Hello August and Utah vacation!

Ok, so I have tried to write a blog about 3 times since I've been in Utah and even before, but I never got to finish one, so I'm FINALLY finishing one. It's too early for me to want to be awake, but alas, I am....woken up by the really loud TV in the next room. I guess I'm spoiled back home where the tv is on the other end of the house and down a floor.
This visit back to Utah has been full of adventure for everyone. I don't have pictures of what went on in Las Vegas or St. George, so you'll have to enjoy the pictures I DO have of Utah and Salt Lake Valley.....oh wait, I believe all the cherubs just woke up...ah the sound of at least 8-10 happy feet upstairs in the kitchen.

August 6 - Rachel and Jacob finally arrived in Las Vegas at about 1am and we are so very grateful for Jeremy and Susie's willingness to get them and not make them hitch hike to their house from the airport :-) It was a long night of traveling, but they made it there safely. The days were spent down on the strip mostly and going on rides at the Stratosphere. Jeremy and Rachel lost some brain cells while going on the GForce ride twice, I believe and Jacob was their spotter as he watched in disbelief. They also went to the "dome of fun" as I call it, where there were lots of different activities to do under one roof.

August 9 - Rachel and Jacob were then picked up by their maternal grandparents and whisked over the border from Nevada to Utah, where they spent about a week in St. George. There, they got to go boating, jet skiing, 4-wheeling, watched movies, ate a lot, and had a great time with their cousins a well (apparently these were 2nd cousins who took them out boating).

August 12 - I (Leanna) flew out to Salt Lake, where I was almost choked to death by the dry heat, which I always somehow forget about. My first adventure occurred when I got out to my rental car...by the way, Thrifty may have the cheapest prices but I don't necessarily recommend going through them. They have pushy salespeople at the desk and irresponsible car attendants at the kiosk in the parking lot. As I approached my rental car, there was a man playing the Ukulele and his suitcases were in the trunk of my car. The man asked me,
"Is this your rental car? I bet it is. I see how they work around here! When did you reserve this car?"
I replied, "About a couple days ago and yes, this is the spot my car is supposed to be in."
Ukulele man: "Well, I reserved this car 6 months ago and I have been in and out of the airport 3 times now because the woman behind the counter doesn't want to do paper work."
"I'm sorry sir, would you like me to get another car? I don't mind, really."
"No, no, it's not your fault, but my wife is in there right now and I have been back and forth...."

Needless to say, I listened to his complaints for about 5 minutes until I finally said, "Look, I don't mind getting another car, but I have to be somewhere in 15 minutes so I would like to know whether you're going to stay in this car or not." He then asked for my name and information so he could use it as proof and document it. I did not feel comfortable with this and told him I really didn't want t get involved...meanwhile, he was still playing his ukulele.

He was obliging and took his suitcases out of the car (and then offered to help put mine in), since I was the one holding the key anyway. He went on and on about the situation and I found out it was his wife's birthday and their anniversary and he claimed to work for Channel 7 news and was a dignitary and that he was going to broadcast this all over the news and let everyone know that Thrifty was a horrible company and should never be used again.

Needless to say, the whole time in my mind I'm thinking, "Only in Utah..." but I guess it could have happened anywhere...but really?

So I hopped in the car, which was very nice, but the stick shift was build like a race car and hard for me to maneuver. I drove down to West Valley and met my old mission buddy, Sam Jones. We ate lunch at Myung Ga and had a great time catching up. He's teaching guitar at BYU and playing for Young Ambassadors.

I then headed way down to North Orem and had a long awaited visit with my friend Kristi, her mom, Patti and her new baby Keira, who was conveniently born 2 weeks early so I got to play with her. She was a joy to hold...I'm not her mama so I don't have to worry about the technical or raising stuff (nothing big), so I really enjoyed holding her. She was so perfect and my favorite thing that she does is have little epiphanies where she is in the middle of sleep and then sticks her arms and legs way out all of a sudden and the pulls them back in. We had a great visit and I was able to bring her some new baby clothes a few days later.

Later that evening I finally made my way back up to Draper where I was able to visit with my friend Teddy and his family. Teddy and I have been friends for about 3 years and his family's house is like a second home to me. He's 6'7" and I'm 5' 2" and yet we get along so well. We played Guitar Hero and I meagerly played medium level while he kicked my trash on expert! We watched more of the Olympics until we all fell asleep and I was awake bright and early because my body was still on Boston time. (And about this time, Ray's flight to his business trip in California had just landed - I have decided I am never traveling without him again. I feel "naked" without him and I love having him by my side...we make a great team).

August 13- Teddy's mom, Joanna and I, went up to the Draper Temple Site, where the temple is still under construction, but has a beautiful view. The homes there are gorgeous, but unfortunately because of the market right now, many of them are for sale....for a couple million I'm sure.

I then headed down to Orem to get a hair transformation from my good friend, Emily. I was expecting and planning for something more drastic, like putting the blond and red back in, but she advised against it and I took her judgment call. I now have "caramel" highlights in my hair and took a few inches off to give it a lighter look.

I then, happened to swing by Target with the few minutes I had and I ran into some friends from my HOME ward...Tiffany and Miles Tidd, their daughter Alexa, and Heather Colvin.

After my short stint at Target, I went to play with my friend, Shana, who has been a good friend of mine since 2006 when I moved to Lindon and attended the Oak Canyon singles ward. She came to visit me out in Boston for New Year's 2006-7 and we had a blast running around Boston and Manhatten, NY. We laughed our butts off watching reruns of "Angel" and finding who "Rasputin's lover was." Dinner was enjoyed at Yamatos; a Japanese/Korean BBQ restaurant in Orem. We had been expecting 10 people, but due to unknown circumstances (later found out), we ended up with a party of 4. The food was delicious and the service was OUTSTANDING! It's not a very busy place, but it should be. I recommend it.

Sleeping on the couch and in Shana's bed (after she would go to work at 5:15am) proved not so fun for my back, but the company was good. We even got our yummy corn dogs and shakes from Arctic Circle.

August 14 - The kids made the transfer from St. George to Fillmore to Taylorsville without a hitch. Rachel and Jacob are very lucky to have grandparents who love to spoil them rotten. While they made their trek out here via I-15, I was out having lunch with my good friend, Brad, who played "Tony" when I was "Consuela" in the Hale Center Theater's 2004 rendition of West Side Story. We ate at the delicious "Guru's" and enjoyed the moving sculptures and outer space ethereal atmosphere. We walked around the gardens across the street in Provo's old town center. We had a fascinating conversation...as we always do and it was really fun to philosophize and talk about deep things of life and lots of things to ponder.

I was then able to visit with one of my mom's best friend, Sharleen. She and her family housed me when I FIRST arrived to Utah to go into the MTC in June of 2002. They have also been in my life since the day I was born. The Thomas' are an amazingly strong family and have worked hard to enjoy the finer things in life, even though her husband is laid up on the couch with a broken foot right now. It always feels like home when I go to visit there. It is through them that I am often reminded that everyone is affected by life, regardless of race, nationality, religion, and social status.

HAPPY SUMO!!!!!!!!! I had been waiting to eat here ever since I last left Utah, sometime last year. I live to eat their Vegas Roll... salmon, cream cheese, avocado, and crab in a tempura dip, topped with Sumo sauce and eel sauce. I was a very happy girl!
We finished off the evening by attending a wedding reception of one of my former American Fork students at Noah's in Lindon. I can't believe they're getting married!

August 15 -

Friday afternoon was especially exciting because I was able to have lunch with some of my closest friends from BYU Singers; Ben Boster and Emily Workman (Sally Workman was also there and I love her to pieces too...I was never in Singers with her since she is only starting college this year). As I approached Emily's, I saw Ben doing yard work outside, across from the Creamery on 9th, and we immediately invited him to join us. It was such a pleasant afternoon. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time! We laughed for about an hour straight, sharing stories, doing impressions, and just talking about past experiences and what's up for the future. Some of the most pleasant company I have kept. I do miss them and was happy to have been able to spend time with them, as well as get my Zupa's fix. I always love their chocolate covered strawberries with every meal.
Today was also exciting because Ray flew back home so he could go to work for a few hours and pack to come out to Utah. Rachel and Jacob headed up to Park City to play with their Aunt Kristie, Uncle Dave, and their wicked awesome cousins; Alexis, Paris, Hailey.

Later that evening...much later, I trekked up to West Jordan to unpack my bags...fumble tremendously with the keys to the house, and made my way inside.

P.S. I was really excited at this point because I bought an MP3 player with a converter so I could listen to my music in my rental car...AND Ray would be heading out to Utah early the next morning!

August 16 -
SATURDAY is a special day...I'm so glad when Daddy comes home...

I was so restless this morning that I woke up at 6:30am and talked to Ray during his layover in Chicago (even though in my dream he was calling me from Providence) and we had breakfast together through the cell phone. I made a beautiful omelet with toast and Ray had a breakfast sandwich from the cool deli restaurant in the Midway airport. I was so excited for him to get there that I couldn't go back to sleep, so I made a double batch of brownies for everyone :-) Ray arrived early (we love Southwest) and I whisked him away by 1:30pm. We went to his parents' house to meet them for lunch, where we dined at a Chinese Buffet and then headed back to their house for an unexpected nap on the patio swing. It was like HEAVEN! Don and Donna showed us their beautiful gardens and the fake cat that makes noises to scare the grape eating animals away.

We all ended up going to Park City to meet Dave, Kristi and all the kids, who had been on the PC slides all day and were finishing up with ice cream at the Rocky Mtn. Chocolate Factory. It was a very fun reunion and we finally got to see that Dave and Kristi had worked their butts off to look AMAZING! We then arrived at what we thought was our dinner reservation at the Park City "Claim Jumper" only to grab the door and find it was locked and definitely not open for business. When we called the restaurant, they then clarified that we were supposed to be in Heber City and not Park City....so we all got in our cars and drove to the correct restaurant.

Needless to say, the three younger girls were absolutely exhausted, Alexis had bit her tongue earlier and could barely eat, Ray had a migraine headache, and we weren't even eating until after 8pm. Dinner was really good, but we were all anxious to get out of there. We had planned to go back to the rented condo for brownies, but Ray was so sick and everyone was falling asleep, so we opted to let everyone go home and go to bed. (We found out later that Hailey started out sleeping on the couch, but when Kristi went to check on them in the middle of the night, Hailey was under the coffee table and Jacob had fallen asleep on the couch. She still hasn't figured out how that one happened.

It was really touching to see Don give Ray a blessing of health because Ray was really sick. We were all doing the best we could to relieve his pain, but it wasn't until the blessing (a little peppermint tea and sleep) that he really started to feel better. I love the power of the priesthood and men who hold their callings honorably. It means so much to be able to call on a priesthood holder at anytime and ask for a blessing. We didn't leave Don and Donna's until about 1 am, but we were grateful that Ray's headache had almost completely dissipated at that point. A good night's sleep was ahead of us.

August 17 - Ray and I had delicious pancakes at Momma Donna's and then headed home to get the kids for church. We ended up going to the 1st ward that the Sewell's had attended back in the day. We were also grateful that we had just missed being part of a T-bone 2 car accident that had apparently happened shortly before we arrived at 4800 and redwood road. We enjoyed a missionary farewell and were happy to go home and veg out before having dinner with the whole family (and karaoke). Check out the pics and videos.

(Stay tuned for August 18-24th and pictures soon to come)