Quick Trip

We have had a whirlwind of trips the past 2 weeks.

Oct 8-10 to UT.  Some dear friends from IL and CO (yes, we lived in the same ward in both states!) moved to Argentina in July.  September their oldest - 5 1/2 years old - became sick with E Coli which turned into HUS.  Her younger sister and brother were also diagnosed with it.  Lily passed away in the loving arms of her parents on Oct 1.  We were able to attend the funeral of Lily.  It was a very touching and testimony building experience for all those who knew and loved Lily.

Oct 15-18 trip to IL.  I kidnapped my sister Kelly and brought her back to CO on our return trip from UT.  She helped me drive the 14+ hours back home from IL.

We loved seeing friends and family.  Miss the city.  The weather was AMAZING. 



Under the Chicago Bean



Natural Beauties ... in the Chicago Bean

 We stopped in to see my Grandparents.  Papa cried when he saw us.  We cried too.  It felt so good to be "home" again with them.  We miss them dearly.

Jaley, Great Grandpa (Papa), Julia, Jenna

Julia and Papa.  They have a very special bond.

Spontaneous trip to UT

We made a last minute (literally) decision to drive out to UT mid July to help Mike and Kelly with the Striker Fest (see post about More Misery for Julia). I don't know if we were much help, but we sure had fun!

We were able to see our favorite soccer team in action. They made it to the championship and had an unfortunate loss. The other team managed to score a goal when our favorite defender, Jens, was out with a concussion. He was only out for 5 minutes ~ amazing! That was all it took...Jens to leave the game. The team played hard. They were amazing.

This is a picture of Uncle Mike coaching his boys (picture is from Kelly's blog; she is an amazing photographer!).

We were able to hang with Wendi and Brian and gang, Kelly and Mike, Mom and Dad, Brooke and Reed (and some of their kiddos) in the evening and play some fun card games (Werewolf). I was the Moderator/Narrator for the game and I got to see all of the inner workings of different players. My favorite was when Mike was cupid...he made 2 people fall in love... The late nights and early mornings were tough, but SO worth it! Thanks for putting up with us all of you listed above! We miss you!