Food Showing

Today we departed Cedar City on our way down to Long Beach for the kids to fly out to Alaska for the summer.  Our first leg of the trip took us to Las Vegas and here we attended a food show for US Foods at the Cashman Center.  I thought it might be fun showing the kids what a food show is like and I think they enjoyed themselves but they certainly were not as into as I thought they might be. Well, Natty seemed to be enjoying herself and into it and she would bring me various things from around the show that she found.  There were some flavored lemonades that we were trying at the end and they were delicious.  One was a prickly pear and there was a cucumber jalapeno one that was quite interesting.  I asked Jack what his favorite thing was in the show and he said it was the rice krispie treat that he had.  So a bunch of fancy foods and his favorite was a prepackaged rice krispie.  Well, that seems normal for a 12 year old boy.  Anyhow, we all had a good time and I got to introduce Andy to one of the big chefs for US Foods and they had a good visit.  His name is Dan and he has been in to the Brick House previously and cooked with us.  He asked Andy what his favorite thing to cook was and then he said he would love to cook it with him sometime and show him how to cook up a pasta and shrimp dish that he can make for the whole family.  It was pretty awesome.  Got to see Craig our rep for a bit and also saw Dan and Amy and Sam who also came down for the show.  We had a good time but the kids didn't have much stamina and I didn't get to explore quite as much as I can when I am on my own because I was worried about what the kids were doing and wanted them to have a good time.  It was fine though and we were able to find the boxes that we were looking for and got to talk about a couple of things related to POS and management tools.

After the show we came to Jim and Clo's house for the night and have enjoyed spending time with everyone here.  They are wonderful and have gotten an earful from Jack about trains and different designs he has in mind.  The boy can talk non stop about trains and toy designs.  I finally told him that sometimes it is important to listen and he should ask Uncle Jim about a favorite memory from growing up.  He did and Jim told him about the time he was running off the football field and tripped in a hole around the track in front of everyone.  He also showed Jack a video of him at a Stake Road Show of him dancing to Call Me Maybe with Clorinda and other folks.  It was pretty funny and I was happy to see Jack ask and listen.

I almost forgot that we listened to a great message from Hank Smith on our drive about fighting for and not with your families.  There was good and powerful stuff there and I think we all learned some good things.

I am grateful for my children.  As we approach there departure for Alaska it gets a bit harder for me.  These are not my favorite days of the year when they leave for the summer or for Christmas.  I am grateful for them to see their mom and to spend time with her but it gets really quiet and lonesome at home and a major part of my life is missing.  We survive though.  We have for several years now and will continue to do so.  Anyhow, love my family.