A Rainy Field Trip

This week was busy but fun. Today we had a luau at school. It rained most of the day, but stopped raining for the exact times that we were going outside to do the food and games. Just one of the many small blessings in my life this week!

On Wednesday we went on a field trip to Stringtown Railroad. As a side note, here is a little about the railroad. Some of my students live in a neighborhood where many of the extended family members own property next to one another. They have built an amazing recreation area there with basketball courts, soccer fields, batting cages, etc. They also have a railroad track that runs throughout their properties and they have a miniature train that they take people on rides with. It is really cute, and I would suggest that anyone living in Utah county visit their place to ride the train. The kids LOVE it. They specifically do rides for the public at Halloween and Christmas. The best part is that it's free!

Anyway, they are such generous people and did our field trip for us. They did a presentation on trains in the barn where they gave the kids a Utah quarter as a keepsake. The kids rode the train, then they let us use their house to play games in and eat lunch in (since it was raining hard most of the day).

We braved the storm and the kids walked there with their rain jackets and umbrellas. We were wet and tired by the end of the day, but it was a fun activity for the kids to do! I have a new respect for all the teachers and parents that ever took me on a field trip--it's a lot of work!!!

It's been a while since we've posted, and I'm hoping to go back and put pictures on from our trip to Goblin Valley and the Walk for Babies, but for now this is all you get!

Nick left for Washington, DC last Friday. I took a few days off work so we could spend some time together before he left. It was a lot of fun. Besides the shopping, packing and cleaning, we were able to go to a park to eat strawberry pie and throw a ball around. We're both so out of shape that just throwing the ball made us winded! We met up with one of Nick's old room mates and had dinner and a movie with dad & Dedee.

Since Nick wouldn't be here for Mother's Day, he gave me some things early. The biggest surprise was that he made me an ice cream cake. That's right, folks, my hubby baked a cake, cut it in half, added a layer of ice cream, then frosted and wrote on it all by himself--and he loved it!!! This is why I rarely cook anymore. Doesn't it look great? And it tastes WONDERFUL. He also gave me a Crop-a-dile tool for setting eyelets! (thanks, Rosie, for telling me about this-I LOVE it)

Nick got to Virginia okay and is all checked into our apartment. Apparently we got an upgraded version this summer because the kitchen is much nicer than our kitchen last summer (not that that one was bad). I can't wait to have a kitchen counter and a dishwasher. When he got there the hot water didn't work and his access key to the building didn't work. After 4 days of cold showers, things are finally warming up!

He is working for 7 weeks at Fish & Richardson. He is getting set up and has had a small project to start working on. He's hoping that things will pick up later this week, and he'll be able to get some good work in for them in the coming weeks.

One funny story. He was getting in the elevator to head home after going to the store and two Hispanic women were riding up with him. When he got in the elevator they started to speak to each other in Spanish, not knowing that Nick could understand them. They went on to say how great it is when good looking guys get in the elevator, etc. . . . Nick wasn't sure if he should let them know that he speaks Spanish, but he decided to just play along, although it was all he could do to keep from chuckling as he listened to them talking about him! In this day and age, you never know who can speak your language!

Thanks Mom & Dad Jepsen for the second phone. It has been a life saver for Nick and I to be able to talk to each other so often.