Snowbird’s Oktoberfest

Bratwurst, weisswurst, beef roulades, spatzle, sauerkraut, German Chocolate cake, apple strudel and more. We spent a few hours at Oktoberfest and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors in the mountains at Snowbird Ski Resort.

Happy Birthday to My Man!

Happy Birthday Jason! (Yesterday)

He’s a great father…

He’s a basketball star…

He’s a world traveler…

He’s a great brother…

He’s a Cardigans fan…

He’s the best husband…

He works hard…

A loyal, honest, dedicated employee, and he brings home the bacon to pay for this…

Thanks for being everything  a girl could dream of and more!

I surprised Jason at work with German Chocolate Cupcakes and Jason’s mom has taken us to Benihana’s for dinner the past several years to celebrate!

2008

2007

2006

We had a buffet breakfast, spent the day snorkeling in Bora Bora and…

2005

No record…I am sure I planned something awesome or maybe he was out of the country.

2004

I better stop blogging and get something done.

Soccer, Basement, Buffalo

Jackson’s playing on his first soccer team, Here are a few shots from his game last week. He is on the Purple Panthers #2.

He’s the one in running motion.

I am very excited to announce that our carpet was installed last Tuesday. Jason’s been so busy with school that we haven’t had much time to actually move anything down to the basement, hopefully this weekend! My dad will put on baseboards, doors, shelving and trim work when him and my mom get back from China in 2009. Here are a few photos of the carpet-we have doubled the size of our house!

Family Room/Toy Room

The neighbor kids are ultra excited too!

This will be Jackson’s room next year.

Our office, EBay business and project room.

Have I mentioned my neighbors have buffalo? Yes, as in Bison on their property.

State Fair

Remember this post about free tickets to the State Fair for school aged kids who read 10 books over the summer? We turned in Savannah’s reading record form and she received her free entrance ticket, free drink, and one free ride voucher.

Jackson gets in free since he’s under 5 and I prebought my ticket online and saved another $1.50. Good thing I had all these savings because I GOT ROBBED at the fair. Not literally but times are a changing people. Navajo Tacos are $9, Cotton Candy $3, rides $3-5 per, simple carnival games start at $5 etc.

We had a great time though, we walked down aisles of hogs, rabbits, various fowl, cattle, goats, fish, sheep, horses, snakes, baby crocs, etc We saw some seriously big hogs and they smelled. As a parent I preferred the ‘complimentary activities’ like Little Hands on the Farm. The kids got a basket and apron and were sent on a maze to pick an apple in an orchard, plant a seed, harvest the garden, milk a cow, ride a tractor and deliver hay, and more. The kids thought this was great! They learned where food comes from and an idea of how much work goes into getting ‘real food’ like fruits and vegetables. At the end, they were given $1 to buy something at the ‘grocery store’.

The best activity was free fishing. Kids under 12 could try their hand at fishing, catch one fish and throw it back in the pond. Savannah and Jackson both caught a fish within a couple minutes.

We also watched the Veggie Tales perform, I was bored to tears.

I wish I could have discreetly taken pictures of some of the good folks at the fair. (enter sarcasm) If anyone visits our country please do not take them to a State Fair. I am not going to say anymore in such a public forum, but it you’d like to hear more you can call me.

I tried to look at the photography entries, but Savannah and Jackson weren’t too excited. I really wanted to spend some time viewing these, next year I guess. I would love to enter some of my travel photos someday. (Click photos to enlarge.)

Walk To Remember

Share Parents of Utah, A Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Organization is hosting a Walk To Remember in two locations next month, Layton and Salt Lake City. As I recently lost a boy in my second trimester this will be my first year to participate in this event. They have a short program, balloon release, walk and T-shirts. If you would like to submit your baby or babies names to be on the T-shirts, the deadline is Sept 26th. (Update 9.11.08-I have an order form for the Salt Lake region that I can e-mail anyone. There are shirts, and many other items available to order.)

Information From various web sites:

October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month. Join us as we remember our babies and walk in memory of the steps they will never take.

Salt Lake Information

The 2008 Walk to Remember Memorial Service and Balloon release will be held October 11, 2008 at 1:00 PM at Larkin Mortuary.

Larkin Sunset Lawn 2350 East 1300 South Salt Lake City UT 84108

Pre-register and have your baby or babies name printed on the back of the Walk to Remember Shirts. Call 801-272-5355 or email info@shareparentsofutah.org with any questions.

Layton Information

The 2008 Walk to Remember will be held Saturday, October 11, at Layton Park, at the Ed Kenley Amphitheater. Registration at 9:30, the walk at 10:00. There will be a brief memorial service, musical number, walk, and balloon release.

If you would like your baby/babies name featured on the t-shirt, please email sonja@utahshare.org.

Each geographical area has their own Share Group. If you do not live in Utah, check the Share National office’s web site and find your local group, there are a few having walks! If there is not a walk in your area, you can register at this link to be an ‘angel in the crowd’ and receive a T-shirt and program from the National Walk in St. Louis. Or start now and plan your own walk in your area with the support of the National office.

The Share web site is a valuable resource for support, creating memory books or boxes ideas, events, and connecting with others.

Please go here and read about memorials, statues around the country and a newly dedicated walkway. You can purchase a brick with your baby or babies names to be placed in the walkway. This would make a great gift for someone, especially if they were unable or chose not to bury their child.

There will be candle vigils at all angel statue locations on Dec 6th.

I look forward to participating in the walk and being involved in the SHARE organization and visiting the statues.

Good Manners

We were doing Jackson’s preschool homework after he learned about Good Manners and the letter M and read a story about a Moose that munches on macaroni. Mom says, “Tell me three manner words.” Jackson with no hesitation responds, “Hit, Scratch and Punch.”

Weekend Adventures

We went camping this weekend. I don’t know why this surprises people all the time. Granted we do enjoy posh resorts and overwater bungalows and European excursions..we try to go camping a couple times a year. And it’s in our price range right now. Everyone else went camping in this state too! It was hard to find a camp site, but we did and it was great. Our camp site neighbors were from our city and so were the campground managers! We set up camp, burned stuff, talked, snuggled, went on nature walks (the kids called them hikes), sat by the water, read books, dug in the mud, threw rocks in the water, observed an electrical fish trap, and cooked over the open flame. We cook all our food over a fire, no mini grills for us, sleep in a tent, Smores are a must etc. My air mattress had a leak and deflated, my husband offered to sleep on the rocky ground and let me sleep on the fully inflated mattress with Savannah. We saw 5 deer, only 1 was alive, lots of birds, fish and ducks. And cows? Then the storm clouds came rolling in, and the downpour began–we waited it out, made some dinner, burned our dutch oven dessert, and another downpour. We threw everything into the SUV and peeled out of there. We arrived home tired, happy, and dirty. Camera #1 no memory card whoops, Camera #2 battery died, Photos are from my phone, hence the funky tint.

Our View

Eating Breakfast

Salmon at the fish trap (they don’t get killed by the trap)

Top of the Morning to ya!

Our Nature Walks

Monday morning Savannah woke up and came into our room and showed us something that had happened during the night related to her surgery in January. We don’t want to share the details…anyway, we acted like it was fine until she was in the other room at which point I called her surgeon, threw an overnight bag together and hopped in the car to drive up to Primary Children’s Hospital. I was pretty nervous due to the nature of the situation. We checked into the Emergency Room and 1 surgeon, 3 doctors, 2 nurses, 1 radiologist, 1 tech and 3 hours later we were good to go! She is healthy and happy. If you’d seen her Monday afternoon, you’d never know what she had been through just hours earlier. I am grateful I didn’t need that overnight bag after all. I thought for sure we were in for a stay. Primary Children’s Hospital is an amazing place with amazing people-both patient and employee.

Well, it’s mid afternoon and I haven’t showered, but…workout, done, car cleaned, done, couple errands, done, August monthly budget reviewed and updated, done, lunch for Jackson and myself, done, blog post, done. Oh, and my parents have arrived safely in China and are settling into their apartment. They will be teaching English there for the next six months.