Solomon is Seven!!!

Oh my goodness!  I cannot believe that Solomon is SEVEN!!  He turned seven all the way back in January, and I am a good mom - and thought I would write about it here.  Since I haven't written much at all in the last few years, I can try to do some catch up - right???

Anyway.  We just love this boy!  And he is nothing but BOY!  He loves all action and adventure.  If there is a LEGO involved, he will be there.  If there is running, jumping, karate chopping, dressing like a ninja or knight, cowboy or combat - Solomon will be there!

Lego cake, anyone?  He picked out all the Lego guys he could find to make a crazy lego cake!

Solomon's best friend lives just down the street - Mitchell.  They adore each other.  They are like little bear cubs.  When they have been apart for a bit, they always have to run and hug each other.  Then wrestle around.  He would love Mitchell to be his brother - which I think is funny because, well, Sol already have three brothers of his own!  But Mitchell has none, and they really do love each other.

Breakfast in bed for this guy!  Look out world, Mr. Enthusiastic is on his way!!!

Even the older kids are jealous of Sol and his amazing-ness!  He is good at everything he does.  He is really good in school, smart.  And very well behaved; his teacher told me she wished she could clone him and have an entire class of Solomon's.  (who wouldn't love that!?)  He is also super awesome at all sports or anything active.  All he has to do is give something a try, and bingo!  He's a super star at it!  We've all decided this kid is going far in life!

This year he has also begun to gain his own testimony of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.  This has been so fun to watch come out in him.  He has been a tough little cookie to raise so far, and still is!  But he is still my most tender child as well.  He has to be cuddled and snuggled more than anyone else.  He is happier than any of my other kids, and on a dime can be the saddest, whiniest, least content.  But he has begun to recognize the spirit in his life and develop a love for the gospel.  He just told me today how when he sings primary songs he feels happy and warm.  Me too, Chach.

At seven Sol loves to play the Wii, more than any other human I think.  You may recall from posts years ago, this kid came out wanting to play video games.  He is only allowed to play on weekends, and only for a few hours,  But he talks like he plays 24/7.  Imagine if he did! Yikes!

He likes to read, but prefers action books filled with super heroes and/or lego junk.  (Ninjago or Chima - heaven help me!) He's got big wonky front teeth and more often than not, crazy hair.  He is particular about how he ties his shoes, and changes his clothes several times a day.  He LOVES Tiger scouts and can't wait each week to go.  He loves his family, but especially, 'his baby' - Giddie. (remember that Gid is 5 right now.  baby?)  They still love each other to death.  They cuddle, wrestle, play, tease, giggle, run all day.  They truly are best little friends.  Sol has friends out of the family for sure, but when push comes to shove, he loves playing with Gid more than anything.  I love that they still love each other.

Seven is a great age!  Full of hugs and snuggles.  Eight is exciting.  It's when growing up really starts.  But for this mom, I'll take seven forever.  I am still the brightest star in Sol's sky, he thinks I hung the moon.  And the feeling is mutual.  I love him so very much.

Diving: with Pictures!

This post is almost two years old, but I finally added photos!! Originally posted October 6, 2013

Well, we finally finished our PADI Open Water dive course.  It's been a huge feat for the whole family.  Our dive days in the ocean have had Peter, Sam and I gone for 12 hours at a time.  Not to mention several evenings of classes. Simon has been the main person in charge of the kids, with neighbors and friends on back up.  He's been great and the other kids have had to really pull their weight as well.  Nothing like leaving a ten year old in charge of your seven, five and three year old - all day.  Oh well.  The things we do here; that we would never do any where else.

The salt in the Persian Gulf is out of control.  Like acid.  Part of the training is having to take our masks off under water, then put them back on and clear them.  Oi!!!  Talk about painful!  Between the burning eyes and the nose and throat on fire - it's one of the worst things ever.  Then there is the feeling of wanting to throw up while coughing your guts out into the regulator.  I swear - it was bad.  But as our nice little Filipino instructor likes to remind us; learning in the worst place in the world, makes everywhere else that much better.  You can only go up from here!

Our first dive site, two weeks ago, the visibility was almost none.  Like, a little scary.  And there was nothing to see.  Well, I saw a ton of little snails in cone shells making their way across the bottom of the ocean floor.  There must have been thousands of them.  When I say the bottom of the ocean floor, I mean like, 15 feet.  The Gulf is realllllly shallow.

Our second dive was much better.  Well, better and worse.  The first was at a private resort beach, and was quite clean for standards around here.  The second, while the dive was better, was at a public beach (if you can imagine that here), and was FILTHY!  People just pull up on the sand and get out right there.  Women get in, covered head to toe on their abaya's.  It's no wonder people drown here.  I guess they missed the memo about yards and yards of fabric draped all over you in water and pulling you under.  Hm.  At any rate, it was a little unnerving being in 'public' trying to put on my dive suit over my swim suit.  Luckily it was quite remote.  Being the only female is always a little scary anyway.

Upon arrival, the first words out of my mouth were - "well, good news.  we don't have to bring our own garbage - it's already here."  And I mean garbage like you really can hardly imagine.  I mean horrific.  Just think of every gross and disgusting thing you can, and it's there. We had to tip toe and step over piles of yuck just to get in the water.  Most disgusting sites?  Raw, spoiling in the sun, huge chicken leg.  Soggy, soupy containers of middle eastern food fare.  Bottles, napkins, bags,...a salt shaker?  Wrappers soaked in shwarma sauce, wet tissues, and so on and so on.  Oh yeah - and poop.

It was bad.

Granted, it was on Saturday.  Friday is the day that all the locals head to beaches and parks and 'picnic'.  Which means they bring a lot of food and goods, then just stand up and go home.  This is absolutley the standard practice.  Not even one effort made to pick up after themselves. It's so disheartening.

I was really worried the water would be swarming with garbage as well.  And while it wasn't exactly clean, it was much better. (I'm going to attribute this to the wind, currents, and the giant floating garbage dump somewhere in the middle of the ocean)  The temp was nice and warm up top, and by the time were down to 15 or 18 feet, it was quite chilly.  It's crazy to to feel the thermocline.  Weird.

At this particular site, the government has sunken some trucks and what not, as artificial reefs.  And as far as wildlife around these parts, I wasn't disappointed.  We saw hundreds and hundreds of sliver and and yellow small fish.  Maybe four or five inches long and tall.  Lot's of 10 in, purple angel fish.  We saw several bottom dwellers and one big-for-here crab.  (hard to compare crab sizes to the pacific northwest giant crabs)  Another of our instructors, Mohammad (the minnow - I refer to him as he is SO tiny!), brought flat bread to feed the fish.  It was SO fun to see them just swarm around us.  Sam got to feed them some of the bread, and as far as I can tell he was in heaven.

I realize that there are much lovelier places in the world to dive; but for outdoor fun here,  this was pretty darn fun.

Sam collected small round oysters along the way, hoping to find a pearl.  Once we were home and opened them, besides a lot of muck and smell - we found nothing.  Some awfully pretty mother of pearl and lots of fun were the catch of the day for us.

Petra

Friends that had been to Jordan before us, suggested that we prepare for little food along the way.  That was good advice.  Jordan was surprisingly expensive and food was hard to come by.  We ate at convenience stores a lot - pringles and candy bars kept us alive.  I also brought a bunch of food with us.  Crackers, cookies, nuts, etc.  It was a good thing I brought so much food with us - it saved our bacon several times. Our first hotel was a nice resort and the breakfasts were pretty good, although standard Middle Eastern food.  Almost always; flat breads with soft cheeses, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms, chicken sausage, dahl and foul (lentils and beans), breads with zaatar, less than yummy croissant things, omlets to order, and cold cereal with warm milk.  The other hotels were, shall we say, ....yikes?  Clean and safe is my only criteria.  In the less nice hotels, the food is the same, but usually pretty gross.  They also smell like smoke and are very bare minimum.  But we are always up for an adventure, including where we stay.

Anyway, after a less than yummy breakfast, we headed into Petra just as it opened, we were some of the first in. Oh. My. Goodness.  Petra was amazing!  Seriously, everything I imagined, only so much more!  Words cannot describe how cool that place is!  After winding through the slot canyon for quite some time (20 min?), it opens up into the ancient building facades carved out of the rocks.  Every one of us were enchanted with that place from the first moment.

We knew we wanted to head directly to the Treasury, which is the hardest to get to and the furthest place from the opening.  So we hired five donkeys, and off we went.  We put a kid on each donkey, some young Jordanian kids told us how much they wanted and slapped the donkey's on the bum - and we were off.  Peter and I trotted along side the crew, and up we went.  I think it's about 1/2 a mile on the sand then 900 steps to the top.  The kids rode the donkey's the whole way - except Simon, who got freaked out and walked up most of the way.  I don't blame him.  It froke me out just watching it!

Jordan is 'run' by bedoiun whose families have lived there for..., well, forever. I say run, because they have little stalls along the way where they are trying to sell you things.  And of course they know everything about the place. They are kind of the keepers.  Up until the 1980's these people actually lived in the park itself.  But after the government decided to develop it for the tourism industry, they built rows of houses for the people to move into.  They had lived in caves for generations.  You can still see some of this along the way.  They built kind of cave like houses, but had running water and stoves.  I'm sure their lives have changed a lot since moving out of the park, but they still work their every day of their lives.  They are all related in one way or another, and work together and for each other.  Everyone loved our kids and were so nice.  Several people asked if Gid and Sol wanted to stay with them.  One kid (16 yr old) asked if Solomon wanted stay and learn how to take care of the donkey's for two weeks.  Live like a bedoiun.  I'm sure he would like to, but I wouldn't like him to.

Up at the top of the Treasury, it was quiet and we had the place to ourselves most of the time.  We climbed up and had a couple guys from Europe take our family picture.  We wandered up there for a long time enjoying the stretching views across the beautiful desert.  The kids climbed and climbed and climbed - did I say climbed? - all over the rocks.  What a great trip for kids!

We made our way down and enjoyed seeing all the people who had since come into the park.  There is a lot to see and hikes to take.  We just had one very long day, but it was enough for us.  I had taken tons of snacks into the park with us, of course, including fruit.  I happened to have someone's banana peel in the backpack I was carrying.  Just near me I heard a donkey going crazy.  hee haw hee haw hee haw!!!!  The next thing I see, this donkey isn't tethered, and he is now starting to follow me.  And getting closer.  Now he is going crazy hee hawing and he and trying to bite my bag. Out of nowhere a bedoiun lady appears, puts her hand in my bag and hands the the donkey the banana peel.  After freaking out, I laughed and laughed.  Donkey - crazy.

Jordan - Kings Highway

It's terrible that my family is seeing the world, I and can't seem to find the time up write about these amazing adventures.  I have got to at least record a little...

I started telling about our trip to Jordan - a year ago!

After the Dead Sea and the baptism sight, we went on a little hike up what is believed to be Mt. Nebo - where Moses saw in a vision where to take the children of Israel.  It was beautiful.  We went up at dusk and watched the sun set.  It was quite rocky with a little grass here and there.  Goats are everywhere in Jordan, always with their shepherds.  On Mt. Nebo we didn't see goats that night, but lots of signs they had been there.  (goat poop)  The kids hiked far away until we could hardly see them, then came back to be together for the sun set.  You could see far into Israel and into Egypt as well, it was so pretty.

The next day we drove up into the higher area, called the Kings Highway.  Man, that place was beautiful.  We stopped in Madaba to see a beautiful old mosaic in a church called St. George's.  They say it is the most accurate account (map) of ancient Jerusalem.  We ate some local shwarma and enjoyed bit of local Jordanian culture.  This was en route on our way south to Petra.  The Kings Highway, in the spring, is green and full of life.  Lots of farmers fields, people working, and families picnicking.  One thing we really enjoyed seeing was Jordanians living!  So many of the Arabs we live with do not work.  Their culture is run by low paid men from south east Asian.  And in Jordan, the local people actually work and take pride in their land.  Along the way we also saw many many Bedouin camps.  Far more than we see here.  People out caring for their camels, horses and sheep. Lot's of tents had unicef labels on them.  Jordan has taken in millions of Syrian refugees since their civil war, and now with ISIS invading.  It is really sad and disheartening.  But in regards to the tents, we were told these were not in fact refugees, but that you could buy a big huge tent for just a couple of dollars. So much of the country was benefiting from the aid.

The road was VERY winding.  So much so, that I can hardly remember really driving on that crazy of a road.  It it was up and down hills and valleys.  Most impressive was what reminded me of a smaller version of the Grand Canyon.  I couldn't believe something so similar was on this side of the world.  It was SO cool.  As we explored the southern half of Jordan, we commented over and over how much it looked like southern Utah.  So I guess the Grand Canyon fits right in, huh?

We stopped at a great old Crusaders castle called Karak Castle.  Really cool!  We're getting so spoiled with things like castles, it's getting harder and harder to impress us.  This did!  From the stories of throwing people over the 7 story walls with boxes on their heads (so they would last a little longer and suffer more) to seeing the amazing ruins of working areas of the castle (the foundry, horse stables, leather works, bakery) - we really loved it.  We had a great guide who took so great family pictures for us.

We arrived in Wadi Musa, or Petra in the evening.  Ready for bed before our early morning trek into the park.

Summer 2014

The goings on of summer are always very busy for us.  I think my children think that life in the United States is nothing but a party.  They don't realize that people go to school and work and live a real life because all they see are 10 weeks of fun.

Samuel was the busiest, with a week at EFY (which he LOVED), Leadership Scout Camp, Kayak/Paddle board camp, speed and power camp, and started off the summer turning 14 on youth conference trek.  Keeping him busy keeps everyone happy these days.  :)  One of my favorite stories from this summer was while my friend Tiff was visiting, she and I had gone to Park City for a girl getaway.  My phone rang around 10 or 11 on that Friday night.  It was Samuel on the phone (who was at EFY), he was sobbing.

"Honey, what's wrong?"  I say.

"Nothing...."  says Sam.

"Uh?  Then why are you calling me crying?..."


"Well, (sob, sob)  we just got home from the last dance."  Snort, sniff.  "And I don't want to goooo hoooome tomorrowwwww."  Cries my big boy.

"Well that's good."  I say, "I'm so glad you're having such a great time."

"It's just that I love these guys SO much, mom.  Like I really love them.  They are my family.  I mean, besides my own family.  I really love them.  I don't want to leave them tomorrow."

Oh, my Big Sam.  Is that the cutest thing you ever heard?  My big 14 year old boy, crying because he loves his EFY family so much.  He drives me super, duper crazy A LOT of times right now in his life - but things like this..., well, I am so excited for all that lies ahead for him.  I remember feeling like that with my Youth Conference family one year.  And getting so close with friends at camp that I didn't want to go home either.  These are the memories we cherish, the memories that we want more of.  The ones that keep us going until we can get 'refilled' again.  Needless to say, I just registered him for this year already.  I feel very blessed that we can afford for him to go right now, because it's not cheap, but it is a great thing.

And yes, I did ask him if had met a girl and that was why he was so upset.  Because really, didn't we all wonder?  He said no, he just felt like especially the guys, were his family.  Like 'brothers he never had'.  Except.  You.  Have.  Three?.  Oh well, I get what he was saying.  Love that kid.

Simon, Ruby and Solomon went to a BYU All Sports Camp.  Football, basketball, gymnastics, baseball, soccer.  They loved it.  This is a great camp for getting introduced to different sports.  And the kids got to see the locker rooms and have the BYU players be their coaches.  My kids L.O.V.E Studio C, the BYU comedy show.  I mean are OBSESSED with it.  The other night at dinner Peter had to ban all Studio C talk, because they will sit there and quote scene after scene.  All of them - including Gideon!  Anyway, their most popular skit is this funny skit about a soccer goalie getting hit in the face, like a gazillion times.  It's called Scott Sterling, and they watch it over and over.  Well the players who kick the ball into the goal (at Scott Sterling) are the players from the men's BYU soccer team.  My kids LOVE seeing their coaches from the week at camp.  Utah Valley has been such a dreamy place to spend our summers.  It's such a small community and so family friendly.  I'm so glad we get to go home to there.

We spent two weeks in Seattle.  Always a fun time.  We spent time with Geoff and Cindy as well and Katherine and Jared.  And of course we got to see Grandpa Tennis everyday, and some of the Tennis Uncles as well.  My kids, especially the older boys, love just spending time with grandpa Tennis.  They love listening to him and laughing with him.  We also visited Grandma Tennis.  She is in the late stages of Alzheimers and  it is very hard to see her like this.  This is the first time we've let the older kids see her in a few years.  It was just too much when they were younger.  But I think it was good for them to see her now.  She lives in a home just down the street from where she lived for 50 years and raised her 7 kids.  Not more than a block, in fact.  Life has a funny way of ending up sometimes, doesn't it?  I don't understand why so many different things happen.  And I find myself praying for understanding and peace instead of blessings and miracles.

Samuel and Simon went to a kayaking and stand up paddle board class on Lake Sammamish for a week as well.  I think it was really good for them and I know they had a great time.  My mom was with us in Seattle and it was so fun to be there with her.  I haven't been in Bothell with my mom for years.  It was also such a big help to have her with us, well - me, really.  Peter was gone, so she drove up with me and then my dad came up too for a bit.  I love Washington and each summer we talk about someday moving back there.  But for now Utah is our U.S. home.  I also got to spend the day with my old college room mates Amy and Maile Granger (formally).  I met Maile in Issaquah and we drove to Ellensburg together to spend the day with Amy.  SO FUN!  I love these girls and have such a great time with them.  I cannot believe it's been more than 20 years that we've been friends.  Crazy!

I love getting to see people that I have known almost my whole life.  Here in the middle east, life is full of short term relationships, so it's so comforting seeing people that have known you forever.  My mom and I went to lunch with my great friend (and once college room mate) Anna Smith and her mom Betty (my young woman's leader).  Oh, that was an afternoon of great conversations and laughs.  So fun.  AND, we ate at Tai Ho in Kenmore - delish-i-oso!  I got to see Nanette too.  Truly my oldest friend, next to immediate family.  It's so fun to see our families growing up and catch up on life.  As you can see - I am TRULY a blessed person in the was of dear friends and relationships!

In August Peter and I flew up to Seattle for a weekend together.  Aimee took my younger three kids and Mindy took Sam and Simon.  I think they all had a great time, and so did Peter and I.  It was also Katherine's 40th birthday, which was really fun to be with her at that time.  We hiked up Tiger Mountain and spent a fun day with the Smith's.  Kath and I have known each other more than 28 years now, it's amazing how time passes so quickly.  Her kids go to our Junior High...how is that possible???

Some other summer highlights:

Hiking the Y a couple of times.  (Lot's of crying from the kids, but they ALWAYS love that we did it - when we're done.)

Walks up to Bridal Veil falls.

The Utah Holgo Zoo

Going to the TEMPLE!

A great day hike at Sundance:  we rode the chairlifts up, then hiked over to Stuart Falls.  A big summer storm blew in and it thundered and lightninged like crazy.  They closed the lifts, so we hiked the ski runs down.  It poured and poured and poured!  I won't soon forget how fun that was!! Just thinking about how soaked we were makes me smile.  SO much fun!!

Enjoying our lovely back yard in Orem.

Yep.  Our summer's are jam packed!  And we love every minute of them.  We really do have a wonderful life and I am SO thankful for all my many blessings, including all the people Heavenly Father has put on my path to love me and help me grow.

 

Hotel Tennis

ARGHHH!  I just deleted this entire post - which took an hour to write.  I will rewrite it because it is a record of my family's entire summer, or most of it!  DANG IT!  It will not be as eloquent, but I will do my best.

We had a ton of visitors last summer, which was super fun for me!  It kept us very busy and got to see so many people we love.

First off was my mom and dad.  They picked the kids up at the airport and then my dad stayed a couple of days, while my mom stayed for almost the whole summer.  We love to just spend time together with her, so this was great.  She is so helpful and loving to the kids.  Especially helping them practice their piano!  She and my dad had moved to Boise to take care of my grandma last year.  They were thinking they would be there about three years or so, but grandma surprised us all and passed away three MONTHS after they got there.  They had sold their condo in Provo, then headed up there and bought her condo.  A couple of weeks after my parents got there, my grandma started having some pains.  They found a tumor on her ovaries the size of a grapefruit.  At 97 there isn't much that can be done with cancer, so they kept her comfortable until she passed.  I was very glad my mom had the chance to be there with her.  I think it gave her some closure in a relationship that hasn't always been very close.  In the end, my mom and dad decided to move back to Utah.  So while they were looking and deciding what to do, my mom stayed with us and my dad "held down the fort" in Boise most of the summer.  My grandma lived a very full and bright life, right up until she died.  I hope I get to live a life as comfortable and as complete as her.

Next to visit, I think, was my sister Krista and her daughter Kate.  Krista just finished medical school and is doing her ER residency in Kingman, Arizona for the next four years.  It was so fun to see her.  I am so amazed that she has done this.  About five years ago Krista said, "I'm not going to have an affair for my midlife crisis, I'm going to medical school!"  And she did.  At 44 years old she graduated and she and her family are looking to a great future.  I'm really happy for them.

Katherine came for my 40th birthday!  We lucked out and got last minute front row, center seats to Wicked!  I loved for the third time and would see it again in a heart beat.  On my birthday I ran four miles and did 40 push ups, just because I could.  The next day Katherine ran her first 5K and I ran my first 10K.  My good friend who convinced me I could do it ran with us. She has had trouble having kids, so we were running in an infertility fundraiser run.  She also came to boot camp with me and Stacey this year.  And in return for her support, I gave her my good baby vibes.  (haha)  She is now 25 weeks pregnant with her 3rd baby!  You're welcome, Amy!  And hooray!!!

Tiff came for a weekend getaway to Park City.  I made her hike the Y with me, after much almost cursing by her, we made it back down and have been laughing about it since.  We always have a great time together.  We talk and laugh for hours, which is just what each of us needed. I so appreciate her making the effort to get down to see me.  I didn't have a chance to spend any time in Boise this year, so it meant a lot to me for her to come and see us!

Angelee, my bestie from RT spent a couple of weeks in town as well.  She doesn't stay at our house, but very close by.  I love getting to spend time with her (and her kids) in the States as well.  It's hard to explain life here to people at home, and I feel like my lives are very separate.  But getting to go to Target and Cafe Rio with my friend from here, somehow combines two worlds and makes things seem less strange.

Geoff and Cindy, my brother and sister in law also came.  Cindy is always so sweet and kind to my kids.  She asks them so many questions and always listens to what they have to say.  And everyone loves Uncle Geoffie.  Who doesn't?  Just this week I overheard Sol say to Gid, "Have you seen Uncle Geoff go swimming?!"  no.  "Well, it's like seeing Sasquatch go swimming!  He's SO hairy!"  haha!  We had a wonderful time going to the Ogden Temple open house as well.  What a beautiful remodel.  And I love getting to be with my whole family in the House of the Lord.

Of course Minky actually lives in Utah, so I get to see her.  But not nearly enough!  She is SO busy.  I actually get to talk to her more while I am in the middle east than when we are both in Utah.  She has a very busy job, three kids, three dogs and a husband.  This leaves very little time for much of anything else, including she and I getting to just be together.  She is a product rep manager.  We were just talking the other day about how she has always worked, but managed to be home for her kids all the time as well.  She's amazing and I don't know how she does it!

And we wait all year to spend time with Aimee and her family!  She also lives in Orem, so they don't come to Hotel Tennis either, but we spend more time with them than pretty much anyone else.  They are our non-blood relatives for sure.  Not to mention, she is the greatest friend a person could ever dream of.  Need something shopped for and sent to the middle east for you?  Aimee's your gal.  Need someone to watch your kids for the weekend, even though it's HER anniversary?  Yep, Aimee.  Need someone to get a contractor in your house after it's destroyed by a flood and you live on the other side of the world?  Aimee, again!  Where would I be without her?  Not to mention her years of inviting us to Wolf Creek with her and her family.  Each summer they go to their family's old hunting cabin up in Huntsville, Utah and they always welcome us up for a couple of days.  This place is the thing Norman Rockwell dreams are made of.  We float on inner tubes down the south fork of the Ogden River, jump off bridges and rocks, lay in the sun, throw rocks in the river, eat snacks and shoot bb guns.  It is one of my favorite parts of the summer because my kids to get to spend just a few days living how we all imagine a child's summer in the United States should be.  She is SO great to let us tag along, and we dream about the cabin all school year waiting until we get to be there in person!

I'll fill you in more ASAP about 'the flood', but needless to say, "Hotel Tennis" will not be the same this year.  It will be completely redone by the time we 'open for business', or in other words, go home for the summer.  Crazy!

June 2014

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.