Utah to Home

So one of my friends told me they are sick of looking at my blog and seeing "Oh Geeze!" so I guess that means they don't like to be reminded that they have a friend that is that dumb. Plus, two others have informed me they are waiting for an update on my Utah trip. I have been busy trying to get work caught up on, so I haven't had much time. Who knows when I'll have more time, I guess I'll just have to stay up past 900pm tonight...

Saturday in Utah was a busy one... We started with Micah's soccer game at 900am (800am AZ time, so that's kind of early... :)). It is fun to watch the little kiddos play soccer. After the game, Rachel invited me to go running with her. Since I've been so busy at work I haven't been going to the gym and even when I did go to the gym, I didn't run much. I warned her how slow and out of shape I was, but she didn't seem to mind. So we set off to run about 3 miles. We walked the first 1/2 mile because it was a super steep hill and she always walks up it. Then 1/2 mile after we started jogging, I couldn't breath. I'm pretty sure I have mental asthma. Haven't heard of it? I just made it up. Really, my lungs feel like they are half the size and my throat is like a tiny little tube sucking up air. So, we stopped for a bit and then started again and I had internal cramps so bad, so I had to stop. That's when Rachel informed me I was a wuss. She is totally in shape and ran a half marathon not too long ago so even a wuss on her standards is pretty tough. :) We did have a nice visit as we walked the rest of the way. Then, we went to Casey Anne's soccer game. We put Lucas and Clara on the blanket with some Kix. It was so funny because Lucas kept feeding them to Clara. I had flashbacks as I realized I was her age when I played soccer. I wasn't all that great. I did, however, love to throw the ball in (probably the only thing I was good at), and eat the orange slices and treats. I also remember one year when my mom was gone the day of pictures and the coaches daughter came to pick me up and someone told her I wasn't there. I cried and cried and then called my Bishop's wife and she came picked me up and took me. How sweet was that? Maybe I'll find that picture and put it on here, it is awesome. Red crying eyes with my shorts up to my chest! Casey Anne LOVES to help out with the babies so everytime we were anywhere she'd offer to take Clara.
After the game, we went to our house. Wow, it's beautiful. I kept hoping during my vacation I'd find a reason to move to Utah so I could live in it... didn't happen. The ONLY reason I'd move to Utah is for Rachel. Maybe someday, but not now. Our house is coming along. It doesn't look done, but doesn't have that much left (carpet, tile (although I think that was mostly done before I came home), cabinets, counter tops, landscaping and a few touch up things. In the last pictures I saw of it, you couldn't tell how grand and big the entry is, so I tried to get some pictures to where you could tell.
Also, I had no idea how super tall the ceilings were. Really, grand is a perfect word to describe it and it was very hard to capture it with my wee little camera. If only I had a wide angle lens. This is the ceiling in the great room and you can see the coffered ceiling in the kitchen in the background. The kitchen ceiling is one of my favorite features of the house.The paneling on the wall in the den is also one of my favorites. It just looks so neat. The floorplan is really cool and there is lots of room. If only it were in Arizona. :)Steven was there working when we went. He, of course, took Clara right when he saw her. He loves the little kids and she really liked him. She hasn't seen him for a little while. This was in the basement. The basement floorplan is AWESOME! There is tons of storage, you can walk around the back of the stairs and there is a cold storage. They excavated under the garages to have more storage. It is pretty cool. On Sunday, we just had church and then dinner. After dinner, I went to Lehi to visit my friend Sarah that I used to work with at CBIZ and her little baby Eli. We had a fun visit. Later Sunday night, Jason went to a meeting that I was very anxiously waiting to hear a report on. Last week in Church they announced they were creating two new wards in our Stake and all but one ward's boundaries would be significantly changed. I was only surprised a little bit. I am so sad because there are a lot of people in the subdivisions they took out of our ward that I really like, but they aren't necessarily people I'd call up to go hang out with. Plus, the people they took out of our ward are meeting in a different building so it's not like I will see them at church ever. Oh well, I supposed change is good. Also, we lost SO much leadership. We got a new bishop and will have to get a new RS Pres., Primary Pres., and lots of YW/YM leaders. So lots of changes...

Okay, for those of you don't know Rachel, you are missing out. She really is a great older sister and I admire her for so many reasons. Plus, she's so fun to be around and we have good times. Well, this is a picture of her garden. She's pretty much a domestic goddess and didn't feel too sorry for me when I told her how poor we were and what we'd be eating. She kindly told me if I had a garden, I could eat zuchinnin and Top Ramen and have a good cheap meal. Anyway, the yellow thing is a pumpkin and there is one on the ground too. So, I think in a month or so, when it cools down just a tad, I will start a new garden. Oh, and this is just a piece of her garden, it actually goes all the way down the fence. It just looks super neat and like something I could never do, so I took a picture for inspiration.

I don't think we did much on Monday. Rachel had lots of things to do plus teach piano and then take Casey Anne to dance. We all went and then on the way home stopped by and picked up dinner we had ordered to go. (Another one of Rachel's terrific ideas). That afternoon, Rachel talked me into reading Twighlight. Or maybe it was the night before... either way, I started it. I wasn't going to read it because it sounds totally stupid to me. I am about 1/3 of the way done and I actually am really enjoying it. The only problem is, I don't have it, so I'll have to find someone to borrow it from or go check it out at the library to finish. Tuesday morning as the kids were getting ready for school, I made them get in a picture with Clara. I was always getting them in trouble... they were supposed to be doing their chores and getting dressed. I compromised and just took one picture. Rachel's kids are super cute (if you can't tell in the picture) and really funny. Emma, her 3 year old, had some memorable comments, such as, "Why's Clara's head so big?" and "Why are you so white if you live in Arizona?". Then it was off to the airport... Clara did well on the flight over. (Not sure if I mentioned that). She did almost as good on the way home. I knew she wouldn't take a nap, so I gave her apple juice for the first time and she drank almost the whole thing before we even took off. But with toys, puffs and the blowing air above, she was pretty happy. She cried on the landing but wouldn't take her pacifier or eat or anything. Good thing it was loud so you couldn't hear her! This older guy sat next to me and was with his son, daughter-in-law and two grandkids. He was pretty funny and his son is in Young Men's with my cousin Brian. So yeah, small world!

On Tuesday, just as I had predicted, Clara's first tooth broke through. Eight months and a week old. She's been handling it really well and now I have an explanation for her HILARIOUS mouth/tongue faces the night before. She'd pucker her lips and somehow stick her tongue out at the same time. It was cute. I also think this is why she's been chewing on her fingers more.

That's right, no bow. It got left in Rachel's car so Clara had to do without.
We had a good time, but it was certainly nice to be home. Jason was so excited to see us (or did a very good job pretending) and the feelings were mutual. Last night, Jason was swooping Clara upside down and she'd open her mouth SUPER big and smile. Notice Clara's little hand trying to hang on for dear life as she goes backwards. Oh how sweet. This vacation did leave me very unmotivated so hopefully by tonight I can recover my drive to get some work done.