Girls Trip to Moab

On Friday morning Karen, Muffin, Jessica and I left for our much anticipated Girls Trip to Moab! This getaway was very refreshing on many levels, including 2 days of nonstop girl talk. I learned so much about and from these special moms (we have 11 kids between the 4 of us) and look forward to making a "Girls Getaway" an annual retreat (or weekly...whichever works better:) Special thanks to my fabulous husband who didn't hesitate to watch the 3 kiddos for 2 days, including bottle-feeding Wether. Speaking of which, 2 of us are nursing moms, so we didn't go far without our pumps. Anyway...

Here's the skinny:

Friday:

6:45 am - Departure

10:15 am - Arrival at Dead Horse Point National Park and a quick yet breathtaking hike (picture 1 L-R Karen, Olivia, Muffin, Jessica).

Early afternoon - Set up our tent at Goose Island campground right outside of Moab. We were right on the Colorado River with 700 foot cliffs of the other side (picture 7).

Afternoon - Arches National Park. We did a series of short hikes including Windows, Broken Arch, Balancing Rock, and Sand Dunes (picture 2).

Lastly we hiked to Delicate Arch - the most famous arch in the country and on the Utah license plate (picture 5 - Muffin and I are directly to the left of the arch). I LOVED this hike (picture 3), especially because the heat of the day was replaced with rolling dark clouds, wind, and thunder (picture 4). On the way back from the arch the wind became very strong and it started to pour on us (picture 6).

Early Evening - The rain continued for a couple of hours so we sagely replaced our tinfoil dinners with a yummy dinner at Zax restaurant in Moab. By the time we finished eating, the sky was completely clear.

Evening - Back at the campgroup the tent had a fight with the storm and lost. It was collapsed, a poll was bent, and it was wet and very muddy (fortunately, all of our camping gear was still in the minivan). Still, we got it back up in a jiffy, cleaned it and Muffin got a fire going (picture 7). We enjoyed s'mores, talking, sitting by the fire, a devotional by Jessica, stars not seen in Orem, and the light show on the cliffs.

Saturday:

After breakfast, putting away camp, and lots of sunblock, we were off to our day of white water rafting down the mighty Colorado (picture 8). The weather was perfect, the river high, and we had an awesome river guide who let us float down the river for quite a bit of the trip (I would have stayed in the water the whole time if he had let me! Picture 9). This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. Halfway through the day we stopped for lunch on a sandy beach.

8 pm - Arrival home to tan children, a clean home, and a hungry baby (thank goodness). I'm already ready for another adventure in gorgeous Utah!

And we have a swimmer...

For Family Home Evening last night, we headed over to the Scera Pool (minus the baby). The water was warm and the place practically empty. Marcus LOVES the water and would jump off the side of the pool whether we were there to catch him or not. Then he started doing bellyflops, twists and cannon balls...holding his breath, swimming underwater, and then swimming to us! Yay! He's still learning to doggy paddle forward but went very far swimming on his back.

In other Marcus news, he's finally putting his seatbelt on by himself. I thought the day would never come.

My little boy is growing up....

Connecticut

Memorial Day Parade, New Canaan, CT.

Kayaking in Ziegler's Cove

I was amazed we didn't tip over.













Marcus watching Holden and I kayaking in the distance from the bow of the boat.

Mom, Pam, and I dunking the boys into the water from the stern of the boat.

Above - Holden aboard Maramor and Holden on the launch. He was a trooper about wearing his life jacket. Below - Marcus helping to steer the launch

Mom, Wether and I on the launch. Norwalk Yacht Club is in the background. Their house is a short walk up a hill.



Marcus and grandpa on the lawnmower.

Baby Wether sleeping in a swing.

Wether on the airplane.























Pam rocking Wether to sleep.
















Me and the boys on the plane ride home. It went very well. The boys watched TV until they fell asleep - I even got a little shut-eye! Wether sat with Pam across the aisle.

We're all back from our travels! If feels so good to be together as a family again, especially to have Kjell back in the country. He was sorely missed.

Even with less than par weather and some cranky, needy little boys, we still had a wonderful time visiting my parents in Norwalk, Connecticut. I already want to go back (with Kjell this time)! In fact, I think it's a future requirement that Kjell accompany me on all trips with the boys (something my dad subtlely mentioned one or two times).

Anyway, here are a few things we did:

1. Boating - the boys loved it! Marcus entertained himself by pretending he was "fishing" with a swim noodle. He caught us each quite a few fish. My mom made fish for dinner a couple of times. We tried telling Marcus it was chicken, thinking it would make him more apt to eat it, but he'd reply "I want fish!" Holden liked to throw things overboard...we'll always remember the sippy cup that got away. The hum of the engine lent to solid naps for Wether.

2. Swimming. The Long Island Sound was COLD, but that didn't stop my boys from jumping in off the stern of the boat (after much coaxing). I was a proud mom to see them swimming in the frigid water - something I was known for as a child. We also swam in the neighbor's pool and another neighbor's hot tub.

3. Visiting. I visited my good friend Janelle at her parents' house in Newtown, Connecticut on a very rainy day. She and her family live in New York City. It was great catching up!

Mom, the boys, and I drove to Port Washington on Long Island to visit Aunt Darcy, Richard, my cousin Tom and his girlfriend Marianne (photograph to come). It was way too short of a visit, but fortunately Aunt Darcy came to visit Norwalk a few days later to visit some more. Among the many treasures Aunt Darcy always brings, she gave my mom and I bolts and bolts of GORGEOUS fabric. This kept us busy.

Neighbors are few and far between where I grew up in New Canaan, so the ones you can actually see become pretty close. Mrs. Pureka (I grew up with her daughter Christine, who remains a dear friend) paid us a visit in Norwalk. It was fun to see her with Marcus, since I started hanging out at their house when I was 4 (almost 5). I hope my children will have as kind of neighbors as I did.

My childhood friend Emily Harris Dreas come over for breakfast with her 2 little girls. We had some good laughs!

Pam flew out from Utah for the last 4 days of our trip. Huge help. This Minnesota girl had no problems swimming in the cold water - a big factor in getting Marcus to jump in.

4. Projects. First, mom and I organized hundreds of photos. What a trip down memory lane and also a chance to see pictures of mom and dad growing up. My mom's beauty continues to amaze me.

The aforementioned fabric was transformed into 4 sets of curtains. So pretty.

I made 3 cakes and 1 casserole. Other than that, my mom made EVERY meal that we ate at home. I'm still taking notes to improve my own cooking skills.

Lastly, we organized some credits my mom had accumulated at a local jewelry store.

5. Playing. The New Canaan Memorial Day parade was everything I remembered it to be - very Americana. The bagpipes, soldiers, and firetrucks were my favorites. Afterward we went over to the Lysenko's house (the cousins of my good friend Barb who live in New Canaan) where we rode in an Amish-made cart pulled by horses.

We went to playgroup at the New Canaan Ward, on long walks daily around Wilson Point, and lots of visits to the neighbors' trampoline.

The last rainy day (my birthday) we went to the Maritime Museum. Fascinating, but extremely loud and crowded with hundreds of school-aged kids on field trips.

Props to my dad for taking Holden and Marcus to Stepping Stones Discovery Museum by himself so we could work on the photograph project. He also took Marcus on a walk almost everyday.

We had a babysitter take the boys to the beach, the park, and some local libraries on a couple of the days. My favorite was when she pulled up in a Jaguar.

6. Shopping. The Goodwill in Norwalk is my favorite place to shop. Period. Unfortunately, the secret is out.

Remember those credits I mentioned? I was definitely the beneficiary of those. For my birthday, my mom took me to PennyWeights in New Canaan and I'm now many earrings richer.

Bramwell Galleries - an auction house in Wilton. I was inspired by the way the houses are decorated on the East Coast - a little more eclectic then I see in Utah. Soooo, while Pam babysat, mom and I ran to an auction house to find some art. Jackpot! I found an etching and a large, signed oil of a ship at very reasonable prices (thanks to mom's bargaining). The large oil will soon be hanging in my parent's house since it would cost a small fortune to ship to Utah (whoops) but it looks wonderful there. The etching is being shipped to me (thanks!).

More details from Kjell's trip

The following are some excerpts from the emails Kjell wrote me while traveling through Asia. These compose of a very small part of his trip...for a much more comprehensive overview visit this blog.

May 26, 2009
I'm sitting in the Tokyo airport waiting to board our flight to Seoul. Today we visited Deusche Bank headquarters in Tokyo. We listened to some interesting presentations by the a few executives, including the COO who is a member of the church. He was impressive and he reminded me a lot of the successful yet spiritually grounded people in the New Canaan Ward. We then toured their trading floor (which was a little inactive because Memorial Day); you could see the carnage from the current market conditions (the staff that traded structured credit products had been cut drastically). Still, I was impressed.
After that we went back to the hotel and I, with a small group, went to an upper-floor observatory to view the city. Then we found a really good sushi place for lunch. It was well-priced, too. I got nailed with an expensive dinner last night and was a little annoyed, so it was a good change. Then a few of us went to a shopping district to look around, after which I went to check out a garden/park, only to find that it didn't open until 30 minutes before we had to leave. So I walked around and then challenged myself to figure out the subways un-aided (it wasn't perfect, but I made it back on time).
Overall, Japan was really neat. The cultural aspects were the most interesting. They are very service-oriented and place more value on pleasing customers than even the US. It also has an extremely low crime rate, due to its cultural influences. It was fun.

May 27, 2009
Yesterday we were on the road a lot. The first stop was the DMZ (De-militarized Zone) on the 38th parallel (border of North and South Korea). We went into some tunnels that the South Koreans caught the North Koreans making in the 1970s that went under the DMZ with the intention of invading South Korea. The cover stories were kind of funny (they first blamed the South Koreans, then they rubbed black dirt on the walls claiming they were coal-mining tunnels). We then went to several other checkpoints and viewpoints around the DMZ and got to look over into North Korea. The North Koreans built several propaganda villages (no people, just shell buildings) right on the border to give the impression of prosperity. What’s interesting is that even though the South Koreans are frustrated by the antics of their northern neighbor, they still really love them. They realize that it’s just the dictators and not the people that are the whack-jobs.
Our business tour was Samsung. I surprised at how big they were and they put together a well-prepared presentation for us. They are definitely in it to win, but they weren’t as unassuming as Toyota and I found that to be a little tacky.

The BIG 29

My sweet friends from my playgroup threw me a little birthday party last night (my birthday was on Friday). It was the best! First we ate cheesecake with strawberries, brownies, and ice cream (thanks Jessica) then my toenails got painted (thanks Pam). We got our hair and makeup done (thanks Muffin) followed by a photo shoot (thanks Karen) and lots of dancing around like Rock Stars. Nothing like good friends to lift your spirits.

More details about my trip to Connecticut and Kjell's Foreign Business Excursion to come....

My Famous Kitchen

OK, not really famous, but enough to be in a local magazine! Thank goodness my friend Erin told me about it or I never would have known. Check it out on page 12 of Main Street Magazine.