Chi-Town

During one of our last weekends in the Midwest we took a jaunt down to the Windy City. Bryan had to do some work in Chicago so we tagged along. We had a little excitement on the drive down. A rock hit our windshield and cracked it. The crack is visible in one of the pictures below. Peter was adamant that we turn around and go back to Wisconsin so we could have it repaired, but we kept going.

We rolled in around dinnertime, so we made our first stop at a place that came highly recommended: Giordano's. It was amazing. (Excellent suggestion, Beth!) I've now had New York style pizza in Manhattan and Chicago deep dish pizza in Chicago.

Chicago wins.

The next morning we went to see the Chicago Temple.

Afterward we tried to see downtown Chicago. All day we had watched as massive gray clouds inched toward us. As we drove up to Navy Pier, they caught us. I've never been in a storm like this one. It felt apocalyptic. Lake Michigan was churning and crashing. The rain was so thick we could barely see the front of our car. The sky looked like it was eight at night rather than three in the afternoon. Peter spent our entire time in the city in hysterics. He is not a fan of storms.

We had to be back in Appleton that night, so I'm afraid we only saw downtown Chicago from inside our car. During the storm we tried to make our way out of the city. When the rain let up we stopped at a McDonald's for a bathroom break. Bryan asked us to wait in the car while he looked inside. He came back out quickly and announced that no one else would be getting out of the car. Turns out the employees were all encased in bullet-proof glass. Awesome. We didn't get out of the car until we were back up near the Temple.

While I'm sad we didn't get to explore more of Chicago, I did enjoy what we saw.

On the Way Home, part 1

About a week into our Wisconsin adventure I got online and looked up the school schedule for Peter's upcoming year. I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner, maybe the packing/cleaning/moving across the country thing distracted me. When I looked at the starting date I was surprised: Peter needed to start school in Utah before Bryan was done with his internship in Wisconsin.

We talked about our options: we could just bring Peter a week late and stay with Bryan while he finished up, or the kids and I could drive back without Bryan, move into a new house, and get Peter started while Bryan did the rest of his internship and joined us almost two weeks later.

We chose option B.

Peter doesn't deal very well with change, and I was afraid that moving into a new house and starting at a new school, a few days after everyone else for that matter, would be too much for him. And I thought I should give his teacher a heads-up before Peter wandered into her classroom. I hoped that maybe having a few days to get used to a new home, then starting at the same time as everyone else would be the best plan for Peter.

When we told our parents that I would be driving almost fifteen hundred miles with the children (and without Bryan) I think they went into panic mode. Both sets offered to help me drive out and plans went into motion. In the end, my Dad flew from San Diego out to Appleton, Wisconsin so that I wouldn't have to make the trip alone.

And I'm so thankful he did.

Even with his help, it was a rough trip. I can't imagine how insane it would have been on my own. Just getting the kids from the car into the hotel room each night was a two person job. And Phoebe decided somewhere along the way that she was ready to potty-train. How on earth would I have done bathroom breaks with all three of them? I know other moms do this all the time, but Peter has recently taken to climbing on toilet paper dispensers or toilet seats and looking into other stalls whilst in public restrooms, so just taking him is fairly all-consuming.

But I didn't have to. And that was a lovely thing.

First of the First

I finally can connect to the internet! And it's even kind of a secure connection.

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Don't worry, I'm not going to subject you to an epic post. Instead, I'll subject you to several small posts over the next few weeks.

For now, I will share with you Peter's big accomplishment: he's a first grader.

First day of first grade

His jungle-themed classroom

He likes his teacher and LOVES that they're learning about space. He came home one day this week and told me all about the Mars Rover (and he was shocked that I knew it was called Curiosity) and then he built one of his own out of Legos. He spent a large part of the afternoon driving it around his Mars themed Lego mat. That was a good day.

Destination Achieved

We're here, and we've been here for a week. Unfortunately I'm having computer issues and can't get on a secure internet connection. So, I'm risking my online security just long enough to get up a post this week.

We're glad to be back.

On the Road Again

Guess who's on their way back to Provo?

We Believe

On Sunday, after the lesson was over in Young Women, we had a testimony meeting. This one was a little different than others I've been to. It was unspoken. The Young Women President played church music and she instructed us that we were to take turns, each writing one thing on the board that we were thankful for. After everyone had had a turn, then we could go up for seconds, thirds, fourths, etc.

I scoffed internally at first. After all, a testimony is not what you are thankful for, it is what you believe or know to be true. But as the meeting went on, it occurred to me that for these Young Women, their beliefs and testimonies begin with the things that are important to them, the things they are thankful for. So while these were more "thankamonies", the Spirit was strong. And not having anyone talk added to it. It was a lovely meeting.

Radio Silence

Remember when I had strep throat a few weeks ago? Well, I guess we didn't get rid of the germs and they found a new host.

Bryan struggled with feeling lousy for a few days before being steamrolled by bacteria on Sunday night. Neither he nor I slept much that night. I finally convinced him to go to the doctor on Monday afternoon. He texted me with the two possible diagnoses: strep throat or mono.

Bryan has been working extremely hard to finish his projects for his internship. His immune system noticed and decided it was tired and wanted to take a little break. The good news is that the illness is indeed strep throat. The bad news is that he's still at risk for mono.

And so, instead of blogging, I've been on duty all day and all night for the last week. I'm pretty worn out. And he's on doctor's orders to do as little as possible. He was told to stay home from work for a few days and we had to cancel a weekend trip to Minneapolis (which made me really sad).

I think he's on the mend. He's spent the evening explaining things to me like the mars rover and political attack ads and FCC rulings, and Bryan explaining things is generally a good sign that he's feeling better.

A Sign You Have Big Brothers

We were driving tonight when Phoebe called from the backseat, "Mommy, you don't eat my brain, okay?"

Guess who was playing zombies with her big brothers this morning?

And in honor of Phoebe's request, go listen to this. Warning: it's not for the squeamish.

I, Robot

Phoebe likes to play pretend. Sometimes she's a cat, sometimes she's a puppy. Tonight while getting ready for bed, she told me about being other people.

Phoebe: Mommy, I Peter.
Me: (smiling) No, you're Phoebe.
Phoebe: (smiling, too) No... I Mommy.
Me: You're Phoebe.
Phoebe: (suddenly serious) No, I robot.
Me: (laughing) What?!
Phoebe: (nodding pensively) Yeah, I robot.

Stress Reliever

Last Wednesday I wrote a post about how this summer has been. The last two months have been hard. Very, very hard. I detailed some of the reasons in that post.

And I didn't publish it.

I realized that no one would benefit by my complaining. Perhaps I'll email the post to myself, just so I have it in my records. Let it suffice that we have had a rough time with tempers and tantrums and a general lack of kindness.

Here are a few things I've done to deal with the stress:

1. I've prayed a lot. A LOT. 
2. Bryan has given me a blessing. 
3. We've listened to music from General Conference.
4. I've run. And walked. And lifted weights. And run.
5. We've made friends and spent lots of time at their houses.
6. We've watched a ridiculous amount of TV.
7. And I've prayed some more.

I do like Wisconsin, and I'll miss the friends that we've made here, but I'm ready to be done. Two more weeks...