Corporate Board Retreat- Day 2

This morning started off with an early morning breakfast then Mike was whisked off to meetings right away. The spouses had the option of going to The Canyons Ski resort for either a gondola ride and hike or a gondola ride and Zip-lining tour. I opted to try Zip-lining for the first time, ever. Two of the other spouses were very excited to go as well so we geared up and put on our brave faces.

It was a lot of fun and I was so proud of myself. I didn't swear, not even once! We got to go on the trainer track then the medium track twice them up the higher mountain on a tram to do the longer line. It was a good time.
After we were done, we headed back to the hotel to do our own thing for a bit before the big afternoon break happened for the retreat go-ers. They were doing another guided tour in the afternoon of the Olympic Park with some time for activities at the end of it. This one was open to everyone since they had a big schedule break in meetings. Mike and I were going to go but then he had had a headache all morning and really just wanted a break to de-compress a bit. So he and I opted out and just went to have some lunch together and do a small amount of school clothes shopping at the outlet mall.  Then it was back in time for the main group event.
Once we all met back up, they loaded us in buses and took us to Sundance for a BBQ and to see the play "Annie Get Your Gun". It was a really good time and I really enjoyed the play more than I thought I would. It kept me chuckling. Here are a few pics of the fun.

Then it was a late night drive back to the hotel where we just crashed for the night.
Saturday morning was up early again for the breakfast and then Mike was allowed to skip out on that days meeting to head to my family reunion.
All in all, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be for me and I'm pretty sure I got the better end of the deal

Corporate Board Retreat- Day 1

For the first time in the last 13 years he's worked there, Mike is part of the "leadership/management" teams of his company. With that came an invitation to their annual Corporate Board Retreat that was being held in Park City. We arranged for him to go and I was going to just head camping with my family while he was away. Then a couple weeks before, we were notified that spouses were being asked to attend some of the meals and some social activities during the 3 days they were gone. Yikes! I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about the whole idea. I've only met a few of these people before and to be spending so much time with "strangers" was a bit unnerving. Besides the added anxiety of "what am I going to wear?" As we had never been invited, I had no idea what to expect/wear/do in the in-between times. Not to mention now having to make arrangements for the kids to head camping without me. Luckily Papa was up for the job.
On Wednesday Papa just happened to be up here for work, so it worked out perfectly to have him meet us at the house after work and me running Faith to the Dr. to get her stitch out. He was nice enough to let Caleb go to the first half of his football practice. Then they headed out for Price. Mike and I took advantage and took ourselves out to eat at the Olive Garden and then cam back home to get ourselves packed and ready for the retreat.
Thursday morning came and we ran a few small errands and then headed to Park City in time for the kickoff luncheon. We got there and met a few people that had just arrived from Reno and Vegas and then it was time for Mike to head to meetings. We took this silly pic in the elevator while waiting. The hotel was sure ready for his company to arrive, they even put up welcomes for HealthInsight in the elevators. Too funny.

He went to the meetings and I got our bags up to our room for us then debated for a few minutes if I was going to go on the group activity or go on my own over to the outlets. I really decided at the last minute just to stick with the group and went on a guided historical tour of Park City's main street. It turned out fun and really interesting. I'm sure I won't remember most of it, but it was a better time than I thought it would be and I was able to visit and meet a lot more of the spouses. At the end of the tour, they gave us 3 options, head back to the hotel, go wonder main street on our own or go on the tram ride overlooking the city. I opted to go back to the room and take a little break. A few other women did as well. It worked out great because I was able to relax a little on my own and the temperature was perfect just to hang out on our private deck. While out there, a band started rehearsing on the square for that night's show. So I got to listen to music and enjoy a mountain breeze while I relaxed. It was perfect.

After his meetings for the day were done, we had a nice catered dinner all together and got to meet a few more people that were seated at our table, who turned out to be rather entertaining. Then we decided we were going to head back to the room and take advantage of the private deck again with the private hot tub that also occupied the deck. So after a quick run to the store for some swim suits (we didn't pack any) we enjoyed some time sitting in a hot tub while the air was perfectly crisp mountain air. What a treat!

 

Daddy's Bday

Last week Mike got to celebrate his Bday. We let him have his cards and presents in the morning. He got a new golf shirt and a pass for a photo op at the upcoming Comic Con.

Once he was dressed and sporting his new shirt, he was off to the course for an early morning round of 18 holes with a couple friends. Then it was our turn to have some fun with him. We took him to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch.

We were all so stuffed, we had to get our desserts to go. Which worked out well because he didn't want a cake this year anyway. So we improvised once we were back home to sing him Happy Birthday.

The rest of the day had to go back to mostly normal since I needed to work for a few hours and Caleb had the starting football practice that night. We are so glad he was able to take that morning off and have a little fun for his day. He deserved it. 









Little Miss One-Stitch

 

This summer has been full of tons of play and tons of time at home. Along with all of the playing have been many scrapes and bruises along the way. So when Faith bonked her head yesterday, I thought nothing of it. I was in the kitchen busily cleaning when I heard her fall and crying some. I kept asking her if she was alright and trying to confort her with words since my hands happened to be full at the moment. A couple minutes later, she got up from where she was crying and came around the couch. I took one look at her covered in blood and it dripping down her face onto her shirt to know that this was no normal bonk. I hoisted her on the counter and cleaned her face up to get a look at her. Once I got a good look at it, I felt sick to my stomach knowing she probably needed a stitch or 2. I called the Dr.'s office which had noone available to help then called Mike at work and left him a message that we were on our way to the Insta Care for stitches and to please help if he could get away.

He called us back on the way was able to get away long enough to come help with the other kids while the Dr. tended to her. Which was great and Faith was glad Daddy was there. She ended up with one stitch right above her eye. She actually did quite well for the Dr.with a little help from me holding her on my chest while he sewed and with some luck the Dr. thinks we'll have very little scarring in the future.

The Yellow Chair

This last week/weekend was full of projects and getting many neglected things around the house taken care of.  One of those projects included finally painting my patio rocking chair. I bought this chair 3 years ago at the family reunion knowing some day I would have a patio or porch to put it on. Well it sat in the storage shed for 2 years at the old house. Then has been sitting on the back patio here at the new house for almost a  year while I couldn't make up my mind what color I wanted it. But I finally made a decision, yellow!

So Thursday morning I went to work. Here's the before:

And after a coat of primer and one coat of paint:

And with the cute cushion I found to go on it.

I love it! I've added another coat and a clear finishing coat to it since this pic. I'm very happy with this project. Pics of another project coming soon.

 

Forsgren Family Fun

Right after returning from Yellowstone, we had to go to Elmo for the reunion for my mom's side of the family, the Forsgren's. It's a small gathering, but it's a fun one. We enjoyed playing a few games and visiting and eating. Here are a few pics of the fun. 

Yellowstone Trip Day 7- (The ride home)

It was a fun week, but we were all ready to head home. We got an early start and drove through the corner of the park one last time, seeing more bison and elk along the way.  We drove and drove and drove. Here are some boredom pics from along the way. 

 

 

I wanted to go a little off the path and stop in Preston, ID to see my grandparents grave. I haven't been there in years and years (well over 20). So I thought it was time. We stopped and picked some wildflowers and visited for a few minutes.

 

It was super hot, we stopped for a rest stop and decided to get the kids all some ice cream cones.

 

Then we trucked it the last long haul home. We were so thankful to be home and out of the car. We spent the night watching Space Balls and ordering pizza. Then getting some rest before a little more car time the next day to a family reunion. 

 

Yellowstone Day 6- (More falls and horseback riding).

On our last official day in the park, we took off for some scheduled horseback riding. Unfortunately, because of some construction and some bison in the road slowing us down, we barely missed the first group that we were supposed to be in and they didn't have enough horses available in the second group. While we were waiting for their time to go we went ahead and checked out the upper falls from the lookout point again. We had only seen it from before at the Lower Falls from a distance.

Mike and I opted out to let the others go on the horses, so we took some pics of them getting saddled up.

While they were riding, we went over to the canyon gift shop and had some late lunch at the diner. Then did a little more souvenier shopping then went back to meet up with them again for the drive home. Then it was time for dinner and to start packing to head home.

Yellowstone Day 5- (hiking, Yellowstone lake and more animals)

Day 5 we started off wanting to see a moose and we did (sort of). We stopped by the road where some people were seeing one. It was far away and none of us had binoculars on us or a scope so we tried to see it and couldn't so we snapped some pics and debated the rest of the day if there was really one there or not. Can you spot one?

Then we continued on to the Lamar Valley area. Where we saw tons and tons of bison in 2 large herds and a few here and there along the way.

And this guy hanging out on the side of the road.

Then we stopped for a little hike up to Trout Lake. There is supposedly a family of otters that lived there. We were hoping to see them. We didn't but the lake itself was beautiful anyway.  We did see some ducks and some dragonfly's on the lake and a couple water snakes.

After the hike and some lunch, we were off the Yellowstone Lake. We had some ice cream from the village and then took the kids to see the lake and play a little in the water.

Then it was another long drive back seeing more bison on the road, and more elk along the way.  We were all pretty convinced that we did not see a moose by the time we came home. But upon further review, Roberta was able to find it in her pic. There was indeed a moose!