Pearl Jam in Salt Lake

A few months ago, when I heard Pearl Jam had added several shows to their tour I got excited, but when I heard they'd be coming to Salt Lake I was jumping for joy. I've been a huge fan since the early 90's when they first made it big, and I've been a member of their fan club almost as long. Now some of you may be laughing, but when they go on tour the fan club definitely hooks its members up with good tickets. Brooke and I had seats in the fourth row, and since this was Brooke’s first time seeing them I was pretty excited about that.

Ben Harper opened the show, and did a great job. Pearl Jam ended up playing some stuff with him once they took the stage.




One of the coolest parts of the show was when Eddie Vedder called a couple up on stage. He explained that the guy had written a very special letter to the band, which was why Eddie called them up. Eddie ended up giving the guy the microphone, and he proposed to his fiancé. After that, Eddie gave them a couple of chairs on stage and played the song “Just Breathe” for them.

We had a great time… can’t wait to see them again next time they go on tour.

Georgia Rain

We went down to Georgia last week and it rained and rained and rained and rained. Then the sun came out the day we left. Due to the rain, we spent a lot of time indoors with Mason and the family. Mason can sit up now by himself, although we still don't leave his side without him being surrounded by pillows. Now he can really play with his toys, it's awesome! One of my favorite things that Mason started doing while we were in South Dakota last month is suck on his toes. I don't know why, but I find it absolutely adorable. I finally got a pic of it. We made a shirt for John's birthday since he's all the way out in Bolivia and hasn't met his nephew yet.
Justin and I went on a date with Lisa and Pete to Medieval Times, and it was cool. I want to take Mason when he's older; the kids in the audience were the best part of the show.
I had my 10 year HS reunion, and I LOVED catching up with my friends from way back when, especially my basketball girls.
We had a little get together at my parents' house so I could catch up with a few friends, and one of my very favorite people came - her name is Mearle Bean and she turned 100 years old at the beginning of this year. She played piano for us during the evening. Mason partied himself out.
We miss Georgia. Can't wait to come back for Christmas!

Riverboat Days!!

We all went to Yankton, SD to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hochstein from the 18th - 26th of August. It was a great time of year to go back... the weather was perfect, and Aunt Sarah and Uncles' Josh and Nick were all home. We were able to spend some time at Riverboat Days, which is a local festival Yankton has every year as summer draws to a close. We got to watch the River Boat Day's parade. We took a road trip to Wagner, SD so Mason could meet his Great Grandpa Podzimek. We also went out for pizza at Charlie's Pizza House, which has the best pizza ever! If your travels ever take you through Yankton, make sure you stop by... you won't be disappointed.

Since Mason had plenty of attention from Grandma and Grandpa and his aunt and uncles, Brooke and I had plenty of time to go on a few dates, play tennis, and go on bike rides. On our way back to Utah we stopped by Winters Quarters in Omaha, NE which is near the Omaha temple. We wish we could have spent more time there, but I'm sure we'll get to visit again someday. It was a great trip with a lot of great memories.

Feeding and Bathing Time

***Mason rolled over today for the first time!***

Uncle Dean and Natalie fed Mason his first serving of rice cereal. He didn't like that the spoon had to come out of his mouth to reload. . .


Bathtime will never be the same again. I can no longer bathe him while wearing and outfit I would like to keep on the rest of the day.

AF Airlines

One of the coolest parts about our travels to Hawaii was the planes we took to get there and back. The Air Force offers what they call Space-A, or Space Available, flights all over the world. If they have a mission going somewhere, and there's extra room on the plane for passengers, military members can get on and fly for free. I had never flown Space-A before, and since Brooke and I thought it'd be a fun adventure, we threw caution to the wind. The thought of having a free flight to and from Hawaii was also very nice.

We flew to Hawaii on a C-5, which is the biggest plane in the Air Force. It's used for transporting equipment and cargo, which may not sound like a comfortable ride, but other than being a bit noisy and having no windows to look out of it wasn't bad. On the plus side, the price was right, and we didn't have to put up with any of the headaches of commercial airports.

The flight back from Hawaii was on a KC-135, which is an aerial refueler (flying gas station). The flight went really well. Mason was great the whole time, even though the inside of the plane was a little chilly. We had a great experience. Here's a picture of a KC-135 and a picture we took on the plane.

Hawaii Part II

We got back from Hawaii on Thursday. It took a full week of trying to get home. We didn't complain, though. Thanks to Stacy and Spencer, we had a place to stay in paradise while we waited for an airplane to open up. We barely made it on when seats did become available. We miss Hawaii. We miss Stacy and Spencer. We can't wait to go back again!

Here are some pics that the amazing Stacy took. . . first I'll tell some stories to go with them.
- Both Mason and Justin got stung by a Portuguese Man-O-War. Mason was fine after about 15 minutes of screaming. Then he was laughing and apparently forgot about it. Mom was freaking out on the inside.
- one day I accidentally picked up the beach mat the wrong way and sand flew all over poor little Mason's face. He took it like a champ.
- Justin and I jumped off cliff. It was fun. Then it started raining and poor Mason experienced a rain storm in full force for the first time. He didn't fuss at all.
- We met some fantastic Hawaiian families who made us feel like part of their families. I don't have a pic of them on here.
- We loved loved loved loved the entire trip. Thank you Stacy for letting us stay so long!

Hawaii Part I

Here are some pics from my camera and Justin's camera. These are just a few of the adventures. I'll have more stories later. We are having so much fun! ! ! Why do we live in Utah?!?!?!?