Saturday, June 28, 2008
Flordia trip
I decided to try and figure out this whole blogging thing before I get my own when i head off to Provo in a few months. So, I'm going to tell you all about the fun vacation I got to go on with my dad last week. My dad has buisness meetings in Ft. Lauderdale Flordia and invited me to come with him as sort of a post graduation/need relaxation vacaction and it was so much fun. We flew out on Sunday and arrived in Orlando late that night. Monday and Tuesday we spent the days traveling Everest in the Animal Kingdom, watching fireworks and going on our favorite classic rides in the Magic Kingdom and riding on our favorite haunted elevator at Disney Studios. It was such a blast and so much fun to go to Disney World again. Its one of my favorite places and i always feel like such a kid when I'm there. We had a blast! Tuesday night we made the three hour drive from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale. Although the drive was long it was very eventful. After a long stretch of nothing but Flordia swamps we finally saw an exit and decided to stop to use the bathroom and get some food. The small town we stopped at turned out to be Yeehaw... the name says it all. It was the most disgusting place I have ever been but a rest stop I will never forget, even if I try. We were pleased to find that the hotel where my dads conference was is quiet the opposite of Yeehaw when we arrived though. Its called the Westin Diplomat and it was extremely fancy. It was right on the beach with private access to the beach from the two huge pools. Our room was on the thirty fifth floor, the very top, and looked right out onto the ocean, it was so beautiful. Wedensday, Thursday and Friday my dad had meetings all day and I spent my time laying by the beach, getting a pedicure, shopping, napping, taking bubble baths and just relaxing. I loved it! When my dad wasn't in meetings we had fun going out to eat, doing some shopping, drive by the coast, watching movies and just spending time together. Saturday we packed up our bags and came home. It was so nice to spend this time with just my dad. I'm so glad that I have such an awesome dad who would let me come! Thanks dad, I love you!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I'm Back
Today was great.....I got my stitches out and now I am able to type again. I have decided to go private due to some jerk out there who thinks that they can leave disgusting comments on my blog, so to any of you who know and love us send me your e-mail address and I will invite you to view and comment on our blog. I hated to do this, cuz it is an extra step for you, but it is a cruel world with some disgusting people out there. Nothing this person could say could hurt me, but I won't have my daughters subjected to this kind of garbage! So "I'mbetterlookingthan you" eat your heart out. Just so you know......a beautiful person is beautiful inside and out and you need to examine your heart and mind!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Shane's Update While Robyne is Recooperating!
Nicole Prior to Graduation
Nicole with Diploma...she did it!
Girl's after Graduation!
Megan at singing at Spring Concert.
Abbie's last soccer gameThis is really Shane and he has never created a blog post in his entire life! Sorry the pictures are first, I will attempt to figure that out next time I post. Robyne had surgery last Friday and isn't supposed to use her arm (it's in a cast). Of course, we shouldn't be to surprised that Robyne is pushing the limit on "acceptable activities". Good thing she still has some pain meds! She be out of her splint next week and will also have the stiches removed. She is really doing pretty good.
Now on to our update...hope you don't fall asleep with boredom:
ROBYNE & SHANE: Celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on May 27th..can't believe she's put up with me that long. We went to dinner at Ruth's Chris that night and then took a drive and ended up driving through the Salt Lake City Cemetery. It was right after Memorial Day so it was beautiful. Okay, it wasn't exactly the most romantic night but I did take her with me to Florida the month before!
NICOLE: She graduated from high school last week...seems like yesterday that she was heading off for her first day of Kindergarten. She's been busy very busy this year, especially this past month. Between being an SBO, in the schools Vocal Ensemble, and finishing the Historian's scrap book she hasn't had a lot of spare time. Robyne & I were chaperone's at her Grad Night Party which was an exciting way to spend the hours of 11:00 pm until 6:00 am! Nothing like staying up all night with 250 of your favorite 18 year olds. We survived and even managed to have a little fun. We attended a lot of concerts and other activities for her during the past month...we sure are proud of her! To show you how I would do anything for her I even stayed up with her until 2:00 am last Friday morning to help her register for BYU (oh the pain). I never though the day would come when I would be sending money, let alone my daughter, to BYU but that happened on Saturday also. Oh, the things we do for our kids...jk.
MEGAN: Finished her Sophomore year and was selected to be in Hillcrest's "Chorale" singing group during her Junior year. She is pretty psyched about that! I think she's been the most upset about Nicole graduating than any of us...she's loved having Nicole around this year. However, she is going to have a fun time next year being the only London girl at Hillcrest. She has a busy summer with girls camp, trek, and efy. She is going to Virgina (Southern Virgina University) for efy in July. Robyne is taking her out and will go and visit an old friend/missionary companion while Megan's at efy. Her number one assignment from her Dad this summer is to get her "Learner's Permit" so we don't have to drive her to all of her activities.
ABBIE: Finished eighth grade this year and is looking forward to summer. She's off to efy next week at Utah State with several of her friends. It should be a pretty wild time for them all. She scored the wining goal in her last soccer game on her Sandy Recreation team. This was her last year that she can play in Rec Soccer...she's now to old! What a way to finish. She has been so understanding this past month with all of the events Nicole & Megan have been involved with. We sure are glad we have her...she makes life so fun!
We've got a full summer of activities between girls camp, trek, business trips, and a family vacation. We are heading to New York in August for a last hurrah prior to the kids getting back to school. We've always wanted to go to New York and do everything that is there...should be interesting!
Good news is that Robyne should be back soon with an update. Who knows, maybe I'll even chime in from time to time.
Monday, May 12, 2008
The Rest of the Story...
Some great friends moved from our neighborhood to Seattle, WA. We missed their great sense of humor,funny stories,and even the Mr.'s teasing. So Sid, Sue and I decided to go visit them, and we probably had way toooo much fun! Here is a briefing on my latest west coast adventure!
We flew out on May 1st and were greeted by the smiling face of our own "Wandering Nana", of course it was great to see her again! She had picked a few places to take us so we headed out, but not until we stopped for lunch at a great little place, (where I tried to steal a cane for our hostess.) We headed out to the Seattle Temple,and it was beautiful! We also went to Picnic Point, and Edmonds Beach. We were able to collect sea shells and pretty rocks, now if I were only creative enough to figure out a way to display them! We went to dinner at a great little restaurant at the beach where the Clam Chowder was to die for! The Mr. was with us, a very patient man with 4 chattering women, so when the server asked where we were from he said "Texas". I was just dying!
The next day after Mr. went to work, we set off for a full day of fun and adventure! We went to a beautiful valley where they grow tulips and daffodils, at first we thought that we had missed the blooms...but we came across a beautiful place with multiple colors in full bloom, it was so pretty! We continued driving to a place called Deception Pass...WOW you can see from the pics in the slide show that the bridge is amazing, we stood on the walkway taking pictures of the ocean on one side and the fresh waters on the other side then we hiked down a trail to a beach below, it was a beautiful place. We then drove on and took the Mukilteo-Whidbey Ferry, and went on home! Our great Hostess made us this wonderful Shrimp Dinner, with rice and green salad, it was awesome. After eating we all loaded in the car and went to see Seattle by Night, by the time it got dark it was late and we were getting pretty goofy. Mr was driving us around and when he saw something he thought we would want to take a picture of he would stop...sometimes in the street. We couldn't take pics that fast, so he was kinda frusterated with us. He took the Pikes market at night picture. When we got near the Space Needle, we couldn't get a pic from the angle we were at in the back and one of the camera's was on the blink, so he pulled over and took his camera and stood in the middle of the street to get a picture...there were cars coming and the Mrs. was calling to him to get back in the car, meanwhile we were trying to get a picture of him standing in the middle of the street, and we were laughing so hard that I almost couldn't breathe, finally he gets back in the car and we look at the picture...we couldn't even see it and we started laughing again when Sid said, "Well,was that worth risking your life over?" Poor Mr. had to put up with our crazy laughting fits.
The next day it actually rained, but it wasn't to bad! We went to the Locks, it is like a little Panama Canal, it was really neat to watch the boats enter and the water level drop way down, the gate opens on the other side and out they go! We had lunch at Pikes Market, then went and rode The Duck. The Duck is an amphibious vehicle that drives on land and is a boat in the water. We had a great tour and saw all the famous sites of Seattle, it was alot of fun. While we were waiting to load the Duck we saw some interesting activity going on in the parking lot next to us...there was a truck parked with a camper on it, people were standing outside and they were wearing animal tails, noses, and some had full animal costumes on. They would use the camper to go in and change clothes, we thought it might be some activists or something, so I asked a guy? okay he was 1/2 guy and 1/2 squirrel, and he handed me a flyer!!! No they weren't dressed up like this for some worthy cause, like PETA or Save the Squirrels.....they were a social group. Yes people who have normal lives in the daytime, and evenings and weekends they dress up in animal costumes and go out in public places, this is how they get to meet new people...I guess with the same interests????? as they have. Anyway it was sooo strange, I think they called themselves the Seattle Furrys...it was nutty.
All to soon it was time to head to the airport,it was sad to say goodbye to Mr & Mrs, although Mr was probably relieved to get back to living with just 1 woman. They were the BEST Host and Hostess! This trip was rejuvinating for me, we kept busy, and laughed so much...I really needed that! Thank You Mr & Mrs, I sure do miss you guys!
Remember...don't feed the "animals."
We flew out on May 1st and were greeted by the smiling face of our own "Wandering Nana", of course it was great to see her again! She had picked a few places to take us so we headed out, but not until we stopped for lunch at a great little place, (where I tried to steal a cane for our hostess.) We headed out to the Seattle Temple,and it was beautiful! We also went to Picnic Point, and Edmonds Beach. We were able to collect sea shells and pretty rocks, now if I were only creative enough to figure out a way to display them! We went to dinner at a great little restaurant at the beach where the Clam Chowder was to die for! The Mr. was with us, a very patient man with 4 chattering women, so when the server asked where we were from he said "Texas". I was just dying!
The next day after Mr. went to work, we set off for a full day of fun and adventure! We went to a beautiful valley where they grow tulips and daffodils, at first we thought that we had missed the blooms...but we came across a beautiful place with multiple colors in full bloom, it was so pretty! We continued driving to a place called Deception Pass...WOW you can see from the pics in the slide show that the bridge is amazing, we stood on the walkway taking pictures of the ocean on one side and the fresh waters on the other side then we hiked down a trail to a beach below, it was a beautiful place. We then drove on and took the Mukilteo-Whidbey Ferry, and went on home! Our great Hostess made us this wonderful Shrimp Dinner, with rice and green salad, it was awesome. After eating we all loaded in the car and went to see Seattle by Night, by the time it got dark it was late and we were getting pretty goofy. Mr was driving us around and when he saw something he thought we would want to take a picture of he would stop...sometimes in the street. We couldn't take pics that fast, so he was kinda frusterated with us. He took the Pikes market at night picture. When we got near the Space Needle, we couldn't get a pic from the angle we were at in the back and one of the camera's was on the blink, so he pulled over and took his camera and stood in the middle of the street to get a picture...there were cars coming and the Mrs. was calling to him to get back in the car, meanwhile we were trying to get a picture of him standing in the middle of the street, and we were laughing so hard that I almost couldn't breathe, finally he gets back in the car and we look at the picture...we couldn't even see it and we started laughing again when Sid said, "Well,was that worth risking your life over?" Poor Mr. had to put up with our crazy laughting fits.
The next day it actually rained, but it wasn't to bad! We went to the Locks, it is like a little Panama Canal, it was really neat to watch the boats enter and the water level drop way down, the gate opens on the other side and out they go! We had lunch at Pikes Market, then went and rode The Duck. The Duck is an amphibious vehicle that drives on land and is a boat in the water. We had a great tour and saw all the famous sites of Seattle, it was alot of fun. While we were waiting to load the Duck we saw some interesting activity going on in the parking lot next to us...there was a truck parked with a camper on it, people were standing outside and they were wearing animal tails, noses, and some had full animal costumes on. They would use the camper to go in and change clothes, we thought it might be some activists or something, so I asked a guy? okay he was 1/2 guy and 1/2 squirrel, and he handed me a flyer!!! No they weren't dressed up like this for some worthy cause, like PETA or Save the Squirrels.....they were a social group. Yes people who have normal lives in the daytime, and evenings and weekends they dress up in animal costumes and go out in public places, this is how they get to meet new people...I guess with the same interests????? as they have. Anyway it was sooo strange, I think they called themselves the Seattle Furrys...it was nutty.
All to soon it was time to head to the airport,it was sad to say goodbye to Mr & Mrs, although Mr was probably relieved to get back to living with just 1 woman. They were the BEST Host and Hostess! This trip was rejuvinating for me, we kept busy, and laughed so much...I really needed that! Thank You Mr & Mrs, I sure do miss you guys!
Remember...don't feed the "animals."
Monday, May 5, 2008
Coast to Coast Part 1
April was a busy month for me. First Shane had a conference in Orlando, so I went with him for a week...it was so relaxing, just what I needed (for some reason).
Have you ever had a premonition? Well while waiting for our flight out to Orlando, we were sitting at the gate waiting, there was a family sitting behind us with 6 kids, but the kids were running around wild...the mom was sitting there putting on her make-up while the baby screamed, and the other little ones just ran around. There was one teenage daughter and the other 5 kids were probably 9 and under. The dad was standing clear over by another gate, probably pretending he didn't know the family. Anyway...this family...we referred to them as the "Bumpus" family, were out of control. Shane turns to me and says..."Just watch they will be sitting right behind me." I just laughed. I figured maybe they were on some other flight as there were other gates close by. But they were on our flight and they boarded shortly before we did, as we were walking down the aisle, we were getting closer and closer to them and Shane was actually right, but they were not only behind him they were also right next to him. I had the aisle seat across from him. The mom, who was rather large (the seatbelt didn't go around her) was right by Shane in the middle and her teenage daughter was by the window, behind them were 2 boys about 9 and 7, behind them were dad holding baby,and a little girl about 3 and then in the middle seat behind him was the other little girl about 5 (yes in the middle of 2 complete strangers). When we got down by our seats they had the aisle blocked as they tried to figure out where there seats were, the jerky husband starts yelling and swearing at his wife...finally they all sit down, but musical chairs were played many times throughout the flight...except of course dad bumpus stayed right where he was the whole time. So every time a kid needed to go to the bathroom mom would get up and have to take them...which meant Shane had to get up also. He put on his noise reduction headphones and tried to watch the movie, but mom kept poking him to ask questions like if she had to pay for the sodas? is there any free snacks? She did bring snacks from home..it was beef sticks and pepper-jack cheese sticks which the whole plane could smell.The baby was screaming so Dad yelled at the baby to "Shut Up" finally he passed the baby up to mom (over the seats) this happened several times as each trip to the bathroom she gave the baby back to Dad Bumpus, finally the baby fell asleep on moms tummy there was probably 3 inches between his head and the seat in front of her. When the baby awoke, she stood him on her lap and he started pulling the hair of the man in front of her. At some point she poked Shane and explained that this was the first family vacation they had ever taken, (surprise), she and her teenage daughter were terrified to fly, the 2 boys behind them were both ADHD, and she has a psycho ex husband living in Missouri. Shane wanted to say that everyone on the plane had already figured out the little boys problems,WHY NO MEDS???. I was so proud of him, he was so patient with all of it. Everyone behind and about 5 rows in front of us kept snickering and giving him sympathetic looks. I was having a hard time controling my laughter, and the funny expressions Shane kept making! As we landed one of the boys asked if they could go swimming tonight, Mom Bumpus replied that they would have to see, cuz mommy and daddy had to go to a presentation for a few hours that evening...YES they were the guests of some lucky timeshare group! Mom told Shane that they were flying home the next Wednesday....guess what? So were we!
So all week long we joked about the Bumpus family with some of Shane's co-workers. They laughed, but they weren't on our plane going out so they really didn't get it, however they were on the same plane coming home so we told them that the Bumpus family was also going home that day and maybe they could see for themselves.
We sat at the Orlando airport waiting for our flight,visiting with Shane's co-workers and wouldn't you know it along came the Bumpus family, yep, they were all there noone had gotten lost in Disney World. We were just dying...Shane turned to me and said, "If the flight is oversold, I'm staying and going on the next one!" As everyone was waiting, the kids started running around and 2 of them were screaming, Dad Bumpus was his usual unhelpful self, and mom bumpus looked like a tornado had hit her, she just sat there. Everyone at the gate just kept looking at them probably wondering if either one would do anything about their children. Shane's coworkers now were getting nervous. The Delta employee stood up to the microphone and announced that the flight was oversold and they needed 2 people to stay overnight and go on tomorrows flight, I jumped up immediately and started for the counter, but 2 other people ran and beat me to it. I told the girls with us that I thought they would be the lucky ones this time to sit among the Bumpus family, and low and behold....I was right! Shane and I had a good trip home, away from the Bumpus family, but laughing at our friends who sat among them!
The trip was a great one, we spent time at Sea World, and the "Happy Place" of Disney World. I spent time reading and relaxing. Life is good! And to anyone reading this...Yes, I do know what it is like to travel with little children and have them act up...I guess I just wouldn't take my family on a 4 1/2 hour flight, with nothing to do to keep them occupied, for our 1st family vacation.....it would have been the last vacation they ever took!
Stay tuned for part 2 of Coast to Coast
Have you ever had a premonition? Well while waiting for our flight out to Orlando, we were sitting at the gate waiting, there was a family sitting behind us with 6 kids, but the kids were running around wild...the mom was sitting there putting on her make-up while the baby screamed, and the other little ones just ran around. There was one teenage daughter and the other 5 kids were probably 9 and under. The dad was standing clear over by another gate, probably pretending he didn't know the family. Anyway...this family...we referred to them as the "Bumpus" family, were out of control. Shane turns to me and says..."Just watch they will be sitting right behind me." I just laughed. I figured maybe they were on some other flight as there were other gates close by. But they were on our flight and they boarded shortly before we did, as we were walking down the aisle, we were getting closer and closer to them and Shane was actually right, but they were not only behind him they were also right next to him. I had the aisle seat across from him. The mom, who was rather large (the seatbelt didn't go around her) was right by Shane in the middle and her teenage daughter was by the window, behind them were 2 boys about 9 and 7, behind them were dad holding baby,and a little girl about 3 and then in the middle seat behind him was the other little girl about 5 (yes in the middle of 2 complete strangers). When we got down by our seats they had the aisle blocked as they tried to figure out where there seats were, the jerky husband starts yelling and swearing at his wife...finally they all sit down, but musical chairs were played many times throughout the flight...except of course dad bumpus stayed right where he was the whole time. So every time a kid needed to go to the bathroom mom would get up and have to take them...which meant Shane had to get up also. He put on his noise reduction headphones and tried to watch the movie, but mom kept poking him to ask questions like if she had to pay for the sodas? is there any free snacks? She did bring snacks from home..it was beef sticks and pepper-jack cheese sticks which the whole plane could smell.The baby was screaming so Dad yelled at the baby to "Shut Up" finally he passed the baby up to mom (over the seats) this happened several times as each trip to the bathroom she gave the baby back to Dad Bumpus, finally the baby fell asleep on moms tummy there was probably 3 inches between his head and the seat in front of her. When the baby awoke, she stood him on her lap and he started pulling the hair of the man in front of her. At some point she poked Shane and explained that this was the first family vacation they had ever taken, (surprise), she and her teenage daughter were terrified to fly, the 2 boys behind them were both ADHD, and she has a psycho ex husband living in Missouri. Shane wanted to say that everyone on the plane had already figured out the little boys problems,WHY NO MEDS???. I was so proud of him, he was so patient with all of it. Everyone behind and about 5 rows in front of us kept snickering and giving him sympathetic looks. I was having a hard time controling my laughter, and the funny expressions Shane kept making! As we landed one of the boys asked if they could go swimming tonight, Mom Bumpus replied that they would have to see, cuz mommy and daddy had to go to a presentation for a few hours that evening...YES they were the guests of some lucky timeshare group! Mom told Shane that they were flying home the next Wednesday....guess what? So were we!
So all week long we joked about the Bumpus family with some of Shane's co-workers. They laughed, but they weren't on our plane going out so they really didn't get it, however they were on the same plane coming home so we told them that the Bumpus family was also going home that day and maybe they could see for themselves.
We sat at the Orlando airport waiting for our flight,visiting with Shane's co-workers and wouldn't you know it along came the Bumpus family, yep, they were all there noone had gotten lost in Disney World. We were just dying...Shane turned to me and said, "If the flight is oversold, I'm staying and going on the next one!" As everyone was waiting, the kids started running around and 2 of them were screaming, Dad Bumpus was his usual unhelpful self, and mom bumpus looked like a tornado had hit her, she just sat there. Everyone at the gate just kept looking at them probably wondering if either one would do anything about their children. Shane's coworkers now were getting nervous. The Delta employee stood up to the microphone and announced that the flight was oversold and they needed 2 people to stay overnight and go on tomorrows flight, I jumped up immediately and started for the counter, but 2 other people ran and beat me to it. I told the girls with us that I thought they would be the lucky ones this time to sit among the Bumpus family, and low and behold....I was right! Shane and I had a good trip home, away from the Bumpus family, but laughing at our friends who sat among them!
The trip was a great one, we spent time at Sea World, and the "Happy Place" of Disney World. I spent time reading and relaxing. Life is good! And to anyone reading this...Yes, I do know what it is like to travel with little children and have them act up...I guess I just wouldn't take my family on a 4 1/2 hour flight, with nothing to do to keep them occupied, for our 1st family vacation.....it would have been the last vacation they ever took!
Stay tuned for part 2 of Coast to Coast
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)