Traffic....in Idaho??

On our way home from New York, we thought we might catch a break with our transportation issues. It only took an hour of driving before we encountered a major traffic jam on the 15. We came to a complete stop and we didn't move an inch for 45 minutes.

(Mom had plenty of time to get out of the car and snap this picture of all the cars behind us, and there were this many in front of us too. No one was moving at all)

Finally, they rerouted us, and we saw that they had closed the 15 down in both directions for a 10 mile stretch. We never found out exactly what happened, but we saw this overturned semi truck as we went on our detour. It ended up taking us over 4 hours to get from Salt Lake to Pocatello.

(This was only one of the cars involved in the accident)

(Mom snapped this as we drove past the semi. This is the underside of it)

Happy Birthday Sam!

Happy 10th birthday Sam-O! Its hard to believe Sam is already in double-digits. We had the opportunity to spend some quality time with him a few weeks ago when Spencer and his family visited us.

Sam has always been exceptionally intelligent. His favorite subject is science. In fact, while he and I made divinity together while he was at our house, he told me that 2 of his favorite things are science and cooking. I thought that made pretty good sense because cooking is really just science in action. Did I mention that Sam pretty much did everything for the divinity and I just stirred it? He's an awesome helper.

Sam is also super talented. He has always been very athletically able, and he easily takes to all sports. He's especially good at soccer and snowboarding. Here he is finishing a 5K race in Pocatello.

Sam is learning to play the French Horn and he's doing really good. He is a super older brother and treats his little sisters very sweetly.

Sam is also very mature. He patiently waits for his turn, he has no problem sharing, and he understands when the answer sometimes has to be "No". I have been very impressed with how much Sam has grown up and I'm so excited to see what he does with his potential in the future.

We love you so much Sam!

New York!

A few weeks ago Mom and I went to New Jersey to meet with the buyers of Babies R Us at the Toys R Us Corporate headquarters. It was a successful meeting, and we were blown away by the magnitude of the Toys R Us facility.

Mom agreed to stay in New Jersey for an extra day so we could spend some time in New York City. We squeezed a ton of fun into a short time--there is so much to do in NYC!

We went to the famous "Magnolia Bakery" on a friends suggestion, and had the most delicious treats. I got a key lime pie (left) and Mom got a coconut cake (right). She said it was the best 7 minute icing she had ever had in her life.

We ate just enough so that we didn't get sick.

We saw this advertisement on top of cab for "mormon.org". The broadway show "Book of Mormon" has brought a lot of attention to the church.

Times Square was wild and crazy, hence my silly face.

We went to the "Buy Buy Baby" store in Times Square and we were happy to spot the Baby Banana Brush on the shelves!

We drank a LOT of diet coke. :)

We did a LOT of walking. Commuting from back and f0rth from Jersey to the City was an ordeal. If we ever get to go back we will try to stay in the city.

The highlight of the trip was seeing "Mary Poppins" on broadway. We both loved it and we were singing the music all night. We also got to see "Sister Act" on broadway, but we both liked Mary Poppins way better. When we got home, we bought the movie and watched it with Dad, and we both decided the play was a million times better than the movie.

Hanging Around The House

Some last pics from our week with family...

Marissa & Mallory at the fire pit

Mary & Spencer riding the mini-tractor

Erica, Mallory & Marissa at the zoo

Kristin, Spencer & Heather at the cookout

Mary & Sadie on the swings at the park

Dad & Nat at the fire pit

Cute Marissa

Mallory & Sam playing with the airplane

Candid Ryan & Heather

Nancee & cute Sadie

We did a big fireworks night

J showing his gun skills!

Idaho Fair

Fairs are a big deal in Idaho. When its cold for 9 months and you don't have anything like Disneyland, the local fair becomes quite an event.The grandkids all participated in the fair in some capacity.

The little ones enjoyed a parade in the morning

Nancee and Spencer ran a 5K with J and Sam

(Nancee pretending to be hurt...she's faking)

Then Mom and I met up with the big kids and spent the rest of the afternoon at the fair where we did lots of fun stuff.

J and Sam were a good match for the jousting game.

And, the coolest thing of all was that Mallory got to participate in the "mutton busting" contest! Its basically like bull-riding but for kids, so they ride on the back of lambs. Mallory did awesome and hung onto the lamb so tight that he gave in. She was super brave! I waited in line with her and those things were pretty big and wild up close but she did it anyway! Go Mal! Check out the video here:

Scavenger Hunt

I made up a scavenger hunt for the kids, and Mom got them all matching military gear--they loved it!

J read the first clue, and then the kids took off!

Marissa, Mallory and Sam were all good readers too.

The big kids did a good job of making sure the little kids each got turns too.

Looking for clues...

More looking....

More looking....

Sadie was not phased by Minnee at all.

How cute do the kids look in their camo gear??

Marissa

Nathan

Mary, Mallory and Erica

The scavenger hunt ended with the kids finding me and I gave them all giant lollypops and america stickers.