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. 

Girl or ghost? It depends on who you ask.

On April 12th we had our ultrasound and found out that we are having another little LADY. I had a hunch that this one would be a girl. I haven't really been sick at all during this pregnancy and I seem to remember it being the same with Gracie.
Gracie knew all along that it was going to be a girl. I had a conversation with her in the car about a month before the ultrasound. I recorded it on my phone, but I can't get the file to download onto the blog. But the just of it was that three brothers was enough and if she didn't get a sister then she was going to the store to buy one. She called it!

Haken was at school during the ultrasound and we wanted it to be fair to him, so we sent the others to a friend's house, except for Benny, because he is pretty good at keeping a secret. We had dinner that night and told the kids we had something planned to reveal it to them after dinner. We hadn't told anyone yet. However, we did show them a couple of ultrasound pictures during dinner. I think that was a bit of a mistake. Not because it revealed the gender, but because it scared Gracie half to death. She screamed and cried after she saw this picture:

I don't really blame her. It is quite possibly the scariest ultrasound picture I have ever seen. 

When it was time for us to leave for the reveal we still could not get Gracie to calm down. She was under the impression that we were going to actually meet the baby that she had seen in that picture, right then. She still talks about the "scary monster baby picture," however she also makes a pretty cute impression of what the baby looks like with her mouth open and one squinty eye.

When we finally got her convinced to get into the car and drove to the nature preserve we were all a little exhausted. When we got there we set up two balloons and Shad popped one of them with a dart gun. The one that was left was the gender of the baby. I think the kids were pretty excited. I think Gracie was glad that a scary "ghost baby" didn't pop out of the balloon like she thought it would. This is the video I recorded of the event.

Afterwards we had a little photoshoot with the kids. It ended in tears as Jack tripped, let go of the balloon, and we watched it float away. Luckily that was on our way to the car and we were done taking pictures.

That night we celebrated with PINK popsicles before bed.

We decided a long time ago that our next baby girl would be named RUBY. So, without further adieu, here is the first of many photoshoots of baby Ruby, we can't wait to meet her for reals in a few months.

Giving us a little wave.

Most definitely a girl. She was not shy at all.

Utah here we come!

About a month before spring break we decided we would make a trip back to Utah to see our friends and family. We haven't been back since we moved 8 months ago and I did not want to travel this summer being big and pregnant or later in the year with a new baby. So it was now or...in a very long time. It worked out great because we had an entire week and it was over Easter weekend.

We left on Thursday afternoon at 12:30 pm and arrived in Utah on Friday afternoon at 12:00 pm. It was almost exactly 24 hours to drive straight through. I am a believer in this new way of travel for us. I thought it was going to be exhausting switching off drivers and going straight through, but it actually wasn't that bad. With some sunflower seeds, 5 hour energy, Dr. Pepper, and jelly beans we made it through all right.

Around dinner time we kept meaning to stop and kept passing all of the exits with food. So we decided to make it all the way to the Omaha, grab a hot and ready pizza, and stop at the Winter Quarters Temple to change into pajamas. It was about 8:30 pm before the kids ate. They closed at 9:00, so we quickly did a little tour, changed, drove around the temple, and were on our way.

Although the kids were fantastic, our journey wasn't perfect, we did hit a few bumps along the road....

Getting pulled over in Lincoln, NE (for going 5 over) and then not having our current registration with us (oops). Luckily I was the one driving while Shad sat in the back watching a movie with the kids. The cop let me off with a warning. We learned the hard way that you never speed through Lincoln, especially at night when the cops are bored.

Then at 3:00 am, right after we switched drivers, we hit a huge blizzard in Cheyenne. We drove through it, wondering why the roads weren't closed, or if they would be closed ahead of us. We got all the way to Laramie and then the gates were down and we had to stop at a truck stop. It was about 4:00 am, so we decided to wait it out in the car rather than pay for a hotel room. We had breakfast at about 5:00, and by 5:30 the road was back open and the road conditions were WAY better than what we drove through in Cheyenne. Honestly, I am not sure why the gates weren't closed sooner.

Without those two bumps we probably could have made much better time. We really only stopped a total of 4 times each way. Mostly just to eat or fill up with gas and they slept the entire night without any problems. Our kids developed incredible bladder control.

Once we were in Utah (and had a long afternoon nap) we were all ready to go play. Here are a few highlights from our week:

We played with the some of the Anderson cousins. These were only 2 families that were close enough for us to get together. Marc and Jenna came down from Idaho and Brent and Chelsea came up from Spanish Fork. We played all day long with them. I was so happy to see that they remembered each other and were instant friends again. Shad was excited that he got to do a round of golf with his brothers. 

Benny got to meet the Easter Bunny while at the store with grandma buying some new binkis. 

He was thrilled.

Shad, Haken, and I attended the dedication of the Provo City Center temple. It was Haken's second dedication since he turned 8 years old. He was so excited that he got to go with Grandma this time.

That night we played with the Evans and Miller cousins.

Gracie had uncle Steve in the palm of her hand all night.

I have to put this in here, because it was a big anxiety for us during our trip. I thought that I had bed bug bites and that they might have followed us to Utah. We had visited the Wisconsin Dells a week earlier and I started itching about that time. To make a long story short....we had our house checked out before we got home with no signs of bed bugs, and that's when I started to think that this might be something else. I was the only one being bit after all. After talking to my friend Monica and researching a bit I diagnosed it as "prurigo of pregnancy," which is a skin condition that can appear during pregnancy that looks like bug bites and itches like crazy. It has spread terribly since I have gotten home and is all over my arms and legs causing horrible itching, especially at night, but I keep telling myself it could be worse. We are still working to find a solution so I don't itch my skin raw. 

We visited Grandma Glenda in Springville for Family Home Evening.

We headed up to Northern Utah for a few days to visit friends there. I was so into absorbing the moments there that I really didn't take any pictures. We stayed with our friends the Mickelsons in Tremonton. We spent a day in Tremonton and a day in Cache Valley while Shad worked at the institute. It was fun to see what had changed, and what was exactly the same. We met friends at the trampoline park and then had lunch at Chick-Fil-A. They kids loved seeing their friends. We even visited our old house and "the circle" behind it. I miss that little track and the mountains right out my back window just a little bit.

We played at the park with a few of my friends from high school

(photo credit: my talented husband)

Shad kept the kids busy for us while we talked.

We visited Grandpa Guy in Salt Lake City.

We visited the Museum of Church History in Salt Lake and saw the new children's exhibit. 

The kids were pretty obsessed with these foam camels.

Jack learned what it was like to heft blocks of sandstone to build the temple

I attended the General Women's meeting with my mom, sister, grandma, cousins, and aunts. It is always so uplifting to hear the messages meant just for women. It is one of my favorite sessions of General Conference and it was even better watching it with with women that I love so much.

We went to church and celebrated Easter at Grandma's house.

I think Grandma had a hard time seeing us go. I know the kids enjoy every second that they are with her. The distance is hard, but I don't think that their relationship with grandma has changed one bit since we have moved. It's like they started right where they left off. They loved climbing into her bed every morning and cuddling. They also enjoyed the novelty of grandma letting them have whatever they asked for. 

On the way home we stopped in North Platte for dinner. It was the halfway point and everyone was still very happy. After dinner we changed into PJ's and buckled up for the night. It was a much easier and faster trek back home. On the way home we actually did the whole trek in 21 hours. Our kids are such troopers. 

There was something really beautiful about the driving into the sunrise, just about to pull into our home in Illinois. I was worried that this trip would make me homesick. It did in some ways, in that I do miss seeing my family often, but I was glad to know that as we drove into Utah it felt like we were just visiting, and when we drove into Illinois it felt like home. I guess that is the best thing I could have hoped for.