Spring Break

We have always had interesting Spring Breaks. One year we spent sixty hours stuck in the Denver airport, another time we almost capsized our brand new boat on Lake Mead. That was after spending the night fighting the wind and sand blowing and chasing Greg in his tent as he was being blown down to the lake. Let me add that he had a huge propane tank in it to help keep him from being blown away. I've also spent an hour in the middle of the night in an outhouse at Arches with a severe case of food poisoning. So our trips are usually interesting. This year we decided to rent a motor-home and see the Grand Canyon and then on to Disneyland and Sea World. We brought Heather and Braelyn and Berkley along with us. We got on the freeway and around Orem the traffic came to a stop. It took us 2 hours to get from Orem to Spanish Fork. A terrible car accident caused the delay. Our plan was to get to the Wal-Mart in Page Arizona and park for the night. When Steve made a wrong turn in Kanab we decided to pull over and start again in the morning. We found a restaurant that was no longer in business and pulled in. Just as we were getting to sleep Berkley woke up. Heather just got her to sleep when Braelyn rolled out of her bunk and hit the floor. She screamed and that woke Berkley up again and she stayed up for the next hour and she wasn't happy. Nobody slept much that night.

The next day we made it to the Grand Canyon. We stopped at the first stop and were amazed at how beautiful it was. Our plan was to get to the South Rim and then take the tram to the other stops. The motor home was so big that we didn't want to pull into the stops. Luckily we made one more stop and before we got to the rim and were stunned at the view.

When we finally made it to the South Rim it was foggy and cold. We waited around for a while to see if the fog lifted so we could view the canyon. Then it started to snow. After all that time driving all we could see was a big bowl of fog. We gave up and made it down and found a campground for the night. The next day we drove on the historic route 66 drive and then onto Anaheim.

Disneyland was fun but very crowded. Just our luck the two school districts surrounding Disneyland were also out for the week on Spring Break. But Braelyn got to see the princess and Taylor got to ride Indian Jones so our trip was successful. We stayed three days there at Disneyland and California adventure.

I will admit that I loved California Adventure more then I did Disneyland. I loved the roller coaster and we went a bunch of times. Soaring over California is also one of my favorite rides. It was less crowded then Disneyland and the parade was much better.

On Thursday we drove down to Sea World. We stopped at the beach in San Diego. Berkley loved the sand and water. Braelyn wasn't so sure she liked the sand on her feet. It was colder that day so we didn't get in the water, just sat on the beach and made sand castles.

On Friday we went to Sea World. We did the breakfast with Shamu. I would recommend that to everyone. The food was wonderful and the whales were right there. We made it to all the shows and that week they were doing some night shows. At the Shamu one they were playing some great 80's rock songs and we were having a ball dancing and singing to them. They then started to take pictures of the people in the audience and put them up on the big screen. We saw a bright light and then a minute later there we were up on the screen. The guy in front yelled to me to hold up the baby. I had Berkley so I lifted her up.

The night shows were the best and a great way to end our vacation. We got up early Saturday and drove straight home. It was a tiring but great vacation. Maybe me and Steve are getting to old to run that hard and fast. We are really looking forward to the weekend at the cabin. I think we might just sleep.

Unlucky mouse

We foolishly opened the cabin up a month too early. We thought for sure winter was over and we could enjoy heading back up there. The last weekend of March we saw the weather and since we had turned off the fireplace, and the water was on we worried that the pipes would freeze and we would have a mess. We headed out Thursday and everything was covered with snow. We had to walk in again and after getting settled we decided to go for a walk. We went down to the river and then started to walk back to the cabin. I was following in Steve's tracks and I stepped down and felt something underneath my boot. I jumped and ran past Steve and told him I had stepped on something. He turned around and there where we had stepped was a mouse. Either me or the mouse was very unlucky. I guess because it was so cold I told Steve to cover it back up with snow. Now that I think of it, we should have done something else. I do not want a mouse in the cabin. Good thing we went out because that morning when we woke up it was 1 degree below. Someday Spring will come and we will be able to drive into the cabin. I think we have decided that we need to wait until after General Conference to open the cabin up.

Taryn turns 23

Friday was Taryn's 23rd birthday. It's amazing how fast 23 years fly by. Taryn is our California baby. She was born in San Jose while Steve was working for FMC.
We had made arrangements with a couple of friends to tend Heather while I was in the hospital. I started getting contractions and called the hospital. They told me to stay home until the contractions became regular. We didn't listen and dropped Heather off at our friends and then headed to the hospital. It was later at night so traffic was light. Which in San Jose is a huge blessing. We made it to the hospital but I was having a hard time walking into the labor and

delivery room. They checked me and I was dilated to an 8. They broke my water and right after Taryn was born. We had been at the hospital for 30 minutes. I'm so grateful we didn't listen when they told us to stay home and wait for the contractions to become regular. Taryn weighed in at 9lbs and 7 ozs. She had a headful of black hair and was adorable. She was an easy going baby and at 4 days old slept through her first earthquake.

Heather immediately took over as the big sister and would talk for Taryn. Needless to say Taryn didn't talk much. We would go eat out and Taryn would look at Heather and Heather would then order for Taryn. The only time Taryn made me crazy was when she would have to decide on what candy bar she wanted at a store.

She will graduate from the University of Utah in Theraputic Recreation this spring. She has worked hard to get her degree and in addition to keeping her grades up and getting a scholarship she has also worked the whole time. She is a beautiful girl both inside and out and I'm proud to be her mother. Happy birthday Taryn!

Opening or trying to open the cabin

Last weekend me and Steve went out to the cabin to open it up for the season. When we went up in January there wasn't alot of snow so we thought the road to the cabin would be pretty free of snow. The road over the mountain was closed so we went the long way. Strawberry had alot of snow but as soon as we hit the Basin it was pretty clear of snow. We were feeling good about getting into the cabin. As soon as we crossed the cattle-guard onto my families property we got worried. There was more snow on the ground then there was in January. We got to the turn off of our road and knew there was no way we could drive in. We saw Tom's grader so I got out to walk to the cabin and Steve drove up to Tom's to ask if he could grade our road for us so we could drive in. Steve took off up the hill and I started my walk to the cabin. Looking at some of the tracks in the snow on my way got me a little freaked out. Some of them definitely looked like they had claws. I made it to the cabin

safe and sound and started to get it ready to stay in. An hour later I saw Steve's truck come down the hill and a little later Tom's truck. I kept cleaning and after another hour and still no Steve I decided to walk back out and see what was happening. Tom had his grater out and tried and tried to clear it, but it was no match for the amount of snow. Steve said he got it stuck about eight times and they had to chain it up and pull it out with his son's 18-wheeler. I told him we can just load up the four-wheelers and get the stuff in the cabin and wait for the snow to melt in a couple of weeks. This is the view from the road where they tried to clear the snow. It doesn't get alot of sun so we may be walking in for a month.

We were able to pull the truck down to Mom's ranch house and load up the four-wheelers. We had bought a headboard and footboard for our King-size bed. I figured we would haul it back out to the house and wait for a few weeks, but not my husband. We loaded the pieced onto the four-wheelers. We had to sit on them because they were so big. The field still had alot of snow in it and Steve informed me that it was best not to go to slow in the snow with all that weight.

Steve went first and I had a hard time not laughing watching us bounce over the snow with these big boxes on the four-wheelers. We made it with no problems and I guess if Steve loses his job we could start a new red-necked moving company with four-wheelers. After a few trips we had the truck un-loaded and were able to enjoy the weekend. We also decided it was a good time to burn our piles of wood we had gathered this fall. Much safer then doing it in the fall. Hopefully next weekend we will be able to drive in.

Ready Party

I just wanted to thank everyone that came to the ready party and supported me and Heather. We had alot of orders and I was able to get $200.00 worth of free supplies. In this economy that is a great blessing. I'm already feeling more prepared for what is to come. If any of you are interested in doing a party it is really easy. The company provides the invitations all you need to do is address them and hand them out. Heather sets everything out and provides samples of the food to try. I'm not a fan of doing parties but this one is something most people need. The company has alot of neat products, I'm really excited about the gas wrench that you hang on your meter so when you need it there is no rummaging through the garage trying to find it. Also there food has a 30 year shelf life. A friend said the dried food at Macy's only has a 7-10 year shelf life. For us lazy people I just want to buy it and forget it. Thanks!

Big Relief

On Friday Steve complained about pain below his heart. We figured he pulled a muscle working out or moving some cement pieces in our back yard. That night he said the pain was so bad it woke him up and he almost woke me up to take him to the hospital. Finally he found one position that was comfortable and was able to sleep a little. The next day the pain had moved up and was were his heart was. We aren't ones to run to the dr. so we went about our day. We tried to get blocks for our garden but the place was closed so we drove up to IKEA to look around it. Meanwhile Steve was having a hard time taking a breath and would gasp every couple of minutes. We got to IKEA and he could hardly walk into the store, so we got him a wheelchair. We made it up the elevator and he was still having a hard time breathing sitting down so I told him we were going to the dr's. You can't quickly get out of IKEA's. We went to our dr's office and they told us to go to the emergency room. On the drive to the hospital we discussed some things we never had, like what song do you want sung at your funeral. We both like the same hymn and want it sung. I think we will be having some more discussions and also getting our trust done. We got to the emergency room and they immediately took us back. Did some tests and his heart looked great. The cardiologist was in the hospital so he came down and looked over things then had Steve do a stress test which he passed. They figured that he had some imflammation around his lungs and that causes pain around the heart. So we got a prescription for anti-inflammatories and he has been doing better. Also Taylor received his Duty to God award and we are done. What a relief.

With Steve traveling every third week to Florida I try to join him one week each year. The first few years I was fine the first couple of days with just relaxing and reading a book by the ocean or pool. But after two days of sitting around I would get restless almost to the point of asking the maids if I could help them clean, just to be doing something.

That has certainly changed. I am now very capable of rolling out of bed, having breakfast with Steve and then parking myself by the pool until lunch. After lunch changing back into my swimsuit and sitting until Steve gets off work. I have no problem with relaxing and taking it easy. Steve would ask me every morning if I wanted to drop him off so I could have the car to go shopping. I never took him up on the offer. The weather was nice but not really warm, somedays I was the only crazy one sitting by the pool in a swimsuit.

I enjoyed spending the week with Steve and eating Mahi every night. I was also able to meet some of the people Steve works with and put a face to the name.

I'm grateful for these yearly trips and the chance to do nothing. Thanks Steve