Business Travelers

This morning I dropped Allen off at the airport for his business trip to New York City this week. Although he has taken many business trips before and I'm sure there are many more to come, I still hate it when he has to leave. As I pulled out of the airport, I felt that pit in the stomach that I know won't go away until he returns home. I have tried to put my finger on this feeling many times and I still can't quite figure it out. It may come from knowing that he will see places of the world that I will never see, go to nice restaurants that I could never dream of going to, or simply the fact that I hate being apart. So as I was driving home from the airport, I decided that there must be positive things on my end that I'm just not seeing yet. So I thought about it the whole way home and came up with a few reasons why business traveling may not be so bad after all.

1. I can sleep on Allen's ultra-comfortable pillow.
2. I can have McDonald's for every meal if I so choose.
3. I can catch up on all my old episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 that I can't watch when Allen is
home because he can't stand the sound of Kate's voice.
4. He always brings home great souveniers for the kids.'
5. I can hog the entire bed if I want.

If anyone has discovered any more great reasons why it's great for your husband to be out of town, please share. Maybe someday, the pit in my stomach will go away, but until then, I will try and make the best of it.

Did we really go to the fair again?

It's that time of the year again. It's the one Saturday of the year that we pull out the halter tops and the oversized belt buckles and make our way to the Utah State Fair. I'm not sure what it is that compels us to keep attending the fair year after year. Maybe it's the redneck in us or that little bit of white trash that we just can't seem to let go of, but whatever it is, I continue to find myself at the fair year in and year out. Let's face it, where else can you blow $75 in two hours on mechanical bull riding, pony rides, the big yellow slide, very unsafe carnival rides (don't even get me started on carnival workers, "carnies" as we call them), the chance to see a 5000 pound steer, and the world's junkiest souveniers. Every year as I bake in the hot sun as we walk through the pig arena, trying not to lose my lunch, I wonder why I keep putting myself through this torture. Yet somehow, as we are driving home and discussing the days events, we realize we've had a great time together and we just can't wait for next year's fair. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something great about the state fair.

Binky Boy!

So my binky-addicted son is now trying to squeeze both of his binkies in his mouth at the same time. About a month ago, his first binky was falling apart, so I bought two new ones. Big mistake! Now instead of just breaking him off the first binky when it fell apart like I should have done, I'm now going to have to break him from two instead. I knew that I would have to pay for my laziness eventually. He thinks he's pretty funny though when I go to get him out of bed in the morning and he's got two shoved in his mouth. If only he would put other things in his mouth, like food!

Back to School!

I can't believe it's that time of year again. I say this every year, but the summer goes by way too fast. Although I'm glad for school to start to provide some structure, I will definitely miss the kids. We had such a great summer together and did so many fun things. Tate will also miss them, as he will be alone with me all day. It will be fun to spend some time alone with him though. Hannah and Porter were both excited for the first day, mainly because they finally got to wear their new shoes they'd been dying to wear since we got them a few weeks ago. Porter has a really great 1st grade teacher and lots of friends in his class. He even allowed me into his room to take a quick picture. I guess once you hit 3rd grade, you don't want your mother following you in on the first day to take your picture, so I sadly gave up the classroom picture with Hannah this year. Hannah's teacher is new to the school and she didn't have any friends in her class, but she came home yesterday proud that she had made two, maybe three new friends and was going to make more today. We know that she will be fine and have plenty of new friends this year. We're excited for them to be at their new school, H. Guy Child, which we have been very impressed with.

Bird Trainer For a Day

Gone are the days of becoming an archaeologist, paleontologist, or the president. Porter has set his sights on a much grander career; bird trainer. He was picked from a large crowd to be a bird trainer for a day at the bird show at the Hogle Zoo. He had bird seed put in his hand and then a bird flew from across the stadium, perched on his arm, and ate out of his hand. He thought it was totally cool and decided then and there that he would like to become a bird trainer when he grows up!

Our Last Summer Hurrah!

We just got home from one of the funnest and greatest vacations we've ever been on. We were able to visit Allen's parents on their mission in Oakland, CA. They serve at the Oakland Temple Visitor's Center and it is so beautiful there. We were able to stay with them in their mission apartment and it was so good to see them again. We did lots of great things including Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, the zoo, the redwoods, and many other things. But our most favorite thing about this vacation was being in the Visitor's Center with Allen's parents and feeling the amazing spirit that is present there. They currently have a display of some amazing statues that were sculpted to depict the miracles of Jesus Christ and they are so beautiful. We were able to visit with the sister missionaries that serve in the Center and the kids had a lot of fun with the elders. Most of all though, it was such a testimony builder to see all of the people there that are willing to give up so much to serve the Lord. What an amazing place!
Our family on the temple terrace of the Oakland Temple. They have this wonderful terrace that goes around the temple that you can walk around and the views from the top are incredible. You can see the ocean and all the way to San Francisco.
The kids having a ball in the Pacific Ocean. When we flew home, we had to fly over the ocean during takeoff and it was so hard to leave the ocean behind.
This is a picture of the kids posing with the sourdough bread guy at Boudin's bakery on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. They have the most amazing sourdough bread and they create these cool things with dough, like these scissors. We had to eat there twice because Hannah had her first taste of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl and fell in love with it and had to have it again.
Our little family on the pier in San Francisco with Alcatraz in the background. We spent one whole day on the pier and had such a great time that we drove back another day and spent some more time.

Finally!

We have been trying to take a day trip up the canyon all summer and it seems like something always comes up every Saturday. So when last Saturday rolled around and we were done with the yard work, we decided to go for it. We packed a lunch and drove to South Fork, which is just past Pineview Dam. We found a great spot to play in the river. The kids had a ball wading and throwing rocks (next time we'll bring tubes). After that we ate lunch and did some hiking. Allen led us on a trail to a really cool cave that the kids climbed through. The weather was beautiful and so were the mountains. After days like this, we always wonder why we don't do it more often. I guess life gets crazy and busy, but we are so glad that we seized the spare moments we had and enjoyed such a good time together. Allen, Hannah, and Tate on the way to the cave.
Tate took a dive off the rock he was sitting on and fell headfirst into the river. We think he only swallowed a little water, and we've crossed our fingers that he doesn't get giarrdhea, whirling disease, or any other nasty bugs from swallowing too much river water.