Cross Bowling Off the List

At the end of May we came up with a list of 50 things we wanted to do by the end of summer. Little did we know what our summer was going to turn out to be! We're still working on getting as many done as we can, but I might swap out some already done activities for those still looming on the list. Our summer has been better than the list could have made it, and so what if we don't make it to lagoon this summer--we swam in Lake Michigan and caught fireflies!

One activity on our list was to go bowling and since we had a Groupon for the Fun Park that was about to expire we crossed it off.

Bentley got his kindergarten shots that morning, and his legs were mighty sore. He didn't complain, just moved really s l o w.

We worked on the hold.

And waited very patiently for the balls to make it down the lane. It took a while, and if Guinness had been there I think we could have been in the running for the longest 2 person bowling game ever.

Bear Lake 2011

 We got away to Bear Lake last week with the Hillmans. The lake is really high this year, making for a very small beach. But a beach is a beach to our boys and they had a great time playing the water and sand with the cousins.

 Linky warming up on the sand.

 Bentley and his buddy Ruby.

 Without waves like Lake Michigan the boys were pretty much free to play.

And I think that will be our one and only trip to Bear Lake this summer. Thanks for letting us join you, Hillmans!

Oh shoot!

As I was buckling Lincoln into the car he exclaimed, "Oh shoot!"

"Oh shoot? Lincoln what does that mean?"

"It means you spill your cereal all over and make a big mess."

Indiana or Bust, Part 4

We left Nauvoo and took the longer way home, although it definitely wasn't the longest way possible and we were able to see different country side. On the way out we drove through Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and finally Indiana. We returned through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and back to Utah.

While in Missouri we stopped at Adam-Ondi-Ahman, but passed by Liberty, Independence and Far West so we could make it to Denver for the night.

On our last day we figured, what's a little detour that would only had a few more hours in the car? We left Denver and headed home through Vail. And since I'd never been to Arches, we got lunch in Moab then went search of red rock.  Chod asked Bentley if he could find a red rock, B's reply "No. They're all camouflaged!"

Here, Chod is teaching the boys about erosion.

Lincoln could not wait to climb these rocks.

Every time he found a rock of interested he would scream, "I want to climb THAT rock." It was basically torture for him, except for this little climbing excursion. He would have spent all day climbing.

On our way to the Delicate Arch lookout it started raining. People running out told us to turn around.

We obeyed, put not before we were caught in the torrential downpour.

The boys did fantastic in the car. Aside from the frequent potty stops! It was so much better than I had planned. Even Lincoln, who gets car sick and hates his car seat did amazing. We returned home without ever turning on a movie. And although we packed iPads they didn't see much use-maybe an hour from each boy. They did really well without any screen time, but I was sure thankful for a 3G connection most of the trip (Wyoming and Kansas your 3G could use some improvement). We streamed Pandora most of the way and I was able to Google and report the history of towns as we passed them. It was a fantastic trip that was chock full of memory makers, we saw a lot of country, and got to see Deid, Chris and that cute baby too!

Indiana or Bust, Part 3

Thursday we loaded up the van, said goodbye to Lafayette and headed to Nauvoo.  Five hours later we met up with Chod in Carthage.

Lincoln had had it by the time we made it to the upstairs room, where the martyrdom happened. So we hung out in the hallway, where it was much cooler.

Then it was on to Nauvoo. After a little picnic by the cars we mosied over to the Frontier Country Fair.

The fair took us back to our days on the Pioneer Site at AWHC. Just without our pioneer clothes.

After the fair we settled into our seats for the Nauvoo Pageant.

We returned to Nauvoo on Friday and saw more of the town. We switched off babysitting with the Hartwells so both couples were able to go to the temple.

The Nauvoo brick yard. The brick was Bentley's favorite souvenir. While Lincoln collected rocks and sticks to bring home.

Indiana or Bust, Part 2

We enjoyed a slow day on Tuesday. It was filled with loads and loads of laundry, a trip to Target, visiting Chris on campus, dinner at Steak & Shake, and catching fireflies.

Wednesday was the coolest of all our days in the Midwest and we took advantage of it by going to the zoo. Lincoln loved these elephants and was soaking wet by the time we left.

The zoo isn't very big, but it has a lot of interactive things and is put together really well. Lincoln was almost able to pet this wallaby, but that boy ran up and scared it away.

River otters.

And some lemurs even the Kratt Brothers would be proud of.

Indiana or Bust, Part 1

Chod had meetings in Springfield, IL which is only 4 hours from Deidra and Chris--so we all went. Chod thinks that is like saying Boise is only 4 hours from Idaho Falls and really, we wouldn't tag along with him to Idaho Falls to go to Boise---but it is comparatively close. It ended up being a 3,600 mile road trip that took us through 9 states in 8 days! That's a lot of time in the car.

Lincoln "likes" being strapped in. The first day we made it to Cheyenne, WY in time to grab some dinner and hit the hotel's swimming pool.

Day #2 was our longest in the car--16 hours of actual driving time, and that doesn't count road construction or potty breaks. We made a quick stop at Winter's Quarters and then we were on to Indiana.

I'm not sure which one is more comfortable here.

The next morning the Hartwells met up with us and shared one of their favorite places in Indiana--the Albanese Candy factory. We had listened to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the road, so this stop seemed perfectly fitting.

After getting our fill of candy we were off to the Indiana Dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. The boys were in heaven. As soon as we rounded the corner and Bentley saw the water he dropped everything he was carrying and made a beeline to the water. That boy loves the beach.

They were excited to finally be out of the car (we all were) and to see Aunt Deid, Chris and that cute baby.

Bentley could not get his fill of sand or the water. The waves coming in were surprisingly strong and he had no fear--I was most definitely a helicopter mom and hovered.

After the beach we headed to Lafayette and from there Chod left for Springfield.

Will Work for Cars

Bentley and Lincoln have been so excited to see Cars 2. So excited that I decided it would be the perfect time to help them learn about working and saving towards a goal. I gave them opportunities around te house to earn money. Things like washing the baseboards and returning the shoes scattered throughout the house back to the right closets. And their lemonade stand money went in their Cars 2 jar.

Turns out they had earned enough money to see it in 3-D and buy popcorn!

Grateful to be an American

I love living in America. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way--especially this time of year. But there's something else about July that makes me grateful to be an American.

Thirteen years ago I was an 18 year old visiting Russia. I had just graduated from high school and was visiting with an exchange program through the FFA. Our group was made up of myself and Karisa-the only girls, 5 boys and 5 adults from our hometown. As well has Yulia, an exchange student who had lived with our family and was now returning home to Nova Sinkova. We packed little American flags with us, as we knew we would be celebrating the 4th of July in a country that had recently ousted communism, a country that had once been a serious threat of our America.

On our last Sunday in Russia our group, who all happened to be LDS, traveled 2 hours from Novo Sinkova to Moscow to attend church and to have dinner with the new mission president and his family we had befriended on the flight over. It was hot and humid and I had had enough of my money belt (holding not only my money, but also my passport and exit visa), so I took it off and shoved it in my backpack. As we started our return trip back to the countryside, I went to retrieve a metro token and found my backpack unzipped and my money belt missing. That's not a good thing to happen in any country, but especially scary in Russia. It hadn't been too many years since the collapse of communism and things were very corrupt.

We spent the next few days trying to locate the embassy and find where I needed to go to obtain a new exit visa. Every day Yulia's father would drive us to Moscow. A huge sacrifice as their family had very little money and he missed work and wouldn't accept even compensation for fuel. Not that I had any money to give at this point. My money had disappeared with my visa My entourage was made up of Smy, our advisor, Nina, our interpreter, and either Dan or Bob (depending on the day) who were both dad's along for the trip.

I don't remember the order that things happened in now, but I do remember getting a new passport was relatively easy. I also remember walking the streets of Moscow and not having any idea of where we needed to go. We were sent in all different directions in search of the illusive visa office, and the police holding machine guns were especially frightening to me--an illegal. We made a stop back at the hotel we stayed in our first night in Moscow. As Nina spoke with the front desk I heard my name in conversation. When we asked what they had said she said that a police officer had found a passport and visa for a Nikkala Parish from Idaho, but she was doubtful it was me. After we convinced her that I was the only Nikkala Parish from Idaho we started to pursue that lead.

We learned that the officer had found the money belt in the metro station on Sunday and had contacted the hotel to find me. On Monday he left on vacation to his dacha in the country and did not have a telephone.

I'm not sure how communications or travel are now in Russia, but 13 years ago they were both very unreliable.

I believe our flight left Friday morning, giving us 4 days to recover or obtain a new exit visa which seemed completely hopeless.

On Wednesday things were looking impossible--we still hadn't been able to contact the officer, we couldn't find the visa office and we only had one day left to try. I know I was scared, and now I can only imagine how scared our adviser was. He was responsible to return me safely home. That night he told me he had been looking into things and that he would not leave me, but our only way home may be for me to apply for Russian citizenship and then apply for a student visa to return to the states. The fear in his eyes told me this wasn't a joke.

By some miracle the stars aligned, communication happened and we were notified the officer would have my documents Thursday night for us to retrieve. At this point there was no other option, it was our Hail Mary pass as we made one more trip into Moscow--the night before our flight was to leave and meet up with an officer who was said to have my golden ticket. There were doubts that he would really have the visa--I didn't need the passport. We wondered how much he would charge and the adults had come up with a dollar figure they would be able to pay to get me out of the country.

As we walked into the little green police station 3 machine guns were pointed on us, well it felt like they were all pointed on me, I was the illegal. The girl who had lost her documents. As Nina gave them our name my money belt was handed over. Just like that. No money was demanded and inside were both my visa and passport! Every last ruble was gone, but that didn't matter at all because it had my visa.

I can't describe the relief that washed over our group as we skipped back to the van, I WAS GOING HOME! I WAS AN AMERICAN!

Never before or after that point in my life had I prayed more than I did that week and I know my prayers were not alone. I know the other 12 in our group were praying just as hard and it was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to return home with them. Because of poor telephone systems and the realization that they wouldn't be able to do anything to help, we never told my parents what was happening. We've never talked about it, but I know that every morning as they knelt for family prayer they asked that Karisa and I be watched over and protected.

And so every 4th of July as we celebrate the independence of America I have a little celebration inside that I am still a citizen of this great country.

We like to party. We like to party party!

And the celebration continues! Slip-n-Sliding, 4th of July Parade, watermelon, and a visit to the splash pad.

 

Happy birthday America!