Monday, September 8, 2008

HEBER, UTAH

Heber was absolutely beautiful this weekend. It was a gorgeous 65ish degrees all weekend, it was great! Not hot, yet not to cold as well. It was not the most enjoyable trip aside form the weather though:-( I ended up having to drive up alone with the kids, I could not leave until all the kids I watch were picked up, which put me leaving (to make a 4 1/2 hour drive) about 6:30 Friday night. Thom ended up leaving early with one of his friends, because his boss called and said he had been put on bed rest after having an 'accident' with his horse Friday morning, the horse had fractured his skull, and he could not leave, so Thom had to go up and do all his work, which left me to drive alone. Well everything seemed to be going okay, I was making GREAT time considering I had 5 kids, and 5 tiny bladders, and we still had to eat dinner. And no, none of the kids slept, they fought the ENTIRE trip! I ended up pulling into Provo about 10:00, though I did not make it to the lodge until 12:15 (now this is a 30 minute drive under normal conditions) My cell phone was dead, my car charger had broken, and I was LOST! We drove around for a long time, asked many people for directions. Turns out I had been given wrong directions to begin with, but I finally made. Poor Thom he was so stressed by the time I had gotten there, he could not understand why I was so late, and why I would not answer my phone, the only logical reason in his mind was that we were dead on the side of the road somewhere. So by the time I pulled up to the lodge, which is right on the Jordanalle Lake(http://lodgeatstillwater.com/ ) and all the guys rushed out to see me, and everyone was so happy we were there:-) it was kinda cute (but they were ready to call the highway patrol), but I was SOOO irate, by the time I got there, I just wanted to go to bed! The lodge is beautiful! And because Thom got up there first, and he has the most kids (LOL, sometimes it pays to have so many kids) we ended up with the 3 bedroom suite. It was awesome! So we got settled down, and after taking some sleeping pills(cause I was so high strung by this time) we zonked out.
Now planning on spending an enjoyable day with my family, I was sorely disappointed when Thom ended up having to work all day. So I was alone with the kids, in the room all day Saturday. Which was HORRIBLE! I was so ready to go to dinner by the time the events finally began. Luckily they had arranged childcare and a children's picnic for all the kids. I dropped the kids off downstairs, then went up to the banquet hall. Finally found my husband. And went to the bar, cause by this time I NEEDED a drink:) And I got to spend some time with Geoff. I have missed him SO much since he moved to the Slat Lake valley. He was up there working this weekend as well, he is an ADSW for Brady, one of the recruiters in Draper. So that was fun. Then we went into the banquet. (now on a side note, this is the fanciest conference of the year, so all the ladies are dressed in nice(formal-esk) dresses, and all the guys are in their dress blues, and very nice looking bunch, but forgot the camera, so no pictures yet) First we had the toasts, during the toasts Thom's team performed the 'Toast to the fallen soldiers" ceremony, which is AMAZINGLY beautiful. Then we had dinner, which was alright(but definitely NOT $50 good), then we proceeded to the awards portion of the banquet. Thom received the "Army Commendation Medal", for 'selection as the "Top Team Contributor" by his respective associates. He has shown clear leadership and resolve to accomplish the mission. His competency and professionalism set the standard and reflect the finest traditions of military service." Apparently the other awards are more fru-fru-ish, and this is a HUGE honor. An Army Commendation award. So were we all real proud of him. Then we proceeded to go outside where Thom's team perform the 'flag retirement' ceremony. it is like a funeral for a flag that has seen better days, in which at the end, the flag is burned and the ashes are buried. It was beautiful. And Miss Utah, SGT Jill Stevens, performed the national anthem, as the flag was lowered, it was actually a very memorable experience. Then I went and picked up the kids, and we went up to the room and I put them to bed. About almost this time Thom was finally finished working:-), so a friend came to our room to sit with the kids as they slept, and we went down to the bar for about an hour, and got a drink, yes, just one. Then we went to bed. I woke up SOO sick Sunday morning, I had finally caught the kids' cold. I was miserable. Thom had classes Sunday morning, so I packed up the kids, and got ready to go home. We finally hit the road about 11:00, to head home. So it was a pretty boring trip for me, I could have watched my kids at home, gotten sick at home, and saved a few hundreds dollars, and a little bit of my sanity if I had stayed at home, but i am glad I was there to see Thom gets his awards and see the ceremonies. I did not get to see any of my family or friends while we were up there, and that SUCKED, but hopefully next time, this weekend is always so busy with conference stuff, and then I was sick, blah, it sucked. And I am really bummed I did not get any pictures( but we did get our picture taken by the photographer during the individual portion of the pictures, but we did not get them last year, so we will see if we actually get it this year), I think I am requesting a new camera for Christmas, or maybe my anniversary which is only a month away. Yeah that is what I will do. :-) Now I am back to work and life, and I don't feel like I had a weekend at all.
Well, ramble, ramble, that is all for now.

1 comment:

Ashlee said...

Whew. It wears me out just reading about it.
Hope you get well soon. How are things with the puppy and kitty?