Utah: Week 4

I've been a little slow to post about our last week in Utah - we're back in Arizona now and we are getting back into the swing of things - it's been super nice having a month-long vacation! I've had plenty of people to watch the kids and I had to do very little cleaning and house tasks (thanks to my wonderful mommy!) Anyway, we were all really pampered while staying at my family's house - so now it's a bit of shock to come back and have to actually do stuff during the day! Well, despite the sudden busyness of our days, it's nice to be back with our own stuff, in our own bed, and our own cute little house. :)

So, to recap the end of our Utah stay won't be quite as epic as the previous posts - we finally ran out of birthdays and holidays to celebrate! But we did have a good week - Emma spent a lot of time playing with her birthday presents that she received over the weekend. Some of the presents that kept her particularly occupied included a train set, Color Wonder coloring books, doctor kit, a Dora writing book and a United States puzzle. In fact, we ALL really enjoyed taking turns with the Color Wonder books. They're fun - and great for church, since the markers only work on the Color Wonder paper. So, there's a little plug - if you haven't already tried them out, I recommend getting a kit the next time you're out. Anyway, other activities that kept me busy this past week included shopping, visiting friends, watching lots of Lost and American Idol, and eating out at a crazy German restaurant. Ben, Emma, my dad, and I all went out for lunch on Friday (since Ben got done with his rotation work super early!) at Siegfried's Deli in Salt Lake - it was definitely different - I've never tried German food before, but I really liked the spaetzle!

The drive home was alright - we didn't break up the trip this time and spend the night like we did coming up - so the drive felt really long. Ugh. We stopped a few times, of course, for fuel and bathroom breaks, including a stop at the In 'N Out in Las Vegas. After it all we got home safely and the kids did pretty well. We were particularly relieved to come home to a house that was intact and didn't smell horrible. I kept having horrible thoughts on our drive home that we would arrive to a house that was broken into with all our stuff missing - or at least a smelly house from leaving some garbage or something on accident. But, the house was fine and only smelt a little musty from not having the air going while we were away. Since coming home, though, we have run into a load of items needing repair - our dishwasher broke soon after getting home (but, thankfully, the owner is replacing the dishwasher for us - woohoo!! new dishwasher!!), somehow the Cavalier is leaking oil as it keeps leaving little puddles in the garage, our XBOX is flashing red lights at us and is apparently broken (we'll try taking it back to Costco!), and our vacuum is not working properly either. Oh man - and to add to the list of "broken stuff" - apparently my teeth need some work - a filling, cleaning, and wisdom teeth removal for me!! Oh man!! Well, despite all the stuff just falling apart on us, I'm quite happy at the moment. I've been enjoying the warm weather (capris and flip flops for me today, as the high is 83!!) and relaxing in my own house with my crazy kiddies. Life isn't too bad. :)