Now that summer is officially over I guess I can write a little bit about my travels. Sarah has been bugging me for at least a month to write this post and now I am finally doing it. For someone who has done very little travel in their life, this summer I spent a lot of nights in hotels in foreign lands. First came my trip to Anchorage, although this was my second trip up there this year. At the end of July I left for Munich, Germany and spent nearly 3 weeks site-seeing (and doing hardly any work!). Then the last week of August I also got to go to London for a week. This was a lot of fun for me, but I am glad to be back at home with my wife and kids.

Munich was pretty awesome, except for the fact that I don't speak any freaking German. Somehow I got by. Munich is a beautiful city and I really enjoyed my time there. Lucky for me I was there long enough that I had two full weekends to explore. The subway made life extremely easy and I was able to get around quite easily. Some of the highlights for me were running through the English Garden, walking around the Olympic Park (Munich hosted the '72 Summer Games), and visiting the concentration camp at Dachau. That last one was a pretty heavy experience, but something I wouldn't trade for anything. It really puts life in perspective and makes me thankful for what I have and hopeful that mankind has learned from our past.

The English Garden was pretty sweet. I went for an epic run throughout the park and along the river. It was so much fun and super mellow. There were people from all over the world taking in the park and all that it offers, including river surfing!

If you are ever in Munich I highly suggest taking a stroll through the garden and taking some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful park. Even go for a swim! As they say, when in Rome do as the Romans. You can even go nude if you want, if thats your thing.

For me the Olympic Park was awesome. Some people might not get that psyched on it, but being a sports nut like myself I was super hyped to see the Olympic stadium where Steve Prefontaine ran and felt like I was a part of history being there. The whole place is kind of turned into a fair of sorts now, but I certainly enjoyed checking out the grounds, see the Olympic Tower, and imagining what it was like to be there 37 years ago watching the games.

That tall building off in the distance is where I was working while in Munich. Here you can see the Olympic stadium where all the action is! I'm a total sports geek.

I also went and checked out some old palace. The place was huge. Unfortunately I am cheap and refused to pay money to actually go inside and see whatever it is they charge you to see. The outside was impressive enough for me so thats what I took some photos of.

My last weekend in Munich I ventured out to the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau. This was a pretty intense experience and taking it all in really blew me away. Its just sad that human beings have the ability to be so cruel to one another. Its hard to even verbalize the range of feelings and emotions I felt that day. But I will say this, the place made me want to cry. Imagining what life in that camp must have been like was too much.

This is the gate to the camp. Apparently they all read "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Shall Set You Free". To me that is just sickening, basically trying to fool all these people into working their butts off in hopes of one day being freed, only to lose their life. The nazis were truly sick people. I ran out of memory while I was here and didn't take very many pics. But it was truly an experience I will never forget.

A few days later I would leave to return home, but only temporarily as I was off to London for a week. This was really fun for me as I have wanted to visit London my whole life for some odd reason that I am not really sure of. Anyway, London was great and thankfully I could communicate just fine with everyone! I even played a game of football (or soccer) with the locals, holding my own if I do say so myself, haha. I saw a lot of the big touristy sites: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The London Eye, The Tower Bridge. It was pretty awesome. Since I have spent most of my life west of the Mississippi I have never been exposed much to real old architecture. London is full of it. Heck, the building directly across from our office was used by Benjamin Franklin apparently. It was older than the USA, by many hundreds of years!

Okay, I am getting tired of writing. Maybe I will post some pics of London later. I had a lot of fun though.

Wig Fun "TakeFive"

Grandma Hill decided she was tired of doing her hair and invested in four different wigs to get four different styles. Surprisingly, it's kind of hard to tell. I had to post these pics of the kids playing around with one of them.

Take One

Take Two

Take Three

Take Four

Take Five

Take IT OFF

4th of July

We made it to Boise just in time for the 4th of July. We woke up in the morning and went with my parents to a pancake breakfast. It was delicous. After shopping and naps we headed over to Laura and Chucks for a BBQ. It was a good time hanging with my family. The kids had a blast with their cousins, eating ice cream, and swimming in the hot tub. We of course missed Andrew very much!

We moved the party over to Deborah and Bucks house for the lighting of fire works. Before it was dark we got our "pop it" on.

The gang watching the fire works!

The Reception

Ok so I'm a little behind on blogging, so behind I thought earlier I was done with the blog. I don't want it to feel like work. Anyway, I did think I would finish up my adventure to Utah and Idaho which seems like it was so long ago. The main reason I made the trek is my best friend from high school got married. Of course I didn't pull out the camera until the reception missing three days of jammed packed fun and LOTS of good food. I wanted to thank my sister Deborah for helping me throw the bridal shower and making meaningful gifts and cards. My sister is so talented. Also thank you for letting me crash you pad for probably a bit too long. Glad we are still talking!

(Buck and Deborah)

Thanks to all my family who watched my kids day after day so I could attend all the events and get a much needed pedicure. Thanks kids for being good sports and letting mommy have some mommy time.

My Mom, Dad and the future 40 year old virgin (Jake)

Nina

Pat and his new fiancee

Jen and I

Jen getting Jane food for some reason

Andrew and I

Yes Reynolds, we can go home now

5 Years! and counting....

Who would have thought nearly 10 years ago Sarah and I would end up married? When I first met her she was just the chic who sported a bunch of skater shirts and never seemed to wear a bra. Of course she seemed pretty cool, but did I think she was my future wife and become the mother of my two beautiful children? Of course, I never saw it coming. Besides, she must have been repulsed by me, what, with her well known metallophobia (fear of metal) and my hideous braces! Well, we managed to beat the odds (how she ever kissed my metal mouth is still a mystery to this day) and after 10 years of friendship and 5 great years of marriage, things have never been better.

I feel so lucky to have ended up with Sarah, she has truly always been a great inspiration to me. At times when she could have taken different paths in her life, she always seemed to choose the right one when it really counted amid major pressure from those around her. Her faith and testimony have always been a strong foundation for our relationship and many years ago was a catalyst for me in my desire to be a better person. Without Sarah walking into my life, who knows what decisions I would have made or where I may have ended up.

I'll never forget the first time I brought Sarah home to Monroe. It just so happened that my whole family (at least it seemed like everyone was there that weekend) was visiting from their respective places of residence which made for a great introduction to everyone! The image remains vivid in my mind of everyone sitting in the front room of my parents home and after about half an hour wondering how it was that I had convinced this great girl to make the trek to Monroe and admit to my parents that she was my girlfriend, let alone admit that she had actual interest in me. That day, I had a hard time explaining it myself. Lets just say that she must have seen some potential in me, afterall, that is what I always tell myself! She certainly made a believer out of my dad when we went golfing the next day and I didn't even show the least bit of frustration, let alone throw a club down the fairway! He knew this was the girl for me.

Back then I knew she was great, but I still didn't truly get how lucky I was to have her in my life. When I returned home from a 2 year trek through Mongolia I knew I didn't want to let her get away and she has been mine ever since. People may have thought we were crazy, but the thought of waiting any longer was the only thing that would have driven us bonkers.

It hasn't always been perfect, but what relationship is? I just know that we have our whole lives ahead of us to become better people, and that we can do it together alongside our children, as a family. That is truly what I am thankful for the most. Sarah has provided me with most everything worthwhile in life and I love her so much for that. As she likes to say, "She is the cheese to my macaroni".

Sarah, I just want you to know that I love you more than words could ever describe. You mean everything to me and I could never love anyone the way I love you. You have brought me so much joy over the years and I know that we have so much more in store for us in the future. Where does that road lead? Nobody knows, but one thing is certain, I don't want to take a single step in that journey without you, the love of my life. You are truly so beautiful, loving, kind, inspirational, sexy, I could go on and on. But most importantly you are the best wife I could dream of and a wonderful mother. I hope you have enjoyed these last five years as much as I have.

Here is to the last five years and all the years to come!

I love you,

Andrew

Uncle Ben and Aunt Holly's

After the race I loaded up the kids and took a road trip to Utah and Idaho. Lucky for me my nephew Spencer needed a ride to utah so he was able to help through things at the kids while we drove. We first stopped in Provo to see my friend Jenny. For some reason I did not pull out the camera but we had a blast hanging out with her for a couple of days. Next stop was to spend a few dayswith Ben and Holly but first we made a side trip to see Megan and her new baby Evan and her old baby Anna. He was adorable and still forgot to pull my camera out. We were excited to get to Ben adn Holly's to see their new place and meet his daughter Audrey.

She was a doll and the kids had a blast playing together. At the end of each day the grown ups were worn out and ready for them to go to bed.

Jane found the drum set and we couldn't keep her away.

She could probably watch Ben play guitar all day!

Reynolds was quite the groupie as well. He would stand there and do the head bop.

Thank's Ben and Holly for letting us crash your pad. We hope it wont be too long before we see you again.

13.1 Miles

Exactly a month ago Andrew and I ran our first half marathon. We had a total blast and were quite proud of oursleves. I'm so grateful that our kids were so patient while we trained. They were troppers on those long runs.

I finished the race is an 1:49:15. However, I decided I can shave two minutes off my time for going to the bathroom and also for being at a complete stop when the race began to get through the slow people. 1:47:15. I placed 32 out of 150 some women in my age group. I was pretty stoked since it was my first race. At mile 8 I started getting some mean blisters. I had a total of five all over my feet when I finally got to take my shoes off. It was slightly brutal but well worth it.

Andrew did awesome finishing at 1:39:15. He had a few unexpected stops as well such as running into the bushes to poop. He of course was disapointed in his time and thought he could have done better. He is planning on doing a marathon over Labor Day weekend so stay tuned.