Vernal, Utah

I never thought that a place like Vernal, Utah would be a place I would like to visit, but it has become so in recent years. I think it has more to do with the company than the actual location itself.

When we first moved to Arizona we were fortunate enough to move across the street from the Brooksby's. Our kids became fast friends, and Nolan and Mindy became dear friends to John and I.

By the time life had us moving out of that neighborhood, and Nolan took a job as an ER doctor in Vernal, it was far from good-bye. It's been five years since we've lived across the street from each other, but we've managed to see each other more than half a dozen times since then.

We had a good time spending the week with them. It was originally supposed to only be for a few days, but 3 days turned into 5 before we headed back down to the Salt Lake valley.

Nolan helped Nick to catch his very first fish ever (they actually caught two!) in the creek that runs in front of their house. That was the last requirement for Nick's fishing merit badge.

We went swimming at the rec center where Mindy teaches swim team. (I forgot my camera- but it was a really fun pool)

We rented a raft and took the kids for their first ever rafting trip down the green river. All but Christopher thought it was a blast. I think Christopher thought we were nuts. Sorry no pictures there either- but this time I decided that I had already pushed my luck dropping my camera off a chair lift, and I didn't think it would fare so well in the water.

Besides the fireworks and the parade which I mentioned before, the kids played in their massive yard, (when we could tear them away from the wii) Mindy and I shopped at the one store they have in town (two if you count the chocolate store) and the guys golfed several times.

The kids got to see a baby goat, (also called a kid) as Mindy and Nolan borrowed a goat from somebody to keep the grass and weeds under control in the back yard. She (the mama goat) was pregnant when they borrowed her, so now they have a funny little baby goat bouncing around the back lot. Madison was in love.

So you see, Vernal Utah has become a favorite place for the kids (and us parents) to hang out.

Yay! Cyto!

I'm not sure where Christopher's obsession with motorcycles came from, but he's been able to go out and get his fix with my brother's Harleys any time he wants.

His enthusiasm has caught on and the other kids have begged rides of their uncles. Despite Christopher's fascination, he's still afraid to actually ride one, which is totally fine with his mother.

Madison, however, has turned into a little motorcycle mama. The first day one of my brothers announced to me "All your kids are a bunch of girls. Except Madison." She was the first one brave enough to go for a ride. Since then, the other boys decided they couldn't let her show them up, so they went for rides as well.
Of course I've had to lay down the law. Her uncles are the only people she is ever allowed to ride with. She has even been forbidden to ever date anyone with a motorcycle.

Pioneer Days

One of the little things I miss about Utah is celebrating Pioneer Days. (24th of July) Mostly because that's just a second day to do fireworks. Living in Arizona fireworks are illegal, so I miss getting together with your neighbors and watching all the fountains and flowers and tanks in the front yards. If you're really cool, someone will make a trip out to Wyoming to get the "good" fireworks. The ones they sell in Utah are lamer than the Wyoming ones, but still better than nothing at all in Arizona. One year we were rebels and smuggled sparklers into Arizona.

Pioneer Days is big here in Utah, obviously celebrating when the pioneers arrived here. People like to celebrate it with parades (along with blowing stuff up). When I was little I remember going to a "big parade" in downtown Salt Lake, but that was always crowded and you had to practically sleep on the sidewalk to get a "good spot" and we were never really "parade people". In truth, we've heard rumors of the Gilbert Days Parade, (I think it's in November) but in 9 years have never managed to make it there.

My parent's ward (the one I grew up in) had a kid's parade in the neighborhood the Saturday before the 24th. Fortunately we brought the kid's scooters so they could play around outside, and we decorated those and headed on down to the church. Nick hung back and walked stayed by Christopher's side, so he was a little late and they ran out, but Zach and Madison each scored bike helmets. (Christopher was already wearing his favorite hat) I don't know who donated them, but I thought that was pretty cool of them to do that.

We spent the next week in Vernal, Utah (more on that later) and they had a town parade there on the 24th of July. My friend Mindy, whom we were staying with, even made cute little bee costumes for one of the floats. Two of her kids got to ride on the float. (Their float was by far the best.) The kids thought it was fun, Christopher behaved on his "leash" we bought him, people threw candy to the spectators, etc. It's clear that it's been awhile since I've seen a Pioneer Days Parade because all the floats from all the different wards in Vernal through me off (every other float had a sign declaring which ward they were from- Vernal 8th ward, Vernal 27th ward... you get the picture) "Are there a lot of Mormons here in Vernal?" I asked. She replied no, they had one of the smallest populations of church members in the state. My guess is that the congregations from other churches didn't care to be represented in a parade celebrating the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers.-duh. (Do you ever feel like your IQ is shrinking?)

I enjoyed the variety of entries- the dance company on unicycles, the parade of tractors, the demolition derby cars, and of course the giant oil tanker.

We spent that evening watching Mindy's relatives blow up illegal Wyoming fireworks in their backyard. It was awesome.

food finds

I've had the fortune to find a few new gems in this city of places to find some good food.

The first one was the German Bakery I mentioned in my last post. All sorts of breads, pretzels, filled donuts, etc. They even had a bunch of imported German grocery items including spicy mustard and a bunch of candy. We totally loaded up. The people working there were super nice and threw some extra candy into a bag and handed it to Christopher to share with the others. (He had a hard time with that concept- he wanted it all to himself.)

The next place I didn't exactly find- I was told about it by a few different people. There is this Belgian Waffle and fry place by Pioneer Park. Bruges. Holy Cow. So yummy. I was warned though, that if I ordered fries, they are called Pomme Frites. And DEFINITELY do not call them French Fries. The guy who runs the place is a transplant from Bruges, Belgium and apparently gets really cranky if you say the wrong thing. (Think the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld)

The Frites were amazing, and the seasoned mayo was delish. As for the waffles- Holy Freakin' Cow. I think I will have to make one last trip down there again before I leave. The waffles are so good they can be eaten plain, but I chose to have them served with strawberries and chocolate.

The last place is the London Market. They have a bunch of English imported stuff there. (story time!...) When we were in Europe last year, I ran into a convenience store to grab a drink or something and picked up a candy bar for fun. "When in Rome" I figured. It was seriously one of the best candy bars I had ever had. Like a Kit Kat and a Twix and a Nestle Crunch got married and had a baby and named it a Lion bar. We found that particular candy bar when we were in San Francisco and brought some home to share. My bros claimed it was "hands down the best candy bar they'd ever had". I'd have to agree with them. And so do my kids. Tom (one of my brothers) mentioned the London Market downtown and we went to check it out. I need to do some research in Phoenix and see if I can find some similar gems there.

Day out with Dad

One of the big reasons why we are spending so much time in Utah this summer is because John travels so much. We would see him pretty much about the same amount of time no matter which city I chose to stay in. So I picked the one with better (cooler) weather.

For the most part John has only been able to be around for about one day a week. He's been traveling pretty excessively.

So a couple weeks ago we set out as a family to spend the day together (our one and only day that week)

We started off the day getting some baked goods and treats at a German Bakery I found. (Probably more on that later).

We had a picnic in a park (City Creek Canyon I think?)

Then we headed off to the State Capitol. Zach is obsessed with famous landmarks, and the fact that the Utah State Capitol looks like our Nation's Capitol was pretty exciting for Zach. Nick liked the history associated with the place, Madison liked the grandeur, and Christopher just liked to run around and do his best to make lots of noise and get lost.
After that we headed to a Children's Museum where the kids ran around and played for hours. Madison even ended up doing a craft and made a cowgirl vest and chaps out of a brown paper bag.

Dinner was at the Old Spaghetti Factory, where for probably the very first time EVER eating out, we all enjoyed the same food and there was not a french fry or a slice of pizza or a chicken nugget to be seen. (Zach is an exceptionally picky eater, and the addition of spaghetti is relatively new to his list of foods he will eat.)

It was a good day.

My first job

I hated the job itself, but whenever I am in town I always have to stop in for a Golden Burger, fries and fry sauce.

I was a cashier at a local hamburger place for a year. A whole stinking year. I think that was some kind of record. The pay was lousy, but at least my complexion was bad from all the grease. (and that is coming from a 33 year old who still has issues with zits.)

I thought about taking a picture of the burger that brings me back year after year, but they burnt it.

(Coincidentally - Misty, Charity, and Jamie all worked with me there at some point. They were smart though, and didn't last as long as me)

speaking of old friends-

I think I mentioned before how I get a twinge of jealousy living in AZ and I hear people talking about running into "old high school friends".

It totally happened to me today!

While shopping today I totally ran into an old friend of mine- Misty. We had lost contact (my fault- I lost her contact info- in a move or computer upgrade or something, or brain malfunction) She and Charity made Academy of Finance (in High school) bearable. We'd make fun of everyone else, especially people who took themselves too seriously, and then skip our next class and go enjoy lunch at Olive Garden (they introduced me to the joy that is "soup, salad, and bread sticks") They are still good friends, and talk and see each other all the time.

Funnily enough, I was just talking to John about them the other day. John was asking if I was able to see everyone I want to see, and I told him "no". Many of my friends have been out of town, or busy, and I had no way of getting a hold of some people - Like Misty and Charity. I'd been missing them and even randomly checking if they were on facebook. (no)

So, once again, Misty gave me her info, and barring me losing it again, I shall call her when I get back to Salt Lake after spending the next few days in Vernal!

Jamie

For me, the overall jr. high experience was an exercise in conformity, of fitting in. More than anything I wanted to fit in, but not just that, I desperately wanted to not be noticed. At all. I think I worried if any attention came my way it would be for negative reasons- I wasn't skinny enough, my hair wasn't cute enough, my clothes didn't have any name brands, etc. I even remember being afraid to laugh. I mastered the art of the silent laugh because I was afraid people would notice me if I laughed out loud. (which ironically drew more attention- cause it was weird.)

Enter Jamie.

I remember the first day I noticed her- I was in 8th and she was in 7th, and we were heading the same direction in the hallway- towards PE. She had one of those large bags that was popular at the time, (mine was a dark blue-nothing too flashy, but with the required Esprit logo on the front), except hers had a large (10 inches?) clock attached to the front of it (so she'd never be late- or so she said) and instead of carrying it over her shoulder with the rest of the populace, she dragged it. She had long, blonde hair, she flirted with boys, and she was loud and funny and liked to sing alot. (she has an amazing voice.)

Another day we were in a creative writing class together and she was sitting in her chair, upside down with her head near the ground, because "the extra blood in her brain helps her think better".

Attention seeking? Yes. But in my eyes -Oh So Brave. I admired her. Wanted to be like her. We became the best of friends. Sorta yin & yang-ish.

I liked being around her because she demanded attention everywhere she went, which left me in my favorite spot- the wallflower. Except she didn't always let me claim that spot. She'd introduce me to boys and make me talk to them.

But it was more than that. Her home became a second home to me. She was the sister I never had. She was the kind of friend who was never afraid to tell you if your butt looked big in something. When one of us was had our heart broken, the other one would always be willing to buy the biggest bag of candy and stay in and watch sappy movies and cry with each other.

She was the kind of friend that later in life, after you were bridesmaids for each other, you could ask her to video tape the birth of your first born (which I did) because you knew she wouldn't tape anything too embarrassing. (and she did an excellent job, in my opinion.- I could totally post it on the internet if I didn't think it would bore the snot out of everyone.)

It wasn't always smooth sailing, but the good has ALWAYS outweighed the bad. I figured it out the other day and we have been friends for 20 years. Two whole decades. (okay, to be fair, it's only been 19 years, it took me a whole year to have the courage to put myself out there and be able to claim her as a friend.)

So it was quite humorous (and a little flashback inducing) to me as I called home to my mom the other night to find out what my curfew was. (mom was watching my kids). Jamie and I wanted to stay up late and eat and watch movies and talk and laugh like time hasn't passed, with the minor exception being instead of eating a sickening amount of junk food, we snacked on cherries and pistachios. (only I totally cracked a tooth on one of the pistachios and now I'm thinking maybe we shoulda stuck with the chocolate and gummy bears.)

This is the only picture I have of her with me. Jamie, Madison and I went on a girls shopping trip to one of my favorite places- Gardner Village. I think my kids have finally learned her name- they've only known her as my "funny friend" for awhile now.

the Alpine Slide and other feats of skill

Several months ago when I was obsessed about moving to Europe and would religiously watch the travel channel whenever they had anything to do about Europe, there was a show where they were in what I believe was Switzerland. Or maybe Austria. Any way, one of the countries that can claim part of the Alps mountain range there is this slide running down the side of the mountain, and you ride a ski chair lift up to the top of the slide and ride a bobsled down. They called it the "Alpine Slide".

There is a strikingly similar slide just minutes from the Salt Lake valley up in Park City, also called the Alpine Slide. I had gone there several times as a kid. (Back home in AZ I have a super-awesome picture of myself riding it- and by "super-awesome" I mean ridiculously dorky-maybe someday I will remember and in a moment of desperation of nothing better to blog about, I'll post that.)

Huh. The name "Alpine" makes a lot of sense now. I wondered why they called it that, not a Rocky Mountain Slide or something. Apparently they borrowed the idea and the name from the Swiss. Or the Austrians.

My kids thought it looked fun, and begged me to take them there should we ever make it as a family to Europe.

I told them I'd do better than that- I'll take them when we go to Utah.

Zach chickened out at the last moment, so I took the older two while my mom watched the younger two at the bottom.

My camera (with all my vacation pics) fell out of my pocket and dropped the 50 to 100 feet to the mountainside below. (I have no sense of distance) I hiked up to the spot it fell, and after remembering I was looking for a black camera instead of a silver one, I found it. It still works. The battery compartment door is a little munched, but I'm not complaining.
The slide was fun, Zach was sorry he chickened out, but got to ride the merry-go-round with Christopher instead.
I let the older two practice their flips on the bungee thing. They had fun, but Nick said it was the most painful wedgie ever.
Zach convinced me to let him try the rock wall. He got all of three feet off the ground. Each person was supposed to get two chances to make it to the top, and since Zach obviously wasn't going to need a second chance, the guy running the thing was really nice and let Nick use Zach's second chance.

At the end of the day we all had fun, but learned several lessons.-

First and foremost, I learned to hold my valuables on the chairlift.

Zach learned he wants to try the Alpine slide next year when he gets a second chance.

Nick learned the bouncy thing hurts.
Also, I learned Christopher needs one of those child/leash/harness things. His penchant for running off is getting tiresome.

Go Wildcats!

Although it pains me to post a picture of a rival school on my blog, (well not exactly a big rival, or even in my school district, but I think we might have played some game or two against them at some point in my high school career), we had to make an obligatory stop at East High School for Madison.Which, as every cool 'tween knows is the site where they filmed parts of High School Musical.

Madison was pretty excited. Totally coincidentally she happens to be wearing her HSM2 shirt.

~~~~

As a side note, as I was pulling into the parking lot I totally had a flashback to the day my friend and I where my friend and I decided it was a good idea to ditch class at our high school and trespass at East High to go say hi to a friend attending there. (Coincidentally, the girl at East high was also named Kiersten, although she obviously spelled it different.) We didn't get caught or anything, but I can't remember why it sounded like a good idea either.

Brothers

It's easy to see why Christopher adores his oldest brother-

Truthfully, Christopher adores all his siblings, and they all return the affection. This was just an especially sweet moment, and I happened to have the camera close at hand. These moments can pass just as quickly as they come.