Home for a day

Paul is on his way to Pennsylvania but they had 5 days to do a 4 day drive, so instead of getting there early, they stopped in Layton and he is home for a day. He got home last night at about 10:30 and has to leave early Friday morning. But it is good to see him and the kids were so excited. Hanley didn't know he was home and I came to work. She called and left me a voicemail saying "mom, do you really trust me to be home with these guys all day"? I'm guessing she went downstairs and asked Zachary & Savanna where I was and they said 'at work'. She probably couldn't believe that I left them there alone. I called her back and told her that dad was home, and she was shocked. I called Paul on his cell phone and he was still in our bedroom. I told him how funny it was. I should have just told her that she needed to watch them and let Paul surprise her when he went downstairs.

Paul has had an adventure his first week. Yesterday on their way out of Oregon, they were getting passed by a truck pulling a camp trailer. He looked in his side mirror and when the truck/trailer was about 1/3 of the way up the side of his truck, the camp trailer went out of control, flipping back and forth. He knew the driver was not going to be able to get it under control and that he had to get away from it so he thought quick and accelerated. Right when his trailer was past it, the camp trailer hit the cement dividing wall and flipped. If he hadn't of moved it would have hit right into their trailer. If nothing else, all that's happened this last week has been a learning experience for him. He was exhausted when he got home last night and hopes that the rest of the training isn't so eventful.

He stopped at Flying J to grab a drink before he headed home. It was about 9:00 pm. He called me to tell me he was on his way and then talked to Zachary for a minute. About 9:30 I got a call on my cellphone asking for him. I wasn't sure who it was and I told them that he wasn't home and if I could take a message. He said "this is officer so-and-so from the Layton police department, does he have a cell phone number I could reach him at". My heart started pounding and I gave him Paul's number. I was so nervous wondering what he was calling about I should have asked. Then about 2 minutes later he called back saying he didn't answer. I told him that he probably had it in his back pocket and is sitting on it and can't hear it. He said "let me tell you what happened, he went into Flying J and grabbed a soda and walked out without paying. I think he was just distracted, they said he was on the phone." I told him that he was talking to me at that time and that he has been gone for over a week and I'm sure all he had on his mind was getting home. So I tried about 8 times to call him and no answer. Finally about 10:00 he called asking why I had called so many times. The first thing I said was "did you pay for your drink at Flying J". Silence, and then "oh crap". So he called the cop back and the cop wasn't too worried about it. He stopped on Friday morning when he went back to Layton and paid for his drink. The manager just laughed. Luckily everyone just thought it was funny.

Fun Weekend in Delta

Me and the kids went to Delta on Friday. The kids swam in the pool first thing when we arrived. They had fun. Saturday morning my mom colored my hair then we took a picnic up to the canyon and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Savanna got soooo filthy dirty in the canyon. My mom just laughed and said that is how all 3 of us (me and my brothers) would look when we'd go up there. On our drive up, Lanie was telling Savanna about the water. Savanna acted all worried and said "no water". I told her that there was water, she said "there will be alligators". We laughed and I assured her there were no alligators, then she said "is there dolthins?, I want to sit on a dolthin". We had a good time.

Eventful First Week

I didn't hear from Paul again until Saturday night. Things ended up being different than when I talked to him Wednesday night. There wasn't another truck available for them to take in Oregon, so Paul and the trainer had to take a Greyhound bus to Denver to pick up a new truck. They were on different busses the first day. They didn't have any payphones in the bus stop, he didn't have his cell phone, and he wasn't with the trainer so he couldn't use his phone either. Then Friday I was in Delta and my phone doesn't work there so he couldn't call me. So they ended up getting another truck in Denver, and when he called me Saturday night they had just stopped in Rock Springs. Sunday they were going to head to Layton and pick up his phone then back to Portland. When he called last night they were in Ontario, Oregon. What an eventful first week for him. He sounds in good spirits on the phone and is glad his first breakdown was with someone. I'm sure it won't be the last, so he was glad to get a little experience of what he could expect when this happens. At the truck stop they were at last night there was one open spot in between these 2 trucks so Paul backed into it. The trainer was very impressed that he was perfectly straight on the first try.

Feeding Ducks and the Playground

Hanley had gymnastics yesterday morning so I told Zachary and Savanna that maybe we could go to the pond and feed the ducks while Hanley was at her class. We ended up getting the oil changed in the van instead. So I told them that when I got home from work we would go play at the playground and feed the ducks. Hanley's friend, Lauren, came with us. They fed the ducks and there were lots of baby ducks too. They were really cute. Then got a little playground time in. There was an older couple with their son and grandson playing baseball so the kids started playing with them. They had lots of fun.

First Hurdle

Paul called me last night and I asked him where he was, if he had left Portland. Apparently when they left yesterday morning to finish their 4 hour drive into Portland, the clutch went out in the trainer's truck. So they had to limp along (dry shifting) to the closest truck portal. They put him in a hotel last night. The trainer lived only 30 minutes away from their stop so he got a ride home for the night. Today they are taking a different load/truck back to Layton. They should be back in Layton Friday and then will take another load back to Portland and pick up their truck that should be fixed by then. Hopefully after this eventful first few days things will normalize for the rest of the training. He left his cell phone in his car in Layton, so at least he will be able to pick it up and have it for the rest of his trip. And he lost his car keys, so if he can't find them by the end of the training, the kids and I will take a trip up to Layton to drop off a key. He had tons of keys on his key ring, so luckily before he left I told him to leave some of them home, just in case he loses them, it won't be everything. Or maybe that was bad luck, maybe if I wouldn't have said that he wouldn't have lost them. :)

First Stop.... Portland, Oregon

Paul left today for his 3-4 week training drive. After that he'll be driving across country on his own. He'll be gone 3 weeks at a time with 3 days off in between each trip. It'll be hard to have him gone but we'll make it through and hopefully after a year he can drive locally.

Hanley's 10th Birthday

Hanley turned 10 on Saturday. She kept asking me what we were going to do and I told her that whatever we do it has to be free. We packed up our paddle boat, floaties, big umbrella and a cooler and went up to a reservoir in Spanish Fork. We got there around 3:30. Paul's brother and his kids came with. There were tons of people but it was a big enough place that there was still plenty of room. It was fun. The kids had a blast. We didn't leave until about 7:30.

Look... no training wheels

Last Wednesday we went to Paul's parents house to see his dad for his birthday. Zachary got a little bike out of their backyard and just started riding it. It doesn't have training wheels. We were blown away. The next day Paul took the training wheels off of Zachary's bike. When I got home from work he was standing by his bike. He was so sweaty. Paul said he had been out riding the bike the whole day. He got so excited when he saw me and said "mom, dad took the wheels off, come see!" He got on it and took off. It was so cute and he was so excited.

Flashback Friday - Hanley

Tomorrow is Hanley's 10th birthday so here are a few older pictures of her.

Random Things

Just some random things we've been up to:

On Saturday we drove over to our neice, JT, house. Her husband had tried to do the drywall in their garage and wanted to get Paul's opinion on how to finish it. Paul ended up going over on Sunday and helped them get it all done and ready to texture. Zachary went with him and thought it was so neat to 'go to work' with dad. I asked him what he had for lunch and he said "old mcdonalds". That was actually his breakfast, McDonalds.

Yesterday at Savanna's swimming lessons when they had about 10 minutes left, they got the kids out of the pool and were walking them around showing them the slides and the diving board. I figured they were just taking them on a little tour then realized all the kids in all of the classes were out of the water. One of the teachers walked by and I heard her say something about an "accident". One of the kids pooped in the pool and it was a kid in the class of 7 or 8 year olds. It wasn't even a toddler class. It took them forever to get all of the pieces out of the water. Gross!

Last Thursday I had a doctor appointment in north Salt Lake. Paul and the kids were home so I called to see if they wanted to drive up there with me. They met me at work and we headed up. It was supposed to be just a consultation to possibly get more filler behind my eye like I did last year. I visited with the doctor and his associates for a while then the doctor called the office girl in and asked her if we needed preauthorization to do it and she said that as long as my insurance was the same that we didn't need it. The doctor looked at me and asked "so are you going to bite the bullet and do it today". I was nervous but was glad to get it over with. It is one of the most painful things ever but only lasts a couple minutes. Before we went back to the room to do the procedure I took my purse to Paul and told him they were doing it right then. I think Hanley realized I was nervous. On our drive home Savanna said "we said a payer at your doctor". It was really cute that they thought to say a prayer for me.

Yesterday I had to be home a little early for a window installer to finish a window in our basement. I sat at the counter and worked. After they left I got a piece of bread and was trying to teach our new puppy how to speak. I've been trying to teach her for a few days but there were too many distractions. I kept telling her to speak and then I would bark (that's why I did it when no one else was home). Then I finally just put the bread on the counter and turned back to my computer. Then she barked and I praised her and gave her a bite. We did this a few times and she finally got the hang of barking when I would tell her to speak. But now we do it and after the food is gone she keeps speaking thinking she'll get more. She gets so excited and can hardly sit still.

I downloaded a bunch of pictures from the camera that Hanley uses. My kids are so silly. Here are some pictures of them at home while I have been at work.

Flashback Friday - Paige

It was Paige's birthday on Wednesday, she is now 19. This picture is Paige on her birthday in 1996, just a few weeks after I met Paul.

Sleeping in huts

Zachary and Savanna both had huts in their rooms the other night and both wanted to sleep in them. It was actually kind of nice cause they weren't woken up so early by the bright sun through their windows.