Utah Adventures

The Trip - in Pictures and Lists

When we were interviewed to be married, our sweet bishop gave us a few pieces of advice. Surprisingly, his most important piece of advice was to take family vacations. I thought it a bit odd that that item would take higher priority over other things, but he explained that although it seems that we have all the time in the world, life speeds by extremely too fast. Taking vacations with your family allows you to slow down for just a bit, savor those precious relationships and build lasting memories.

He was so right.

And so, as I said in the last post, on a bit of a whim we took off for Utah. We had actually blocked out that time for the trip to go to my brother’s wedding, but because it was called off last month, we figured we wouldn’t go. But then, suddenly we did!

Without boring you with the minutiae, I figured a pictorial collage and some lists would give a lovely snapshot of our trip to the motherland.

Top 10 Most Memorable Parts of the UT trip:
1. Two 13-hour car rides – it was fun, but tough & tiring too
2. Road construction in every state
3. Dirty diaper tales – kindly sparing you the details
4. Trying to change a dirty diaper while in a moving car
5. Eating fast food gets old, fast
6. David’s dog was cute, but dander from the hair made me pretty sick
7. Banning infants from swimming in the hotel pool due to last summer’s outbreak of Cryptosporidium in Utah
8. Randomly stopping at The Little Stinker gas station to change a little stinker of our own
9. Utah looked a lot like Washington with darkened skies and a constant rain, although they also had a little snow and some intense sleet too.
10. Not unexpectedly, we were greeted with our familiar friend, Rain, once we reached the Cascades in Washington; the storm was monsoon-like, which made it highly unpleasant to navigate through Snoqualmie Pass.

Top 10 Best Parts of the UT trip:
1. Seeing Aunt Susan, President Keith Garner, Dave & Rach’s family (as well as my parents and Brent & Azzlinn, who were visiting, as well)… and then running into Bracan & Rachel’s family too
2. Eating tasty food at Café Rio, Applebee’s & Hires
3. Listening to a book on CD (“The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown), which was especially helpful in passing the time through desolate and less scenic parts of the drive
4. Road trip – it was absolutely delightful to unplug from tv, computer, cell phones, & life in general, and just have time to talk without the noise of our regular life
5. Singing “10 Little Monkeys”, “The Wheels on the Bus”, Disney songs, primary songs and anything else we could think of to help Benjamin survive two 13-hour car rides. A personal favorite was when “The Wheels on the Bus” morphed into "The Wheels on the Bus in a 3rd-World Country", as it was filled with Old McDonald’s farm too.
6. Lots of Firsts for Benjamin: 1st trip to UT, 1st time in a hotel, 1st time swimming, 1st time bowling, 1st time meeting Nali the Dog, and 1st time tasting a Baskin-Robbins ice-cream cake
7. Celebrating Rhees’ 4th Birthday
8. Watching lots of the NBA Playoffs
9. Getting a hotel through Hotwire. We scored an awesome suite for a rock-bottom price… not to mention the wonderful continental breakfast each morning, free WiFi and an endless supply of fresh cookies, 24 hours a day.
10. The Clearfield Aquatic Center – indoor waterparks provide some seriously fun family times!

Road Trip

On a bit of a whim, we packed the car and jumped on the road, headed for a warmer locale. Oh, and to visit family and friends.

Here is where we are:

And here is what is falling this morning:

So much for warmer weather! But rest assured, there will be tales to tell... if I can ever find time to get them on Blogger!

After! - OR - It's About Time!

I know, I know, I know... it's about time, huh?

Without further ado, here you go, my patient & faithful blogging world peeps.

Oh, Canada!

"I love to see the temple"

Last Tuesday, Dave took the day off of work and we ventured to the land northward to see the new Vancouver BC temple open house.

We had planned to go the first day of the open house, but Dave had a meeting with an attorney, which meant we had to delay. I'm so glad we waited and went in the middle of the week; the border wait at the Peace Arch was less than five minutes and the wait to get into the movie and temple tour was... well, there was absolutely no wait.

Of course, it helped that it was gray and raining that day. The picture below is from our second trip last week (yep, #2) up to Canada, but I'll save that for later.

We made good time on the trip up, but needed to make a detour into North Vancouver to visit Dave's favorite place, the Arc'teryx Headquarters Outlet Store. Unfortunately, while milling around the greater Vancouver/New Westminster area, a foul smell started to waft throughout the car. We both looked at each other and wrinkled our noses.

The smell dissipated, but a few minutes later, it was back. I reached back to feel the kiddos pjs... and then told Dave we couldn't wait until we got to the store. We veered into a McDonald's parking lot - and what proceeded was a HazMat situation, at best. Good thing that Dave has rubberized mats in his car... that's all I'm saying. We used the washroom (that's the proper Canadian vernacular, folks) and then decided to eat there & feed Benjamin.

After the pit stop, we began to meander again. Eventually, Dave got directions to the TransCanada #1 at a 7-11 from a shaggy dude who was missing several teeth. Fortunately, he was better with directions than with dental hygiene. We rolled into the famous outdoor outfitter's HQ a short time later and spent a while looking at various levels of high-performance gear.

Dave opted for a black jacket with an "SV" at the end of the title, which was a great deal. I consulted the glossary on the wall of the store, which explained that "SV" stands for severe weather conditions. Lovely. At least he will be prepared, right?

And then we were back onto the TC1, headed to Langley. Dave has a good friend, Mike, who lives in Langley. The exit to the temple has a huge theater called the Collosus, on the opposite side of the highway. It is an amazingly large structure, complete with an over-sized flying saucer perched atop the roof. Mike is not a fan of the great saucer eyesore... and would probably light it on fire, if given the chance.

Anyway, the temple. It was amazing and breathtaking. I'm not sure if it would be characterized as one of the mini temples, as it was a couple of stories high, but it was about 1/4 of the size of the Seattle temple. After watching a quick movie in the adjoining church building, which explained about the history of the church in the Vancouver/Langley area, we headed out with our guide under the white-covered walkway. Donning booties, we stepped inside and the guide started telling the stories of the temple and explaining the basics of temple worship.

Dave and I just stared, as we walked from room to room. The wood, the paintings, the intricate detail were all astounding. It was such a beautiful place and a house where God could dwell. Unfortunately, the funky smell returned and we had to cut the tour short, by a few minutes.

We ran back to the church, changed the kiddo again and grabbed some delicious cookies before embarking to Fort Langley, where Mike & his family live. They invited us to stay for dinner, but while it was cooking, Dave played with the kids while Mike took Benjamin and I on a tour of the rabbit quarters, as well as the chicken/turkey coop. Did you know that you can eat turkey eggs? Had not ever thought of that, but it makes sense.

Dinner was great: potato pirogies, sauerkraut, dill cucumber salad, grilled mushrooms. Shortly thereafter, we had to head for home. But before we left, they invited us to come back up that Sunday. They had just had their fourth child the previous week and would be blessing him.

Thus, trip #2. Benjamin was much less dirty-diapery and slept both ways, plus we opted for the Aldergrove border crossing which is less busy than Blaine. The day was gorgeous and I read a book out loud during the drive. We stopped by the temple before the blessing because the weather was so pretty, which provided a perfect backdrop to the majestic temple and colorful grounds.

It was such a treat to take part in our friend's baby blessing. But more than that, it was nice to see the place that makes it possible for us to be a family for a long, long time - well, forever. What a great blessing to the people of Vancouver... and all of us.

Millionth Reason Why

At 2am on Saturday morning, I awoke to a strobing light coming through our bathroom window. I walked to the window but couldn't see much due to the roof, so I stumbled into Benjamin's room for a better view.

We live off of a very busy street, so this is not a new phenomenon. In the seven years I have lived here, I've been awoken in the wee hours of the morning and have seen the following middle-of-the-night scenes: a police helicopter searchlight rolling around our complex, looking for the "bad guy"; countless traffic stops for speeding, racing or running a red light; cars colliding in the intersection; a mob of excited people watching a street fight play out in our parking lot; a teenager racing his muscle car that crashed into the fence opposite our complex; a driver losing control of their vehicle in icy conditions, that crashed through our fence and landed on our neighbor's parked car; another parked car engulfed in flames. We live in a busy place, you know.

Each time, those strobing lights from the ambulances, fire trucks and police cars wake me up... I'm a light sleeper.

Well, as I neared Benjamin's window, I kind of knew what to expect: a scene similar to one of those mentioned above. And it was... sort of. Instead of one police car, there were 3 State Patrol vehicles scattered in our parking lot. 3 is a record, so I just stood gawking through the blinds like the neighbor lady in "Bewitched".

Three police officers were standing in strategic locations, while another officer approached the little red car and spoke to the driver, who happened to be parked right in front of our driveway! Call it "train-wreck watching-itis" or "middle-of-the-night stupor", I was transfixed by yet another weird scene unfolding in our "front yard". And yeah, I was totally expecting craziness to ensue - yelling, fleeing, gun unholstering.

A minute later, a Sheriff's vehicle pulled up to the scene. The guy that emerged was clothed in blue and was toting something in his left hand. He walked up to the driver's side door, leaned in and exchanged words with red car's driver. Suddenly, a petite guy in skinny jeans and slicked hair emerged from the car.

Mr. Blue Police Man then breathalized Red Car Driver. And promptly slammed handcuffs on him and escorted him into the shiny Sheriff's vehicle.

And this, my friends, is yet another reason why we are selling our house... though it's not included in the flier.

Tulips Galore

A few weeks ago, I went with the YW on a grand adventure of flower-seeking, crazy weather, long drives and good times.

We trekked north to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival on one of the stormiest days of the year. So, as we tip-toed through the tulips, we did so in 50-mph wind gusts, sideways rain bursts, freezing temps and blackened skies.

It was so cold and windy that we ran back to the cars, turned on the engines and the heat full blast, then dined on our brown-bagged lunches.

Still, it was a beautiful site and the pictures do not tell the tale of a dark and blustery day.

Welcome to the Jungle

Life has been nutso lately.

Or maybe it’s just me that has been nutso lately.

Case in Point:
Yesterday, my husband was too scared to talk to me while I was cleaning/staging/baking/running/scrubbing/panting/sweating to get the house ready for our open house. (Side note & one reason for the NUTSO: where does one put all of one’s dirtied clothing when all of the staging bibles are telling us that all hampers need to be clear of any dirty laundry? egads.) Instead of asking me where to put my cell phone that was hanging out in a “this is supposed to be an uncluttered space!!!” space, he simply avoided me entirely and dropped it into a pocket of the diaper bag.

Smart move. Smart guy.

I found that I could laugh about it later. But he said something jokingly to me during said nutso phase - and I gave him THE LOOK: the “DON’T MESS WITH ME OR I MIGHT SIMPLY EXPLODE INTO A MILLION, TINY MICHELLE PIECES” look. Yeah, I told you – Miss Nutso.

While we were driving to church we did laugh about it. I even relaxed, took a deep breath and said that I should have had a sign hanging around my neck, stating: “Danger: Wild Animal on the Loose”. Having a house on the market turns you into a raving, lunatic monkey on crack… or at least it does for me.

The worst and kind of depressing part is that we had a total of 3 people show up over a four-hour period of time. All that work, stress and nusto-ness – and yes, 3 people. Actually, two people and one neighbor; apparently, a nefarious, nearby neighbor who was short-selling their townhouse showed up… and wanted to copy our staging so that she could trump our place.

Nice.

All that work and cleaning/staging/baking/running/scrubbing/panting/sweating to get the house ready for our open house. – and someone comes along and pulls the rug out from under us.

Blah.

Guess I need to pull that sign back on around my neck. Danger: Wild Animal is on the Loose again.

Or maybe it’s just a case of the Mondays.