Thanks for the Ride

Other than the CRAZY wind storms, the morning I got a flat tire on my bike when I was 15 minutes away from home making my kids late for their piano lessons after I had to walk the 45 minutes back, the night Brandon was gone and I let the little girls sleep with me, and Rachael tried to be horizontal all night long while thrashing about and talking in her sleep which caused me to be really tired the next day, a series of disappearing acts by Rachael who for some reason suddenly thinks it's okay to just walk out the door by herself and wander around the neighborhood while I'm sweating bullets looking for her, the house being a HOT MESS because of the combined effects of kids home/packing/lazy mom, getting all the kids excited to go to Seven Peaks waterpark in Salt Lake City only to drive away from the park after seeing the amount of cars and people crawling all over that place, and getting so totally car sick on our date last night while driving through the mountains on an empty stomach as I tried to find the restaurant on google maps that I almost threw up once we got to what I'm sure was a yummy restaurant . . . it's been a really awesome week!

Highlights included lots of beautiful early morning bike rides (sometimes with Kate, sometimes with Elizabeth), one afternoon spent with a couple friends in tow at Thanksgiving Point's dinosaur museum, Kate starting work at Brandon's office again (just filing), Kate and I learning how to do a fishtail braid (SO easy! why I didn't figure this out sooner I'll never know, because there are so many great websites with video tutorials for cute hair--NOT my specialty), Elizabeth and Rachael starting gymnastics lessons and Rachael LOVING it (her first official class of any kind), finally taking a tour of Sweet's Candy Company in Salt Lake that I've been wanting to visit for over a year now (bonus: Saren and her kids met us up there), swimming at a great community pool after the Seven Peaks fiasco and googling "best public pools in Salt Lake County" (I love having the internet in the palm of my hand . . .), the fun "Girls Night" with Elizabeth and Rachael playing Wii Sports Resort, watching Enchanted, and eating homemade sugar and cinamon popcorn like my mom used to make (Kate was babysitting and Will and Brandon were at a Fathers and Sons campout for church--that was the night Rachael stabbed me in the back with her feet and elbows all night long), getting tons of packing done yesterday (the ugly stuff: kitchen office and master bath and bedroom) but recognizing that there is still SO MUCH LEFT I want to hide in a corner and not come out until June 27th (WHO bought all this stuff???), the fun date Brandon and I had last night touring the Utah Valley Parade of Homes, and THE BEST THING EVER: an announcement that Trader Joe's is coming to Salt Lake City! (I just love describing my entire week in one long run on sentence.)

Oh. Yeah. Trader Joe's freezer section here I come!

Here are the pics from Sweet's Candy Factory. Tours are free and last about 40 minutes. There are free samples to boot, but you know you're not getting out of there without spending at least 10 bucks in their candy store anyway. (And why wouldn't you?)

Rachael had a birthday party, so it was just me and three oldest (and Kate's fishtail braid, and Will's closed eyes, and the shirt Elizabeth wears like every day):

They had some pretty rigorous rules about taking off ALL jewelry, and wearing closed toed shoes and hair nets. Isaac even opted for the beard net:

We couldn't take pictures in the factory, but here are the kids against the taffy wall in the candy store afterward. They make some seriously yummy flavors (similar to gourmet jelly bean flavors) like buttered popcorn:

Will loved the tour, he's just at that stage where he wants to look cool or serious or mysterious (or something) in pictures:

Visiting while eating way too much candy:

The supermoms behind the field trip:

We just HAD to sport the hair nets:

Last but not least, I have two posts up from the last couple of weeks that you might enjoy. (Maybe I already linked to one?)

So as I start a new week, I'm going to keep in mind that more often than not my days will be filled with a combination of wonderful, frustrating, delightful, and maybe even downright awful stuff. (Almost throwing up in the restaurant last night was pretty awful, but not as awful as actually doing it.) Such is life, and the sooner we get okay with that the better. It makes me think of one of my all time favorite quotes by Jenkin Lloyd Jones:

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” 


Also, I've started responding to comments since I really do love to get them. Will someone tell me if they get notified about a reply? I don't even know how my own blog works . . .

And someone please shoot me if I don't post "A Love Story: Part 4" tomorrow, okay?