During my trip to India this week and next, I'm going to post some of the interesting things we're up to over here along with my impressions of India (don't worry - I'll leave out the boring stuff like work, so don't expect much on the weekdays).
Day 1 started off Thurday in Moline and was one of the longest days I can remember (or was it two days?). We boarded a shuttle for the airport at 11 am (I was already missing my family terribly by the time I stepped foot on the shuttle), destined to travel for the next 24 hours straight. Our driver to the airport was quite a character - telling tall tales and getting mad at every other person on the road. I only mention him now because I'll bring him up again in Day 2 posting.
Our flight from Chicago was delayed more than two hours (us sitting on the plane for most of it). It was really kind of a lame reason - someone forgot to fill the water tank up so the toilets wouldn't flush. I guess for a long trip like that the take about 327 gallons of water (if I remember right) so it took well over an hour to fill the tank. There were other delays too, so we were off to a bad start.
The flight itself went relatively smoothly. I was seated in business class so I was well fed and had a comfy chair to stretch out in. We don't usually get to fly business class, but due to a scheduling problem, I could only go business class. My boss's boss is travelling with us, so it was a little uncomfortable sitting up front with him back in economy, but he was good natured about it.
Around dawn, I watched the sun rise over Greenland. That was SPECTACULAR. The sunrise actually started in the north. Up there there isn't much more north to go so I guess it was peeking over the top of the world before it peeked over the side. Greenland is all frozen tundra so the sunrise looked like it was slowly illuminating a sea of white. Anyway, that was really cool.
We continued on across the north atlantic then skirted down across the Scandinavian countries headed straight for Moscow, Russia. About 50 miles short of Moscow (I was really hoping to see it), the plane took a sharp left and headed due west into barren lands of central Russia where we turned south again. We came across central Russia and down over the "stans" Afganistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tazjikistan (I'm making up the spellings as I go) and so forth.
I was a little nervous flying over Afganistan knowing there are still people there that don't like Americans (I was on American Airlines). But, I guess flying at 36,000 feet in the dark (oh yeah, we flew straight through Friday - it was dark again already) helps in the safety department. The thing that suprised (and saddened me) was how dark Afganistan was - very few lights, just vast darkness (and no, it wasn't cloudy). We flew directly over Kabul and from my seat I could only see a few main highways with street lights and not much else.
When we crossed the border into Pakistan, there was a marked difference - lots of lights everywhere. In fact, the thing I liked most about Pakistan was how its lights were laid out. Every mile or two (hard to judge from the air) there is a little community of lights (and probably people too). Then there was a little gap and another little community of lights. The thing that was cool was how evenly spread they all were - it looked kind of giant checkerboard going on and on for miles and miles.
India and Pakistan have continuing differences of opinion as to where the shared border actually lies. One of them has staked out their claim by placing lights every few meters all the way along the border as far as the eye could see - and it was a clear night so I could see a long, long ways. It was like someone took a map of India, and lit up its border.
Finally we arrived to Delhi - the 7th most populated city in the world (and the most densly populated of the top 20 most populated). Customs was not a problem - no one said a word to me, just stamped the passport and sent me on. I think the first thing that hit me getting out of the terminal was the smell and taste of the air. Delhi (due to pollution) has a kind of burnt smell or something. The air was also humid so it was kind of a heavy burnt air to breathe.
The airport and the hotel were only a few minutes aprart. We had a driver pick us up and shuttle us to the hotel. There I had my first experience with traffic in India - and is it ever an experience! More on that during my report on Day 2. We finally dragged our exhausted selves to our rooms late Friday night. We only had three hours to sleep before getting up to start a very busy day 2. I'll write about that tomorrow (and will post lots of pictures)!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
For those who are interested
Here is a better picture of Adam's eye injury. He has been fine with indoor recess and was happy to be the scorekeeper in PE today.
Benner's Birthday
Well, my baby is 2. I can hardly believe it. The first year of his life dragged on and on and the second one has flown by. He brings so much joy and laughter to our family. He is full of energy and life. He is independent in so many ways now. We celebrated in the evening by having a Ben family home evening where we talked about his pregnancy and birth. Then we all told what we liked about Ben and what he brings to our family. The consensus was that he is very funny, as two year olds often are. The kids gave him some of their cast off toys and we gave him a few presents. He loved his Blues Clues dog and his Little People house. He especially likes opening the doors and shoving the people through. Then we had Mexican Chocolate cake and ice cream. The kids decorated the cake. Then he stayed up late and played some basketball with his mom while Adam played fooseball with his dad (we bought a cheap used fooseball table on Saturday). I think I got the most exercise as I had to lift Ben up to the hoop each time. He is a hefty two years old. It was a pretty low key day, but fun too. At the beginning of the day when we would sing Happy Birthday he would sing to me, since my birthday was a week ago, but by the end he would point to himself and say "Ben's birthday". It was a good day.
Ben's Birthday!
Yesterday we celbrated Ben's birthday. Here is a picture of him playing with his new Little People house and one of him blowing out his candles.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Adam's new look
Sometimes it is adventuresome having a growing boy in your house. It seems he and his body don't always work together. Saturday Adam was taking a shower in our stand up shower. He slipped and hit his head right by his eye on the built in bench in the shower. When I heard him screaming frantically I went in to find him out of the shower with blood running down his whole body and him screaming hysterically. We got him cleaned up a bit and put a cold cloth on his head. I could see right away that it was going to need stitches. Greg was out running a quick errand so while we waited for him, we got some clothes on him and got the other monkeys out of the bath tub. Then when Greg got home, Adam, Curious George and I headed for the hospital (George is a stuffed monkey Adam's teacher lets each of the kids take home one weekend, and they are supposed to journal about their adventures together. Adam didn't think George had been to the hospital before, so we took him). At the hospital we discovered just how fortunate we were. It didn't appear Adam had a concussion and he didn't do any permanent damage to his eye. He did have to have stitches though. They put one stitch inside, and the doc who sewed him up said she could see the occular muscle but that it hadn't torn at all. Then she put 7 more on the outside, including 2 on his eyelid. Adam did awesome! The worst part was the numbing medication they had to inject all around his eye. It burned pretty badly. He said to me on the way home in the car, "I'll be the star of primary tomorrow. That is the one good thing about being sick or getting stitches, you get a lot of attention." Spoken like a true extrovert. I worry a little about the scarring on his face, but hopefully that won't be too bad. Also, he has to sit out from recess and PE for two weeks. I think that will be the hardest part of it all. Of course everyone teased Greg and I about how we treat our children, but Adam set them straight with the real story. The pictures aren't great, but it is what I have. Maybe I will try again later. 
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
More family pics from Labor Day
These are the pictures my friend Leah took for us. She did a great job. I especially love the one of Ben. 
Blah, blah, blah.
Well I have let another week slip by without a blog entry so now you get another verbose entry. I need to work on my brevity a bit.
First, I have a new calling at church. I am the new nursery leader. Greg says he removed himself from the decision and let his counselors decide. I have only done it one week so far. I think I will enjoy it once I get into the swing of things. I think it is going to be hardest on Liz. It is hard for her to have me in there but not devoting all my time and attention to her. She will be a Sunbeam in January, though, so that should help things a little bit. Ben is happy as long as he can see me. When I went in with him for the first time as the nursery leader, he started to cry and wouldn't stop for 10 minutes because he thought I was going to leave him. It took him a while to figure out that I was actually going to stay. I do miss my old class a lot, but I think this might be the best thing for Ben right now.
Next, I have a good friend, Leah Jensen, who likes to take pictures, mostly because she is a big scrapbooker. She was so kind as to take some of our family and of the kids, and they turned out beautifully. This is blogworthy because the last family picture we have includes me, Greg and Anna, and Adam. I will post some so you can see.
We have had a temporary pet as of late, which has been kind of fun. We have been taking care of some caterpillars. The first one we got was already a pretty good size and within a week he had made his cocoon and just today he hatched out into a beautiful monarch butterfly. Our other catterpillar started out teeny-tiney, smaller than a straight pin and he is now long and fat. I bet he is as long or longer than my index finger (but not that fat). It has been really cool to see him grow so much in such a short time. I think it won't be long until he is ready to make his cocoon though. It really is an amazing, and fast, process. The kids have named them oozie and poozie (don't ask me), and they have gotten a lot of attention. I have also had to learn what milkweed looks like and where to find it in Iowa. Lucky for me, it grows next to corn fields a lot. There are a few of those around here. I would highly recommend this little project for anyone who has young children.
Lastly, it was my birthday on Sunday. I am now 31 years young. Despite some babysitter troubles, Greg and I were able to go out Saturday night. It is always fun to have time just with each other. We had a really nice time. Then the actual day of my birthday was great too. It was stake conference so Greg was with us all day long. It was lovely. He helped get the kids ready in the morning, even bathing them. He took Ben out in the hall at church. He made me lunch. He let me have a nap and read. Then kids set up this great treasure hunt for me to find my presents. Greg surprised me by buying me a bike! We have a date to try it out this Saturday. Then we had some friends over for dinner, which Greg made, and cake and ice cream, you guessed it, made by Greg. It was just a relaxing day, which is exactly what I needed.
Well, that's all for now. Bland entry, but tells a lot of stuff. (Which you were all dying to hear about right?).
First, I have a new calling at church. I am the new nursery leader. Greg says he removed himself from the decision and let his counselors decide. I have only done it one week so far. I think I will enjoy it once I get into the swing of things. I think it is going to be hardest on Liz. It is hard for her to have me in there but not devoting all my time and attention to her. She will be a Sunbeam in January, though, so that should help things a little bit. Ben is happy as long as he can see me. When I went in with him for the first time as the nursery leader, he started to cry and wouldn't stop for 10 minutes because he thought I was going to leave him. It took him a while to figure out that I was actually going to stay. I do miss my old class a lot, but I think this might be the best thing for Ben right now.
Next, I have a good friend, Leah Jensen, who likes to take pictures, mostly because she is a big scrapbooker. She was so kind as to take some of our family and of the kids, and they turned out beautifully. This is blogworthy because the last family picture we have includes me, Greg and Anna, and Adam. I will post some so you can see.
We have had a temporary pet as of late, which has been kind of fun. We have been taking care of some caterpillars. The first one we got was already a pretty good size and within a week he had made his cocoon and just today he hatched out into a beautiful monarch butterfly. Our other catterpillar started out teeny-tiney, smaller than a straight pin and he is now long and fat. I bet he is as long or longer than my index finger (but not that fat). It has been really cool to see him grow so much in such a short time. I think it won't be long until he is ready to make his cocoon though. It really is an amazing, and fast, process. The kids have named them oozie and poozie (don't ask me), and they have gotten a lot of attention. I have also had to learn what milkweed looks like and where to find it in Iowa. Lucky for me, it grows next to corn fields a lot. There are a few of those around here. I would highly recommend this little project for anyone who has young children.
Lastly, it was my birthday on Sunday. I am now 31 years young. Despite some babysitter troubles, Greg and I were able to go out Saturday night. It is always fun to have time just with each other. We had a really nice time. Then the actual day of my birthday was great too. It was stake conference so Greg was with us all day long. It was lovely. He helped get the kids ready in the morning, even bathing them. He took Ben out in the hall at church. He made me lunch. He let me have a nap and read. Then kids set up this great treasure hunt for me to find my presents. Greg surprised me by buying me a bike! We have a date to try it out this Saturday. Then we had some friends over for dinner, which Greg made, and cake and ice cream, you guessed it, made by Greg. It was just a relaxing day, which is exactly what I needed.
Well, that's all for now. Bland entry, but tells a lot of stuff. (Which you were all dying to hear about right?).
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
More from last week
As last week was very busy, I haven't had a chance to post about some things that happened. First, let me start with my crazy 7 year old son. We have been doing a lot of yard work lately, trying to improve the outside of our house, so we have been digging in the dirt a lot. Worms live in the dirt. Adam has been threatening to eat a worm for a couple of weeks now. Thinking that he would never do it, I said it was fine with me. He would pick them up, sort of lick them and then toss them aside. Gross, eh? Well, last week he finally did it. He picked one up, said he was going to eat it, tossed in, and just choked it down. For real. I saw the whole thing, it was not a second hand story. Why? I couldn't tell you. I think he likes to do things that he thinks will shock me. What that means for us when he is a teenager, I don't know, but I am very afraid.
On a different Adam note (no pun intended), I started him with a different piano teacher, than myself. He had his first lesson last week. She is a sharp elderly lady that was recommended by a friend. Already I think it has been great. No more daily battles to practice the piano. I think he will improve much more quickly with her, and I think will even get back to where he enjoys it again. I am so glad that at least this first week has gone so well. It is hard to see the future and how worthwhile this could be when it is such a struggle every day. I do think it is worth it though. Some of you may not.
We also went camping last weekend. We went to Maquoketa Caves, which is 30 to 45 min. away from us. The weather was perfect, and we had a nice, secluded campsite. This did give us a little trouble though. After the kids were tucked away, Greg and I were sitting out in the camp chairs in the dark. The fire had died down so it was dark and quiet. I sort of sensed that something was near me and then I heard this rustling down by my ankle, where I had foolishly left a graham cracker box. I jumped up and screamed. Greg quickly turned on his flashlight and shined it right on a racoon who had now found his way on top of our picnic table and was rummaging through our trash. Greg ran toward him but the racoon quickly grabbed the whole bag of trash and dragged it into the woods, pausing just long enough to look longingly back at the table where we still had food out. We quickly put everything away and I went up to the restroom. While I was gone, he returned 2 more times. Both times he climbed directly onto the table and seemed hardly scared of Greg. Finally Greg took one of the camp chairs and ran after him screaming, shaking the chair at him. He didn't come back after that. I don't know if it was because he was afraid of Greg or because he had been there longe enough to realize there wasn't anything for him. I kept a flashlight on and shining in the direction he had come from the rest of the evening. He might not have been afraid of us, but I sure didn't like him!
The next day we took the family and went down in one of the caves. This particular cave, dancehall cave, seems more like a long tunnel because it is open on both sides. They also have concrete walkways and a little bit of lighting (we still used our flashlights though). It was a fun little walk for the older two. Liz and Ben didn't much like it though. That has been one of the challenges of our family lately. It seems there is now a division, widened since Anna has started school, between the older 2 and the younger 2. They just like to do different things, and their ability to actually do things is different as well. It seems we have a hard time doing much all together that everyone enjoys. Anyway, Adam and Anna loved it while we were there and wanted to stay longer (you know the crying and whining, why do we have to leave), while Lizzy was complaining that she couldn't walk any more and she wanted to go home. It was good to get out of the house and do something out of the ordinary though.
Well that about wraps up the week. I will have to post about this week sometime. For once, I actually have something to post!
On a different Adam note (no pun intended), I started him with a different piano teacher, than myself. He had his first lesson last week. She is a sharp elderly lady that was recommended by a friend. Already I think it has been great. No more daily battles to practice the piano. I think he will improve much more quickly with her, and I think will even get back to where he enjoys it again. I am so glad that at least this first week has gone so well. It is hard to see the future and how worthwhile this could be when it is such a struggle every day. I do think it is worth it though. Some of you may not.
We also went camping last weekend. We went to Maquoketa Caves, which is 30 to 45 min. away from us. The weather was perfect, and we had a nice, secluded campsite. This did give us a little trouble though. After the kids were tucked away, Greg and I were sitting out in the camp chairs in the dark. The fire had died down so it was dark and quiet. I sort of sensed that something was near me and then I heard this rustling down by my ankle, where I had foolishly left a graham cracker box. I jumped up and screamed. Greg quickly turned on his flashlight and shined it right on a racoon who had now found his way on top of our picnic table and was rummaging through our trash. Greg ran toward him but the racoon quickly grabbed the whole bag of trash and dragged it into the woods, pausing just long enough to look longingly back at the table where we still had food out. We quickly put everything away and I went up to the restroom. While I was gone, he returned 2 more times. Both times he climbed directly onto the table and seemed hardly scared of Greg. Finally Greg took one of the camp chairs and ran after him screaming, shaking the chair at him. He didn't come back after that. I don't know if it was because he was afraid of Greg or because he had been there longe enough to realize there wasn't anything for him. I kept a flashlight on and shining in the direction he had come from the rest of the evening. He might not have been afraid of us, but I sure didn't like him!
The next day we took the family and went down in one of the caves. This particular cave, dancehall cave, seems more like a long tunnel because it is open on both sides. They also have concrete walkways and a little bit of lighting (we still used our flashlights though). It was a fun little walk for the older two. Liz and Ben didn't much like it though. That has been one of the challenges of our family lately. It seems there is now a division, widened since Anna has started school, between the older 2 and the younger 2. They just like to do different things, and their ability to actually do things is different as well. It seems we have a hard time doing much all together that everyone enjoys. Anyway, Adam and Anna loved it while we were there and wanted to stay longer (you know the crying and whining, why do we have to leave), while Lizzy was complaining that she couldn't walk any more and she wanted to go home. It was good to get out of the house and do something out of the ordinary though.
Well that about wraps up the week. I will have to post about this week sometime. For once, I actually have something to post!
Monday, September 04, 2006
A new house
This week we actually had some excitement to report. After many months of anticipating and waiting we had the aluminum siding on our house painted. We love it! I wish that I would have taken a before picture, but as it is, you will just have to live with the after shots. I posted one that is close up so that you could see the colors (aren't they great?), and one that shows a more overall view. We waited so long to do the outside of our old house that we didn't get to enjoy it, so we thought we would do it sooner this time around. It makes such a huge difference. Our house is beginning to have curb appeal. Anyway, I am sharing the joy with you. Doesn't it look great?!! We are very pleased.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
India
Earlier this year, John Deere opened a new facility in Pune, India called the John Deere Technology Center - India. Most of our IT work is going to be done over there in the future and a lot of engineering support work as well.
On Monday, my boss asked me to take a trip over there in September to train a new team that will be assisting with my current project. Sooo...twist my arm...I said yes. How could I turn down a free trip to India???
I'm pretty excited about it - that's one place I've always wanted to visit. I've been working with Indians here in the states for about 6 years and have heard lots about the place. There's definitly some scary things about going - disturbing poverty, lots of petty crime, lots of people (Dehli has more than 10,000 people per square kilometer), crazy wild traffic, lots of strange food, terrorist threats, bird flu, and so on. Not to mention the 20 hours of plane riding each way. I'm not really too worried about it though - I'll be traveling with 4 others including one native Indian.
The flight will be horrible - I leave Chicago and land in Dehli 25 hours later (14 hours flying plus 11 hour time zone changes). We will get to spend the first weekend sightseeing in Dehli and Agra before flying to Pune for work the next week. We'll be able to see the Taj Mahal while in Agra. That's the stop I'm most excited to see.
It can't all be fun though. After settling in, I'll spend the next two weeks working with the team in Pune. They work different hours than we do - normally later morning (10 or 11 am) until late evening (8 or 9 pm) so there won't be much time for sightseeing during the week. I think they do that some because of culture and some because they need a little overlap time to work with extended teams in the U.S. I will hopefully have some more free time on the next weekend to see some more of the area.
All-in-all, I'm very excited to be able to go. I'll take lots of pictures and try to post about my experience frequently while I'm there.
On Monday, my boss asked me to take a trip over there in September to train a new team that will be assisting with my current project. Sooo...twist my arm...I said yes. How could I turn down a free trip to India???
I'm pretty excited about it - that's one place I've always wanted to visit. I've been working with Indians here in the states for about 6 years and have heard lots about the place. There's definitly some scary things about going - disturbing poverty, lots of petty crime, lots of people (Dehli has more than 10,000 people per square kilometer), crazy wild traffic, lots of strange food, terrorist threats, bird flu, and so on. Not to mention the 20 hours of plane riding each way. I'm not really too worried about it though - I'll be traveling with 4 others including one native Indian.
The flight will be horrible - I leave Chicago and land in Dehli 25 hours later (14 hours flying plus 11 hour time zone changes). We will get to spend the first weekend sightseeing in Dehli and Agra before flying to Pune for work the next week. We'll be able to see the Taj Mahal while in Agra. That's the stop I'm most excited to see.
It can't all be fun though. After settling in, I'll spend the next two weeks working with the team in Pune. They work different hours than we do - normally later morning (10 or 11 am) until late evening (8 or 9 pm) so there won't be much time for sightseeing during the week. I think they do that some because of culture and some because they need a little overlap time to work with extended teams in the U.S. I will hopefully have some more free time on the next weekend to see some more of the area.
All-in-all, I'm very excited to be able to go. I'll take lots of pictures and try to post about my experience frequently while I'm there.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
More vacation pictures!
Ben and Hairy Grandpa. Grandpa was about the only person the whole trip that Ben would trust to hold him!
On the trip home, Lizzy donned her goggles and fell asleep. She slept for a couple of hours like that!
Our handsome (and beautiful) kids in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Some of the cousins at Lily Lake at Rocky Mountain National Park.
Vacation Pictures
Tammy and Ben at a water garden in Boise. 
Adam taking refuge under a wooly mammoth at the dinosaur museum in Vernal.
Anna enjoying nature in Ashley State Forest near Vernal.
Beautiful Lizzy!
Vacation, finally
Well it has been sooooo long since we had a real post, I thought I would dig in and try it. Even though it has been so long ago, I would like to post about our vacation a little bit. Maybe it will be better this way anyway. Now you won't have to endure the blow by blow version, but get the condensed version instead. Lucky you.
First stop: Boise, ID to visit our friends the Adams'. We haven't seen them for over 3 years, but things just seemed so comfortable and normal like we still saw each other every day. We enjoyed visiting with them, playing games with them, seeing a little bit of Boise with them, and planning grand trips with them. We also got to see what great chiropractor Jason has become. He adjusted both Greg and Ben. Ben was really having a hard time before that, and then was great the rest of our trip. Thanks Jason! It was fun that the kids got along pretty well too. We hope it won't be three years until we see them again.
Next stop: Salt Lake City, UT to visit various people. We spent one night with our friends the Staffords. The kids have been looking forward to this for months and enjoyed every minute of running around crazy together. We enjoyed catching up with Clay and Markell and seeing their cute, very sweet, adorable baby, whom we hadn't seen yet. It was also fun to see their new house, and visit with some other folks we knew from Iowa, the Hills. We went to the zoo together, where we had a good laugh over the Staffords 2 year old taking all her clothes off so she could properly play in the fountain! We enjoyed being with them and appreciate the good people that they are.
The rest of the time in Salt Lake was spent with my family. Swimming with grandparents, playing games with aunts and cousins, attending the temple, going to the Sweet's candy factory (which was very fun by the way, and they give free samples :)). I also found a little time to visit my mother's grave. The girls enjoyed playing with my cousin's daughter who is Lizzy's age and Adam enjoyed exposure to "Gilligan's Island" by my cousin Mark. We also spent lots of money at the Distribution center and Deseret Book. It was great! Oh yeah, one of my very favorite things was going to see the movie "The Testaments" at temple square. That movie is awesome. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. It was all a lot of fun.
Next stop: Vernal, UT to visit my dad and his wife, Nancy. By this time we were feeling pretty tired, but we still managed to have some fun. We went to the dinosaur museum, which is a must when you visit Vernal. We also got to see were they are going to build their new house, and eat lunch in a nearby very peaceful state forest. Then while I took a nap, Greg and my dad took the kids swimming at a nearby reservoir. Of course we enjoyed some fabulous food made by Nancy as well. I think by the end the kids weren't even afraid of all the animals anymore!
Next stop: Estes Park, CO for a Finch family reunion. The scenery was absolutely stunning! We enjoyed the mountains so much for their beauty. It is a busy place though, and I wouldn't exactly call it tranquil, but it was very enjoyable. We enjoyed being with Greg's family very much (even though we were TOTALLY exhausted by this point). We haven't seen his sister Tami and her family for several years. The cousins had a ball getting filthly together and we even managed a few short hikes, and a little shopping. This is a place Greg and I would like to return to by ourselves so we can go on some longer hikes, where it is bound to be more tranquil. I even told Greg I wanted to move near there because I loved the mountains so much. We will look forward to another Finch family reunion.
Last stop: Grand Island, NE. Why you ask would we stop here? Yes it was on purpose. I found a neat little water park that seemed just the right size for our family and only cost us $20 for all of us to get into, so we thought we would give it a try since it was on the way home. We loved it! It was so much fun. It was good for our family to have some time just for ourselves, and unbelievably, I think we all enjoyed it very much. Lizzy loved the lazy river. Anna loved the wave pool. Adam loved the big, huge, fast drop slides. Ben loved just being in the water. Greg and I just enjoyed all of us being together and having fun, and watching the kids have so much fun. It was a great stop.
Home again: We were utterly, totally, completely exhausted after vacation and were just dumped right back into life as soon as we got home. I think our next vacation won't be so long, and maybe we'll try to stay put longer than a few days. It was nice to escape some of the responsibilities we have here, but I am not sure if it was very restful and renewing. We loved seeing our family and friends though, and that made it worth it. Well if you made it to the end, congratulations. You now know how we felt after vacation. Tired of it. Ready to move on to something else ;) I know, I know, you are thinking, "This is condensed?! Yikes!"
First stop: Boise, ID to visit our friends the Adams'. We haven't seen them for over 3 years, but things just seemed so comfortable and normal like we still saw each other every day. We enjoyed visiting with them, playing games with them, seeing a little bit of Boise with them, and planning grand trips with them. We also got to see what great chiropractor Jason has become. He adjusted both Greg and Ben. Ben was really having a hard time before that, and then was great the rest of our trip. Thanks Jason! It was fun that the kids got along pretty well too. We hope it won't be three years until we see them again.
Next stop: Salt Lake City, UT to visit various people. We spent one night with our friends the Staffords. The kids have been looking forward to this for months and enjoyed every minute of running around crazy together. We enjoyed catching up with Clay and Markell and seeing their cute, very sweet, adorable baby, whom we hadn't seen yet. It was also fun to see their new house, and visit with some other folks we knew from Iowa, the Hills. We went to the zoo together, where we had a good laugh over the Staffords 2 year old taking all her clothes off so she could properly play in the fountain! We enjoyed being with them and appreciate the good people that they are.
The rest of the time in Salt Lake was spent with my family. Swimming with grandparents, playing games with aunts and cousins, attending the temple, going to the Sweet's candy factory (which was very fun by the way, and they give free samples :)). I also found a little time to visit my mother's grave. The girls enjoyed playing with my cousin's daughter who is Lizzy's age and Adam enjoyed exposure to "Gilligan's Island" by my cousin Mark. We also spent lots of money at the Distribution center and Deseret Book. It was great! Oh yeah, one of my very favorite things was going to see the movie "The Testaments" at temple square. That movie is awesome. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. It was all a lot of fun.
Next stop: Vernal, UT to visit my dad and his wife, Nancy. By this time we were feeling pretty tired, but we still managed to have some fun. We went to the dinosaur museum, which is a must when you visit Vernal. We also got to see were they are going to build their new house, and eat lunch in a nearby very peaceful state forest. Then while I took a nap, Greg and my dad took the kids swimming at a nearby reservoir. Of course we enjoyed some fabulous food made by Nancy as well. I think by the end the kids weren't even afraid of all the animals anymore!
Next stop: Estes Park, CO for a Finch family reunion. The scenery was absolutely stunning! We enjoyed the mountains so much for their beauty. It is a busy place though, and I wouldn't exactly call it tranquil, but it was very enjoyable. We enjoyed being with Greg's family very much (even though we were TOTALLY exhausted by this point). We haven't seen his sister Tami and her family for several years. The cousins had a ball getting filthly together and we even managed a few short hikes, and a little shopping. This is a place Greg and I would like to return to by ourselves so we can go on some longer hikes, where it is bound to be more tranquil. I even told Greg I wanted to move near there because I loved the mountains so much. We will look forward to another Finch family reunion.
Last stop: Grand Island, NE. Why you ask would we stop here? Yes it was on purpose. I found a neat little water park that seemed just the right size for our family and only cost us $20 for all of us to get into, so we thought we would give it a try since it was on the way home. We loved it! It was so much fun. It was good for our family to have some time just for ourselves, and unbelievably, I think we all enjoyed it very much. Lizzy loved the lazy river. Anna loved the wave pool. Adam loved the big, huge, fast drop slides. Ben loved just being in the water. Greg and I just enjoyed all of us being together and having fun, and watching the kids have so much fun. It was a great stop.
Home again: We were utterly, totally, completely exhausted after vacation and were just dumped right back into life as soon as we got home. I think our next vacation won't be so long, and maybe we'll try to stay put longer than a few days. It was nice to escape some of the responsibilities we have here, but I am not sure if it was very restful and renewing. We loved seeing our family and friends though, and that made it worth it. Well if you made it to the end, congratulations. You now know how we felt after vacation. Tired of it. Ready to move on to something else ;) I know, I know, you are thinking, "This is condensed?! Yikes!"
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Just a quick entry. Very cool.
Hi. I know we haven't posted in a while. It is on my list of things to do. This was too good not to post though. Greg's cousin has spina bifada and is in a wheelchair. He doesn't let this slow him down though. He rides at skateparks and stuff all the time and is amazing. He just got in the Guiness Book of World Records for doing the first wheelchair backflip. Here is a link to the Las Vegas news who did a story on him. Seriously you have got to watch this.
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5285116&nav=menu107_2_9
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5285116&nav=menu107_2_9
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
A big toothless grin
Adam lost his third tooth 2 nights ago. It is one of his front, upper teeth so it left quite a gap in his smile. He is changing so much! The dentist assures us that he will need braces. He lost his front bottom two several months ago and they have come in very crowded. He expects these top ones to do the same. He had quite a battle with this one and was up 'til 9:30 fighting with it, but he finally pulled it out himself. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The kids and stuff
I thought since I haven't blogged for a while, I should do it. It seems hard for me to blog unless there is like an event or something to blog about, but I thought I would give everyone some updates on some things.
First, the kids. Things have seemed a little better since the last time I blogged, or else I am dealing with it better or something. Here is a rundown on each little Finchling.
ADAM-- He continues to ride his bike often and loves playing with our neighbors. He recently was excited to pass his level 2 swimming class and absolutely LOVES to swim. He has also inherited his father's desire for adrenaline rushes and loves the fast waterslide at our local swimming pool. He is growing up so much and always asks such intelligent questions. Just today, Greg had to look up the answer to one of them.
ANNA-- Is as sweet as ever. She is always willing to help. She is the first one to comfort and console. She is most aware of others' needs of all the kids. She is great at making friends, and has a variety of them. She even gets along well with hard-to-get-along with kids. She is feeling pretty nervous about Kindergarten and will occasionally have a break down along those lines.
LIZZY-- She is our silly goose. She knows what she wants and does not hesitate to tell you, over and over and over, even before you can respond. She loves playing with Anna and Ben. She is very bright and is starting to draw stick figures. She makes us laugh everyday (and cry some days too!), and she is so interesting to talk to. She loves to spend time with me.
BEN-- Is at an incredibly fun age right now. He is talking so much more, and will try to copy just about anything you say. I love that he says thank you and love you. Earlier this week he was calling Greg, honey (I guess I must do that a lot). He would say, Papa, honey, and then laugh. He loves to sing and does amazingly well. I think he has some of our Scripture Scouts tapes down pat (at least when he is singing along with them). He also loves "Scripture Power". On the other side of the age, he is great at dumping things out. He finds a cup and dumps it. I must say though, that he is getting good at getting a towel and cleaning it up (sort of). He can also stand on the toilet and turn on the water, which is great fun (for him, not me). He loves to "wash up" and would do it all day long if I let him. He loves to snuggle and rock with me. Oh yeah, he is also TERRIFIED of loud noises. He absolutely freaks if I try to vacuum. He cries, he shakes, he screams. I have gotten to where I won't vacuum unless Greg is home. Even if I am holding him while I vacuum, it is no good. Same reaction to the fireworks. He screamed and shook with terror the whole time. Tonight we had these balloons someone gave us that screech really loud when you let them go, same thing. It's bad. He is such a smiley, happy boy most of the time, just terrified of loud noises. We love it right now, though.
Greg is as busy as ever. There has been a lot going on at church, and he will get to conduct his first funeral this week. Then shortly after vacation he will be doing his first wedding. Work is also crazy busy right now, and promises to be so until the end of the year. He is also still trying to adjust to his new cpap machine for his sleep apnea. It hasn't been the instant fix for his tiredness that we hoped it would be, but it is in improving gradually as he gets used to it. He also tries to help at home as much as he can. He is supportive of me and tries hard to spend time with the kids, even though he is so tired. I am so proud of him for all he does to help people and the good man that he is.
I keep busy with chasing after kids, feeding kids, keeping the kids clothed ( I have come to loathe laundry), arranging activities for the kids, driving the kids around, setting up play dates for the kids, doing swimming lessons with the kids, putting the kids to bed, and starting all over again in the morning. Occasionally we have time to have friends over.
I feel thankful for my good family. I feel thankful for my membership in the Lord's church. It gives my life direction and strength and joy. I am thankful for good friends who are loving and supportive. I am thankful for my temporal blessings. How nice it is to feel comfortable. I admit my life can be challenging at times, but the joy far outweighs the trouble.
So there you go, us in a nutshell. Now you won't have to read our blog for another month or so (just kidding, we should have some fun things to post about soon... you'll see (no I am not pregnant, I was talking about vacation!)).
First, the kids. Things have seemed a little better since the last time I blogged, or else I am dealing with it better or something. Here is a rundown on each little Finchling.
ADAM-- He continues to ride his bike often and loves playing with our neighbors. He recently was excited to pass his level 2 swimming class and absolutely LOVES to swim. He has also inherited his father's desire for adrenaline rushes and loves the fast waterslide at our local swimming pool. He is growing up so much and always asks such intelligent questions. Just today, Greg had to look up the answer to one of them.
ANNA-- Is as sweet as ever. She is always willing to help. She is the first one to comfort and console. She is most aware of others' needs of all the kids. She is great at making friends, and has a variety of them. She even gets along well with hard-to-get-along with kids. She is feeling pretty nervous about Kindergarten and will occasionally have a break down along those lines.
LIZZY-- She is our silly goose. She knows what she wants and does not hesitate to tell you, over and over and over, even before you can respond. She loves playing with Anna and Ben. She is very bright and is starting to draw stick figures. She makes us laugh everyday (and cry some days too!), and she is so interesting to talk to. She loves to spend time with me.
BEN-- Is at an incredibly fun age right now. He is talking so much more, and will try to copy just about anything you say. I love that he says thank you and love you. Earlier this week he was calling Greg, honey (I guess I must do that a lot). He would say, Papa, honey, and then laugh. He loves to sing and does amazingly well. I think he has some of our Scripture Scouts tapes down pat (at least when he is singing along with them). He also loves "Scripture Power". On the other side of the age, he is great at dumping things out. He finds a cup and dumps it. I must say though, that he is getting good at getting a towel and cleaning it up (sort of). He can also stand on the toilet and turn on the water, which is great fun (for him, not me). He loves to "wash up" and would do it all day long if I let him. He loves to snuggle and rock with me. Oh yeah, he is also TERRIFIED of loud noises. He absolutely freaks if I try to vacuum. He cries, he shakes, he screams. I have gotten to where I won't vacuum unless Greg is home. Even if I am holding him while I vacuum, it is no good. Same reaction to the fireworks. He screamed and shook with terror the whole time. Tonight we had these balloons someone gave us that screech really loud when you let them go, same thing. It's bad. He is such a smiley, happy boy most of the time, just terrified of loud noises. We love it right now, though.
Greg is as busy as ever. There has been a lot going on at church, and he will get to conduct his first funeral this week. Then shortly after vacation he will be doing his first wedding. Work is also crazy busy right now, and promises to be so until the end of the year. He is also still trying to adjust to his new cpap machine for his sleep apnea. It hasn't been the instant fix for his tiredness that we hoped it would be, but it is in improving gradually as he gets used to it. He also tries to help at home as much as he can. He is supportive of me and tries hard to spend time with the kids, even though he is so tired. I am so proud of him for all he does to help people and the good man that he is.
I keep busy with chasing after kids, feeding kids, keeping the kids clothed ( I have come to loathe laundry), arranging activities for the kids, driving the kids around, setting up play dates for the kids, doing swimming lessons with the kids, putting the kids to bed, and starting all over again in the morning. Occasionally we have time to have friends over.
I feel thankful for my good family. I feel thankful for my membership in the Lord's church. It gives my life direction and strength and joy. I am thankful for good friends who are loving and supportive. I am thankful for my temporal blessings. How nice it is to feel comfortable. I admit my life can be challenging at times, but the joy far outweighs the trouble.
So there you go, us in a nutshell. Now you won't have to read our blog for another month or so (just kidding, we should have some fun things to post about soon... you'll see (no I am not pregnant, I was talking about vacation!)).
Thursday, July 06, 2006
4th of July
We had a nice, very exhausting Independence Day this year. We started the day off at a ward pancake breakfast at the park. There was lots of good food and fun games for everyone (I even got to bomb Tammy with a water balloon). Right after the breakfast we walked downtown to watch the parade. Bettendorf's 4th of July parade is pretty small - it's mostly made up of politicians and commercial business advertising their cause (including the ACLU and gay rights march). But there's plenty of candy for the kids so they were entertained - especially Ben who must have eaten 30 pieces of candy while we were watching.
After the parade we went home and had lunch. Tammy stayed home with the younger kids for nap time and Adam and I headed out geocaching with a friend of ours. By the way, this friend of ours we introduced to geocaching a couple of years ago has now found nearly 1400 caches - he's crazy about it. He took us to a remote forest wildlife preserve where there were a few caches hidden. Below is a picture I took of Adam - the picture doesn't really do the location justice - it was a very beautiful area. We found 1 of the 3 caches we hunted for.
After geocaching, we headed home in time for supper. We invited our geocaching friend and his family along with another family with young kids for a barbeque. We all went together after dark to watch the fireworks show.
All together, it was a fun day! I really just wanted to blog SOMETHING (ANYTHING!) to get that awful picture off the top of our blog!!! Hope you all had a nice holiday too!
After the parade we went home and had lunch. Tammy stayed home with the younger kids for nap time and Adam and I headed out geocaching with a friend of ours. By the way, this friend of ours we introduced to geocaching a couple of years ago has now found nearly 1400 caches - he's crazy about it. He took us to a remote forest wildlife preserve where there were a few caches hidden. Below is a picture I took of Adam - the picture doesn't really do the location justice - it was a very beautiful area. We found 1 of the 3 caches we hunted for.
After geocaching, we headed home in time for supper. We invited our geocaching friend and his family along with another family with young kids for a barbeque. We all went together after dark to watch the fireworks show.
All together, it was a fun day! I really just wanted to blog SOMETHING (ANYTHING!) to get that awful picture off the top of our blog!!! Hope you all had a nice holiday too!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Where's Maldo?
Do any of you guys recognize this guy? This is a picture of the new bishop of our ward. Do any of you have a bishop that looks like this?! You can add this picture to the collection of Greg's bad pictures this week.Our youth group at church played a fun little game tonight called Where's Maldo?. They asked some of the people in the ward to dress up in disguise and then walk around the mall (not in the stores themselves) and blend in. The kids then had to search around the mall to find all the people on their list. They had to approach each person and state who they were. In return they were given a sticker to verify that they had found that person.
Greg chose the urban cowboy look. His wonderful, full head of hair is actually the hood of a halloween costume I made for Adam a few years ago. It is a wolf costume. He just taped down the ears, and kind of pulled it together in the back to make a ponytail. He pulled out a little of the faux fur and stuck it on with a glue stick to make the nice little whiskers under his lip. I bought the hat at Goodwill and some cheap glasses at Wal-mart. Then I used some mascara to darken up his goatee area. The look was completed with a grungy t-shirt and a longer pair of cut off jean shorts. The kids and I went to the mall just to see everyone dressed up and to see their reactions to Greg. We of course did not walk around with him, but it was fun to see the others in our ward dressed up too. It did make for another scary picture of Greg though. What do you think?
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