Colorado, Canada, and the Basement

I took a trip to Colorado April 12 to April 17 to visit the Waite's in Colorado. Bruce had finals exams, so he stayed home. The drive went well. Grandma Lisa wrapped a few toys and snack in wrapping paper and Hailey was able to open them during the drive. She thought it was great and got this really excited face every time she opened a new present.
It was great to see everyone, including Sarah's new baby, and to spend some time together. We drove Eric back to Provo with us. He stayed the night with us, and on Wednesday we took him to the Missionary Training Center. He will be there for 3 weeks before going to Santa Rosa, California.

As soon as we dropped Eric off, we returned to our apartment and started packing our apartment. We took one load of stuff to Mapleton, put the girls down for a nap, and ended up staying the night. We moved and cleaned the rest of the apartment on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Scott and Lisa were a great help with the moving and the cleaning. It's exciting to be moving on... even if it is just to Bruce's parents' basement.

We drove to Lethbridge, Canada to visit Grandma and Grandpa Sommerfeldt (Bruce's grandparents). The drive was less peaceful than the drive to Colorado- both girls wanted out of their seats, were bored, and whiny for a part- but they did as well as you could expect for 12 hours in the car. Hailey enjoyed watching a few movies to break-up the trip, thanks to Sarah and Ben who gave us their old car DVD player!

We've really enjoyed out vacation in Canada. This was my first trip to Canada.
I loved touring the city of Lethbridge. Grandpa and Grandma shared interesting facts and showed us some of the sights. We saw the private golf course, the new high school, some shopping complexes, and a few of the parks. I was a little more confident that I could find my way home if I got lost on a run. -For the record, I didn't need that particular skill. Every afternoon Bruce and I studied and worked, respectively,
We had a barbeque at cousin Matt and Karen's house Tuesday evening complete with slider-style burgers and an adorable playhouse for the kids. Steve and Christy joined, Grandpa and Grandma, and us. Hailey loved playing with Matt and Karen's girl, Eva, and Steve and Christy's girl, McKenzie.

Matt and Karen came with us to visit the Canadian side of Glacier National Park. There is a small tourist area with shops and such, called Waterton. The shops were not opened for the season, so we had the park to ourselves, for the most part. It was an overcast day, so we couldn't see the tops of the mountains, but enjoyed the view of the lower mountains and the water. Hailey and Eva played near the water. Hailey took off her shoes and walked in the water, which was undoubtedly chilly, but she didn't seem to mind. Grandma, however, nearly had a heart attack.We had dinner in the only place that was open, the restaurant attached to the hotel. Lunch was slow, but delicious.

We went swimming in a Canadian pool (just the same as an American pool, it turns out). It had a rope that you can swing over the water and drop in and Bruce told me if I got Hailey to ride it, he'd pay me $10. I got close but had to wait for the rope to swing back so I could grab it which was just enough time for Hailey to grasp what was actually going on, and chicken out. They had a shallow kiddy pool that Hailey loved.

We spent the evening at Steve and Christy's place. A short drama unfolded on the trip from Grandma's house to Christy's house. The story is as follows: Hailey and McKayla were sleeping, we planned to wake them and leave at 4:30 pm. So, we got ready to go, and Grandma started fretting. Grandpa had gone to the store to buy some chocolate milk and was not back. Grandma determined that it was getting late and that he should have been back, so she worried, and paced, and muttered, "Goodness," "My Heavens." In the end, Grandma left a note for Grandpa and rode with us, fretting all the way. Grandpa showed up with the chocolate milk and all was well.  Steve and Christy are running their own toy store, only their toys aren't for sale. :) Hailey loved all the toys, especially the basement with it's inflatable bounce house, the ball pit, and the play house and kitchen... and I had some fun with some of the tactile toys for Tanner, their autistic son's therapy.

We spent one morning shopping. I bought a new pair of pants for $2.50 at Old Navy. Sweet deal. And we bought some diapers. We let Hailey spend the Canadian currency change on candy. She thought that was the best moment of the trip. That night, we tried to play horseshoes, but we  went for Chinese food at New Dynasty. It was fun, and oh so tasty.

Sunday we went to church.  Hailey was a little restless in sacrament, so she and Bruce were in and out of the hallway. I went to nursery with Hailey and slipped out for the last hour. That afternoon we relaxed and packed for our drive home Monday.

Back in Utah, we spent most our free time organizing and finding the floor in our new home. Bruce has been busy studying for the CPA exam. Bruce had been trying to get a few extra hours of study this week because he missed a few hours in Canada and next week I won't be able to work from home, and Scott and Lisa will be out of the country, so Bruce won't be able to study much. His first test is scheduled for May 31st.

My work has been going well. This week I've only worked during nap time, but next week will be closer to a 40 hour week. I supervise two teams of water conservation interns, which is a glorified way of saying that I make appointments for some college kids to go look at the sprinklers. :) I've  done water checks in the past and enjoyed the work, so it's fun to try the managing and coordinating side of it. Water checks are an opportunity for us to teach others about water conservation. My work is supposed to be setting appointments for people who have requested water checks, but some days it feels more like cold calling. People don't remember that they have requested the service, don't hear who I am affiliated with when I introduce myself, had another family member request the check, or a slew of other issues that make their reception of me less than friendly. Thankfully, that is the exception, not the rule, so overall the scheduling goes fine.

Well, Bruce will say I've already written too much, so for now, and probably for many months, adieu.