Oh, What Did you Do in the Summertime?

Well, our packed schedule sort of became a joke while I visiting my parents but it was fantastic and we had so much fun. It seemed liked leaving the house in the morning became a nearly impossible task for me and my parents had to pick up so much slack. It left me wondering how I ever leave the house to go anywhere since I usually do it all myself... I still haven’t figured that one out yet. Fortunately, my parents were amazing and did all the planning, packing, making lunches, etc. so we had the time to do so much!!! Here are some of the highlights of our favorite times spent with “grandma and grandpa” during July and August:

The Ups:
*Being with family, spending time together, building and maintaining relationships is definitely worth all the time and money (you don’t even want to know how much it is, trust me, it’s painful to think about)
*Fantastic cooking every night from my mom, and somehow I always managed to miss dinner clean up! In general I did significantly much less housekeeping than usual since my parents did all of it! What a treat it was... I mowed my yard today and did basic maintenance and wanted to die from exhaustion. Somehow my parents would get up extra early, get all the yard work done and then manage to run out chasing the grandkids all day. Did I mention they are Super Grandparents?
*Watching the kids have so much fun with their grandparents, Alyssa would yell an enthusiastic “Hi Grandpa!” every chance she got. They all woke up every day and would run to look for them, luckily they took a lot of time off work to spend with us so they usually found them.
*The fresh fruit! We had a nearly endless supply of delicious fruit, and the variety was amazing. Please go eat some and don’t take it for granted! I nearly cried when I got home and went back the commissary and couldn’t even buy grapes. The apples were nearly $4 a pound, the oranges were mushy....I came home with applesauce, bottled peaches and mandarin oranges...ugh. Luckily this week the selection was better, a little.
*So many fun things to do and I could read all the street signs!!! We went to a water park here the other day and I took the wrong road three times because I couldn’t read the sign to figure out where I was supposed to go...

The Downs:
*Missing Tom every night, we talked on iChat every morning (his night) but of course that wasn’t the same. Next year he just has to work it out to stay with me!
*Putting the kids to bed was tough, they fought me about it every night and it got exhausting!
*Hayden took advantage of Tom not being there to keep him in line and he was pushing my buttons left and right. We’ve been working on that since being home and I think we’ve got some better things in place so it won’t be so bad next year... yes, I am already thinking about our trip next year!

Here is what we did this year:

July 16: Arrive in Salt Lake City, Danica just kept looking out the plane window and saying “It’s just so beautiful!” I couldn’t agree more, I love flying in and seeing the mountains!

July 17-20: Trip to Southern Utah, stayed in a cabin in Antimony, rode 4 wheelers, did target shooting, exploring and I ran the Bryce Canyon 1/2 marathon (I actually came in 25th place for women out of 645, 10th for my age division.) She pictures and info on an earlier post.

July 21: Swimming with my sister!

July 22: Visited my cousin Deanna in Ogden and saw her brand new baby!! It was my mom’s birthday and we to Cafe Rio for dinner- yummmmmy! Then we went to the Sandy Amphitheater and watched an Abba (impersonator) concert, they were great!

July 23: Salt Lake Children’s Museum: My parents took the day off work and we took my nephew along and spent the day in Salt Lake. The kids loved it! They had so many cool exhibits and we took a lunch break outside at the splash pad! Hayden was soaked but so happy!



July 24: A holiday in Utah to celebrate the Pioneers. We chickened out on going to the parade because it was so crowded. But we did attend a family reunion for my grandma where I won a bag of trail mix for coming from the farthest away place (I suppose that makes the plane ride worth it?), Hayden did some karaoke and all the kids enjoyed doing pinatas. We went to my brother Ryan’s house for dinner. His wife Amy made a fantastic cake and homemade strawberry ice cream!!! Yum! That night we went to Strawberry Days in Spanish Fork and had a good time at the carnival. Uncle Ryan was nice enough to take Hayden on the Gravitron. I went on a ride with Hayden and got so sick!! But Hayden loved it! The girls loved their rides and every time they would come around Alyssa would yell out “hi!” and wave frantically! Afterwards we went back to Ryan and Amy's house to watch fireworks!



July 25: I went “garage selling” with my dad, an “in the states” luxury. Then my dad, brother and Hayden and I went to see the new Harry Potter! Great show!

July 26-28 Park City! We had a fantastic time staying in the Marriott Resort right at the foot of the ski slopes. Sunday after church we headed up just in time to have dinner (the rooms had a full kitchen and table that sat 8, it was awesome!) The next day we enjoyed water aerobics in the morning, then tons of swimming and 6 hot tubs. In the afternoon we walked next door to the rides where we had a blast flying down the Alpine Coaster (you should have heard my mom screaming!). We all went on the Alpine Slide, even Alyssa, who upon getting off declared “Fun!,” which it was! The next day we went and watched the ski jumpers practice and then hit the outlet mall for more back to school shopping! Oh, how I miss the outlet malls....sigh.....

July 29: Open House at the Oquir Mountain Temple in West Jordan. It was so supposed to be a big family group but things happened and it was just my mom, my sister and the kids. I knew we were in trouble when the kids refused the get out of the car with Hayden insisting it would be boring...We actually got back in the car and said a prayer for peace and help in making it a positive experience. I got out of the car and was trying to coax Hayden out when the prayer was answered by a girl in a golf cart pulling up and asking if we wanted a ride up to the temple. We were actually parked pretty close and I’m sure the golf cart was for the far away parking lot but Hayden got excited to ride in the cart and got out of the car and jumped on. I wish I could say he was then pleasant and awe struck by the temple but really he was a bear and complained the whole time. It was REALLY crowded so we were moving at a snails pace and he was rightfully bored. Thankfully however, the prayer for peace worked on me and I was able to maintain a positive attitude when at other times I may have simply tried to drag him out by the ears. In the end we sat down in the celestial room and they talked to us for a bit. As we were leaving Hayden mumbled “Okay, so that was actually pretty cool.” Since that night I have heard him recount with enthusiasm the fact that he has been in a temple. He was all to eager to tell his class when we got back here. It was practically torture to drag him through it but apparently was worth the trouble. Thanks to my mom also for being so nice to just put up with him. She’s a saint.

July 30: We went to the zoo in the morning and had a great time, I met up with an old friend for a bit and then we were on our own. It was actually nice to enjoy a pleasant day with the kids. Then just as I was thinking how great things were Danica pushed Alyssa off the stool at the drinking fountain and brought me back to reality! That night I had a BBQ with the old high school gang. It was fun to see everyone and it was great for the kids because we all had boys about the same age!


July 31: Went to visit my grandma in Provo, saw the old stomping ground and made the kids reminisce with me about where Tom and I met. That night I had a GNO with my sister, it was fun to be with her!This is the tree we were in when he proposed! He had hidden the ring in the tree and totally surprised me with it! I loved climbing trees and this was perfect!
This is the apartment complex where Tom and met

August 1: Seven Peaks Water Park!!! We had so much fun swimming, sliding and playing. My parents are super grandparents and helped so much with the kids and we ended staying all the way until closing time! The kids were so happy and loved it! We went to the “water park” here in Japan and it was just so sad, they had two small slides. Oh well, at least we can go again next summer! Hayden’s favorite ride at Seven Peaks was called “Cave In” it’s a dark tube slide, I love it also!

August 2: My grandma came for dinner! It was great getting to see her so much.

August 3: Visited with some friends from college, it was great to see Wendy and Tawna and Erik. That night we went to Thanksgiving Point and my parents took the girls to the petting zoo while Hayden and I had the treat of going together to the dinosaur museum! It was so fun to spend some one on one time with Hayden and the museum was really cool! Hayden’s favorite part was the part where you got to dig and use brushes to find the bones.


August 4: Lagoon Day! We had a fantastic day at the amusement park and could have stayed longer! Hayden’s favorite ride was called “Wicked” and it was, it flew you up really fast and then you went around like you were flying. Danica was really brave and went on tons of rides. She even went on the Tidal Wave, every time we’d go up high she would look terrified and then she would look at me and try to smile. It was so funny but I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture. Grandma was the hero because she took the kids on all the spinning rides I couldn't handle. And yes, that is a picture of her on Puff!


August 5: Went to Heber and visited a friend from college. It was great that we could just pick up like no time had passed and her 4 boys and my kids had a great time together at the park. That night my sister-in-law Chelsea arrived. My brother was in Portland doing a medical rotation so she came with their 2 year to spend the week! Hooray!

August 6: Enjoyed getting a babysitter and going to lunch with Chelsea and my mom at Zupa’s. Definitely a new favorite place! Then we took the kids to a new playground that was designed like an old west town. Unfortunately it was so windy we had to leave and took shelter at an in door McDonald’s playland.

August 7: Took the kids to Chuck E Cheese, a big disappointment (Hayden is reading over my shoulder and he disagrees and says that it was fun, I thought that there weren’t enough rides). That night we hiked up to Donut Falls, a great hike and we managed to miss getting rained on!



August 8: We had fun doing a baby shower for Chelsea, we got to meet some her family, see some of ours and just celebrate the new baby. It turned out nicely.All the grandkids!

August 9-12: After dinner we headed up the canyon to stay in a condo at a resort called East Canyon. We enjoyed playing mini-golf, swimming, 4 wheeling and simply relaxing. I even took a nap! My first nap of the summer!!! It was a really nice relaxing time. My brother Matt flew in to see his family and to be there for the graduation!
Alyssa and Danica had to pretend they were the Little Mermaid sitting on this rock and singing!


We celebrated Alyssa's and Chelsea's birthday!

August 13: We went to a special graduation luncheon at BYU for my mom. It was fun to see them treat her so specially and to celebrate with her. We visited my grandma and then went back to Sandy. That night we got a babysitter and all enjoyed going out to dinner for graduation, it was fun and delicious!

August 14: Swimming at the neighbors, a visit from my cousin Deanna and her new baby and then the highlight: my mom’s BYU Graduation!!! She graduated with the Business School with a degree in General Studies with an Emphasis in Business Management. It was a great service and I couldn’t help but tear up as I thought about all her hard work and all the years she waited to be able to do this for herself. My entire life and I have nothing but memories of the things she has done for me and my siblings, for the time and energy she put into helping us with school and life and for running a wonderful home. She got so close to graduating before she had my brother, I’m so glad she was finally able to finish! After all her years of supporting her 4 children as they each graduated it was now her turn!!!! She really is amazing and did such a great job in school! Great job mom!!!! This is a bit of info from her graduation announcement.

"Robbi began her college career in 1973 with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Child Development. Three and one-half years later she left school just one month prior to the birth of her first child and nineteen credits short of graduation. After putting her husband through school and seeing all of her four children graduate from BYU and BYU-I, she decided it was her time to go back and finish what she had started. By this time her ambitions had changed and after working for 15 years in the accounting/business field, she sought a degree in Business Management. Although grateful for her earlier major in education (which helped in the raising of her family), she is excited about the opportunities her new degree have provided. Elder Robert D. Hales summed up Robbi’s reasons for going back to school when he said, “Past learning creates a valuable foundation of experience upon which to build, not a comfortable place to dwell for a lifetime.”


August 15: With not a second to spare I stayed up half the night finishing the packing, got up early and began the 24 hours of travel....

And there you have it... now you know what I did with my summer! What did you do with yours?

24 hours of traveling alone with 3 kids...

I’ve been back in Japan for one week now and life is settling in quickly. I ran out to the car my second day back to drive Alyssa to her gymnastics class, her first class, and we were going to be late. I pulled out of the drive way and started down the street. There were cars parked in all directions on the sides of the road and I was instantly confused trying to remember which side of the road to drive on. It was the first time I was driving since getting back. I actually had to pull over to think for a second before continuing. The rest of the drive was fine, right back into the routine. Alyssa enjoyed her gymnastics class but has a long way to go in learning about listening, following directions and doing gymnatics. It’s a mommy/me class that I look forward to doing with her while Hayden is at school and Danica is at preschool. Hayden started t-ball and even though it is crazy hot and we are sweating just sitting in the shade, he’s having a good time and said he’s glad he signed up. He did well at his first game yesterday. Another great thing for Hayden is that a new family moved in across the street and they have a 2 year old girl and two boys ages 6 and 8! Hayden is so excited, we went to meet them and Hayden carried over a Lego Star Wars guy and when he met the new boys, he looked at what they had in their hand and Hayden was holding the exact same character as the 8 year old! I’m thrilled he’ll have more kids to play with, they seem like a really nice family.

The down sides to being home: I miss our extended family already knowing how long it will be until we see them again. It’s crazy hot, just like I knew it would be, yesterday it was 104, who knows how hot it felt due to the humidity. I have sooooo much to do, we are switching the bedrooms around so the girls share a room and Hayden has his own, a great plan but a ton of work. Plus the yard has been ignored for 2 months and is over growing with weeds.... I think I’ll put that off for a while longer. Probably the worst part is the jet-lag. The kids were up a million times out first night (since it’s day time to them.) They hardly slept on the flights so I thought they would sleep a lot at home but I guess not! The second night they were up at 4:00 and didn’t go back to bed until their naps in the afternoon, which I couldn’t wake them from. I dragged them out of bed and to Hayden’s t-ball practice but they cried most of the time because they were so tired and hot! Same thing the thirst night, up at 4:00 wide awake. This time I kept them awake ALL day (it was torture for me too) but luckily it seemed to the trick and they slept until 6:30 the next day. They are back to normal now.

Several people have asked me how I survived the trip home, and I want to write it down so I remember for next time. I left for the airport at 7am, (Utah time) and arrived at my house in Okinawa and nearly 6:45am (Utah time), the next day. I left Utah on Saturday morning and arrived in Okinawa where is was Sunday night. So here are the details: The flights home were okay with only a few rough patches. For instance, I checked in curbside with sky cap in Salt Lake. I then went through the security line and got to the front and discovered the guy had not printed new boarding passes for the kids. He handed me the folder and said I didn’t need the ones I had printed so I through them back in the car. So, I had to lug the kids all the way back across the airport to the terminal desk to get their passes. Then we ran back (a relative term with three kids and carry-ons for 24 hours in tow) made it through the line, then the long walk to the gate. We finally got there after they had boarded, the flight attendant had to make an announcement to get people to switch seats so that we could sit in three seats together. I was so embarrassed, wished I’d listened to my dad and gone earlier, but alas, at least we caught the flight! The flight was smooth. Things went well in Seattle, we got our luggage, checked in for the long flight and waited. Alyssa opened a birthday present from her Aunt Amy and Uncle Ryan and was thrilled to have new coloring books to use on the plane. We finally boarded the plane and hit glitch number 2. Our seating assignments were odd, We had two seats right behind the bulk head (dividing wall) and one seat across the aisle from that. Hayden was reluctant to sit alone but in the end realized I was still within arms reach and the extra space the aisle created was actually nice since Alyssa was my lap child. The real lousy part was that being behind the bulk head meant that the carry on bags, I had stayed up late meticulously packing, had to be stowed in the over head compartment. Not exactly convenient to grab things when I needed them. However, the kids were great on the plane, only a few stressful moments, hardly any sleep, lousy food, but no major tantrums and they stayed busy enough and were happy.

Landing in Tokyo was great, after nearly 12 hours on the flight I was anxious to be so close. However, the kids had finally fallen asleep right near the end of the flight and I couldn’t rouse them. I was literally shaking them trying to get them wake up to walk off the plane. We finally made it off the plane but they had announced that we were at the farthest away gate. I began the trek toward immigration, with the kids crying, dragging their carry-ons and begging me to hold them. That’s when my angel arrived. She was a literal answer to prayers. She was a United Airlines supervisor who was there to talk to the Japanese attendants that were getting off the flight. She saw that I needed help, tried to radio for some but when none came she picked up the car seat and some carry-ons and walked with us on the long journey. She took us straight to the front of the LONG immigration line because she knew one of the guys working the desk. Then she helped me pick up my luggage and get it althrough customs. Then she stayed with me through to the ticket counter where I checked my luggage on to the finaly flight. She was Japanese and translated everything making it so much smoother. She even had them call ahead to Okinawa to arrange to have someone there to help me off the plane. I didn’t know how to thank her enough. I gave her a hug and said thank you and she said she said she remembered the days of traveling with young ones and that her daughter just had a baby. I know several people were praying for us on our long journey and she was the answer to those prayers. I don’t think we would have made it onto the connecting flight without her. I would have ended up just sitting down on the floor and crying with the kids, afterall it felt like 3 am to me as well. Anyway, the last flight is just over 2 hours, Alyssa didn’t sleep so I was tired but we managed. At one point Danica woke up needing to go potty but to delirious to do it herself so I ran her back there. I came back to find a lady walking toward me with Alyssa who had apparently gotten out of her seat and gone running toward the front of the plane. I love nice people. A nice woman met us in Okinawa and helped me to baggage claim. Then we went out and met up with Tom- hooray!!!

It’s been great to be home with Tom, we missed him so much. Life is back in full swing, like I never left. I did music time in primary today, we had a new family over for dinner, we spent the week at gymnastics and t-ball and playing with friends. Friday night we went swimming. Saturday night we the Navy Dental Birthday Ball, instead of formal wear it was “saloon wear.” So dressed up in costumes and actually had a really good time. They had saloon games and such it was pretty relaxed and fun. This next week promises more of the same, busy as usual. School starts on the 31st. I will post a fun recap of my time in Utah soon, but now I have to go to bed. We signed up for a FULL marathon, on Oct. 31 so I have to get up early to go run. Good thing I have something to train for because otherwise I would just declare it way too hot!

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

We survived the journey home and are dealing with the heat and the jet lag.... there is much to do and much to be written about our trip but for now, I just want to take one second to say "Happy Birthday Alyssa!" We had a fun little family celebration last night with cake and presents. She is such a sweetheart and makes everything much more fun and exciting! I'll never be able to get enough of her cheesy smile! I'll post pictures of her party eventually. Gotta go entertain Hayden while I try to unpack and clean up this insane house...

Tracey

Time to head home

Well our adventure here in the United States is about to come to a close and it's time for us go home to Japan. We've had a fantastic time here hanging out with family and doing something fun nearly every day. As expected, there are still tons of things I haven't done yet, no matter how long I stay I'll always run out of time! I need to go to bed so I can up early to pack so I will have to share all of the details when I get home. I am sad to leave but anxious to get back to Tom and back into the routine of our life. Two months is a really long time to be on vacation. Tomorrow my mom graduates from BYU and I am so excited I get to be here for this special day. It's something she's wanted for a long time and really worked for. After the graduation I have to finish up the last minute packing and we leave early Saturday morning. Please keep me in your prayers on Saturday as I attempt to travel home with all three kids by myself. I fly from here to Seattle, 2 1/2 hours, get my luggage and then check in for international travel on a different airline. We board the plane for Tokyo and spend nearly 12 hours in flight. Then we go through customs and such and get on the plane for the 3 hour ride to Okinawa. My biggest concern is juggling all the luggage through all the different lines while I have the three kids in tow.... oh boy, this will be fun fun fun!!!

Well on that note, I must rest and get ready!!! Stay tuned for awesome pictures and updates from the rest of our trip!

Happy Summer everyone!