Did I just say, "Finally home" in my last post? Because, I guess being back in the Middle East for more than a month means, fina-lly home, a-again...? Where is home? That's a darn good question. But for now, today, it's here in the hot muggy sand pit. But home is home. Where ever your kids and husband are, for me, is home. I guess.
We had a great summer in the States. I can't even remember what I wrote about. Did I write about Chicago and Nauvoo? Hmm. Well, they were great. Just being at "Big Blue", as we affectionately call our Utah house, is wonderful. My mom spent almost the whole summer with us, including a fun trip to Seattle. I look at living half way around the world in a love/hate way. I hate that we can't see each other more often, but I love that when we are home, we really get to see my parents. Spend lots of time with them. My kids still have very tight bonds with them, even though we moved more than 4 years ago. If we had moved across the country, we wouldn't be able to come and spend 10 weeks with them. So, I'm happy we get what we do.
The kids are all back in school...
CONTINUED IN JANUARY 2015!
Yep. The kids are back in school, this time after Christmas break. My goodness, I have GOT to keep up!
Chicago and Nauvoo were both really fun. I've been to Chicago before and really enjoy that city. It's SO pretty and the architecture is beautiful. The weather was just warm, not hot, and sunny. We stayed in a reallly old hotel that everyone online said was haunted. But since I thinks that's silly, we stayed there anyway. It was right on Michigan Avenue for a screaming deal - so we did it. It was built at the time of the worlds fair. I think we were all intrigued by it's old grandeur, but agreed that it was probably once a very grand place and now is very worn and needs some TLC. Come to find out, the staff had been on strike for ELEVEN years! (or something like that) Anyway, it was fun. We went to several museums and the Willis Tower. (previously known as the Sears Tower) We ate amazing pizza and hot dogs and went to The American Girl flagship store and a great Lego store. We drove through the neighborhoods and looks a beautiful American architecture (Frank Lloyd Wright was my favorite, of course) Basically, we got our American feet back under us. These summer re-entry trips have been fun because we get to go hog wild for all the things we've been missing all year. Eating out, movies, museums, me driving, etc. It's just really nice.
We spent three days in Nauvoo as well. LOVED IT!! We all did! We were very lucky to have my Aunt Jacquelyn and her husband Glen serving as missionaries there at the time. Uncle Glen is as Veterinarian in Alberta, Candada, so his job in Nauvoo is being a 'teamster'. Takes care of the horses and runs the horse and buggy tours. My aunt is a great performer and was so great in the the shows. (they both were!) Nauvoo is such a fun family place. I had no idea about all the shows and performances each day. Plus, the young performing missionaries were awesome! These are younger people who apply to serve for six months or so in Nauvoo. They sing, dance, act and play musical instruments as well. All of this PLUS the wonderful spirit there - truly a great trip.
I think the highlight for us there was also the temple. I had been before when the temple had not been rebuilt yet. It was so neat to see something we've only seen depictions of for so long. And being able to go inside and do baptisms with Samuel, and then a session with Peter - well, you know. These are things we dream about all year long, then love SO much when we actually get to go. Man, the inside of that temple is so gorgeous. It is done in much of the original style and was so fun to get to see.
My sister Krista and her family only live(d) a couple of hours from there, so we were hoping to meet them. But they were actually moving that weekend to Arizona, so we missed them there. But we did get to see them for a bit in Utah during the summer. Another little highlight for me, before we close out this topic, we Amish country. Ahhhh. I've always wanted to see some real Amish life, and I got a tiny little glimpse. What a beautiful way of life. Just seeing the horse and buggies and their families out together was a treat for me. You know how I love to quilt and admire quality craftsmanship. So, basically it was right up my alley. Although, it was certainly not enough time for me and I would LOVE to get back to that part of the U.S. someday.
Back to Chicago and headed out west. We went to the airport together, but parted ways as Peter left before we did. We had a funny thing happen at the airport. A woman came up to me and asked if these were my kids. Yep. She then proceeds to tell me that she's from McDonalds and would we mind being in a photo shoot. Uh? Okay. So I had to sign some papers, they gave us some gift cards and then bought a bunch of food they wanted my kids to eat. It was actually really fun and made the time pass a lot faster. I don't think anything was ever used, but then again - how would I know. I see less here than probably any other place I could in the world. Anyway it was really fun. They took something like 2000 pics or something. Seriously they just snapped the entire time, I guess that's the joy of digital photography!
So the kids and I flew to Salt Lake, while Peter flew to Seattle and several weeks on a NOLS backpacking course and then a kayaking course. And he got to spend a lot of time with his dad and brothers. He had quite a bit of outdoor time last spring/summer. He had a neat experience backpacking in the Western mountain range of our country here, just he and another guy from work. I think he got to see life in the Middle East just a bit different over there. Then he spent a lot of time, see above, out doors in Washington State - and I think he died and went to heaven. These are the things he loves, and it was WAY too long for him to be away from all that.
We had a great summer in the States. I can't even remember what I wrote about. Did I write about Chicago and Nauvoo? Hmm. Well, they were great. Just being at "Big Blue", as we affectionately call our Utah house, is wonderful. My mom spent almost the whole summer with us, including a fun trip to Seattle. I look at living half way around the world in a love/hate way. I hate that we can't see each other more often, but I love that when we are home, we really get to see my parents. Spend lots of time with them. My kids still have very tight bonds with them, even though we moved more than 4 years ago. If we had moved across the country, we wouldn't be able to come and spend 10 weeks with them. So, I'm happy we get what we do.
The kids are all back in school...
CONTINUED IN JANUARY 2015!
Yep. The kids are back in school, this time after Christmas break. My goodness, I have GOT to keep up!
Chicago and Nauvoo were both really fun. I've been to Chicago before and really enjoy that city. It's SO pretty and the architecture is beautiful. The weather was just warm, not hot, and sunny. We stayed in a reallly old hotel that everyone online said was haunted. But since I thinks that's silly, we stayed there anyway. It was right on Michigan Avenue for a screaming deal - so we did it. It was built at the time of the worlds fair. I think we were all intrigued by it's old grandeur, but agreed that it was probably once a very grand place and now is very worn and needs some TLC. Come to find out, the staff had been on strike for ELEVEN years! (or something like that) Anyway, it was fun. We went to several museums and the Willis Tower. (previously known as the Sears Tower) We ate amazing pizza and hot dogs and went to The American Girl flagship store and a great Lego store. We drove through the neighborhoods and looks a beautiful American architecture (Frank Lloyd Wright was my favorite, of course) Basically, we got our American feet back under us. These summer re-entry trips have been fun because we get to go hog wild for all the things we've been missing all year. Eating out, movies, museums, me driving, etc. It's just really nice.
We spent three days in Nauvoo as well. LOVED IT!! We all did! We were very lucky to have my Aunt Jacquelyn and her husband Glen serving as missionaries there at the time. Uncle Glen is as Veterinarian in Alberta, Candada, so his job in Nauvoo is being a 'teamster'. Takes care of the horses and runs the horse and buggy tours. My aunt is a great performer and was so great in the the shows. (they both were!) Nauvoo is such a fun family place. I had no idea about all the shows and performances each day. Plus, the young performing missionaries were awesome! These are younger people who apply to serve for six months or so in Nauvoo. They sing, dance, act and play musical instruments as well. All of this PLUS the wonderful spirit there - truly a great trip.
I think the highlight for us there was also the temple. I had been before when the temple had not been rebuilt yet. It was so neat to see something we've only seen depictions of for so long. And being able to go inside and do baptisms with Samuel, and then a session with Peter - well, you know. These are things we dream about all year long, then love SO much when we actually get to go. Man, the inside of that temple is so gorgeous. It is done in much of the original style and was so fun to get to see.
My sister Krista and her family only live(d) a couple of hours from there, so we were hoping to meet them. But they were actually moving that weekend to Arizona, so we missed them there. But we did get to see them for a bit in Utah during the summer. Another little highlight for me, before we close out this topic, we Amish country. Ahhhh. I've always wanted to see some real Amish life, and I got a tiny little glimpse. What a beautiful way of life. Just seeing the horse and buggies and their families out together was a treat for me. You know how I love to quilt and admire quality craftsmanship. So, basically it was right up my alley. Although, it was certainly not enough time for me and I would LOVE to get back to that part of the U.S. someday.
Back to Chicago and headed out west. We went to the airport together, but parted ways as Peter left before we did. We had a funny thing happen at the airport. A woman came up to me and asked if these were my kids. Yep. She then proceeds to tell me that she's from McDonalds and would we mind being in a photo shoot. Uh? Okay. So I had to sign some papers, they gave us some gift cards and then bought a bunch of food they wanted my kids to eat. It was actually really fun and made the time pass a lot faster. I don't think anything was ever used, but then again - how would I know. I see less here than probably any other place I could in the world. Anyway it was really fun. They took something like 2000 pics or something. Seriously they just snapped the entire time, I guess that's the joy of digital photography!
So the kids and I flew to Salt Lake, while Peter flew to Seattle and several weeks on a NOLS backpacking course and then a kayaking course. And he got to spend a lot of time with his dad and brothers. He had quite a bit of outdoor time last spring/summer. He had a neat experience backpacking in the Western mountain range of our country here, just he and another guy from work. I think he got to see life in the Middle East just a bit different over there. Then he spent a lot of time, see above, out doors in Washington State - and I think he died and went to heaven. These are the things he loves, and it was WAY too long for him to be away from all that.
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