On Our Way...

After a fun filled Memorial Day weekend, we hit the road and decided we'd better get on our way. We made a lot of stops on the 16 hour car ride down and stretched it out over 3 days, which made it nice. The longest stretch we did was only 5 hours in the car. But I will admit, by day three Andrew was completely done. Done with being in his carseat, done with taking naps in the car, done with changing diapers in the backseat, and done with using the stroller as a make-shift high chair. He would just start to cry as soon and we got our keys out or started opening the door to the car. Poor kid.
The first day, we timed it just right to stop and have lunch in St. Louis.

You can't visit St. Louis and not see the famous Gateway Arch. Right? So we grabbed some tickets and headed to the top for a senic view of the city and the Mississippi River.

After a few hours of relaxing and playing we hopped back into the car and headed to our next destination...Memphis, Tennessee. The farther south we drove, the thicker the accent. Memphis was definitely a place where we felt like we were from the North. A lot of "yes ma'am" "yes sir" "reckon, I'd..." and "ain't gonna..." were heard.

We stayed in a nice hotel, right downtown and close to Beale Street. That evening, we decided to take the trolly down a few block to Beale Street and check out the sights. If you don't know what Beale street is, it is in the heart of downtown Memphis and where they claim is the "Home of the Blues". It has all sorts of blues clubs and resturaunts that line the street. With saxaphone players serenading, people singing and others doing acrabatic shows all up and down the street. It's pretty amazing. We found a fun spot and enjoyed the best BBQ ribs and catfish we'd ever had.

Here comes the Trolly

With the sun setting in the background, you can't see all the neon lights. The street was starting to come to life after dinner. But we had a little one who needed to get to bed!

Andrew and Daddy on Beale Street

The next day was kind of our "play day." We got up early and drove just 2 hours to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Just a little ways outside of this touristy city was the Ouachita National Park. Stephen and I LOVE the outdoors and have truly missed the mountains in Utah. These mountains, were nothing compaired to the rockies...but we'll take what we can get.

We wanted to spend the day here, but didn't have anything really planned out. So we literally drove up and talked to the forest rangers about what there is to do. They told us about a great hike and different activities we could do on Ouachita Lake close by. So That's exactly what we did.

Beautiful hike overlooking the lake, but most of
the huge trees were destroyed in a recent tornado

We decided to rent a boat from the marina for a few hours and cruise around the lake. We realized this lake was enormous and reminded me the size of Lake Powell with houseboats and everything. We felt like we were the only ones on it and the water was beautiful and warm. Too bad we didn't have any waterskii's.

Andrew loved the boat!

No waterskiing....but still had to jump in for a swim in the lake!

Having fun on the boat

We didn't spend much time in Hot Springs, just drove down the famous "Bathhouse Row." There are a ton of natural hot spring bathhouses that line the downtown streets. They are known for their healing waters and spas. I guess even President Roosevelt, back in the day would go there often. He claimed the natural waters helped with the effects of polio. Speaking of president's....we later learned this was where former President Bill Clinton grew up and went to high school. Who knew! Hot Springs, Arkansas is a pretty big touristy spot, if you know what I mean.

One of the many bathhouses

Our last day, we made the final drive into the great state of TEXAS! We knew exactly when we had crossed the boarder into Texas. There was Texan pride everywhere with flags and stars. Stephen and I just looked at each other and had to laugh! I guess we'd better get used to it. :)

We drove right through downtown and passed by good 'ol AT&T (Stephen's new office.) We are excited to finally be here and start this new adventure in life.

First Stop...Normal, Illinois

So we decided to take a little road trip and sight see a bit on our way down to Texas since our stuff wouldn't be there for a week. This gave us a good excuse to play and see apart of the country we hadn't been to!
Our first stop on our road trip was just a few hours away. We spent Memorial Day Weekend with Stephen's sister Meghan and her cute family. We've loved living so close to them and are so sad we can't just head down and see them....especially now they just had a new little baby a week or so after we left. (We sure didn't time that right)  We love hanging out with them and their kids are darling with Andrew. We had a great weekend full of lots of swimming, fruit ninja on the X-Box, (a personal favorite of mine) the traditional BBQ and watermelon and of course a little game of kickball. What a way to kick off the summer! 

Andrew Lovin' the swing

Stephen helping Andrew make his way around the
 bases in a game of kickball.

Chilling in the Shade After swimming

Enjoying a little swim

Here are almost all of the grandkids on the Holden side.
Connor, Andrew, Austin, & Benny

Saying our last goodbyes!

Moving Day!

All I've got to say is that I'm pretty spoiled right now. Moving was so much nicer and went way smoother than any other time I've moved. I've done my fair share of packing boxes, hauling furniture, but this time around was so nice. I am so incredibly grateful Stephen's company took care of this for us. Five people from the moving company showed up on our doorstep bright and early at 8:00 am and by 4:00pm they had our entire house from top to bottom packed and loaded onto the truck ready to pull away.  It was a whirlwind and before I knew it our house was empty. Thankfully, Andrew was shuffled between a few friends so that I didn't have to worry about him. Stephen on the other hand, had to put in his last day at the office...convenient huh? So it was me that ran the show.

Boxes starting to pile up before being loaded onto the truck.

The Moving Van

After our entire house was cleared out a sweet YW from our ward came over to help clean. In about 2 hours we had that place clean and we met with our agent to check out that evening. That was it. How's about completely packing, moving AND cleaning all in one day? I didn't think it could be done. I certainly was wrong. Needless to say...I was exhausted. Glad that it was all taken care of, but EXHAUSTED. It sure didn't take me long to fall asleep that night!

The Last of the Lasts: Goodbyes and Hellos

It was definitely hard to say goodbye to many friends, doctors, therapist and neighbors. What a whirlwind those last few days were.  As funny as that sounds, we became great friends with a few of Andrew's therapists and doctors. After all we saw some of them on a weekly basis since October. I brought my camera the last time we went to therapy to get a picture of Andrew with his therapists, but after all the hugs and goodbyes I totally forgot until we walked out to our car. He had some awesome therapists there and will always remember the day that one pulled out a big green exercise ball for him to work on strengthening his abs. I remember thinking to myself...Man, I don't think I could even do that.

We of course had to indulge in the deep dish pizza one LAST time. I don't think I could eat pizza any other way unless it has about 3 inches of gooey cheesey goodness! Even when I'm starving, I'm lucky if I can finish off one piece. They are that huge! Ahhh, my mouth is already watering. :)

As odd as it sounds I'm going to miss the unique architecture that Chicago has. I loved looking and finding old buildings and churches. We would drive through this quaint neighborhood each week to therapy. I just love it! Each house is pretty much exactly the same, stacked right in a row.

So GOODBYE Chicago! We absolutely LOVED the year we spent there. So many fun memories were made this past year! If we could go back, we would in a heartbeat! Chicago will always hold a place in our hearts.

We've been trying to teach Andrew to wave Goodbye. He's almost there..."Sayin' Goodbye Chicago and HELLO Dallas"

The Last Few Weeks: Brookfield Zoo

We seemed to squeeze in some last minute playing. Thanks to Stephen's work for having a moving company to help us. Instead of being tied down at home packing boxes, we were able to get out a few more times. We were hoping to make it into the city again and cross some things off our list of our "Chicago To-Do's" but the only weekend we were home last month and could possible do it, there was a huge NATO conference with President Obama and leaders from around the world. They were warning everyone to stay AWAY from downtown because of all the rioting. Yeah, we weren't going to try to atempt that.

So instead my sweet friend Julie had some extra passes to the zoo. Andrew and I spent a fun day there enjoying the animals and spending some with friends. It was great to get out of the house for the day and enjoy some of the warm Chicago weather. Some of the highlights of the day were the chances we got to get right up close and pet the animals.

The Brookfield zoo has a really neat petting zoo with different farm animals. Andrew loved the goats. They let you go right into their cage and walk around and pet the different goats. All of the kids loved it. Andrew was a little nervous at first and not quite sure what to think. But then one goat started to nibble on his toes. He thought that was pretty funny.

My favorite part and the highlight of our zoo adventure was at the end of the day. We decided to head over to the sting ray exhibit. There you could once again get up close and pet the sting rays. It was neat because the sting rays would come right to the edge and up to the top of the water so you could reach them and pet them. Andrew loved laying on his tummy and getting his hands into the water. Along with the petting of the sting rays came lots of splashing and water all down his front. I'm not sure which he enjoyed more. For me...the sting rays were definately a winner.

We timed it just right! It was feeding time for the sting rays and the zoo keepers taught us how to feed them. If you know me and my feelings toward fish, you'd understand the courage it took. But I simply couldn't pass up this opportunity to feed an actual sting ray. I will have to say it was a weird feeling to have them come up and eat from your hand and I'm not gonna lie...I screamed just a bit. But I would have to say it was so NEAT!

So brave to hold a dead little fish in my hand :)

Feeding the Sting Ray

The gang of kiddos and their moms minus Julie who's taking the pic

You would think that after a long day in the sun with no naps this kid would be tired and fall right to sleep. Try as we may, Andrew does not fall alseep anywhere other than his bed. Even in the car...Ah well. He's still a pretty happy kid....considering. :) We had such a fun day!

Not asleep...just looking down to play with the
stroller's buckle. A favorite past time of his.

The last few weeks: Celebrations

The last few weeks in Chicago were a bit crazy, but of course we had to find some time to do a bit of birthday celebrating. Stephen turned the ripe old age of 32 and we were able to celebrate across a few days. Andrew and I stole Stephen from work on a beautiful Friday afternoon and took him to lunch. Of course Stephen had to show Andrew off to his co-workers and they oohed and aahed all over him. He was a proud papa.

We found a park close by AT&T and did some bird
watching while enjoying our sandwhiches.

Daddy is especially good at getting Andrew to giggle.
What a ticklish kid!

Some great friends Rachel and Grant watched Andrew for an evening, while we went on a date night for Stephen's birtday! He was really wanting to see "The Advengers" and so we got some tickets to the 'guy flick' in 3-D. I actually ended up liking it more than I thought I would and we had a nice relaxing time getting away for a few hours. Thanks to Rachel who snapped these hilarious pics. :)

Andrew & Eli

Both their expressions here are priceless

On Stephen's actual birthday the celebrations continued...complete with a birthday dinner, birthday dessert (...yes we both share a LOVE for peanut butter and chocolate and this dessert is DE-lish!) and of course a present or two.

Yummmmy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHEN!

Father's Day Surprise

With all the moving and unpacking, I'm starting to get to the point where I can sit at my computer for more than a minute or two. Dallas has been fantastic so far and although change is not easy, we are loving it. I'm going to try to slowly catch up on the blog the next few weeks. So watch out for a ton of posts. It's become one my favorite ways to journal about our family's adventures.

Here are my boys after church on Sunday! It was great to be able to celebrate Father's Day...this year with Stephen. (Last year he'd driven off to Illinois in a big yellow moving truck with all of our things, while I stayed back with Andrew still in the hospital) We had a wonderfully relaxing day just hanging out together as a family and skyping with grandparents.  Andrew decided to surprise us and give Stephen an early Father's Day present. He started doing this last week and is getting better and better each day! I'm grateful he's still making progress and continues to get stronger. The doctors out here in Dallas are amazed at how far he's come and all that he's doing with his background. We are so proud of our little guy!

One Year Ago Today

We made it to Dallas and yep....just trying to get used to all the Texas critters and the heat. Haven't had much time to sit at my computer lately with the craziness of the move. I have lots I want to write about with our last few weeks in Chicago and our adventures on the road to get here, but those posts will have to wait. We got our internet hooked up and with all the unpacking, I wanted to find some time to write today about something a little closer to my heart.

Today, it has been 365 days since we last hugged and kissed our little boy. Instead of counting weeks and months, we will now be counting the years. I know our Ethan is near and has been very involved with our lives as a family this past year. I am so grateful for the experiences I have had where he has been a comfort to me. Just little reminders of how close heaven really is. I miss him every single day more than words can express, but every day is one day closer to when we get to see him again.

I'm so grateful my family could go and visit over the Memorial Day weekend and that my sweet sister snapped some pictures. Wish we lived closer....Thank you Allison!

This past conference I remember listening to Elder Eyring talk about different mountains we each have to climb throughout our life. I read the wonderful talk again after church yesterday and I am sure grateful for inspired leaders. His words are a comfort and give me much hope.They certainly touched my heart, as I continue on the life long journey of learning from this experience with my boys. I sure needed those reminders.

I don't think I ever shared this video that Stephen put together last year for the funeral. We've watched it many times this past year especially when we miss our Ethan and I wanted to share it with everyone today.  We were only able to spend 10 weeks with him, which makes me incredibly grateful for every picture of that little guy. Hope you enjoy!

Oh and a big Happy Birthday to my Mom! Love you so much!

Blankets

I did it!

I finished my first quilt from start to finish. Piecing...quilting...binding...everything.

It was a pretty simple strip quilt design and don't look too close at the stitching. But I am proud of my self-taught work. I learned a bit this round about piecing, squaring off, basting, mitered corners and what a walking foot is. The Internet is an amazing tool. Whenever I'd have a question or needed to dive into the next step, I could just jump on and learn how.

There is a little background and story to this quilt. Over a year ago, when I was pregnant, I decided I wanted to make matching quilts for each of my boys. I found the pattern and headed to the fabric store. I fell in love with the star fabric and bought a bunch. Thinking I had 3-4 months to work on it and finish it up before they were born I started working on it and cutting the pieces out. I had worked on it the night before I went into labor and had everything laid out on our family room floor for the first quilt, just the way I wanted it. But then...the boys were born unexpectedly early the next morning. When Stephen went home from the hospital to get a few things, I gave him strict instructions to take a picture before cleaning it up, so I could remember how all the pieces went together. He did...and it stayed in my sewing box for almost a year. This February I was determined to finish it up for Andrew's birthday. So I went to work and was able to finish it in time!

I learned how to machine quilt...super easy and lots of fun!

I pieced together my own binding and it wasn't hard at all.

The Finish Product

After finishing this, I guess I caught the blanket making bug. I decided since I didn't get to make a quilt for my little Ethan like I had planned to before they were born, I wanted to do something. The past 6 weeks have been a bit hard around our house emotionally on both Stephen and I. We're fine, just missing our Ethan like crazy. We remember the events our little family went through  last year so vividly and it's hard not to play the...."a year ago today..." game in our heads.  I'm usually one who likes to stay busy and find lots of things to fill my time, but when I'm struggling like this. I seem to go overboard  with the keeping busy part. So for my next project, I decided to make some small baby blankets...(one for each week we were able to spend with our angel)....for a total of TEN baby blankets. Then donate them to the local children's hospital. We sure are grateful for Children's Memorial Hospital out here. They have a wonderful team of doctors and nurses and we have been well taken care of by them.

Finished and ready to go!

This was a great project to channel my energy. Andrew had another MRI last week downtown at the main hospital and so my goal was to finish them up and take them in with us so we didn't have to make another trip to the city before we move. With making ten blankets in 5 weeks, I got pretty good at whipping them out pretty fast.  I miss my Ethan and this was a great way to remember how blessed we were to spend 10 whole weeks with our little boy! Oh yeah, and Andrew got in on a little of the blanket sewing action too. Sometimes, I think he knew he wasn't getting my full attention. He'd roll right over to where I was cutting fabric or pinning a blanket together and giggle and laugh. What a character! 

Ethan was our little monkey boy. I had to
include some monkey printed fabrics for a few of the blankets.

Happy as long as he was on mommy's lap!

Rolling right over to help!

Full of giggles as he grabbed the blanket away.