Our trip to Utah- - finally!!! January 16-21

I am FINALLY posting our pictures and stuff from our Utah trip last month. Wow- I am never this far behind in posting about things like this! Now that church is at 12:30pm instead of 9am - - I find it hard to catch up on blogging on Sunday. Jon is doing the hospital service today and won't be off until tomorrow afternoon, so the kids and I are having leftovers and I find I actually have a small block of time to start this post.

Anyway- our trip to Utah was soooo much fun. I love my family! We visited my sister Shauna and her family, and my brother Steve and his family. We drove up on Saturday the 16th to beautiful weather, then after a nice Sunday at Shauna's ward, we headed up to stay at one of our Worldmark's in Midway, UTah. We stayed there through Wednesay morning - - and had an absolute blast! We got a room for Shauna and her family, and Steve and Natalie (and their cute little boy Joshua) joined us each evening when they were done with school. We hung out at the resort most of the time, sledding on the nearby hill, building snowmen, swimming in their indoor pool, walking to see the local sights, playing many fun board games and having fun with the kids.

I had never been to Midway- it is a cute little area themed to be Swiss. The hotel next too us was so fun to walk through - - and the best was the "ice castle" sculptures. They were beautiful and we had fun walking through the little exhibit. Apparently it is made by the sculpter with sprinklers.

The siblings- Steve (and Joshua), Becky and Shauna:

Romantic . . .

The kids loved it too . . .



Another local sight is all of the hot springs that dot the area in small craters. There was a fairly large one a short walk away that has been turned into a place to train scuba divers. The 65 foot deep pool is located in a large dome and is like luke warm bath water year round. You can pay to swim in it or learn to scuba dive. We didn't pay to use it, but we got a good look at it. So interesting- I never knew it existed! These pictures don't show it well because of all the steam . . .



Having fun just playing in the snow:


Marcus snow angel:

Sledding on the little hill near our resort:

The girls:

Jon and Marcus had a blast making a snowman - - which turned into a "snow-mom" and Marcus is holding the baby . . .


Cute little Adam (Shauna's two year old):

Cute little Nathan (Shauna's new baby!)


Making gingerbread "Valentine" houses with the kids - - my sister is so good with kids and coming up with things for them to do . . .

Cynthia's house:

Mmmm- Lillian thought the house tasted better than it looked . . .

My adorable neice Hannah:

Jon has just as much fun as the kids - - can you see his balcony and other details?


On our way home from midway, we headed to the Children't Museum at the Gateway Plaza in Salt Lake City. That is one cool museum!! We all had a blast- especially Jon who is like a big kid (in a really good fun way)!
The pretend grocery store:


More fun . . .



(built by Jon- he was having so much fun with these)

Lillian especially loved the dress up:



Cynthia the climber:



More random pictures from our visit:

Again- the three cousin babies- - they are just too cute! The "Three Amigos" . .


Joshua bonding with his Aunt Becky and Uncle Jon:



The newest one- Nathan- isn't he adorable!



The only hiccup on the trip was that we had to come home early for my surgery. We drove home in a huge snow storm on the Wasatch front on Thursday, because my surgery was scheduled for Friday. Luckily it only lasted until about the I-84 turn off and then it was perfectly dry the rest of the way. We had some terrible white nuckle driving for several hours, though . . . we actually spun and slid off the road after hitting a burm of slush on the freeway. We were really being watched over, though- no one was hurt, including our van- - we just spun a few times (luckily there wasn't other cars or semi's near us) and slid nicely off into the small ditch on the side of the freeway. AAA came to our rescue and pulled us out of the ditch- and we were back on our way. It only cost us about a half an hour to 45 minutes - - but boy did it get our blood pumping!! I was so worried that it would be like that the rest of the way home, but it wasn't- thank goodness! We made it home safe and sound - thanks to Heaven for watching out for us.

I love my husband . . .

I just had to do a quick post about my wonderful husband. Those of you who don't want to read cheesy stuff- - STOP reading now! I am not trying to put myself above anyone else out there- I just feel for my journaling sake, I need to post my feelings. I am filled with so much gratitude to have him in my life. We truly have had an amazing 11 1/2 years of marriage. We have had many ups and downs in life, difficult and wonderful things - - and it has made it who we are as a couple today. We certainly aren't perfect, but I without a doubt know he is the best man for me and makes me the best person I can be!

I have to say thank you to Jon for all the little things he does for me to make my life so happy and wonderful. He has to work so hard in his career at this point in life (Residency has definitely been hard, but necessary), but he always makes it known that his heart is with us, even if he has to be gone long hours. He does little things like bring me half of his lunch or dinner, or a treat from the hospital - - and I don't know about any other moms out there, but any food not prepared by me is so fun to eat!! He does this just because he knows I like it so much. He knows I love a good conversation- so lets me go off about whatever is on my mind and is there for me to talk with. If his schedule allows, he will let me sleep in if I have had a rough night, and get the kids ready for school and on the bus for me. I could go on . . . . but needless to say, he makes it plain that he wants to spend time with me - - and makes me feel wanted and loved. What more can I ask for!! Thank you, honey for being there for me, and I hope that I can be the support you need for all you have to accomplish.

Worn Down

I had a dream last night that I was walking around in the sunshine- just soaking it in. I think the gray weather has really been getting to me. I can tell that I am feeling depressed when I don't even have the motivation to blog! I am usually pretty good about keeping up, and recently I haven't. I have some awesome pictures from our trip to Utah- and I have yet to post them. I don't feel motivation to do the things that I KNOW usually make me happy- like calling or meeting up with friends. It seems like although the surgery went well and I recovered the way I should, I had a week or so where I was just super tired. Then the week after that (last week) I had a minor cold - - you know the kind that just makes you TIRED, and am still battling it. Jon is on FMS (the hospital service- his hardest rotation)- so I need to step up and take care of things at home on my own. Jon was great after the surgery at getting up in the morning with the kids, and even getting them onto the bus for me so I could sleep later than 7am. Can't do that now! I am realizing sleep is everything, though I am finding that even on my good nights of sleep I have to drag myself out of bed in the morning and I wish for a nap all day long. I am just so tired all the time.

So- how do I get myself up and motivated again? I have been exercising for a short period of time every morning to get myself going- and that doesn't seem to help. I feel this wierd anxiety that I need to be doing something and I am not. I want to be a better mother too. . .

So- I am going to do my best to get out of the house more often - - I think part of it is just feeling really cooped up. I went almost a whole week without leaving the house after the surgery! The other part is missing Jon. Even when he is home, he has a lot of dictations and charting to do. He is good at taking time to talk to me, but I can always tell he is distracted and is just listening to apease me. I hate one way conversations. Sometimes I go days without a good adult conversation- and I think that really affects me. So, even if I don't feel like it- it is time to make sure I am talking to my friends and family regularly! I am going to get out of the house, turn off the TV (in my case, watching re-runs of The Office on Netflix)and get moving!! Here's to the start of a whole new mood (or so I hope!!).