Wiggle on, Dan!

I am really hoping today to obtain a picture to illustrate this post. Dan completed his Portland to Coast team walk on Saturday. It went well, other than the inevitable loss of a night's sleep. What I thought was really funny was how Dan's competitiveness overcame his concern about swinging his arms and hips. As each team member walked a leg of about 6 - 7 miles, those in the van calculated the speed of each team member - how fast they were walking a mile. He was determined to beat the fastest mile time in his group, so when it was his turn he (in his own words) "wiggled anything I could wiggle to make me go faster." He said he experimented with various wiggles and methods of swinging or hunching or stretching, hoping to increase his speed. Apparently someone in the group got pictures, which I am dying to see!

In other news, I got a fascinating look at how the youth today dance when I chaperoned and provided refreshments for a multi-stake dance Saturday night. I haven't been at a youth dance since I was a youth. What I saw was this: youth today do not understand how to fast dance. I think that those of us who were teens in the 80s were great fast dancers, at least in our own minds. At least we moved a little . . . we showed some personality and "felt" the music. I think this is fascinating - the teens stood in big circles and kind of bounced up and down while a fast dance played. That's it. We, the leaders, were dying to show them how to REALLY dance, but our children at the dance would have sunk through the floor in embarrassment. So, we just watched.

I had a nice birthday yesterday. As my sisters have been kind enough to point out to me, I am getting old. As in almost 40. I remember my parents turning 40, and they seemed a lot older to me than I think I am. Hmmmmmmm. Somehow I think my own children don't view me as young as I feel! Anyway, after church we had a nice "Cafe Rio" Mexican meal with Haagen-Daaz ice cream for dessert. No cake because everyone else was too busy this weekend to make one and I was not going to make it for myself. My friend Rachel came over for dinner and games. It was a great night!

Addendum to "Car Trouble"

I just had to add this new development about our car saga.

A friend and I went to see a movie tonight, as our husbands were both busy. As we were waiting to buy the tickets, a woman walked by, did a double take and said hi. She looked vaguely familiar, so I smiled in return. While we were waiting, she looked at us repeatedly. I actually thought she was a girl in the Stake that Brandon has liked (shows how observant I am). It turns out she was going to the same movie as us and sat a few rows ahead of us. Once again, she smiled, I smiled, I asked how she was doing (hoping that how I knew her would soon become apparent). She leaned over to her friend and said, "this is Tiffany, the woman whose car I hit last week." So, there you go. That's how I knew her. Funny I didn't remember her face very well - I think I was in a little bit of shock after she slammed into the back of me!

Car trouble and long walks

Last week I had to drop off our van at the shop for some maintenance work. Because the shop is close to Dan's work, I took his car (the Infiniti) home. Five minutes later, as I was stopped in the freeway off-ramp waiting to turn right, an Expedition slammed into the back of the car. No one was hurt, thank goodness. It was pretty shocking, as car accidents always are. The good news: The other person was clearly at fault, they had insurance, and their insurance accepted full responsibility.

Now for the bad news. After the car was towed to a body work shop, I stopped by to sign some paperwork. As I walked in and gave my name, the people in the office said, "OH, Mrs. Porter, you need to see this for yourself." Never a good sign. The head mechanic took me back to the car and proceeded to show me all the evidences that our car had been in a previous, very bad accident. Probably should have had a salvage title. Except we bought it used four years ago from Tim Dahle Nissan in Utah, and they had showed us evidence that it had NEVER been in an accident. The mechanic said that there is no way that Tim Dahle's mechanics wouldn't have been able to spot the evidence of the previous repairs (which were done very poorly), so they had likely not been honest with us.

The real implication is that, because the previous repairs were shoddily completed, and the accident was roughly in the same spot, much more damage occurred in the accident than the insurance is wanting to pay for. And, also because the work was done poorly, there is a significant amount of rust on the underside of the car. Lovely.

We were planning to sell Dan's Infiniti next year, when Brandon goes to college. We will be back to a two car family for a few years (and a much cheaper insurance bill!) Now, we are not sure what to do. We are waiting to hear the final disposition, and then we have some hard decisions to make.

In other news, Dan just left for the "Portland to Coast" walk. A team from his work is doing the event. He will walk two legs of the race, the first 7 miles, all uphill, and the second 4 miles, flat. He is really nervous about doing the walk rather than a run. He runs all the time and I fast walk all the time. Neither of us likes the other's preferred exercise. He says that he refuses to swing his hips or arms to walk fast. I told him that he won't be very effective at walking fast, then. They couldn't get enough people from his work for a running team, so they are walking. I told him to think like a pioneer. He has plenty of ancestors who walked and walked and walked, and didn't even have fancy running anti-blister socks or ipods to listen to or bottled water to drink . . .

Watch out, Food Network . . . Here We Come!

Bailey received cake decorating classes for her 12th birthday. I took the classes with her, every Tuesday in July. I've always though cake decorating seemed daunting and complicated, and I haven't really changed that assessment. We worked hard to create our first "Wilton roses" on this cake, which we decorated our last day of class. Whew . . .

Next we tackle fondant and gum paste, hoping to eventually make something worthy of our favorite Food Network show, "Ace of Cakes"!

By the way, notice the sweat on our brows - it is due to more than the strenous exertion in our class. This was the record-breaking week of 105 to 108 degree days with 80% humidity. Man, it was as hot as Phoenix during monsoon season. We were so glad to return to our "just right"summer weather!

Back from Vacation

We recently returned from an almost three week vacation to Utah, Idaho, and Moses Lake, WA. Because this blog is serving as our family journal, I am going to document some high points of the trip. Warning: this will be long, so feel free to skim or skip!

If you prefer to just get the summed-up version, here it is: we spent weeks reveling in everything we love about Utah (and Idaho and Moses Lake). Everyone spent time with some best friends and family. It was sometimes crazy, sometimes relaxing, but overall wonderful.

The end of July Dan and Brandon left to a High Adventure backpacking trip near Pendleton, Oregon. At home, the kids and I packed up and prepared for our family vacation. The guys left the backpack trip a few days early and hiked 7 miles to the cars. Another family was leaving early, and they drove Dan and Brandon to Pendleton. Meanwhile, the kids and I left Vancouver and drove the 4 hours to Pendleton. We met up at the hotel in Pendleton, where we all spent the night.

The next day we drove to Shelley, Idaho to see Kara and Dave Yancey and family. Bailey had spent a few weeks in Shelley with Ashlyn last summer, and she thinks Shelley is the greatest town ever. She's right - it is wonderful. It has a very nice small-town feel. The kids are safe to walk to the store and play outside all day. Our kids had a great time with the Yancey kids and Dan and I loved visiting with Kara and Dave.

One night we took the families to see G-Force at a drive-in. How fun!

Earlier the same day we attended a rodeo featuring little kids. It was fun to show the kids a real rodeo. The most exciting event was the sheep riding. It was crazy - little kids held onto a sheep the best they could, until they were thrown off, under over, whatever. The announcers called it "the only form of legal child abuse in Idaho!"

Ashlyn, Bailey, and Aubrey watching the rodeo.

Joseph and Lauren, both age 4, had a great time together. They dressed up in costumes and played nonstop outside.

Getting a snow cone was a highlight for the kids. What a fun rite of summer!

Here the girls are preparing to walk to the store to get a treat.

Saturday, August 1st we left Shelley to drive to Utah. We arrived just in time to change our clothes and drive to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. Dad (Grandpa Springer) attended with us.

A few weeks prior, a bolt of lightning had hit the Angel Moroni on the top of the temple. The face and arm were still blackened. The next week the statue was replaced, before the dedication.

It is a beautiful temple. This was the first time the kids attended a temple open house. We waited outside for about half an hour before entering the temple. It was hot! Joseph created his own sunshade using his Sunday suit coat.

While in Utah we stayed at my parent's home in Draper. We visited with them for a week, and then they left to Europe. They were nice enough to let us stay in their home for another week.

This Utah trip was really all about kids. For much of the time, Dan flew from Utah to facilities he needed to visit for work in Arizona, Nevada, and California. I facilitated the kids in their quest to do as many fun things as possible.

We didn't see much of Brandon, as he went to EFY shortly after we arrived. The day he came home from EFY we drove him to Aspen Grove to spend a week with his friend Jeffrey Bennett. He had a great time. He hasn't shared any pictures with me from his adventures, so we'll just have to imagine how fun it must have been.

The younger three kids and I started our week in Utah by visiting some of our favorite field trip locations. We have great memories of our "field trips" from past years.

On Tuesday we visited Thanksgiving Point Children's Garden and Dinosaur Museum with our cousins, the Sullivans, and Aubrey's best friend, Breanne Yates.

When Aubrey and Breanne were very young, about age 3, I took pictures of them dancing around this "bug stage" in the Children's Garden. We had to re-create the moment, so they danced again.

KSL TV was filming at Thanksgiving Point that day. Bailey and Mianna (Sullivan) were filmed answering questions about what they like about the parks. They enjoyed their moment as TV stars!

The next day we drove to Ogden with the Sullivans and Breanne to our FAVORITE museum - the Treehouse Children's Museum. It just feels magical to us- so full of imagination, literacy, and exploration. It is mostly geared for younger kids, but Bailey and Mianna loved re-living their favorite moments in the museum.

Joseph pretending to be a cowboy. The museum is divided into many small sections, each with a theme. In each theme there are costumes, books, and playthings to help the child explore that "world." Joseph, who lives for costumes, thought he had entered his own version of heaven.

Bailey and Aubrey in the "England room," which includes a table set for tea, Harry Potter and wizard robes, and a "magician's desk" with secret compartments and riddles to solve. Here Aubrey and Breanne pose in front of the desk after they solved the riddles and claimed their prizes.

Bailey and Mianna in the Germany room.

On Thursday, August 6th Bailey and Ashlyn flew from Salt Lake to California to visit my brother Scott, his wife Ann, and their kids. They had a fabulous trip in beautiful California! Scott and Ann sent a disk with wonderful photos they took during the trip. A sampling follows . . .

Burying Scott in the sand.

Boogie boarding in the ocean!

Kayaking (from left: Ann, Ashlyn, and Bailey).

Bailey with her cute cousin, Cameron.

While Bailey was in California, I visited Temple Square with Aubrey, Joseph, my very great friend Christine Yates, and her daughter Breanne.

Still very best friends!

After Bailey returned from California and Dan returned from his business trip, we took the kids to a few more fun places before the vacation ended . . .

Rollerskating with friends. Bailey is on the far left, Aubrey on the far right.

Joseph wouldn't go near the skates, but liked the stable scooter we rented for him.

Bouncing in the Classic Fun Center bouncy slides. The kids also went to a water park that day.

Now, this was a treat. Here the girls and I attended a cabin overnighter for our Mother/Daughter Book Club. We had started the book club when we lived in Utah. The girls and moms in the group are absolutely amazing. They have kept the group going, and the moms and girls have all become great friends. They were kind enough to invite us to attend the overnight book club party at the Page's cabin. We had such a great time . . . it was a little bit bittersweet, because we miss interaction with them, but felt truly "filled" by our visit.

On one of our last days in Utah Bailey and Mianna were able to do Baptisms for the Dead at the new Draper Temple. This was Bailey's first time going to the temple! How perfect to go with a wonderful cousin/friend.

When Brandon finished with Aspen Grove, we picked him up and loaded the car. Friday the 14th we drove to Boise, Idaho, where we stayed in a fantastic hotel (for a really great price). The next day we drove to Moses Lake, Washington, where I grew up. We stayed with my Aunt Lora and Uncle Brent. They were so welcoming to us, and we loved visiting with them. We also had some wonderful visits with Grandma and Grandpa Palmer. We went to dinner with them, to church the next morning, and then visited and had lunch at their home. It was a fantastic visit!

As I finally uploaded all the pictures from our trip, I realized there are some things I didn't capture on film.

1. The mountains in Utah. They took my breath away frequently.

2. The feel of a beautiful Utah evening.

3. The excitement of a crazy Utah summer thunderstorm (in the midst of a wild windy storm Dan's plane tried to land. They were diverted to Idaho and Joseph and I were stranded at the airport waiting for him!)

4. The great joy we felt seeing family and friends who we love so much.

5. The bittersweet feelings we experienced, because we love where we live now, but we miss so many people who live elsewhere.

6. Our incredible joy every time we ate Cafe Rio Mexican food. Wow - it was amazing.