An unfortunate turn of events?

The day after the trip to Nauvoo we got a call on Sunday afternoon. My Grandma Powers and Aunt Maribeth were stranded in our airport due to some confusion with dates and their flight. I'm sure they were bummed but we were excited to get their call and to learn they could spend the night! They were gracious guests and I think Jillian especially enjoyed their visit. She had her 90 year-old Great Grandma on the floor doing puzzles and they must have read 30 books together in 12 hours! Jillian still talks about Aunt Maribeff too, who is also especially doting and good with her. Unfortunately we didn't get any photos of them together but we got plenty of Grandma and Jillian and Peter, pretty much priceless!

Grandma is seriously one of the best examples of getting softer with age, which is how I think God intends us to be. I also think we learn from the world around us that it makes sense to get more cynical the more experienced we are and that we have every excuse to just get grumpier as our bodies deteriorate. Grandma is wonderful example of the opposite of all of that! She is so kind and sweet to everyone. She is without guile, is genuinely happy when others succeed and doesn't seem to have a jealous bone in her body. Just during the weekend we spent in Nauvoo we met one woman Grandma introduced to the LDS church, one woman who was a new convert at the time that she was my aunt's roommate in Richmond and a couple where the husband was the missionary who had taught a young girl the gospel at my Grandma's house. The girl later became his wife and they were married in the temple. There are SOOOO many others with whom Grandma has shared her testimony who have come into the church. If I'm not mistaken this even includes her mailman at one point:) I am always amazed at how all inclusive Grandma's embrace can be!

NAUVOO

Are you detecting a theme here? We are REALLY aware of how cool it is that we've lived by so many fun places and are trying to pack them all in! Grandma Jamie, my dad's mom, will be turning 90 in two weeks!!! For her birthday she wanted to visit Nauvoo with all of her seven children. Isn't that sweet? Everyone was planning on coming and almost everyone did. Unfortunately Aunt Linda missed a flight and wasn't able to catch another one because of all the Spring Break travel. She was missed!

Kevin and I crashed the party as the only grandkids that got to come, purely because of our convenient location:) We thoroughly enjoyed the company and one last tour of Nauvoo! It is always a heartwrenching reminder of what was sacrificed by the early Latter-Day Saints so that ourselves and millions of others can have the gospel. We went on a horse-pulled wagon ride that we hadn't done before and that we really enjoyed. It had a spiritual theme and many stories were shared of the heroism and faith of people like Porter Rockwell, Lucy Mack Smith and Dan Jones.

Betty and Michael had booked the Hyrum Smith Historical house for us to stay in and that was neat too. It has been added on to and there was more than enough room for all of us. On Saturday morning I was scheduled to do my 9-mile run for the half marathon training so I got to run around the historic sites with no one around! It was a gorgeous morning and a neat experience to run past the temple and down to the water where the Saints eventually crossed to leave what had become their home, and a thriving city that was, at the time, larger than Chicago!
Kevin also got to go to the Nauvoo temple with my parents and aunts and uncles and Grandma. It is such a beautiful temple and one of my favorites! Uncle Ovala even ran into one of his cousins that he hadn't seen since leaving Samoa! What are the chances?! We're bummed we didn't get photos of everyone, the camera died as I was entertaining myself while we were waiting for Kevin outside the temple! Thanks Grandma for a fun trip and Happy 90th Birthday!

Pioneer Potty Training

John Taylor went back over the river when there was a bounty on his head to get this rocking horse for his little boy.

A statue of Joseph and his brother Hyrum in front of the temple

The stone carving on the temple is so incredible.

Chicago!

If you live where we do, you've got to take at least one trip to this fun, and yes, windy city. Our friends Eric and Katie were so gracious to host us in their apartment with an amazing view. Kevin had to take his Clinical Skills exam, last exam of Medical school!!!!!, on a Tuesday a while ago so we drove up on Sunday night. It worked out perfectly because Eric didn't have class on Monday so we touristed around. They took us to a great hot dog place, Garrett's Popcorn, the Field Musuem, down the Magnificent Mile, to the big Bean, I forget the real name, for a photo op, and, of course, to the American Doll Store for Jillian. We were pooped after doing all that with three little ones in tow! but had a blast. It really is such a fun place and we left feeling like it was one more place we would love to live/experience for at least one year. Thanks to Eric, Katie and especially Blake, who gave up his room for a few nights- we had a blast with you guys!

Even the train ride was novel to this little traveler! But let's be honest, Kevin was having fun too, reminiscing of his days in Poland! I also tried to spice things up by being inept and not figuring out how to open the door so we missed our stop. Opps!

Yeah for friends!

I'm going to ask the obvious- Can you find us?

You know it's a cool city when they have random statues like this for decor:)

Checkin' out this nifty ride at the Garmin store! Too bad, actually good thing 'cause I would have tried to talk Kevin into buying it, I didn't know about the Garmin watch that can track your heart rate, pace, AND mileage while running! Coolest invention ever!

I'll just take this one, thanks!

J LOVED this double jogger doll stroller like our big one

I usually don't see...

I never see what happens when I close the door after laying Peter down for a nap, so one day I decided to hang out afterwards with my camera for a bit. I had fun and...now I know!

Meanwhile, outside, this was going on.

Then Dad got home and the real fun started.

Ah, the beautiful quiet pleasures of childhood, and motherhood!

We've been having some fun around town for the last couple of months, trying to pack every fun thing the city has to offer into the time we have here. Below are a smattering of photos to show you what we've been up to.

always on the go
crazy hippos in the background. they're not usually, or ever, this active so it was fun to watch them play.

J with some buddies after playgroup

a fun musical instrument at the Magic House

J was super brave on this beanstalk

Huge kaliedoscope

These pictures in the Oval Office at the Magic House were cracking me up!

Peek-a-boo! This is a cool organ that blows bubbles into the tubes when you play.

At the zoo again, March 2009