Review

I have a lot of catching up to do! So here is a basic recap of my Birthday and the weekend.

Mark and I had planed on going up to Sundance to have dinner at the Grill and then go on the "moonlight ride".  You can ride the ski lift at Sundance during the summer, and once each month on the full moon they run the lift at night.  It was so amazing and so romantic.  I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to be outdoors under the moonlight and stars.  My parents surprised us that morning with my Birthday present which was a stay in one of the little Sundance cabins that night and they watched the boys for us.  It was so fun! I have such great parents!

Here is a photo of the lift during the day.

We ate at the Foundry Grill for dinner and breakfast and the food was so great!  I highly recommend it.

Here is Mark in the restaurant.  It had a perfect Fall cozy feel to it.

Mark left the night after we got back and I knew that it was going to be really hard on us.  So my amazing friends scheduled a little Birthday Party/ Grey's premiere/ American Princess Party.  Thus, the tiara's. The pictures are from Kelly!  Thanks!  It was so much fun.  I cannot even say how thankful I am to have these women in my life.  They have become such good friends and I know that I could not make it during this time of my life without them!

On a side note if you haven't seen the quality production that is American Princess on the WE network you are totally missing out.  It's one of the most awesomely bad shows I have ever seen.  I have been recording them all and then we get together and watch a few episodes at a time commenting almost the entire episode on the brilliance of the girls in this show, and by brilliance I mean the lack thereof.  It's actually a British show so we have determined that they chose the worst people they could in order to make fun of Americans.  It's sad.  It's really, really sad.  Anyway, they brought nine American girls to England to learn how to become a princess and then the winner get's 50,000 dollars and fake English title.  The British didn't stop with us either.  There is soon to be an Australian Princess and I'm guessing a future Indian Princess too,  Since they are going for all the colonies they once had, I guess.  Anyway, this is my secret reality TV fix.  If you want to watch bad TV you should try it!

Then the next morning I went on a hike with a few Mom's and Cole up to Bridal Veil Falls.  ( I've been trying to keep myself busy so I don't think about Mark being gone all the time.)

This picture is a little bit blurry but it fit's perfectly with how I have been feeling about Cole in the recent day's.  He is having such a hard time since Mark left again.  A lot of tantrums and yelling and running away when we are out and about.  He has always been his own little person but his stubbornness is over whelming at times.  I feel like I am often view him like this photograph, from a distance, a blur running away in chaos.  Please tell me that other four year olds go through this?!?

We did get to see this at the end which is one of my favorite places in this world.  My mom used to be a manager at a gift shop at Bridal Veil Falls so I spent a lot of time here when I was young.  Eventually an avalanche wiped the store, the tram, (which took you to the top of the falls) and the restaurant out.  So now it is just the waterfall.  But it's so beautiful.

 

On Saturday we had Grant's football game.  You must know that my Grant, loves football.  He has known all the teams from the time he was two. And at two he would sit and watch four hour games on TV...well, he would have if I would let him watch that much TV.  This was a surprise to Mark and I, you know...the artists.  But Mark has always loved college sports and he's trying to get into the NFL now that it is Grants love.  I'll be honest, I am not, nor have I ever been a sports fan.  Unless it's ice skating or something girly and pretty like that. lol.  But when I became a parent I promised myself whatever my children had a passion for as long as it wasn't harmful I would do whatever I could to help them. Even if I didn't like or understand it. And this is one of those things.  I used think that football for first graders was so silly.  But Grant loves football so much and he really, really wanted to play.  I agree to let him play flag football this year.  Can you believe in Utah they let first graders play tackle?  Huh?  What is that about? 

  Anyway, as I was saying Grant is playing flag football.  He is so competitive in everything in life, we worry about how competitive he is sometimes because rather than lose or try something that he knows he is not the best at he will quit.  Or he won't try at all because he want's to be the best without going through a learning phase. So this season has been a good growing experience for him because as he started he wasn't the best on his team and his team has lost every single game.  EVERY ONE.  But he has been such a good sport about it and is growing so much and practicing everyday and trying so hard because it is something that he really loves!  This Saturday was a super emotional game for me because something just clicked for him and he was pulling flags like a champion.  And then he ran almost the whole field to make a touch down.  I think I was clapping and screaming like crazy!  It literally brought tears to my eyes.  Not because I care if he plays well. But because he has been working so hard and it finally just all came together for him!  I was such a proud Momma.

And well, that was a pretty good review about what has been going on around here. If you made it this far good for you!  I'd love to know what you have been up to?

Comments

[Relly]

That's a really gorgeous waterfall.

I haven't caught any of American Princess over here in the UK - I'm guessing it's on one of our satellite channels - but it sounds like JUST my sort of TV. My favourite trash reality is Sweet 16 on MTV.

As for 4 year olds, I think it's in their job description to push boundaries and show stubbornness above and beyond the call of duty :)

[Sarah]

Ok, so reading about Grant and his football game brought tears to MY eyes!! Here at work!! He rocks.

And I'm soooo glad you had an awesome birthday--the whole Sundance thing sounds perfect. And with Mark. So perfect.;)

[jen paddack-hyde]

My daughter had the same experience with softball this past season. They never won a game but she learned how to have fun doing it:)She's already counting down the months until the next softball season:)

[Ali]

Oh yes, I have a 4 year old boy and he is the exact same way, and his dad is a soldier so he is gone 4 months at a time so I know how hard it is. Hang in there!

[Sarah]

Maybe this will make you feel a little better, but my 4 year old son tends to act that way quite a bit. We never had too many tantrums, but lately, it seems like he does it a lot more often. It is quite frustrating. Unfortunately, it's even harder when you don't have someone to relieve you for a while. Hang in there. You'll make it. It sounds like Cole has a good mom.
Your pictures here are so beautiful. I look forward to getting out a little bit this fall to take some photos. Mine won't look quite as nice as yours though. Interested in teaching in Ohio? ;)
Sarah D.

[Natalie :)]

Hi, there! I have two boys, a 4-year-old and a 3-year-old, and their dad just started travelling. They both react in different ways, but both always push the boundaries when their dad is gone. I've noticed that if I don't have an agenda for the week he's gone, and just PLAY with them, it seems to help a lot, but sometimes it's still tough. We just conquered a week without Dad, and they acted up for a couple of days after he came back, too, but I think that was mostly because he was a little sick, so he couldn't give them all the roughhousing they needed.

Good luck, Mama!

[Kirsten]

Hey! I'm one of the girls form AMerican Princess. I wanted to respond to this site because of the shot of Bridal Veil Falls. I have a home very near that waterfall...in Cashiers, North Carolina. I also ran to those woods to hide when I saw the edited verision of my myself on American Princess. WOW I was a bit shocked by the final version....reality? Cashiers has been my summer home since birth...it is my favorite place that I have ever been and I have traveled quite a bit. I agree that we looked ridiculous on the show but my goal was to be the "crazy funny nice one." I hope at the very least I amused you. By the way this is Kirsten Stiff from American Princess!! XOXOXO Thank you for watching the show!