We did not miss our TRAIN!

It's funny, I can hear a song 100 times on the radio and as great of a song as it may be it seems to blend with all of the other songs that play endlessly on my radio, until I get the chance to hear them live. It is as if I can feel the artists heart beating through their music. My favorite musicians have a gift of somehow being able paint a picture of their world and and invite me in to celebrate for few minutes of their spiritual journey. Jason called me one day from a meeting at a Utah radio station and asked if I wanted to come over and hear "Train" play a live broadcast. It was so cool to be in a small room with about 25 people eating catered lunch and having "Train" perform their top hits. Hayden came with me and was so good. He sat quiet through the whole thing. Wow! Afterward we got to meet the lead singer and band personally. They all gave Hayden a high five and the lead singer Pat Monahan wrote "Hayden is the coolest" next to his autograph. I didn't think to bring my camera.....oh well..... It is fun to have a husband in media....there all always fun surprises like this.

Ok, I forgot to post these pictures from our journey to Minnesota cross country. We went to "The Mall of America" in Minneapolis and they have the coolest aquarium there. You stand on a conveyer belt as it slowly takes you on an underwater tunnel experience with sharks, sea turtles, manta rays swimming overhead and all around you. We loved it!

Salt Lake REAL

We got VIP side-line tickets to the Salt Lake REAL game through Jason's job. (Utah's professional soccer team.) We had a catered dinner, fold out camping chairs that we got to take home, and posters for the boys! It was a fun night. Pro soccer players are almost graceful when they move. It looks like really athletic ballet to me so it was so cool to see them upclose on the field.

Haydens 1st day of Pre-school

Hayden started his first day of pre-school last Thursday. He is so ready, but it was kind of sad and happy at the same time. He was a little apprehensive, but after having been at home for almost two weeks with Roman being at school and not having his brother to play with he was very eager to go. When he got home I asked him what he liked about it and he said, "Igot to play at the sand table."

Swimming Lessons

After a few rounds a swimming lessons Roman has mastered the back stroke across the length of the 25 meter pool. He did it there and back! Hayden has also come a long way in his efforts to learn how to swim. I am super proud of them! (Thanks Dad for teaching me how to swim.)

First Day of School

I found the best idea in "Family Fun" magazine. I wanted to make Roman's first day of first grade special so I made him a welcome home banner and posted it for him to see with the pictures I took of him that morning at school. He really liked it. Roman is in the Chinese dual Immersion program and for the 1st three hours of school his teacher speaks nothing but chinese. Roman has wanted to learn chinese since he was 3 years old so, when the dual Immersion class started this year he was very excited to be a part of it.

Hogle Zoo! We Love it!

Comcast hosted a family night at Hogle Zoo, so we got to go as a family. I will always have fond memories of taking the kids here. It really is such a great place to go. Very peaceful when it is not too crowded. There was face painting, catered dinner and free carousel rides. What more could you ask for?

Our Cross Country trip to Minnesota via RV

The grand Finale of our trip was through Yellowstone National Park. I have been through it before, but never camped there, so it was super exciting especially because it was BEAR SEASON! What a way to end our trip. It was beautiful.

The way Home

On the way back we went through Montana to visit some long time friends of Jason. Montana is gorgeous in its own right. We stopped to feed the horses some carrots. We were so flattered to find that our friends had named their Moose endearingly after Jason "Marty Moose" which is Jason's nickname by those who know him best. "Moose"

Minnesota 10,000 Lakes (Our Roots)

We stayed in an RV park while we were there. I loved the feel of this small Minnesota town. Boats and life jackets left for anyone to use. If any of you have seen "New in Town" with Renee Zelweger and Harry Conick Jr. you will know what I mean about Minnesota. We felt so welcome there. If you haven't seen it you really should rent it. I promise you will like it.

Five Generation Photo

We got a five generation picture which is priceless and worth the whole trip.

Great Great Grandma Daisy Jacob

Our next stop was Minnesota where Jasons' roots are. I was so excited to meet the boys great great grandmother. My own grandparents aren't even alive for crying out loud, let alone Great Great. I had to meet this woman. She is truly amazing and looks wonderful for 100 years old.

Flinstone Land

These ice- creams were the small! The kids in front of us had a large and I am not quit sure how he balanced his.

Mount Rushmore!

I have always wanted to take a cross country RV trip, so when the chance came to go to Minnesota for Great Great Grandma Daisy's 100th Birthday I was very excited to go. We first set off for South Dakota and who knew South Dakota was so cool! We went to Jewel Cave which is awesome! Then we went to Mount Rushmore which I highly recommend. It is only a 10 hour drive from Salt Lake. Along the way there are all sorts of touristy stops including Flinstone Land! We also got sneak preview of the new sculpture they are carving in the side of the Black Hills.

Joel McHale (Totally obnoxious!)

Jason got front row tickets to Joel Mchale at Abravanal Hall through his position at Comcast as the Local Video on Demand Dir. I was so excited to see what awesome seats we had, until Joel McHale flipped me off when I took a picture of him with my flash. Jason warned me that sitting in the front row of a comedy show could be great or you could get totally picked on. I thought "oh it will be fun!" I couldn't decide whether to be flattered or offended. His stand up proved to be just as funny as his talk soup delivery, but he was totally obnoxious!

Hayden loves animals

My 3 year old loves anything that is creepy or crawly. He catches grasshoppers, snails and rolly pollies. He has even managed to catch a baby quail that waddled quickly through our yard, so when our neighbor brought out her parakeet he wasn't shy at all.