Labor Day Weekend in Yellowstone

We just got back from a Labor Day road trip to Yellowstone National Park. What an experience! We put something like 1400 miles on the car in 4 days of traveling in and about some of the most beautiful scenery of the mountain west. We started off on Friday by going up through Idaho Falls and Rexburg on our way to the Jeffers Inn, a bed & breakfast in Ennis, Montana. That afternoon, we drove into Virginia City and Nevada City, and we got a tourist's taste of life in the Old West. The lady who runs the B&B is straight out of the frontier! She sleeps in a tent out in back of the B&B, and she has grown up caring for horses. On Saturday, we trekked through the north part of Yellowstone and took lots of pictures of the natural wonders. On Sunday, we stuck around the general Ennis area, going to some of the areas that are off the beaten path for most tourists. We had lunch at a little campsite in the middle of nowhere and drove along the Madison River, watching fly fishers and river rafters along our way. On Monday, we took a marathon car trip back home through Yellowstone (stopping by Old Faithful, of course), the Grand Tetons (majestic), Jackson Hole (a fun town, worth going back for its own visit), Star Valley (beautiful), and Bear Lake (our milkshake was just OK) before finally making it home 12 hours after we left Ennis. In all, we had a fun trip, and we have decided that road trips are some of our favorite vacations. Along the back roads, a new town or attraction or view is just around the bend.

Another Summer Program (Nearly) Done!

What started out as the anticipated summer that would not end has begun, inevitably, to draw to a close. This picture shows the cover of this years Upward Bound Magazine. The program directors chose the Renaissance as the theme this year, and the students then interpreted that theme in the magazine/yearbook. Once again, they have done phenomenal work. This year we anticipate being able to print the whole thing magazine-style and in full color. English composition was more of a challenge this year than in past years, and the rising seniors have shown less willingness to accept repsonsibility for the tone and example they set. This is the first time I have noticed the effect the older/more experienced students (and the effect older newcomers who have not been socialized to the expectations of the program) have on the younger/less experienced students and students who seem less certain of who they are. These observations probably come as a result of my pouring over the data I have collected (I have to pretend I am actually learning something), but they have value beyond detatched academic applications. I wonder what changes I would (could?) make if I ran the program, and I wonder whether I would even see what I see as a teacher from the administrator's desk. Perspective is everything.
In other news, at the end of August, Hallie will start working 1:00 - 5:30. She is looking forward to it because she feels she is more motivated in the mornings. It is also just about seven weeks until we head to Newfoundland. (Now Hallie is writing.) A lot of people in the ward have donated many books for the cause. I am so grateful for it. But before we get ahead of ourselves with Newfoundland we are going to spend Labor Day weekend in Yellowstone and Hallie is so excited. Today we tried a little eatery that shares a space with a pottery shop. It was quite good. A little pricey, but we had a ton of food left over. We ordered a meatball sandwich and a Philly Cheesestake. The place is called Moochie's, and it is here in SLC. We shared a yummy piece of chocolate cake, too! It is a place we will definitely bring visitors to. BTW, check out our myspace site.

A Little Disheartened, But Yet Excited!

So we met with our social worker at LDS Family Services a few weeks ago. No one has looked at our profile as of yet. I am still waiting for the man above to show me why we are going through all of this. After church today I have decided at least for the day that I don't have a lot of patience. I guess it was just one of those days. The longer you wait for a child the more comfortable you get with not having any.
The excitement for us is the time away we will have come September. We are extremely busy right now. Mike is working 10 hours for the University of Utah, 40 hours for Upward Bound and doing all of his interviews for his dissertation. I don't see him much. Sundays are hard because I know he will be gone again come tomorrow. We are stuck together at the hip. Come September Mike and I will be going to Yellowstone for the Labor Day holiday. I am so excited about going. I hear so many wonderful things about his natural wonder. I am excited to relax and to take it all in. September 14-28 we will be heading to Newfoundland, Canada. I can't even contain myself when I talk about going. I can't read enough about it or do enough research about going. I wan to see all of the nooks and crannies. I want to meet the friendly people and I want to live the culture. We are gathering childrens books at church to donate to congregations on the island. Today there were so many books I barely made it home with them. A nice girl helped me carry them home. I think it is so great that people have been so willing to donate. I hope they will enjoy them There are some very nice books.
The air is finally working at my job. It was a miserable 3 weeks with no air. Some people who worked upstairs could not handle it. I felt bad for them. Now it works so well we get goose bumps. I will take goose bumps any day.
Well I guess that is all from me for now. I want to go have some ice cream before it is time for bed. Early to bed early to rise is our motto. If you know anyone send them to the link below for our adoption profile. Bye for now.

Spread the Word: Our Adoption Profile is Online

We now have received official word that we are approved to adopt, and we have put our adoption profile online at LDS Family Services. You can look at our profile by clicking the "Our Adopion Profile" link on the sidebar. So, spread the word around to any birth parents you know who are interested in adoption, and we'll get the ball rolling from there!

Excitement In Our House

Well this week has been full of great excitement. On Tuesday Mike presented a paper at AERA in San Francisco and I heard he did great! Wednesday Mike defended his proposal for his dissertation and he passed! Thursday Mike turned 33 and we found out that we were approved to continue on with the adoption! We are very excited with all that has gone on in the last week. We can't give out our website information yet as it has not been approved. As soon as it is we will put it out for all to have. I know that you know someone who is in need of putting a child up for adoption or knows someone who knows someone. Let us all play the six degrees of seperation game. We appreciate any help you can give us. If you do know of someone have them contact their local LDS Family Services Agency. We will not be searching for our new child whole heartedly until we come back from Newfoundland as we did not get airline tickets for a baby. So... we know that we are not in charge of the process anymore, but we pray it will work in our favor.

How Exciting This Day Is

Well Mike is to be on his way home from San Francisco any minute now. The plane was actually to leave 30 min ago but on Uniteds website it said it was running late. That makes me feel bad for him because he has such a big presentation to give tomorrow at school that getting in so late will not be fair to him. I hope he ate before he lives because it will be too late for him to eat when he gets home. I can't wait till he is home and is in my arms and in my bed. We have missed each other so much that this will not happen again. Mike defends his proposal tomorrow and on Thursday he turns 33. April always seems to be a little hectic around this time. I guess it is to make you a better person. Cheers to you all.

It Is A Sad Day At My House

Michael is in San Francisco until Tuesday evening and I am a basket case. Eating, eating, and eating. I counted the days down till he left thinking I would go and do something wild and crazy. (which that is nothing really) But as the days drew near I started getting weepy eyed more each day. I have now cried several times today especially when I talked to him on the phone. I also have spent some money and watched a movie. That all took up some of my time which was nice. Tomorrow I am going to lay around the house and get the much needed sleep that I have been longing after. Hopefully I will actually be able to sleep through the night.