We (or I) was a little nervous until I saw it in writing, but here it is on the web in great big letters (er ... pixels) ... http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=15. You have to scan down to "Trip to China with Dick Nourse").
This is so surreal. We went yesterday to get passports and immunizations, but it probably won't really sink in until we actually land in the Asia.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
And the winner is . . .
Lance, yes, Lance is the winner of a trip for 2 to Beijing, China hosted by KSL TV anchorman Dick Norse. Those of you who watch channel 5 here in Utah probably know who that is - for those of you who don't - he is the former evening news anchor who has just recently retired after about 4 decades of being on the air for KSL. One of the highlights of his career was, of course, reporting on the Salt Lake Winter Olympics so that would be why going with him to the site of the 2008 Olympic games (Beijing) should be especially interesting.
When Lance called me today to tell my about winning the trip he first emailed me the link of where he had entered the contest. My comment was "why would I want to go to China". And he said something like "are you sure about that? Cause I just won the trip!" There was quite a few moments of silence on my side and then I asked if this was an early April Fools joke. Then all I could think about was "China!! It's a communist country! I don't want to go to China!". I am sure that I have said in the not too distant past that China is one place I never will have a desire to go. NEVER say NEVER! As the shock began wearing off I began thinking of what a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity this is. Lance was so excited he couldn't get anything done at work and his boss told him to take a mental health day so he headed home.
Now begins the planning (and for my part - worrying). We will be gone the 20th- 29th of May- which is JJ's last two weeks of school and we leave on the day of Hannah's preschool graduation. We have to make sure that things are worked out so that the kids can be taken care of. We also are hurrying to make sure we get passports in time. I believe that we are going to need shots as well ( owwww!) . Of course my friend Missy has already started her list of stuff she wants us to buy for her over there.
This is the absolute last thing I would have ever thought would happen to us. We are both still in shock I think. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. For someone like me who has never travelled outside the US (or very much within the US) this trip is a little daunting. Visiting a culture so different from ours will be an amazing experience. I hope to learn a great deal from this experience. I hope more than anything that taking this trip will help me to come back and teach my kids about the world and the diverse people in it.
When Lance called me today to tell my about winning the trip he first emailed me the link of where he had entered the contest. My comment was "why would I want to go to China". And he said something like "are you sure about that? Cause I just won the trip!" There was quite a few moments of silence on my side and then I asked if this was an early April Fools joke. Then all I could think about was "China!! It's a communist country! I don't want to go to China!". I am sure that I have said in the not too distant past that China is one place I never will have a desire to go. NEVER say NEVER! As the shock began wearing off I began thinking of what a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity this is. Lance was so excited he couldn't get anything done at work and his boss told him to take a mental health day so he headed home.
Now begins the planning (and for my part - worrying). We will be gone the 20th- 29th of May- which is JJ's last two weeks of school and we leave on the day of Hannah's preschool graduation. We have to make sure that things are worked out so that the kids can be taken care of. We also are hurrying to make sure we get passports in time. I believe that we are going to need shots as well ( owwww!) . Of course my friend Missy has already started her list of stuff she wants us to buy for her over there.
This is the absolute last thing I would have ever thought would happen to us. We are both still in shock I think. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. For someone like me who has never travelled outside the US (or very much within the US) this trip is a little daunting. Visiting a culture so different from ours will be an amazing experience. I hope to learn a great deal from this experience. I hope more than anything that taking this trip will help me to come back and teach my kids about the world and the diverse people in it.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
TGIS
Thank goodness it is Spring! We have really been enjoying the warmer weather - spending lots more time outside and getting some spring cleaning done. This really has to be one of my favorite times of year. Yes, there is the occasional snow storm but on the whole you can just feel the earth coming alive again after a long winter's nap. 
In the last few weeks we have seen Easter come and go. The kids really enjoyed it this year. We spent some time at Grandma J.'s house with the Jeppson cousins on Saturday. JJ gave a talk in Primary (didn't we just give talks?) and Lance and I both had to teach on Sunday besides it being Easter Sunday. It was busy day but we had a nice time doing dinner in the afternoon with all the grands. We tried to take pictures of the kids in there Easter outfits - of course Asher would only cooperate if he was given lots of candy - so most of the photos he has huge cheeks full of candy!
Earlier in the week Jamie and I took our kids to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. The kids all had fun but I think that Asher loved it the most. He was totally unafraid of the animals big or small. He loved being free to run and was generally thrilled by everything he saw. Check out the 4 day old baby goat they were taking care of! So cute! 
Today a couple of my friends here kind enough to come over and help me start de-junking and getting more organized. I can see that it is going to be a long process but worth it in the end. Thank you, thank you Jamie and Missy for helping me lighten my load.
In the last few weeks we have seen Easter come and go. The kids really enjoyed it this year. We spent some time at Grandma J.'s house with the Jeppson cousins on Saturday. JJ gave a talk in Primary (didn't we just give talks?) and Lance and I both had to teach on Sunday besides it being Easter Sunday. It was busy day but we had a nice time doing dinner in the afternoon with all the grands. We tried to take pictures of the kids in there Easter outfits - of course Asher would only cooperate if he was given lots of candy - so most of the photos he has huge cheeks full of candy!Earlier in the week Jamie and I took our kids to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. The kids all had fun but I think that Asher loved it the most. He was totally unafraid of the animals big or small. He loved being free to run and was generally thrilled by everything he saw. Check out the 4 day old baby goat they were taking care of! So cute! Today a couple of my friends here kind enough to come over and help me start de-junking and getting more organized. I can see that it is going to be a long process but worth it in the end. Thank you, thank you Jamie and Missy for helping me lighten my load.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Weekend fun!
Can I just say how great it is to have everyone well?!?! We finally seem to have gotten rid of the sickness. Of course today is Sunday so I am sure the kids were all exposed to lots more germs. Here's hoping that we can stay well for a little while. Friday was a crazy, fun day. Michelle was kind enough to offer Hannah and I some tickets for Disney Princesses on Ice up at the "Delta" Center. 
I had been really wanting to take Hannah to do this but never got around to buying the tickets. So G & G watched Asher and JJ rode the bus home to Kynlee's house and Hannah and I drove up to the trax station and rode the train to the end of the line. There were TONS of little girls dressed up in all their princess regalia on the train and there was definitely an atmosphere of excitement (at least for the kids, the regular commuters were probably a little annoyed that there wasn't as much room to sit on the train). The train stopped right in front of the "formerly know as" Delta Center and we walked right up. Our seats were just inside the door- nothing could have been more convenient! Hannah was enthralled and loved every minute of it. She was a little scared when the dragon came out but all in all had a really great time. We rode the train back to 106th South and met "the girlfriends" at Mimi's for a birthday dinner for Heather R. Hanging out with 11 of my favorite girls was so much fun. 
Hannah was really good at the restaurant, entertaining herself by making faces in the mirror by our table and making patterns out of the sugar packets. She was really tired by the end and asked sweetly if we could please go home. So I guess I missed out on the bra shopping trip! Oh well maybe next time. JJ, Hannah, Lance and I gave talks in church today. The kids did great! They weren't nervous at all. Everything went well and we told the Bishopric that we should be set for another 8 years. We thought it was going to be spring but NO it is snowing today. Here's hoping the sun is shining on you where ever you are.
I had been really wanting to take Hannah to do this but never got around to buying the tickets. So G & G watched Asher and JJ rode the bus home to Kynlee's house and Hannah and I drove up to the trax station and rode the train to the end of the line. There were TONS of little girls dressed up in all their princess regalia on the train and there was definitely an atmosphere of excitement (at least for the kids, the regular commuters were probably a little annoyed that there wasn't as much room to sit on the train). The train stopped right in front of the "formerly know as" Delta Center and we walked right up. Our seats were just inside the door- nothing could have been more convenient! Hannah was enthralled and loved every minute of it. She was a little scared when the dragon came out but all in all had a really great time. We rode the train back to 106th South and met "the girlfriends" at Mimi's for a birthday dinner for Heather R. Hanging out with 11 of my favorite girls was so much fun. Hannah was really good at the restaurant, entertaining herself by making faces in the mirror by our table and making patterns out of the sugar packets. She was really tired by the end and asked sweetly if we could please go home. So I guess I missed out on the bra shopping trip! Oh well maybe next time. JJ, Hannah, Lance and I gave talks in church today. The kids did great! They weren't nervous at all. Everything went well and we told the Bishopric that we should be set for another 8 years. We thought it was going to be spring but NO it is snowing today. Here's hoping the sun is shining on you where ever you are.Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Happy Anniversary
Just had to wish my sweetie a happy anniversary!!! Can you really believe it has been 9 years? (I know sometimes you probably feel it has been 900). Thank you!
Love love.
Love love.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The story continues
The saga of sickness continues at our house. We spent last night (Sunday) in the ER with Hannah. She had gone to the doctor on Saturday and got the steroid pill crushed up in chocolate sauce for croup. Unfortunately as I mentioned in the previous post she threw up on the way home from the doctor's office. I spent Sunday home with Hannah and Asher while Lance went with JJ to church. I was concerned about Hannah's breathing because I could hear her wheezing from several rooms away. She complained of not being able to breath when she layed down. She was a very sick little girl but typical of her personality she was still pretty easy going and happy. It got to be evening time and although she had been given Ibuprofen she still wasn't getting much better so I made the executive decision to take her to the ER. I hate doing that - it costs so much money but I really didn't want to wait until midnight and have her get worse. In any case it was a good thing we went. The doctor was very concerned about her breathing and gave her a breathing treatment right away. He also said that we would need to keep her there for several hours for observation because even after the breathing treatment kids can have the croup flair up again even worse. The nurses and doctors were pleasantly surprised by Hannah's sunny attitude about the whole thing. She was singing into her oxygen mask at one point! We saw significant improvement after the treatment and she finally fell asleep amid the noise of other patients (one of which was a screaming baby!) and people coming in to use the ice machine. Lance took the other kids home once we realized we would have to be there for a while. After Lance got the boys to sleep Grandma Carolyn came to the house to baby sit. Lance came back in time to get Hannah and I after she was discharged about midnight. It was a LONG ordeal but the bright side is that Hannah is doing much better today although she is pretty run down. Hannah really enjoyed getting to sleep in the bed with me - while Lance informs me that Hannah's bed is really FIRM. Here's hoping that we all get a good night sleep tonight!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Hi all,
So Lance and I are going on the third day with very little sleep. The kids have all been sick and keeping us up at night. Asher is getting over croup and is teething again, JJ has strep, and Hannah woke up last night with croup. I gave in and let her sleep with Lance and I so that I could listen to her breathing. She was thrilled but Lance ended up sleeping in her bed because she kept kicking him! Adventures in parenting I guess. We can't wait for the warm weather to come and get rid of all these germs. I sprayed our house down with Lysol and have been pestering the kids to wash thier hands constantly. A large quaking aspen tree in our front yard kind of blew over in one of the last wind storms we had so Lance has spent the day cutting it up and hauling it off (and cleaning out the van from Hannah puking on the way back from the doctor's office today). The guy deserves a medal! We are coming up on our 9th anniversary! I can't believe it has been nine years. Time flies! I just want to send a big cyber hug out to all my girl friends (you know who you are!) for being my sanity savers this past few weeks and always! You guys are awesome and I love you all so much!
So Lance and I are going on the third day with very little sleep. The kids have all been sick and keeping us up at night. Asher is getting over croup and is teething again, JJ has strep, and Hannah woke up last night with croup. I gave in and let her sleep with Lance and I so that I could listen to her breathing. She was thrilled but Lance ended up sleeping in her bed because she kept kicking him! Adventures in parenting I guess. We can't wait for the warm weather to come and get rid of all these germs. I sprayed our house down with Lysol and have been pestering the kids to wash thier hands constantly. A large quaking aspen tree in our front yard kind of blew over in one of the last wind storms we had so Lance has spent the day cutting it up and hauling it off (and cleaning out the van from Hannah puking on the way back from the doctor's office today). The guy deserves a medal! We are coming up on our 9th anniversary! I can't believe it has been nine years. Time flies! I just want to send a big cyber hug out to all my girl friends (you know who you are!) for being my sanity savers this past few weeks and always! You guys are awesome and I love you all so much!
Monday, March 3, 2008
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