Noah's opinion

And last but not least, here is what I think:

Moab Rules!

Moab has it all:

Rocks

Red Sand


Sand Slides


Off-Roading


Friends

In addition to the Wilson Family, the Harmon Family joined us as well for part of the trip. I really like their kids Eli and Sunny, and the monster trucks they brought. We had lots of fun being boys.

And guess what? We already reserved sites for April 2010 when the Jarvis Family Reunion will take place in Arches NP. You bet I am counting down the days!

Until then, I am out. Noah.

Wir kommen!

Noch genau ein Monat bis wir endlich wieder Fuß auf Deutschen Boden setzen werden.

Nur noch 29 Tage bis wir endlich ins Flugzeug steigen, das uns nach Stuttgart bringen wird.

Nur noch 30 Tage bis wir euch endlich umarmen können.

Seid ihr bereit?

Ich frag nur, weil diese Zwei mit Sicherheit euer Haus auf den Kopf stellen werden!
Habt ihr alles Zerbrechliche ganz oben auf dem Bücherregal verstaut?
Habt ihr Besen und Lappen griffbereit?

Dies ist nur als kleine Vorwarnung gedacht.

Wir freuen uns riesig!

Immer wenn es Noah gerade langweilig ist, fragt er folgendes:

Noah: "Wann gehen wir endlich nach Deutschland?"
Ich: "In einem Monat."
Noah: "Nur noch einmal schlafen?"
Ich: "Nein, leider nicht. Wir gehen in 4 Wochen."
Noah: "Nur noch 4mal schlafen?"
Ich: "Nein, leider nicht. Wir gehen in 29 Tagen."
Noah: "Das ist viiiiiieeeel zu lange."
Ich: "Ja, Noah. Ich weiß."

Und dann überlegen wir uns, wie wir die lange Zeit bis zum Abflug verbringen werden. Zum Glück haben wir immer ziemlich gute Ideen.

Wrestle-mania

This is taking place quite frequently in our house:



Max has turned into a pretty good wrestler, don't you think? He loves it! Unfortunately he does not only wrestle Noah but any kid within 10 feet. Needless to say they usually don't appreciate the full body contact. Rubie definitely gets taken down most often. Sorry, Rubie!

Another one of Max's favorites is reading. Okay, it's not exactly reading, it's looking at books. Preferably ones with animal pictures. This will definitely come in more handy than wrestling when sitting on a plane for 12 hours.


He looks at a book for a few minutes while pointing out the animals and (usually) making the appropriate animal sound.













Then he gets up, gets another book and (literally) throws it in my face. Sometimes he even gets Noah to look at books with him. I love hearing Noah read/point out things to him even if it only lasts for 1.2 minutes.




Max had a great time at Noah's Birthday Party and, as usual, just assumed he was one of the big kids. Thanks for these cute pictures, Grandpa.



Max's vocabulary is growing everyday. I love it. My favorite is: Woggie Doggie. Meaning Walkie Talkie.

Interview with Mama

Mama raced (and won) her last triathlon of the season on Saturday, so I am hoping she will settle down long enough for me to ask her some questions. I am also officially released as Head Cheerleader. Now I can finally concentrate on developing more important skills like building cool trucks with Legos, doing wheelies on my bike, and wrestling Max.

"Hey, Mama, what do YOU think about Arches NP?"

"I LOVE it and here is why: from the minute we get there until we leave, you and Max are just busy, busy, busy! I can actually sit back for a few minutes and enjoy watching you explore nature. I don't have to come up with fun things to do and places to go all day long. I enjoy all the short hikes to amazing arches that you and (partly) even Max can go on. It is so fun to be in a place where everyone is happy."


"This time was especially fun because our fantastic friends, the Wilson Family, joined us. I am so proud of all of us for making it to Delicate Arch. It was quite the accomplishment. Thanks so much for coming, guys. "

"I agree. I love having Eric around. He is my best bud."

Cherry Chubs Reunion

This is hot off the press and I couldn't be more excited. You KNOW it is going to be an awesome weekend if you get an invitation like this one (coloring included)! Thanks, Courtney! I can't wait.

Now that Sarah's off season has officially begun, it's time to discuss a Cherry lane reunion.

The proposal is to meet in Vegas during President's Day Weekend which is in February.

Specific dates are: Friday, February 12- Tuesday, February 16.

We will be celebrating US

And more specifically let's list a few of all our amazing accomplishments:

1. Newest 2nd generation cherry chub- Julia Warner born Nov.4 We love you, Julia!

2. Anticipating the arrival of Melissa's baby in March

3. Jamie's marriage to Jesse (Jamie is really married. and we need to party with the Mrs.)

4. Sarah's FUN competing season '09 (and what made it FUN for Sarah? She won and won and won and won and won week after week.)

5. Emily's niceness.

6. Lericia's move to Seattle and buying a HOUSE!! (wow! that's a really grown up thing to do. How great is it to decorate your home?!!! sigh sigh

7. Bethany's coolness and volunteering during the wee hours of our Red Rock Relay. Thanks Beth!

8. Jen blazing a trail in southern Utah during the Red Rock Relay... go Rooster go... Jen- what was your final roadkill???!!!

9. Melanie being a recent convert to swim-bike-run races! YAY! another cherry chub to carry the name.

10. And it's my birthday weekend. I will be throwing down the card, "We have to have a President's day 5k because it is my birthday weekend." "We have to go swimming because it is my birthday weekend." I'll push it just to the edge of annoyance.

For those of us that need to purchase a plane ticket, it would be helpful if we can get participation confirmation from everyone. Please, RSVP to Melissa (thanks for hosting), Sarah (initiator) or Courtney (who's always up for a get together with her FAV Five plus 4)

Sorry, Noah. I know you wanted to interview me about our trip to Moab. But this is just so exciting! I will try to calm down and maybe we can do it tomorrow?

Papa and Moab

Guys,
Sorry, I have been slacking off lately. But Halloween is serious business and does not leave much time for 'mundane' things like blogging. But now that it is November and I am almost through with my candy stash, I did finally manage to interview Papa about our Moab trip.

It was a pretty short interview because he is busy studying for the GRE and researching graduate schools. This is what he had to say:

"I love Arches National Park because I like to go on trips."

"Hmm. Anything else?"

"Well, I guess I like rocks and sand."

"Papa, don't be so boring. Tell us something new."

"Okay, okay. I thought climbing on top of the Tapestry Arch was pretty cool."


"Wow. You were so high. I wish I could've done that. Maybe next time I could try."

"Maybe. I also love to explore the little canyons, sand dunes, boulders, rock formations, etc. I had lots of fun exploring with you and Max."

"Thanks, Papa. We are pretty good explorers, aren't we?"

"My favorite hike in Arches is the Devil's Garden Loop. It's too long for little guys to hike, so I ran it on two different mornings and loved every minute of it."

"One day I am gonna be a runner like you!"

"Camping in a beautiful place with my little family makes me very happy."

"Me, too. Okay, now you can get back to studying and researching. Because if we need to leave Utah, we'd better be going somewhere else really fun."

"I'll see what I can do."

Hobitat

We had been thinking about a family tent all summer for obvious reasons:

a) we go camping A LOT
b) bringing, setting up, and sleeping in two tents is getting old

But we never bought one for two reasons:

a) we don't have a whole lot of extra money
b) we can't agree on one

I have very specific ideas about which tent I want our little family to spend their camping nights in.

(After re-reading this, I realize that I have very specific ideas about lots of things, almost everything. But so what? At least I know what I want. Although I think it drives Karl a little crazy at times.)

Anyways, to make a long story short, on Saturday we went to an REI garage sale on our way to SLC. Our objective was to find some gloves, snow pants, and snow boots. But what did we find instead? I am sure you already guessed it.

We found this:

The REI Hobitat 6

Returned because of a few tiny holes in the floor. $95. We set it up and really like it. We decide to get it. I lose he price tag. We go back and ask for a new one.

Really nice sales guy: "Wasn't it like 85 bucks or something?"

Karl: "Actually, it was 95."

Really nice sales guy: "Hey, I am trying to help you out here."

Karl: "Oh, okay."

The new price tag reads $77.85

Originally the tent cost $300

We buy it. Sweet deal! Not exactly what I had in mind but I can't complain.

Since we have no trips to warm places planned anytime soon, and the tent does not fit into our living room, we might have to go camping in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard.