sat around eating - starving!

Jamie showed videos of the concert to the poor kids who didn't get to go. 

Ugg it was so much fun. 

Church the next day! 

#larsingtons

Then I took a fatty nap and Jamie laid awake again. 

Then she went to her own bed to get serious about her fatty nap. 

Winter

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Koda's love of Andrew in this pic is similar to my love of spring. 

I love it so much. 

But also spring gets wild! Hold onto your hats as we enter the massive sports-sports-sports zone. 

I am coaching middle school girls again. So, yeah. 

The deacon/priest/teacher boys went on a cabin campout. This graffitti was in Jim's cabin. 

One morning I got Avery up for seminary at middle of the night oclock, and then realized it was snowy outside.

We went back to bed and had a lovely no school snow day. 

I love a surprise snow day. 

I subbed three days in a row, and ate lunch with Avery every day. 

Look at the shed! It's so great. He has been working so hard on this custom situation. 

Evan on Bass Drum.

We almost took the kids to Galbraith, but then just the dads went, and they said it was terrible biking conditions. haha

There were a few cold days that made ice do cool things all over the place. 

Jim took this amazing picture at the top of Galbraith one night. I love it. 

There's Orion. 

At this point it's starting to thaw out and the temperature suggests you can wear a tshirt, but the wind suggest you should still grab a jacket. 

Avery started tennis! 

This was her first match. I think she did great. They lost, as did the whole team, but it was really fun to watch. 

After she was done, she came and sat by me and I told her we GET TO GO SEE TAYLOR SWIFT next weekend! 

Then we got some crumbl cookies for the ride back home. 

That was a great day. 

Friday we went to Galbraith. Us gals walked along the trails and tried to find solutions for Roxanne. The solutions are still lost, blowing around in the wind. 

We happened to be on the same trail as Jim and Joe, so we set up our cameras waiting for them to blast by on their bikes. 

We will continue to circle up and wait for the solutions to make their way down from the trees. 

The next day we got out the brand new family bike rack and went to Galbraith with most of the children. 

It was such a fun day! I have been practicing this mountain bike thing for a while, and now I can barely keep up with these little boys who just started about a half a year ago. haha. 

I am scaredy. But it's getting less scary and more fun every time. 

We ended the weekend with some delicious Woo Korean BBQ.