TUESDAY - OCTOBER 14, 2008: Talking to Eric over messenger he informs me that he was just in a meeting (at work) and that during the meeting a client of theirs calls and informs them that something they were planning on doing in November, needs to take place now. So, Eric has to go on an impromptu business trip. He informs me that he will be leaving Wednesday morning and returning on Friday evening. That I can handle. He's done it before.
WEDNESDAY - OCTOBER 15, 2008: Business as usual. Eric calls me when he lands and is settled in his hotel, a bit later we even video chat (Yeah for our new laptops). My little sister, little brother and nephew all come over Wednesday evening. We enjoy ourselves and Tyler loves being with Shaylyn.
THURSDAY - OCTOBER 16, 2008: Eric's brother K is in town and Eric's parents had planned to do a family outing this day long before Eric was called out of town. I was a little sad that Eric wasn't going to be with us, but figured I needed to let the kids hang out with their cousin A.
It was decided that we would go to Boondocks. I met up with the rest of Eric's family there and we had a very fun filled day. Eric's parents bought everyone an all day pass, which meant we could do whatever we wanted to do, however many times we wanted to do it.
It was such a nice day and we had lots of fun playing mini - golf (my average was 3, we didn't keep score), doing the go-carts (Lex would NOT go anytime we did it), playing in the bumper boats, playing LaserTag and letting the kids go crazy in the arcade. I felt a little guilty and sad that we had so much fun and Eric wasn't able to participate. He would've loved spending that time with his brothers - especially LaserTag.
Around 6 people decided they were hungry so it was decided we would head back to Eric's parents house for pizza. Maybe not the smartest choice for me to make as Boondocks is closer to my home, than to Eric's parents. Oh well. I thought the kids should have the opportunity to play with their cousin, since they don't see him too often.
I head home around 9:00 as I am babysitting early in the morning.
(I have no pictures of our fun day, as Eric's mom took pictures and watched Nathaniel, so I could have fun)
FRIDAY - OCTOBER 17, 2008: I wake up early and get ready for the day. The little girls arrive around 9 and immediately decide to watch a movie with my kids. This gives me time to clean the house and get totally ready for the day.
Sometime during the morning Eric tells me that something went wrong and he will be staying until Saturday. Not the best news, but we can manage.
So around 1, the kids and I have lunch and then head to the park to enjoy the nice weather. The kids have tons of fun and we only had one little mishap. After about a half hour everyone decides they are done, so we head home.
I get home and turn on the computer to talk with Eric because it's nice to at least talk with him when he is gone. He then tells me things went from bad to worse and he will now have to stay until Tuesday. He informs me that the server rooms are closed over the weekend - so he has to sit around all weekend, but someone is flying out to help him on Sunday. He suggests that I head to my mom's for the weekend.
After calling my mom to make sure the kids and I could crash for a few days, Lex comes in and informs me that I have a flat tire! So I am really stressed out, but am trying to hang in there as I still have the two little girls with me. I tell Eric and he apologizes for not replacing my tire yet. He calls his dad and his dad and brother Greg come to help out.
This was no little trip for them. It takes an hour to get to our house from theirs. So they arrive and take my car to supposedly Costco.
Around 6, the little girls' dad picks them up and I ask him if he will watch Foxy for a few days while I am at my mom's. They are our out of town dog watchers. I get a call from my father in law around 6:30 telling me that the tire isn't in stock, but they ordered one and are going to at least get the tire fixed while they are there. He also informs me that he is at Walmart, not Costco. In the meantime, stressed out, I try to get things packed for 4 kids and myself for 3 days. My father in law and brother in law arrive back around 7:30 and tell me that the store wouldn't fix the tire because it was bald and that was against their policy or whatever. So my father in law said they filled the tire up and it should be good to get me to my parents. My father in law told me to take the air compressor with me so that I could refill the tire if need be.
The fact that they didn't fix the tire made me even more stressed out because my father in law and brother in law made a trip for nothing. I eventually get everything packed, wake up a sleeping baby - who in return cries, and get everyone in the car.
We are heading down Redwood Road and I have a cop behind me. I kept thinking, "If I get pulled over that will be the last straw..." Thankfully, that didn't happen. We arrived at my parents around 9:00 and the kids and I ate a late dinner and got all settled and went to bed.
SATURDAY - OCTOBER 18, 2008: The kids' cousin, A, is having a birthday party at 1. So as much as I really didn't want to go, we all got ready and headed over to the church where they were having the party. (The only reason I didn't want to go is because I knew that there would be a lot of Eric's sister in laws family there and Eric's family would consist of his brother and his parents.) I was relieved when I saw Eric's uncle and aunt and their kids walk in. (They are the same family we took the Nebraska/South Dakota trip) So luckily I was able to visit with them and not feel so much of an outcast.
Eric's got some very terrific brothers. Each brother stepped in and helped each one of the boys with their little Lego activity as I was trying to feed Nathaniel. Eric's mom was resident photographer and Eric's dad was visiting with his sister in laws father as they are friends. 
The kids loved the party and had lots of fun! I had fun holding a little chihauhau (sp?). Eric's aunt & uncle had got one for their 8 year old daughter and brought the dog in. Eric's aunt took Nathaniel, I took the dog. I really, really want a small dog now.
Anyway, after the party we headed back to my parents house for a few hours. Because it was still a nice day we all hung out outside. Shaylyn & Tyler decided to dig in the dirt and the boys had fun running around all day.
Around 4:30, my father in law calls and tells me that it was okay for me to bring the kids to the birthday party for Eric's brother Greg that was happening that night. Originally the party was only going to be for adults, but I think for my sake, they changed that.
I let the kids decide what they wanted to do. Tanis insisted on staying with my mom and Lex and Shaylyn wanted to come with me. Because Nathaniel was sleeping I left him with my mom as well.
We headed over to my in laws and had a yummy dinner of steak and baked potatoes. This part of the family get-together was too much for me without Eric. I mostly snuck out back where the kids were playing and just hung out there. We stayed for the presents and ice cream cake (No I didn't forget an and there, Eric's mom made a yummy ice cream cake for Greg) and then I really just had to go.
I don't have a problem with Eric's family at all, it's just difficult to be around all of his family and not think of him without missing him like crazy.
We went back to my mom's and I had a good talk with my mom and little sister. Then it was off to bed.
SUNDAY - OCTOBER 19, 2008: Luckily my parents have church at the same time as us, so it wasn't difficult to get ready in time. After getting all the kids ready, I decided I'd better put some air in my tire. That process took about 20 minutes so I had to rush to get ready.
I ended up getting to my parents ward late and felt totally stupid walking in during the sacrament. They didn't have the meeting piped through to the foyer, so I couldn't tell what was going on.
At some point during the day I realized I forgot and missed my VT interview (Celeste, I need to reschedule if I still can) and felt horribly guilty for that. I ended up going to Young Women's with my mom as she was President and I didn't feel comfortable going to RS by myself.
This was the day my mom was released as YW President and she taught a wonderful lesson on the word of wisdom. Then we sat through a heartfelt goodbye as she said goodbye to her girls. My mom has always loved the YW and has had the opportunity to serve there many times and she always has a hard time when she is released.
After church we had dinner and played some games and had some more discussions.
MONDAY - OCTOBER 20, 2008: My sister and I had plans to go to Gardner Village for a few weeks this day, so it just made it more convenient that I was there. But, we did have to head home afterwards as the kids had school today.
So Monday morning found me getting 4 kids ready and all our stuff packed up in the car ready to go and our tire refilled. Around 1 we finally headed to Gardner Village.
It was crazy packed. I don't know why, but it was. And as I've said before - crowds make me anxious...Plus, I ended up with a bad head cold that made me feel fairly miserable.
However, we still enjoyed watching the kids on the pony rides and in the petting zoo. We also had fun just walking around looking at all the witches. We didn't really go into any of the stores because it was so crowded, but all in all had a fun day anyway.
We left around 4 and arrived home around 5 and I was so glad to be home. I hopped onto messenger to see if Eric was on, he was set to busy. So I jumped onto World of Warcraft to see if he was playing and he was. So we talked for awhile.
He told me things went pretty good, but there was still a small problem that if they couldn't fix in about an hours time this morning, it would be another day...
I spent the night watching aforementioned crime documentaries.
TODAY - TUESDAY OCTOBER 21, 2008: Once again, business as usual. After picking Lex up from Preschool I got onto the computer hoping to hear from Eric. I got my wish. He im'd me and told me he was sitting in the airport. :D
He won't be home until 9:00 tonight, but he is still coming home. I've missed him terribly and the kids have missed their daddy. So tonight, the kids will get to stay up just a little bit later to welcome their daddy home.
For those of you who don't know us that well, Eric has been on very few business trips/vacations in our 10 years of marriage. Most of the trips he has taken have only been for a few days, so for him to be gone for a week is still new to us.
Take a look at the website at 
