Catching up!!!

Well it's been awhile since I have last posted so I thought I would bring you up to speed. We are in Utah right now visiting for 3 weeks while John-David is in Iowa for a month on an away rotation in Orthopedics. He seems to be enjoying it immensely and although he is there by himself, he has managed to get a number of dinner invites. My fear of him being lonely and having to resort to talking to the walls to relieved for the time being.

We made it here to Utah in one piece which really is a triumph for a mom traveling with her three kids alone. I feared the worst but things turned out quite well. I met people like Gene for Rhode Island in the Southwest sky cap line that made getting through the security check manageable and being able to use the restroom without the whole crew coming through. Traveling with kids can frazzle you a little bit and make you not pay attention quite as well. When we got to our gate, Jocelyn announced her need to use the restroom. My new friend Gene, who was a seventy plus grandma of 15, watched Kelsey and Jackson while I made my way to the restroom. I saw the restroom sign and walked in the door. I was about to enter the stall when Jocelyn exclaimed with great excitement, "Look mom, they have little potties just my size". Oh but what she was looking at was not a little potty that they have in a Women's restroom. Those would be urinals, something found in the men's room. Apparently I didn't read the sign. My bad. Shortly after our unique bathroom experience, we were able to begin boarding the plane. I parted my ways with Gene and met my new friend Monica who helped me get all the kids on the plane in in their seats. Thank goodness for people out there who look beyond themselves and lend a helping hand. Greatly appreciated. The kids did amazing on the plane and I think was for the many prayers of those who knew I was traveling that day. Thank you. After 6 hours of travel we finally made it to Utah. My kids kept pointing out the mountains to me. They are quite the novelty if you aren't use to them.

The next day we got in the car and drove another 5 hours to my parents cabin. Once again they did great. We spent the next few days hiking, four-wheeling and riding on the Mule(it's a golf cart of steroids). My kids loved it!!! Island Park is so beautiful and the weather was at it's best. I think the highlight or at least for Jackson was seeing a bear. He was on a hike with my dad when they came across a young black bear that was about 40 yards away. When Jackson saw he asked my dad if he still had his knife with him. Once he knew my dad did he wasn't scared. It looked at them, stood on it's back legs and then got down and ran away. It's funny to her him tell the story. Before we went to the cabin he told me that he wanted to find a bear. Well Jackson you got you wish. We came home on Saturday night and on Sunday we spent some time with both families. On Monday we went to a Labor Day breakfast followed by a gathering at Opa and Euni's. We are having a lot of fun and maybe at one point I'll get to posting some pictures.