Faithful & Fabulous

The first weekend of September we had a Relief Society retreat... think of it as an extended Girls' Night Out with a lot of yummy food, a lot of visiting and laughs, some service, games, high adventure, a few gospel messages, and a whole lot of bonding going on between the sisters in our ward. We spent a night at HeberValley Camp where they have bunks and bathrooms (hooray for flush toilets!). Our site had a little cooking pavilion and a few picnic tables.It only lasted for 24 hours or so... some sisters came up just for Friday evening and others just for Saturday morning and afternoon. In total we had 50 sisters come for part or all of our retreat... that is just about half of the ladies in our ward. I loved that so many took the time to come!

Our focus was to help the sisters know how "Faithful & Fabulous" they truly are... we made cute notebooks out of inexpensive composition books to give to each person so they could jot down a few thoughts.  Each person brought their own dinner on Friday night and then we had a wonderful speaker that evening. She talked all about prioritizing and based her talk on one that Susan Tanner gave (first take care of my testimony, next my family, finally my calling). We ate fondue.... in the mountains... and it was wonderful!

Before bed we had a wonderful devotional by Jacque (2nd Counselor) about light and our ability to reflect the light of Christ. Then we departed to our separate cabins (we divided into Later Gators for people that wanted to stay up late, Early Birds for people who wanted to get to bed early, and Monkeys in the Middle for people who just weren't sure... ironically enough the Early Birds stayed up the latest... but got up the earliest. Go figure!) and played games until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore.

Saturday morning we had Kneader's French toast with caramel syrup and strawberries for breakfast, then a devotional by Jessica (1st Counselor), and a little workshop about being fabulous.... not that I am an expert by any means, but we wanted to look at the basics... we are fabulous because we are daughters of God and because we have a desire to do what is right. Our vision gets obscured for so many reasons and we aren't able to see clearly who we are or what our potential is. We had each person do an acrostic poem with the word FABULOUS--they had to write a word or phrase for each letter of the word that described something positive about them. I think a lot of times we can recognize and verbalize positive traits in others, but it is hard to do that about ourselves. Finally we shared some positive affirmations about ourselves... statements that are positive that we know to be true. I loved that so many people contributed to the discussion.

We made a fun, simple little craft (stuffed pumpkins!) and then after some tidying up we walked down to the Challenge Course which included some team building exercises and a crazy-fun swing.

It was such a wonderful time to build relationships with sisters in our ward... I hope we get to do it again!

**What makes YOU fabulous?

It's A Zoo Out There

My brother Matt and his family came to visit and we got to spend a day at the zoo with them. My mom brought Erin's boys too and we had a great time. We had a fun visit with everyone and saw some of the new exhibits at Hogle Zoo.  I loved watching Sophia's cousins take her by the hand and point out the neat things they saw.

Olivia and Coleman were sad they missed it... and insisted that I check them out of school to go with us, but I remained the firm, mean mama and made them stay in school.... we'll make another trip to the zoo another day so they can come too :).

Another School Year

The end of August brought the start of another school year.

 Olivia was excited to start 6th grade! It's hard to believe she is one of the "top dogs" now. She loves school and loves being involved with Service Club. She fought long and hard to convince us to try out the early track and so far it's been great (although I admit that many mornings I am still a little bleary eyed while we are getting ready for the day). Before school started she was a little nervous about her teacher assignment... we talked about giving him a fair chance and judging him on her own experience instead of what she heard others say. She came home the first day so excited and happy and didn't want to tell me how great her teacher was because she was afraid that the words "I told you so" would come out of my mouth.  Give me a little credit... but I did tell her :). A few more months of sixth grade and it's junior high for this little lady!

Coleman was so excited (and a little nervous) all summer long to start school. He changed schools this year to be a part of the A.L.L. (Accelerated Learning Lab) program at a neighboring school. He has loved his teacher and his classmates and it's been a great change for him! His teachers in previous years were great to work with him and give him opportunities to be challenged, but it has been wonderful to be a part of a program where the students are like-minded and motivated to learn and do as much as they possibly can. On his first-day picture he showed three fingers on one hand for third grade, and on the other did a sign-language "A" to represent A.L.L. (He thought that was pretty clever!)

Coleman and Olivia realized that they will never again be in the same school (except for maybe college) so they wanted a photo together before they went their separate ways. Sophia wanted in on the photo action too... we took the early photo just before Liv left (while Soph was still in her PJs) and another one by the bush when Coleman left. After things finally settled down I actually did something with her poor hair and had to photograph the cute little ponytail. It still isn't super long or thick, but we can get it gathered into one or two "little piggies." The bottom right photo is Sophia's go-to position once the kids are off... a "Fro-Yo-Yo" (frozen Go-Gurt) and an episode of "Lil Ty-Ty" (Little Einsteins). She loves that corner of the couch! I think she was pretty bored at first with just me to play with... and she often pulls my hand and asks me to play "tea-party stuff, now!" which is much more enjoyable than doing laundry or dishes or any other housework :). I love that I get to spend some focused time with her during the day while the older kids are gone.

The school year is already passing by quickly... and my summary of it so far is "Thank goodness for carpools so I don't have to drive to both schools twice each day!"

Lovin' the '80's!

One of the items in our reunion packet was a pair of tickets to an '80's reunion concert at the Usana Amphitheater.  We met our friends Rinehart and Lisa there and listened to the likes of Eddie Money, Kenny Loggins, and even Belinda Carlisle (she's still got it!) with a few others. The irony wasn't lost on us that the concert was put on by and for employees/consultants of Usana... a company that sells health promoting supplements... yet many of the artists were NOT examples of people who had taken care of their health or aged well... despite all of that it was a fun night... and we ended with ice cream at Leatherby's which is never a bad thing :).

Twenty Years

Can 20 years really have passed since I graduated from Cottonwood High School? Indeed they have... in August we celebrated 20 years since our high school graduation.

In many ways I was excited to see old friends and renew acquaintances. In other ways I was dreading feeling the same insecure feelings that I had during high school. When it came down to it though I decided that I needed to face my fears and get over my insecurities. I am so pleased with my life and I feel like I have accomplished great things! Even with that "comfortable in my own skin" feeling, I still wasn't completely sure I wanted to go to the reunion. I knew that if I didn't go I would likely regret it (just like I regretted skipping the dinner for our 10 year reunion) so I decided to suck it up and show up.  I was so glad I did!

Our reunion committee planned lots of fun things... on Friday night we had an alumni only night at the school (which to be honest was a little on the weird side to be there) and on Saturday there was a fun family picnic which I dragged my cute family to. Later that night was the fancy soiree at Snowbird. My high school best buddy Kim flew in from the Indiana to be my "date" since we weren't going to force our husbands to come along with us. The printed programs included so many references to pop culture in 1992 and they even included our senior photos on our name tags. We decided that (for the most part) all of the women looked the same or better... most of the men looked pretty good too, but there were a few of us that the years had not been kind to.  The program included a slide show of then and now photos, a tribute to those who have passed on, some love shared with a few teachers that attended, prizes for various things (like who had the most kids, who married other '92 CHS graduates, who was the most pregnant, etc.) and a hilarious, remarkably professional video that a few alumni put together (said video can be watched here if you are so inclined: 7 Tips for a Tolerable Reunion).

In the photo above is a picture of me with Lisa, Sara, and Brooke at the picnic (photo on the left)... and a picture of Noelle (who came from out of state), Kim, me, and two of our buddies Dave and Adam. In the group photo you might be able to find me if you enlarge it... my head is just poking out in the upper leftish area right behind the brunette guy in the light blue shirt.  The photo booth was fun... the photo strip on the left has me and Kim and our fun (kissing) friend Rebecca... the one on the right is me with Sara and Lisa. I was so sad that I couldn't talk our other closest friends Patrice and Loretta into coming... but I guess everyone had to do what they felt comfortable with. Maybe for our 30 year reunion they will come with us :).

When it was all said and done I think I worried about the dumb thing more than I needed to... it was so fun to see everyone and catch up with people that were so important to me during those formative years.  I loved learning that although most of us have gone through hard things in the last 20 years, we are mostly doing okay or better (and that there are really a few crazies in the mix too!).

**Do you attend high school reunions?
**Do you regret going (or not)?

The Long Road Home

In the afternoon it was time to make our way to the airport in Rhode Island... flying out of Providence was an experience... Chicago was experiencing delays due to a severe thunderstorm (multiple lightning strikes per minute) so we were unable to take off for several hours. Our plan had been to find dinner during our two hour layover in Chicago... but when it became clear that we wouldn't have two hours (if we were able to catch our connecting flight at all). The airport is small enough that the few restaurants they had closed early and we had a hard time finding food to buy. Thank goodness for prepackaged sandwiches and fruit at Starbucks... and for the packages of fruit snacks and Oreos that Bruce and Terri insisted we take :).  We finally got word that our plane could take off, and the flight attendants all but promised us that all the other flights going into Chicago were delayed too, so we should be just fine. Maybe it was good to have that false sense of security on the flight to Chicago?

When we landed in Chicago we were welcomed with a wait on the tarmac... so many planes had finally been able to land that there was a big back up and no empty gates... so they had to start clearing out the planes and of course our plane to SLC was one of the ones to go, without us on board. There would be more flights the next day...We were informed that because the delay was due to weather the airline wouldn't help with food or a place to stay.... but they kindly told us they would be setting up cots in the terminal for our "convenience." Hah! Maybe if it were just Ryan and me... but there was no way I was going to stay the night in the airport with our kids... especially a busy two year old who is prone to wandering.

Coleman was devastated... he was so concerned that we weren't ever going to make it home. I think he was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. He was worried that his stuff was lost forever (including his beloved dinosaur pillow pet).

Bruce and Terri to the rescue! They secured a room (the last one, anywhere) at one of the nearby Marriott hotels and the kids and I hopped on a shuttle bus with our carry on luggage to get settled for the night. Ryan stayed at the airport hoping they would find the suitcase that held our extra diapers and wipes... wouldn't you know that the ONE time I don't over-pack our carry on bags is the time we will surely need it the most!?! The very kind woman at baggage claim tracked down some diapers for us along with another of our bags (the one with the pillow pets, hooray!).

We were all so hungry... the kids were begging for "real food"... so right when we got to the hotel we ordered pizza and Chicken Parmesan from Barraco's which came highly recommended from the guy at the front desk. While waiting for said food to be delivered all three children promptly fell asleep... they were so exhuasted! I wasn't the nicest mom and woke them up so they could eat the pizza that they had wanted so badly... Sophia had nothing of it though and refused to open her eyes :). Both kids ate a couple of small squares of yummy pizza and fought to keep their eyes open. They were so glad when I finally said they could climb back in bed. Ryan finally got back from the airport (after fighting the Lollapalooza crowd to get onto the shuttle) and ate what he could... then we put the rest of the pizza on ice and saved it for our breakfast the next morning (we totally forgot it was Fast Sunday). We woke to find that an army of ants liked our leftover chicken and cups with root beer residue... but luckily the pizza was left alone. Despite the ants, the room was great and we were so, so happy to have a safe place to rest our heads and a place to shower before putting back on our dirty travel clothes (also because of my grand idea to "pack light").

We slept well and made it back to Midway airport... got through security (again!)... and enjoyed a non-denominational Christian church service in the airport. We had an uneventful flight to Denver and then to Salt Lake City. We were most grateful that all of our luggage made it home (likely long before we did). Home Sweet Home! We were grateful that my mom picked us up from the airport and took us to her house where she fed us dinner before returning to our home.

We LOVED being in Connecticut for a week--it was so fun to be with Ryan's parents and see and do so many fun things... and we loved coming home too.

Thimble Islands

Our last day in Connecticut was Bruce's birthday! It was fun to be there with himon his special day :). We didn't fly out until later in the afternoon... so we got to go on a little boat tour of Thimble Islands (off the shore of Branford, CT) in the morning.

The Thimble Islands are a group of small little islands that are in Long Island Sound and are part of Stony Creek Harbor. They are made of pink granite so are very sturdy... 23 of them are actually inhabited! Only six of them have electrical power. Some of them are too small to build on and one actually had just a pavilion  (and had been for sale for many years). Historically they were a spot for pirates to hide out (Captain Kidd!) and buildings on them have been built and rebuilt following tropical storms and hurricanes.

We were on Captain Bob's tour boat and he gave us a great guided tour. Some of the homes on these islands were crazy big and some were very, very rustic. It was interesting to hear about some of the stories with the various islands.

We stopped (again) at Rita's on the way back home.. It was a great way to wrap up our fun-filled trip!