Oh What a Week?

What a great week it has been. It started last week on Wednesday, August 20, 2008. We decided that it would be fun to have one last summer fling so we went boating up at Deer Creek Reservoir. When we first got there it was windy, as usual. It was hard for the girls to wake board at first because if was so choppy. It was only physically hard because the girls are all really good at the sport, it just beat them up a little. Brad and Amy couldn't come because they were trying to get the internet at their apartment because the company messed their installation order up and it took longer than expected. We missed them. When the wind died down it was great. The lake was practically abandoned so we were able to have a lot of fun. And then the boats came. It just goes to show, all good things must come to an end but it is very important to enjoy them while they're there. It was a great day with Scott, Shauntel, Whitney, Josie, and the grandchildren (J.R. and Shyanne).

Friday, August 22, 2008, was decorating day. Whitney is moving into a new apartment and she wanted to make it more homey so Shauntel, Whitney and I went shopping for some accessories to spruce up the apartment. Josie was an angel and babysat the kids while we were shopping so that made it much easier. When we finished shopping, it was time to go pick up the kids and head for Provo to decorate the apartment. We spent a couple of hours decorating and arranging the apartment. By this time it was 5:00 in the afternoon and we were hungry. We went to the Brick Oven Restraunt in Provo. It is a great Italian place with great pizza and pasta. It has been around forever. In fact, I worked at the now closed West Valley Brick Oven while I was in high school. That gives you an idea how long it has been around. We had a great day and a great dinner. After dinner it was time to say goodbye to Shauntel and the kids, they needed to go home. Ryan misses them when they come but I am so grateful for his patience and understanding when he lets them come and visit. We love them all so much and I get really grandma sick when I don't get to see my babies. Thank you Ryan, you are the best!

Saturaday, August 23, 2008, was another fun day. Scott, Brad and Amy started the day going to the auction. They have not been to it for such a long time and Amy has never been. Later that afternoon we all (Scott, me, Brad, Amy, Whitney, and Josie) went up to Snowbird for Oktoberfest. We had traditional German food, which was the reason to go. Food is always the reason. We walked around a bit and saw a yo yo champion. I don't know what that has to do with Oktoberfest but it was fun. Everyone decided to ride down the zip line. I stayed at the bottom of the mountain to take pictures. Amy even rode the zip line and didn't even cry from terror. Amy can be a bit timid when it come to fast adventure type rides but she did it and had fun. We went for an icecream treat at Sonic after we came down the mountain. We just sat an enjoyed the treat and each others company and then back home we went. It was nice to spend the evening with everyone. We sat outside and just visited with each other until the bugs began biting and drove everyone to their homes and us inside the house. I love my children!

Monday, August 25, 2008, was Josie and my first day back to school. Josie was so excited to start she went to bed the night before at 8:00 pm. That is unheard of for her. She was up and getting ready to go when I had to leave for my classes. Josie went back to South Jordan Middle School after attending Elkridge Middle the last semester of eighth grade. I am finally up to the University of Utah. I never thought I would make it. It seemed to take forever. It was a great day. I just love school so much and I think I am going to enjoy my classes this semester. I will be very busy and will need to stay organized and on top of things, but I can do it. I went back to a full-time schedule which I have not done for awhile and I am very excited. My goal is to graduate in 2 years. I will keep my fingers crossed.

I mentioned Ryan above and it is that time again to do my 10 Things so here it is:

Ten Things I Love About You...Ryan!

1. I love that you remind me of my father. He truly would have loved to have you in our family, you are so much alike.
2. I love that you love to cook. I can't wait until you come again so that you can make us dinner, only if you want.
3. I love your sense of humor. You think I don't get you but I do.
4. I love how hard you work for your family.
5. I love how you adopted Jacob like a brother. He needs men like you in his life.
6. I love how respectful and thoughtful you are toward Scott and me.
7. I love that you are patient with Josie and kid around with her. She also needs you in her life.
8. I love that you are such a great father to my grandchildren. I can see how much they love you.
9. I love that you are such a great husband to my daughter. I can see how much she loves you. Thank you for sharing her with us.
10. I love that you are such an important part of our family. You are the best son-in-law a mother could have!

Short and Sweet...

I am talking about my blog entry and not my daugther-in-law, although she is both. Yesterday, August 16, we went to the State Capital to view an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. We had to wait in line for three and a half hours. Boy was my back sore but we wanted to view one of remaining original copies. Thanks to Norman Lear for sharing his treasure with the rest of the United States. It is hard to believe but this was my first time inside the State Capital. I have been on the outside several times but have never had an opportunity to go inside, so I never have. It was exciting to spend the day with my husband and kids but also to see our state house. What a fun day!

The Big Apple!

Oh what a great week. I spent August 6-10, 2008, in New York with Shauntel and Whitney. It was a blast. We left Wednesday morning without much incident. I thought our flight was at 8:30am but it turns out I read the wrong time somewhere because it wasn't until 9:55am. This could have been a bad thing, but when I got to the airport, I realized that I had forgotten the Wicked tickets at home. I immediately called Scott, and he went back home, retrieved the tickets, and brought them to us at the airport. See what I mean about what a great guy he is. When we arrived in New York and got settled in our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Time Square. It was a nice place and the staff was so friendly and always so helpful. After we got settled we went out to find dinner. Our hotel was just one block away from Broadway so we walked over there and ate at TGIF’s. Can you believe it, all that way and we eat there? After walking around a bit, we went back to the hotel for the night. We were all getting pretty tired of the day of travel and taxi rides.

Thursday we purchased the hop on hop off tour. This is a great way to travel when you want to hear about the city. We purchased a two day pass but that was a mistake. You only need one day and then it is much quicker to use the subway to get around. Oh well, you live you learn. We went to the Empire State Building because Shauntel and Whitney wanted to go to the top. It was very crowded and stinky but you can get a great view of Manhattan. We now know it is cheaper, less crowded, and a great view if you go to the “Top of the Rock” which is Rockefeller Center. But you have to go the Empire State Building at least once for the experience. We then got back on the bus and decided to see some more sights. Whitney wanted to see an exhibit called “Bodies.” It is an exhibit with real human bodies and body parts. It is an educational exhibit to show you every aspect of the human body. We kept telling her no no no because Shauntel and I did not want to view bodies and parts. Wouldn’t you know it but the tour took us right by the exhibit so Shauntel and I gave in and we went. Whitney loved it but Shauntel and I ditched out early because I was getting queasy. This is not a good thing for me because I am suffering from IBS and a queasy stomach is a bad thing for someone with IBS. Consequently, I was miserable on the way back to the hotel because of the stress related to it. If you love biology and/or anatomy this is a great exhibit. I know Whitney is truly meant to be a doctor as I watched her examine everything that is until we ditched and went to the lobby. It was time to go back to the hotel and get ready for the play, Wicked. It was a great play and such a fun night. We found a local restaurant, Thalia, and had a nice dinner after the play. It made us all feel so cosmopolitan and uptown.

Friday we went to the Statue of Liberty first. Then we decided to go to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. I guess because we saw real bodies one day we should see wax bodies the next. This was a lot of fun. Then off to the Hello Deli so that Shauntel could meet Rupert G. We talked with him and ordered some lunch and took it to Central Park to enjoy it. It was great but do not feed the birds. Once you start you get a whole bunch, off all species, coming around to eat. We wanted to go to another play at night so we were off to find discount tickets. We decided to go to a nonmusical play this time so we picked 39 Steps. It is an Alfred Hitchcock spoof. After we found the tickets we went shopping for a new dress to wear to the play. That is not an easy thing to do in Manhattan. All the dresses were too short or no sleeves. That does not work for two temple endowed females so Shauntel and I had to forfeit the dress but I did find a blouse that was cute. Whitney was able to find on however. We were happy for her. Then it was time to go back to the hotel and get ready for the play. The play was funny and creative. Whitney and I laughed throughout the play. Shauntel did not. She thought it was stupid. Come to find out, Shauntel does not many Alfred Hitchcock movies so she missed most of the humor. She was wondering why everyone kept laughing. She thought we were all just being considerate to the performers. By the way, there are only four actors in the play. After the play it was off to find dinner. We went to a pizza shop so that Shauntel could tell her husband, Ryan, that she ate New York pizza. It was delicious. You buy it by the slice and the slices are huge. By this time it was late and so back to the hotel and bed, but before bed we ate brownies that Shauntel had bought. They were very rich and we couldn’t eat a whole brownie but they were delicious. Brownies at night were becoming a nightly tradition because after dinner at Thalia’s, we also stopped and bought a brownie for a midnight snack.

Saturday we decided to go upstate to Palmyra, New York, to see the church sights. We had to wait for the rental car and did not get to leave until noon. It is a five hour drive but we did not have a GPS so we made a few mistakes and it took us a little longer. We got Hill Cumorah visitors center. They gave us the best plan so that we could see all the sights before they closed. We went to the Print Shop were the first 5,000 Book of Mormon’s were printed. We learned all about the struggles and sacrifices it took to get it published. We then went to the Joseph Smith Farm and Sacred Grove. It is so great to see where the prophet received his first vision in the grove and to learn more about his and his families lives. We stopped at the Palmyra Temple but it was locked up for the day. We finished at the Hill Cumorah and spent some time there talking with two missionary couples. They were very nice and fun to talk with but it was a long drive back so we had to get back on the road. We drove forever and got back to the hotel at about 1:45 am. I was so proud of myself because I drove in Manhattan and didn’t even panic. One thing I learned is that you pay tolls all over New York State but you also have to pay an $8.00 toll just to go through the Lincoln Tunnel. What a rip off. It was a long day but full of fun and adventure.

Sunday was the day to come home. We packed, took back the car, and did our last minute souvenir shopping. Then we headed to the subway to take us to the airport. It is a lot less money and a little less time. We get to the airport, get our luggage checked in and find some lunch. Then off to the plane. We got boarded and thought everything was fine. When we pushed away from the gate and got out on the tarmac we were informed that the runway was closed indefinitely. We sat there for almost three hours. Two of the passengers wanted to go back to the gate and so we had to get out of line, we were the fifth plane in line for take off when the runway opened. They could not take us back to the gate so they brought a people mover to the plane and took the two people off. They decided that they wanted to refuel and bring on supplies. The fueling I could understand but I do not know what supplies they needed because they would not give us anything but warm water to drink. So they still had all the supplies on the plane. I was so confused. We sat in this spot for over two hours. All in all we sat on the tarmac for almost seven hours. I was never so happy to take off in all my life. The flight was four and a half hours long so we got home just after 2:00am. Needless to say this was harrowing experience and the Delta employees, from the gates to flight crew, were all so incredibly rude. I am not sure why you would not do all you could for your customers to help make them comfortable, but they did not want to do anything to help ease the stress and tension. This is by far my worst flying experience. The airlines are getting worse and worse. They need to do something about customer service. It is getting to the point that people will quit traveling for entertainment if some changes are not made.

All in all the vacation was so much fun and I loved spending time with my girls.