Nevada

The meadow at Birch Creek

Earlier this month Elise, Emerson and I flew to Nevada to meet two of our new cousins, Trey and Mariah, and see Grandma and Grandpa Young and the Young aunts and uncles. 

Can you believe how adorable these kids are? 

The first morning there, Elise ran outside and was greeted by seven adorable border collie puppies! She about died with excitement. Every day of our entire visit she spent hours outside with the puppies. I also received the guilt trip of a lifetime when I denied the repeated offers to take a puppy home with us.

Elise: "Mommy, he can live in my woom."

Me: "We can't have a dog in the house, Sweetie. I'm allergic."

Elise: "He can live in our backyaaad."

Me: "It rains too much at our house. A puppy would be very sad in the rain all day."

Elise: "But it can live in the sed (shed) when it wains."

Me: "It rains every day, and the shed is much too small for this puppy. It likes to run around a lot."

Elise: "But...whyyyy?"

[insert never-ending conversation with a three year-old here]

We also had a serendipitous surprise when my parents' old neighbors, Tal and Ophir, and their son, Yael, stopped by to visit on their way home to Israel. Yael and Elise are the best of friends and play great together.  I've never seen Elise get along with someone so well--except for maybe her cousin Charlotte.

We spent the rest of our time there visiting, helping Grandma bottle pears, gathering eggs, going on the tractor and in the semi with Grandpa, riding horses, meeting kittens, riding 4-wheelers, and having an all-around great time!

I loved visiting with all of my siblings and adoring my new niece and nephew. Having three babies around meant everyone got to hold a baby as often as they wanted!

We love all of you and hope to visit again soon!

Whidbey Island

Last month we decided to take a quick weekend vacation to Whidbey Island, which is over the Puget Sound north of Seattle. It's only a 90 minute drive from us. The island is close enough to the mainland that there is a bridge between the two at Deception Pass State Park. More on that later. 

Deception Pass. Pictures don't do it justice - it's so beautiful! 

We stayed in Oak Harbor at a little motel with a small but deep pool and free continental breakfast. 

Motel shenanigans

Our first stop was at the Whidbey Island Fair. Wow! Maybe I missed out because I quit 4H halfway through the first month, but I never knew a fair could be so fun! Of course, there were the quirky things about a fair - interesting local people, cheap but deathly carnival rides, and any fried food you could ever dream up; but they also had a fantastic array of animals and displays--all by the 4H. We saw everything from dogs to horses, and chickens to Guinea pigs-- all scrubbed up and looking their finest for the fair. We even saw a rabbit that was bigger than a small dog. No joke. 

Elise was unimpressed with most of the "stinky" animals, but she did like the horse that shared Grandpa Young's first name! Notice Ralphie's tongue...

Later on, D.J. and Elise decided to venture out in a raft they bought. Not one foot from the beach, they broke a paddle. D.J. was a sport and improvised for the remainder of the time with one paddle. Elise loved every seafaring minute of it. 

The next day we went to church in Oak Harbor. The kids and I then scouted out a few local parks after dropping D.J. off at the motel to sleep off some flu-like aches. After a long nap D.J. was much better, so we drove over to Joseph Whidbey State Park. Breathtaking!

Elise took the picture on bottom R. Not bad, huh? 

On our final day on the island we went to another beach near Oak Harbor. I don't remember the name. We found lots of interesting sea shells and chased off the seagulls. Elise made sand castles and prepared a "sand-wich" for D.J. to taste.

Finally, we made our way back to Deception Pass and had lunch on the Island side.

We loved our quick stay on Whidbey Island and want to go back soon!

Sunny San Diego

One day last winter Elise and I were discussing colors found in nature. When I asked her what color the sky is, the poor child insisted the sky is grey. Technically she was right - the sky in the Northwest is consistently cloudy and overcast from about September to June - but oh, July and August!! However, for the majority of the year it is drizzly, wet, and dark.

Exibit A: Do you see the overcast sky? This picture was taken on a "nice" day.
(Please ignore D.J.'s ridiculous Movember handlebar mustache.)

Everyone told us to take a vacation in February. That is about the time cabin fever sets in and sitting near the kitchen stove with the oven light turned on feels pretty marvelous. So we escaped the never-ending cloud cover and flew to California.

We stayed in Carlsbad; right on the beach.

See the blue sky?!

Elise kept us busy filling buckets with water and building sandcastles.

We spent a couple of days visiting D.J.'s cousins,Tii and Nathaniel. Tii and his fiance, Teresa, took us out for Thai food, and Elise made fast friends with Nathaniel and Janitsy's two adorable boys while we visited at their home. 

Arrgh! Scurvy pirates!

While in Carlsbad we won tickets from our hotel to the Birch Aquarium, which worked out perfectly, because the rainy weather followed us from Seattle for part of the trip.

See the shark eyeing Elise on the bottom left?

My Mom and Dad, and youngest siblings Emily and Tyler joined us at the end of the week, too. We went to the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center...

Tyler and Elise got to dress in period clothing, and Elise struck it rich panning for gold. 

Then to Knott's Berry Farm... 

Even Grandma and Grandpa rode the roller coasters!

...then on to Disneyland! 

We were all magically exhausted by the end of the day.

So we got our fill of California sunshine and fun! It was so nice to see family there, too. When's our next vacation?

Nauvoo

In October we went to St. Louis and met up with D.J.'s parents and grandparents (who spent a couple of weeks vacationing in Branson, Missouri) to go to Nauvoo, Illinois. While in St. Louis, we visited the Gateway Arch. D.J., Elise and I had been before, but it was Grandma Audrey's first time to the top.

3 generations at 630 feet!

After St. Louis, we drove to Nauvoo, a city with great significance to the members of our church. Here our ancestors and predecessors built a beautiful city out of Mississippi River swampland and most importantly, began building the Nauvoo Temple.

We were lucky enough to attend a session in the newly dedicated temple with Bob and Candy while Grandma and Grandpa watched Elise. Getting there was an adventure! The night before, I realized I forgot my temple recommend and both D.J. and I needed dress clothes. Candy let me borrow a skirt, and Grandpa Joe graciously offered his Sunday clothes for D.J. to wear.

D.J.'s ensemble was a little tight and not his usual style, but it worked! Thanks Grandpa!

The temple workers verified the active status of my temple recommend, and we entered the temple. It was a magnificent experience! The temple is beautiful. We are glad to have visited such an uplifting and inspiring building!

Being there made me think of a quote by President Hinckley, who-- speaking of the Salt Lake Temple and the Nauvoo Temple-- said,

"They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake."

D.J. and Elise on the temple steps.

Elise and Grandpa Bob outside the temple.

We toured Old Nauvoo, and saw all of the historical sites. One of my favorites was the home of Brigham Young, my great-great-great grandfather. The missionaries there were so excited-- they asked me to sign a special book reserved for all of Brigham Young's descendants.

Another highlight of our visit to Nauvoo was an old-fashioned wagon ride. Elise made friends with the horses.

We traveled down Parley Street on the wagon; the same way the saints went as they left their beloved city of Nauvoo. Looking back, we could see the temple spires above the trees.

The wagon driver quoted Newell Knight, a Nauvoo pioneer, who said,

"...here we all halted and took a farewell view of our delightful City.... We also beheld the magnificent Temple rearing its lofty tower towards the heavens... My heart did swell within me."

We imagined the families; mothers, fathers and children, about to forge a frozen river (they left in February) looking back at the temple, and then turning toward the unknown. What humility and faith!

Before leaving for home, we drove to Carthage, Illinois to visit Carthage Jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith were martyred. We felt the Spirit so strongly there!

We drove back to West Lafayette and spent a few days at our house before everyone flew home. It was a great vacation!

Chicago: My Kind of Town!

On Labor Day weekend we took an impromptu trip to Chicago to celebrate my birthday early. We checked into our room at Hotel Blake on Friday afternoon, and dashed out to catch an architectural boat tour of the Windy City (which, coincidentally, was very windy!).

Our favorite buildings had to be L: The Wrigley Building - According to our tour guide, Mr. Wrigley requested a white building with green trim (hard to see in the picture) to remind consumers of the fresh minty-white feeling his chewing gum gave their mouths!

and R: 333 W. Wacker Dr. (the beautiful emerald one on the far right).

Of course, Willis Tower (previously known as Sears Tower) was a favorite.

It's that tall building in the back with two spires.

While the adults admired the buildings, Elise kept herself occupied by pointing at the water and waving at pedestrians. She did get a little obnoxious as the tour went on...

She's her father's daughter.

After the boat we walked over to Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. We bought churros and strolled along the pier, enjoying the huge Ferris wheel. It is a 150' replica of the original Ferris wheel, built for the Chicago World's Fair.

Outside the Pier there is a statue of comedian/actor Bob Newhart (a Chicago native) as his TV character, Dr. Bob Hartley. D.J. couldn't resist a photo op.

There was also a big Kraft macaroni noodle near the Pier. We visited its twin the next day (after a scrumptious breakfast at the Bongo Room) outside of Wrigley Field on our way to a Cubs baseball game.

Wrigley Field was so much fun! We took the subway to get there, and the moment we stepped through the gates, the ushers sent us to fan services to get Elise a certificate commemorating her first Cubs game.

She even got a sticker that said, "It's my first time at Wrigley Field, Home of the Chicago Cubs".

Our seats were positioned across from first base and only about 8 rows back. The Cubs played the NY Mets, and Chicago won, 5 to 3. We even saw two home runs!

Elise was a true Chicago fan with her authentic Cubs baseball cap.

Before leaving for home, we stopped to see the Buckingham Fountain and happened upon a free jazz festival in the park - such a treat! We also dropped by Millennium Park to visit Anish Kapoor's famous Cloud Gate sculpture (lovingly referred to as "The Bean"). I was a little disgusted by the grimy fingerprints all over it (see them in the first picture?), but resisted the urge to dig out a wet-wipe and start sanitizing. Underneath the sculpture the reflections twist into a spiral that bends your reflection every which way (see third pic).

It was such a great birthday getaway! We loved Chicago, and want to go back and see more. I think Sinatra sang it best, "Chicago is...my kind of razzmatazz!"

Oh, the Places We'll Go

D.J. was neck-deep in Midterms in February (poor guy). Since he spent most of his time away studying or meeting with classmates for more studying, Elise and I paid a visit to the Ranch.

This was Elise's 3rd flying experience, so she traveled like a pro. She's always a hit with the flight attendants and loves to play with the unopened peanuts on the plane. Early February is slow travel-wise, and we lucked out with 3 seats to ourselves on every one of our flights (4 total). It made for easy flying, especially since Baby Girl could stretch out and play or sleep without bothering anyone else.

Grandma and Auntie Boo picked us up at the airport in Reno and took us out to lunch and shopping (woohoo!). Then it was off to the ranch.

If you're not familiar with my country-girl roots, let me just tell you I grew up in the middle of nowhere. No, not just rural or remote- The. Middle. Of. Nowhere. While isolated living can have its down points, you can't beat the beauty of the wilderness. I once showed a Texan a picture of the ranch via Google Maps, and he said, "Oh! You're from the mountains!!" Yep. Nestled against the mountains sits Birch Creek Ranch: 10 miles from the nearest neighbor-- my childhood home. I never appreciated those great big mountains in my backyard until I moved away from them.

While we were visiting the mountains, we were lucky enough to see ALL of my siblings! Brittany had a basketball game in Jackpot (on the Nevada/Idaho border), and Ashley and Tiffany drove from Rexburg to meet us there. Seeing them made me so happy, and they loved playing with Elise. We all stayed in adjoining hotel rooms in Jackpot and bonded for 24 hours. Short, but oh, so sweet.

Brittany played some amazing ball, and I felt pretty nostalgic cheering for my high school. That's her in the 2nd picture (in orange on the far left) making a basket--that's my girl! 3 of my cousins were also there-- one plays with Brittany, one plays on the boys' team, and one coaches the boys team. It was a family affair!

After Jackpot we headed back to the ranch and had a lot of quality grandparent time. Great-Grandma Young came up for dinner one night, and I loved visiting with her. Elise suffered from a little separation anxiety, as you can see by the terrified expression on her face! Haha!!

We also spent a lot of time with Uncle Dan and Aunt Katie. Dan had to work when we went to Jackpot (we missed him!) but Katie came with us. Elise thinks Katie is BEAUTIFUL and couldn't keep her eyes off of her the entire trip! :)

Dan somehow eluded getting his picture taken, but he looked a little something like this:

He got a haircut right before we left, but I think the mustache remains (poor Katie!). We love him anyway.

The week flew by, and before we knew it we were back at the airport. Emily ditched school and came with us to say goodbye.

Our flight home was uneventful, and we were so happy to see D.J. He said he slept better while we were gone than he has in months! I guess that's what having a baby does to you. :)

Finals are upon us, so he's scarce again, but we've got plenty to keep us busy. At the end of the week he leaves for China (CHINA!) for 18 days. He will travel with a group from the school, listen to lectures, and even get class credit for the trip! He's taking the camera with strict instructions to get lots of pictures, so we'll share when he gets back.