Reno, San Francisco and the big 3-0: Part II

I forgot to mention that my mom watched my kids while Chris and I were away so I have to give her and my brothers a serious shout out for the help. Thanks so much guys!

So on to part two. While we were in Reno there was an event called “Street Vibrations” going on. It is some kind of motorcycle convention or something, but there was hundreds of motorcyclist all over the city ad the surrounding areas. I don’t know exactly what they did there, but Chris was slightly fascinated by it and if he had the time he would have gotten his picture taken with a whole crew of the leather-clad hog riders.

When we were planning this trip last month we found out that San Francisco is only about a four hour drive from Reno, so we decided to make that part of our vacation. Some of the people Chris was working with while he was up there told him about a more scenic way to get there and it tool about the same amount of time. We thought that would be fun, so on Friday we left about our hotel around 10 to start adventure for the day. We stopped by a Starbucks so Chris could use the internet, he’ll say it was to get directions, but I think he was going through withdrawals because our hotel didn’t have internet access. Then we stopped by this really cute candy shop called the Chocolate Nugget, where I tried some of the jalapeño peanut brittle they had out for a sample. It didn’t taste bad, but after I was done my mouth was burning for about 20 min. So by the time we were actually on our way it was about noon. We were supposed to get the rental car back by 3 but we thought that since we had to wait almost a half hour to get it after we checked in that we might still have time to get it back to the airport and not get charged extra. The scenic route proved to be more stressful than we thought. The scenery was beautiful, but for about sixty miles we were on a two lane highway that took us through towns with stoplights so it wasn’t really as fast as we thought it was going to be. We did pass through this town called Kyberz that had its “Welcome to Kyberz” and “Now leaving Kyberz” messages on the same sign. But we were in to much of a hurry to stop and take a picture. We got about twenty miles from our destination and it was about 3:45 so we had hope that we would make it, then we hit California traffic. I know, we should have taken that into account from the beginning, but we didn’t and that last twenty miles took us over an hour to cover. We ended up dropping the car off at 5:00. We decided to fight the extra two hours they were going to charge us, because we had to wait so long to get the car in the first place. We were just trying to get one of the hours taken off, but they took off both so we were happy about that.

Our hotel was about nine miles from the airport, which when I booked it I didn’t think was a big deal, but there again was the traffic. It took us another 45 min. to get to our hotel, but it was so much nicer than the one in Reno, so it was alright. The place smelled nice and the décor was beautiful. We got ourselves checked in and unloaded then we headed to downtown San Francisco. Once again traffic, do you see a pattern here. Chris loved growing up in California, but I refuse to ever live there. If traffic wasn’t enough of a deterrent than the house prices are a sure sign that California and I were never meant to be. We finally got there about seven and we decided just to walk around the city. We found a place to have dinner called Mel’s drive-in Diner (even though it was a sit-down place) and it was really good, I would recommend it. We thought we wanted to ride the cable car, but we found out it was $5 each way so we decided to wait until the next day to do that. There was a ticket booth by the trolley stop but it was closed for the night. While we were looking at it this man came up to us and said he was going to give Chris a ticket for “not holding this pretty ladies hand”, and then proceeded to talk really fast about I’m not sure what, but he ended with asking for a donation for something. We were entertained by him so Chris gave him $5. We were still thinking about going on the cable car at this point, and he told us that we had to pay the conductor. He asked if we needed change and Chris said yes (which I couldn’t believe) so this guy pulls out a wad of crumpled up ones and was about to take the twenty Chris had in his hand. I quickly took the bill from Chris’s hand while Chris counted the “change” this guy was going to give us. I think it added up to about $13 and that was including the $5 we had just given him. We decided that wasn’t really a good deal for us so we told him we would find change some where else. I guess Chris got caught up in the novelty of the city, because after that he took all of the money out of his wallet and stashed it in different pockets, so we wouldn’t be easy targets again. The guy wasn’t even that helpful. We went to find change then came back to look at the ticket booth again where we were approached by a different homeless man. This one was very helpful and he even gave us a map, but when he asked for a tip Chris just gave him the loose change he had in his pocket. I had to laugh, and we decided at least it was a good story to tell about our trip. We walked around for about another hour or two then decided to go back to our hotel, and make a plan for the next day.

Reno, San Francisco and the big 3-0; Part I

I have to credit the multi-part blog idea to my friend Shauna and her husband Mike. There is a lot to tell about our trip, but I think it will be easier to read in smaller portions.

Chris had to go to Carson City (Nevada’s state capital) for training last week. He was going to be done on the 20^th which also happened to be my birthday so we decided that I could meet him up there and have a great adventure for my 30^th birthday. I got in to Reno, which is about 20 min away from Carson, about 3:00 and after waiting forever to get our rental car we finally got to the hotel. I have heard of Reno described as a smaller dirtier version of Las Vegas, but it seemed more like Las Vegas circa 1987. The hotel was decked out in the lovely neon pink and turquoise lights on the outside and a lot of shiny black tile on the floor and wall in the lobby. The bedspread, curtains, chair, couch and some wall hanging behind the bed were all made of the same fish covered material. It was a good sized, clean room so overall it was fine just a little retro.

We decided to drive up to Lake Tahoe since it was very close and neither of us has ever been there before. We didn’t have a lot of time there so after taking a few pictures of the lake we decided to have our own little tasting tour of the little part of Tahoe we were in. It was so much fun. We went to four different places and had a little something from each place. Our first stop was El Sancho’s Taqueria where we had some excellent chicken tacos. Next was Jiffy’s Pizza which touted the best pizza in town. We shared a French chicken pizza that was very tasty also, but a little pricey, $10 for a personal size, but the guy who took our order was really nice and helpful. Stop three was Chari-Pit Burgers and we had an original Char-Pit burger that we enjoyed, but we were starting to get a little full. Our last stop was T’s Mesquite Rotisserie. We had some very dry rotisserie chicken and decided that was our least favorite place. I wondered if any of the places we went would pass code, but it was a great experience.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDEN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDEN!!!! (I wrote this yesterday, but I didn't post it until this morning, his birthday was on the 11th and that is why I posted twice today.) Yesterday was Aiden’s fifth birthday and I can’t believe how fast he’s grown. I know every parent feels that way, but I’m sure time passed by much slower when I was a kid. We went to the Acacia Park here in town which is also a water park. It just has water shooting out of the ground so it’s not as fancy as some of the other public water parks here, but the kids thought it was great. Our family all came and we had a BBQ and cupcakes that spelled out “Happy Birthday Aiden”. I had never been to that park before so we drove down the day before to check it out, and Aiden was so proud of himself because he helped pick such a fun park. While we were cooking up the food, this little boy probably six came up to me and said, “Hi my name is Tyler and watermelon is my favorite food.” I had to laugh and I told him if it was okay with his mom he could have some. I saw him go talk to his mom and then he came back for his favorite food. I was a little surprised because I don’t think I would ever let my kids ask for food from strangers, but I guess there was a big group of kids with us so his mom thought it was safe. I have been known to go a little overboard and stress myself out when it comes to the kids birthdays, between decorating cakes and putting together goodie bags it gets a little crazy. I decided that I would scale back this year and leave out the goodie bags and have cupcakes instead of decorating a cake. I was commenting to Chris on how proud of myself I was for not getting so out of control this year, and he looked over at the table that was overflowing with BBQ supplies and he wasn’t sure how scaled back it really was. I felt less stress so it was a hit for me. The day before his birthday Aiden said, “Mom right now I only come up to Ashton’s shoulder, but when I wake up tomorrow I’ll be up to her neck because I’ll be 5.”

Aiden started preschool last week and he really likes it. He is the star of the week, which means he gets to bring his favorite snack, be the special helper and make a poster about himself. On part of the poster he had to write down three wishes. His first wish was to be rich and famous. After thinking about it for a second he said, “No wait, take off the famous part my teacher will think that’s silly. And you can take off the rich part too.” I convinced him it was okay and I was sure the teacher wouldn’t think it was silly at all. His second wish was to have a cool car, and wish number three was to be really cool so that everyone would want to be his friend. I think I should ask him again, because I don’t think his wishes would be the same two days in a row.

Kaylee was tested for the G.A.T.E. (gifted and talented education) program last week, and we should find out in the next couple of weeks if she made it. She also gets to attend student council meetings as a representative of her class. When I was in elementary school I got to work in the lunchroom, library, and I was in the A.T. (academically talented) program. I had so much fun so it’s exciting for me that Kaylee gets to be involved in school activities.

Danny Gans

Yesterday Chris and I got free tickets to a show called Danny Gans. There is a website called www.vegasseatfillers.com and you can get tickets to shows on the strip that they want to look full. Chris used to be signed up for it a few months ago, but none of the shows were anything he wanted to see so he cancelled his membership. His sister is still signed up and she said the shows were better now and she has already seen the show, so that is how we got the tickets. The guy has apparently been voted Las Vegas entertainer of the year a few times. I am not a big fan of impersonators, but the show wasn’t bad, and it was clean which is rare in Las Vegas. I even laughed at a few parts and it was free so I can’t really complain. I did look up how much tickets are normally and they are $100 each. I definitely would not pay that much for any show but I had to wonder how many people actually did.

My 24 year old brother Brandon came to watch the kids while we were gone and you would think with 15 nieces and nephews he would have a little babysitting experience, but when we got home about 10:30 and the kids had just barely gone to bed, and Dalin’s diaper was on backwards. Maybe he planned it that way so he wouldn’t be asked to babysit again. He prefers the rough housing part of the gig more than any thing else. Well Dalin is sitting on the computer desk in front of the screen throwing things in the trash and laughing, so I guess that is my cue to go. Happy day to all!

What the Heckistan!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN! Today is my baby brother Austin’s 16^th birthday and I hope it was good for him. The phrase that I used for the title is from one of Kaylee’s favorite books, “Dear Dumb Diary”, and I think it’s funny so that is why I used it. I know it’s been almost a month since my last post and in the words of Inigo Montoya, “Let me explain, no,no that will take too long, let me sum up.” Here are some bullet points from the last month.

My cast came off after what seemed like for-ev-er, but in reality was only three weeks. I thought I would get another hard cast with and attractive cast boot, but I came home with a removable air cast which was a good step up. My ankle is stiff and I have to do home physical therapy but it doesn’t really hurt very much. My real problem is the bottoms of my feet are always so sore and tired it makes it hard to walk. When I described these symptoms to the podiatrist, he said it sounded like plantar fasciitis (which means your feet really hurt) and that the anti-inflammatory medication he prescribed for the swelling in my ankle should help. My first step after I got my cast off felt like I was standing on sharp rocks, so I’m not sure it really worked. I still had to use crutches for about a week, but I am off crutches now and I can drive so life is a lot better. I have another appointment in a few weeks and hopefully there will be something else that can be done.

The girls started back to school this week and they were so happy. Being homebound wasn’t exactly how they thought they would spend their summer so they were more than ready to start school. Even Dalin is happy to have a reason to go out and he looks forward to the car ride to school every day. They seem to like their teachers and the first week went pretty well so I hope the rest of the year follows suit.

Aiden, after telling me all summer that he didn’t want to go to kindergarten, announced on Wednesday that they finished the letter “Z” so now he was ready to go to the same school as Ashton. Too bad they didn’t get to z last week he could have been done in time for school to start. Not really, I feel good about my decision to have him wait a year, but I thought it was funny because I didn’t realize that was what he was waiting for.

So You Think You Can Dance

Our family is a fan of the summer reality show “So You Think You Can Dance”, and the kids are becoming quite the dance critics. They don’t get to watch the show very often because it comes on after their bedtime, but last Wednesday they got to stay up a little later and there was a conversation between Ashton and Aiden that went as follows.

Aiden: “Ashton how do you like my dancing?”

Ashton: “Really good, how do like mine?”

Aiden: “Great! I think we are better than the people on the T.V.”

Ashton: “Yeah, I bet if we tried out they would let us right through because we’re little and we’re cute and we can cry really easy.”

It’s good to know they can work their strengths.

Kaylee's Baptism

The big day finally came. Kaylee was able to be baptized yesterday and it was really great! There were three other kids from her class getting baptized that day as well so the building was pretty full. My nieces were able to sing the song they had planned on singing on the original baptism date so besides trying to get around on crutches (which I’m still bitter about, if you couldn’t tell) it was a fantastic experience. We went to the park across the street afterward to have cake and playing with the cousins which is always fun. When we got to the church we saw one of Kaylee’s friends from school. She moved across town a couple of months ago but I thought maybe she wanted to be baptized in the ward that she grew up in and that was why she was there. This was not the case. I had forgotten that this little girl’s birthday is in February, so she was baptized in April. Apparently the memory card from her mom’s camera got lost so they came to recreate her baptism memories. The girl and her dad both got into the baptism jumpsuits to get their picture taken, and I even heard that the mom was trying to get the relatives from California to come back into town to really authenticate things. I do have my own level of insanity when it comes to birthdays and Halloween, but now Chris understands how crazy I could be and I think he counts himself lucky.

I saw my Relief Society President at the baptism, and when she saw my foot I was in some trouble for not calling her. I think the Relief Society is a wonderful organization, but I have the hardest time asking for help. I really hate to impose on people and even though I wouldn’t think twice if I was asked to provide a meal or some other service for a family in the ward, it’s just out of my comfort zone to be the one receiving service.

Technical Difficulties

Our website was down for a few days and then the cable modem was going in and out, but we are up and running again and ready to blog. Much has happened since I wrote last, the most exciting of which is that my brother Jordon came home from his mission! We are super excited to have him here and we are all glad that everyone came home safely. While my parents were gone my brothers decided we should remodel the dining room at my parents’ house. Okay it wasn’t really remodeling, but finishing the addition to the house they started fifteen years ago. We (by we I mean mostly Aaron and Brian) painted, laid tile, put in baseboards and molding around the doors and did the general purging of all the junk that built up from the last time they left the country to pick up a missionary. It kind of inspired me to do my own mini room make over and I bought some shelves to organize my room and some wood and brackets to make a desk for the girl’s room. I was hoping to get it all done in one day and surprise Chris, but so far nothing is done. Hopefully it doesn’t take me fifteen years.

My brother Jason and his wife Mandy welcomed their first baby Kimball Anne Hafen to the world on Saturday. She weighed in at 6lbs 10oz and she is 19in long. We are so excited for them! We haven’t gotten to see her yet, Dalin has some strange rash and we don’t want to pass it on, but we will hopefully see her soon.

Today Kaylee and Ashton and I went school shopping with my sisters-in-law and nieces. The girls had all found matching shirts within the first ten minutes. They learned each other’s sizes and were quick to provide whatever piece of clothing had the number that matched the size. We didn’t take all of the suggestions, but it was so much fun that we decided to make it a tradition.

My family won’t let me get away without telling this last story so here it goes. On Monday Aiden and I were racing through the house and I slipped on a toy and broke my ankle. Needless to say I didn’t win the race and as I was lying on the floor in agony Aiden made sure I knew that he had won the trophy. Chris took me to quick care where I got a soft cast and some crutches. I HATE CRUTCHES!!! I had only been using them for 2 1/2 days when I went to the podiatrist on Wednesday. I never thought I would be so excited to get a cast. I was completely expecting to get a walking cast to put an end to the crutch phase. The doctor was really nice, and when he led off with, “Well I don’t think you’ll need surgery," he must have thought that would make me happy, but I hadn't even considered that as a possibility so it didn't really mean that much to me. When he ended with "...we’re going to put you in a non-weight bearing cast for a while.” it didn’t matter how nice the doctor was, he cursed me with crutches for another three weeks so he became my enemy. I borrowed a rolling chair from my brother so I can roll around the house, (luckily we have wood floors), and my sister-in-law's mother is letting me borrow a wheelchair, but it’s going to be a long three weeks.