Sunday, August 17, 2008

Summer 2008

I can't believe that the summer is almost over! The kids all go back to school and I can already tell the fall season is brewing. It is bitter sweet. I LOVE the summer, I also love the fall but then winter follows and I do not like the cold weather with the snow and cloudy depressing weather. I can't stand to even think about it, it makes my stomach hurt. I hate to say goodbye to the summer (Dave makes fun of me because he says that technically the summer isn't over until end of Sept, whatever) once the kids go back to school the summer is over in my opinion. Atleast I can say goodbye to a good summer. We have done so many fun things this summer so I thought that I would write about it and post pictures so that in a month I can remember what our summer was all about. I seem to forget things really easily, another reason why I am doing this... well blog thing.


Dave was Springfield, Illinois for the last 2 weeks of July for an away rotation for med school. Lucy and I really missed him. You really realize how much you appreciate and love them when they are gone. Me and Luly mostly stayed down at my moms in Provo and I was back and forth a couple of times for work. My sweet sisters and mom and dad took care of Lucy while I worked. When we went home for good all she would say is Grandma, Grandpa, Bee, Nennie. She would call for them because she missed being with them even though we still see them atleast once a week. She likes them more than she likes us, it's because they are fun and don't tell her no. Dave busted his bootie in Illinois, getting up every morning at 4:30am and going to bed 10:30ish or later. He worked really hard and won the hearts over of the Drs there. They all loved him! I know they would. Who doesn't love EZO? He got really sick while he was there probably from stress and a case of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yikes! I think overall he enjoyed his rotation and could see himself settling down there for residency, but who really knows. He stayed with a really nice family out there and they kept him company so I felt good about that. Lucy and I flew out to see him the day before he finished his rotation and checked Springfield out. It is a small town, nothing fancy, but fine. It has everything you would ever need. I wouldn't mind living there. He finished his rotation on a Friday and we went to dinner that night. Saturday we woke up early (like 5:30am) and went water skiing on Springfield Lake. Well I should say that Dave went waterskiing. Lucy and I went on the boat and Lucy freaked out the whole time because she didn't want to wear her lifejacket (suprise, suprise) so by the time it was my turn I just wanted to get out of that darn boat. Gotta love tantrums and screaming when they don't get their way (Dave says she doesn't get that from him which she doesn't get that from me either, ha ha, whatever!). After the whole morning ski trip we went home, packed, showered, ate brunch that Melissa made that was soooo good, and were on our way to Chicago for the weekend. Chicago is such a cool city. We got there Saturday afternoon and checked into the coolest hotel with the prettiest view. We went to eat at this fun Japanese restaurant and then went down to the lake. The weather was perfect. We walked around this cool little (well it wasn't so small) park. Then we made our way down to Navy Pier and there was all sorts of entertainment. The place was jammed packed full of people. They had this huge ferris wheel that I kinda wanted to ride but a thousand people were in line so we continued to walk. We stopped and watched people sing and dance and make out. Gross! It was such a fun night, just the 3 of us. The next day we got ready and got on the "L" and rode to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play. See pic below. It was so fun and we had tics in the shade. We ate baseball food and got plastered from all of that Chicago beer. JK. It was a dream. After the game we walked over to this cool aquarium and looked at a bunch of random stuff. The one in Vegas is better, but it was still fun. After that we went to pizza place called Gino's East. Usually I don't love pizza but this was amazing. I have been craving pizza ever since we got home and have been through like 10 different kinds and it doesn't come close. It was soooo good. I heard you can order it online. I just may break down and order one shipped overnight. You think Brick Oven is good? This is 10 times better. I'm hungry all of a sudden. JK! Monday morning we got on the road to head home. Dave had driven out there at the start of his rotation so that he would have a car. We stopped in Des Moines for lunch and of course Lucy barfed all over cause she gagged on a french fry so we were all covered with throw up as well as Wendy's floor, table, and chairs. Sorry about that. I was frazzled and when we got onto the highway to head to Nebraska I somehow missed the turnoff and ended up in Kansas City, Missouri, only 5 hours out of the way. OOPS! Dave reassured me that I was on the right road as he closed his eyes to take a nap. I totally blame you for that you know. I can't believe you would really trust me driving across the country, like I know where the heck I'm going. We kept driving and driving and driving and finally stopped late that night at some piece of @$#%^& hotel but it was fine, a place to sleep I guess. We finished off the drive the next day and got home in pretty good time. Lucy did awesome! I was really happy and kinda shocked that she was so good. Thank goodness for portable DVD players. It was a great trip, probably the highlight of my summer. Dave is studying so hard for boards (Step 2) and spends every second that he gets to read and do practice tests. He will do just fine. He always does. Keep goin babe! We love you and are proud of all of your hard work. He is going to Lubbock, TX for 2 weeks in September and then will finish off the rest of the month in Temple, TX. Guess we will be back buggin' my mom all month. It gets too lonely at home by my lonesome and Lucy's. I'm sure I will keep you posted on how it all goes. Sorry, that was a little longer that I thought it would be.



We went to St. George in June for the Sandhollow Triathlon. We stayed in the Marriott and went swimming, shopping, out to eat, hiking, and all of those fun things that you do in St. George. I love that place! There were quite a few of us from the family that participated in the Triathlon. Jake, Ashlee, Holly, Jess, and Jenny did the whole thing, Candice and I split (I did the run and she biked and swam), and then Sam biked, Adam swam, and Dave finished off the run for them. They took 1st place and got the Gold. So cool! Jess and Jenny got medals too but I don't remember which ones (sorry dudes). It was really fun to do something like that together. We cheered each other on and keep encouraging each other to go faster. Mom and dad were there as well as a million kids, Sarah and Brady, and Jordan. I hope I didn't miss anyone. It was a great trip!


I love this picture of Dave and Lucy at Lake Powell. Lucy would not wear a life jacket and insisted that she wear her floatie swimsuit and tube. Whatever, child! We stayed right by her and she loved it. We found a great parking spot for the houseboat that had shade most of the day, except for in the morning when we all wanted to sleep. Rise and shine at 6am. Boo! It had a great little beach with sand that the kids loved. I'm glad we packed sand toys. We went to the Marina everyday to get ice cream and fresh ice cold coke. It wasn't hot at all... :)! It was a fun trip but kind of stressful. I was constantly scared about Lucy falling off the houseboat as well as the other kids that were there so I was super stressed about that. Lucy had diarrhea the entire time and would scream every time we changed her because her bottom was bright red and bleeding in spots because of acid poop. Poor thing! She sleeps great at home but of course when we get to Lake Powell and are sleeping on top of the houseboat with 20 other people she cries all night long! I'm not joking! Everyone on our boat said it wasn't a big deal but I knew deep down they all wanted a peaceful quiet night without an almost 2 year old screaming for who knows why. The people camping in the cove next to us were yelling at us to shut out kid up at 4am. I wish I was close enough to go over there and punch them. What do they want us to do, put a pillow over her face? For real people... eat this! Then I felt really bad because we ended up sleeping inside the houseboat (without AC) and it was so freakin' miserable and hot so my parents let us use their fan. So nice! They probably didn't even notice because they were snoring up a storm and probably just wanted Lucy to shush, so thanks for the fan. It was a lifesaver! We ended up going home a day early which was kind of a bummer but I was done and ready to go home. I couldn't handle another sleepless night, acid diarrhea, stressing about drowning, and you know everything else that I stress about. I love Lake Powell but this trip was not the most relaxing, but it's okay. There's always next year... oh wait! Our ghetto houseboat took a turn for the worst a couple weeks ago and burned down in the middle of the night with a family sleeping on top. Luckily the family that was there got off safely but lost everything they had. Sad story although that the "Get-away" (the name of houseboat, we call it the ghetto way) is now super ghetto way! Nevermind. It's a family inside joke. That boat was a piece. It was fun while it lasted I guess.



I LOVE the 4th of July! It is my ultimate favorite holiday hands down! We always go to the parade in p-town, which is kinda dumb but it's tradition!! The kids love it and look forward to it every year, so do I. After the parade the guys went golfing and the girls went to lunch and took naps. Can't complain about that. Then in the evening we always go to the Nemrow's for a little BBQing. It is a big Clark family affair. The family is getting to be really big so some of the families do their own thing but most of us still go to the BBQ. It is the only time I get to see some of my favorite cousins and catch up. We live close but with so many things going on during the year you just lose touch. I always love going to see everyone and their kids and hear the latest. After dinner we always go back to my parents house and sit on their front lawn and watch the fireworks from Stadium of Fire. My mom always makes her famous homemade ice cream, which I crave all of the time and of course there are treats. It is such a fun day and I always shed a tear as we drive home cause my favorite day of the year is over. Sad! Can't wait until next year! I have to add that I give Dave a bad time every year because the year before we got married I invited him to the parade and specifically told him to make sure that he wore red, white, and blue. He shows up the morning of the parade in his GREEN SUBWAY shirt. Oh my! He says there is nothing more american than Subway. As you can see he is still not wearing red or white, okay I will give you some credit for the blue but next year you will wear red, white, and blue. Yeah right! It's okay babe. You just look really out of place. It's all good! Whatever makes you happy. I love you EZO... and America, I love you too!



I'm not a runner but after 18 months of still being 15 lbs overweight from that sweet little girl that I have, I decided to do something about it. I started running to lose weight and kind of started to enjoy it so I decided to run a couple of races just for fun. I really wanted to do the Provo River half marathon but couldn't get work off so I was kinda bummed. I'm over it! Maybe next year. I really want to do a marathon someday. I started out with the med school 5K, then did the 5K run for the triathlon, and then made my sister run the Deseret News (24th of July) 10K (6.2 miles, I think) with me. It started at Research Park and ended at Liberty Park. Of course she smoked me but I finished in less than an hour so I was very happy about that. It was a pretty easy run.. mostly all downhill. My goal was not to walk and I didn't. I have to say I am proud of myself and I have lost all of my baby weight, finally! Thanks Jen for doing it with me, it would've sucked doing it alone even though you left me in the dust.



On the night of the 24th of July we went to dinner and then went to the white trash Spanish Fork rodeo. I took Lucy on a couple of rinky dink rides and she thought it was the best. She smiled and waved at the most random people. After the carnival we walked over to the rodeo. It was great! I love being totally smashed in the middle of wooden bleachers packed with smelly people and dirt flying in your face from nasty horses with lovely beauty queens racing by with a 2 year old that sits still for maybe 1 second, if you are lucky! Jenny and Jordan bought Lucy a blue snow cone that ended up in my lap, therefore I was so sticky... so nice of you guys. Uncle Dave was sitting in front of us and Lucy kept kicking him and then tickling his back for him, I can't stop laughing right now. It was cute and pretty funny. He was loving it, I'm sure! She loved the clown and kept laughing at him. She also loved the horses and kept pointing at them. The rodeo lasted about a million hours too long and then there were fireworks that lasted maybe 3 minutes? Gotta love it! What a good day. Thanks mom for buying our rodeo tickets.

That's all folks! Those were our big highlights for the summer. We have done a lot of swimming thanks to Chandlerpoint townhomes, eating out, evening runs together with Lucy in the runner, many hours at the park, BBQ's, concerts, sunshine until 10pm, my birthday, Lucy's birthday, family get togethers, nightly walks around the neighborhood, hiking, redbox from the Chevron as well as cherry coke with crushed ice, nachos, bug juice (for Lucy of course) airheads, and cotton candy. I love that place. It's money! Did I mention that I love the summertime? It's awesome!

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