St. George

I am late in posting this, but I have to tell about our little adventure last weekend. We went down to St. George, as Greg was there for business and our SIL, Angie, invited us. Greg's brother Jeff has been out of town on business for six weeks, and we thought we'd give her a little company. Ha! Seven people invading your home is never easy, but she was wonderful, as always.
I will say this: I am so glad we didn't move to Idaho, because then I would have had to make solo four drives with the kids often. And that was not fun. We got there Friday evening and the kids were so excited to see their cousins. Their home is beautiful and it was fun to see it for the first time.

Saturday morning we climbed Dixie Rock. It had great views of the city. We then went to Hidden Valley Park. It had a fun water feature and the kids liked getting wet. It was still way hot down there!

After naps, we went to the sand dunes at Entrada State Park and let the kids play in the sand. I have never been in such soft sand. It was beautiful. The wind started blowing pretty hard, so we didn't stay long. I'd have to say the kids' favorite part of that outing was seeing the golf course, country club and baseball diamonds that were featured in High School Musical 2. When Hailey saw the club house, she let out a huge scream, it was so cute.
After some Papa Murphy's and bath's, the kids zonked early. We went to church the next day and then headed home after a yummy lunch. It was a short trip, but the kids had so much fun spending time with their cousins, and it was great to see Angie. She is a super woman, that's for sure.

Bomb hits WaMu, misses Greg

I've gotten lots of calls today from concerned family and friends about Greg and the WaMu buyout. For those of you that don't know, Washington Mutual was bought by JP Morgan Chase yesterday. What does this mean for Greg? We're still not exactly sure. He still has a job, which we're very grateful for. He is not sure how Chase is structured with Financial Consultants in their branches, but details should be coming soon. Chase says they are only closing 10% of WaMu's branches, which is a really good thing. Greg is over the entire state of Utah, except for Salt Lake County, so he's been stretched a little thin. This might turn out to be a really good thing for him and our family, as well. Thanks for all of the love and concern we've been shown today. We really appreciate it! (He thought of the title, all wittiness has left me for the day.)

Will they please figure it out already?

My stomach problems are back, that's why I haven't written about our fun weekend to St. George. I saw a Gastric doctor on Tuesday and he scheduled me for an upper and lower GI today. I was on a clear diet yesterday, and then had to drink some nasty medicine last night to clear me out. Since I had been throwing up since Monday night, I hadn't had any real food since then, so hunger was my biggest issue today.
The test was around 2 pm, and the doctor didn't find anything. Which is good and bad. Good, because that means there are no ulcers, cancer, or polyps. Bad, because they still don't know why I am throwing up all the time. I have another test next Thursday, it's called a stomach emptying study. They have me eat some scrambled eggs that are laced with an ingredient that will make them glow as they are digested. Fun, fun. I'm up for whatever it takes to figure out what's going on. These last few days have been very hard on me emotionally. I feel like I am such a burden to Greg, my family and my neighbors, having to rely on them when I am down and out. We have been very blessed with neighbors that have taken the kids today, even when I know they've had a lot going on. And Greg's mom has taken the little ones twice this week. I am ready for some answers and to feel good again.

A great weekend

I am taking advantage of a rare quiet moment to update about our fabulous weekend. With lots of Dr. Pepper in my system to keep me awake, we picked up my sister-in-law Shawn and her son Ethan from the airport on Thursday. Kevin was in town for work, so they decided to join him for the weekend. The kids were beyond excited to finally see Ethan. I had told them about how cute he was, and they couldn't wait to smother him with kisses. He and his mommy spent Thursday afternoon here and Kev came over after work. He and Shawn are such a great Uncle and Aunt. They jumped on the trampoline with the kids and Kevin took Trent to swimming lessons. We then got Cafe Rio for the grown ups for dinner and the kids were ecstatic to have Del Taco. While we were visiting, Rachel decided to put my cell phone in my cup of water. Yeah, those two things don't go so well together, in case you didn't know.
Elise is totally enamoured with Shawn and followed her everywhere, asking her all kinds of questions, which Shawn very patiently answered. They left for their hotel around 7 pm, and you would have thought it was the end of the world, Elise was so upset.

Friday night was the Father/Son campout for Greg and the boys, and we girls had a totally fun Girls Night. Greg took the boys and Suzie, the dog, up to Hobble Creek canyon, and he said they had such a good time. It was a little chilly, but not freezing yet. They played soccer and flashlight tag, and some of the boys told Trent, "You have the most awesome dad!". When Trent told about that, I asked him why they'd said it, wanting to know what had presipitated it, but Hailey said "Because he is, Mom!". What a sweet daughter. We'll see if she feels that way in a few years! Their favorite part was making s'mores and spending time with their dad.

For our Girls Night, we started out at the mall, of course. We got mini pretzels and lemonade, and then got me a new phone. (Hailey told me its totally awesome, so I feel cool now.) Then we looked at Claire's and wished we could buy the whole store. Well, the girls did at least. As we were walking through the food court to the car, someone gave us coupons for free ice cream! What a fun surprise. After the baby ate my entire cup for me, we headed home. I'd told Elise I had a surprise for her, and it was worth every penny of the $12 I spent when I pulled "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" DVD from the bag. Her face was priceless. She kept hugging and and thanking me all night. Once I put Rachel down, the three of us snuggled up in my bed and ate licorice and Sour Patch Kids and watched Barbie. If your girls like those movies, this is my new favorite one.

The boys got home around 11 am, right as Kevin was bringing Ethan to Hailey and I to watch for the afternoon. Kevin knows Norm Chow, and got 10 tickets to the BYU vs. UCLA game. (Shawn got her Masters in Nursing from UCLA, so they have season tickets in CA.) Little did he know what misery awaited him.... hee hee. Greg showered and headed to the game, while we took care of Ethan. He is such a good baby. The kids had a ball making him smile (which is fairly easy to do) and playing with him. Rachel didn't get very jealous; I was happily surprised.

Greg said the game was awesome! They were sitting in the UCLA section, and it got to the point that he'd turn around and tell the UCLA fans, "That was a really good effort." or "They almost made that one.", to try to make them feel better. Kevin wasn't in the best of moods, so they left at the end of the 3rd quarter. We had planned on spending the evening with Kev and Shawn, but he wasn't too happy and they decided to head out. Which meant that Greg and I could go to a party my friends were having!

It is so nice that Hailey is getting older and can watch the kids, but this was for a long time, so we had her friend Caitlin come over to help her. Greg and I headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon where they were having a bbq. It was so fun to see everyone with their husbands, as this was the first time we'd done a couples night. We had heard so much about the hubbies (for one party we had told our love stories) that it was great to see their personalities in real life. There was a fire pit and everyone put their camp chairs around, before we were split up with girls on one side and guys on the other. We then played a somewhat clean version of the Newlywed Game. Greg and I answered about half of them right. Greg was being is funny self of course. That night when we got home, Greg said "I can't remember the last time I had such a good day. I woke up with my boys in the mountains, say BYU kick UCLA's butt and then had an awesome date with my wife." I agree, it was a fabulous weekend.

See Mommy Run

We had a rather uneventful week last week; except for activities starting, and me going crazy while driving all over Lehi, and trying not to cry every morning when the alarm went off. I didn't think anyone wanted to hear me freaking out about trying to get it all coordinated, so I took a break from the computer.

I was so tired every night that I fell asleep before 10:30, which is a rare occurrence for me. I started to type up my weekly schedule to help explain the insanity, but it took too long and was confusing. Just know that I am going completely nuts the first three days of the week. If you email or call, I'm sorry if it takes me awhile to respond. Thanks for understanding.

Mamma Mia!

So, I broke down and bought the Mamma Mia! Soundtrack on Wednesday. Greg thought he'd cured me of musicals, but much to his shagrin, I love this one! The kids and I have been dancing all over the kitchen and having a blast. Hailey's favorites are Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen and Lay All Your Love on Me. Even Elise's friends have been coming in and dancing with us. The best was when Seth walked out into the backyard chanting "It's a rich man's world". I just about fell over!

Of course, we turn it off as soon as Greg gets home from work, because in his words, "It makes me want to chew the walls." Which is funny, since the only reason I know ABBA songs is because of his mom. (I grew up with the Beach Boys and the Beatles in the background.) The first Christmas we were married was spent in New Jersey with his parents and she had just gotten their Greatest Hits on cd. So my memories of that Christmas are filled with ABBA in the background, and I love it. When I started playing the soundtrack for the first time, the kids all said "We've heard this at Grandma's!". So, I thought it would be OK to play it with him here, but I was sadly mistaken. Oh well, we'll just have fun without him!

My little guy is growing up, plus lots of stuffed animals

I sent my little man off to Preschool this morning. He was so excited, not the least bit nervous. He's been waiting to go to school for a long time now. We pulled up and he said "Where's Elise?" So cute. He walked right in, hung up his Spiderman backpack, and turned around with a huge grin on his face. He knew he was in for a fun few hours. I think it helps that he is going where he saw Elise be dropped off and picked up for the last two years. He knows Miss Cathie, the school and he's just so easy to please, he's going to have a great year, I know it.

Yesterday for Labor Day, we woke up to a huge storm outside. We decided to take the kids down to BYU and explore the Bean Museum of Life Science. We walked in and were met by an employee with a very large lizard on her arm. Trent and Elise walked right up and petted it, while it took Seth a minute to realize it wouldn't hurt him. Hailey immediately walked back to my side and we both did plenty of inward shuttering together.

There were tons of small displays, ranging from an 8 foot grizzly bear to mountain lions and wolves. (All of my girlfriends are laughing at me right now. And if you don't know why, I'm not telling you.) We saw lots of different habitats and circle of life examples. The kids were only creeped out by the leopard in the tree with an antelope hanging over the branch. Yeah, gross. The best was when we went to the insect exhibit, and Hailey didn't realize where we were. The horror on her face when she looked up and saw the bugs nailed to the wall was priceless. I wish I would have had the camera out then! She and I decided to look at the pretty butterfly display and then get out of there, since neither of us enjoy that sort of thing. Trent was disappointed they didn't have any snakes, but I'm not. Nothing gives me the heepy-geebies like snakes do. When we walked out, the storm had passed and the rest of the day was beautiful, although chilly.
Hope you had a great holiday!

There's nothing like GNO

Saturday night I got to spend an evening with my awesome book group friends. We met at Shauna's house in Draper and had way too much fun, as always! We played a hilarious game of Guesstures, ate, Danylle held a board meeting and then we played a Breaking Dawn version of Jeopardy. Debbie, Christie, Emily, Michelle, Angie and I were team 3, and won! I got a cute magnet, from the ever talented Tarl. (Check out his stuff here.) I was home at a surprising 11:30 pm, which is pretty early for a GNO. In a few weeks it will be a year since we all met, and I can't believe how much these women have supported me and changed my life. I've laughed more since I've met them than I think I ever have. Love ya gals!