Pancakes & P.J's in the Park

I love our neighborhood play group. No need to go on and on about how wonderful they are here, I've already bragged about these ladies--

This week we did our annual summer Pancakes and Pajama's in the Park breakfast. LOVED IT! The kids look so forward to wearing the 'jammies while the mom's look forward to good food (Stacey makes killer pancakes) and good conversation. We missed you Crystal and Chantelle!

This week is the big bowling tournament-- the kind you can't loose if you are under the age of 10!

Fourth of July and such

Here's the summery of my week: Last Saturday, we blinked and the computer shut down. We were the lucky family who got an electrical "bump" while Windows was getting an update on the net which corrupted the entire hard drive. Solution? Take it to Geek Box, pay $200 (worth every dime) recover all material, reload all material. The worse part? I finished all my stories for the newspaper three days early and lost all my work and the pictures. My editor was a trooper when I called her crying. Solution-- rewrite and reshoot everything.

On a lighter note: The holiday was very nice. We had big plans to have a family cook out but the Coombs couldn't make it at the last minute, the Bywater's were at the cabin and at 1:30 p.m. Rich and I headed over the to the church to do an impromptu service project we were hoping would take 30 minutes, but because of the holiday there were very few hands helping and it took 3 hours. When it was done, we couldn't move. Our bodies ached from spreading an entire dump truck load of mulch. We bagged the BBQ and headed to Iggy's with the kids.

Chicken fingers and ice cream sundaes always make a good meal.

On to fireworks-- we did very few this year. Our neighbors did it huge, and we let them. Nothing like watching good money burn!

Did I mention they only buy the highly illegal kind that sound like a car is hitting your house in Highland (sorry Todd--is it as fun to be the news as it is to write it?) So I sat on the porch telling my two youngest this was supposed to be fun.

When all the big bangs were over, Anja said it was the best day ever. Time for bed...

I did another round of volunteer hours at the temple open house to help out a friend. This time I went prepared: I took a book. Parking cars is not that exciting. Our last day to "help" is on July 23, yippee!

Knees and fingernail polish (babbling)

**Anja and I paint our toenails weekly. She loves bright pinks, purples and reds. She also loves funky colors as long as they aren't on her. This week she picked a strange aqua color for me. It came out of the bottle and onto the nail looking gross. I really haven't had time to take it off-- it must be really bad because Rich told me it was time to pull out the remover, TODAY!

**Once a week I try to take her with me shopping without her brothers. She makes a big deal of telling the boys it's "just the girls turn." Tonight we went to Bath and Body Works to stock up on soap. Anja did the selecting. We will only be using pink soap in our house for the next year-- get used to it boys.

**Our good friend Crystal's husband (Brent) is my dentist. To Anja, he's just Eden's dad so she doesn't get why at his office people call him Dr. Twitchell (little plug there--he's great). When I had my teeth cleaned on Tuesday, she wanted to watch so she pulled the assistant chair over, climbed up and butted heads with the hygienist, Leslie trying to get a good look. Anja kept rubbing my cheek and saying, "it's okay mommy, almost done." She watched the whole thing while taking breaks to explore the office. When we were done, she asked if Brent wanted to come swimming with us-- he politely said no, he had to work, so she asked the older couple in the waiting room. They said no, too.

**The knees-- Rich is, or has become, very different from his family when it comes to medical stuff. He really errors on the side of prevention not correction when it comes to medical issues. If it hurts a little now, get it corrected now; not later when it hurts a whole lot... That's the story behind his left knee. A lifetime of sports, a 40 year old guy and one wrong twist in the yard means knee surgery on July 14. He's starting with a scope-- and in 15 years-- well, we'll have to look toward other options. But, for now the annoying pain will be dealt with and give him back his quality of life and keep him walking with me every morning.

(no, this is not one of his drawings, It's off the Internet, so if it is wrong, don't get mad at Rich. Amirsys does a very good job of keeping their stuff from being "copied" so I couldn't find one of his).

Jackson Hole and Yellowstone N.P.

Yes, it is true. I, Nichole, went with my family into the wilderness. I even drove home in the family car towing a Uhaul.**

** I knew I wouldn't be able to make it in the car both ways so Anja and I flew to Jackson Hole (a 35 minute flight) and met my brother at the airport. Rich and the boys drove the car and met us there about an hour after we arrived.

I hiked through prime wilderness every day, visited lots of old cabin (as Jensen said, "houses dead people used to live in.") saw large animals and smelled the great outdoors.**

**Buffalo, elk and other large animal poop.

I stayed with the kids in a condo in Jackson while Rich attended his workshop for five days then all of us braved the government owned/operated lodging in Yellowstone.**

**The condo at Love Ridge in Jackson Hole, WY was 1,200 sq feet, 3 1/2 baths, 4 bedrooms, full kitchen, slate floors and plush furnishings. Government run hotel was so gross we left a day early unable to stomach the cinder block walls, gross bathrooms or insects that seemed to wonder into the rooms unannounced.

I watched my kids amazement as they saw the Tetons, Old Faithful and stood on top of Rendezvous Mountain. Was it worth it? Yes, it was beautiful and one of those "moments" as a mother I will never forget.

Will I do it again soon? Probably not, but I wouldn't say never.

**on top of the Rendezvous Mountain peak. One of the few winter tundra areas you can reach without an ice pick--pictured with my brother Mat and the kids.

Next vacation, however, will be adults only... with an ocean, sand and full room service.

Ah, the things you do for your kids (and husband)!

(More pictures to come soon grandma's and grandpa's)

Hit by Lightning!

(Rich took this picture--the lightning hit the top of the statue, turning his face, trumpet and arm black. You can see where the lightning exited the "ball" under his feet where the two black marks are)

So Rich gets all the good stuff-- I volunteer at the OMT and I am bored out of my mind. He volunteers and Angel Moroni is hit by lightning. What gives? (disclaimer-- the angle was really hit the night before but that bit of info wasn't released until the next day so all those who wanted pictures headed over to the temple the night Rich was working security from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m.).

The temple president told Rich they would take Moroni down in the next two weeks and reapply the gold before the temple is dedicated...

No it's not the Swine Flu

At 4:15 p.m. just as we were getting ready to leave church, I noticed Anja felt a little warm, not a big deal, she was acting fine. By 4:45 p.m. she was hotter and looking "sickly". I took her temperature and it was 101.3. I gave her a dose of Motrin and 35 minutes later she was happy as could be. By 9:10 p.m. we were at Instacare with a 103.7 temperature. This was the conversation with the very young nurse...

"Sorry she's sick. It's probably the swine flu. Everyone has it."

N: "I'm really hoping it's not. We were around a lot of people today and have a vacation planned later this week."

"Yeah, you'll probably have to cancel it. You'll be quarantined."

I'm sure she was just trying to make conversation but if the sick kid would have been one of my boys they would have been in tears over the thought of missing a vacation.

Guess what silly nurse? It wasn't the swine flu or even strep throat-- it's a virus! That's it.

Feeling a little RED

Last night I went to the University of Utah to see Nadia's dance concert. Anja made it though the first 40 minutes then we had to leave. We walked around President's Circle for a good hour. It got me thinking; I AM OLD. I graduated from the U in 1995. Back then, there was only the communications department defined by either print or broadcast. Now, there are so many subdivisions I can't keep track.

As I watched my little girl climb the steps to Libby Gardner and Kingsbury Hall, it struck me that she may not go to the U. What could be worse? She could turn out blue-- as in BYU. What would we do? Withhold the college money we have set aside? Bribe her into going to her parents old stomping ground with a shopping spree? Refuse to let her drive our cars? Really, there isn't much. I know, the bigger picture is a college degree--not where she goes...

((WARNING--NICHOLE IS GETTING ON A SOAPBOX))

Going to college is not an optional for my children. Not going after high school isn't an option. Not getting in one or two semesters before a mission isn't an option. College just isn't an option-period. Marriage before a degree will be a hard sell to us. Between Rich and I we have five degrees-- what does that mean? Education is a big deal to us.

So, as I watched my little girl climb those stairs that seemed too big for her today, I snapped a picture, hoping someday to show her how far she has come as she stands on those same stairs in her cap and gown.