August 25, 2008

Book Review: The Art of Mending

Catching up on books I have recently read, this one was sitting on my nightstand for a few months since I brought it home from my mother-in-law at her suggestion when we were in NJ in May. She seems to have a knack for selecting books that I will enjoy. Of course, this one wasn't too much of a stretch for me since I have read other books by Elizabeth Berg and enjoyed them (Open House is one that comes to mind). This one is a quick read, since the plot is fairly straight forward and only takes a few twists. It's about an adult woman who goes back to her family's yearly gathering at an annual fair and finds more out about her family that she intends. I can't say much more about it other than it starts with her sister asking for a dinner with just the narrator and their brother to talk about things that happened to her when she was a child. It ends up being an eye opening experience for the narrator, and a life changing visit for the entire family. I recommend it, especially if you haven't read her books before. They are a treat, and I finished this one in about 2 days because I couldn't put it down.

August 22, 2008

Conquering The Diving Board

We have a membership at the pool near our house and have been using it well this year, going at least two times a week. The kids are in that stage of life when it seems they could stay in the water forever (remember when your hands were pruned because you'd stayed in so long?). Since we go so often, they have become quite good swimmers for their respective ages. Quinn can pretty much go anywhere in the pool that's 5' and less deep. He loves to wear his goggles and explore the pool. Keely is also a good swimmer and doesn't need a life vest. She can swim around in the 3.5' area and likes to practice swimming in the deep end from the wall to someone standing 4-5 feet away. For the whole summer, we've been daring Quinn to conquer the last area of the pool that he hadn't been in -- the diving board and really deep end (12'). A few weeks ago, on the last trip to the pool with summer camp, he finally did it. And since then, that's about all he spends his time doing while we are at the pool. He's even gone off the high dive a few times (10' high) but he says it makes his tummy hurt :) So here's some pictures of the momentous occasion a few weeks later, as this is the first time I had a camera at the pool.

Today was one of those days when you get cold when you get out of the water, even though it's in the 80s. Here is Quinn waiting to get on the board.
And here he is all lined up to run off...
And now midair in jump...
Finally swimming back to the wall like a pro!
And now for fair representation, here's a picture of Keely swimming underwater in the shallow area.
And here's a funny one...when Keely gets tired of swimming or cold, her favorite place to be is lying on the "warm cement" (her words). We even offer her a lounge chair but that's what she prefers :)
And one last picture of Keely and Annie, a self portrait while they were waiting to pick up Quinn. Thanks to Annie for taking the awesome staged diving board pictures for me :)
And with that, on to the weekend. Not sure of the plans at this point but I know it will include some shopping at my favorite store and maybe a trip to Park City. Annie will be here until Monday and we'll be having a good old time with her :)

August 19, 2008

Back to School 2008

**Yes, I'm a day late, but it's not my fault -- Blogger was being stubborn last night and wouldn't let me upload photos!**

The kids started school yesterday. They were very excited, both up before 7 AM and dressed right away on their own! Here's Keely, posing very nicely with her lunch bag and backpack. She's so glad to be a big girl and have her own stuff to carry. Today, when I picked her up from school, she already had her backpack on and was waiting for me!
Now here's Quinn and Keely. Quinn wears the same uniform as last year, except the addition of a belt that must be worn by all children 1st grade and up. The belt is his favorite part of the uniform and today, he declared that he will wear a belt with every pair of pants from now on! If last year you would have told me that (a) Quinn would wear his uniform without complaint every day and (b) that he would actually want to wear a belt I would have called you crazy :)
I like this picture of Keely, she has an interesting look on her face...
And before we drove to school, Quinn wanted his picture taken on the swing out in the front yard and of course, Keely couldn't let that happen without getting in on the act :)
James and I drove them to school and walked them in, despite protests from Keely. I told her we would walk her in and she's all, Why??? Well, because I want to and she's all, Okay fine but just this one day!!! Isn't she 4 going on 14?!?! So we first walked Quinn to his class and got him settled at his first real desk. Then we walked Keely down to her room and she found her spot for her backpack and then settled down at a table next to her new friend Olivia, who we met at the Back to School BBQ on Sunday night. At the end of the day, they had stories to tell and overall, had a super first day at school.

On Sunday, we decided to take a hike (lol) up near the peak of Little Cottonwood Canyon at a ski resort called Alta. We hiked around from the base of the resort in a place called Albion Basin. We've only hiked higher in this area and this was the first time starting lower and ascending to the place we usually start. Here are the kids being silly on the way up. Don't I have to worry about Keely when she gets older -- you could take her pose from this picture and easily transport her to a dance club!!!
Also on the way up, Quinn wanted to pose on this rock while he went off the beaten path (I'm full of catch phrases tonight lol).
Here they are posing, or rather Keely hugging Quinn while he protests.
I love this picture of Keely in the wildflowers (don't worry, hikers -- she's on the trail). I'm thinking "The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music..."
And now here's Quinn and I in the wildflowers. Try as we might, we didn't spot any fun wildlife on this hike :(
So that's a catch up. I have a book review to write since I just finished one. I also have a new book to start (thanks to James for buying me one today at the U Bookstore) and Linda recommended one to me today also -- I love when I have several in the queue! Last but not least (and not forgotten, Annie!), my sister comes to visit us on Thursday night. She doesn't come by herself very often and I'm looking forward to spending time with her, as are the kiddos. We used to fight like cats and dogs, but although we don't talk on the phone much, we get along really well when we see each other now.

August 16, 2008

Catching Up

Well, it's been a while and I apologize to my faithful readers and to myself, for this is where I intend to keep a more regular record of our life. Between the visiting family, the Olympics, and our busy life, I've failed to do that. I also don't have any good pictures to post and I know how pictures spice up the blog.

Grandma & Grandpa left on Wednesday morning and arrived safely back in NJ. They were up in Park City on Monday, and at the pool with the kids for a few hours on Tuesday. There are photos of these activities but they reside on their camera, not ours (and maybe now that they're connected to the internet, they can send some our way). We also had a chance to play 9 holes of golf on Tuesday after I left work, and I'm pleased to report some improvement in my play -- I had a par and at least two bogeys (we weren't keeping score).

The kids start back to school on Monday. We finished the remainder of the shopping today, Quinn got belts and socks and Keely got some red knee socks. They are both excited for school and I find I look forward to it also, not because they are occupied throughout the day but because I love to help with homework and keep things organized with them. It makes me feel like I am going back to school too, and in a sense I am living vicariously through them.

Update on the car -- we've decided to go ahead and fix the engine. It's been ordered and we await its arrival. It is amazing how spoiled I've become with two cars. Now that we're back to just one, it seems inconvenient especially with family visiting and the kids out of camp and school for the last week. We're going through gas like crazy and that bothers me. As I've mentioned, we were a one car family for quite a few years and it's amazing how fast I've gotten used to the luxury (or burden) of two cars. So hopefully we can get the engine in quicker than expected and until then, we'll deal with one car. It will be easier when we get back to a normal schedule this week.

Triathalon training is stalled, for a number of reasons. I guess the biggest is that I don't have a bike to train with. Now you might ask, how did I decide to train for a triathalon without a bike??? Well, I presumed I would use James' (he has two) but after a test ride on his bike last Sunday, it was painfully obvious that it would not be suitable for me to race with. Given that we're spending lots of money on the car repair, and that I've just spent several hundred on airfare to Las Vegas (more on that later), I don't think it would be wise to spend money on a new bike. Also, swimming training was suspended for a week when the gym pool was closed for repair. It seems like there are a number of factors playing against me here and I'm just not thinking it is going to be happening in 3 weeks. I also felt restricted in my workouts, only having the three cardio choices. I miss my weekly step class and my Saturday weight lifting with James. So for all that, I've decided not to continue training. I would like to try one but another time!

So as I mentioned, I've booked a trip for us to Las Vegas in September. James has a convention there and the kids happen to have a school day off that same weekend. So we're headed there and my mom and dad will be joining us! We're flying on JetBlue (I snagged some tickets at just over $100 RT for each one) and staying at our timeshare, the HGVClub at the Las Vegas Hilton. We've owned the timeshare for over 4 years now, and this is the first time we'll be staying at the one we technically own (for those that don't own timeshare, that's probably confusing but it's too long of a story to type out now). My parents are also staying at the same place and we've never all been to Vegas together so it should be fun. James will stay on an extra day to attend his convention. Then we will all be home to celebrate Quinn's 7th b-day on the 24th!

Oh, also since I've posted James and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. The actual day, we all went to Village Inn for dinner (I know, fancy!). We really celebrated with our stay at the Hilton downtown while the family was in town. I couldn't let the day pass without mentioning how much I love my husband. We have known each other for 16 years now and I couldn't have imagined how happy we would be, our love growing stronger by the year. Sure there are ups and downs, but I am grateful that we have each other and that whatever happens we will be there for each other. I also know that I am not the easiest person to deal with sometimes, but he understands me better than anyone and I couldn't imagine life without him. He is the best father and husband I could ask for and I'm grateful to share my life with him.

Well, that's the catch up. The weather has turned cooler for the last few days, and it feels like fall is in the air. I'll definitely have first day of school pictures on Monday. Until then...

August 6, 2008

Car Trouble: The Verdict

Well, after over two weeks with the car in the shop we now know more about what is wrong and how much it will cost to fix. Initially, they suspected the timing belt(s) snapped and the question of engine damage arose. The fix was to repair the timing belt(s) and then do a test on the engine to see if there was any damage. Today James talked to them again and there is indeed engine damage. The only fix is an entirely new engine, possibly the worst outcome in terms of cost. We are now faced with three possible options, none of which are financially positive for us.

Option #1: Fix the engine, at a minimum cost of $7k. The upside to this option is that the new engine will be warrantied for 36000 miles. The bad side is the risk we take that something else will go wrong with the car once we've replaced the engine. The other downside to this is that engines for Land Rovers take an average of 2-3 months to come in, leaving us without a second car until almost the end of this year!

Option #2: Contact junkyards to see how much they would pay us for the car as-is. If we could make a few thousand dollars on the car, we could pay off the existing loan and at least start from scratch with a new second car or even just go back to one car again for the time being. However, the down side to this is that we will have spent a large chunk of money with nothing to show for it. The upside is no headache or worry about what will happen to this car next.

Option #3: Probably the least enticing and most bold option. We could fix the Land Rover and sell the Envoy. We are not upside down on that loan, having owned it for 3 years and we could actually make some money on it and then save that monthly payment. The downside to this is we lose the family car (more room for guests, car trips, etc.) and that we now depend on a car that I am not totally comfortable with for the long term.

I am not excited by any of these options. We're thinking this over and the shop is holding off until we call back. I'll probably start researching junkyards over the next couple of days just to check. Comments or advice welcome. We've never been in a situation like this before. Makes me think we should have just stayed a one car household!

August 5, 2008

Goodbye Nana...

My mom is leaving on a jet plane tonight, heading back to NJ a day earlier than expected. Yesterday, they went up to Park City (again, I was at work -- sigh) and rode the Alpine Coaster. They all seemed to have fun. Today, the kids went to summer camp and my mom went downtown to research the family history library. Here's a picture of the kids with Nana tonight before they went to bed. (Linda, you asked so here you go!)
And because I don't think I took that good of a picture, here's another one of my parents last year in Italy.
So now we are back to normal for a few days. Nana will be back in mid September to attend Grandparents' Day at the kids' school and then probably will join us on a long weekend trip to Las Vegas.

August 4, 2008

Family Visits and The Improved Fence

The last week has been busy and eventful, with the arrival of first Grandma and Grandpa on Tuesday and then Nana on Thursday. I had to work :( so James did most of the entertaining. The first day, they went to Bingham Canyon Mine on the west bench of the Salt Lake Valley. This is a picture of Keely with Grandpa, taken by Quinn I believe.
The next day, they went up to Snowbird and did the same thing we did last Sunday (see Snowbird post). I liked this picture of Quinn and Grandpa on the way up the chairlift.
The highlight of that trip (at least it would have been for me if I was there) was this mom and baby moose drinking water from a pond. The moose must know that there are less people around on the weekdays :)
Friday, they went up to Silver Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon. I don't have any pictures of that though. With all the family in town, James and I took advantage of free babysitting and spent the night in downtown SLC. We stayed at the Hilton, and were lucky to get bumped up to the Executive Level. That means good views, free appetizers and breakfast, and mostly free (non alcoholic) drinks. We partook in a few appys and drinks (of the charged, alcoholic variety) before heading to dinner. We ate at Bambara and had a lovely, very delicious dinner. We swam in the hotel pool, ordered dessert for room service and had an uninterrupted night's sleep (ah, the things you appreciate once you have kids). The next morning, we walked to the local Farmer's Market and bought some goodies for the weekend ahead. After that relaxing night, it was back to reality and the task of replacing the last stretch of old fence in our backyard. This replacement included 3 trips to Lowe's, 255 cedar boards, 750 screws, several 2x4's, and a new post (all totaling a lot of money). And not to mention, about 25 hours of labor combined over 2 days with 4 people helping over the course of it all. Here's a couple of views of how it used to look...
And now, here's the finished product. The first is the view from the kitchen window, which now looks TONS better when I look up from washing dishes.
And here are a couple of views from each side. Please excuse the otherwise unfinished backyard, we are in process of several backyard renovations at once -- including killing off all the grass for future xeriscaping, and a new patio.

So that's it. Grandma and Grandpa are now in the Grand Canyon for the week and will return on Saturday. Nana will be here for a couple more days, helping out with the kids and household duties (thanks, Mom!). On the triathalon training front, I did a 30 minute run last Tuesday and then promptly fell out of the routine with all the family (hey, that's my story and I am sticking to it!). Today I righted the ship and did 30 minutes on the bike and then 10 minutes on the treadmill to see how that feels (the hardest transition is bike to run because your legs are said to feel like bricks). I'm hoping to keep going here more consistently since the race is less than 5 weeks away now.