Vertical Horizon Concert

Mike and I don't go out without the baby much. I have separation anxiety. Sometimes I think she could care less, but I sure notice when she's not by my side. I swapped baby-sitting with my sister and suddenly Mike and I had a night to do whatever we wanted. We weren't sure what we were going to do, but then we heard about the Vertical Horizon concert and decided that would be right up our alley.

It was at the Sandy Amphitheater. There was an amazing view of the sunset, and I think I watched the sun set just as much as I watched the band. However, either way you look at it, laying under a tree, listening to good music while watching the sunset or watching the band makes for a good night.

Mike enjoyed the sunset/city lights during the intermission:

I didn't really know who they were before this concert, but Mike played me some songs and I recognized them, so I got really excited. They were really fun to watch. The lead singer told some great stories to introduce the songs, and you could tell he loved what he did because he had a gigantic smile on his face. It literally took up like his whole face. It was great.

We had a fun night out. I am really happy that we got to go and have a date night, just the two of us.

Oahu, Hawaii: Traveling with An Infant

For 10 days in February our little family was able to go to Oahu, Hawaii. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki and although we stayed in Waikiki, we spent most of our time on the North Shore. It was our first time to Hawaii so I got all the books, I did all the research, and I planned a whole notebook of activities for us to do and places for us to eat.

I probably won't blog about everything, but I will share some highlights for sure!

Yay for Hawaii! I am already looking forward to a future trip!

Also, I will just mention how amazing Madison did on the plane to Hawaii and the plane home from Hawaii. I had researched traveling with an infant, so I knew that during take off and landing she needed to be sucking on something so that her ears would pop. No problems at all! On the flight to Hawaii the lady sitting in front of me turned around after we landed and said, "She is so good! I didn't even hear her make a peep!" (She had been laughing and talking so she did peep - but no cries!)

I also talked to her doctor before we left and asked if it was okay that we take her. Her NICU discharge papers said that we aren't supposed to take her out among people until May. So, I was worried. He said that once we get to Hawaii we should be okay since it's warm weather, there are less virus's and less chances for her to get sick. I was most worried about the planes and the circulating air. He said to keep the air vents on up above our heads and to have the air blown on her since that air is fresh. Well... despite my best efforts, Madison got a fever the day after we got there, and it lasted until the day before we departed. Awesome.

After 6 days of temps ranging from 101 to 103 we broke down and took her to a doctor in Hawaii. I had been on the phone with her doctor like every day, and on the weekend I was on the phone with the emergency doctor/nurse from his office. They can't do much over the phone unfortunately except tell you how bad they think it is. Basically after 3 hours in the waiting room, and being even more paranoid the whole time about her catching something from one of the other babies, the doctor called us in. She looked in Madison's ears. She tapped her belly. Then she checked her diaper. She announced that it was a virus and we would just have to wait for it to pass. Awesome. This was an out of network doctor (they all were in Hawaii) and they made you pay in cash. Well worth the money. She said, "Well you can be happy it's not an ear infection." I know she didn't have any of the symptoms but I kind of wanted it to be an ear infection just so we could get medicine and have it be gone the next day. (That's how I hear ear infections work.) So we packed up and went back to the hotel for her to rest some more. I was really surprised at how run down the doctor's office was there. The office, and all of its equipment reminded me of something I would see in Uganda rather than in Utah, and I definitely expected the opposite.

Despite her not feeling well, she was a good sport; a bit fussier than normal, but still her happy self and would laugh often. She did some tourist stuff with us but we definitely spent a lot more time in the hotel than we expected; which I suppose isn't always a bad thing. I usually pack vacations too full of things to do, so down time in the hotel is always appreciated by Mike.

Mike's mom broke her wrist a couple weeks before Hawaii and then when she couldn't use that wrist to hang on to a railing, she ended up falling and breaking her leg too :(. So his mom and dad spent a lot of time bonding with Madison in the hotel while Mike & I explored Hawaii. How crappy for all of us! We would have much preferred everyone out and about and exploring together. Despite the challenges, the trip was wonderful and the only thing I would have changed was a virus, a broken leg, and a delayed red eye flight heading home. XO HAWAII - UNTIL WE VISIT AGAIN!

Merry Christmas 2013

Riverwoods Chalk Art Festival

Back in June (June 15 to be exact) Orem City celebrated Summerfest. There was a carnival, a pancake breakfast, a parade, and fireworks. While at the parade, we got a flyer for the Riverwoods Chalk Art Festival. I immediately put it on our calendar because I have always wanted to go to a Chalk Art Festival. Fast forward to this past week and it was raining so much! I was worried that they were going to cancel the festival but they did not! The poor artists just had to cover up their paintings with plastic and taped edges during the rain storms. We saw where some of the art had been washed away from the rain; it was sad.

We walked around on Friday night and saw some of the artists working on their artwork, and then we walked around again on Saturday to see the final products. I was surprised at how many artists didn't start until the day of! They were able to start and finish all in the one day! It was amazing and their artwork was still incredible! Everyone was so talented; literally everyone. Here are some of the pics I snapped (each artist had one parking stall - but a few 'featured' artists had 2 parking stalls right next to each other - so just keep in mind, their canvas was an ordinary, every day parking lot!):

It was an awesome weekend, I am glad that the show still went on and that we were able to enjoy it!

the Flight of the Butterflies

Yesterday I was able to relive one of the most memorable things I have witnessed in my life: the flight of the butterflies.

I have always referred to it as the Monarch Migration because that's really what it is. Back in 2010, when my mom and I took the trip to Mexico City to see them, I blogged about it here: (the Monarch Migration).

(That clump of leaves in the photo above is actually butterflies, not leaves.)

Yesterday I felt like I was there again.

Mike and I went to the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake to see a couple of movies. We watched the Rocky Mountain Express and the Flight of the Butterflies. Both were great films, but when I watched the Flight of the Butterflies, I felt like I was having déjà vu! I loved that Mike was able to watch the film, and perhaps feel a little bit of what it was like to be there in real life, it may be the closest he ever gets, but it felt very accurate.

I am blogging about it because I think everyone should go watch the film! Mike said that it was one of the best 3-D movies he had ever seen! This is the trailer for it:



Seriously soooooo good! I highly, highly recommend it!