Indiana Dunes

One of the huge advantages of having a daddy that travels is that sometimes we get to go with him. Because it is the end of the school year, Shad has been attending a lot of Seminary graduations. His last one was over Memorial Day weekend (May 30th) and was the furthest away (Valparaiso, Indiana), so we took advantage of the holiday and decided to do some family exploring. We stayed the night in a hotel Sunday and then headed to Indiana Dunes State Park in the morning which was only about 25 minutes away.

We had a fantastic time on the shores of Lake Michigan. I always knew it was a big lake, but you don't realize how big until you are there. It really does feel almost like an ocean without the huge waves and without being salty. You can't see the other side of the lake (although we could kind of make out the Chicago skyline in the distance). The sand there was so amazing! It was the finest most beautiful sand of any lake I have ever seen.

Benny was in love with the sand. He loved throwing it along with the rocks. We had sand in every little crease by the end of the day.

One thing that really made the day awesome was the friends that we found on the beach. We set up all of our stuff and then another family (with 5 kids) set their stuff up next to us. I could tell almost right away that they were Mormon just listening to their conversations. Our kids were about the same ages and they became instant friends. They live in Chicago and were just there for the day too. The other great part was that the father and one of the sons is also diabetic and have pumps. So, while Jack was plugging in his pump and checking his blood sugar, they were too!

Before we left we got their phone number and became friends on Facebook so that we could keep in touch. The next week we also found out that they are cousins with Bill Holmes who is in the branch presidency with Shad! It's such a small Mormon world! It was actually really great because Bill had lost touch with them after going to school and we found them for him.

Although I really do enjoy our outings together just with our little family, I thought it was a huge tender mercy that the Lord sent us some "Mormon cousins" for us to play with that day and especially ones that we had so much in common with. The Lord really is watching out for us as we are away from so many of our close family and friends.

One funny story while we were there: Some of the kids were playing about 10 yards from our "base camp" on the beach in a small stream leading into the water. Gracie wanted to go over there to join Shad and the other kids. I told her to start walking that direction and you would see him. I was watching Benny and didn't want to walk over there. Then, about 15 minutes later I looked over there and didn't see Gracie. I went and asked Shad where she was. He said he thought she was with me. Then, right on cue, the loud speaker for the beach comes on and we hear "We have a lost little girl. Her name is Grace and she is wearing a purple seahorse swimming suit and carrying a blue bucket. If she is your child please come and pick her up at the life guard station." Shad went running and hitched a ride on a 4-wheeler to the life guard station. He found her there, surrounded by 10 lifeguards, doing a coloring page, and talking their ears off. They thought she was the cutest thing ever. Apparently she walked in the other direction, someone noticed she was wandering by herself, and brought her to the lifeguard station. Later  as we were walking to the bathroom and passed the life guard station all of the life guards said "Hi Grace!" She had made some pretty good friends. It's going to be a little joke for a while.

There are lots of great hikes to do in the Indiana Dunes park, but by the time we were done with the beach, the kids were beat and ready to go home. Next time we will have to try out some of the hikes before we hit the beach and cool off in the water.

School spelling bee

On one of the last days of school Haken participated in the school spelling bee. They held a class spelling bee for each class and then took the top two from each for the school wide spelling bee. Haken was one of the top two from his class. I'm actually not surprised though, because he has always been a great speller. He must get that from his dad.

Shad went and watched. Haken did really great. He got out on a word that a lot of other kids got out out: "piece" Very easy to switch up those "i's" and "e's" right? He wasn't too disappointed. Although he would have liked to have gone farther, he was really proud that he got to the school wide bee.

Nauvoo

April 15th and 16th we went to Nauvoo as a family. Susan Easton Black, who is a BYU professor and an expert on church history invited the Young Single Adult branches from a few surrounding areas to come and tour with her. We took advantage of the opportunity and decided to go as a family. We stayed in a house that we rented with our friends the Noonan's and enjoyed spring in Nauvoo. It was beautiful.

*Note: Shad was put into the branch presidency as the 2nd counselor the week before this trip. This was quite a surprising calling for both of us. We do a lot with the branch already with Shad being the institute director. It was almost as if he was a 3rd counselor. We were both curious to see why the Lord put him into this calling and what would actually change (besides me being alone at church now with the kids). We have been amazed already at the way the spirit works and the blessings that we have already seen from Shad being in the presidency. There really is power in having and exercising priesthood keys that he did not have before as the institute director.  

Shad had an early morning observation on Friday morning in Galesburg (about an hour away) so we went with him and stayed in a hotel there and then headed to Nauvoo afterwards. Haken stayed at the Noonan's house so he could go to school on Friday and then he rode out with them Friday afternoon.

It was a perfect weekend. Shad and I attended the temple on Friday night while the Noonan's watched our kids, then they went with the YSA the following morning to the temple. Shad was able to go and do baptisms with those that were not endowed. When he got out we went to the park and played with the kids until the endowment session was done.

Gracie loved the swings at the park

Picking "flowers" at the park

There's my happy boy... even though he might be eaten by daddy

Gracie was obsessed with these "bleeding heart"
flowers on the temple grounds

That afternoon was the tour with Sister Black. I stayed at the house with the kids since they wouldn't be as interested in the tour. I had a lesson to prepare for Relief Society the following day anyway. Shad said the tour was really neat because she took them to places that you don't normally go on a typical Nauvoo tour. I'll let him write the details about that tour.

My two favorite parts of the weekend were attending the temple with my sweetie on Friday night and jogging with him past the temple and around historic Nauvoo as the sun was coming up Saturday morning.

There really is something special about that temple. There is so much history and sacrifice that was involved in the building up of that temple and the surrounding city. I could actually feel the spirit of those that built the original building as we moved throughout it. We were also able to be the "witness couple" for our session which made it extra special. I was nervous being pregnant, but I know the Lord blessed me so that I would be able to do it without passing out, as I have almost done before being pregnant and doing sealings.










I am still in awe that we are only 3 hours away from this beautiful place. We will be returning often.

Overlooking the Mississippi river from the temple grounds

Front yard complete

It's been baby steps with our yard, but this last month we made a lot of progress. 

Luckily our lawn was put in last fall after we moved in by the builder so we didn't have to worry about that. The next project was flowerbeds and trees. We went to a great nursery in Urbana and spent WAY too much on plants, but I am really happy with the way it turned out. Some of what we bought also included three fruit trees for the backyard. We got a peach, a fuji apple, and a pink lady apple. The peach tree already has little peaches on it, so that will be exciting. They also seemed way cheaper than fruit trees we have bought in Utah. I think there is less demand for them here. 

I at least had the foresight to get starts from our neighbors when they were offering them last fall, so those were great fillers, they came in great, and saved us from buying more. I also planted tulips and daffodils in November last year (because they were on clearance and it was still so warm). They took a long time to come up, I think I either planted them too deep or it was just too shady for them, but when they did come up they looked amazing. Unfortunately I didn't really get a picture of them in full bloom and now the rain/wind has pretty much destroyed them. I got lots of compliments on them and was glad that I planted them.

I also put edging along all of the flowerbeds, which was quite the job. I had been putting it off for a while because I knew it would be. 

Gracie and Benny helped me plant some annuals around the perennials that we bought and in some pots by the garage door (had to have my red begonias, they are my favorite).

Benny thought the containers were the greatest things ever. They made the best noises.

Gracie was outside all day long. She was out with daddy in the morning and with mommy in the afternoon. I noticed she was getting a little burned but I didn't have any sunscreen to put on her, so I made her wear one of my big hats. But it must have been too late. I was sad when we came in and I saw THIS...

She didn't complain and it went away fast, but the next day at church I made her wear a longer sleeve dress to cover up mommy and daddy's mistake. Poor girl. 

Another big project this month was the side driveway. When we moved here we discovered that we needed another car since Shad wouldn't be able to drive his work car to church meetings and such, and we needed a place to put it. This is when we really thought we should have found a house with a 3 car garage. But, we decided that the side of the house worked just fine. We put gravel in and called it good. Then, we received an email from the HOA telling us that was against code and it had to be paved....so we left it all winter as rocks and then dug it all out this spring to put in cement.

I agree that it does look nicer, but it definitely wasn't cheaper than the gravel. Shad was smart and rented a skidster to dig it out for the cement. He said that was the best $125 he ever spent. Shad did his own forms, but we had the professionals come and do the cement. That was also a great move as they ended up having to wheelbarrow the entire thing from the truck so they wouldn't crack the existing driveway. They did a great job at finishing it and making it look nice too. 

 We put our names in the cement, so I guess this house is officially ours.