I am finally getting around to finishing up blogging about our trip to Chicago. The last three days of our trip weren’t as crazy as the first week. While we were in Chicago we needed to try out another popular deep dish pizza place so we could compare and contrast which one was better. We tried out Lou Malnati’s deep dish. Although it was good, our favorite was Giordano’s hands down. However, it was fun to try them both. While we were waiting for our pizza to cook I had to take a picture of the kids getting along with each other playing a game at our table. After spending a week very closely together we were a getting a bit short tempered with each other so when they were getting along I had to take a picture to document it--haha!
Yummy pizza!
The last Sunday we were in Chicago Josh had us attend two different Sacrament meetings in two different buildings. He wanted to see as many people as he could before we left. The first sacrament meeting was the Westchester 2nd ward at the Westchester building. Then we attended the second sacrament meeting in the the Chicago 2nd ward in the Pulasky building. Here’s a bunch of the people he loved speaking with. Most of them only spoke Spanish so although we met them, we really couldn’t communicate with them. They all seemed very nice, though.
We got to meet Abuela who was every missionaries grandma and took care of them. I loved her! We also got to meet David Sida, the Bolanos family, the Villegas, the other other missionaries, Hermano Samways, and the Patriarch. I thought it was cool to listen to both the sacrament meetings in Spanish. I didn’t understand 90% of what was said, but it was still really neat to just listen and feel. Later after church the Ochoa family invited us over for lunch. They had also invited over a bunch of the missionaries, too. It was fun getting to know everyone and the food was delicious!! I loved this lunch.
After lunch we visited with the family for a bit before we had to leave. They were the some of the nicest people. I was thankful to meet them! They really took care of the missionaries there and I will forever be grateful for that!
Later on that day we met up with Rico who is someone Josh helped get baptized. He was so nice and down to earth. It was fun visiting with him.
After visiting and meeting people all day we went back to the hotel and got changed into some comfy clothes and went back into the city. We wanted to pick up a few souvenirs and walk around one last time before we left.
We got to see the Riverwalk one last time.
After picking up a few souvenirs we drove over to get an authentic Chicago dog from a place called Lukes. It is a hotdog with pickle spears, sport peppers, relish, tomatoes, onions, celery salt and mustard on a poppy seed bun. They were pretty good.
Here’s Luke’s:
We made it to Minnesota!
The drive to Minnesota took about 6 hours so it was most of the day. The next morning we got up early and stopped by a weird lighthouse, but it wasn’t in a very good area so we didn’t stay long.
After a few hours we were done and decided to go exploring elsewhere in Minneapolis. We stopped by Minnehaha Falls. After parking we did the little trail and got to see them close up.
Afterward we spotted a 6 person bicycle you could rent and we decided to try it out. Let me tell you it was harder than it looked!! There were only 4 seats that could pedal so only four people could work to get it going. Josh was supposed to steer us, but he was a bit of a scary driver--haha!
We rented the bike for an hour, but were completely done after 30 minutes. When you have to pedal and push 700 plus pounds around some hills and valleys (albeit small hills and valleys because Minneapolis is pretty flat) you get worn out--haha! After that Aaron looked up and found an authentic Polish restaurant called Kramarczuk’s Sausage so he could try out one of his favorite mission foods--pierogis. Pierogis are boiled dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes, onions and cheese. I guess there was a large population of Polish and Ukrainian people in Canada that served the missionaries all kinds of different foods including pierogis so Aaron loves them. However, Aaron has always eaten them with sour cream. So when our order came out I thought this was sour cream with them. I was sorely mistaken after I COVERED a pierogi in ‘sour cream’ only to find out it was horseradish. Other than the initial shock of the horseradish they were pretty good! The kids liked them, too.
The next day we made the arduous 6 hour drive back to Chicago so we could fly home from the Midway Airport. However, our flight was not a direct flight. We flew to Atlanta then after a short layover we then got to fly to Salt Lake. Everyone was ready to get home by this time and would grab whatever suitcase belonged to our family and walked. Poor Josh had to carry my polka dot suitcase through the airport--haha!
We flew out of Chicago at 6 pm. Then flew out of Atlanta at 11 pm to make it into Salt Lake sometime around 2:30 am. We made it home by 3:30 am, however, I had to be up for work at 7:30 am that same day. I was dying at work, but, I made it through. Aaron had to work from home that day starting at 8 am since the HVAC guy would be coming fix our leak in the basement ceiling and the dishwasher repairman was coming by as well. Sarah and Daniel also started Youth Conference later that afternoon. All of us were pretty tired and dragging, but glad to be home. Nothing like being immediately thrown back into reality!! 10 days is a long time to be living out of a suitcase and not having any breaks between activities. We were all exhausted....Anyway, the HVAC guy came and told us it was not an HVAC problem, but a plumbing problem. UGH!! So we had to schedule for the plumber to come back out the following week.
Later that afternoon we were going to change out the TV stand for a different one. When I pulled out the old stand it hadn’t been dusted behind it or underneath it for a bit. It was pretty bad. However, Josh got to work cleaning it all up without even being asked to do it. What?! I guess a mission did him good! None of my other kids would have ever even thought to do this. I was quite impressed--so much so I had to take a picture to document this momentous happening--haha!
His staff are so amazing and really love him. I am grateful for that.
Matthew came in 4th place and got a ribbon. He was so excited he brought it the church the next day.
The next day happened to be his birthday. He was so excited to go to church and let everyone know it was his birthday. He had a hard time sitting still all day--haha! He requested homemade fettuccini Alfredo for dinner and then an ice cream cake for his birthday cake.
Matthew had emailed me his birthday list and it was quite long. I picked a few things off that list for his presents. He was excited to open them--wahoo! He wasn’t super excited about his new work clothes, but he was excited about his other things, though.
Noah started fall soccer and is liking it. He got to take a turn at goalie:
The rest of August has passed by in a blur. I have been working A TON. Aaron has picked up a new workload and will be traveling a TON in the next few months. He was gone for half of August which was really hard for all of us. He went to Washington DC twice and will be leaving for Las Vegas soon. It has been hard trying to get everyone where they need to go. Anyway, on a day that Aaron was in town we did do a quick trip to the temple which was nice.
Josh did try out swimming in Aunt Jill’s pool. However, when the pool only goes to 6 feet and you are 6’6” tall this is what happens--haha!
Josh has been attending the Young Single Adult ward for church. They had a fun campout at Camp Hunt by Bear Lake for a few days. There were 4 YSA wards that attended and they had a blast. They did some hiking, game playing, socializing the whole time. Josh loved it. Here’s a few pictures:
He also attended a few homecomings from Chicago missionaries the past few weeks. In-between that he met up with some friends and attended the huge Together in Christ YSA church sponsored activity that included a concert, a world record speed dating event, putting together food packs to the underprivileged, meeting different church leaders. He had a great time.
He also did some hiking with friends at Antelope Island. He got a job as a test proctor for Weber State and is liking it.
I, unfortunately, had to help out with a funeral that morning so Aaron took her to get her Learner’s Permit:
We are still arguing over whose turn it is to teach her how to drive....I am hoping I win that argument!!
Sarah had a birthday. Aaron made sure she got her 15 donuts as she woke up that morning. I can’t believe my baby girl is that old!!
Afterward she wanted to go out for sushi. You can’t say no to sushi!!
Then we had some cupcakes with everyone. We were going to do the big birthday dinner the following Sunday so G&G T and Matthew could celebrate with us. Later on that evening Aaron gave the kids’ back to school blessings and we got all their gear, new shoes, new clothes together for the next morning since it was back to school.
The very next morning was the first day of school. Aaron got up early to make everyone the traditional big back to school breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, chocolate milk, etc. Daniel didn’t want to get his new clothes dirty so he took off his shirt, but still wore and apron...who knows why?!
First day of school pictures!! 8th grade:
10th grade:
Senior!!
It is tradition that the seniors wear kid back packs to school so Daniel HAD to comply, right?! HAHA!
Poor Josh didn’t start school for another week. He enjoyed his relaxing morning though. Right after breakfast I headed to work at a clinic up in Richmond, Utah which is north of Logan. Aaron headed to work, too.
Daniel’s car broke down the night before school started so the poor senior had to get a ride to school from Josh and ride the bus home. He wasn’t happy about that. Later that afternoon Aaron and Daniel worked on fixing his car.
There was a bad car battery, knock sensor and some wiring. Daniel actually likes learning how to fix the car so Aaron didn’t have to do it alone.
Sunday we had G&G T and Matthew over to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. She chose orange chicken for her dinner and cheesecake for her birthday cake.
The next day Aaron left again on a business trip. While he was gone the kids seemed to argue more often than normal. I was already stretched a bit thin, but it helped me really appreciate this moment that much more. Daniel needed help asking his girlfriend to Homecoming and asked everyone to help him put it together. It was a nice, quiet 30 minutes which was awesome.
His girlfriend’s middle name is Laree. See he had me make a poster that said, “HOCO with meeee Cut-laree?” and then got a bunch of forks and taped random messages on them with one of them asking her to Homecoming. She had to sort through all the forks stuck her in front yard to find the answer.
I have been under quite a bit of stress this month. I found this meme that sums up how well I am currently sleeping--haha!
For evidence you can see my dark rings under my eyes at work:
I am hoping things will calm down soon. Daniel had his first cross country meet this past Saturday. He was in the huddle before the race:
After the race he was dorking off and decided to walk around without his shirt on. What a dork!
Noah is still enjoying soccer. I am not a fan of his coach, but what can you do?! He only has a few more weeks left for this season.
We are still working on teaching Matthew patience. He is a work in progress, though. The other day I was at work and couldn’t answer my phone. Matthew was pretty impatient and I ended up with this many missed calls in the space of two hours. UGH!! We have had the discussion with him multiple times, but I guess it hasn’t sunk in for him all the way yet. Like I said a work in progress. Good thing I love him!
Finally Josh was able to start college this week. He was a bit nervous, but finally excited to get school started. Wahoo!
He did have some excitement on the third day of class. The car Josh drives is a gas guzzler. To save on gas Josh drives two miles to the closest bus stop and rides the bus over to Weber State campus. ON the way home that day he accidentally left his keys and wallet on the bus and didn’t realize it until after the bus had driven away. DOH!! He called me and we tried to track down the bus and ended up driving over to the garage in Ogden to try and track it down. Unfortunately, the driver was still on shift and wouldn’t be getting off until 11 pm. Luckily, one of his stops would be at the WSU campus where Josh was taking an evening class. Aaron got home from work and sat at the bus stop asking every bus driver that came along if he had Josh’s wallet. Amazingly enough Aaron did catch the driver on his route and was able to get Josh’s keys and wallet back. That was crazy...I am hoping that never happens again since that was super stressful.
Speaking of Noah he got to speak in church last Sunday. It was a bit of a last minute thing, but it worked out. Noah did great. Josh was able to help him write his talk. I figure Josh needs to keep up his missionary skills so why not have Josh help Noah? There’s nothing wrong with that logic, right?!
This month has been pretty stressful for me. Between our trip to Chicago, the broken dishwasher (that is STILL broken), the plumbing leak, the medical issues, Aaron traveling so much, car repairs, lost wallet, etc. I got asked to serve in a calling completely out of my comfort zone and I am still trying to wrap my head around it. While Josh was at the YSA conference he got to meet with some cool church leaders. Two of the many leaders Josh was able to meet with were Sister Sharon Eubank who used to be the First Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency and Sister Amy Wright who is currently the First counselor in the Primary Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When he met with them and told them about what was going on with me and Josh recorded their answers for me. It was really awesome that they would take time to give me some great advice. However, I am still feeling overwhelmed...
