Annual Awards Banquet - Salt Lake

Jordan River Temple

Early (5:45 am) Thursday morning, Eric and I flew to Salt Lake. Every year around this time the Utah office that he's signed on with for Penn Mutual has their annual awards banquet. There are meetings on Friday and the awards dinner on Friday night. Eric has clients in the Salt Lake area, so we usually go a day early for appointments. This time around, though, Eric had an appointment with the mountains on Thursday. He and a friend, Bryan, went skiing Thursday morning. While he was skiing, I went to a new temple I hadn't been to, the Jordan River Temple. I enjoyed going there and seeing another temple. I was amazed by the size of it, although it wasn't too much bigger than the Mesa one. After the temple, I went to get a massage. I found a massage school in downtown, where I booked two appointments. I had a hot stone massage Thursday afternoon.

After the massage, I headed to Bryan's house to pick up Eric. We then went to his dad's house in Lehi. Eric met with his dad, and 3 of his half brothers. Krysti had arranged all the meetings. She also put together a dinner. I enjoyed just hanging out and visiting with everyone while Eric met with everyone else. Kevin's kids taught me a new game, Play Nine, which I have now ordered for my kids.

Icicles hanging from a church in the Avenues

 Friday morning came. Eric and I went to breakfast before his meetings started. Once his meetings started, I went to Orson Gygi, one of my must-go-to-places-when-in-Utah. I found some fun things for the Cousins Valentine's party I'll be doing in February. After shopping, I went back to the massage clinic where I had one of the best massages I've ever had, a Yoga Thai Massage. It was a combination of yoga poses, stretching, and massage. It was heavenly. After my massage, I went to the hotel and joined Eric for lunch. After lunch, Eric and I met up with Jim and Krysti at City Creek, the new mall which we hadn't been to yet. It was nice to walk around the shops and visit with Jim and Krysti.

Fountain at City Creek

Eric and I got ready for the evening. We went to the ballroom where the banquet was to be held. We got our pictures taken, and then picked up our nametags. It took me a little bit, but I finally read all of Eric's ribbons on his nametag. I was expecting to see Royal Blue qualifier. However, I was incredibly surprised to see Golden Eagle below Royal Blue!! This meant Eric had qualified for BOTH the Hawaii trip AND the Sicily trip. I was so excited to find that out. I was also amazed that Eric had qualified. He had always said it's basically impossible to qualify for both trips, so I never had expected that. Woohoo!!!

The evening ended up being very nice. Saturday morning we ate breakfast and then flew back home.

A big thank you to Sharon and Dayna for babysitting the kiddos.

Woodbadge & a Court of Honor

Eric receiving his new Woodbadge neckerchief and slide

Eric went to Woodbadge training a few months ago. He spent two 3-day weekends away, being trained. He came back with an increase in knowledge. (He also came back singing all kinds of catchy scouting songs too! - Logan loved them.) He also had a "ticket" that he needed to work. This meant that he had goals that he needed to work on and complete. Once those were complete, then he would be considered to have completed Woodbadge. Eric, of course, completed his ticket. He could have received his award and beads at Roundtable, but chose to have it presented at our troop's Court of Honor so that the boys could see his example. I am proud of him for completing Woodbadge, learning more, and working hard to complete his goals.

Members from Woodbadge with Eric



Eric presenting an award to Spencer

Eric has been the Scoutmaster in our ward since August. Prior to that he was assistant scoutmaster. This has been a different experience from what it was in Kingsborough Park Ward. It was a challenge for me before in many ways. This time around, it is hard, but only because I miss the time that he's away. He has done such an amazing job with his calling. The boys love him. There haven't been any accidents, search and rescues, or any injuries, so that has been a huge relief. I am amazed at how Eric does it all - work, calling, and family.

What's neat about Eric being Scoutmaster now, is that Spencer is now old enough to be with him. I think that they have enjoyed being together. It is also neat to see Eric present Spencer with awards at a Court of Honor. Spencer is doing really good with Scouting. He is a Life Scout and is working on his Eagle. He is in the beginning stages of his Eagle project. If he has any merit badges to complete, it is just one or two.

A Christmas/Anniversary Gift

On Christmas Day, I received three presents from Eric. One was an iTunes gift card. One was a gift certificate to Etc., where I would like to re-start quilting classes. The third gift was what I had been asking for, gone to the extreme. All month long when Eric asked me what I want for Christmas, I told him "you." Life just gets so busy, that I miss spending quality time with him. I told him that I'd love to have a day with him. Well, he went to the extreme and planned a getaway for us. The details were on a need-to-know basis, and I often found out while Eric was talking with someone, such as telling the airport shuttle where to take us.

Prior to the flight with our little plane

We had a quick flight to Las Vegas. We checked into a suite at Paris. Eric knows that Paris is my dream vacation spot, so Paris it was. We purchased a "Buffet of Buffets" pass entitling us to access at 8 different buffets for 24 hours. We ate dinner at the Spice Market buffet at Planet Hollywood. After dinner, we went to the V Theater at Planet Hollywood and saw V The Ultimate Variety Show. The show was great. We had second row seats that were incredibly close to the stage, making some of the acts scary to watch, with roller skaters twirling literally above our heads or shirtless men swinging from ropes above our heads. I was crunched down in my seat some times, afraid I'd get knocked in the head, all the while Eric laughing at me. After dinner we stopped for dessert at the buffet at the Paris hotel.

Saturday morning came, sleeping in and relaxing in the room. We went to the Garden buffet at the Flamingo. We walked around the strip a little. I wanted to go to the Bellagio and see the Conservatory decorated. It was still decorated from Christmas, which was pretty cool to see, with different winter scenes made from flowers and a Christmas village made from chocolate and mini wheat cereal. We walked back to the hotel and waited for David to pick us up.

Right when David got out of his black Audi, I saw his pilot shirt on. Eric said that was the best reaction, me declaring, "Eric, he's a pilot!" Eric had planned this VIP trip to the Grand Canyon. We flew in this little plane, which I was afraid of at first, to the Grand Canyon West airport.

 

David got us tickets for lunch, horseback riding, and the Skywalk. We went on a 30-minute horseback ride to the edge of the canyon. Eric's horse (Tiny) was monstrous. I was terrified that either my horse (Renegade) or his horse would stumble and I would plummet into the canyon. Eric and the cowboy guide thought it was pretty funny. We ate at a restaurant at the ranch. We took a shuttle bus to the Skywalk. I never thought I would go on the Skywalk because of location and because of the simple fact that I'd be hanging over the edge of the canyon. It ended up not being scary and a pretty neat experience.

At the edge of the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon Skywalk

As our plane took off into the sunset to fly us back to Vegas, I was relaxed and pondered about what a good man Eric is. We did this little adventure on our 17th anniversary. Never had I thought that I'd have been so fortunate to have so many wonderful experiences with my wonderful husband. What a great way to celebrate!

Temple Groundbreaking

We are so excited! A temple is going to be built 1/2 mile away from us!!!

Today we (Eric, Lindsey, Spencer, Logan, and me) went to the groundbreaking for the new temple. Our seats weren't very good and we couldn't see much of anything, even the actual groundbreaking. It was still very exciting to see that the process is finally starting.

Weekend Getaway: Las Vegas

In the middle of the summer, in the midst of kids fighting and toys strewn about the house, I decided that it was time for a Kim and Eric Break. Eric's favorite band is Rush. The last time they came to the valley, Eric didn't go. With their tour this time around, they skipped us all together. However, they were stopping in Vegas. So, I quietly planned our Rush Vegas trip. It was so hard to keep it all a secret and to make all the trip decisions myself, but I did it. Friday morning I showed up at Eric's work, just under the premise that I was stopping by to say hi. I tried to talk Eric into leaving work early, but he couldn't because he had appointments. I then had to ask him what would he do if I told him the appointments weren't real, that I had some help scheduling those "appointments" from his assistant, to keep his schedule open for us to leave in the afternoon for our getaway.

Eric was able to wrap things up and leave the office in pretty good time. We hit the road. We made great time getting to Vegas. We had enough time, that we were actually able to catch a show Friday night. Do I dare admit that we saw Carrot Top at the Luxor? He was very funny (after I tuned out the not-so-nice things he said). After the show, we went to Aria, our hotel. This was one of those tricky decisions that I had to make by myself. I wanted to stay in a nice hotel, but I had to keep the price down. I ended up doing a you-pay-this-price-without-knowing-the-hotel-name deal. We ended up getting a suite at Vdara. REALLY COOL! It is the only hotel on the strip that does not have a casino and is non-smoking. It was a great place to stay. The room was awesome, and we had a lake view and could watch the Bellagio's fountain show with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

We found a yummy buffet for breakfast, at the hotel next door. We walked around the strip. Eric has always loved playing the games at Excalibur, so we headed there. Eric won some stuffed animals for the kids. We headed to CSI: The Experience at MGM. We used to watch CSI, and so I thought it would be fun to experience it. I liked it, even though it was kinda cheesy. Eric just thought it was cheesy. However, I do have a CSI diploma to show for my hard work (it's in Spanish though - I clicked on the wrong button).


After CSI, we headed over to ph to "Meet and Greet" Tori Spelling who was in town for HSN for her jewelry show. When we finally found her (after being misdirected by a dumb lady at the hotel), I stood in line, only to be told like 5 minutes later by a little man that I was too late and the line was closed. I tried for the next 15 minutes to convince little man (he wasn't an actual little person, he was just shorter than me and incredibly irritating) to let me join the line or at least wait in case Tori finished early. He wouldn't have any of it. I was so mad I wanted to kick him in the shins and pull out his stupid hi-tech "security" earpiece! So, I ended up being 10 feet away from Tori, and not able to meet her. I did, however, get to stand one foot away from Mehran (her jewelry co-designer), and didn't realize it until after I left. I felt so bummed about it all. I wasn't like some super-crazy obsessed fan, but I liked her. I grew up watching her on 90210, and have since followed her on her reality show. It would have been super cool to meet an actual movie star. Oh well.

We went to a Brazilian restaurant for dinner, which ended up being quite disappointing. Eric loves Brazilian restaurants and is always willing to eat at one. This one wasn't so good. Maybe we ticked off the server by using a coupon and not ordering drinks?! It was quite exciting, getting to the concert, zipping through Vegas in a taxi. It's been quite a while since I've been to a concert, that I actually enjoyed feeling the drums beat in my chest. At first. Then it got a little loud. The concert was good. I think Eric enjoyed it (he better have!) I still couldn't believe that the guys next to me and in front of me were smoking pot, though. Yuck!

Sunday morning, we ate at the best buffet ever (Rio), Eric decided. We started to head home. Just before we got to the dam, the traffic was backed up, so we decided to turn around and go a different way (through Laughlin). Shortly after venturing the other way, I got sick. We had to stop and take care of things. We continued driving along. A couple hours down the road, we were greeted by signs warning of an accident ahead. We ended up stuck in traffic that wasn't moving. We sat there, in the desert, for 1.5 hours. We watched people walk and play ball. We watched the sun set (it was gorgeous). We had found out from a trucker there had been a fatal head-on collision down the road and that the road was completely closed. When the road finally opened up, as we drove past the completely totalled cars, I couldn't believe it. The cars were mangled, and torn apart. There was absolutely no way that anyone walked away from that. I sat there, as we drove, for the next two hours in complete shock. I really feel that we were protected from being in that accident. I think we should have stayed on the road to go on the dam, and we would have totally avoided the accident. But we didn't. We went a way that would have gotten us to the accident area quicker. So, since that didn't slow us down, I got sick and we had to stop, which slowed us down enough so that we weren't in that mangled mess of metal. This just totally strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father is completely and fully aware of each of us and will protect us and guide us.

Swimming Fun - Part 3

More swimming pictures...

The new fun toy: Eric's inflatable kayak he got for Father's Day. It's been a hit!

Father's Day

Some snapshots of Father's Day...

Rattlers Football

Eric has played flag football since we've been married. He loves it. He's always been the quarterback for the team. His team mates have ranged from best friends, to new friends, to work acquaintances, to ward members, to other guys from the league. Eric used to play on Saturdays, but has changed the schedule and has played on Monday nights for years. He is very proud of his team and accomplishments. He has brought home numerous MVP trophies and 1st place trophies. For the last season, his team won, so they earned the opportunity to play at halftime during a Rattlers team. He enjoyed playing and the boys and I had fun watching.

Primary Softball

Spencer was able to participate with the Primary boys in our ward again in softball. All the 8-11 year old boys met together to play 4 games, 4 different days. I volunteered Eric to be the coach. The boys really needed to be able to practice before the games, but the rain didn't accomodate. So, it was interesting to get the boys out there and teach them on the spot how to play and hit. Spencer did great.

HB Eric!

Another year older. Another year wiser. Well, at least half is true!

How glad I am that I got to celebrate another birthday with my Eric. We stretched it out two days, because it was on a Sunday. We went out to dinner on Saturday. On Sunday, we planned a relaxing day for him. He picked out what he wanted for each meal. To make dinner special, Lindsey made an Italian restaurant menu with detailed descriptions of each item.

Boys Basketball Night

Eric, Spencer, and Logan took advantage of Cub Scout Night with the Phoenix Suns. They got good seats, got court time, and meet an old Phoenix Suns Player.

Salt Lake

Eric, Colton, and I travelled to Salt Lake for the Utah Office's annual meetings and awards banquet. Because Colton is still "attached" to me, he got to join in the fun. We stayed at our usual hotel - The Little America, with its yummy breakfast buffet and spacious rooms. Eric left on Wednesday to meet with some clients. I left on Thursday. It was kind of interesting flying with Colton alone. At least I had Josh and Joan, from Eric's office, help me on and off the plane. (Josh is a new agent with Eric's office. I hadn't met him or his wife, but they picked me up from home and we rode to the airport together. When it came time to get on the plane, we got separated and sat apart. But I had a lovely conversation with the lady next to me about polygamy.)

Eric arranged for a sitter the two nights that we had dinner with our group and then during the awards banquet, so we did get a break from baby C.

We had Friday afternoon open, so we hung out downtown. I've always been in awe over the outside of the Salt Lake City and County Building, so I talked Eric into going there. The coolest thing about the building was all of the exterior detail. There wasn't much to look at inside, though.

Outside the city and county building - a makeshift slide for Colton

Our next adventure was off to the Sale Lake City Cemetery. I was determined to find President Hinckley's grave. We drove all around, trying to follow directions that I found on the internet. Eric was ready to give up, but somehow we managed to find it (prayer). The cemetery was very quiet. The headstone was modest, yet perfect. We also found two other prophet's headstones.

Our final adventure was to Hatch Family Chocolates with Josh and Joan. I had seen the premiere of Little Chocolatiers (aka Hatch Family Chocolates) on TLC, and was watching closely the surroundings on the show. The mountains looked like the beautiful Utah mountains, so I did some research, and sure enough, Hatch Family Chocolates was located in the Avenues in SLC. We made a trip there, only to be stopped outside the door by a TLC employee wanting us to sign a waiver to be taped. We eagerly signed away and entered the shop. We ordered our chocolates, ate our sweet treat - Eric a milkshake, and me a raspberry Italian soda, and tried desperately to get filmed. Josh and Joan were so cute, feeding each other their sweets. Eric, thought that it was the perfect time for Colton, 7 months old, to eat his first chocolate. I mildly protested, and found that Colton loved his chocolate shake, Colton and Eric even got filmed during the milkshake incident. We're anxious to see if we make it on the air.

It was a fun trip. I love Utah, and am always eager to go there. It was especially fun because we got to celebrate Eric's hard work for last year. Way to go Eric, you did it again!