October 19th, VCU Dental School Tour

After my Chicago conference I flew from there to Richmond Virginia to spend several days with Brittany, Josh, Teegan and Camdyn. I had really been looking forward to this part of my trip. Even though they have only been gone 3 months, I missed them more than I could ever imagine. Sunday afternoon Josh took us on a tour through Richmond. We drove down Monument Avenue which was pretty cool. These huge monuments are right in the middle of the road! We saw the James River and of course had to get out and take a few pictures. We drove through Shock O' Bottom and Shock O' Slip. Okay, did I spell that right? I guess it is a trendy part of Richmond. I just liked saying the words:) I kept asking if Barack Obama lived in Shock O' Bottom. Brianne was getting pretty annoyed with me:) Made it that much better. Josh took us through the Dental building at VCU. No one was there so we really looked around. It looked like fun and "almost?" made me miss school. All the Health Occupations were in buildings surrounding. The Nursing building was huge! Josh and Britt tried talking Brianne into going to VCU's Dental Hygiene program instead of to Provo. I really think she should look into it. Looked fun to me!

Josh is in the class of 2012. This board listed the states or countries each classmate is from. We made Josh point to Idaho. Isn't he a good sport!

Josh's workstation in the dental lab. He has been carving teeth out of wax. They give him a tooth and chunk of wax and he has to make it look identical to the real tooth. Who would of thought!

Brianne looks pretty cool (Dorky) in Josh's loops:)

Yes, Josh is a good sport! This is a mural in their lunch room. I made him act like he was walking down the path. He even waved!

October 20th-Short Pump Mall

Monday we spent most of the day at the Short Pump Mall in Richmond. It is an outdoor mall and is beautiful. I loved the landscaping and all the fountains. The girls thought we would only be a few hours, but I knew otherwise. It was a good day. That night we went to a really old $2 theater in downtown Richmond and watched Wall-E. Brittany said the theater reminded her of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and I will have to agree!

Notice the "short pumps" around the fountain:)

Teegan threw a huge fit when it was time to leave....

October 21st-Washington DC

I don't know how it happened but I became the "designated driver" the whole time we were in Richmond. (Only when Josh wasn't with us) When I told the girls I wanted to go to DC the first thing Brittany said was, "you're driving"! Thank goodness for their GPS. It was the craziest day ever!! I can't even begin to count how many wrong turns we took, even with the GPS. We got hit by a car, got a parking ticket outside of the Smithsonian, accidentally pulled into the Arlington Military base and almost got strip searched (We were laughing so hard we were crying) That was the worst wrong turn I've ever made! We picked up strangers and gave them a ride, we got honked at more times than I can count. Britt said it was good we didn't have Idaho license plates....can you even imagine! We put the kids in their stroller and back into their car seats so many times. When we were ready to head home it was right during rush hour. Brittany was freaking out because of the congestion. She felt claustrophobic and wanted to stop somewhere until the traffic was lighter. Brianne told her that if we got that stroller out one more time she would slash its tires! And I really think she would have. We did end up stopping to eat, but left the stroller in the car:)

We did a lot of "Drive By Shootings". There were so many places we wanted to go but knew we didn't have the time, so as we drove by the girls would take a picture:) I was amazed at how close together everything was!

I was the driver and Brianne was the navigator. Britt was the nanny in the back:) Our GPS 's voice was a female. Brittany said her name was Mandy. Mandy was our friend and our enemy that day!45 foot Right Whale. I'd never heard of a right whale before!

Teegan loved the Nemo fish:)

I have always wanted to go to the Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier. The feeling there was so strong. It really made me appreciate even more the Americans that have given their lives so that we can have the freedoms we have. I have never had a desire to serve in the military, but truly admire those that choose that as a way of life. I was overwhelmed with how large Arlington Cemetery is. I really don't know what I expected, but not that.

October 22nd, Maymont Park/Bottoms Up

Our last day in Richmond. The trip flew by so fast. We did not waste one minute and were constantly on the go. Britt said she wished we had pedometers on so we could have tracked the amount of walking we did! Maymont Park was beautiful. It was the perfect time of year to go. The weather was great and all the leaves were changing colors. It was a lot of fun. We decided that morning we were only going to take a few pictures. Yah right...we took more there than anywhere else:) Britt got real good at setting the timer on her camera and finding an object to set it on so we could all be in the pictures.
Teegan loved the hugh fish in the pond, and they loved him. We fed them chunks of graham cracker until they were gone, then started feeding them fish crackers. Kind of creepy...fish eating fish crackers!!

How can you help but love this little girl! This is how she is all the time:)

I wish Lexie could have been in these pictures!

Pizza at "Bottoms Up"! The best pizza I think I've ever had! Thanks Josh...

So my anticipated trip is over and I am back to reality at home in Idaho Falls. It was the most tiring but fun I've had in a long time! I'm so glad Brianne was able to fly to Richmond. There is nothing more worth while as a mom to see your kids love being together. When Brittany dropped us off at the airport Thursday morning and we were tearfully saying our goodbyes, I heard Brianne tell Brittany she loved her. I can't even put into words how that made me feel. I am so proud of Brittany and Josh. Josh is doing such a good job in school and is so excited about the things he is learning. Brittany is such an amazing mother. She is so patient with her kids. Is so organized, and is always so happy. Thanks Britt and Josh for putting up with me and Brianne during our stay. It is a trip we will always remember!! And I really am sorry about your car!

I Love Chicago

October 14th I had the opportunity to go to Chicago for a work meeting. I was so excited because I have never been to Chi town before. My friend Shelley has been there many times so knew all the great places to shop and eat. She gave me a very detailed list of how to get on the train at the airport, where to get off, all the addresses of places to go and what bus to catch and where. It was very helpful. The train thing was very intimidating I will admit. I rode it into the city, but when I left opted for the cab to the airport. $50 instead of $2 but it was worth it! I had an amazing time. The shopping was to die for! I spent way too much money but am already feeling like I need to go back soon! Friday night the 17th, meetings were over, nothing to do so I bought a ticket to Wicked. It was a little weird going by myself but it was so worth it. I had heard (from Shelley of course) how good it was....It was better than I could ever imagine. When it ended, I sat in my seat and cried. Overwhelmed with how amazing it was. I'm sure people around me thought I had issues! No one else was crying.....it is coming to Salt Lake in May and I will be there:)

October 9th we took Landon and Brylee to a Pumpkin Patch so they could pick their pumpkins. It was the only day that week we could go and of course was the coldest we have had this fall. I picked them up after tennis lessons and we met Val at the pumpkin place. It was freezing! Land and Bry didn't have jackets with them. They jumped out of the car, grabbed a pumpkin and were ready to go. They weren't thrilled when I made them wait so we could get a few pictures! Poor kids....

Landon and his friends went to the big rival football game between Hillcrest and Bonneville. "Cival War". Landon has never been one to do the dress up thing at school and long ago quit dressing up on Halloween, so on the Friday of the game when I got home from work I was surprised when Landon said he needed my help dressing him up for the big game. I had 30 minutes to run to the store, get my supplies, get home and spruce him up. I pulled it off! My favorite were his shoes. One black and one red. Thank goodness for duct tape:D

The past 2 weeks Landon has been obsessed with doing puzzles. The only reason I could come up with why this sudden interest in puzzles is that I sent his XBox in for repair. It was constantly overheating....such a sad, sad situation!! He started with some easier puzzles that we had, and decided he needed more of a challenge. He pulled out this "borderless" 750 piece puzzle that we have had forever! I should have thrown it away after we did it the first time....but no.... It has been spread out all over my table for over a week. He would do a little here and there, but finally this weekend he finished it. If you will notice, it had ONE piece missing. How sad for him. He thinks the piece fell on the floor and Bronx ate it! I'm just glad I get my table back. Oh, and the puzzle is going in the garbage! When Landon was finished he made the comment, "Who designs these puzzles anyway. I would like to meet the low life losers"! I have to agree :)

My Beautiful Girls

Even though Brianne and Lexie will "KILL" me for this, I had to post these pictures! Brianne went to Provo last week and spent 4 days with Lexie. One of Lexie's favorite things to do is go 80's dancing in Salt Lake and she has been dying to take Brianne. Ok, so that makes me feel old. They go 80's dancing! I remember in Junior High and High School we use to have 50's dances...but 80's dancing....I graduated in the 80's!!! I do worry a little. The place they go dancing is next to a homeless shelter in S.L. Lexie showed me where it is and I must say the place is a little "shady" to say the least. I thought these pics were soooo cute....and I must say, they have the most beautiful lips:)

Tonight Brianne and I went to a reception. A guy I work with and his partner got married last weekend in California. Brianne knew him also, since she worked with me at the surgical center for over a year. I have never been to anything like that, but I must say he is very happy so I am happy for him.