Chicago Revisited

Lauren's sister, Lindsey, got married this past Saturday and I got to tag along to help with the babies. (Jackson was not allowed to fly because of ear problems so he had to stay home with his dad and Lauren needed some help with the twins)

Day 1: We got to Chicago on Thursday and had a pretty relaxed day just visiting and getting ready for the busy weekend.

Day 2: Lauren was Lindsey's maid of honor for the wedding. She went to the city on Friday to get her nails done and for the rehersal dinner and all that fun stuff...I stayed at her mom's house with the kids and played "mommy" all day.

Grace didn't really want to take a picture with me.

I'm guessing Luke didn't either....
Day 3: We woke up early Saturday morning and I packed up the clothes, food, diapers,toys, wipes, strollers, carseats and everything else we would need. At 9 we got picked up by a limo to go to the city!! It was my first time in a limo. Lindsey's boss arranged for us to be brought to the hotel for the day...how nice! I was having fun enjoying the calm before the storm
The didn't share in my joy of the limo ride...they slept almost the whole 30 minute ride to the city...the only good nap they had all day :/
The bride and bridesmaids were up in Lindsey's hotel room getting their hair done...and I got to have mine done too! I felt so special! Unfortunately it didn't last long with all the running back and forth I did all day...but it sure was fun while it lasted.
Lauren went for pictures at 4 and I was given the job of getting the twins ready and boy was it tough! Luke did not want me to put his tux on...but after a good half hour we were all ready. I had finally found a dress I loved to wear to the wedding and I only ended up wearing it for about half an hour but thats alright. The wedding was at 7:00. The twins bedtime is at 5:00. No good nap all day. That all added up to a long night. They were pulled in a wagon down the aisle..it was absolutely adorable. After that I took them outside for the rest of the ceremony because they were fussy. After 5 minutes at the reception we went back up to the room to get some sleep...
This is what I felt like at the end of the night as well. Poor Grace. They went to bed at 9 and then Grace woke up at 11 screaming and woke Luke up. Lauren came up at 12:30 and we were up with the twins till about 5AM. Needless to say we were both exhausted.
Days 4 and 5: RELAXATION...as much as we could anways
One of our favorite places to stop was "Loves". It has the yummiest frozen yogurt.
Lauren, Brian(Lindsey's new husband), Lindsey, me...at Walker Brothers Monday morning for breakfast
At the airport on our way home!

Here he comes!

The real highlight of the week was Jeffrey conquering a two-wheeler. Dad took the training wheels off Jeff's bike and spent a little time with him here and there practicing. Taylor jumped in and worked with him, too.He needed a push start for the first couple of days, until he figured out how to push off and pedal at the same time. Now he has it down.
The biggest frustration for all involved was stopping. Jeff had a hard time keeping his right leg from swinging over the bar and jumping off the bike while it was still moving. I don't think he trusted the break system or at least his ability to use it. Time and time again his coaches would call out, "Start breaking, slowly,slowly"-then somehow Jeff would end up jumping off the bike. He just 'didn't know how it happened.' This corner was the trickiest for Jeff. There must be magnets buried under the cement. For the first several rounds, instead of going around it-the corner drew him in and down. And the reward? A bike ride to the park on Saturday through all the big roads. Great job buddy!

No more training wheels!

I can't wait until I'm 8!

Jeffrey has been reading all kinds of books lately. He's decided to read the Book of Mormon before he turns 8 and gets baptized next year. He's using the big Book of Mormon Grandma Bassett gave to the family a few years ago. He loves the definitions and questions to ponder. It takes him awhile to read each chapter, but he's making progress!

For Family Night tomorrow, we're going to the new presentation at the Visitor's Center. They have a collection of the Arnold Friberg lithographs commissioned for the primary that represent a pictorial display of some of our great Book of Mormon stories. I think I already know which will be Jeffrey's favorite.

P-day 500 and 3 flies up

...that they might have joy

The first week after general conference is over, and we're working diligently to apply principles taught by the prophet and members of the 12. President Monson's talk, "Finding Joy in the Journey" and Elder Wirthlin's remarks, "Come what may, and Love it" both resonated clearly to me. (A link to the 1st is included in the post title.) Fall break made it the perfect time to check in with our funny bone and ensure the whole family is loving this experience.So, we started Monday with a family trip to the airport to pick up Sister Reed, a new missionary. She had the VIP treatment-lunch with the whole family. The little kids don't usually have the opportunity of meeting missionaries at the airport since they're in school and our groups are so big. It was fun to watch their anticipation as people emerged from the terminal-trying to guess which was her and being a little silly about it. The assistants even spent part of their p-day helping us welcome her to the mission. (Instead of spending time with another group of missionaries, they stayed and played ball with the kids-I'll post a slide show later tonight. Thanks Elders!)This picture represents an attempt to stop and smell the roses, or at least stop and enjoy the wild life in our backyard. We have these crazy big butterflies that love our Mexican Bird of Paradise. They chase each other all around it. Elder Endemano was trying to get a good picture for me when this hummingbird joined the fray. The hummingbird chased the butterfly all over the bush, the kids were afraid he was trying to eat the butterfly. Fortunately, hummingbirds remain herbivores. While fall break coincided with a mission tour/conference with Elder Wilford Andersen, we still still had some great family time. The kids joined us on a trip to Holbrook. We've made other posts about Holbrook and its claim to fame- so no pictures here, but we did go check out the wig-wam hotel once again. This time, we added to our repertoire with a stop at the Butterfield Stage Co. Steak House on Route 66. It was an experience. One we won't be repeating. We did get a great map of Arizona. Live and Learn. We tried, I tried, to convince the family that a trip to the petrified forest would be fun, but the missionaries foiled my plans. They said it would be more exciting to stop at the outdoor rock shop on the way out of town. (Guess which option we took?) Deciding that we didn't need more rocks, we didn't even stop, we just drove by slowly.
We also took almost all of Saturday to spend some time together as a family. I even convinced Mark to change out of his suit and into civilian clothes. The kids loved it, mom and dad loved it, even Lucky loved it. The only thing that would have made it better was if Jessica had been here. (She's in Chicago due back tomorrow. I guess we had a little taste of what next year will be like. I didn't like that part.) We even made a new friend-Rocky. Can you tell how big he is? Paws as big as my fist and double the average size of other huskies at 120 lbs. Wow-Lucky was a little intimidated. Poor Puppy.
It was a joy filled week!

No more 'freaks' at our house!

OK all you meanies out there that used to tease certain people in our family about being freaks. (You know who you are!) So not everyone was born with incredible tongue sticking out talents. But NOW we do! Jessica, and I went to Dr. Otteson (Thanks!) last week and he clipped the fiber and muscle under our tongues that was keeping us tongue tied. Now not only can we talk a mile a minute (ha ha mom), but we can stick our tongues out with no problems at all. Dinner was so much fun. Everyone in our family was sticking their tongues out at each other. (Jeffrey is the one who is a freak. He can almost touch his nose with his freakishly long tongue. And it's weird and pointy!)
I was afraid it was going to hurt, but Jessica went first and she said it was OK. She was right. It didn't hurt, except the shot. It's sore now, but it is supposed to get better. Now my dad wants to do it! My dad says now I have no excuses for taking too fast and tripping over my words. We'll see if I can keep it under control.

Arizona Weather

This post is slightly overdue but better late then never right? Brandon was able to experiment with his photographer side and Lizzy and I played outside! This was right before a monsoon a while ago...the biggest monsoon I have seen since we got here! It was so windy!! I was literally being pushed if i tried to stand in one place. It was so much fun!

Need a lift?

It's that time again. Conference is here!

One of our sister missionaries used this telephone pole analogy in describing our zone conference meetings every 6 weeks. Missionary work is challenging, and as the days pass your energy and spirits start to sag. She looked forward to the lift each of our meetings brought. Just like telephone poles spaced regularly down the road, they gave that extra lift and support she needed to keep going.

Conference is like that for me. I can't wait to be lifted by the testimonies of the prophets. I look forward to their teachings to help me focus and move forward. I'm so excited to gather around my family and listen to these great men of God. Happy conference everyone!

*For more information on general conference or for information on how you can view conference live via the Internet, cable or dish networks, double click the title link of this post. 4 different sessions of conference will be held Oct. 4th & 5th from 8 am to 10 am Mountain Standard time and again from noon until 2 pm. A transcript of the messages will be available for viewing at the above link when conference is over and will also be published in the November issue of the Ensign.

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I have an injury like a sprain or a broken bone. I've never had a sprain or a broken bone before. Yesterday I was playing dodge ball at Scouts. A new guy threw the ball and it bent my thumb clear back. When I got home, mom said it was swollen, and I didn't even know it. We went to the doctor today and he said he thought it was broken so I got an X-ray. I have to wear this to hold my thumb still. It's so cool. i can bang my arm on the wall and it doesn't even hurt.