New York

It was the annual Redmond Trading wives trip. This is the sales trip that they invite the wives of the salesmen to go with. I've been once, to San Diego, but I've never been able to go to the New York trip so I was so excited to finally be able to go and spend some time in New York. I was even more excited that Mel, Mike's wife, was going. She really knows her way around New York and so I knew it would be a great trip to go hang around with her.
Day 1
We arrived in New York checked into our hotel(the penthouse suite-- they didn't have another suite available when they lady booked so they gave it to her for the regular suite price, it wasn't super lavish but just fun to say we stayed in the pent house suite), Marriott Residence on 39th and 6th; and then we set out to find a quick dinner before heading to our Broadway show. . . WICKED!!!! I was so excited to finally see it. But I was even more excited once the show was over. EVERYONE should see it. It is by far the best play ever. The storyline is amazingly creative, and how it ties in with the original Wizard of Oz was so great. The music is fabulous and best of all it has a great moral and many insightful moments. I wish I could go see it again. I couldn't believe it when intermission hit it felt like we'd only been there for 20 min., but it had been 1 1/2 hours. I wasn't ready for it to end. It was so great.
Day 2
The guys went to the show to work and so the girls went out on the town. We'd talked about going to the church services at the temple but we never made it. I was really hoping to do that. While we were walking around Harrison Ford walked right in front of me. His body guards weren't wearing anything noticeable, they fit right in with all the other New Yorkers so at first I couldn't figure out what everyone was looking at until he was in my face and I recognized him as a really old Indiana Jones. Instead we walked all over and saw Rockefeller center, Time Square, made plans for sight seeing the following day, and then went to the Lion King on Broadway. The costumes were awesome. It was so fun to see how the animals seemed so human-like and the humans seemed so animal-like. It was great but the story was just like the movie so I wasn't as enthused about it as I was Wicked. After the play we met up with the guys and went to dinner.
Day 3
We got up and went to the Today show. There were so many people and there are certain spots you definitely want to be to increase your chances of being on TV. Well we weren't in the greatest spot to be on TV but we were right next to the entrance so we got to be right next to the celebrities and the Today show people. There was a split second that we did make it on TV, but if you didn't know when and where to look you'd probably never notice us. It was fun just to experience that anyway. After breakfast we jumped on a open-deck tour bus and went to the lower part of New York. We were at the courthouse while Madoff was being sentenced, then we got off and took a tour of the Ground Zero Memorial Visitors Center. Ground Zero just looks like a modern day construction zone. At the visitors center there was a piece of one of the airplanes. It was a full window. It was so disturbing to look through that window and think about the passenger who did the same thing and watched the horror. It was also amazing to see a piece of the huge pile of rubble. It was a steel beam. They talked about how the rescuers felt so helpless because there was no way they could move so much of the rubble. I had never thought about that before. The couldn't just dig with their hands and pull out people.There was another room that had pictures of the thousands who died. It was so hard to look and their happy family pictures and know that they aren't together anymore. There was also another wall that had missing fliers from tons of families that were hoping to find their loved one. They talked about how many of the families really couldn't accept that they died there. They really believed they were just missing somewhere and they hoped to someday find them. After that we drove by the bay; we had all been out to the statue of liberty so we didn't bother to go out there. We saw so much. Those tours are worth every penny-- especially if you'll be there for multiple days. We then went over and saw Central Park. They were filming something at The Plaza so we thought we'd go ask what they were filming and again suddenly I was face to face with a celeb. I'm not super great with their names so I thought I wouldn't know them anyway, but it was Mariah Carrie. I was so shocked. She was filming something where she's been shopping and she's running from a guy in a white hoodie. It was fun to watch them act.
Day 4
Our final day. :{ The guys again worked and so we went on the tour bus again and went to the upper part of New York. We got to see the temple today. It was so different than I imagined and I didn't expect it would have a large Moroni statue on it either. Our tour guide pointed out the temple and said he wouldn't give us anymore information on the Mormon church because he learned all he knows about it from the show Southpark and he certain it wasn't too accurate. :) We got a laugh out of that. Then we went up past all the museums and through Harlem. We went past the Apollo the day they were having a tribute to Michal Jackson. You wouldn't have believed the people on the streets. It was packed with thousands screaming his name and playing his music. The tour guide said most of them had been there since yesterday-- I thought I don't like any celebrity that much to do that. If I had another day in New York there were many places I would have liked to get off the bus on this loop. I would have loved to see many of the museums and collections. We got back to the hotel got a cab and then headed to the Jacob Javits event center to pick up the guys. Then it was off to the airport. Little did we know our adventure wasn't over. When we got to the airport we found hundreds of people with no where to go. Flights had been canceled and delayed all day due to terrible thunder storms. It hadn't rained all day but after we'd been at the airport for a little while it started pouring. Our flight was delayed a few hours which meant we were going to miss our connecting flight in Minneapolis. Darryl was on top of it and got us booked on the next flight out of Minneapolis. The problem was that it wasn't until 2 PM the following day so he booked us a hotel too. We got out of New York at about 9 PM and once we arrived in Minneapolis we headed to the hotel with our little complimentary bag since our bags were in some airport somewhere.
Day 5
Since our flight wasn't until 2 PM we thought we should go see the Mall of America while we were waiting around. We were with 2 ladies from work, Chris and Rhonda. Rhonda headed to the salon while Chris, Darryl, and I checked out the roller coasters. We went on one that was SO fun. Then Darryl and Chris went on one that I wouldn't even attempt. It was a crazy roller coaster but the seats pivoted so they were constantly spinning. They were both on the verge of sickness when it was over. We walked around for a while longer then headed to the airport. Our flight took off late, but made up for it with a great tail wind. We made it home to Heber about 6:30 PM. The boys stayed in Redmond with Darryl's parents while we were gone. I wanted to go get them but I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I decided to wait until tomorrow to pick them up.
Day 6
I headed to Redmond to get the boys. When they saw me they kept saying they hadn't seen me for a really long time. We had to take my mom's car seats back to her house and while we were there we took a nap. My folks were gone on a trip so it was easy to feel tired in their empty quiet house. When we woke up we headed back to Heber. We stopped at the office so the boys could see Darryl. They were so happy to see him again. Then when we pulled into our driveway Kade got out of the car and looked around the garage and said so sweetly, "Look Clint, all our stuff is safe." They had to touch everything; the lawn mower, Dad's chain saws, the coolers, their bikes, etc. It was so cute to watch them rediscover our house. They immediately pulled out toys and started playing. They hadn't seen their house in 3 weeks and they were happy to see it all again.

The following days I have been trying to find some drive. There is so much to do. The first day we spent doing laundry and yard work-- none of my neighbors pulled my weeds while I was gone can you believe that! :) All of our trips were fabulous but it was so nice to be home again with no where we needed to run to.

Bosshardt Gooseberry Reunion

I know I say it every summer but I love Gooseberry (I also love Fishlake but that's another story). It is so beautiful and serene up there. This year was a little different and special because we had a few guests. All of Darryl's younger brother and sisters couldn't come this year so everyone invited friends to join us. The only people that could join the group were people we invited; the Isons from Price, and the Swayzeys from Heber. Scott Swayzey had mentioned he doesn't enjoy camping so Darryl was sure once you camp at Gooseberry you'll be hooked. Scott had a great time but I'm not sure if he is a super excited camper just yet. The boys had so much fun-- as they always do. We did the flying squirrel this year; it is where someone is harnessed in and the rope they're hooked to goes through a pulley about 30 ft. up and others grab the rope and run and pull up the harnessed 'flying squirrel.' Kade LOVED it. Clint was leery but we talked him into just letting Darryl pull him up slowly. I think he loved it but he wasn't ready to let his guard completely down. (We really frightened him at Lagoon. I hope he's not damaged for life). Darryl and his dad also figured out how to make the paper rocket launcher even cooler. They built an attachment that launches candy-- a candy rocket how cool is that?!. Clint loved fishing. Kade loved playing with the cousins and friends, and sleeping in a sleeping bag. We tie dyed T-shirts, built gadgets with our genius kits, hiked to Annie Bangs cabin, went on a treasure hunt, and played with our toys from Grannie's special box. It amazes me how fast time flies up there.

Lickin' The Beaters!

It doesn't get much better than licking the beaters at Grandma's house.

Chicago

Darryl, my sweet hubby, told the guys at work that it would be nice if he could take me on his business trip to Chicago this week since it was our anniversary. They allowed him too! Yea! I was so excited to see Chicago. It was a fun time even if we didn't 'tour' Chicago. We did get to see a lot of Chicago during our cab rides between the airport and hotel. We went with another couple from work, Brian and Roxanne. We had such a great time with them. The first day we checked in our hotel, set up the booth for the show, and then went to Capital Grille for our anniversary. The food was amazing, especially the calamari and coconut cream pie. If you ever go you must get those items, they're unlike any you've ever had and the best you'll ever have. Capital Grille was so nice they had a Happy Anniversary card waiting at our table for us, then they took a picture of us and gave it to us with another card, and topped it off with a complimentary slice of their incredible flourless chocolate cake(Darryl's favorite--too rich for me but a taste was great). The next day we worked the booth like crazy then went to dinner and a great little Japanese sushi restaurant. The following day was similar; Worked the booth, then headed to the airport, and back to Utah. The boys stayed with my mom while we were gone. In their mind if they could live with the Grandma's life would be perfect. I love that they love being there so much. On Friday Darryl worked and I mowed the lawn, did laundry, and packed for on next adventure-- Gooseberry! Then we headed to Aurora to spend the weekend with my parents and the boys.

Spotlight!

Spot bright, find a child doing right. . .
In primary they read a little poem and pick a new child to spotlight each week. Kade was so ecstatic when he brought home the spotlight bag for us to fill with things to take that he could share with the primary so they could learn more about him. I say ecstatic and I'm not sure if I ever do his level of enthusiasm justice on this blog. I don't know why but his excitement level is always maxed out. We do try to get him to tone it down but he is just naturally always SO EXCITED. :)
Back to the spotlight. . .
I thought I'd just make record of a few of Kade's favorites that we put in the spotlight.
Summer activity is: Slip-n-slide, and water guns
Winter activity is: Sledding
General favorite thing is: Birthday parities with pinatas and birthday cake
Food: "Flakes"(Honey Bunches of Oats), or anything with lots of extra cinnamon sprinkled on top
Family Trip: Lagoon (are you surprised?)
Family Tradition: Spooky Dinners
Daily activity: Playing with friends, cousins, or his toys
He loves to play with his brother Clint
He loves to help his mom
He loves to make German pancakes with his dad

Lagoon!!!

Kade calls it "Bagoon" and says it is SO COOL! We went with the company to Lagoon today and the day started something like this. . . We approach the rides thinking Clint, our child who just does anything without even thinking he could possibly get hurt or scared, would just love the rides. Kade on the other hand, we worried about. He can be super adventurous, but other times he can be a . . . scardy-cat(we still love you to pieces!). Well the first ride they saw was the first one they were set to go on; the "dinosaurs' crack the egg." This ride is the kids version of the Rocket. It takes you up high and drops you about 4 times. Kade LOVED it, Clint was terrified. He looked like we were torturing him and kept begging, "Stop that," every time they would drop us. I felt so bad for him. Needless to say we wouldn't recommend it as a first experience to amusement park rides. Clint would freak out every time we tried to get him on any ride after that. Especially because we finally convinced him on the log ride and he was doing fine until the log tipped and the top of the 'mountain' and slammed against the track. He wasn't a fan. The sad thing is he lost all trust in us after that and we couldn't even convince him that the train ride to see the animals would be okay. He was so upset. We did get him on the kiddie ride where they drive the car through the village, and the baby boat ride. His first time on those rides though he had this look on his face like, "I know something bad is going to happen soon." He loved those 2 rides, but that was it. Meanwhile Kade just can't get enough. He likes the fast rides. He wanted to go on the big kid rides but he has quite a bit of growing to do before that is possible. We took him on all the bigger rides he could go on and he had a blast. He just kept saying, "This is SO COOL!" He could have stayed for days. He loved to put his hands up on the rides(kind of scared me, I love to do that but he's so little I was worried he'd slip right through the safety belts). We would really like to take Kade again, he just loved it so much. We don't think we'll take Clint for a while. Darryl and his friend had a fun ride too. They went on a special ride that basically catapulted them into the air. We could watch their faces on a monitor and they never changed expression the whole time so we thought they weren't impressed with the ride. We were wrong. They loved it. I almost forgot the craziest part of the day; It down poured on us a few times. Every ride at Lagoon turned into a Lagoona Beach ride. We were all completely soaked; especially Kade and Darryl. They were on a couple of the rides throughout the downpour and so they had no where to hide. Get the full idea of the experience by clicking on the pictures and looking at their faces.