A new experience

A street in Bangalore
This is a seating area in the hotel lobby

Traveling to new places is a huge blessing in my life I will always be greatful for. I'm sitting in my hotel room in India, having just woken up from a 22 hour plane ride to get here, and the one thing I want to do is check the blogs to see what family and friends are doing. Its funny how not fun traveling is when you are doing it all alone, and how much I miss my girls when I think about how they are on the other side of the world right now.

Every time I travel I realize how much I take for granted what a blessing it is to live in the US. To not have to use a bottle of water to brush my teeth, or to not have to avoid most foods for fear of getting sick. So...I'm drinking a coke and eating a power bar with Animal Planet on in the background, looking out the 19th story window at a place I never imagined I'd see.

This morning at 2am, after one of the scariest taxi rides of my life, I made it to the hotel. I couldn't believe the poverty I could see along the way. It wasn't just a couple of areas, it was almost the entire 45 minute drive from the airport. Most of the buildings are various shades of concrete, and look like they've been around for a long time. It seems not many places have electricity, or they are just really good about turning out all the lights and street lights in most villages. The hotel was a stark contrast, it is brand new and is surrounded by gates and security guards with fuzzy green hats.

When I got out of the taxi a white and gold turbin was placed on my head, a blue, silk scarf was put around my neck, and some guy three stories above was dropping flower pedals down on me as I walked in. I must have had 4 different people helping to carry 2 bags. The turbin actually hurt to wear on my huge noggin but I didn't want to take it off in front of the staff. It was very gracious of them, and their service was great, but the funny thing is I didn't like all of the attention. Come to think of it I was able to fly first class to get here too, but I was almost embarrassed by it. I waited to board the plane with everyone else instead of getting on first because it just didn't feel right. Not sure why that is, but I've never been comfortable being treated like royalty when other people just like me don't get such treatment.

I'm excited for the week ahead, we have some plans to go a couple places as a group including spending half a day at one of the local schools to talk with the kids, and visit a local temple. I wish I could share pictures and share the experience with all of you, but this will have to do for now. Maybe I'll get up the courage to go walk around this morning, its either that or watch the hotel staff sweep dust off the grass.

We loved this picture, attack of the DillyZilla. Dilly was yawning and it looks like she is about to take a bite out of an unsuspecting baby.


Ellie has learned how to scream, not a "I'm unhappy, give me what I want" scream, but a "pay attention to me" scream...I'm scared for what lies ahead. She still does not want to crawl but rather play Shamu while balancing on her belly with all 4 limbs in the air...I think she just wants to levitate from place to place. She loves to walk (while holding our hands), and she loves to imitate other babies. Any time she hears another baby noise in church she will make the exact same noise, you can't help but laugh at her impressions. She also discovered the TV show Yo Gabba Gabba, she dances like her daddy when she hears music (point a finger in the air and pelvic thrust), and she is getting her first tooth.watching Yo Gabba Gabba

I almost murdered Dilly in early July when we found out that she had jumped up onto the table, and ate a tennis-ball sized chunk of black fondant (Joni was making a Playstation 3 cake of course). The little dog was later seen throwing up on 4 separate spaces of brand new light colored carpet in 2 different rooms. Of course she is a lady and doesn't want to be seen throwing up, so one of the black puddles of barf was found 2 weeks later underneath the couch. We've been scrubbing the carpet every night for a week, hoping and praying that these black circles will go away...and that Dilly might be taken up in spirit one night while we are asleep.Dilly tracks on the table...Just a couple of Joni's fondant creations, yes the controller is edible as well. I'm glad the whole cake practicing thing is over with because as you can imagine we were the only ones around to eat them.

We are the proud owners of a Baldwin piano. We got a great deal on a piano from someone who never used it and wanted to get rid of it. Ellie loves to play and its fun to have a piano in the house, I've had the itch for a while now and was finally able to "scratch" it.
Joel and Erin wer married in a really cool ceremony overlooking the Rocky Mountains. We were really busy the whole time, and had a lot of fun together playing yard games and dancing, and of course the ceremony was very nice. Once it was official someone played "Another one bites the dust" on the stereo, those guys make a pretty good pair.

Yes they are cutting the Playstation cake.
Joni and Melecia celebrated their birthdays on the same day, thanks to Eric for making the ice cream cake. I'll miss having a family member working at DQ...well maybe not.
We've played a lot this summer since we got here, and we are trying to get in as much as we can before the summer is over and we start hybernating. Ellie hits the 9 month mark this week, hard to believe.I guess this is one of the benefits of having your baby wake up before sunrise, this is my view as I eat breakfast in the morning. Summer is blazing by.

Fenway fun

Some things you just have to experience in person to appreciate. I've had many opportunities to see things I'd never thought I'd see or experience, and Fenway Park last week was one of them.

Let me make it clear that I am NOT a Red Sox fan. In fact I think they are the MOST obnoxious of any fan I have ever met. Last week at the Rockies/Red Sox game in Colorado there were some Red Sox fans behind me that ended up getting thrown out of the stadium. They just kept saying "Fenway is so different, this is like going to church here"...blah, blah, blah wicked annoying accent. All I could think about was how I couldn't wait to see for myself what they were like in Fenway. So here goes...

The fans are no different than anywhere else, other than the fact that like Yankees and Cubs fans they think they are the only true baseball fans on earth (although I like the Cubs). However, the stadium and atmosphere itself was electric. It was fun to soak it all in. And just like my experiences in Wrigley I fell in love with the place. We took the VIP tour where we stood on the field during batting practice, and sat on the Green Monster. The game was kind of lame but it was fun to be in the same place so many of the greats played. When I told Joni I was 10 feet from Evan Longoria (above) she was jealous because she thought I meant the Desperate Housewife. It was a fun trip, but just as good to be back home with my girls.

Swim, Bike, Run, Nap

Hey all, it's Joni. Paul is in Boston this week and he asked me to blog about the last little while.
Most of my adult life I have had a goal to complete an Olympic triathlon. This might surprise some of you because I didn't dare share it until it was finished for fear of failure/wimping out. I set my sights on the Vernal Dino-tri and trained for a few months. FINALLY I can say I am a real-deal triathlete!!

3 hrs nervous sleep

+

1 mile swim
25 mile bike
6.5 mile run

= Meatloaf, cookies, a NAP, and a deep feeling of satisfaction.

Here are some pics of the journey.

Night before bike set-up at Red Fleet lake. I talked Andrea into doing it too - here we are starting to get really nervous for the first time.



Two smarties who forgot to bring jackets at 5:30am to catch the race shuttle. BRRRrrrrRRRRR... lesson learned.



Red Fleet (behind us) is a gorgeous lake - to look at. Swimming in it's 65 degree water at 7:00am is, well, shocking. There was no "wading in" either. It was a deep water start, meaning we had to jump off the dock and wait for the start while treading water. Sheeesh.



We come from a family of triathletes and here we are with our uncle Don. He is an accomplished Iron Man and is in training to to another soon. These are nice little practice drills for him. Me too. .... right.



Here is our wave headed out for the first of two 1/2 mile laps around the lake.



Catching my breath at the post-swim, pre-bike transition.



Mile 24 of the bike. Is it just me or do I look like a 3rd grader riding to Grandma's house after school?



During the entire swim and bike I just kept thinking "Okay, you've been running for 12 years, just get to the run and you will be alright". Have I ever run after a swim and bike? Definitely not. It was a HARD run, but still fun... Yay for rhymes.

Fast forward to the red-faced finish line.



Only in Vernal would they give out trophies made of rocks. Ha ha, love it!



It felt SO good to cross that one off my list. I'm thinking triathlons might be like having a baby. Here are some similarities.

- A long period of build up and anxiety
- The "what did I get myself into" feeling right before it starts
- The "never again" feeling during
- Total happiness upon completion
- The "well maybe one more" feeling after the pain is gone.

Over all it was a great experience. Not so great? The food poisoning I picked up from a 7-11 taquito on the drive back to Colorado. About 24 hrs after eating it I started feeling sick and next thing I knew I was in the fetal position on my bathroom floor. I had NO idea there were that many liquids in my body, and that they could be expelled with such speed and ferociousness. I really thought I was going to die for a while. Luckily, I had people watching over me (since Paul is in Boston), taking care of Ellie when I was too weak to pick her up. Sounds pretty dramatic, I know. But that's really how it was. I'm feeling 100% better now though. You know you are over it when you can have chili for lunch - and that's what I did today - so don't worry!

Last week we took Ellie to her first baseball game. Rockies vs. Red Sox. I don't have time to upload more pics, but it was a good time! I think Ell made friends with half the people in the stadium!





WOW this blog is loooong. Thanks for sticking it out. Gotta run!

Back from the dead...for just a few minutes

I don't know what bug I caught, but I have not had any desire to write a blog, check blogs, look at Facebook, or even check my email regularly for a long, long time. My phone basically just serves as an alarm clock, and the Wii just decided not to turn on ever again. The washing machine and disposal even stopped working, I'm starting to feel like Jermiah Johnson...minus the beard...come to think of it I don't even know who Jermiah Johnson is so scratch that. Since we first moved here and we didn't have internet for 3 weeks, I just lost the desire.

We only have basic cable, and for the first time in about 9 years I don't even have ESPN. Crazy thing is that I like it. I feel obligated to write a blog because we have a sweet little girl that is growing up way too fast, and it would be down right mean to not provide the occasional update. So that's where I've been, don't hate on me for it.
Ellie has learned how to give us "five", she claps and waves, and she grabs onto everything. She's still got a million dollar smile and stops random people in their tracks all the time. I'm not sure where her charm came from but she is simply adorable.We bought a portable fire pit that we absolutely love. Sitting by the fire, talking, and eating S'mores is one of my favorite things. Plus our yard is the perfect place for it.
We've had dinner a couple of times on the porch. Dilly loves the horses, cows and dogs next door so much that her favorite thing to do now is run away.
Everyone getting geared up for the Bolder Boulder...which includes writing "HI" in Andrea's armpits.We've spent some time in Denver with Joel and Erin, including the sidewalk chalk festival and trying Ethiopian food for the first time. It was actually pretty crowded despite the picture.We love the Colorado skies, always changing. This is the view from our front yard... and our backyard

Alive and Well

Just so everyone knows, we made it to Colorado and are still alive and well. I (Joni)don't have much time at the moment, but here is a quick list of things I've learned in the past month:

1. Prairie Dogs bark. Or chirp? I don't know how to explain it, but they definitely communicate loudly at me as I pass their holes on my new running route.



2. Ellie's head is the exact circumference of a Quaker Rice Cake bag. Enough said.


3. Big brothers never grow out of it.



We had good times visiting friends and family recently and are happy to be settling in - for the next 10 months at least! More to come in the near future.

Passing time

First time trying sweet potatoes, the expression says it all...

I'm back in North Carolina for a few days before the big move back west, I miss my girls a ton and I find myself watching videos and looking at pictures to get me by. I have been deep cleaning the house to prepare for the movers, then I'll have to clean again after they leave. It doesn't make much sense I know, but I can only play so much Dr Mario before going crazy.

New York was fun, I love that city. This trip to NYC was great because I saw a lot of things I haven't seen before. I met up with Mike and Jen and we ate at Dumont in Brooklyn. I also had the opportunity to eat lunch and sing karaoke with the chiefs of FDNY, they were so cool and totally crazy. One of the chiefs accidentally spilled the beans about where we were going on our big secret night on the town, turned out to be a dinner cruise in a glass boat around Manhattan...because he felt bad for giving away the secret, he had a FDNY boat spray water from all directions up in the air as our boat left the harbor. They only do that on special occasions and we were all moved by it. I felt like I was 2nd grader hanging on every word when I listened to their stories, and I admire and respect those who put their lives in danger to help others.

We got to see some behind the scenes stuff too like the Today Show set, I danced on the floor of studio 6b (Jimmy Fallon/Conan O'Brien), and we ran into Ann Curry. Joni probably hates me for not taking pictures of everything, it was funny because she watches the Today show every day. It would be like Joni touring ESPN without me and not taking pictures...sorry.

I found out last week I will be going to Bangalore, India for a week in August for work. How crazy is that? I never once thought I would set foot in India, pretty cool stuff.

Ellie has been a rock star touring all of Utah this week. We are amazed at how much she smiles and is open to being held by so many people. She is definately loved by many and missed, I was sad as I folded her little socks last night, and I'm catching a small glimpse of how hard it would be to be a grandparent and live far away. When I brought Dilly home from the kennel she ran straight to Ellie's room to see her only to find that they were gone. We will see them soon, but until then...its more cleaning, moping, staring out the window and Dr Mario.