Temple Square

More Utah pics. These are from the day we went to Temple Square. We started with lunch at the Lion House Pantry. It was delicious, but the part I loved the most was when Noah told me, "Mom, I don't see what the big deal about these rolls is. They taste just like yours." Shameless little flatterer, that boy.

Then we toured the Beehive House, and moved on over to take the usual pics on the temple stairs. We loved the new exhibit at the south visitors center where you can see inside of the model of the temple.

This adventure is always one on the top of the kids's list when we visit SLC.

A trip to Park City

I am still going through Utah pictures from 2 months ago. I zapped some down to web-size, and now I can post some.

I love Park City, but I hadn't been there in many years. A little tidbit: My first date with Mark was to go see the band America in concert (you know, "I've been through the desert on a horse with no name...."). Also, Mark and I spent our honeymoon in Park City. And there's always the happy memory of the morning after our wedding when we got broadsided in the Albertson's parking lot by a lady who had been smoking pot. Wrecked our car the day after our wedding. Mark has a sweet scar on his ear to remember it. Good times.

Anyway, on this trip to Park City, all cars remained intact. First we had a delicious lunch atBaja Cantina with cousins, and then we all rode the Alpine Slide. Mark and some of the older kids tried the Alpine Coaster as well, but the rest of us stuck with the slide. It was a blast. Really expensive, but really fun.

Zack and me

Cousins played in the rocks while they waited for their turns on the slide.
Nancy went with Truman. He was terrified at first until my mom explained to him that the sled had a brake on it and he wasn't going to be free-falling down the mountain.

I love this picture of Savanna.
Noah was very fast.

Elsie took my Mom down the slide. She was one happy girl.
More rocks.
Abram and Elsie.

We told the kids next time we go they can either choose Lagoon OR a day pass at the slide. We'll see what they pick. It really was a fun adventure with cousins and Grandma.

Say Yes To The Dress

Due to some windy and dark conditions in the mornings here, I have been running on the treadmill in the basement for the past 2 weeks. Something is just so dreary about going out in the dark of the morning, but when it is also windy, I just can't make myself do it.

I am completely exercise attention deficit disorder, though, and I cannot run on a treadmill without something to waste my brain on to make me forget what I am doing and to make me not think about how much I am sweating. I am a stinky sweater; let's just leave it at that.

Anyway, we really don't watch much TV around here. But when we do watch, it is always something on DVR. But I have seen every episode of Mythbusters, and although I crush on Les Stroud of Survivorman, I just can't get into that show while running. What Not To Wear has been in re-runs forever, and I needed something new to capture my attention. Then I saw it on the TV menu--Say Yes To The Dress.

Recently, I had heard someone talking about this show, but I had never seen it. It sounded great, so I told my magic DVR machine to record some episodes. After one episode, I was hooked. Luckily, as I have never seen it, there are plenty of "new" episodes for me. At first, I didn't know what it was about the show that captivated me so.

After the first 2 episodes though, I figured out why I am so enchanted by this show. Bridal gown shopping is something I never did. It never crossed my mind. What these girls are doing is insane--spending more on a dress that I spent on an entire wedding. I think it would have been fun to go around trying on dresses to find "the one." But that wasn't my story. Here's my story.

My cousin got married the year before I did. She bought a new dress for the outrageous (at least it seemed so at the time) price of $450. Big sleeves, lots of beading, and a long-ish train. I don't remember being in love with her dress, but at that point, every dress--church dress and prom dress--I had ever had was homemade by my excellent seamstress mother, and I was completely blown away that they had spent that much money on a dress. My aunt told me that if I wanted to borrow it when I got married, I was welcome to it. At that time, I had not met Mark and did not have plans to get married any time soon.

Well, about 2 weeks later, the new year at BYU started, and I met Mark that first week of school. I had no interest in dating him, because I thought for sure I was taller than he. But he sure was fun to hang out with, and really super funny in a super nerdy way that I completely fell in love with. Around Thanksgiving time, I figured out he was actually 1/4" taller than I, and we started dating, and by the end of the next summer, we got married.

I never even went dress shopping to see if there was a dress I liked. My cousin's dress was my size, she spent a lot of money on it, it had some killer sleeves, and it was free. It never even entered my mind to go see if I liked something better.

Perhaps it is just 18 years of fashion progression, but looking at the dress now, I sure wish I would have maybe looked around a little.

It got me thinking, though, that there really wasn't much I was too specific about insiting on for my wedding. The things I do remember caring about are:

1) No fake flowers on my headpiece. My dad bent a coathanger, and my mom and Grandma Henrichsen made my headpiece for about $3, and then we paid $20 for a florist to put real roses on it.

2) I did not want plastic columns between the layers of my cake, and I did not want bright frosting on the cake. I was so happy with the way the cake turned out looking like a lace cloth was laid across each layer. It really was so pretty.

3) I wanted to know what was in the presents while we were at the reception. Don't you always wonder what is in those fancy boxes when you go to a wedding? So my 2 grandmothers were the gift unwrappers. They unwrapped and displayed the gifts, and would sneak over and give us updates about anything cool they unwrapped. They told me that back in their day, people did that all the time. I don't know if that is true, or if they were just trying to make me feel better for being so curious.

4) No video cameras. This was in the early days of video cameras, when they were the size of a briefcase. But my family had one, and I hated it. I told my dad over and over all summer I did not want any video of the day. Pictures, yes, video, no. I think the only video my dad took was of me doing my hair that morning and saying, "TURN THAT THING OFF!"

Which reminds me, I also did not know that people had their hair done for their wedding day. I just got up in the morning and worked the same hot-roller magic that I did every day. Make-up? I never really touched the stuff until I was 32, and it didn't cross my mind to wear some on my wedding day. I didn't even own any.

Museum adventures

I'm finally looking at pictures that Mark took in Utah nearly 2 months ago..... I'm late, I know.

The first day we were there, we took an adventure to the Utah Museum of Natural History. It's still the same small, lame, boring place it has been for the past 50 years. But the kids always love it. Science rules. It will be very exciting when they move into the new fancy building next year.

Then we went to Hill Air Force Base. Another snoozer for me, but always a favorite for the kids. We didn't anticipate them closing at 4:30, however. We had about 5 minutes to literally run through the museum.

Then Seth had the idea to go to a train museum in Ogden. The kids loved it. What kid doesn't love to climb all over trains?

Then we went back to my mom's house to watch Seth play with his homemade flamethrower. My kids are so lucky to have such an uncle.

Snooze you lose!

Snooze you lose is a common phrase used at our house. The kids know they might miss out on something if they are not fast. Like cookies out of the oven. 9 people in the house means cookies can disappear fast. Or a ride to school. Mom leaves at a certain time, and if you aren't ready, you'd better put on your walking shoes.

When Mark was in dental school, he lived by this motto. He knew that if the lab/bookstore/school had something available at a certain time, then he'd better be there when it opened or it would be gone. No mercy.

Remember this day back in June when Mark qualified for the Boston Marathon 2011?

He came home and put a big REGISTER FOR BOSTON MARATHON 6AM on October 18th on every calendar in the house. He didn't want to miss out.

Last year, the Boston Marathon sold out its 25,000 spots in 9 weeks. It was a record. We figured this year would sell out even faster, with all those people who got a qualifying time after registration closed last year making sure they got in this year.

When we were in Connecticut a couple of weeks ago, Mark drove to Hopkinton to see the start line of the marathon. He drove the route all the way to Boston. He has been excited to register for the race from the moment he crossed the finish line in Newport. Nothing was going to stop him from getting in.

So, at 6AM on Monday morning, we logged on to the BAA website to register. No problem. We got a confirmation number, and didn't think anything more about it.

The following morning I got a text message from a friend. She asked if Mark had gotten in to Boston. I told her that he had. She then told me a very sad story. Her husband had run the Portland Marathon on October 10th in 3:09, which is even faster than Mark's qualifying time. He was ecstatic. He logged on to the BAA at about 5pm, and was heartbroken to see that the 25,000 spots had filled up in 8 hours and 3 minutes. He was out of luck.... No mercy. No waiting list. No second chances.

Snooze you lose.

Happy Trails!

Our backyard has been through many transitions in the past 8 1/2 years. Logging, re-foresting, many versions of a small backyard, the patio project, filling, grading, filling, grading, more grading, and finally 2 years ago real landscaping. But the part we landscaped at that point was just the upper section directly behind our house. We had a gravel path around the big lawn, but if you wanted to go anywhere else, you were in for an adventure. Much of the 4 acres was pretty wild. We had planted thousands of trees all over, but you still had to have a machete on hand to get through the weeds and blackberries.

This fall, that all changed. We hired an amazing artist of the earth to make some gravel trails for us. Now we can get all around the whole property without any trouble.

It makes for a beautiful stroll through the trees and we can finally get to the orchard and archery range without trouble. It's almost finished, and I took a few pictures with Zachary yesterday. We still need to take down all the dead weeds, but thankfully we have Mark and 2 teenage boys who are experts with the brush saw.

This is the archery range down below the big lawn. They have been making it a little more flat and much, much easier to get to. Soon the targets will be back out and my little archers can get busy.

This is a view from the south end of the property, looking across a gully toward our lawn.

I love the color that the Sourwood tree turns in the fall.

This is the view from the "secret hideout" as the kids call it. It needs some weed-whacking big time, but it is such a beautiful view of the river from this point.
Another view from the "secret hide-out."
Zack loves all the big rocks they have been bringing in to line the trails with.
Nandina. Such a beautiful plant all year long.

This is the bridge through the south gully with the river down below.

The other big addition to our yard is that we finally got a swingset. Four swings and 12 feet high. It's not just for little kids.

If you come to the door and I don't answer, come on back, because Zack and I are probably outside exploring.