The Journey Part II

The night before we arrived in Boston Patrick and I decided to stop at the Niagara Falls. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset, chinese food and cheap carnival like feel of the American side of the Niagara River.




Our tenth and final state, no not a liquid state... Massachusetts! AND YES THAT IS A PILGRIM HAT ON THE TURNPIKE SIGN!!! We finally made it. I actually have video of us entering our apartment for the first time. However, I have yet to download it onto this computer. When I do get to it onto this computer, the video will go right here as an apropriate ending to this entry.

The Journey Part I

This is a long photographic documentation of our drive to school. We really enjoyed the trip



We had to stop evey three to four hours to feed and change Alex. It was really nice to stretch our legs that much. it made for a more comfortable drive. I actually would reccomend stopping from time to time next time you are on a road trip. It is better on your back and your sitter doesn't get quite so sore from sitting in a car all day.



The second state on our journey was Wyoming. Patrick is holding up a number two in this picture to demonstrate the it was the second state that we visited.The sign read Wyoming welcomes you!


Nebraska...its a good life.(State no. 3)



Alex really liked the Holiday Inn but I don't know if the Holiday Inn liked him at three am.



The people of Iowa welcome you... fields of opportunity.State number 4.


I think that this picture speaks for itself.



Illinois the land of lincoln... and a really bad traffic jam. State number 5



Welcome to Indiana crossroad of America...Lincoln's Boyhood home State number 6



This is trhe best picture that I took of the Ohio sign. It sort of snuck up on me. Stae number 7.



Pennsylvania welcomes you. State number 8


New York the empire state State number 9 This is story is to be continued.

Strawberry Limeade is my FAVORITE

It rained, it snowed, and then we got sunburns. That is the best way to describe the weather this week. Monday was sunny and beautiful, but it began to be cloudy and rainy by Tuesday. Wednesday night, Patrick and I visited Park City to see his mom who had just had surgery. There was snow on the ground! Thursday was not as rainy but it was windy and cold. Friday was sunny again, but still pretty cold. Yesterday was a beautiful day, so Patrick and I went to the pool. We came home with sunburns.

This was a week of fun barbecues. On Thursday Patrick and I went to the Elders Quorum Ultimate Frisbee Barbecue. The rain cleared up just in time. It was chilly, but the guys were running around so much that they didn't seem to mind. On Friday we went to a Primary Barbecue. It was a party put on by Sherry to say good bye to Rachelle and I who are moving, and welcome to the new people being put into primary. Sherry's strawberry limeade was incredible.

After the Barbecue Patrick and I got to ride in our friends' new car and go to a movie. We went with the Luke and Brooke to see Bridge to Teribithia. I knew before hand that it was sad, so I thought that I would be OK. Nope, I balled through it. If you do not like sad movies... I do not recommend it. It was a good show but afterwards the car was very quiet, and we all felt depressed.

Saturday was a busy day. We went to our last birthing class. The class that we took was really fascinating. It was not so much a how to class it was a mix of biology and question answer style teaching. We got a tour of the hospital on Saturday and it was fun to peek in the nursery. After class we went to the pool. It was so beautiful outside. Patrick joined a high dive spin off competition with a bunch of other guys and it was funny to watch.

After the pool we raced home and changed because we had suite tickets to The Blaze game. We took Patrick's parents as a birthday present for Ted. (His birthday was in December.) The Blaze are Salt Lake's Arena Football league. Once you get used to the differences from regular football it is really fun to watch. They have 50-yard fields, an eight-player single-platoon system, drop kicks and rebound nets. As you can probably guess from the fact that there is a fifty yd field it is a fast paced game. In regular football especially in the NFL where the level of play is so advanced players are pigeon holed. Players spend their lives honing their bodies to play specific positions. However, in arena football you will not see 300+ pound linebackers. Yes many of the players are huge but most of them have to play both offense and defense and they are all expected to be able to run. We enjoyed watching the game despite the fact that The Blaze lost to the SaberCats.

As a side note our Jeep is all grown up now. Patrick had a 2.5 inch Teraflex lift put on it last Thursday. It rides so well. I can't wait to take it off road.

Hooray for a New Jeep

I saw some of my students for the last time. For some of these kids I will not see them again due to the holiday and the start of summer vacation! Next week is my last week of work before the baby comes. The last day of school, June 1, is a good time to end tutoring because it makes for the best transition for students. There is still a bit of time before the baby comes, but this will give me a chance to get our apartment mostly organized for the move. This was week 32 of the pregnancy and I am excited to be getting things ready. This week the car seat came in the mail! We tore open the box and put a stuffed animal in the car seat.
Also, this week the weather has been wonderful. So, on Thursday Catherine and I had a picnic lunch on campus. We met some overly friendly birds, and decided not to share our lunch with them. The University Campus is so beautiful in the spring! Oh, and Catherine gave me a peanut butter chocolate cookie that was one of the best ones I have ever had.
The most exciting news of the week was that we actually found a four door Jeep Wrangler!!!!!!! Ever since Chrysler announced that they were starting production on the four door (This happened last summer.) I have wanted one. It is the solution for those who love their Wranglers and are concerned about the Wranglers' inability to accommodate a car seat. (I am one of these people.) We first test drove the new Wrangler in March. After some stalling I put my red Jeep up for sale. (I was very emotional about parting with the jeep I have known and loved since 2004.) However, since then we have learned that dealerships have a tough time getting four door Wranglers on their lots. Production is slow and the 4 dr is in high demand. This time of year they say that it could take four months to order one from the factory... that is if your order even gets processed. And if you wanted a 2007 you were pretty much out of luck and would have to wait for the factories to start production of the 2008 models. We were not discouraged, we were determined to find one that had been previously ordered but not yet arrived.
Honestly, I never thought that I would drive a brand new car. I thought that it was really silly and that people should always buy nice used cars. I thought that new cars were a total waste of money. However, there is no such thing as a used four door Jeep wrangler, because they are brand new. (If they had had used ones, we would have gotten one.) And I need a car that will work with the car seat really soon because the baby's due date is six weeks away. I couldn't believe it when we went to the third dealership yesterday and they actually had one. At the time we were still planning on seeing what inventory was to be arriving next month and never expected to actually see one on the lot! We wavered back and forth over getting a hypothetical car that would be coming in June or an actual physical car that was sitting right there on the lot. We were so lucky, it has manual transmission and a hard top! I had been so sad about letting go of my red jeep, and honestly it will always have a very special place in my heart. However, this jeep is even cooler! (And I am not the least bit sad about the red one any more!) We are now trying to think of good names for the new jeep we have thought of calling it "The Mini Van", or "The White Beast". If you can think of any other good names please feel free to post them!