If it’s a good book, I get so sucked in and can’t put it down until I’ve finished it.

Quite a few of the Young Women and Sister Furnell have been talking madly about this series of books and have been looking forward to he release of the 4th book.  So, I’ve been trying to get back into reading so while we were in Portland, I bought all three of the books so far in the series.  I put them so nicely on our bookshelf and put it out of my mind until I went to Mutual last night and everyone was talking about the release of the 4th book.

So after getting Erica to sleep, I curled up in the bathtub and started “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer.  After 3 hours I finally dragged myself out of the tub and curled up in bed and continued on.  Before I knew it the kitchen was brightening and the clock said 6:30am!  I knew I had to get some sleep, so I postponed the last two chapters and got in almost 6 hours of sleep.  After a quick shower, I postponed my errands and finished the last two chapters.  I LOVED this book and am afraid of starting the next one. 

See, if I open the cover to the next one, I know it will turn into an all night ordeal again and walk around in a sleep deprived state tomorrow.  Not so much fun.  And definitely not so much fun to be around.  Maybe just one chapter though?

We actually have been back for a little over a week.  Apparently I am a much better blogger on the road than at home.  Thank you though for all those who have called to check on us to make sure we were okay.

I’ve just been caught up in laundry, unpacking, straightening back up the house, ordering photos, even scrapping a little bit and trying to catch back up on sleep.  Sleep, oh my word, our sleep habits are all out of whack!  We have been having the hardest time going to bed at a decent time which has affected the time we get up the next day.  Hopefully though soon, we will get that back on track soon! 

While driving into Great Falls and chewing a piece of gum I lost a piece of my tooth that has been bugging me for about a year.  So I finally gave in to Eric’s advice and got into the dentist just three days after we returned home.  I thought it would be just a consult visit, but walked out of there with a root canal and plans for more work on that tooth including a visit to a periodontist for crown lengthening and two more visits with my dentist before it’s all said and done.  Dr. Pope was so wonderful though.  No pain whatsoever during the procedure and during recovery at home.  Just some jaw discomfort from having my mouth open wide for so long.  If anyone is need of a good dentist, I highly recommend him!

I got to go out with some friends for dinner tonight!  It was so much fun!  I just always enjoy getting together with them as it always results in much laughter.  And it was so awesome of Eric to recognize what a good idea it was for me to go tonight, the night before he leaves for out of town for 4 days.  He really is such an understanding husband.  I even got to go get my nails done and a pedicure today!  I noticed on the trip I don’t seem to see as far as I used to, so I also went to the eye doctor today.  My vision is still 20/20 and although it’s not necessary, glasses would help with that a little bit.  So Eric and I have decided to postpone it a little longer until it is a little more necessary.

So there are my going on’s since we have been home.  We were supposed to go to Michigan the Thursday, but Eric only worked for about 3 hours during our almost 3 week trip and we were so doggone tired of being in the car, that we decided it was best to just stay home. 

Alright, in an effort of trying to get to bed at a decent time, I’m going to go cruise the blogs for a little bit and then head to bed.  Maybe we can make it up by a decent time in the morning.  We kind of have to as Erica has swim lessons in the morning.  Goodnight! 

First, our one full day in Salt Lake City ended up being two full days.  And actually we were contemplating turning it into three when we got back to our hotel last night, but when we woke up this morning we decided we were too homesick and the things we would have done today, just give us a reason to come back and do them next time.  Although to be perfectly honest, we would have anyway. 

Thursday we went to Deseret Book across from the temple, bought even more books if that were possible.  And the older girls and I were feeling icky after eating at the food court next to the bookstore.  So we went back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon.  I was feeling pretty sad about it as I wanted to see all the things to see on Temple Square, but knew with the heat, there was no way I was going to make it.  But Eric decided when we woke up the next morning that we would just cut off our trip to the Omaha Zoo (which it would probably be too hot to wander around) and not check out of our hotel until Saturday morning. 

So, Friday we slept in nice and late and then hit the sites at Temple Square.  First stop was the Joseph Smith Memorial building where we ate lunch, wandered around and then bought almost every DVD and more garments at the Church Distribution Center.  We also watched a movie on Joseph Smith and the Restoration Of The Church.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place.

Next was a stop for pictures in front of the Temple.  Then the South Visitors Center.  Then we went on a tour of the Temple Grounds with a pair of Sister Missionaries.  We got to see the Assembly Hall, the Tabernacle and part of the North Visitor’s Center.  After our tour we went through another presentation in the North Visitor’s Center that was about a family and the changes they experience.  I was almost openly sobbing by the end.  The family lost the Grandfather and then the Grandmother passed away and the granddaughter was asking her Mom if she would ever get to hold Grandma’s hand again.  Of course I’m still struggling with the loss of my Grandma and it hit me really, really hard.  Of course the point of the presentation was yes, she would be able to see her Grandparents again.

We made our way back to Deseret and loaded up on LDS artwork.  We bought a framed picture of the Salt Lake City Temple (it was the temple we were sealed in), a large Christus statue, statue of Joseph Smith and the First Vision and a statue of he Salt Lake Temple.  We were a bit worried about how we were going to get it all packed into the car, but we managed to get it all in there this morning without sacrificing any one’s comfort or leave our clothes behind.

One thing about our set back on Thursday was Eric and Erica came back to the hotel to eat the hotel BBQ dinner with us and while we were eating a lady with 12 kids came in.  It looked like two of them were her own, 8 were from Africa maybe and 2 of the cutest Korean boys.  It made us stop and really for the first time really contemplate maybe adopting a little boy if we aren’t blessed with anymore children of our own. 

Then Eric went back up to the temple on his own to pray and ponder our Patriarchal Blessings, and while he was there a little Korean boy came over to him and sat next to him, looked up at him, smiled and just sat there for a few minutes before rejoining his family.  It gave me goosebumps and tears in my eyes when he told me about it.

In spite of not getting to go through the Church Museum’s or take the Conference Center Tour or visit any scrapbook stores, we decided to pack up this morning and head towards home.  From Salt Lake to home though is 16 hours, and we are not patient enough to just drive that straight through, so here we are in Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

Tonight we should all sleep very well knowing that tomorrow evening we will be back in our familiar beds.  Although I am so not looking forward to the unpacking part.  Ugh!  The fun part will be getting to see all our treasures that we bought at Deseret and Church Distribution.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from Salt Lake:

We hit Portland, Oregon and have been going from the time we wake up until the time we fall into bed.

Most of our time in Portland was spent with Eric and a hand full of his family members.  We were sad that we didn’t get to see all of them that we wanted, but it was short notice and we realize not everyone can drop what they are doing on the spot for a visit. 

Here is a picture of Eric, the girls, Eric’s Grandma on his Mom’s side and her new husband, his cousin and Aunt (his other cousin who is newly engaged did go out to dinner with us and brought his fiancee with him the night before, but I left the camera behind):

We did have the opportunity while we were there to go to one of our favorite restaurants that make the best and largest sandwiches ever seen, visit with a set of friends who were the first friends we made upon moving to Oregon and drop by our last two places we lived in, in Oregon.  The temple was closed, but we were able to shop at Deseret Book store.  We don’t have one in Missouri and even though we could order everything we bought online, we spent quite a bit there.  But you can never go wrong investing in church books.

After Portland, we headed towards my hometown (Eureka, California).  We had to stop on the way and get a picture of us with the redwoods.  I miss the trees and ocean so much sometimes.  Doesn’t the big redwood make me look so much slimmer? 

We got in late that evening, but made it in time to watch what we refer to as “fogworks.”  I don’t recall ever watching the fireworks in such a way.  Maybe we only made it downtown on the 4ths that were clear.  But it was so foggy, that you saw very little of the fireworks.  They were just bursts of light in the fog.

Of course the trip to Eureka, would not be complete without a trip to the beach.  The water was actually slightly warmer than I remembered, although not by much.  But the sand was so hot, that you couldn’t take more than 5 steps without burying your feet as deep into the sand as possible.   And it was a long walk out and back from the water.  Oh!  And I think my Step Mom and myself got hit on (it’s been a long time since that happened).  You judge for yourself.  Kathy and I were taking our time walking to the beach and a young man walked up to us and told us he was married to the beach and technically we were a part of the beach.  We just exchanged confused and concerned looks.

I was slightly terrified though by how far the older girls kept getting out in the water.  I remember in high school two kids in the class behind us being swept away by a sneaker wave.  So I was being pretty paranoid.  But we all had a good time.

My Mom wasn’t able to make it to town as planned.  She went to the bus station to catch the bus, but couldn’t get her ticket as the office was closed for the holiday.  So Grandma took us out to lunch and to the zoo for her.  I remember spending so much time as a kid at the zoo.  The highlight was a chimp named Bill.  He was quite the celebrity and was there back when my Dad was a kid.  He had passed since the last time I was out there.  I was surprised by how few animals there were now though.  But the girls had fun anyway.  Here is the girls, my Grandma Betty and me at the zoo:

The next day after Grandma took us out to lunch again, she had this guy, Jerry the Bird Guy who owns like 50 different exotic birds bring a few of his birds over for a visit and a show.  It was really pretty cool.  He gave each of the girls puzzles, some pictures and a DVD.  We tried to give him money afterwards, but he refused.  So I’m thinking we are going to have to see about getting an address and sending an anonymous donation.

Just as the show was wrapping up, one of my childhood best friends, Amy, stopped by.  We met in the 2nd grade, I moved to another school and then back in the 5th grade, and have been friends ever since.   I was hoping to meet up with my other best friend from my school days, Ruth, but we just couldn’t quite match up schedules.  Here is a picture Eric took of Amy and myself.  See Amy, I told you it would be on my blog!

We just barely made it in time to take my Dad, Stepmom, Uncle Larry and Aunt Marilynn out to a nice dinner.  Had the largest king crab legs I’ve ever seen.  Afterwards we went back to my Dad’s for goodbye’s and pictures.  They were all good sports about it.

Yesterday we left Eureka for Reno.  Basically it was the halfway point between Eureka and Salt Lake City.  On the way to Reno, we about had it.  Half of California is having forest fires, and we had the privilege of driving through one side of one.  We couldn’t see the fire, but the smoke was so heavy that we could hardly breathe and Eric almost passed out of the wheel.  It was a little bit eerie at one point, we looked down at the water on the one side of us and it was orange.  Must have been a fire at the top of the peak of the mountain we were driving along side.  Once we finally got through the smoke (which you could barely even see in front of you) and actually got some oxygen, we were pretty loopy.  I think it was because we had been deprived of real air for so long, Eric wondered if maybe some of the fires weren’t burning some of the Humboldt County second flower (marijuana) and we were breathing that in.

But we made it safe and sound to Reno.  Checked into our hotel and headed for Circus Circus.  I thought the girls would get a kick out of the circus acts, but we kept missing them.  Although we did get to play all the Midway games up there.  Between all of us we ended up winning 3 huge bags of stuffed animals that I will probably end up giving away before the end of the year.  But what counts more than the toys is the time we spent together playing the games.

We got up bright and early this morning and have now made our way to Salt Lake City.  We unpacked the car, drove around Temple Square, at dinner at PF Changs and have gone for a swim.  Only the second time this trip.  Now we are going to make a rough map of our day for tomorrow so we can hit everything we want to before we leave Friday morning. 

So on that note, I should wrap this up and look up some things on the computer that pertain to our day tomorrow.  I really want to try to make my blog rounds too and see what everyone else has been up to.