Vernal

I just returned from an overnight stay in Vernal. No, it was not a romantic getaway, but rather a work trip. I had a hotel room all to myself with no husband or children to interrupt my sleeping. My co worker and I have been traveling the state for the past year conducting training for institutions that house historical records. Anyway, I had never been to Vernal and although much of the scenery was barren and gray, there were a few landscapes that possessed their own beauty. In some ways I love the vastness of the land, but I realized while in Vernal that I would have a hard time getting along without my local Costco. Here are a few photos from the road.

Fun Day

Our friends kids have been staying with us while they are on a trip. We had a fun day at the Barnyard Boo and then carved pumpkins. I'm ready for a good night's sleep so I will leave you with some pictures.

Pony rides for everyone


Face painting and balloons were a big hit

The kids and their pumpkins

Be Careful What You Wish For

Wednesday night after my busy first few days of the week I told my husband that I wished I could just have a day at home with nothing scheduled. Well, a few hours after I said that Boy #1 woke up with the stomach flu and I realized my wish had come true, but not in a good way. I had to cancel the appointments and play dates I had lined up for that day and instead we had a slow day at home. It was a nice change of pace and Boy #1 didn't have any more episodes of sickness, at least not until last night while I was gone visiting with friends. Good timing and thanks to my husband for cleaning up!

Busy Week

This has been a busy week and it is only Wednesday. It started with a spontaneous overnighter at Snowbird thanks to my brother. The boys had a great time swimming in the heated pool and jumping from bed to bed. However, boy #2 was jabber jaws and didn't fall asleep until 11 p.m. and then was up at 5:30 a.m. wanting to climb into bed with us. Then it was onto the pumpkin patch for a school field trip. This was my first experience as a field trip mom and it was crazy and fun at the same time. Then today was a work training for me and then home to fix dinner for some friends. I wish the week's activities were slowing down, but it is only getting busier. Here are some pictures of the activities.

Happy boys on the balcony at Snowbird

Boys hanging out watching a movie

Fun at the pumpkin patch



The older kids telling jokes and the younger kids hanging out under the table with the dog

Housework

Recently it seems I have no desire to clean the house. Right now boy #1 has a huge pile of laundry on his bed and until today I had an even bigger pile of laundry on my bedroom floor. We have had house guests spaced out nicely so at least that has forced me to do the bare minimum of vacuuming and guest bathroom cleaning. If anyone has tips on how they do their housework I would love to hear them because right now I am unmotivated.

At least I have a good helper

Oh Fudge!

This summer I started a bad habit. I tried some fudge at a shop in Cambria, CA and became hooked. I have never been a big fudge lover because most of the fudge I had seen or tried had nuts and I do not like nuts. However, my eyes have been opened to a whole new world of fudge flavors and so my quest to find the best fudge has begun.

Locally, my favorite fudge shop happens to be in a toy store, so the boys are always happy to join me for some fudge. Today I went overboard and bought my current favorite flavor of cookies and cream fudge, along with vanilla peanut butter fudge. And even though it had pecans I decided to get the creamy praline fudge because it looked so good. Talk about sugar overload!

My husband just became a big fan of the creamy praline and I even tried some

A Large Pile of Dirt

Who new that a large pile of dirt could provide hours of entertainment for a 5 year old boy and his friends? There are several large piles of dirt, but there is only one that the kids are allowed to play on. The others are too close to the large hole that is quickly turning into the shape of a house. For several days now Boy #1, sometimes on his own and sometimes with others, will climb and slide and play make believe games on the pile of dirt. It has become a new play friend and I love that it is not a video game.

Candy Parade

The weather is very cold today and it finally feels like our mild autumn is over. Luckily the rain/snow stopped falling during the Homecoming Parade, otherwise known as the Candy Parade. It is filled with all kinds of students representing clubs as well as representatives from each college. Parade goers are typically from the neighborhoods nearby and therefore it is sparsely populated. The parade lasts 1 hour or less and the best part is the handfuls of candy that are passed out. It is just about as good as going trick or treating!

The boys with their loot

Boy #2 is enthralled with the marching band

Google Ranking

Do you ever do a Google search for your own name or that of your spouse? Well I do. I hadn't done it for a while and I was pleased to see that my husband had made it to the first page of hits. He actually has about 4 hits on the first page, although he is not the first hit like I discovered tonight that I am. But his hits are more interesting than mine, although I doubt he will ever replace the artist/woodworker/photographer/songwriter who is the first hit. Oh well. By the end of the week someone else with my name will probably take first place because so much information is added to the internet each day. For now I will enjoy our Google ranking before we slip into oblivion again.

"Writing Poetry"

Today my husband and I did something we have never done before. We bought an original piece of art. It is something we have talked about for a long time, but it seemed like the artists we liked were already established and way out of our reach. Then we discovered that Brian Kershisnik, who is also established and out of our reach, had some drawings available. We visited two art galleries this week and found one that we liked that was within our reach. However, we will postpone a weekend trip we had planned so we can afford groceries. Since one of our friends sacrificed a bed for a Kershisnik painting, I think we can forgo a weekend away.

Our new piece titled "Writing Poetry"

Jokes

The other day we were driving in the car and Boy #1 told me a joke. He said "Why did the warthog jump into his eye?...Because he wanted to go to bed." Then he proceeded to tell a few more such as "Why did the pig cross the road?...To get to the wedding." Of course he makes you guess his riddle and then he tells you the punchline, if it can be called a punchline. We are hoping that he starts to understand jokes before too long, but for now we are happy with his imagination.

All In a Days Work

Okay, I promise this will be the last post about my view until the house is actually close to done, but I just had to do one more. It is amazing how much 2 guys with a backhoe, a big truck, and some other large piece of equipment can destroy in one day. Within a few hours they had leveled all but one tree as well as a shed. By the end of the day they had chunked up the concrete that was the shed floor and they had hauled everything away. When they left for the day there was no trace of what had been on the lot that morning. Pretty amazing. So, here are a few pictures of the day. To see the before pictures go to this post.

The first thing they tackled was the blue spruce, hey I think that is the state tree

The naked spruce ready to be knocked down

The shed came down quickly

Now the dirt is smooth and bare